Sunday March 24: Look Out Club Med, after 23 years, time to learn all about you!
Still a thing that it’s easier to get 1 person out the door at 3:15am over the 4 of us. But oh, 3:15am, you are early, really early, but passports are involved; my favorite reason to be wake up at 2:30am!!
A quick shower, tossed the last few things in my bag and my Uber (our neighbor, Jim for real drives for Uber) was ready at 3:15.
Traffic was light, clearly and Fleur was not flooded anymore, so it was a quick 20-minute ride to DSM.
Got checked in with the kiosk and was in line to drop my bag just before the Delta counter opened. Since we beat the Delta ticket counter agents to the desk, TSA was also a breeze as I was 3rd in line.
There was a small delay, of approx 6 minutes due to an exit door but we’re loaded up and ready to go. Happy to have upgraded my seat to Delta Comfort +, always worth it. Going to try and get a bit off sleep on this one. Away I go…look out Club Med…here comes Michaela!
Sleep is good! I was able to crash on the flight to Atlanta and woke up to an early arrival. Early arrivals make for an easy tram ride from Terminal B to International Terminal E. Lines were crazy long in the food court so I picked the smallest line at Arby’s so I could at least get my morning Diet Coke. Which reminded me that I am off to the land of Coke Light!! EEEEEE, so good! (If you’ve followed me before, you’ll recall, Coke Light is one of my most favorite differences. LOVE the big things but it’s the little things too, right?)
Only enough time for my soda and a potty break and boarding began. Was late on the uptake to upgrade my seats (as usual, I’m my own worst client) and was able to get all of them except this one from Atlanta to Punta Cana. C’est la vie. At least I still have an aisle.
On y va, Let’s go to Club Med and the Dominican Republic I go!
Landed on time and customs was a breeze, for a Sunday, early afternoon, during spring break! It took longer to get the bags than to clear. Welcome to “Island Time”.
Arrival into Punta Cana is similar to Mexico where you run the gauntlet through the masses of transportation companies. I spotted Club Med right away and was off to the Village in a private sprinter. Works, off to a good start. It was a quick ride from the airport, 10 minutes tops and most was through the gated Punta Cana Resort community.
Check-in with Nick, our GO* group host was done right where we arrived, very quick. Our wristbands note where we are staying on property by color, red for the Zen Oasis section, they also act as our room key, room account, etc. Not a fan of the bracelet BUT nice to never forget your key, so that’s great.
*Club Med staff are called “GOs”, or Gentils Organisateurs (Gracious/Nice Organizers). Guests are “GMs”, or Gentils Membres (Gracious/Nice Guests/Members). The resort is known as a village. The resort manager is called the Chef de Village (Village Chief). Club Méditerranée, is a French company.
I was escorted to my Zen Garden room 1022, in the Zen Oasis, 18+ section. It’s a lovely 1st floor room with its own garden area large patio and cabana. Oooh, I love me a cabana, usually on the beach but this is fabulous! I haven’t seen lush, green grass or beautiful flowering trees in months, so this secret garden area is a slice of paradise. Not only toes in the sand this week but toes in the grass too! The room is beautiful with natural accents, like a polished wooden headboard, wood and metal clothes rack, and tree stump coffee table. The room is bright white with some pops of red like the giant, cool hibiscus rug, that I would love for our patio back home, and red accents in the curtains. The bed is a king that can be split into 2 beds but with the mattress topper, you’d never know. There is a curtain that separates the bath and closet/dressing area from the bedroom. There is a ton of closet space and storage, many Europeans enjoy Club Med, they tend to come for longer stays. The wet room enclosed in glass includes a giant, I mean giant, rain shower and a huge bathtub for those that like a relaxing soak. Water pressure is good, but I still need the shower wand to get shampoo and conditioner out of all this hair. The A/C works wonderfully which makes for a nice cool oasis when coming back out of the warm Dominican sun. The WC is privately enclosed with a frosted glass door. In the minibar you will find 20 oz bottles of Coke, Coke Light (YASSSS), Sprite, Orange Fanta and Club Soda. You will also find several bottles of “flat” water too. This is restocked daily (during the week, I did get the waters but had to call for the Coke Lights and Debi let me raid hers too. It’s good to have nice friends!) There is no beer, wine or alcohol in the rooms, and this is one of the differences between Club Med and the other brands that I typically work with. Not a huge deal, but I do like having beer in the room. There is the Hibiscus bar in the Zen Oasis area and many others throughout the resort, so I promise that you will not go thirsty. Promise.
