Trying to explain to a 6 year old that Mommy paid for the vacation already, was easy. Having her understand that's another story. But, she loved that I didn't have to pay for the food.
We stayed from Saturday August 28th until
more +September 4th. When we arrived I was surprised since I had Dreams Palm but it's called Dreams report & spas. I was so excited. We arrived around 2ish and our rooms were available. We ate at the world cafe and the food was great. Buffet style, from a course of different types of foods. They do have some sparrow birds flying around but after you left and getting the food that was brushed on the floor. They were never at the buffet area. The kids explorer camp place was nice. One thing I didn't like was that one on occasion my daughter didn't eat dinner, they had to practice for the talent show. Another couple that we met said it was 2 nights for their child. Other than that, the explorer club was magical. My daughter didn't want to spend any meal time with us, I guess because I complained that she wasn't eating much. But, when she did eat with us, she drove me bananas asking to leave to go to the Explorers club.
We didn't try all the restaurants. We heard the French restaurant you waited a long time for your art food. Mexican was a long wait. We were sat down at 7 and left at 9 without any dessert. They put chips and salsa before they ask for your order. With a complimentary margarita drink. The food was ok. I had a fajita of steak and it came with the steak, some small amounts of onions and tortillas. Nothing else to make a great fajita. We did the hibachi restaurant and the hibachi part was a wait of 45 to 2 hours. We took the tables which served Chinese food. The service was great and so was the food. The middle hibachi table had the most action. Our friends went a couple of times and said the middle table the chef had both their children cut up the food. Which was great! The Coco cafe, had pastries and coffee and favored tea. We did the Seaside Grill twice. Once with friends and the other just the 3 of us. When we went with friends I ordered the shrimp cocktail was a little warm. I had Salmon and it was great. My husband and friends had Rib Eye. My husband asked for onions in Spanish and instead we got a plate of French fries. But, the service was good and we had a nice time. We had the brownies with ice cream. The ice cream was good the brownie wasn't. The second time, I had the NY Sirloin and my husband and daughter the Rib Eye. The food was excellente!! But the service was poor, after my husband complained, it turned out that they got our order mixed up. But, telling us, would have been better then for us to ask.
Every day at 8:30 they Explorers club did a show with all the children then after that, they did the adult entertainment. I stayed up for 2 and they were all GREAT and FUNNY!! Every day we were provided with a schedule of activities for adults and children. So it help to schedule our day.
We saw many weddings at the hotel. We had 2 days of the effects of hurricane Earl. But, Earl didn't damper our trip. It was weird the beach was windy and sand flying all around and the hotel crew were picking up the beach chairs. You went to the pool and you didn't feel the wind at all. It was like you left the Twilight zone. They had the red flag out and someone sits in a little tower and watches and tells people to get out of the water. Which was a nice touch for concern. The hotel down the way also had a red flag but people were in the water.
The first day the pool water was warm. But, in the morning and afternoon it's nice and cool. They put up what looks like an ice berg for children ages 7-12 to climb and slide on. My daughter enjoyed this treat. By the time it was 3 or 4pm the pool water felt like bath water. My daughter called it a Jacuzzi pool. The guys that did the entertainment were amazing. Talk about energy, they need to bottle it up. They had so much of it. These guys did the aerobics, did all these activities and still had energy at night. They also has 2 ladies that were just as active as the guys. One was a aerobics instructor and she was very nice to my daughter. The ladies at the Explorers club were amazing. I loved Patricia since she spoke some English. The other 3 women was great. We found out that they work 12 days and are off 3 days. But, since they like children they enjoyed their job.
