Dreams La Romana

[dolfinluck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EmmaHartel Hello ladies! I'm planning my wedding at DLR for next May. I noticed quite a few of you talked or are talking about bringing your centerpieces and other decorations with you - has anyone shipped or thought about shipping their decor? With how expensive it is to bring extra luggage on the flight I was thinking it might be less expensive to ship it all, but I'd like to know if anyone has tried the shipping option. I'm also looking for opinions on using the pier for my ceremony. I've only seen one photo of the pier, but the thought of being married right on the water seems amazing! Thanks!

I didnt ship anything down but know people have since i saw a couple of boxes in Tiara and Yanna's office. I would just double check what you can and cannot ship. There have been a couple of brides that have had their boxes stopped in customs and were burned for having something they shouldnt. Also if you have anyone that is active military coming with you I would see if they would bring some stuff down with them as most airlines lets them check 3 bags for free (if not more).

[nsimpson]

Dolfinluck -I'm waiting with bated breath because I know your review will be just awesome

 

Quick questions,

 

1. did your TA arrange to have everyone in the 'newer' rooms?

2. were the older rooms (yellow decor) really bad or were they average in your opinion?

3. How and when did you settle your wedding tab? Did you have to pay cash for everything before the wedding?

 

Welcome Emma!

 

Thanks!

[hjack]

I am very sorry for the length of this review and I will have a few pictures to follow. I hope that it helps future brides. And thank you to everyone on this thread; you have all been such a tremendous help throughout the planning of my wedding.

 

I returned a week ago from my wedding at DLR. We were there for 2 weeks and had 22 guests stay for the first week. The resort is amazing and all guests were extremely happy with everything. Most guests stayed in Block 2, some of us in Block 4 and a few in the preferred section in Block 7. Out of all of our guests rooms the ocean front suits (also included in the preferred club) in Block 4 were by far the best. The view was amazing and the room was large and gorgeous. The garden view rooms in Block 4 were ok. Not the nicest rooms I have stayed in but they did their job. The rooms in Block 2 were the oldest of all the rooms I saw. They had the tub/showers which were rusted. A few of my guests said that they had issues with the sinks and tubs not draining as well as our air conditioning wasn’t working the first day, but after a call to reception the problems were quickly fixed.

 

The food was very good for an all inclusive resort. The choice of al a cart restaurants was fantastic and the no reservation policy was great. We had a group of 24 going for dinner most nights and it was never an issue to get us all in at the same times. We had either tables of 10, 6 or 4. My favourites were the French, Seaside Grill, Asian and Mexican. I only ate at the buffet for one dinner (Mexican) and it was quite good. Others in my group said that the buffet was good when they went. The free room service was great and came in handy quite a few times.

 

The beach was fantastic!!! Although it is not very long for walking, it was more than big enough for the size of the resort and there were always loungers available. There is fantastic snorkelling right off the beach. You just have to swim out from the center of the beach, passed the swimming ropes/buoys and out to the white sticks/markers. I have a large interest in snorkelling and scuba diving and this size of reef right off the resort’s beach was great. There were not many corals, but there was some and there was numerous fish always around. This was also a little snorkelling around the pier.

 

We went on 6 dives with Gri Gri Divers (the dive shop on site) and they were fantastic! We also booked a group tour for snorkelling and scuba diving at Catalina Island and it was well worth it. I would definitely recommend a trip to Catalina Island. Even if you don’t scuba dive or snorkel it is a beautiful island with an amazing beach. We also had the entire group do a sunset booze cruise with Gri Gri Divers for our stag and stagette. All the guys went off to the Chavon River and the girls went to Saona Island. Our boat drivers were so much fun and helped to make the night memorable.