Once settled, I headed to find food! It was almost 2:30pm and the buffet was about to close, so I headed to Indigo for lunch. The menu was very limited, so I opted for a Caesar salad with a beautiful view of the ocean. I was hoping to find a nacho bar or snack bar but there is not one, another small difference. Room service is also not available, but just as I promise that you will not go thirsty, you will also not go hungry. Promise.
After lunch I headed to the Zen Oasis part of the beach to wait for Debi from our Sidney, OH office to arrive. The Zen Oasis beach is the 18+, quiet section of the beach, so the only sounds that you will hear are the waves against the powdery white beach and the breeze that is always blowing. There are a lot of chairs and palapas, which this fair skinned, redhead can appreciate.
After a bit of work and some reading, I headed back to the room to get ready for our welcome cocktail party and dinner with the group.
At 7:00pm met the group and Graeme, our Club Med rep for pre-dinner cocktails at the Hibiscus Bar in the Zen Oasis section, where our group of advisors are staying. Most of the group is from California, from the Bay Area to San Diego. Seems like a nice group, here we go.
For dinner we all headed to The Samana Buffet together. At Club Med most of the food is buffet style and Indigo in the evenings is a la carte with reservations required. For Indigo, you queue daily for reservations, they serve around 100 guests each evening. If you are in the 5 Trident, exclusive, beach front, Tiara section the concierge would take care of reservations for you. The other option, Hispaniola is also buffet for dinner.
There were many, many options for dinner on the buffet at Samana, so, again, you will not go hungry. Promise. Lots of seafood options plus pasta, kids’ choices, Asian, salad bar and more. Lots of fruit, cheeses and fresh baked breads. Desserts are not at all lacking either and then there is the gelato. OMG, don’t forget the gelato! I suggest the coconut and the pistachio, but, shhhhhh, I miiiiight have a slight gelato problem.
With my 2:30am wake up call and minimal, crappy airplane sleep, by the time we were done with dinner a bit after 9:00pm, I could not make it to the evening entertainment.
Goodnight Club Med Punta Cana, we’re off to a good start. I have a feeling we’re going to be great friends.
Tomorrow: The work stuff
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Monday March 25, 2019: WORK: Resort Tour and Sales Meeting
This morning Debi and I met for breakfast at the Samana Buffet and it’s all a breakfast buffet should be BUUUUT with Coke Light on the self serve Fountain, Woot Woo! It’s a bit more fend for self, as far as you get you own beverages; except for coffee at breakfast and wine & water with dinner. They only have the tiny cups, noooooo, big pet peeve. It only really stinks because IIII forgot my water bottle at home 😩. You know, fist world problems, but I do understand it’s to help with waste.
After breakfast it was time for our Village tour. We met the group; Graeme and our GO host Nick in the Hibiscus Bar and off to explore the resort. While this is a larger, fairly spread out Village that is near capacity, the layout and design are such that you would never think it’s full. So, hooray for that, no really, and during Spring Break no less. This is a great thing.
