Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Paradise in Punta Cana!

Hey friends! I hope that everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving and is in full swing for Christmas!! Before I get in to Christmas decor details and cookie recipes, I wanted to do a recap of our Honeymoon in Punta Cana!!

We started the planning process for our trip in June!!! So when the Friday after Thanksgiving rolled around and we tore the tags off of our new luggage, it finally seemed real! A perk of going somewhere that is 80 degrees in December is that you don't have to do any laundry! We pulled out most of our summer clothes and were packed within about 45 minutes.

The alarm went off at 3:45am on Sunday morning, as the town car was picking us up at 5:15 for a 9:45 flight. This was the WORST part of the trip haha! We made it to the airport with plenty of time, we grabbed breakfast, piddled around in the duty free shop and then headed to our gate. We watched the sun rise and read a few magazines before boarding the plane.


This was the first time I have been on a plane in almost ten years!!! Atlanta has direct flights to Punta Cana and it was about 3 hours and 45 minutes, and truth be told it wasn't bad at all! The flight home was actually FASTER than the one down there! Customs was a breeze, we found our shuttle and off to Excellence Punta Cana we went!

We were greeted with champagne and a cool towel for our faces upon arrival. After checking in, we headed straight for the bar -duh- and the beach! It was a little overcast when we got there, but it didn't stop us. We hung out at the bar for a while drinking Coco Locos and chatting with a nice couple from Alabama. I would have thought that both of us would have been exhausted from all the travel, but no, we had a late (lobster) dinner, brought a bottle of wine back to the room and somehow managed to order room service around 1am.

Day 1: Success! 

I would love to tell you that we were crazy adventurers and did a lot of exciting things, but alas we laid on a beach bed everyday and drank Banana Mama's our of our Yetis until it was time for dinner! 

Wednesday we did decide to venture from the resort and we signed up for a catamaran ride and snorkeling on the Caribbean side of the island, we were staying on the Atlantic side. I swear, on this tour, the waters and the tree lines, it is what EVERY resort in the Dominican uses to get tourists to come!!!!! Seriously, the photos do not even do the beauty of the water justice! After snorkeling we headed over toward the shore to what the locals call "the pools". This water is so clear you see your feet! Steven told our travel agent that he had one request and that was he wanted water so clear that he could be chest deep and still see his feet....well he got it! 



I am STILL thinking about how beautiful the water is!!! After relaxing for a while, having been on a boat for the larger part of five hours, we had champagne sent to our room and we relaxed on the patio before heading to Flavor Market for dinner. This was the one restaurant that other couples couldn't stop talking about! 

I would have to say that this was my FAVORITE restaurant!!!!!! They also served the best red wine we had the whole trip! Every item we ordered off the menu was awesome!! And we ended up sitting beside a couple who was on our Catamaran tour, so that was fun getting to chat with them some more too. 

Thursday we lounged and had lunch at the restaurant that is directly on the beach. After having gotten just a little too much sun on Wednesday, we headed to sporting side of the resort and played a round of put put in the shade. Steven proceeded to kick my behind...imagine that :) For our last dinner, we chose Agave, which was traditional mexican cuisine. 
I could have eaten my weight in the guacamole! It was that good! However, the tacos were just a little disappointing. When you are so used to eating "American-Mexican" the real thing isn't quite as good as it should be! However, at this restaurant you could get beers other than Presidente (the local Dominican beer which was all they served at the bars) and so I had my fair share of Coronas!! 

Flavor Market was definitely my favorite restaurant, and Agave was the worst, the BEST place to eat at Excellence is Toscana in the mornings!!! Toscana is the HUGE breakfast buffet literally offering you whatever your heart desired to eat! Made to order eggs, french toast, vegetables, cereal, traditional Dominican meats, fruit, I could go on and on. Not to mention, right when you walk in, the mimosa and bloody mary bar are right there to greet you in case you need "the hair of the dog". 

Friday morning, we packed up our clothes, had a leisurely breakfast and hung out in the lobby until our shuttle to the airport arrived. Our resort was decorated for Christmas when we arrived and occasionally we heard a Christmas song or two, which was nice, but come Friday I was ready for Christmas in Dixie! 
Overall, our honeymoon was everything we could have asked for! The cocktails, the weather, the service, it was all wonderful!!! If I have anything to say, it would be that the food wasn't quite what we were expecting. I ate Chick Fil A on Monday and it was the best thing I had eaten in a week haha! But we would return to Excellence for the Banana Mamas alone! Ok and maybe the Fish Balls from Flavor Market too.

We are already planning our next trip back to the Dominican Republic! If you ask us, we highly recommend it :)

3 comments:

  1. So glad yall had a good trip. Jason and I are hoping we can finally have a honeymoon this summer.

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  2. I am so glad you guys had a great honeymoon!

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  3. This post brought back so many memories of our honeymoon in Cancun. We stayed at the Beloved Hotel which is right next to Excellence Playa Mujeres. Everything you wrote about sounds just like our experience in Cancun. The people are wonderful, service and the beach. The worst was the food. I'm glad you had a good relaxing time away after the wedding.

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