I titled this post "Preview" because I forgot to bring my real camera with me. All of these shots are with my HTC Incredible smartphone. I'll have to go back later this Summer with my Canon G10.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Highline Preview
For Ifore's last night in New York, we went out to the Highline. It was a place I've been meaning to go to. I met up with Ifore, Jiselle and Emily after work, so it was still bright outside ans we had the dusk lighting as we walked across the tracks from 14th St. to 20th St. There were a lot of people there, but I was still able to get all the shots I wanted without interference.
I titled this post "Preview" because I forgot to bring my real camera with me. All of these shots are with my HTC Incredible smartphone. I'll have to go back later this Summer with my Canon G10.
I titled this post "Preview" because I forgot to bring my real camera with me. All of these shots are with my HTC Incredible smartphone. I'll have to go back later this Summer with my Canon G10.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Serendipity (for Dessert)
Location: 225 East 60th St., New York, NYCuisine: American
Hours: SUN-THU (11:30am-12am); FRI (11:30am-1am); SAT (11:30am-2am)
Phone: (212) 838-3531
Website: www.serendipity3.com
Prices: $20/person
Credit Cards: All major
Food: 8
Service: 4
Value: 7
Environment: 2
Frequency: Unique
Ifore has gone to Serendipity the last couple of times he visited NY, so it's a little weird that today was my first time there. I got to the area a little earlier and there were people waiting outside, but it looked like people were leaving and entering at short intervals. So I didn't think the wait was going to be that long. When we all arrived (party of 4), they told us it was a 1 hour wait. We went shopping and came back in an hour. We were then told it was a 20 minute wait... followed by another 20 minute wait. Another party that had just arrived was told their wait would be 2 hours. So long waits are normal for this place.
Even though the wait time is known, I factored that into the service rating. Waiters weren't really that friendly and were pretty slow. The food we had was good and the portions justified to some extent the high prices. The desserts were unique too. This is not a place I would come back to as a native New Yorker, unless I had out of town guests. While the food was good, it wasn't worth the 1 hour and 40 minute wait.
The environment is extremely crowded and uncomfortable. No matter where they seat you, you will be next to a a stranger. There's no elbow room at all. If you have a party of 2, you'll be at a table for 1. There's no space to walk around because the place is always full and there are tourists shopping for souvenirs at the front, conveniently blocking the entrance.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Dominican Republic TOC
This post is a table of contents of all entries related to our Dominican Republic family vacation. I wrote many of these within the past 3 days, but posted them based on the original dates of occurrence:
- Punta Cana Cast
- Heading Out
- Arrival in DR
- Rock Spa
- Day 2 Lunch & Afternoon
- Zen
- "Normal" Dominican Routine
- Rock Spa II
- Ipanema
- The Dominican Experience
- Pizzeto
- Moon Rocker Adventures
- Ciao
- Romantic Dinner
- Snorkel Paradise
- Cafetto
- Toro
- Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
- Punta Cana Cast
- Heading Out
- Arrival in DR
- Rock Spa
- Day 2 Lunch & Afternoon
- Zen
- "Normal" Dominican Routine
- Rock Spa II
- Ipanema
- The Dominican Experience
- Pizzeto
- Moon Rocker Adventures
- Ciao
- Romantic Dinner
- Snorkel Paradise
- Cafetto
- Toro
- Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Location: Punta Cana, Dominican RepublicPhone: (809) 731-0000
Website: www.hardrockhotelpuntacana.com
Price: n/a (part of timeshare)
Credit Cards: All major
Rooms: 9
Service: 9
Value: 9
Amenities: 9
Length of Stay: 7 nights
Last year, I thought Beach Palace in Cancun was the best hotel, but Hard Rock was actually slightly better. The room was probably about the same sq. footage, but had a more original design. Everything was laid out on a diagonal and there was a step down to the jacuzzi and porch. Furniture and bath area were the same high quality that's probably characteristic throughout all Palace Resorts properties.
There's no contest when it comes to services. I've never had any as good as this hotel. Everyone was super nice. The rooms were kept clean... almost too clean in my opinion. Housekeeping would come by at least 3x a day. I think once is enough! Occasionally a worker would mess up because of language barrier, but I didn't sense any hesitation from a single staff member when I came to helping people out. Everyone was polite and patient. Our tours, spa credits and photographer credits were allocated properly and I didn't feel at any point that we were being ripped off. I had suspected that in Cancun.