We were able to see two room types a Superior Room (lead in) and a Family Superior Room, the L’Occtine spa, we toured the children’s facilities (seriously, wonderful options from 2-17), the soccer fields, tennis and pickle ball courts, archery areas (1 for adults, 1 for kids), putt putt, the exclusive Creactive area with Club Med’s famous circus school in conjunction with Cirque du Soleil and…
…the exclusive 5 Trident, ocean front, Tiara section…
After the tour we headed to the conference center just outside of the Zen Oasis section and right off the Zen Oasis beach for our sales meeting and Club Med training. We traveled the world with Club Med visiting and learn about the differences and updates to help our clients to the best of our abilities. We also had a presentation from the Ancila Tours sales manager, Melanie, who is on property. Ancila Tours handles all the sightseeing and tour experiences, exclusively for Club Med GM’s*. She will also be hosting us on our modified Northern Treasures tour to Montana Redonda and Limon’s Beach on Wednesday.
* Guests are “GMs”, or Gentils Membres (Gracious/Nice Guests/Members)
After the sales meeting we headed to lunch and at Samana, the buffet closest to the Zen Oasis section. Best part was the coconut and passion fruit gelato, OMG, again, I might have a slight or major gelato problem.
From there it was out to the Zen Oasis beach. The water, while delightful and gorgeous, is rocky down in this area (not off the main beach though) but the views and the breeze are out.of.this.world. Ahhhh, my happy place.
From the beach we headed back to the Zen Oasis pool area and met up with Debi from CA. We chatted and hung out with a couple of drinks and talked a little shop until it was time to get ready for cocktails and dinner with the group. Great, relaxing afternoon after a busy, informative morning.
Tonight, was cocktails at Cielo Bar, off the lobby, which is a large, open air space overlooking the main pool. The breeze was wonderful, and they had live music as well, a nice scene. Graeme also let us know that Nick was able to arrange the school tour for tomorrow afternoon. YAAAAAY!!! My favorite part of traveling, giving back to the region!! UGH, so excited that this is going to happen!!
Dinner was on the other side of the property at the Hispaniola buffet restaurant, the other international buffet. They too offer many different stations and types of food to choose from. I opted for the roasted lamb and large salad with my usual bread and cheese and topped it off with more gelato, this time coconut (all.the.days.) and they had pistachio tonight as well. Yum yum give me some! (Hello, my name is Michaela and I have a gelato problem; but for real, not trying to kick it, lol) We had a nice dinner talking with some of the other advisors. In addition to visiting new properties FAM experiences are also a great way to chat with advisors from other parts of the country to share thoughts and ideas.
The evening entertainment this evening was the Creactive (yes, CreACTIVE) Cirque Staff show. WOW! What an entertaining show for all ages. I even FaceTimed Maddie and Mike (Govy was sleeping) and they got to watch part of the show as well. Guess who wants to come try that?! It was about 45 minutes and ended a bit after 10:30pm.
Anther great day exploring all that is Club Med Punta Cana.
Tomorrow: School Visit!!!!
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Tuesday March 26, 2019 School Visit Day!!
This morning was a free morning, so it was a lazy morning, not mad about that. Before breakfast I got some work done and am happy to say that the WiFi in the room has always been really pretty good.
Breakfast at Samana once again and then hit the gift shop to check out what I could pick up for the kids. Typical trinkets and Dominican Republic goods, cigars, coffee, rum, etc. I found a fan for Maddie and reluctantly bought Govy a Club Med “45” shirt. Why does it have to be 45, out of all the numbers. I need to look into the meaning of the 45 a bit more with Club Med, that was not covered. It was pretty cool though, it’s black, the print on the shirt is the DR flag and it says Punta Cana. I also picked up a cute little turtle for my travel collection.
Debi headed for a massage at the spa and I headed to the beach to work on my blog with stunning turquoise views and a breeze that would be hard to pull Mike away from. Not a terrible office set-up for the afternoon!
After some beach time, I got cleaned up, gathered the items for the school donation and met Debi for lunch at, you guessed it, Samana. Many great choices and hey, guess what? GELATO! After more coconut ice cream, it was time to go!
