All-Inclusive Vacation Help

[GSUdawg521]

Smoke, I thought I asked this before, but what did you do for shuttle to and from the resort? Still gotta book that.

Also did you do anything at the spa? We likely will do the couples thing, but just wanted to hear how it went for anyone else.

[smokew11]

our agent took care of the transfers. Walk out of the airport to the outdoor counter and thats where the shuttles are

we didnt do the spa. highly recommend the Isla Saona excursion, i'll post some pics later

[GSUdawg521]

I'm back boys! Punta Cana and Sanctuary were awesome.

The resort and grounds and everything I give 5 stars. The castle was fantastic. I loved having the swim up room more than I thought I would. We were in it just about every day. We were also 2nd room from the end so it felt quiet. But also being so low capacity that helped there and everywhere. Two days we posted up at the side pool just off the main pool and had the same waiter both days. One day we went to that infinity pool up by the Italian restaurant because it looked neat and no one was ever in it. Castle pool was nice too if there was a place to sit. Last day we ordered food from the bartender and it got delivered while we were in the pool so that was baller. Had no use for the beach really.

Food gets 4 stars. Most things were good and I think you maybe just have to get lucky with what you order. Italian and Asian dinners were our favorites.

Spa was fantastic. We did the couples package with an hour of hydrotherapy and an 80 minute massage. So good.

I would recommend it but we think we might try another Excellence before we went back to Sanctuary. Or something else maybe.

DR was great. Didn't have any issues with the airport arriving or departing.

[smokew11]

glad you liked it!

The entertainment staff is awesome. My wife is in love with Black Diamond

[GSUdawg521]

We didn't really do much in the way of the entertainment. The night we got there they were doing karaoke at the pool, and we were already basically in bed in fact we were in our room most nights by like 10 at the latest. We joked about the young newlyweds and how that's just not us anymore. This was more about two parents of two kids getting some much needed r&r.

We chilled in that side pool and watched people do pool zumba or basketball or trivia. And then we stopped by a couple of the musical things in the plaza and they didn't seem too exciting, or our bed or private pool was just calling

I don't remember much about the entertainment at Excellence on our honeymoon other than one night of some girls spinning fire.

I also wonder how much of our less-than-5-star experiences were a result of some covid impact, which I would understand. They were also renovating and rebuilding the Blue Marlin seafood restaurant while we were there, so they moved it to the one far off section, and perhaps that's why, or coincidentally, it was our least favorite meal.

[smokew11]

ah man that sucks..

yeah we made sure to take in the entertainment each night...i thought it was better than Excellence...they had karaoke which always sucks, but the cirque du soleil and country/american singers were good. the fire dancers/beach party was excellent

Blue Marlin was in business while we were there, it was our lunch go-to. They had an awesome seafood broil of scallops, shrimp, lobster, octopus, peppers, and onions. We were def on the:
10am Breakfast
4pm Lunch
9 PM Dinner

Tavern was closed though

schedule...man I want to go back right now. Loved the sea bass at the Italian, salmon bowl at the chinese, and ribeye at the steak house

[M. Steng]

I think we ate at the steakhouse like 5 out of the 8 nights we were there

We didn’t like the Italian. The blue marlin was awesome for lunch. One of the guys in our group of honeymooners we met down there and hung out with a lot caught a big ol fish on an expedition and they cooked it for us for lunch the next day, which was excellent

[GSUdawg521]

They didn't have anything like fire dancers when we were there. And the night they had circus was our last night and we were at the Asian restaurant all the way at the castle, where our room was, so we just passed on it.

I really think it's all about what you order or just what you end up getting. At the steakhouse, we couldn't stand the lobster bisque beyond like 1 bite, but then we asked for the lobster cake and it was really good. The ribeye we got was literally half fat, but the churrasco was awesome. So we felt like the meal was a bust, but I said if we'd ordered those two good things and maybe a couple different things, it could've changed our perspective on it.

And Italian was our other favorite. Everything we ordered was great. Asian may have been #1 though.

Blue Marlin was our first night and the service was kinda slow, the food was pretty good, but overall we felt a little meh about it. Just wasn't the best first impression plus we were tired from the travel day. We wanted to go for lunch on our last full day to try to redeem it but they were closed as it looked like they were redecorating from the remodel.

[smokew11]

We went to Blue MArlin for dinner our first night too and it was meh, but we were also exhausted. It became our go-to lunch spot though. Italian was good for 1 night, too stuffy to go multiple times. Asian was absolutely the best.

[GSUdawg521]

My favorite drink was the special cocktail they had at Wok. Our waiter brought me a 2nd even though I told him I was good

Izanagi
Aged rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lemon

[smokew11]

the beach bar across from the canoe was my favorite. I'm not big on syrapy drinks, but they would make freshy fruit smoothies....pineapple, strawberry, banana and a shit ton of rum. Drank those a ton

[GSUdawg521]

Lol that's basically all I drank. Just kept rotating between whatever beachy drinks I could remember. I'm not really a big drinker normally. Definitely drank more this week than I did all year, if not all of 2020 and 21

[smokew11]

ugh I want to go back. Love our butler at the castle

[Ascf33]

We’re thinking of going to Sanctuary Cap Cana in Aug/Sept. There doesn’t seem to be any swim up rooms available so what would be the next best room?

[M. Steng]

Originally Posted by Ascf33

We’re thinking of going to Sanctuary Cap Cana in Aug/Sept. There doesn’t seem to be any swim up rooms available so what would be the next best room?

The castle was awesome

The villas also looked really sweet

[SmoothG]

Hyatt. Westin. Any of the other non-inclusives.

[GSUdawg521]

God I loved that swim up room at the castle.

[smokew11]

Next time we go to sanctuary i def want a swim-up ocean view room in the castle

[Ascf33]

Originally Posted by M. Steng

The castle was awesome

The villas also looked really sweet

Originally Posted by GSUdawg521

God I loved that swim up room at the castle.

Originally Posted by smokew11

Next time we go to sanctuary i def want a swim-up ocean view room in the castle

Yeah there's no swim-up rooms on the property for the week we're considering so we're trying to pick the next best thing. Is that the castle? The villas seem great but that's probably more than we need.

[GSUdawg521]

I guess if you can't get a swim up room at the castle, then any other room there would still be good because it's on the edge of the property, so it's a little more quiet. It has its own pool and bar, so there's that. And if you're thinking of doing anything at the spa, that's right there in the middle of the castle.

[smokew11]

and the gym is in the castle. And the best restaurant, the Wok, is at the castle.

[dre2142]

Headed to Barcelo Maya Palace tomorrow morning for 12 days. Im psyched

[Ascf33]

Have any of you stayed in a non-castle room? they look *newer* on the website but not sure if that is just deceptive photos.

[smokew11]

they are newer. couple we met had one in the first building closest to the castle and the rooms were really nice