InstantForum.NET v4.1.4CanadianBride.com Talkboardshttp://forums.canadianbride.com/bounce@canadianbride.comFri, 16 May 2008 09:40:01 GMT20http://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxYou are going to have a great time! I love punta cana (I have been to varadara cuba, cancun and peurto vallarta mexico and it is by far my fav - been twice) We went a few years ago twice once in november where we stayed at catalonia and had so much fun we went again in march (both trips last minute deals) and stayed at ocean sand/blue. It is a great resort and the food was great. the resort was still under construction and some aspects werent finished but we loved the rooms and the pool was great.</P><P>Have funMon, 12 May 2008 16:53:02 GMTnavywife2bhttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxHello, mine was $1375.oo incl. tax double occupancy for 1 week for playa pesquero in cuba that's 4 or 5 star depending on the TA....I shop around for 6 months but I think you still have time to look around...try target vacations or call them and ask for Todd to give you an idea....hope this help...</P><P>Also....tax is higher like the other ladies posted in mexico atleast around $299.00 but for cuba it's between $190.00 to $210.00 only...we are saving $100.00 atleast for our guests....but we chose cuba because we have been there before otherwise I would love to see Mexico as well and I think they have a higher standard hotels than cuba.</P><P>Playa Pesquero, Cuba 08-08-08Sun, 11 May 2008 15:25:49 GMTbushnesshttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspx[quote][b]kantweyt (5/8/2008)[/b][hr]<br>The onlything I have been told is that the price is not locked in and that signature offers a one time chance to get in at a lower rate if the rates come down.....<br><br>I hope we have made the right choice..[/quote]<br><br>Well if you are allowed a one time price adjustment then you are set! Your price will likely go down by a few hundred dollars next winter and then you can get an adjustment. Sounds like an awesome set-up to me!Fri, 09 May 2008 22:35:06 GMTSunBridehttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspx[quote][b]sunshine4 (5/7/2008)[/b][hr]We also booked a year in advance......<P>And I think that price sounds reasonable![/quote]<P>Yes, I agree with as far as making "group bookings!" Try to call a wholesaler today for just two people and try to make a booking for next year. Their package prices are not out yet. Just tried with Sunquest and Conquest.Thu, 08 May 2008 20:34:23 GMTlovemrkhttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxYou have to do what's right for you and if you had to book now than that's what best for you guys. To answer SunBrides question, we booked in Sept. 2007 and we are going May 2008 (2 weeks!!) We all are flying out of Toronto. I think the only way we got a good deal is I threatened to take my business elsewhere, and the TA really has to work for you in my opinion....she obviously didn't want to lose out on 25 ppl going away, so she worked really hard to get a good price from Signature. Now that youa re booked thought you are probably relieved, as that is what I felt when we finally did it! Congrats! Your wedding will be great!</P><P>I have to agree with everyone else in that with Gas prices going up, quotes will most likely be higher these days!Thu, 08 May 2008 18:14:03 GMTcharettehttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxThanks so much to everyone that has replied..you guys are awesome...</P><P>Well we went ahead and made the booking..we had to start the process and I do realize we would get better rates if we waited but that may not give some people enough time..so it's a catch 22 at this point..</P><P>I have shopped around and out of all the prices I got, this one was comparable..considering it is a year ahead of time..I'm also super happy with the rep I have at itravel2000 and she has been very helpful...</P><P>The only thing I have been told is that the price is not locked in and that signature offers a one time chance to get in at a lower rate if the rates come down.....</P><P>I hope we have made the right choice..Thu, 08 May 2008 14:50:50 GMTkantweythttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxWe also booked a year in advance......</P><P>And I think that price sounds reasonable!Wed, 07 May 2008 14:23:56 GMTsunshine4http://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspx[quote][b]lovemrk (5/6/2008)[/b][hr]Sorry but is this April of 2009??? Because 95% of tour wholesalers don't have their rates out yet for next year. I know this for a fact. I worked at a tour wholesaler for 18 years and alot of my friends still do. They are just concentrating on summer season and fall season right now.