We met Graeme and our host Micha from Club Med HR in the lobby at 2:30pm and off we went to the school! Yes, it was only the 3 of us. The drive was about 20-ish minutes though the village of Punta Cana, a town built purely around tourism staff. The main roads were normal blacktop but off the main roads, it was a bit more of an off-road adventure, but our diver was great. On the way we saw kids playing baseball, and stick ball, for real and Micha (whose name is Michaela too, 😉) explained a bit about how Club Med Punta Cana helps to give back. They have a foundation that works with 5 schools in the area. They bring a group of selected kids to the Village once a week for the school year for tennis lessons and then feed them before taking them back to the school. If the kids show continued interest and a bit of promise, I believe they can continue too, but not 100 on that. They provide them with the t-shirts, track pants and tennis shoes. She also mentioned that they are about to start swimming lessons too. They also have times when the kids come over and play/hang out with the GO’s (staff’s) children’s as well. Love it, love it all!
We arrived at the Fundacion Union Para Nuestro, a small, gated, school of corrugated steel, and concrete blocks, set a bit away from anything else. There was a basketball hoop with a busted net and a sad little swing-set with no swings where 2 should have been. Micha was telling us that Club Med is working on a grant project to build a new school, I asked her to please send me any details on fundraising, if we could help and I would share details with colleagues and clients. The school does not own the land (it’s very expensive with high interest and 20% down payment required) for this school but Club Med helps with the upkeep of the buildings. Micha got the director, a bright, smiling, young woman whose name has slipped my mind, and she took us around the small 4 classroom school that was filled with more boys than girls. We gave her the supplies, games and crafts that we and a couple of the other advisors had brought, and she let us know that they used these types of things as a reward for good behavior and study habits as well as for classroom needs. We visited 4th and 3rd grade classrooms while the kids were studying math and were able to get a picture with the kids in the 3rd grade classroom, not by chance as Maddie is currently also in 3rd grade. We chatted a little bit with my terrible Spanish and Micha to help translate. You guys, smiles for daaaays. Gah, I love this part. This world needs these bright little ones!
After the visit, since it was Tuesday, it was school tennis lesson day, we were dropped back at the village near the courts to be able to go and visit the lessons. They had just finished and looked cute in their tennis gear! They were just finishing up the little buffet snack and it was about time to head back to the school.
This. This is what makes my heart soar. No lie, Club Med Punts Cana is fantastic but getting OUT of the fantasyland that is the resort, any resort and experiencing and meeting the local people is my very favorite. Huge shout out to Graeme, Nick (GO) and Micha for making this happen! Bless you all!!
We said our goodbyes and thank yous to Micha and with only a bit of time before we needed to get ready for dinner, we headed to the Cielo bar for a drink and to sit in the breeze and check emails…cuz we are all still working. Work. Work. Work.
Drinks tonight were at the Hibiscus Bar, in the Zen Oasis area. With no set dinner plans, we all opted to head together to Hispaniola. Due to location of the Zen Oasis, we visit Samana more often. We all also enjoyed our dinner there from the previous night. Tonight, was no different, there was beef on the caving station, and scallops on another with delicious shrimp on another, with tons of other options in between. The chefs are all French because Club Med comes from France, so the food choices are elevated for sure. In the DR, this is especially important as the food is notoriously hit or miss at most properties. And don’t forget the fresh breads and cheeses and the desserts and gelato, all pull in for their largely European guests…which I can toooootally get behind!! Tonight, on the dessert bar was white and dark chocolate fondue with fruits and marshmallows. So, fondue marshmallows and coconut and pistachio gelato for me please. I.know.
All the feels today. All.the.feels.
Tomorrow we go swinging.
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Wednesday March 27, 2019: Montana Redonda, Small Family Organic Farm and Limon’s Beach Tour.
Our tour is set to depart at 10:00am so I had some time to work a little bit before taking off for most of the day. It’s great that the WiFi in the room is consistently good and I was able to help keep up on my inbox. Thank goodness. Super helpful and often hard to find in the Caribbean.
