OK, narrowed it down to Punta Cana, but so many places. Can you recommend a family all-inclusive with good food and something fun for teens with like organized activities? They all kinda look a like so I'm not sure how to make a good decision. Ideas please.
Help - Punta Cana
- Thread starter ImBadRU
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Been there a few times, food is very good for an all inclusive (which I'm a big fan of in the carribean).
Went last July - food was excellent - Dominicans manning the Japanese style hibachi restaurant was a funny twist but they were actually very good-casino amongst largest in Caribbean - drinking and casino age is 18 and over - I'm not a golfer but their course is suppose to be top- notch - the complex is enormous - 12-14 pools - use your room credits for the spa which is outrageous- people come from other resorts for the night club- downside - not much at night for older teens 15-16-17 besides nightly shows in the theatre and maybe a teen dance night- ocean was a little rough - I think it's on the Atlantic side of the island- they take you to some other beach if you do a snokeling excursion and booze cruise etc which all cost extra- the room credits are somewhat of a scam - you still have rot pay something to use them and they jack up the price of everything you can apply them against
Went to Hard Rock Punta Cana in 2011. Place was nice. You can do as much or as little as you want. Food was okay.
Hard Rock was really good, it is a big resort but they have golf Gary transportation that brings you all over. My kids and wife did a zip line tour such was excellent. It had 12 different platforms where you went thru the forest. Very safe
Pretty much but they clean it out every day, it's just that there is so much of it that it is never fully gone.
I also stayed at Majestic Excellence in February '14... great time, great place for a family/kids. Food was ok...what you'd expect from a Caribbean all inclusive, some good some, not as good.
I just got back from the Royalton in Punta Cana, so I'll share some of my thoughts with you. We looked at about 10 different resorts in Punta Cana, but felt the Royalton met some pretty important criteria....the water park. We were willing to pass on nicer resorts and better food options, because our primary goal was making sure our young kids had a blast. The water park did this for them. We spent about two hours every morning at the water park, and the afternoons at the main pool and the beach. You only need a couple of hours because there are no lines for the rides. You can pretty much go up and down as much as you want and not have to wait more than a minute.
For the most part the buffet food was fine. I'll break that down further for you. The breakfast omelettes, were pretty good. If you stick with the flank, New York strip or skirt steak for lunch and dinner you will do very well. We also paid up for the diamond club which, among other things,allows access to other restaurants within the property. However, these other restaurants were below average. This is always a problem for many of us since we have access to so many good restaurants in the NYC area.
You'll find the reviews online giving this resort a rating from 4 to 4.5 starts. I'll say it's closer to 3.5 to 3.75. For comparison I would consider Atlantis more a 4 - 4.5 star resort (probably closer to 4.5). This does not mean that one would not enjoy a 3.5 star resort. We have a good time, and our kids loved it.
If it was just me and my wife, we would probably choose the Hard Rock (if looking only at Punta Cana). The other resort that we were considering was Atlantis. The reason we decided against it is because our kids are 7 and 9 and that water park is more adventurous and probably too much for our kids. I've been to Atlantis 3 times, but never with my kids. The restaurants in Atlantis are excellent. The trip to Atlantis would've been an additional 2 grand, well worth it for us, but a waste with kids our age.
I can not tell you about organized activities for teenagers at any resort since we had no reason to look into it.
Lastly, I would go back to the Royalton, but as soon as my kids are both 10+ or so, will be heading over to Atlantis.
For the most part the buffet food was fine. I'll break that down further for you. The breakfast omelettes, were pretty good. If you stick with the flank, New York strip or skirt steak for lunch and dinner you will do very well. We also paid up for the diamond club which, among other things,allows access to other restaurants within the property. However, these other restaurants were below average. This is always a problem for many of us since we have access to so many good restaurants in the NYC area.
You'll find the reviews online giving this resort a rating from 4 to 4.5 starts. I'll say it's closer to 3.5 to 3.75. For comparison I would consider Atlantis more a 4 - 4.5 star resort (probably closer to 4.5). This does not mean that one would not enjoy a 3.5 star resort. We have a good time, and our kids loved it.
If it was just me and my wife, we would probably choose the Hard Rock (if looking only at Punta Cana). The other resort that we were considering was Atlantis. The reason we decided against it is because our kids are 7 and 9 and that water park is more adventurous and probably too much for our kids. I've been to Atlantis 3 times, but never with my kids. The restaurants in Atlantis are excellent. The trip to Atlantis would've been an additional 2 grand, well worth it for us, but a waste with kids our age.
I can not tell you about organized activities for teenagers at any resort since we had no reason to look into it.
Lastly, I would go back to the Royalton, but as soon as my kids are both 10+ or so, will be heading over to Atlantis.
My girlfriend and I just spent a week at Grand Bahia Principe La Romana. It was FANTASTIC, albeit a little far from the airport (~45 minute bus ride). But that ride sure kept the price down - I don't mind mentioning that we paid $900 each for 7 nights, round trip flight, all-inclusive resort, and two excursions (scuba, speedboat). Probably made our money back on the alcohol and food alone.
Would absolutely do it again. But if your budget is a little bigger than ours I would recommend staying in Punta Cana instead, avoid the bus trip.
Would absolutely do it again. But if your budget is a little bigger than ours I would recommend staying in Punta Cana instead, avoid the bus trip.
Thanks for the write-up. My family along with another family are going to the Royalton in June - we have 4 kids @ 8,9, 12, and 12. We picked it for the water park.
Question about Atlantis as I haven't been there for 14 years. Do you think it gets too crowded as they offer water park and other packages for cruise ships daily that stop in the Bahamas?
Your question is a difficult one for me to answer for several reasons. All of my trips to Atlantis were corporate trips where we made up more than half the guests in the entire resort. I went on a single slide, just once, did not even visit the rest of the water park. I was not interested. I played golf, hit the casino, club, sports book (NFL playoffs), marina, restaurants. My trips were only 3 days long, so I passed on the water park. I'm sure there may have been cruise day passers, but I would not have noticed.
However, you may find the answer to your question on tripadvisors.com . If there is something not to like about Atlantis, specially concerning wait lines, I'm sure you will find it there. People normally go out of their way to write something negative about their experiences or thoughts.
BTW - I just realized that I said my kids were 7 and 9, they're actually 5 and 7 (ha). Again, the youngest, who happens to be the more adventures one was just to small for the Atlantis water park.
One more note about the Royalton, they have an entertainment crew to keep things festive poolside. This is totally NOT my kind of thing, you know, poolside bingo, inflatable obstacle course, beer chugging contests (not kidding), dancing (twerking) contest, etc... Again, not my type of thing, but watching people enjoy themselves so much was entertaining to me. The main pool is not a place to relax at all. The MC, DJ and his crew of 8 just kept thing going. At the end of the day, I found myself laughing and smiling a little more than on my occasional visits to the more refined resorts.