This resort is a truly self sufficient ecosystem. There's a comfortable amount of space for the amount of guests staying there. There are enough pools, dining areas and other services to go around. The fitness center is state-of-the-art in contrast to the tiny ones in Cancun. Phone calls to the US are included. Wi-fi has good coverage. It's only lost out in the beach, but that's understandable.
If this is Palace Resort's ultimate accommodation, then I'd rather come back to this one every year rather than go to another destination!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Toro
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.
Cuisine: Buffet (breakfast & lunch), Steak (dinner)
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 10
Value: n/a
Environment: 10
Frequency: Uncommon
Toro is supposed to be Hard Rock's top restaurant with it being a steakhouse. It probably had the best decor and service compared to all of the others. I gave it rare 10's for both. Other than Zen, it was the only other one that required reservations.
We first went there as a group on 5/10. Most of us enjoyed the food, but a few who ordered the well done steaks thought it was too dry. That's the main reason I never order well done from a steakhouse. My medium cooked top sirloin turned out just right. For our last dinner of the trip (tonight), Ifore, Jiselle and I came back while the rest of the group took a chance on "Asian Night" at Zen.
The portion sizes varied depending on what was ordered. The beef tenderloin I had the second night was about half the size of the top sirloin. Both were pretty good though. Ifore's rib eye was thin, but juicy. Service and environment were consistently great after 2 nights there. I gave the food an 8 because it wasn't as good as the NY steakhouses, but a step up from diners and non-steakhouse restaurants.
At the end of the last night, it turned out that we made the right choice of eating at Toro. The others didn't enjoy their Chinese meal at Zen, solidifying my rule of no Chinese outside of NY and China!
Cuisine: Buffet (breakfast & lunch), Steak (dinner)
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 10
Value: n/a
Environment: 10
Frequency: Uncommon
Toro is supposed to be Hard Rock's top restaurant with it being a steakhouse. It probably had the best decor and service compared to all of the others. I gave it rare 10's for both. Other than Zen, it was the only other one that required reservations.
We first went there as a group on 5/10. Most of us enjoyed the food, but a few who ordered the well done steaks thought it was too dry. That's the main reason I never order well done from a steakhouse. My medium cooked top sirloin turned out just right. For our last dinner of the trip (tonight), Ifore, Jiselle and I came back while the rest of the group took a chance on "Asian Night" at Zen.
The portion sizes varied depending on what was ordered. The beef tenderloin I had the second night was about half the size of the top sirloin. Both were pretty good though. Ifore's rib eye was thin, but juicy. Service and environment were consistently great after 2 nights there. I gave the food an 8 because it wasn't as good as the NY steakhouses, but a step up from diners and non-steakhouse restaurants.
At the end of the last night, it turned out that we made the right choice of eating at Toro. The others didn't enjoy their Chinese meal at Zen, solidifying my rule of no Chinese outside of NY and China!
Cafetto
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.Cuisine: Italian, Cafe
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: n/a
Environment: 9
Frequency: Common
I first tried out Caffeto when the rest of the group went to the timeshare presentation and then recommended it because they had a very good non-buffet breakfast menu. Most of the items were actually healthy too. I got my parents there one morning and the whole group for lunch after our snorkeling tour.
Though it's a close comparison with Ciao, this would have to be my favorite breakfast restaurant because of the specially cooked eggs. But I didn't feel they had anything as special on their lunch menu. Service here was very good... well staffed for the number of seats and organized system. The place was also comfortable for the small space it had.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Romantic Dinner
Some of the credits were allocated to a romantic dinner for the parents, but I joined them for photos... which we had to use up the rest of the spare credits on. While the photography team works hard, the resulting pictures don't look like ones shot by a professional from an SLR (I retouched them before posting to my Mom's Picasa account). And I noticed that they were using a free Kodak image editor to retouch the photos.
Ciao
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.
