From: toml@xrxedds.UUCP (Tom Love)
Subject: Re: DOMINICON REPBUBLIC
Organization: Xerox EDDS, Herndon, Va.
	<1992Aug15.150533.19465@NeoSoft.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 22:56:43 GMT


a few comments, with a caveat: this information is eight years old,
your mileage may vary.

my wife and i went to the dominican republic on our honeymoon in july
of '84.  while the visit was terrific, the travel sucked pretty bad,
and we ended up getting hosed economically in a couple of significant
ways.  here are some tips:

first, avoid dominicana airline like the plague.  their (from my
standards) dishonest ticket sales policy literally cost me two return
tickets, about $650.  they require reservation confirmation on the
return trip at least three days before return departure.  their phone
lines were continuously busy the whole time we were there, so i
(incorrectly) applied US travel policies and assumed we could get to
the airport early and take care of things.  WRONG.  i couldn't even
bribe my way onto the plane.  we had to buy return tickets on a
different airline, and never got a penny back from dominicana on my
purchased return tickets.  as an extension of this rule i would
strongly recommend avoiding doing any business with any banana
republic airlines.

second, assume that the contents of your luggage may be (a) delayed
and (b) pilfered.  both happened to us.  carry a survival carry-on,
including swimsuits/toiletries/underwear/medicine etc.  lock your bags
securely.  carry all valuables.  it took us three days to get our
bags, and some small stuff had been stolen.

third, be aware that the currency sign for the peso (the DR currency)
looks like the american dollar sign ($).  at the time we were in DR a
peso was about 40 cents.  our billing for our hotel, paid in advance,
was something like $70/night.  yep, you guessed right, we paid
dollars, but the fee was in pesos.  funny how they don't clarify that.
this i blame on the tour company which we booked out trip through.  i
would avoid the tour companies and deal directly with air, hotel, car
rental etc - they provide nothing in the way of services anyway.  the
taxis at the airport basically pull the same trick on naive tourists
(e.g.  us).  "how much?"  "10" "ok, here is ten dollars, have a nice
overpaid day".  you get the idea...

i would look seriously into trying to catch an island hopper out of
miami or somewhere, though i've never priced it or tried it.  make
sure it's domestic, and that you can trust them.  at the time we went
there was very limited air service to our destination (puerto plata) -
dominicana (plague), air florida (defunct), and i think eastern
(defunct).  no idea what's there now.

we stayed at dorado naco, which was not really lush or anything but
was very nice, clean, private beach (right by jack tar i believe), and
UNBELIEVABLY CHEAP!  i love to tell the story of our expenses during
our stay: the two of us ate for six days, averaging probably 2.5 meals
a day at the hotel, all buffet-style beside the pool, plus our bar
bill for the week (many pina coladas and beers were consumed), and the
total charged food/drink tab for the week was $130 (1984 american
dollars).  try that in the VI or Bermuda!  the room was 70 pesos per
night (had we known), or $28 per night.  we toured the town, moped'ed
about, bought rum (4 pesos per quart, the best i've ever tasted), ate
out, partied, met folks etc - had a great time.  we're probably going
back in two years for our tenth.

check it out.

i'd love to hear from anyone who has been since to compare notes on
prices, travel, and destinations.  please drop me a note, as i don't
read this group.

--

-----
But the river was life it was changing all the time
It was the street it was the sluice it was the old main line...

Tom Love
Xerox Engineering Systems / Engineering Document Management Systems
607 Herndon Pkwy, Herndon, VA 22070  Voice 703-787-2027  Intelnet 8-440-2027

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