This was our first cruise; a celebration cruise for our 10th Anniversary. We booked with two other couples, almost a year in advance of embarkation. We booked flights to arrive in Santo Domingo the day before embarkation, and met one of the other couples at the Renaissance Juaraga. The taxi from the airport was $40USD.

We found the Juaraga very comfortable, with lovely grounds and nice pool/patio area. We were originally given a "garden suite" which was in a separate building, in an older part of the hotel, and quite far from the pool, restaurant, etc. My friends had been given what seemed a much superior room in the "tower" in the newer, main part of the hotel, for the same price. As we were travelling together, and had booked at the same time I don't know why this happened, but when I spoke to the front desk supervisor she was very accommodating and moved us to a room across the hall from our friends. Dinner in the restaurant was very good, and the complimentary buffet breakfast the next day was quite extensive and enjoyable. During the morning we enjoyed a horse & buggy ride around colonial Santo Domingo ($60 for 2 hours for 4 of us) then returned to the hotel for lunch. We were set to board the ship at 2:30, but check out time was 1:00pm. The bellhops stowed our luggage for us in a locked room, just off the lobby and brought it out to load into our taxi at 2:15. We paid $20 US for a taxi van for 4 of us, plus our luggage from the hotel to the cruise dock.

Embarkation and disembarkation went quite smoothly, and quickly, but was a little confusing as few of the workers spoke English. At disembarkation at the end of the cruise I was impressed with the ease of collecting our luggage and acquiring transportation from Santo Domingo to Punta Cana. Read more