Cuisine: Buffet, Italian
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: n/a
Environment: 8
Frequency: Common
Ciao was our regular meeting place because most of the time, we didn't have a fixed schedule and just needed to round everyone up to eat. Since it's a buffet, there's no wait time and enough variety that everyone can enjoy their meal. Services all around were great despite the high volume of guests they get each day.
Breakfast
Though it was always good, I think the breakfast services were the best. The guy at the grill was friendly and efficient. He handled all custom orders with precision. The end product not only tasted great, but looked good enough for a photo ad. I think he should move to NY if he wants to make the big bucks! Oh... he's a Yankees fan too. Outside of the grill, the readymade items consisted of generic breakfast foods (scrambled eggs, French toast, pancakes) as well as Dominican specialties (plantains, fajitas, various sausages).
Lunch
Lunch was the same no matter which buffet place you went to. We tried out Isla and Toro by the beach. The burgers are tiny and dry. The pork chops were great. Pasta was good too. The thing that made Ciao more appealing than the other buffets for lunch was the environment. Even though it was a buffet, the space and cleanliness had a restaurant feel to it.
Dinner
For dinner, Ciao became an Italian restaurant with a menu rather than buffet. The neat thing about the dinner style was the appetizers were still buffet style. So if you wanted to try 2 soups, you can get a little of each and not waste anything. For my entree, I had a mushroom fettuccine. I wanted to test this dish out because Pizzeto reused the buffet mushrooms for their pizza topping. I thought Ciao would too, but to my surprise it was a better mushroom and even the pasta was different than the buffet version.
Cuisine: Buffet, Italian
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: n/a
Environment: 8
Frequency: Common
Ciao was our regular meeting place because most of the time, we didn't have a fixed schedule and just needed to round everyone up to eat. Since it's a buffet, there's no wait time and enough variety that everyone can enjoy their meal. Services all around were great despite the high volume of guests they get each day.
Breakfast
Though it was always good, I think the breakfast services were the best. The guy at the grill was friendly and efficient. He handled all custom orders with precision. The end product not only tasted great, but looked good enough for a photo ad. I think he should move to NY if he wants to make the big bucks! Oh... he's a Yankees fan too. Outside of the grill, the readymade items consisted of generic breakfast foods (scrambled eggs, French toast, pancakes) as well as Dominican specialties (plantains, fajitas, various sausages).
Lunch
Lunch was the same no matter which buffet place you went to. We tried out Isla and Toro by the beach. The burgers are tiny and dry. The pork chops were great. Pasta was good too. The thing that made Ciao more appealing than the other buffets for lunch was the environment. Even though it was a buffet, the space and cleanliness had a restaurant feel to it.
Dinner
For dinner, Ciao became an Italian restaurant with a menu rather than buffet. The neat thing about the dinner style was the appetizers were still buffet style. So if you wanted to try 2 soups, you can get a little of each and not waste anything. For my entree, I had a mushroom fettuccine. I wanted to test this dish out because Pizzeto reused the buffet mushrooms for their pizza topping. I thought Ciao would too, but to my surprise it was a better mushroom and even the pasta was different than the buffet version.
Moon Rocker Adventures
Our second trip outside of Hard Rock's walls wasn't very far, but it was fun. We signed up for an ATV tour to another Dominican home. I originally thought we'd be driving around on an empty piece of beach, but it was a lot more than I expected. The tours started around the hotel and beach at first. But we eventually left the premise, crossed the highway and went onto real dirt roads. The course included a variety of surfaces that really showed what the vehicle could do.
This is one tour I'd like to do again on a future return trip. Next time, I would be more prepared though. The ride is extremely dusty. Every piece of clothing will be covered in sand by the end of this. Protective goggles and a nose/mouth guard would be good too.
This is one tour I'd like to do again on a future return trip. Next time, I would be more prepared though. The ride is extremely dusty. Every piece of clothing will be covered in sand by the end of this. Protective goggles and a nose/mouth guard would be good too.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Pizzeto
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.Cuisine: Pizza, Mediterranean
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 8
Value: n/a
Environment: 9
Frequency: Uncommon
I have a general travel rule that New Yorkers should not eat Chinese or Italian food if they're visiting a destination that's not named China or Italy because NY is the best in the world outside of the 2 originating countries. I'll make an exception in this case though. We ended up trying out Pizzeto because there were a lot of pizza fans in the group. And naturally vacation brings about a pizza craving.
