SERENADE PUNTA CANA BEACH & SPA RESORT

I must preface this review with a reminder to my readers that everything I write is completely subjective, based on my personal experience and never based on personal relationships with those offering the services of either hotels, restaurants or other venues. I wish to be informative, without bias.

I arrived at this newer resort in Punta Cana knowing nothing about it, other than what appears on their website and on social media. I checked in and asked to briefly greet the sales manager, with whom I had had a couple of email exchanges prior to my trip, simply to introduce myself, share my business card and thank her. She was very cordial but very hurried. I was not given a map of the resort, or instructions on how to navigate the system, which is different at every property. I found my room on my own and must say I was impressed.

The property is beautiful, it is spotless, the rooms are large as are the bathrooms, furnished in a very minimalist modern way, yet with much storage space and thankfully several USB ports for charging electronics ( something I expect these days, particularly in newer hotels). There are 6 buildings, three on each side separated in the center by two very large pools. Each building has four floors with a mix of swim up ground floor jr suites as well as regular jr suites and large two room suites. There’s also a premier section of the hotel with upgraded amenities and separate pool area which can be accessed only if  your room is booked in that category.

I don’t know about you, but when on a vacation, I don’t want to have a schedule or be compelled to jump through hoops to get certain basic things accomplished. After all they sell themselves as a 5 star property. For example, at arrival everyone is given a towel card which allows you one beach or pool towel. You need to go to a booth (which was inconveniently located) to exchange the card for a towel, and then return the towel to the same location at the end of the day. The process is then repeated each day you’re there. I find that annoying…is it just me?

There are signs throughout the property indicating directions in order to make it easier to find restaurants and bars. I found some of the bars were non-existent. The bar serving the main pool also served the entire beach, so it got a bit crowded compelling one to wait. There is no waiter service. The swim up portion of the bar was unattended the entire time I was there. To access the bar menu, you had to download a barcode which I found cumbersome and at times inaccessible. There is no premium liquor that I could find anywhere and the drinks were unimaginative, watery and overall disappointing. On a positive note the staff around the pool and beach was pleasant, friendly and helpful.

Food is what at times cements the memory of a resort either in a positive or negative way. Unfortunately in the case of this resort the food throughout was memorably unappealing and remarkably mediocre. For lunch you have the choice of two buffet restaurants: one large one and another a “ Mexican” one which was smaller and surprisingly offered very similar food, just fewer choices. For dinner there is the same large buffet restaurant, or a sports bar which features the usual offerings you might expect at any sports bar. This one, once again, disappointing ( I’m trying to be kind here!). Worst hamburger I ever tasted….I’ll leave it at that.

To access the speciality restaurants you have to find the desk where two young ladies will help you make a reservation. I found the desk by chance especially because there was no sign anywhere indicating that it was the reservation desk, rather a makeshift folding table. However, what they don’t tell you is that if you arrive anytime after 10 or 11 am, those restaurants are full and you have to return the next morning to attempt a reservation again. I walked by the restaurants and despite being half empty, without a reservation, you were turned away. Please don’t ask me why I avoid “Italian” restaurants at all inclusive restaurants in the Caribbean…thank you! The other choices were a Mediterranean restaurant and an Asian one.  I was  able to secure a reservation at their “ premier” restaurant; a steakhouse called CUT, which everyone assured me was the very best. The ambiance screamed steak house, so I thought I scored gold! Again the menu can only be accessed online by scanning the barcode ( annoying). I chose a Caesar salad ( it was identical to the one I saw served at the sports bar) followed by churrasco. The meat arrived flanked by a tired and truly unappealing portion of mashed potatoes, over boiled asparagus , mushy mushrooms and a small slice of corn on the cob. The meat was tough, stringy and flavorless. The wine I was served was also of very low quality. After that, I avoided the specialty restaurants and simply grazed at the buffet.

