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Dominican Republic Bavaro Beach All Inclusive Holiday – Part 3

Dominican Republic Bavaro Beach All Inclusive Holiday – Part 3

Somewhat later than intended, here is the third installment of how we enjoyed our All Inclusive Dominican Republic Package Holiday with Thomson, staying at the Barcelo Premium hotel.

We were interested to see a fair number of jewellery and local craft stalls set up within the hotel itself after a few days. The sellers do tend to pounce on passers by to lure them to their stalls, giving away free ‘enticers’ of simple necklaces for the kids in the hope that you’ll buy something more, which we duly did.

Unlike my wife, I don’t actually enjoy bartering, but I was none the less feeling pleased that I had bartered the seller down from 3600 RD$ to 2100 RD$ for three necklaces for our kids. My wife considers them of reasonable quality, but I still leave wondering if I am a mug.

I am sure they would sell more if they were not so pushy in their sales technique. Later in the week I did start to get fed up that I was not allowed to just browse to see if there was something of interest without the salesman thrusting different items at me, and I actually walked away far earlier than I would otherwise have done and usually empty handed. Still, I guess this is all part of the delights of travel!

The Thomson All Inclusive Package Holidays to the Dominican Republic allow free use of Water Sports equipment and free activities. At the Barcelo Premium we were pleased to find a free banana boat ride was included. Surprisingly, none of my family had done this before, so this was a great opportunity. However, with a reluctant 7 year old and 9 year old, who had seen the banana boat in action and the people being tipped out, I asked the speedboat driver for a slow ride. Credit where credit is due – he gave us an excellent ride, fast enough to be exciting but not so fast it left the kids screaming in fear. With the exception of my 9 year old, we all walked away wanting more.

In Part 4 in a week’s time I’ll give some advice about tipping in the Dominican Republic

Click Here to read our Recommendations on where to find the Cheapest Prices for the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana, which apply equally to the other Dominican Republic Hotels.