Pizzeto wasn't the generic pizzeria I expected in a foreign country. It actually felt like a real Italian place with it's brick oven pizza and other Mediterranean offerings. The pizza itself was comparable to some NY restaurants and blew away anything in my 2 previous cruise vacations. My guess is that the staff was either sent to Italy for training or had an Italian chef flown in. The food also had a good taste partly due to the high quality ingredients of the Dominican Republic, as their milk is all organic and vegetables have minimal to no pesticides.
All restaurants in Hard Rock had good service, but I gave this one slightly lower because their system wasn't as efficient. When seating guests, there would be a line at the entrance and the hostess would slowly walk back and forth, escorting and seating each party one by one. There should be someone always at the front desk and the waiters should escort the parties. Also, a couple of times there was a piece of silverware missing and no one around to help. I had to chase down the guy setting the empty tables. Maybe this place was just short staffed.
The Dominican Experience
Our first tour and first time leaving the resort was called The Dominican Experience. I thought this was the most important tour to use credits on because it's the one that has the most to do with the culture of the country. The others are more recreational and identical to offers in Mexico.
Related: Bavaro Runners
Related: Bavaro Runners
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Ipanema
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.Cuisine: Brazilian
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 8
Service: 10
Value: n/a
Environment: 10
Frequency: Uncommon
Note: This review is based on 2 dinners from 5/7 and 5/8. Photos in the Picasa album are also from 2 separate days.
Saturday, 5/7
For our first visit to this place, yesterday, we weren't that familiar with the routine. I thought it was going to be the same as all of the Brazilian places in NYC where waiters walk around with meat on swords and just keep offering different cuts until you flip the disc on your table to signal them to pause. In Ipanema, it's more like a multi-course meal. You get appetizers at the buffet tables first. Then there's an optional paella dish. After that, the same waiter walks back and forth with different cuts of meat in a fixed order. This time around, everyone ordered a paella dish, which made us full too early. I ended up skipping the last 3 or 4 cuts of meat. I felt the beef and pork cuts were dry. The chicken came out pretty good and the paella was above average, but I've had better.
Sunday, 5/8
We actually came here 2 days in a row because many others in my group liked it and felt it was a better value for dinner occasions. If I was vacationing alone, this place would have been a one-time visit and have a rating of 7. It turns out that Ipanema is hit or miss, which is why I have the "frequency" stat. That way readers can factor in my experience with each restaurant. For our second visit, every cut of meat the waiter brought by tasted great. If I had come on this day only, the food would've gotten a 9. So I gave it the average of the 2 visits... 8. Today was also Mother's Day, but since we were on vacation, no one really remembered it except me. But I kept it quiet until dinner time. At the right moment, I talked to the waiter privately to see if he could do something for the 3 mothers at the table. Of course I had to explain the holiday to him first! I guess all the other American families forgot about it too. We worked out that the staff would bring out cakes that they normally give to birthday people, but no need to sing.
Rock Spa II
Our first day at Rock Spa was actually an included treatment, so we hadn't use up any credits yet. So we scheduled more spa sessions today. I had a 50 min massage (it was a 30 min one last time) that was a lot better. I walked out feeling it did something. This time around, we also checked out the post-treatment services... steam room, jacuzzi and sauna. I probably spent a total of 2 hours in the underground world. The whole spa experience felt like an alien abduction. Once you change in the locker room, you're placed in a waiting area with an oversized tea bag around your neck. The whole time, you're surrounded by flowing water, dimmed lights and metal orbs (like a generic alien mothership). The spa staff are dressed in identical, plain outfits and are super nice (like in V). Before the massage, they make you take 3 deep breaths of some oil that smells like every other liquid in Hard Rock Hotel. Maybe that was a point where we were unknowingly knocked out and placed under alien control!
Even if it was an alien abduction, I felt very refreshed this time even if we did things out of order. Normally, one should eat light, then workout early in the morning. Then get the spa treatment for relaxation and breakfast last for replenishment. But because of scheduling, we did breakfast first, then the spa and then the gym.
