Dominican Safari Half Day...

Booking and Communication Issues

I booked a half day safari tour through Marriott Activities with the operator listed as “Exclusive Tours, VIP Punta Cana.” I never received any communication from the operator after booking, so I contacted them directly the evening before the tour. They said they had no record of my reservation, even after I sent screenshots of the booking. They suggested that I cancel the reservation and pay cash the next day instead. That did not feel comfortable to me, so I decided not to proceed and had to find something else to do, which unfortunately threw off my plans and meant missing an island tour I had really been looking forward to. One other thing to note: the phone number associated with the booking comes up online under a different company name, “Caribean Travels Tours,” which added to my uncertainty about the booking. I can not speak to the actual tour because I never took it, but the booking and communication experience was disappointing.

via Tripadvisor

A good trip

This was a good trip in terms of what we saw. We loved going to see the Dominican house and farm, a lovely place with the cocoa plants and fruit trees. We were taken to the cigar factory and watched as they rolled cigars and even got to have a go. We were taken to the cathedral at Higuey and then for me the highlight was going round the food market, the sounds, the smells were amazing. We could have spent longer there. The minus points were that there were vague instructions about being picked up and I had to chase them for the information myself through messaging. The farm house trip and cigar factory ends with the obligatory sales pitch. Not a problem I expect that. The Cathedral trip felt like a hustle though. We were dropped in the car park and handed to a guide who spent 10 minutes rushing us around the church and at one point insisted on taking photos of us at the altar. This felt disrespectful, the chance to dwell and pray in the house of God was largely ignored. We were then relieved of 1500 pesos as a fee for the guide and an entrance fee. Not a very spiritual experience. I would have rather have had no guide and paid the entrance fee myself. The trip to the market also began with a tour around the gift shop. Not I don’t want to buy loads of shirts, paintings, jewellery and painted coconut shells but yes I do understand Dominicans need to make a living. Lastly the whole trip was not done in a bus like the one in the picture at all. We had the ride in a 7 seater but we were the only ones on the trip so yes they were not going to run the bus just for us. My apologies for not tipping our guide for the day but I had been cleaned out of all my cash at the Cathedral. Overall we are glad we did the trip. Our guide was very good and knowledgable. We saw what we wanted to see. I would recommend it, just be wary of the Cathedral visit.

via Viator

Someone picked us up &...

Someone picked us up & dropped us off outside another resort & were told someone would pick us up. We were picked up 20 minutes later & what we thought would be a 4 hour tour ended up being like a 10 hour tour. It was fun but long & tiring.

via Viator

Extraordinary and Exciting!

This was an amazing experience. I really appreciated the attention to detail, friendliness and dedication of the crew to making the tour exciting and worth the while. We visited many hidden gems I wouldn’t have otherwise found out about the city of Punta Cana and surrounding areas. I would definitely recommend and even consider going again just for the scenery!

Response from the operator: Gracias por su valiosa opinión,trataremos siempre de mantenernos como nro 1 en punta cana en cuanto a calidad servicio,salubridad y seguridad de nuestros clientes.

via Viator