I have stayed in two and three star hotels and have eaten in dives, but they never pretended to be more than what they were. I enjoyed the food in many of those places more than I did here. I am simply annoyed by venues that sell themselves as 5 star, or “deluxe” and don’t produce the quality they portray on their websites. I visit as many places as I can so that I may steer my clients correctly, depending on their expectations. I hope you read this in the spirit it was written, one of constructive criticism.

 When in Venice....

I had the pleasure of spending one night in a lovely 4* hotel called Santa Chiara in the Santa Croce area of Venice a few weeks ago.

Although its location is not what most would consider the "obvious", meaning that it does not advertise  itself as being in the  "San Marco", or Rialto Bridge vicinity, nevertheless it is within a leisurely stroll away from all the touristy attractions  and actually very well located with access to all types of transportation, including land based ones. This is especially important when needing a location which will allow a transfer to the airport that can avoid the overpriced water taxis most other hotels cannot avoid.

I was able to ambulate the small streets and alleys of the city safely and without getting lost, particularly because at almost every corner there are signs with arrows directing you towards all the major sites of Venice. What was particularly pleasant was to discover neighborhoods void of any tourists at all, yet bustling with locals and university students. Neighborhoods close to the hotel that were full of small restaurants and bars with uncharacteristically affordable prices, unlike the ones found in the areas immediately adjacent to Piazza San Marco and its annoying pigeons!

The hotel is part of Mr. Roberto Dazzo's collection of hotels and it is run as a family would when they nurture their child. It is immaculately clean, with pleasant esthetics, the rooms are spacious and welcoming and the staff is professional and friendly. the feeling of being welcomed is immediately palpable. Despite having booked clients there in the past, this was my first time overnighting there and I can assure you I would do it again.

When planning a trip to the Veneto region, or any of the other 19 regions in Italy, rest assured you will be in good hands when you allow me to create a personalized itinerary for your specific needs.

The Santa Chiara Hotel might just prove to be the right choice for you in Venice!

 MY FIRST ( very subjective) EXPERIENCE TRAVELING TO EUROPE SINCE 2020

I was very excited to have been invited to one of the first “in person” travel events which took place in the Lake Garda region in Northern Italy in October. I have chosen not to be vaccinated, so I did have some apprehension about the ability to easily navigate the check-in process at the airport, as well as being allowed to have easy admittance into Italy and Croatia once landed.

Because I did have COVID earlier this summer ( an almost completely asymptomatic form of it) I asked my personal physician to examine me, write an official letter of recovery and follow it up with a blood test showing antibodies in my system. One day before departure I also organized a rapid antigen test which came back negative. In addition to that, I had a letter from the organizers of the event I was to attend  attesting that my reason for travel was work related.

Just prior to the departure date, Delta Airlines advised that I should fill out  “Passenger Locator Form” online, which I dutifully complied with.

Armed with all this documentation both in electronic form as well as in hard copy, I approached the check-in counter at Delta in Miami. They wanted to see my passport as well as the result of my most recent antigen test. Nothing else interested them.

Upon arrival at Malpensa Airport in Milan, once again they were only interested in seeing my passport. They stamped it and I was on my way. Now I’m thinking: was I over prepared? Did I stress for nothing? I was almost disappointed that no one challenged me for not being vaccinated, particularly because I came armed with so much documentation. Yet no one seemed remotely interested. That was an eye opener!

Once my event was over, I took a train to Venice. On board the train I was asked to produce what Italians call a “green pass”. Since as US citizens we have no such thing, I showed the antigen test result I had received the day before landing in Italy. A quick glance looking for the word “ negative” was sufficient. Had they looked at the date they may have discovered that it was outdated at that point, but bureaucracy being what it is, that didn’t much matter. After spending a day in Venice never being asked for proof of vaccination or other documentation, I headed for the airport to check in to an Austrian Airlines flight flying Venice-Vienna-Zagreb. Of course while inside the airport I was wearing my ubiquitous blue mask; the very same one that had sufficed during all my travels up until that point, but Austrian Airlines had other ideas. An airline agent approached me while in line and advised me that I needed to have a K95 surgical mask in order to fly. Quite conveniently the coffee shop in that immediate area was selling them for €10 ( scam?). Now I try to check in. I was asked for a current antigen test which I did not have. The agent asked me to go back to the entrance area of the airport where I could be tested. Of  course I had done research and knew that if I had a certificate of recovery, a test was not required for travel within Europe. The agent seemed baffled once I advised her of this but she was kind enough to look up the latest rules. Once certain that I was correct, I received my boarding passes. That was the ONLY time during my entire trip that my doctor’s note became useful. From that point on, including my arrival in Zagreb, it was smooth sailing.