Even if it was an alien abduction, I felt very refreshed this time even if we did things out of order. Normally, one should eat light, then workout early in the morning. Then get the spa treatment for relaxation and breakfast last for replenishment. But because of scheduling, we did breakfast first, then the spa and then the gym.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
"Normal" Dominican Routine
Breakfast @ Caffeto
My parents, aunts and uncles went to a presentation at 9am that included breakfast at Ciao, so I went off on my own to explore Caffeto next door. It was different that our previous breakfast because it was not buffet style. They had more specialty items and of course, controlled portions! I'll cover this place in an upcoming post.
Lunch & Swimming
After breakfast, I walked around for a bit, taking general pictures of the resort. I'll post those in their own album at the end of the trip because I'll be collecting a little each day. To get more of a workout, I headed back to the room to drop stuff off, then ran to the gym. For lunch, all 9 of us met up again at Ciao. That became our regular eating place during the day. After lunch, I went to the beach with Ifore & Jiselle to one of the swimming pools for the first time this trip. Swimming was actually one of the things I had trouble finding time in the schedule for even though I wanted to do it every day. There are many pools in Hard Rock Hotel... more than one by every building and enough to create a comfortable crowd even for the number of guests checked into the hotel. The pools with a built-in bar tended to be a little more crowded and with dirtier water. So we went for a less trafficked one. Besides the 3 of us, there was only one other group inside. After swimming around for a bit, we hopped pools and I tried out one of the poolside food stands where I ordered a jalapeno & cheese hot dog w/ fries. I was surprised at how good it was after the disappointing burger at La Isla. The fries were also especially good and consistent across all restaurants. They're fried to the perfect level of crispiness and there must be something about the potatoes in DR.
Dinner @ Ipanema
For dinner, we all met up at Ipanema, a Brazilian style dinner place. I'll go in depth with this one later as well.
Sports Bar
We all rested a little bit and then headed out to the sports bar at about 10pm because they were showing the Pacquiao vs. Mosley fight. We stayed there pretty late because the fight went this distance even though it was terribly one-sided... typical of most of Pacquiao's recent bouts.
A Typical Day
This day represents my daily routine if nothing special was scheduled... breakfast, gym, lunch, beach/pool/run, dinner and sports bar for TV (basketball, baseball and/or boxing). If I lived on the resort, that would be my schedule each day.
My parents, aunts and uncles went to a presentation at 9am that included breakfast at Ciao, so I went off on my own to explore Caffeto next door. It was different that our previous breakfast because it was not buffet style. They had more specialty items and of course, controlled portions! I'll cover this place in an upcoming post.
Lunch & Swimming
After breakfast, I walked around for a bit, taking general pictures of the resort. I'll post those in their own album at the end of the trip because I'll be collecting a little each day. To get more of a workout, I headed back to the room to drop stuff off, then ran to the gym. For lunch, all 9 of us met up again at Ciao. That became our regular eating place during the day. After lunch, I went to the beach with Ifore & Jiselle to one of the swimming pools for the first time this trip. Swimming was actually one of the things I had trouble finding time in the schedule for even though I wanted to do it every day. There are many pools in Hard Rock Hotel... more than one by every building and enough to create a comfortable crowd even for the number of guests checked into the hotel. The pools with a built-in bar tended to be a little more crowded and with dirtier water. So we went for a less trafficked one. Besides the 3 of us, there was only one other group inside. After swimming around for a bit, we hopped pools and I tried out one of the poolside food stands where I ordered a jalapeno & cheese hot dog w/ fries. I was surprised at how good it was after the disappointing burger at La Isla. The fries were also especially good and consistent across all restaurants. They're fried to the perfect level of crispiness and there must be something about the potatoes in DR.
Dinner @ Ipanema
For dinner, we all met up at Ipanema, a Brazilian style dinner place. I'll go in depth with this one later as well.
Sports Bar
We all rested a little bit and then headed out to the sports bar at about 10pm because they were showing the Pacquiao vs. Mosley fight. We stayed there pretty late because the fight went this distance even though it was terribly one-sided... typical of most of Pacquiao's recent bouts.
