Is Booking a Groupon Travel Package to the Dominican Republic Worth It?

Que lo que!!!

Soy Dominicana....en el verano!

(I thought she said that she was Jamaican in her previous blog post. What is happening here?)

Yes! You are absolutely correct!!

So funny story, when my family migrated to the United States, my dad resided in Bronx, New York and every time I would spend time in that neighborhood, I was always mistaken as being Dominican. No matter how many time I would say, "No hablo Español." It didn't matter, people would keep talking to me in Spanish and moving to Florida only increased my powers 😄

I ventured to the island of my alter ego, Dominican Republic #hola

BOOKING:

I love Groupon and the travel junkie in me is always browsing in their travel section. I've often wondered while looking, "Is Groupon travel packages worth it?" - so I took a shot! For this trip, I used Groupon I saw really great deal on an all-inclusive deal for 4-Night All-Inclusive Memories Splash Punta Cana Trip with Nonstop Air from Vacation Express 😮 - SAY WHAT NOW?!? Yes, Groupon travel does work y'all!  

Vacation Express, one of the largest tour operators in the southeast United States, has been in business for 30 years. The company has sold over 2 million vacation packages, so can book your travel separately with them; if you prefer a more customized package.

FLIGHT:

What I appreciated with this Groupon deal was the fact that round-trip airfare was included - I was all about maximizing my savings with this deal 💰💰

This deal had RT flights departing out of 17 cities , so all you had to do was the select city closest to you and reserve. For additional departure airports/pricing outside of their listing, all you had to do, contact Vacation Express.

They do have their own airline,  Sunwing Airlines - everyone that was on the flight, all booked through Vacation Express, so I did have some folks going to the same resort and others to surrounding hotels.

HOTEL:

Grand Memories Splash Punta Cana: All-inclusive family resort with water park where families can eat, drink, and splash together at this all-inclusive 4-star resort, which features a large water park with a wave pool, thrilling water slides, and more. The resort also has five restaurants and 11 bars to choose from.

It’s close to the beach via a short 5-minute ride on the hotel's in-property train to their sister property, Royalton Punta Cana, where you can spend the days sinking your feet into the silky-smooth white sands of Bavaro Beach.

TRANSPORTATION:

This trip did not include airport transfers to/from the resort. "Como? So how am we gonna get to the spot?" One of the things I appreciated about booking with Vacation Express, they were able to give recommendations and travel tips going to Punta Cana.

They recommended Nexus Tours for our airport transfer and excursions. It worked out great booking our ride with them because I was able to reserve a round-trip airport transfer. Their prices started from $20 and up, depending on your ride preference: whether shared or private. It catered to all budget! Also, they provided transportation for the excursions, they pick-up and drop off from our hotel - super plus!!

EXCURSIONS:

What's cool about Nexus Tours, you can search for things to do in Punta Cana based on category - cultural, nightlife, adventure, theme parks, or water activities.

I did 2 main excursions: country adventure tour and dune buggie ride.

The Country Adventure

It was an all-day tour (sis getting the most bang for her bucks!) discovering the Dominican way of life. It included a professional guide providing interesting information about the culture and history of the wonderful island.

I visited a local school and the home of a local family, where we enjoyed the authentic Dominican hospitality. You'll learn about the cultivation of different products of the region such as tropical fruits and sugarcane.

In addition, for connoisseurs of coffee, we got to savor the delicious Dominican coffee. For lunch, I visited a beautiful hill-side restaurant with spectacular views and then made a brief stop at the beautiful Macao beach!

Punta Cana Buggies

This was probably my favorite part of the trip!! I did a half-a-day adventure with this off-road tour on dune buggies.

The fun ride, crossing narrow trails through exotic landscapes and small villages, leads to the impressive cave El Hoyo - there, we could bathe in its cool, underground river (y'all the cave was not for me). To continue the adventure, we drove to Macao Beach and to enjoy the crystal clear water.

Definitely not going in the cave!

Overall, DR was great! Whether your are traveling there solo, as couple, or family, there is so much to explore and learn - I would definitely go back (& I survived with my baby Spanish).

Until next time, adios amigos!