Part 2 – Kyle and Carmen
This week, we are catching back up with recent Liz Moore Destination Wedding couple, Kyle, and Carmen whose travel specialist was Keeley Dahl. Importantly, if you missed the first part of this segment, click here. Moreover, this beautiful couple will be discussing the in’s and out’s of the wedding resort they chose for their destination wedding. Alright, let’s begin Destination Wedding Advice – Dreams La Romana!
Dreams La Romana
Food
Firstly, there is the buffet and seven A La Carte Restaurants, none requiring reservations, and
most of the food was fantastic. The buffet was great and always had a good variety. The
Japanese Restaurant (Himitsu), the French Restaurant (Bordeaux), and the Seaside Grill
were the favourites amongst myself and most of the guests.
The Jungle Restaurant was the least favourite as far as food, although it was a neat atmosphere, and other than that the food wasn’t bad anywhere, just not as outstanding as the others. There is also a Pizzeria by the main pool which is excellent and all made fresh, and there is the Coco café near the lobby that is open 24/7 for snacks and coffee whenever you need something. Lastly, there is 24/7 room service, which was unfortunately quite slow to arrive (up to an hour and a half) and usually cold, but it does the trick if you’re starving.
The Jungle Restaurant was the least favourite as far as food, although it was a neat atmosphere, and other than that the food wasn’t bad anywhere, just not as outstanding as the others. There is also a Pizzeria by the main pool which is excellent and all made fresh, and there is the Coco café near the lobby that is open 24/7 for snacks and coffee whenever you need something. Lastly, there is 24/7 room service, which was unfortunately quite slow to arrive (up to an hour and a half) and usually cold, but it does the trick if you’re starving.
Drinks
The drinks and the bar service are a bit inconsistent. Some bartenders are extremely
quick and efficient, while others almost seem to ignore guests. Although some drinks are so strong you can barely drink them, and some you can’t even tell there’s any alcohol in them. The
Veranda Bar was definitely the best service and drinks during our stay (Special Thanks to
our favourite bartender Moreto!).
Beach
The beach was beautiful, with plenty of chairs. It definitely fills up a bit in the late
morning to afternoon, but even with a large group, we never had trouble finding enough
chairs or space to set up somewhere together. They keep the beach spotlessly clean, the
water is gorgeous and of course warm, and usually, the drink service on the beach was quite
good.
Activities
No shortage here! Many in the group took advantage of snorkelling just off shore and
around the pier, which was apparently very good! Some went kayaking; some did the water
aerobics and dance lessons on the beach that they have every day. There’s volleyball on the beach, and other sports like tennis, baseball and soccer fields a little further back on the property that I never had a chance to check out. They’ve got plenty of games like giant chess, pool, ping pong and foosball tables, shuffleboard and a batting cage all easily
accessible.
They seem to hold an event of some kind at least every other day, whether it’s a coconut or burger festival, karaoke, or a white party. They also have an indoor stage where they hold a nightly show – some shows were much better than others.
As a wedding gift, a couple of our guests bought us a “romantic dinner on the pier”, which is something the resort does for couples every night in a few different spots. That was by far the best dinner we had the whole trip, and incredible service by our waiter, Franklin.
Excursions
There are many excursions available at many different price levels. We only did a couple and were mostly happy with the value.
Bayahibe
No payment necessary. Bayahibe is a cute little local fishing town just a 10-minute walk down the beach from the resort. There wasn’t a lot to do there, but we enjoyed it and felt it was worth seeing. Of course the local have little tourist shops set up all over trying to sell paintings and trinkets. Most of the water excursions on this side of the island seem to leave from the Bayahibe marina, so there are many, many boats coming and going in the morning and evening.
Catalina Island Snorkelling Trip
Kyle and I did this one alone. It’s fun and nice just to hang out on the water for a couple of hours, although there wasn’t quite as much snorkelling involved as we expected for how it was advertised. They take you out on a 40 person speed boat, and you jump off the boat in a deep area for some incredibly beautiful snorkelling, but only for about 25 minutes or so.
Unfortunately the water there was so wavy and rough, it was hard to keep steady enough to really enjoy it, as you have to wear a lifejacket, and it keeps pulling your head back up. Definitely not for non-swimmers. They then take you on to Catalina Island for some sandwiches and a bit more snorkel time in the shallow water, which was also fantastic, but again, not that long. This was only a half-day excursion.
Santo Domingo Tour
We did this one with a small group through our travel company, Transat. It was
interesting, and lots of neat things to see but they are quite spread out. You get to see a
range of things from Christopher Columbus’ Lighthouse, and the palace of Columbus’ son, to the Parliament buildings and the first cathedral of the new world. You also get to have an unbelievable lunch at one of the local restaurants (my favourite part), with a performance by some of their dancers.
Saona Island and Catamaran Trip
100% the highlight for most of our guests! This one was also organized by our
Transat representative at the hotel. We had 40 people from our group, and Kyle and I got to
go for free as a “wedding gift.”
We started on a large speedboat and stopped at the beautiful “blue lagoon” on the way to wade in the water with the starfish, and they bring around rum and mix. After a while, we all got back on the boat and headed to Saona Island for the afternoon and some lunch. They did an amazing buffet for us, and I can’t even describe how beautiful the island was.
Everyone swam and suntanned, and there were, of course, locals there selling massages, lobster, and trinkets. There was an open rum bar again, which went over very well with our group! A little tipsy, everyone then got on a big Catamaran for a 2-hour trip returning to the resort, with music blasting and drinks flowing. It was a fantastic party; we would do it again in a heartbeat!!
Next Week…
Alright, now that we have gotten to know Kyle and Carmen, heard all about the resort, all we have left is the wedding! Moreover, tune in next week to hear all the details about their wedding. This has been Destination Wedding Advice – Dreams La Romana!
Paige Moore
Director of Communications for Liz Moore Destination Weddings. She enjoys writing about all things wedding, travel, and fashion. Notably, she has a BA in Communications and currently located in Sydney, Australia.@Paige2Travel
@Paige2Travel