A Typical Day
This day represents my daily routine if nothing special was scheduled... breakfast, gym, lunch, beach/pool/run, dinner and sports bar for TV (basketball, baseball and/or boxing). If I lived on the resort, that would be my schedule each day.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Zen
Location: Hard Rock Hotel, Punta Cana, Dom. Rep.Cuisine: Japanese
Prices: n/a (all inclusive)
Credit Cards: n/a (all inclusive)
Food: 6
Service: 10
Value: n/a
Environment: 10
Frequency: Unique
Dinner at Zen had to be reserved because the restaurant probably had to have an idea of how many staff members were needed. The Zen experience is as much a performance as it was a meal, being a teppanyaki style place. The chef performed fancy moves with cooking utensils and fire for show. Unfortunately, the performance outweighed the quality of the food. The meal was OK, but I'd have to say that fast food Japanese at any NY mall beats Zen. So even though the value is n/a, it can't be good for an all-inclusive resort of this quality.
The nice looking menu is either just for show or for lunch because everyone gets served the same thing... fried rice with teriyaki chicken, beef, shrimp and squid. The chicken was dry. The beef and shrimp were average. The squid, cooked with tequila was very good. Please visit the Picasa album for the rest of the review.
Day 2 Lunch & Afternoon
After the spa, we were deciding on where to have lunch. It was going to be one of the restaurants near the tour booking place... Pizzeto (pizza), Caffeto (cafe/deli) or Ciao (Italian/buffet). Pizzeto and Ciao had similar menus, but many of us had the pizza craving, so Pizzeto won out. I'll cover Pizzeto in a later post because I'm pretty sure we'll be back there and it'll be a more complete review.
After lunch, we hit the beach. I was in the sun for about 2 hours... one hour on each side, watching Transformers 2 on my Droid. I fell asleep for about 30 minutes during the first half of the movie. Even after all that, I only had a light tan. It wasn't even noticeable. The then ran the length of the resort on the beach. to get some exercise in. The distance really shows how large Hard Rock Hotel is. When I ran the equivalent distance in Cancun, I probably passed 4-5 hotels!
After lunch, we hit the beach. I was in the sun for about 2 hours... one hour on each side, watching Transformers 2 on my Droid. I fell asleep for about 30 minutes during the first half of the movie. Even after all that, I only had a light tan. It wasn't even noticeable. The then ran the length of the resort on the beach. to get some exercise in. The distance really shows how large Hard Rock Hotel is. When I ran the equivalent distance in Cancun, I probably passed 4-5 hotels!
Rock Spa
One of the things we had to allocate credits to was spa activities. You can't use up all of your points on tours. Though that's what I would naturally prefer, it was still a good experience to try the spa since I had never done it before. We all had morning spots reserved, ranging from 9:30 to 11:30. The thing I liked most about Rock Spa was the decoration. The place had a very sci-fi look to it, as if you're traveling to some hidden land below the resort. The layout was like a maze, which added to the mystery as I was lead to the massage room. The lighting was relaxing and there was also a fresh grasslike scent all throughout. I didn't think the massage was that good though. It was relaxing, but I've had better. This one was more about the environment.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Arrival in DR
Since we took an early flight, our first day in Punta Cana didn't go to waste. The efficient airport staff also got us through customs and to the resort very quickly. We dumped everything into our rooms and then headed straight to La Isla for a buffet lunch. I already had a light breakfast in the airport in preparation. La Isla is the closest restaurant to our building.
Then we got settled in and explored the area. As it got close to dinner time, we headed to the main building to book some tours and activities that were included in the package. The way it works is you get a certain number of credits. You can use some of them on spa services and others on tours.
Then we got settled in and explored the area. As it got close to dinner time, we headed to the main building to book some tours and activities that were included in the package. The way it works is you get a certain number of credits. You can use some of them on spa services and others on tours.
Heading Out
Airport Security
Because the recent death of Osama Bin Laden, we were told security was stepped up. The limo service recommended we head out 3 hours early (since it's international) for our 8:30am flight. Between that and last night's Bulls game, I really didn't get that much sleep. Since it was way before rush hour, we arrived at JFK in no time. If anything, security was stepped down instead of beefed up. I've never gone through so quickly with all the electronics I carry around in my suspicious looking Alienware backpack. Some notable observations I had were:
1) Passengers had to do a lot of their own work. Usually, you would put your checkins on the scale and a worker would carry it onto the belt. We had to go around the service desk and place it on the belt ourselves. So the guys behind the desk aren't earning their salary. They're just doing nothing. Why not get rid of them to save money for the people doing the real work!