[/quote]</P><P>We booked our DW a year in advance... you CAN get the prices that early.Wed, 07 May 2008 12:18:58 GMTQueen*Beehttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxWe went to the bahamas for our wedding a couple of weeks ago, and we booked in November. As it got close to our wedding there was a seat sale. Our travel agent was able to change 6 out of 23 of our guests to the seat sale price for just a small change of ticket fee. So, in a way most of the guests got ripped off. But they didn't care, by then there trips were paid for and they were just excited to go. I think the price will eventually go down, but for a wedding, you have to book early to get everyone in, and that costs more. For your honey moon or another trip, book last minute and save money there when its just two of you and you are flexible.Wed, 07 May 2008 12:15:57 GMTparadise83http://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxI would also like to stress something very important in deciding when to book your trip......</P><P>BEER is going up in price because of the gas issues!!!! Our national past time is going up. BEER, is actually going to go up in price. Not pop, not milk, but our beer!!!!!! For God's sake people our world is falling apart, if beer can go up in price because of gas do we really think that flight tickets will go down in 4 months!!!??? LOL</P><P>On a serious note though, it is something FH and I have considered and we've decided to book now rather than later just in case they raise prices by at least $500 pp for gas. If beer can go up anything can go up.Wed, 07 May 2008 08:38:24 GMTBeachBride09http://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspx[quote][b]mariolab (5/6/2008)[/b][hr]I would definetly go still shop around and go maybe also with selloffvacations<br><br>cause i am sure u can negotiate the taxes or something, always shop around, we were quoted 1350$ went to 2 other places droped to 1000$ and by the time i went to put deposits it's 915$ for the entire week and it's in cuba at Melia las Dunas<br><br>so shop around and if your instinct says it too much then it is!!!<br><br>all the best[/quote]<br><br>Wow Mariolab, you got lucky with your price dropping that much! Did you book about a year in advance or only a few months?Wed, 07 May 2008 07:49:51 GMTSunBridehttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxI would shop around and make sure that i got the best price. You will know once you get a few from other places... if your quote is way off then choose someone else. </P><P>I thought that i had a great deal at first and then talked to Pauline Blacoe and found that she could beat the price that i was given by 100 bucks!! </P><P>However, i see that many resorts weddings are booking very quickly. I have heard that the resort that i got married at is already very limited to dates in april of next year. DW are getting more popular... so early booking is necessary. I booked in July, and the flights to jamaica from calgary were already sold out... my guests had to come to halifax and fly from there. so keep in mind where you want people to fly from and ask the TA about how quick flights sell out... Wed, 07 May 2008 05:07:06 GMTsmurf993http://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxI would definetly go still shop around and go maybe also with selloffvacations</P><P>cause i am sure u can negotiate the taxes or something, always shop around, we were quoted 1350$ went to 2 other places droped to 1000$ and by the time i went to put deposits it's 915$ for the entire week and it's in cuba at Melia las Dunas</P><P>so shop around and if your instinct says it too much then it is!!!</P><P>all the bestTue, 06 May 2008 22:39:51 GMTmariolabhttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxSounds decent to me consider the price of gas right now. Punta Cana is a great place too. I went there and stayed at Catalonia Bavaro and it was the best holiday ever. Domincan's are sooo friendly. Beaches are really nice as well.</P><P>I have sure you will have a wonderful wedding and a great week there.Tue, 06 May 2008 20:53:56 GMTchicklet32http://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxIt's really hard to compare prices with other people going to other resorts, or other locations entirely, or even if it's the same resort but a different time of year or different departure airport, or booked early versus last minute can add hundreds of dollars (yes, there are that many different factors that can all have a big influence on the price). <P>So unfortunetly I don't know if comparing with other people is helpful unless you can compare with somebody who went to the same location and resort star rating (better yet if it's the exact same resort) around the same time of year and the same departure location and also booked a year in advance.