I did my research ahead of time...small rooms, long walk, not all English speaking, buffet food. Small room, you shouldn't be in it on an island vacation anyway...long walk, aahh we all need the exercise... not all English, I learned some French... buffet food...delicious. You can always find something to eat. I would have preferred that breakfast stayed open a little later since we slept in the first day and couldn't get a decent cup of coffee. Secret, bring your own coffee creamer if you like to have some coffee in the room. There was never enough creamer and the packages were stale.

We flew in on the CM charter flight from JFK. It felt like chaos in the Punta Cana airport as we were shuttled to the Club Med booth and onto a bus. We sat on the bus waiting to leave for 20 minutes and were getting ancy when we realized, our bracelets were on our wrists, our keys and beach towel cards in our hands and we were sitting in air conditioning as they were getting the rest of the passengers to the same place we were. We realized...we were checked in! When you get to the resort, the music is playing all the G.O.'s are lined up to the main reception area and are clapping. There are cold drinks waiting for you and the Chief of the Village gives you a brief overview of how to get around. Then a G.O., or in our case, 2, grab the few carryons that you have and walk you to your room. By the time they show you where the mini-fridge is, your luggage arrives. I described it as CMPC has mastered the art of herding cattle without ever making you feel that you were cattle. It's incredibly organized. Never a line for anything.

If you're looking for a vacation with AND away from your 9 & 11 year old kids, this is the one. For the kids club for 8-10 year olds, there are 3 activities to choose from each hour. My son was diving out of bed and forcing me to get up early for fear of missing his tennis lesson at 9 am. And the circus school... not to be missed. My 11 year old did "the catch" where she swung off of one trapeze and was caught by a G.O. on the other.

The G.O.s were spectacular. They were just as happy and enthusiastic at 9pm as they were at 9am. We had a running joke with them all week with my son because we bought him a baseball cap with "Dominican Republic" on it the first day. I told him that he was Sammy Sosa. He went into the kids club and announced that he was Sammy Sosa and that was what the G.O.s called him all week. The G.O.s from the other groups even knew Sammy. They shouted to him across the restaurants and he announced how popular he was. He made a new best friend, Calvin that I'm certain he will keep in touch with.

The Ramp was the hang out for my 11 year old who I typically never let out of my sight. I am a paranoid parent always thinking the worst. However, I would kiss my daughter good-bye in the morning, see her for her shower before dinner and then kiss her good-bye in the evening telling her to be home by 11pm. Can you imagine telling an 11 year old to be home by 11pm and feeling safe about it???

The show Thursday night was all the kids from each group and you'd think they'd rehearsed all year. If you get a chance, go to youtube and check out the punta cana cheerleaders. This was a routine put together by their G.O. that they learned and performed while there.

I've never gotten so many kisses from my kids thanking me for the time of their lives. Disney ain't got nothing on CMPC! I actually read an entire book laying by the pool (which is huge! It should have a bridge to cross it 'cause walking around is a hike!) There were always available lounge chairs by the pool and the beach. If you like a shady spot, get there a little early. I was perfectly content to be in the sun.

I came home and already started thinking about booking Club Med Cancun Yucatan which has a similar list of activities.

We have just returned from a fabulous vacation, the weather, beach, pool, drinks etc. were fabulous. If you have small children, you will feel at home! I pretty much agree with all the pros that people have mentioned so I won't elaborate further on the cleanliness/non-renovated rooms/village size/beach/pool etc. We travelled with our 15 month and 3 year olds.

Additional comments that I haven't seen addressed follow: They tend to be the things we didn't like or would have liked to know in advance but I tried to also include the highlights. (WE DID HAVE A GREAT VACATION!)

I would highly recommend the yoga at 9:30-10:15 in the palappa by the beach. This was the only fitness class I had time to participate in (see below re: my "kid issues") but I went every day. It wasn't the kind of Power Yoga I'm used to in Canada, but they did all the basic moves including some more challenging shoulder stands etc. and you really couldn't beat the beachside atmosphere with tranquil aqua water before you and the wind from the sea in your hair.