I spent 3 days in Zagreb and then one week sailing the Adriatic on a yacht.

No need to display any type of certificates or green passes anywhere and masks were not required indoors or out. At the end of the Croatian portion of my trip we  were all advised that in order to be able to fly out of the country we would be compelled to show a negative test. Conveniently, a doctor boarded our yacht in Split to collect €50 per person to perform a perfunctory non-test ( the swabs were just discarded after the pseudo test, something I witnessed personally). Naturally within a hour everyone in our group received a message showing an official negative diagnosis.

Again entering Italy at Fiumicino airport in Rome, only the passport was required, no other document.

Three days later I left Rome to return to the US. I went to a pharmacy directly across the street from my hotel to submit myself to the second test during my three and a half week voyage. It cost €15. Within 30 minutes i again had a negative diagnosis on my phone.

What is my conclusion after this experience? Being over prepared is cumbersome, yet advisable because one never knows who could ask for what during travels in Europe. My personal experience is that being vaccinated in order to travel is unnecessary, since you have to have a negative test whether vaccinated or not in order to leave and to return to the US. It is mostly theater in my opinion, and a way for test givers to make money. None of the theatrics are in place to keep anyone safe, rather they just want to give the appearance of doing so.

I will now travel more, and with less apprehension and stress. I can play the game, because in the end, that’s all it is. 

.

Dominican Republic

My musings for a Friday afternoon....
In 2019 the Dominican Republic was in the news for many months with stories of the mysterious deaths of mostly AMERICAN tourists.
The deaths happened mainly in all inclusive resorts in varying locations around the island, all the deaths were of relatively healthy tourists who were either young or middle aged.  Their symptoms mimicked poisoning which was alternatively theorized to be from air cooling systems, cleaning solutions or tainted alcohol.
The deaths were largely unexplained for a long time, conspiracy theories abounded, mini bars in rooms were removed, a campaign trying to put a shine on the “ safety” of vacationing to the tropical island was put in full swing.
Finally local authorities came to the official conclusion that the deaths were part of a statistically and naturally occurring fact: people die on vacation.
This was (timidly) corroborated by our own FBI.

However the fact remains that the deaths seem to have been clustered during a specific period of time, that the symptoms prior to the deaths were suspiciously similar and that many resorts voluntarily reviewed their minibars and liquor providers, insinuating that the deaths may have been caused by poisoning.
Yet all this was swept under the rug, tour operators and hoteliers rushing to create ads to improve the damaged image of this wonderful island, while deaths seemed to magically end.......people just stopped dying on vacation?

Of course occasionally death can occur while on vacation in ANY country in the world and one should be careful not to disparage a specific location because of it, however the Dominican Republic incidents remain unsolved in my mind.
Someone somehow either accidentally of purposefully caused those deaths of otherwise heathy vacationers and as of today no one including those who may have supplied tainted liquor to the resorts has been held responsible.

That is NOT acceptable!  I no longer feel I need to steer my clients away from the island and I still urge caution to anyone traveling anywhere but......unfortunately my level of skepticism of government and tourism officials has once again been diminished.
And that is a sad conclusion.

MSC SEASIDE

MSC goes global

I just returned from a one week Caribbean cruise on the MSC SEASIDE.

My comments about the vessel are totally subjective and are my impressions of the experience on that particular sailing.