</P><P>I know it sucks that you have almost no way of knowing if that's a good price or not, I just wanted to warn you about comparing with other people. I see people do this all the time (comparing departure from Vancouver and Toronto for example! Prices from Vancouver are often much higher since it's so much farther from east coast mexico, DR, cuba)</P><P>Charette: how far in advance did you book and where were you departing from (and where is the poster departing from?) Since Charette went to the same resort at around the same time of year you might be able to compare a little with that, although likely she did not book a year in advance so that will cause a big price difference. It's normal for last minute prices to be several hundred dollars less than booking a year in advance!</P><P>Overall, from my research and what I hear other people paying, your price seems to be about in the right range (not saying that it isn't maybe 100-200$ too high, or maybe it's even an awesome price, I'm not sure but just saying it seems pretty reasonable). </P><P>If you could wait till late summer / early fall when the prices normally come out for next winter for everyone, you could probably save by getting early booking bonuses. Although I know it would probably be torture to wait 3-4 months, you would still be booking 7 months in advance!</P><P>Although many agents will tell you prices are not available yet for next winter, many agents can get price quotes if it is a large group (as yours obviously has done). Tue, 06 May 2008 17:53:27 GMTSunBridehttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxwell have you shopped around with other TA's?</P><P>I went onto sell off vacations just now and that resort is $1000 with tax for end of this month. I know its last minute but that's a huge difference. Why don't you send selloffvcations an email for a quote and see what they give you?</P><P>We've been getting quotes for our resort next May and they're not far off from what the last minute quotes are now.</P><P>Hope this helps.Tue, 06 May 2008 15:37:37 GMTBeachBride09http://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxHello</P><P>We stayed at the OCean Sands, last May and we paid 1280 taxes included! We got an amazing deal. I think what you were quoted was high, but I think it is the taxes in the DR that are insane...I can't believe how much they've gone up! All in all your guests will pay to come if they really want to be there. </P><P>This year we are getting married in 2 weeks at the Iberostar Varadero and we are paying 1400$ taxes included for a week. </P><P>Was that the best quoted rate you received? I would look into other TA's. You still have lots of time, we booked our trip in September 2007 for MAy 2008. If you tell them that another agency can get it cheaper for you they will find a way to keep your business. With ours this year she told me that 1290+ tax was teh best she could do but I told her I needed a better rate and that others could give it to me and all of the sudden......she got us a great rate of 1190+ taxes. Best of luck!Tue, 06 May 2008 15:26:55 GMTcharettehttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxSorry but is this April of 2009??? Because 95% of tour wholesalers don't have their rates out yet for next year. I know this for a fact. I worked at a tour wholesaler for 18 years and alot of my friends still do. They are just concentrating on summer season and fall season right now.Tue, 06 May 2008 15:24:52 GMTlovemrkhttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxSounds like a good rate to me too, although I haven't really shopped around much for Dominican rates, but I would be happy to go and pay $1200, lol! Why dont you quickly do some shopping around on the net with sites like Expedia or Travelocity and see how those rates compare?Tue, 06 May 2008 15:23:29 GMTjmheinhttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspxI haven't heard of that resort.... Just so you can compare we paid around $1400 + $200 ish tax for Iberostar Varadero in Cuba. We departed April 19 of this year and it was based on Double Occupancy for 7 nights. We flew Air Canada.</P><P>Sounds pretty good to me....Tue, 06 May 2008 15:05:41 GMTlyndzcrafthttp://forums.canadianbride.com/Topic652920-9-1.aspx<br>Hi Ladies<br><br>So, after many calls and conversations..our TA has provided me with the following rate..<br><br>Departing April 16...for 7 nights..<br><br>Adult rate: $1205.00 + $338.00 per person based on double occupancy for one week<br><br>The hotel is Ocean's Sand in Punta Cana..<br><br>I'm waiting for her to call me back so we can start the ball rolling and book...but I'm just worried that we haven't gotten the best rate for our guests...as we are going to be pretty much locked in at this price..<br><br>Does this sound like a good price..?? I just can't hold off any longer and we really need to book this thing and get the ball rolling.....<br>Tue, 06 May 2008 15:02:02 GMTkantweyt