Debi and I went to Samana for breakfast again and I created the most delicious yogurt parfait for breakfast with coconut and pineapple yogurt with shaved coconut, fresh pineapple, walnuts and granola. This little bowl of awesome is going to be hard to beat when I get home! Hard to beat!
We met in the lobby at 9:45am and 14 of us, including Graeme and Melanie from Ancila Tours + our guide Sandro loaded into a nice, Mercedes Sprinter Van and headed north, up towards where the new Club Med Miches is being so secretly built. It’s hush hush, due to open early December and we cannot even get a hard hat tour. Renderings and available info look pretty fantastic though.
The drive north was about an hour and our 1st stop was at the base of Montana Redonda where we left the lovely Sprinter for an off-road, open air, Jeep-like truck for our climb up the mountain. And what an adventure of climb it was! If you suffer from back issues/problems, this is one free massage that you might not want.
Once at the top, we climbed out of the truck and there was a whole lot of standing around with open mouths as we all took in the incredible 360-degree views from the sea, to the rice fields to the mountains and valleys. We were on top of the world! Mother Nature was not the most cooperative today, we had some overcast skies and a bit of rain. Did we let that get us down…duh, no! Now comes the fun part, SWINGS! Have you ever gone swinging off the top of a mountain? No, you really should try it sometime! It’s like flying and so freeing, swinging on what feels like the top of the world. Highly suggested! After we played for a bit it was time for lunch. Included with our tour was a delicious buffet lunch with views for days. We had salad, potato salad, beans & rice, fried chicken, shrimp and the local fish from the region, Minuta and fresh papaya and pineapple. OMG, for dessert, (no, not gelato) there was a local favorite, a purée of plantains, coconut and cinnamon, a.maz.ing. Like going to have to Google around to try and find the recipe kind if amazing. Also include was bottled water, Sprite and Coke. After lunch, we had a bit more time to play, pop into the little shop and it was time to head back down the bumpy bumpy mountain, equally as adventurous as the way up.
Still in the Jeep, it was on to the organic family farm. The swings, views and lunch were unreal, but this was pry my favorite part of the day. We got to tour the farm, they had cocoa, cinnamon, tobacco, coffee, pineapples, aloe, coconuts, watermelon, eggplant, cotton, plantains, passion fruit, carrots, sweet potatoes, and more. We also got to see some of their tools, new and old methods, try some of the harvested crops and then hit the little on sight shop. I picked up some coconut oil and fresh ground cocoa. We were able to sample some coffee or hot cocoa with vanilla and cinnamon…wow!
Back in the Jeep it was time for Limon’s beach, just as it started to rain more. Seeee, I can control a lot but not even Mother Nature for my own travel either, lol. We were unable to really have a beach afternoon, but this is a beautiful, untouched, slice of natural paradise. There is NOTHING in this area, but Club Med Miches is coming a bit further north from here. We had a visit from a mama piggy and one of her little baby piggies, gah too cute. They were there for the coconut, for real. We were able to have coconut water from a freshly macheted coconut with local rum, Carta Real Dorado, added as well. I got the heavy pour and had to toss some out, whew! Then it was time to crack that coconut open to eat the meat. Nom. Nom. Nom.
Back in the Jeep we head back to get the Sprinter and had about an hour drive back to the Village. What a fun day with a great group of advisors! Thank you to Graeme and Melanie for arranging this!
With the farm stop, we were a bit later getting back to the Village, so Debi and I missed cocktails and made it just in time for dinner. Tonight’s dinner was at the water front, reservation required, Indigo. To make reservations, you need to queue the day of in the afternoon; not my favorite way to have dinner, but we had the hook up. Graeme got up and thanked us again for coming to experience and learn about all that is Club Med and then announced that he had some awards to give out, making us honorary Club Med GO’s. And the 1st award goes to ME, for requesting and pushing (Push? Who? Me? Ha!) for the school visit. He mentioned in all his many years with Club Med he had never given back or had anyone approach him with a request to do so. From Club Med newbie to GO in 4 days…kinda killed it, I guess! 😉 But, that’s how I do it.
