FlyerTalk Forums - Toronto to Punta Cana and Back...

This is my first report so be kind. Any and all constructive criticism is most welcome!

For the past few months I had been contemplating going away on my
upcoming yearly scheduled vacation from work to recharge (and prevent them finding me under my desk playing with my toes). I won't
bore you with the details of my torturous decision process (I took
longer to decide the details than Eisenhower did for D-Day) suffice
it to say I had so many browser window tabs up it looked like I was piecing together the secrets of the human genome.

After much thinking, much gnashing of teeth (my dentist wants me to
get a night guard for this...like hell I will!), much rending of
garments (okay it was already partly rended) it was done. Hosannah
be praised but a destination was decided (insert Iron Chef sounding
drums here): Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Booking confirmed via
Air Canada Vacations for 1 week at the Blau Natura Resort.

A couple of days later I called the travel agent in hopes to secure
an upgrade to Executive Class as I saw that there was an offer to
upgrade for roughly $300. The seats were sold out -- STRIKE ONE. A
few weeks later I tried Air Canada Vacations who directed me to call
my travel agent -- STRIKE TWO.

I called the travel agent again on December 1/2009 hoping against
hope that a seat might have opened up (I was also hoping they'd
change the equipment from an A320 to an A321) and to have the miles
credited to my Continental OnePass. This was when Mister Murphy, in full regalia with trumpets blaring and hangers-on genuflecting, made
an appearance. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that A)there were
no Executive Class seats available but that may change come the day
of the flight (FOUL BALL); and B)Because this is an Air Canada
Vacations (as opposed to Air Canada flights) booking, they cannot
credit it to OnePass but they can to Aeroplan. Well easy-peasy as
Jamie Oliver would say; but no it wasn't easy-peasy for I do not
have an Aeroplan Membership. So there I was, frantically applying
for an Aeroplan card, on a Tuesday, with the NBA Raptors on TV once again getting mauled like a fluffy bunny amidst a herd of ravenous Coyotes.

Finally December 4 came. At 1528 EST, I logged on to Air Canada's Online Check-in and proceeded to grab my seat only to be told I couldn't do it. I'm sitting at my desk patiently trying to will my blood-pressure back to normal. At 1530 EST I tried again and managed to score 12D (thank you SeatGuru!).

For the past several weeks I had been in contact with Air Canada to try and purchase separate access for the Maple Leaf Lounge. Of course, their answer was no stating that because it was an Air Canada Vacations package, only those with Executive Class tickets get access. Now normally one can purchase a separate MLL pass on AC depending on the fare class but not in this instance. So I resorted to contacting the Plaza people who were responsible for running the Open-To-All-Passengers-For-A-Fee Toronto Pearson Lounge (across from Gate 176). Now my mother was also leaving the next day on a 7am flight to Denver so I thought kill two birds with one stone and go to the airport with her even though my flight didn't leave until 1530. That means I'd be at the airport around 0500. I figured I could walk around Terminal 1 landside for a few hours and then head over to the Lounge. The Plaza said the price was $30 CAD for 3 hours and if I wanted to stay for longer I would have to pay another $30. This of course includes everything from beverages (both soft and alcoholic), meals, a business center, and showers. In the end, I didn't think it worthwhile and just went to the airport about 3 hours prior to my flight.

I wake up on December 5 and do a final equipment check making sure I have all my documents, answer a few emails, then headed over to Pearson Terminal 1. I lugged my rollaboard through Pier E to an easy chicken terminal to reprint my boarding pass (I was hoping they'd spit out one of those nice cardboard types but it was on flimsy thermal paper). I was expecting a zoo at security but as it turned out, I was #3 in line for the scanners. After the perfunctory Metal Detector and X-Ray machine dance, I was off to Gate 169. Now I'm thinking to myself, "oh 169 should just be around the corner." Like bloody hell it was! I had to take a couple of those express people movers to the hammerhead and an escalator down.

As I followed the signs for Gate 169, I was confronted by a big glass wall between me and the gate. I'm standing there thinking "Oh. Crap. I made a wrong turn." As it turns out, Gate 169 was (at the time) under the jurisdictional control of US Customs and Border Protection as well as the TSA as it is a Star Alliance gate. So I did what any self-respecting Canadian would do in the face of a wait; I queued up at the Tim Hortons (A beacon to the proletariat as the Comic Ron James described it). And wouldn't you know it? The right .......s did not sell their regular array of sandwiches. Now at this point I hadn't had anything to eat since dinner the previous night so I was just this side of cheesed off. I had to settle for an extra large coffee, a Walnut Crunch, and a Maple Glazed Doughnut. I sat down next to the Relay Duty Free Store (I think it was Relay) and checked my phone for messages. My travelling companion was wandering between Gates 170-175 so I told them where I was and we met up; we spent the next hour or so with them reading the paper and me exploring the stores and doing some plane-spotting.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2520/...5e276197_b.jpg
An AC 773 bound for Munich.