When we arrived the beached was laced with seaweed, but after Hurricane Earl passed he took a lot of it with him. The hotel crew cleaning the beach about 3 times a day. I saw one guy cleaning up the cigarette butts from the sand and the garbage people left behind. The beach had about 20 pigeons and I think one or two were from New York. Some didn't look very healthy at all. Other didn't. I love the ocean water and it was very relaxing. Some cold spots which I enjoyed. The water was a bit salty for my eyes, but I kept my eyes closed and just relaxed with the water. Some people did snorkeling but with my goggles I didn't see anything, just sand and sticks and wood and grass. Lots of sea grass. We found that's what made the water darker in certain areas. . They did have some flying fish and some people got scarred and left the water. We tried the glass bottom boat and the snorkeling at the was great. Our captain showed use the area where they house the dolphins. You can see it from the hotel it looks like a pier, but now we know what it is. The scuba diving area was penned and gated, which was strange and exciting. But, I don't scuba dive anymore to see what it was all about. At the beach they have people coming around selling things and one lady with a Barbie doll head yelling braids. We didn't buy anything but others did. I met Fabian at the beach and he told answered our questions about what we saw out in the ocean. He was very nice and I let him pick my drinks every day. He was Excellente! We got the braids at the hotel spa and they did a nice job. My husband had a deep penetrating back message and said that the women Grace was so small with amazing hands.
The rooms, were a bit small with 2 drawers and a two sided closet with 2 shelves on the bottom and one on top. But, the refrigerator housed beer, water & soda/pop. Couldn't get it colder but it was fine. The rooms had a large fan with a light in-between the beds and the fan levels went up to 3. It was nice and cool. The shower has no door and you probably read on other websites. 2 towels on the floor helped to fix the problem. But, only 5 towels for a family of 3, but 2 large bathrobe towels. They provide 2 matches and a incense for the room. Each room has an outside patio, which we used the chair to dry our clothes after washing them in the sink. Pedro and Rosanna cleaned our room and did a great job. Our bed were turned each night. The bed had so many pillows I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have any place to put the pillows. I had them on the chairs, instead of the floor. You can get your own pillow but reading the hand book that was provided. The bed had a comforter, sheets and a blanket. We removed the comforter since it was too much to sleep with. It got warm at night. Each room had a safe, a radio for your ipod. A cd/dvd player, Flat screen TV set. Outlets were same as the U.S. They provided you with 3 washcloth and never changed them.
Elsa and Santa and Rosa were great at the restaurants. We found out that Elsa worked at the Sea grill restaurant. She was very lovable. We decided to come again. Many of the staff didn't speak English but a little practice of your Spanish helps. Plus the hotel provided free lessons every day at 10pm, for the adults and children. We had an amazing time. Just remember to bring the sunscreen!! We saw a lot of people burnt and I felt bad for them.
Date of Stay: 08/28/2010
Children in Party: 1
We stayed at the Dreams Palm Beach with my family for our first family vacation.
We have two young children, 2 and 5. Being my first trip to the Caribbean with my young kids, I was worried about the food and water but all was
more +excellent! The food was incredible.
The Entertainment Staff was absolutely amazing. In particular, Marlenny, Franics and Kelvin. Although they were adult entertainment staff, they were certainly friendly and playful with our children. They made us feel like we were part of their family each day. Marlenny made my kids day starting off in the morning. She took very good care of them. The kids pool was perfect! Very safe and spacious. Servers came around the pool area each day at noon with some snacks, in case you had a late breakfast and weren't ready for lunch just yet. The beach have daily and fun activities for both children and parents. The restaurants were amazing!!!! The Japanese restaurant was excellent! Provided Entertainment Teppanyaki style for the little ones and the chef got the spectators involved in the cooking. The kids loved it! A waiter named Darling was fabulous! He was in a few restaurants. The kids loved him. The kids club was really fun. My kids didn't want to leave there. I left them there for an hour each day and felt safe. Some activities included nightly movies for the kids on the beach, bungee jumping on the beach for the kids, a basketball court for the little ones in the Explorer Club, arts and crafts.... This is a VERY kid friendly resort. In the Explorer Club, there are no parents allowed. They also had food and snacks in the Explorers club for the kids in case the kids were hungry. They had a neat little tree house which was shaded for the kids. My kids had so much fun there! Another great thing about this resort is that the airport was only 15 mins away which was a big deal for me since my child gets car sick.
I would definitely stay here again.
Date of Stay: 05/03/2010
Children in Party: 2
Accommodations Dining Kids Play Area Money Value Pool & Water Fun Staff
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