First of all I must say the ship is beautiful, modern yet not cold. The common areas are well spread out on several levels of the ship, so there are plenty of private nooks and crannies to find tranquillity and comfortable seating. The bars and lounges are decorated tastefully, and their use of subdued colors for the furnishings and walls was a smart choice. The only objection is the overuse of mirrors in many corridors giving a disorienting feeling at times.

Despite the fact that the Seaside accommodates more than 4000 passengers, I must say it never felt crowded.

I didn’t attend any of the shows, so I can’t comment on those, but quite honestly, in speaking to other passengers, none were raving about shows, or even recommending seeing them, for whatever that’s worth.

The balcony cabin I had was spacious, the bedding comfortable, the bathroom functional and typical of most ships of that category.

Storage and closet space was a bit sparse, but workable.

I was very pleased with the terminal at the Port of Miami, ( G) which was upgraded and modernized, making the check in process quick and seamless compared to the chaotic scene I experienced during the last cruise.

This was only the second ship to dock at their newly inaugurated private island “Ocean Cay Marine Reserve” and while one could tell there’s much more work to be done on the island, a pleasant feature was the enormous space on the various beaches, so even there you never felt you were in an overcrowded situation. The food venues, cafeteria like and with huge lines, were a big negative, also the lack of entertaining play areas for children needs to be worked on.

Now let’s get to the major flaws of the MSC line.

I won’t go into the detailed history of the company, but rather will synthesize as best I can.

MSC ( Mediterranean Shipping Company) started as a family owned company from the Campania region of Italy and went into the passenger cruise business in 1988. They initially were an Italian product which was reflected in the bar and restaurant offerings, as well as the mood and music onboard. As they began venturing beyond the Mediterranean, they began a transformation to make the ships more globally palatable.

This means, they have started to resemble all the other cruise lines in their category ( NCL, Royal Caribbean, Carnival etc..)

Result: food in the main dining rooms is mediocre at best. Some of their competitors do a much better job despite serving the same number of passengers.  There are no more Italian waiters, sommeliers, bartenders.

The service is very spotty; you could sit at a bar for a long time before being noticed. Tipping bartenders (which is officially discouraged) makes a difference in service.

I’m not inferring Italians make better servers or bartenders at all, but I can say the  entire mood of the ships is generic; one of many.

I think the marketing department of the MSC has missed the boat ( pardon the pun). Their ships could have been a piece of Italy in the Caribbean, Northern Mediterranean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, yet they decided to go generic.

Think of how many people go to great lengths to visit Italy. Everybody loves genuine Italian food, they love the mood, the music the ambiance.

Why not create that atmosphere on MSC ships? That would have distinguished them from all the others. 

So they have an espresso bar and Venchi chocolate. Many malls around the world have those. At least the Divina had an EATALY restaurant when it was first introduced, but alas no longer.

Again my subjective thought.....no Italianity to be found.

Last of of all my greatest pet peeve: If one should want to sit in their cabin to watch the latest news, the only offerings are CNN Domestic,

CNN International, CNN Espanol, CNN Headline News.

Those are not choices.

I would rather have watched Italian news, but none was offered, while French and Spanish were.

A DUMB choice on MSC’s part. If I wanted fake news, I would read The NY Times.

SPECTACULARLY UNIMPRESSIVE

This was my third voyage on the MSC DIVINA , a ship I wanted desperately to love, and not just because Sophia Loren is the ship’s godmother, ( I needed to clear that up), but because I thought the introduction of “Italian” vessels in the Caribbean as ambassadors of all the wonderful things and products that Italy exports all around the world, it would have filled  a much needed void  from that cookie cutter mentality that permeates the cruise industry.

I sailed the Divina twice in the Caribbean and I must confess the first time was a huge disappointment. Starting from the check-in process, to the lack of decent service, to the inedible food, the over priced specialty restaurants, and the sense that they were trying much too hard to cater to an American crowd. Don’t we already have Carnival and Royal Caribbean for that?