Any hoo, with my shiny new medal around my neck it was time to get into dinner! The chef came out and explained that we were going to eat family style so that we could taste and sample nearly the entire menu, not going to argue about that! Most of the starters were seafood based, shrimp, tuna ceviche, salmon spread with crackers and a couple of other options, I cannot remember. Everything that I tried was delightful. For dinner came 3 large platters with steak, chicken and fish. I tried the steak and chicken, and both were very good. Next for dessert there was a choice of chocolate cake or a mango & pineapple tart. I went with the tart and it did not disappoint! Dinner ended a bit after 9:30pm and it was time for goodbyes and 1 last coconut and pistachio gelato before having to pack.
My flight departs at 8:00am, so Village departure is <cough> 5:45am. Super fun, but I’ll be home by 4:30pm and not 11:00pm…worth it. Checkout is 9:00am, earliest I have encountered.
Another day of fun new experiences!
Night, night.
Tomorrow: Sad Bus Day & Home to my babies!
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Thursday March 28, 2019: Sad Bus Day
Beep. Beep. Beep. It can’t possibly be 4:50am, I just closed my eyes, but here we go!
Bag pick up was to be at 5:00am, check out by 5:30am and departure at 5:45am. In true Michaela fashion, no way were my bags going to be ready that early, so I had called last night to let them know, I’d drag them myself.
I grabbed my last Coke Light from the minibar and headed for the lobby about 5:25am, I had checked out with the Zen Oasis Concierge last night, so my Club Med key/account bracelet was shipped and onto the sad bus I went.
The ride to the airport was seriously 5 minutes, maybe 7. It seemed way faster than coming, but this early, it’s appreciated! The open-air check-in terminal was bight with huge fans keep the space cool, which is needed even before 6:00am. Check-in was quick, as was security and then I trekked to the gate. No time to hit the lounge here and didn’t even check to see if it was open that early.
Adios Club Med, Punta Cana and the Dominican Republic…you will see me again!
On y va, take me to my babies!
We had an on-time departure and I’m so happy that I upgraded to Delta Comfort + so I could comfortably get some work done.
Early arrivals are my jam! Hola Atlanta, well done Delta! We arrived about 20-ish minutes early, and customs and immigration were a.breeze. with my Mobile Passport. My seat mates were Global Entry (I know, I know, but, I have not had time to get it done) and I was only 2 minutes behind them in the Mobile line. Woot for new technology that most people have not caught on to yet, even though it’s been around for a couple of years! This is one tip that my clients continuous thank me for, travel advisors do it better, just sayin. When it came to baggage, mine were out faster, clearly an uncontrollable situation, but I was off, bag back on the belt and to security before they were. All told SEVEN minutes for customs and 15 minutes from deplaning, I was off to find lunch…maybe 4:50am wake up calls for an 8:00am flight are not such a bad thing.
My layover in Atlanta was about 3 hours, time to get some work done. I tried to hit the Minute Suites with my pass, but they were full, waa waa. Oh well, I grabbed a burrito and I’m back to regular Diet Coke, all good things must come to an end. I found a little corner and carved out an office to work some emails. I was also able to make an important webinar for my new Travel Advisor Select designation. Technology is such a wonderful thing! How far we’ve come to be able to work from the road in the 23 year I’ve been making experience come to life for my amazing clients.
We pushed back from the gate in Atlanta early (they are killing it today!) and are schedule to arrive a bit earlier back into Des Moines. I updated my Uber and this time it comes with my babies!!! Almost there.
I landed back in Des Moines to a running welcome from Gov and a hug that nearly knocked me over from Maddie. I love my job and that I get to go and experience great places and wonderful people, but theirs is nothing like coming back home!
The Moore's Are Where?? 