 

I thought that the spa was good. I have never been to a spa at a resort before but I was happy with this one. I had my hair and make-up done at the spa for my wedding. A complimentary hair trial was included and was a great touch. It made me feel more relaxed and confident in them doing my hair for the wedding. There was a little communication barrier which was a little frustrating but nothing too serious. I was just honest and if I didn’t like what they were doing, I immediately told them and it was changed. I think my hair dresser’s name was April (maybe Arial). They supplied 3 fresh white flowers for my hair for the wedding day. I think they did a fantastic job on my make-up and was very happy with it. My mom had her make-up done as well, but I think it was too much. She normally doesn’t wear make-up (like me) but she did not tell them it was too heavy and dark, so that is what she got. It looked good in pictures; it was just a shock in person. My husband and I got a couples relaxation massage in a hut beside the gazebo. It was great!!! Just make sure you catch the spa staff by the pools when they are handing out coupons. We were able to get 50% off, so it turned out to be $80 US for 50 min for the both of us.

WEDDING

Here is a quick intro into what I had for my wedding. There were 24 guests and the ceremony and reception were on the beach. The ceremony was at 4pm and was very beach casual. We had the Caribbean music trio for before and after the ceremony, including for when I walked down the isle. A rose petal isle, we brought our own champagne for the toast and had the white wooden chairs. The reception was at 7 on the beach. We paid for the bar service, had the silver menu and brought a Bose iPod dock for music. There was also a screen provided for a surprise slide show (surprise for my husband and I) and we had tiki torches.

 

I met with Yanna three days before the wedding in the lobby. She had all of my communications with her and Tiara and there were no discrepancies between anything we had. I had prepared a timeline of the wedding day (as suggested by a fellow BDW bride) and it worked out great. I would suggest to any future brides to do this. She had a book with some pictures of bouquets, centerpieces, etc. However, there was not that large of a selection to choose from. I would suggest bringing down pictures of what you would like if you have something particular in mind. My bouquet had red and yellow roses and pink and white lilies; I was very happy with it. I had the natural arch and one centerpiece and all I said I wanted was tropical. They were both very nice and included sunflowers among many other flowers (sorry I do not what kind of flowers they were). The centerpiece also had Birds of Paradise in it. They also didn’t have any pictures (that I saw anyway) of the wedding cake. She just asked me if I wanted vanilla, chocolate or strawberry and I wasn’t sure what it was going to look like. It turned out fine. It wasn’t really fancy but I wasn’t too bothered. Again, if you have something particular in mind, I would suggest bringing a picture of it. We had to pay for the bill before the wedding and it was paid at reception.

 

There was a DJ service to play your ceremony songs for you and for the use of a microphone. I did not use a DJ as I had the Caribbean music trio for the ceremony. The ceremony was located in the center of the beach (which I was not fond of). I asked if we could have the beach ceremony and reception at a more private beach location, but Yanna said that this was not possible. There were on-lookers for the ceremony which are in the background of the pictures. However, I did not really notice them throughout the ceremony since I had much better things to look at and my photographer said that he can photoshop them out of the pictures. There was also yellow caution tape surrounding the ceremony location to keep people out. The ceremony was very quick, maybe 10 min. The natural wedding arch was very nice. The only complaint I would have is that when it came time to sign the documents they placed them in front of us to sign and it ended up that we signed them bent over in front of all of our guests; not the best photo op. I did not have a rehearsal and maybe if I did this would have been sorted out.

 

The reception was very nice. It started at 7pm and was on the beach. It was very private and we had the bar on the beach open till 11pm at a charge of $3 US + 26% taxes per person. They placed the natural arch behind the head table and the centerpiece which was on the ceremony table onto the head table. The Bose iPod dock worked well. However there was a resort beach party at the other end of the beach that night so we were sort-of competing with them so we could hear our music. But no big sweat, I was able to hear it and my feet were in the sand, so I was happy. There were plug-ins for the docking station all over the place and the extension cord that I brought wasn’t even needed. Dinner was great! We had the Assorted Dominican Appetizers (which included chicken wings ... a big hit), wild cream of mushroom soup which was fantastic, beef tenderloin and some pineapple cake dessert. I was never told (or never asked) if my guests could have a choice of the entree. The tiki torches were a nice thought but were not worth the money; the wind kept blowing them out. We had the beach until 11pm and I finally noticed the time once the waiters told us the bar was closed at 11:15pm. It took the group a while to clear the beach and the staff was very pleasant about it and did not “kick us offâ€.