Most of the gates were empty and Gate 177 had a Jet Airways A330 but I couldn't get a decent shot as it was blocked by the airbridges. I stopped at Relay and purchased some chocolate peanuts and beef jerky (this would come in handy later on as it turned out). I returned to my seat after also securing a few luggage tags and waited.

Finally the glass dividers were slid aside allowing passengers to wait at the gate like sharks around an island of sea lions. About half an hour before boarding, we amble over to the gate and see this

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2639/...1d2ac8e3_b.jpg
Now either Wonder Woman will be flying the lot of us to PUJ or something's not quite right.

At 1430, the Gatekeeper announces that the ship is inbound but about an hour late. Much grumbling ensues from the group of travellers sitting behind me. Why I don't quite know because it's not like they're catching a connecting flight at PUJ. Finally the aircraft arrives and the gate dance commences

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/...e1767848_b.jpg

They do the standard, Star Gold/Elite/Super Elite/Global Services/Executive Class pre-boarding announcements and as usual that is ignored and people made a beeline for the gate like they were trying to catch the last helicopter out of Saigon in 1975. Finally I board and to my delight, the middle seat is empty making the flight down a breeze.

Finally pushback. Taxied to AK 122.275. Then 23H CAT III. We were right behind a LAN 767 CC-CXC holding at 23Q. Our Route:
OAKVL V265 THORL EWC 4000N 08000W ILM CLB AR3 PERIE AR3 NUCAR G446 ALUTE G446 LYMIN G446 GTK ASIVO W10 PIXAR.

Our Flight path:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight_t...ime=1260063540

We settled at FL 330 with a speed of 452 Kts.

A Post Take Off Shot:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/...c5d3e0ca_b.jpg

Once the aircraft leveled off the cabin crew started the Beverage and BOB service. I tried the Chicken Wrap ($7) and it was surprisingly decent. It could have been warmed up more but overall not bad. However, $7 seems a bit steep for it. Shortly after wrapping up the "meal" service, the Cabin Crew handed out the visas and Customs/Immigration Forms. The flight went pretty smoothly until some passengers (I won't identify where they were sitting) started having a screaming match...thank God for earbuds and volume control.

We finally arrived at Punta Cana International Airport and slowly deplaned. I took 1 step off the aircraft and was immediately slapped by what felt like a wet hot towel. It was humid and hot and by the time I cleared passport control and was waiting for my tour bus to the Resort, I was DRENCHED. The tour bus driver introduced himself as Speedy Gonzalez (something tells me this wasn't his real name :D) who proceeded to drive on fairly unpaved and unlit roads at speeds that got my heart rate slightly elevated. In what seemed like the middle of nowhere, on a stretch of road with no lights and no signs of civilization anywhere, Mister Bus Driver stops and turns into a dark road (again with no lights). I somewhat loudly piped up "If I see him bring out a box of Cannolis I'm out of here" to the chuckles of my fellow passengers.

After dropping the others off, we finally arrived at the Blau Natura EcoResort. We check in, get our arms banded, and told that it costs $4 USD a day to use the in-room safe (D'oH!). We declined and headed off to our rooms after being told that there would be a midnight snack arranged for us. I enter my room, put my key fob in the slot to activate the electricity and air conditioning, and proceed to unpack. I take a quick shower and get dressed fully planning on availing of the proffered snack but when I opened my front door, I was smacked once again by the hot wet towel of heat and decided to forgo said snack. I told my travel companion this (who was staying in the room across from me) and I proceed to bolt my door shut. This is where the Beef Jerky comes in! I grab said pack of petrified meat, a bottle of tepid beer in the mini-bar (it's an all-inclusive resort so there's no charge), and proceed to snack on several pieces just to tide me over until breakfast. I finally fall asleep at 1am and was awakened several times; the first several times by the humidity making me gasp for air, and finally by housekeeping.

I jump out of bed after this and quickly do my morning ablutions then headed to breakfast. It was (probably because I was starving) one of the best breakfasts I've had complete with several glasses of cold Orange and Pineapple juices, eggs, and crispy bacon.

