Republica Dominica

*peeks head in slowly* Just wanted to make sure no tomatoes would be thrown at my head haha. I know I've been gone for a while, but I am back! So sorry for making you all wait.

Hola! It's only fitting to start this post off with a Spanish greeting after being in Dominican Republic for 4 days. I have never said hola so many times in my life, haha. But I really enjoyed brushing up on my Spanish. I took so many years of Spanish in school and its fair to say that I do not remember half of what I learned. The basic form of communication is all I know. I'm embarrassing my 16 year old self who was having fluent conversations in Spanish at the Aruba International Airport. 

So I want to shout out my sissy Tasha, she graduated with her MSW and she is the reason that we went on a trip to DR. She asked us to go in celebration of her graduation and you all knew I wasn't turning down an opportunity to celebrate her success.So I got my coins together for my sissy! 

Whenever I visit somewhere for the first time, I always try to make a list of things to do while there before I leave home. I get on Google and look up  things that the country offers, in close proximity to where I will be staying. And I really try my hardest to do all of those things. We planned ahead of time what excursions we wanted to do and paid for them in advance. Now, by paying in advance I mean we included the pricing of activities in the full price of the trip. That way when we got there all we had to do was get our money from Jazmine (the tip planner and ATM on group trips lol).

We stayed at the Royal Suites Turquesa by Palladium. It was the most amazing all inclusive resort. We had excess to the spa, multiple pools, great restaurants, and shops. I cannot lie, it was my best hotel/resort experience. The staff was very nice. Here is the website so you can check out their pictures and pricing. And just so you know, EVERYTHING at the resort looks just like the pictures! The Royal Suites Turquesa The resort is adult only, but they do have resorts that are kid friendly. We saw plenty of kids at the restaurants and some of the pools we had access to.Staying at Royal Suits Turquesa we had access to everything on the resort land. There were a few different hotels on the resort plot but we had access to all of them and their amenities as well. 

FOOD

The food, was okay. Just, okay. The drinks were amazing! My favorite drink was the Strawberry Daquiri. Because everything was all inclusive we took advantage of that. We ordered room service everyday & ate at a restaurant every night. I would suggest planning out which restaurants you want to go to and make your reservations on your first day there. The first night we went to the Sports Bar because every restaurant was full. The Sports Bar is open 24 hours and has a host of American cuisine to choose from. We also dined at a Hibachi restaurant, an Itailian restaurant and a Brazilian Steakhouse. The Hibachi and Brazilian Steakhouse had really good food. Especially the lobster!

 

This lobster was so amazing!

EXCURSION

On our third day we went on an excursion with The Dolphin Explorer. We had the opportunity to swim with dolphins, sharks and sting rays. Now, honestly guys, I let Tasha and Jazmine talk me out of swimming with the animals. But mostly I didn't do it because the water was a little murky in the area where they were and I wanted to be able to see everything around me. So we sat on the boat during really bad rain storm while waiting for the other passengers to swim with the animals. 

We had snacks and drinks while we were on the excursion. After we took off we went to a location to snorkel, I had to snorkel by myself  because Tasha and Jaz weren't confident enough in their swimming to get in, which I understood. Honestly, the ocean has a mind of its own and I asked one of the captains, Francisco, to snorkel with me. Everyone else was snorkeling with friends or family and I didn't want to brave the ocean alone. Francisco swam down and got me a white sea urchin to hold and take pictures of. Good thing Tasha and Jazmine were on the boat cause they were able to take pictures and videos for me. 

After snorkeling we went to a natural pool in the ocean, the water came to about my waist. When we got there, it was a lot of other boats there blasting music and having a good time. We got to mix and mingle with people from the island as well as from all over the world. It was a party in the Atlantic Ocean!

SPA

The spa located at our resort was amazing.We paid for our massages online via the website. I would advise printing out anything that you pay for online with this resort. They prefer the printed version for their records.

The name of the spa is Zentropia. The experience was amazing. Jaz, Tasha and I were able to get our massages together. Honestly y'all, I fell asleep half way during the massage. But for me, that means it was a great massage. I needed my body to be relaxed. My friends said I was snoring, which is so embarrassing, but whatever, I was getting some rest & relaxation at the same time! Our massage was an hour long and it was a little over $100, but it was totally worth it!

We spent some time at the beach, did a little shopping, and we even went to a bar on the resort. The bar mostly played music that was sung in Spanish, so I have no idea what the songs were, but the atmosphere was fun. 

This trip was so amazing. The workers were so nice, the room was excellent, and everywhere we went people spoke and made us feel welcomed. I would recommend for anyone to stay at this resort. It is worth the money! As always there will be some pictures below for you all to see. And I hope you all get to travel to Punta Cana soon. 

 

Happy 2016! I hope you all have had a good first half of the year. I plan on doing some big things in the second half of 2016 and of course I will share  them with you all. Continue to be great! See you in my next post. And sorry again for making you all wait so long.

Peace&Love,
Janisha