The food and service in the dining room was so bad, we ended up eating at the buffet most nights, where at least we could choose our food by being able to see it before placing it on our dishes.

The second time the dining experience improved dramatically only thanks to the simple luck of having one of only two Italian waiters on the ship assigned to our table. That time, we never had to peruse the menu, rather just sit and Raffaele knew exactly what the best dish would be that night...it was as simple as that!

The ship is beautiful, the cabins spacious and well appointed, the common areas attractive embellished with vintage photos recalling “la dolce vita”, comfortable seating and mostly soothing colors and decor.

When we as travel agents are asked to inspect  a new vessel we see it empty of passengers, pristine, everything in its place, quiet....staged.

Sailing the ship on a routine cruise tests the ability of crew to provide the services, the food, the amenities that are promised in the advertisements and by the sales representatives.

In both the above sailings, that test was failed by a large margin.

So why did I decide to sail the same ship a third time? Timing and itinerary. I happened to be in Palermo at the tail end of a “Friends & Family” trip on the same day that the Divina sailed from there to Cagliari, Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, Marseilles, Genova and Civitavecchia.

A wonderful choice of ports in places I had not visited in many years.....an easy decision!

The ship had a completely different feel this time, the majority of the passengers Europeans. The noise level was increased dramatically, as well as the number of children who were obviously skipping school that week. Our cabin had an interior door separating it from the cabin next door. The insulation was non existent and we were able to hear every word of every conversation the family next door had sometimes very early in the morning and then again very late at night. Quite disquieting!

I noticed that the servers at the buffet seldom cleaned the tables, making it difficult to find a clean table to have a meal, particularly at breakfast.

Many chairs and banquettes were stained and dirty and in dire need of a good scrubbing, one of the beverage stations had a leak that was never repaired the entire duration of the cruise.

Disembarking at the various ports was disorganized and at times difficult to figure out....most times compelling passengers to go to the 5th level in order to then descend to the 4th level for disembarkation. A small inconvenience but a nuisance for those with small children or those with mobility problems.

One of the most annoying aspects of the cruise was the constant hard sell of their “beverage packages” ( very overpriced in my opinion), their spa offerings, the photographs. I know this is common on most ships, but it seemed more flagrant on the Divina.

The food offerings improved only slightly, but the service in the dining room was still spotty. Most nights the meals were quite uninspired and bland. A small example...someone in our party ordered a paella and got a dish of yellowish rice with one mussel sitting on top of it.(!!)

As I said I wanted to love this ship, I gave it three chances but unfortunately I must declare it spectacularly unimpressive.

Prosecco

PROSECCO FINALLY RECOGNIZED....
THE AREA IS NOW A UNESCO HERITAGE SITE.

In the core of the Veneto Region, in an area stretching from Valdobbiadene to Conegliano, there is a small, hilly area where Italy’s most famous sparkling wine, the Prosecco, is produced. 

Characterised by dramatic steep hills (hogback) cultivated with a system of grassy terraces (ciglioni), interrupted here and there by small parallel-running valley, the synergy between man and nature gave life to the perfect viticultureenvironment. 

Already between the XVIII and XIX centuries, young men heading to Venice for their Grand Tour were totally conquered by the romantic views offered by this area. The “patchwork” landscape of small vineyard plots, interspersed with wooded areas and green meadows, offered the perfect place to stroll, meditate and relax. Nowadays, it is possible to follow in their footsteps and admire this wonderful and luxuriant land with special walking or biking tours that will lead you not only among the vineyards, but also to the small historical villages and little medieval towns of this area. You can even rent a gorgeous red Vespa and ride the rolling roads among vineyard, stopping to the casual osteria for a plate of simple food. Every journey in the Prosecco region is a glorious experience for all the senses: not only the beauty of the hills will fill your eyes and soul with gorgeous images, you will also please your belly with a perfect risotto matched with a fresh glass of sparkling Prosecco. Evviva!

#italywithjoe