After breakfast we went exploring the resort amenities before heading our separate ways and I discovered El Remojon Bar overlooking the pool. This was where I spent most of my time and I came to rename it "The Captain's Perch" ("The Perch" for short).

Some Shots:
(1)The Perch
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2733/...70da30ae_b.jpg

(2)The Bar itself
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2689/...13b96d5b_b.jpg

(3)The Swim-Up Bar Below The Perch
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2488/...705a4111_b.jpg

(4)Swimming Pool Shot
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/...d6c7e105_b.jpg

I remained regimented during my week's stay here. My schedule pretty much consisted of waking up at 6am, watching TNT until 8am then heading off to Breakfast. After breakfast I'd hit The Perch, and people watch/read books until my friend met up with me for Lunch. After lunch I'd normally take a 2 hour siesta then head back to The Perch and sip a nice cold beverage and people watch/read until my friend met up with me for dinner.

Meals were okay. Breakfast and Lunch were always Buffet style. Dinner was a combination of Buffet and if you book it, a la carte. The buffet meals were nothing spectacular. They were mostly edible though I must point out that their interpretation of Mexican Food made me long for the authenticity of Mexican Cuisine from a Mall Food Court. The A la Carte meals were better. The Blau has La Perla Restaurant for Seafood, Media Luna Restaurant for Steak, and La Gondola Restaurant for Italian. All three were decent.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/...0c516a42_b.jpg
La Perla Seafood Restaurant

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2747/...5ec3a294_b.jpg
Media Luna Steakhouse

One day I arrived at The Perch only to find it still closed so I decided to walk to the beach and get some pictures:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2608/...24cfc90e_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2711/...4c689155_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2701/...2d08b4bb_b.jpg

The Hotel/Resort is very dated and needs a thorough overhaul to bring it up to 5-Star standards. Despite their self-proclaimed 5-Star rating, I would only give this place a maximum of 3-Stars. The rooms (especially the bathrooms) need to be updated. I'm not going to hash out the details here as I've already posted under a different pseudonym on Trip Advisor (mine's the really long and detailed entry from December 2009) but feel free to contact me privately and I can provide more details on this.

Some Photos of the grounds and its inhabitants:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/...7d8b1f3b_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/...947234be_b.jpg

Finally it was time to leave. We checked out at 1200 and hung around The Perch and the El Merenguito Bar in the main lobby before dashing off to a quick dinner and then the waiting bus to the airport. We had done online check-in from the so-called "Business Center" (really a small room with 8 or 9 computers and no printers) but had to queue up for boarding passes. Punta Cana International Airport was PACKED. Next to us was a long lineup for XL Airways PUJ-CDG of tanned and some plenty-of-skin-showing clad French ladies. PCIA did not have any self-serve checkin kiosks so we had to go through the winding check-in process before scampering off to Passport Control. Once cleared of that, I headed to the Duty Free and bought a liter bottle of Rum and some Gitanes before heading to Gate 4 where AC 1855 was scheduled to depart.

While waiting to board, I of course did some plane spotting. Sorry for the blurry and dark images, the camera didn't like me for some reason:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2491/...b97be500_b.jpg
An AF 773. Those Trent Engines were HUGE!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2647/...0f99c47f_b.jpg
LAN A330. Gorgeous and Massive!

The route PUJ-YYZ:
PNA W28 BEREL W28 PETRI G446 GTK L450 IORIO G431 LETON L451 JAINS L451 OLDEY AR3 CLB ILM J109 LDN J109 BUF LINNG1

The Flight Path PUJ-YYZ:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight_t...ime=1260682623

The flight was once again uneventful but tighter. I was not lucky enough to not have a seatmate on the flight back so it was a fairly cramped 3+ hours. After the Beverage/BOB service, customs and immigration forms were handed out. Touchdown at YYZ was 30 minutes early so the flight was held up until Gate 174 could be made available. Also, we were met by an EMT crew as an Executive Class passenger took ill and needed some assistance. Hopefully she's doing well and had no adverse medical condition!

The majority of the hotel guests were Europeans (French, Germans, and some Eastern Europeans) followed by South Americans (Chile) and North Americans (Canadians mostly but there were probably some Americans too). They were there, from disparate parts of the world, from different cultures, all wanting a respite (some for a week; others longer) from the trials and tribulations of the world; from the mundanity of lives. Despite the difference of cultures, the barriers of language, the disparity of ages the microcosm that was that week made evident that at its most basic, we are more alike than we are different.