 

Yanna was with us from before the ceremony until well into dinner, maybe even cake cutting. I was quite happy with her and she was very confident in her job. For most of my planning down there I wasn’t sure what I wanted and I just kept telling her tropical. I had no idea what to expect and everything was beautiful.

 

I am sure that there is some information that I have missed and if you have any questions please feel free to ask. Happy Planning and Weddings to everyone and you will definitely not be disappointed in your choice of Dreams La Romana!

[hjack]

My bouquet

 

The centrepiece

 

Natural Arch

 

 

Rose Petal Isle

 

Caribbean Music Trio

 

Wedding Cake

 

Reception Location and Set-up

[dolfinluck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsimpson Dolfinluck -I'm waiting with bated breath because I know your review will be just awesome Quick questions, 1. did your TA arrange to have everyone in the 'newer' rooms? 2. were the older rooms (yellow decor) really bad or were they average in your opinion? 3. How and when did you settle your wedding tab? Did you have to pay cash for everything before the wedding? Welcome Emma! Thanks!

Have most of the review done but waiting on some pics from my sister (she is coming over later). but in the mean time

1. i sent the requests to my TA and she forwarded them on to the correct person but when we got there everyone was in building 2 & 3 instead of 4 & 5. DH wanted us to be in building 5 once he saw the location of the gazebo so I would not have to walk so far. I didnt care as much but he went to the front desk a couple of hours after we checked in and we got changed within 5 mins. I was so happy that he did so as I thought the room looked a lot better. A couple of other ppl switched locations and wasnt a big deal to do so.

2. I thought the decor in the older rooms was ok but the newer rooms are more modern. My sister might have taken a pic of her room as she was in building 3. I'll post one if she took one.

3. In my meeting with Yanna, she said the wedding would be billed to my room and i would pay at check out. I had her total it up right then so there were no surprises. And at check out i paid the bill with my credit card. Side note, if you pay in cash you will pay a couple of dollars less b/c when i paid with my cc they changed it in to pesos at a slightly lower rate. Its not much, like for our couple's massage it was $200 but when I got home and checked my online statement it says $204. Not that big of a deal but thought i would let you know.

[dolfinluck]

Congrats Hjack!!! great review and lovely pics!

[nsimpson]

HJack - Congratulations and welcome back!! Thanks for the review and pictures it sounds like you had so much fun!

 

Dolfinluck - thanks for the quick response and for the heads up regarding credit card conversions!

 

I'm a little nervous about the rooms though...I'd really like for all my guests to be in the newer rooms but from what you ladies are saying, it seems like you have to book preferred club to get that 'luxury'!

[EmmaHartel]

Thanks for answering my question so quickly Dolfinluck : )

 

I have another question for anyone that's been to DLR - do you know if there is a big difference between the Master Honeymoon Suite and the Preferred Club Ocean Front Suite? Is the Honeymoon suite ocean front?

 

Thanks ladies : )

[jenne]

I would not worry about the rooms at all! My sister stayed in building 2, room 2313. Here are pictures of her room:

 

The next picture is of my Dad's room which was in the preferred club, building 7. As you can see, they are the same!

 

 

I don't have a picture of the one room I saw that was different. But one guest stayed in building 3 and had a room that looked like this a little different than the others but was still very nice. Check Oyster Hotel Reviews and find Dreamss La Romana and the pictures of the rooms with more brown colouring is how the other rooms looked.

[KPEG]

Hi girls! Missed you all! We're back from our week at DLR. Regarding the resort, there was some good and some bad things. The wedding itself was good but there were some last minute things that may make some brides uneasy.

 

We have only been back one day so I'm still doing laundry and getting things back in order but I will have a review and hopefully pics up soon! (pics for sure once I can get the 1000s of pics organized off our cameras!)

 

Dolfinluck, wish we could have met! I think my brothers-in-law may have walked up to see what was going on on the beach the night of your wedding! When they came back and told me it was a wedding, my brain finally clicked that it was yours! I had too much going on that Saturday night when we arrived. Hope your wedding was fab!