2) The security checkpoint was terrible. My dad put his keys in his bag instead of on the tray. The TSA had to manually search the bag because she thought the keys may have been knives. Is the X-ray machine THAT bad? If it can't show the difference between keys and knives, then that doesn't make me feel safe.
Jet Blue
This is my first time flying Jet Blue and so far they're really as good as what people say. Right from the start, their terminal is spacious and well laidout. They even have FREE wi-fi. I don't think any other airline in expensive NY has that. It was hassle free and fast. All I did was turn on my computer and agree to the terms. Jet Blue also has 1 checkin included, which made for a more comfortable and quicker boarding. Passengers didn't have to rush on board to reserve space in the overhead compartments. Snacks onboard were also complimentary. Jet Blue pretty much follows the pre-recession flight benefits.
Because the recent death of Osama Bin Laden, we were told security was stepped up. The limo service recommended we head out 3 hours early (since it's international) for our 8:30am flight. Between that and last night's Bulls game, I really didn't get that much sleep. Since it was way before rush hour, we arrived at JFK in no time. If anything, security was stepped down instead of beefed up. I've never gone through so quickly with all the electronics I carry around in my suspicious looking Alienware backpack. Some notable observations I had were:
1) Passengers had to do a lot of their own work. Usually, you would put your checkins on the scale and a worker would carry it onto the belt. We had to go around the service desk and place it on the belt ourselves. So the guys behind the desk aren't earning their salary. They're just doing nothing. Why not get rid of them to save money for the people doing the real work!
2) The security checkpoint was terrible. My dad put his keys in his bag instead of on the tray. The TSA had to manually search the bag because she thought the keys may have been knives. Is the X-ray machine THAT bad? If it can't show the difference between keys and knives, then that doesn't make me feel safe.
Jet Blue
This is my first time flying Jet Blue and so far they're really as good as what people say. Right from the start, their terminal is spacious and well laidout. They even have FREE wi-fi. I don't think any other airline in expensive NY has that. It was hassle free and fast. All I did was turn on my computer and agree to the terms. Jet Blue also has 1 checkin included, which made for a more comfortable and quicker boarding. Passengers didn't have to rush on board to reserve space in the overhead compartments. Snacks onboard were also complimentary. Jet Blue pretty much follows the pre-recession flight benefits.
Punta Cana Cast
After going on 2 cruises with the same group of people, we decided to change things up this year and go for an all-inclusive package in Punta Cana, DR. We all had a great time in the Cancun Resort for Reinhard and Marites' wedding. Then my parents went to Punta Cana shortly after and said that experience was even better than Cancun. So instead of doing a cruise again, my family got together and planned a trip to Punta Cana. We have the usual cast...
Me
Dad
Mom
Auntie Remy (Mom's sister)
Uncle Charlie (Married to Auntie Remy)
Ifore (Their son, recently started a fried chicken chain called Chicken Charlie)
Jiselle (Ifore's fiancee)
Uncle Mario
Auntie Susan
Missing this time are Auntie Aida and Edwin because Edwin is busy planning for his October wedding. Emily couldn't make it because she started classes.
This vacation kind of creeped up on me. It wasn't even on my mind because I was busy at work launching websites left and right. So it'll be a good break to get out of NY and catch up with my family.
Me
Dad
Mom
Auntie Remy (Mom's sister)
Uncle Charlie (Married to Auntie Remy)
Ifore (Their son, recently started a fried chicken chain called Chicken Charlie)
Jiselle (Ifore's fiancee)
Uncle Mario
Auntie Susan
Missing this time are Auntie Aida and Edwin because Edwin is busy planning for his October wedding. Emily couldn't make it because she started classes.
This vacation kind of creeped up on me. It wasn't even on my mind because I was busy at work launching websites left and right. So it'll be a good break to get out of NY and catch up with my family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)