There were a number of other fitness classes throughout the day including step/cardio and kick-boxing type as well as a "Body Pump"-like class. I wasn't able to fully maximize these, but they looked like good exercise!

They have interent access. I saw plenty of people plugging in their laptops in the reception area but I don't know if they had to pay for their internet or not. I just paid for a 30 minute session (forget the price as it was in Dominican currency) and used their computers. I was jealous of people on their blackberrys!

The $30USD/person snorkeling excursion that they promote near the restaurant in the morning and from which you embark from the club Med beach is a rip-off and not worth it. They only drive you a short way out into the sea, there is alot of current, the coral is all dead and there aren't many fish. If you go, you need to be a strong swimmer. There were some people in our group who needed rescue almost immediately and it was unpleasant having to move out of the way to let the boat go by as they drove out to save them. I'm a strong swimmer and I found the experience to be a let-down. The off-site snorkelling excursion is $150USD (to the Marinarium) but I don't know if it's worth it. I have heard that global warming has done in the Carribean corals but I'm not sure if that's true.

You do not need to bring your own sandtoys! I did not know this and ended up lugging my own along. They have a hut on the beach for the kids to play in the sand with tons of toys. The toys managed to migrate throughout the beach during the day and there was lots of surplus for everyone.

There were some communal tubes/air mattresses at the pool, but if you like having your own (as our daughter did) you might be best off bringing your own from home. The gift shop ones were not the greatest quality and expensive.

Both were pre-registered for the Baby (6-23 mo.) and Petit (2-3 yrs.) Clubs, respectively. Both the Baby and Petit clubs had excellent facilities and staff, but for some reason, our kids didn't really take to the experience. So unless your kids are extremely extroverted and into new experiences, you might not find it worth it to pay extra for these services - since you might not end up taking full advantage. The babies had playtime, walks, etc. The petit club had colouring, park time, tennis, pool party, walks, beach, treasure hunt (you name it, basically).

I have some more detailed comments about the shows referred to in other reviews. The only major "con" was the 8:15pm show geared for the kids. (There is another show later on at 9:30 which is probably for the older crowd since our little ones can't stay up that late, we didn't attend and I won't comment). Anyways, the 8:15 show was pretty marginal. I give an A for effort, but the content was absolute garbage. If you think it's appropriate to show your 3 year old 2-3 adults assaulting (hitting) each other with a pool noodle or a large mallet for 45 minutes continuously - then you will be fine. I however, thought it was unnecessarily violent and stupid. I found it hard to believe they couldn't come up with anything better than that. My husband (native french speaker from Quebec) voiced his concerns to the mini-club and they mentioned that this kind of humour is acceptable in France. They acknowledged our suggestion as they expressed interest in pleasing all cultures and age groups. I doubt anything will change, but I found that aspect disappointing. they could have done a circus type show or some clowns blowing up balloons or a mime - anything really, would have been better.

Yes, the buffet gets tiresome after a few days but try mixing up the restaurant you go to. La Hispaniola is breathtaking at lunch! The Dominican night was the most disappointing for us, but that was probably because they other nights were so great! If you want to avoid getting seated by the staff at the door, just go look at the food first and then seat yourself. We tended to prefer to eat at our own table of four since our kids were so distracting it was distressing to us if we felt our kids were ruining someone else's meal.

Can't wait to go back, but will wait until our kids are a little older!

Great Stay for Family with kids. Beach was OK not the best beach. European feel to resort. Fantastic for family vacation with kids

My wife and I had been looking for a warm weather vacation we could enjoy with our two daughters (aged 5 & 15 months). My wife and I have never been particularly interested in all-inclusives, cruises, etc. Most of our vacations have been to American, Canadian, or European cities where we tramp around all day and then go out for drinks and a nice dinner in the evening. Having tried that with our oldest daughter in the past, we knew it wasn't a good match for kids.

