Stayed at the Ocean Blue from May 6th through the 11th with a friend for a girl's weekend. The grounds were impeccable, the drinks were overflowing, the weather perfect (very hot and humid), and the beach was amazing. The food was average resort/cafeteria level food. I would recommend staying away from the fruits and some meats (ham, beef) as they were often a bit unrecognizable. I would also recommend drinking the local drinks - Mamajuana, dirty monkeys, and pina coladas as the soda used for mixed drinks has a different taste than American soda. Also - do not drink margaritas as you will find they taste nothing like margaritas in the U.S.. Victor specials at the yellow pool were awesome. The drinks at the Tortuga made by Abel are very strong.

The shows offered were fantastic - shortened versions of Chicago and the Copacabana. Took a glass bottom boat ride with Jesus and the red tiki boat through the resort - worth the $50. Took us snorkeling, to a natural pool, to a water slide, and gave us snacks.

When there - visit Ben and Victor at the yellow pool, Abel at the Tortuga bar on the casino side of the resort, go bowling at least once, and wear lots of sunscreen.

The resort is full of couples so it's definitely a great couple spot - but us two single gals made several friends and had a great time.

Beware of the men wearing white at the airport - they only want to take your luggage a short - distance for a big tip. Also - bring $1 bills with you as finding change to tip is nearly impossible and nobody takes credit cards. Some of the rooms are musty and smell of mold - especially on the first floor so bring a nice smelling spray or air freshener. It's a very humid island - so there will be weird smells. BRING BUG SPRAY - lots of mosquito bites. Also - if you plan on golfing at the Ocean Blue - plan to pay $150+ to play a short round of golf. Not the best place for golf.

BIG NOTE: Learn some spanish. Just a bit to get you by. Perhaps phrases asking for towels, for types of drinks, how to change money over to smaller bills, types of food, etc. The people there are far more friendly if you speak a little spanish and will go above and beyond if you ask them a favor in Spanish. Also - do not pay more than half of the asking price of the vendors on the beach. Typically offer 1/4 to 1/3 of what they ask. They will take it eventually. And - plan on being asked several times by vendors at the pools and beaches for services, asking if you want your picture taken, etc. Just say - "no gracias" or "no me moleste" and they go away.

All in all - a great trip and a GORGEOUS hotel.

Ocean Blue was amazing. Stayed at Caribe Club Princess before, and this was def. better. Mimosas and caviar on the breakfast bar!! What more could you ask for. Everyone was so friendly, the beach was beautiful. Plenty of shade areas too. And yes to Amazon (above review), we did feed the mama and puppies on the beach. It was so sad to see the stray dogs.

I would recommend booking with Apple. They've always made sure everything ran smoothly and have reps on site to take care of you.

Just came back from this resort after staying 4 nights for a wedding. The overall experience was fantastic, BUT, alot of that is due to being there with a large group of fun and interesting people who were all connected through the wedding party. There was only one real negative that I saw so I will report on that first and then give my take on the rest of it:

I was there from Wednesday to Sunday, and from Wednesday to Saturday afternoon, the resort was made up of primarily American, European and Canadian tourists. On Saturday, I observed several bus loads of "local" tourists arrive in the lobby. Some said that the resort heavily discounts weekend rates for locals. Not sure what the story is, but the population at the pool and pool bars was "different" and much more crowded on Saturday. The nightclub which played great American music the prior three nights, switched to accomodate all of the locals and played nothing but Spanish music all night. This was unfortunate because even with our group, many couldnt take the positively endless barrage of Spanish music. It was 3 straight hours of it (and Im sure much more after I left).

I give the food rating a C+. If you like to have great food on your trips, this may not be the place for you. I didnt mind the food and its not like anyone was getting sick from it, but many of the offerings are just average at best. They do the local cusine very well (rice, beans, churiso, salsa, bananas, etc), but things that arent their specialty really suffer, which is a lot of dishes. Luckily, Im not a foodie so this didnt bother me at all. Not sure if other resorts in the area have better food, this was my first time in DR.

The pools are huge and relaxing with good service at the pool bars. They play alot of local music during the day and have contests and classes at the pool. This is fun for the 5 or so people who get involved (in a salsa dance lesson for example) but Im guessing that for the rest of the people at the pool who are trying to relax or have conversations, its a bit intrusive to hear these classes broadcast over the loud speakers.

The nightlife was above average. Lots of bars to choose from and they have the live dance shows every night if thats your thing. Again, I was with a big, fun crowd so it was pretty easy for us to enjoy the nightlife (except on saturday at the club which was TERRIBLE).

The beach was great. Plenty of seating and shade and I walked the beach at one point to about 10 other resorts and Ocean Blue was at least as good as those, and in many cases, Ocean Blue was far better laid out.

The resort was a good size. Not too big as I have heard others are in DR. Everything in less than a 5 minute walk away. This is important because some resorts are way too big and its a chore to go from one part (beach) to another (the pool or your room, etc). Building 8 or 9 are the most centrally located group of rooms. Closest to everything, I recommend those.

Ok , thats all I can think of. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. Overall, I had an unbelievable time attending this wedding. Not sure that I would necessarily go back to this resort, but it was a great location for a destination wedding, particularly if you have a decent sized group.

I find it amazing that people went to the same resort as I did and had such OPPOSITE opinons! One person said there was no language barrier.....are you kidding me? They could barely communicate, if at all.

My biggest complaint was the food. The only thing I liked was the pizza (when it was just out of the oven) and the pasta. I ate it for lunch and dinner every single day....We were there 7 days and I was so freaking tired of the food by the end I could die. I'm not a picky eater it just was nasty food.

My other complaint was you could get your own food at the buffet but not your own drinks...so you sit down with your plate of food and you're almost done eating before they come over and ask you what you want to drink. If you say diet coke, you get a little glass of diet coke that you chug because you're so thirsty by now, and then forget ever getting a refill. I walked up to the bar area myself to ask for another coke and the waiter yelled at me!! "I GET YOUR DRINK FOR YOU"......ok, fine, but you aren't bringing it. And as many others have said, I found everyone very rude except the bartenders.

The one girl in the lobby bar would joke around with the fellow bartenders and then when she looked at you, it turned into a scowl. I tipped like crazy the first few days and like others said, there is no point. It makes no difference. There was a girl at the casino possibly named Maria (I was trying to read her name tag to report her) that was so blatantly rude I wanted to punch her in the face.

The pool is absolutely gorgeous. I will say that. The grounds are beautiful. The beach in front of our hotel was horrible. I'm sure the beach contour changes often but you'd have to walk through a ton of little twigs and dirty stuff to get to the water. Right next door it was spotless. Maybe our place was like that when others said it was perfect.

Someone said they had Heineken at the bars???? That is an out and out LIE...we asked at every single bar what kind of beer they had. The Presidente smelled/tasted like sewage sometimes. We got Bud at the sports bar and it was very cold. But if you don't watch, they pour it in a mug and then you turn your head and they refill your mug with Presidente even tho they know you are drinking bud. If they had Heineken then the bartenders all lied. We were there for a week and asked at every bar every day.

I will not be back to Punta Cana. I guess I'm spoiled from other vacations I've taken. The folks I met that thought it was wonderful were in their 20s and had never been anywhere else. If you've been to some nice places with great service and good food, you'll be very disappointed in this place.