We were attracted to Club Med Punta Cana because of a) the ease of getting there from our home in NJ and b) the children's programs. I have to say that we were more than pleasantly surprised.

It is important to understand a little about Club Med before you go, so that you're well-prepared for what you'll find. Most of the guests ("GM's"), at least at Punta Cana, are french-speaking; and so the main language at the resort ("Village") is French. Almost everyone speaks English with varying degrees of proficiency and all announcements are in French and English. The staff ("GO's") are duty-bound to make sure you're having a good time. They will sit with you at meals, greet you by name as you walk around the village, hug your kids. Rooms are not the main attraction. Standard rooms can be a little tight for a family larger than 3. The meals here are all buffet-style.

Kids' Programs: Punta Cana has programs for kids of all ages from babies up to teenagers. "Baby Club Med" and "Petit Club Med" cost extra and space is limted. We couldn't get our youngest into the Baby Club, so book early. They will watch your 0-3 year old all day and stroll them around the grounds, play with them give them lunch/snacks, etc. We heard reports from parents that, unless your young one is used to being away from the parents all day, it may be hard to get them to stay at the club. "Mini Club Med" is for kids 4-up and "Passworld/The Ramp" is for tweens/teens. Our daughter loved the Mini Club, especially the trapeze and getting to do the stage show. She did want to spend more time out of it than in, but we always found activities she wanted to do and she stayed there most mornings. I think if she were a couple of years older, she would have stayed there all day. Since there were so many kids at the Village, she made many many friends; which actually gave us the opportunity to meet some very nice parents.

Food: I would classify the food as really good "wedding food." Made to order omelets at breakfast. Always some grilled fish and a carving station. Rib steaks, lamb chops, roast chicken, always some Dominican dishes. Pizza, burgers, dogs for the kids. One of the nights included lobsters. We were never hungry and I usually found more things that I wanted to try at each dinner than I actually had room to eat. Finally, because Club Med is a French company all the meals included a great selection of really nice bread. The white chocolate bread is addictive. Again, it's not fine dining; but I'd say it's above average.

Drink: They pretty much made any drink you could think of. I found the limes in the DR to be a little sweet to really make a good margarita, but mojitos were great. El Presidente beer is great in the warm weather. Red wine was kind of plonk, but the white and rose were fine. Kids had many juices, frozen nonalcoholic drinks to choose from.

Room: As I said, rooms are a little spartan. Double bed, sliding double doors, then two twin bed/sofa type things, balcony. Showering and getting ready for dinner got a little tight; but we were never really in the room between 8 am and about 6 pm. Then out again from 7 pm to 11 pm.

Entertainment: 2 shows per night. The first for really young children and the second with slightly more production value, performed by the GO's. At the beginning they do this bizarre "Crazy Signs" dancing that my daughter loved. Once a week the Mini Club Med puts on a show which all the kids seem to love doing.

Staff: The GO's were friendly and great with our kids. Most spoke many languages and accented English. You could tell that it had been drummed into them to make our vacation pleasant and memorable. They'll invite you to activities, like soccer or softball, but they don't pressure you. If you want to be totally left alone, however, this isn't your place.

Beach / Pool: The beach is beautiful. Warm, calm water protected by a reef. Snorkelling, sailing, windsurfing all included. The pool is very large and has a kiddie end and a deeper (5 ft.) end for adults. Get your towels out early if you want shade.

Activities: Archery, exercise classes, tennis, hockey, soccer, inline skating, etc., etc. You can pay extra to golf, fish.

All in all it was a really nice vacation. I wouldn't go to CMPC as a couple, but for kids of all ages it's a really nice, relaxing experience. Don't worry about the French aspect, everyone's nice and you can find plenty of Europeans, Canadians, Americans to talk to if English is your only language. We may go back when the baby is older.