The DR2

In December, I took my side of our family to the DR.  Nickie and I, my daughters Celeste and Brittany, Britt's husband Kris and their 2 children Audrey and Lukas.  We had a grand old time, but found it a bit tricky to organize outings, as we were staying in 3 rooms in the resort.  On reflection, we thought for Nickie's side of the family, it might be better to rent a large house instead of several rooms in a resort.  We could spend time at the house, swim in the pool and enjoy meals as a family.  My side of the family numbers 7.  There are actually more than 7, but let's not overcomplicate this story.  Nickie's side numbers 14.  Most live in Ontario, but 4 are in British Columbia.  To say the logistics were complicated is an understatement!  Due to visa restrictions (I'm striving to keep this simple), one of her sons and his fiance could not accompany us.

Using triangulation, we chose a vacation spot that is equidistance from Ontario and BC.  Yes, you are correct, we chose Puerto Vallarta!  We had just finished booking the flights and accommodations when all hell broke out in Mexico.  A drug lord was killed and the riots began.  Where, you ask?  Hmm...  Puerto Vallarta!  I know what you are thinking... Bad things seem to follow me wherever I travel.  Perhaps it would be advisable not to travel to destinations where I am going.  One benefit of reading this travel blog is you can find out where to avoid travelling.  Just saying!

Time for Plan B

The re-booking could have been worse.  Nickie lost half the cost of the house rental in Mexico.  I can't quite blame the owner, as she was not likely to re-book it.  The flights were more complicated, as Nickie did not receive an outright reimbursement, but a partial credit that was quite tricky to re-book flights.

We decided on a large house in the Dominican Republic.  As the credits were with Flair Air, who do not have direct flights from Vancouver to the DR, it was decided to fly Nickie's daughter and family from Vancouver to Toronto.  A few days later, we would fly together to the DR.

Large pool!

I have never travelled with such a large group before.  Somehow, 12 of us made it to the airport and boarded our plane without much histrionics.  We played a version of musical chairs on the plane, primarily because Flair seems to deliberately separate travelers, likely so that they pony up the cost of obtaining conjoining seats.  An example is Sarah, Nickie's daughter was seated far from her sons, one being 6 and the other 8 years of age.  I know we are supposed to sit in our designated seats so that when the plane crashes, they can tag the remains, but perhaps Flair (and other airlines) could use more gracious algorithms for seating their customers?

Spacious downstairs

The owner of the house was very accommodating, booking rides to and from the airport, renting us 2 cars and responding quickly when there was an issue with the house.  And unfortunately, there always seems to be issues with accommodations in the DR, and other Caribbean countries.  Partially my fault, but when we arrived, we could not gain entry at the gate.  We were staying at a golf course and in order to pass the security gate, we had to show the guards QRL codes.  How do we get the QRL codes?  By providing the owner with our passport information.  Unfortunately, before we left Canada, she asked me for "information" on the party, so I provided her with the names.  I asked if this was sufficient, but received no response.  So we waited at the gate while Amita sent the owner pictures of everyone's passports.  We were then provided with the QRL codes.  It was fun, but not in a good way.

The house was quite large!  Our group consisted of 4 adult couples, 2 small children (1 and 3) and 2 older children (6 and 8).  We used 5 of the house's 6 bedrooms, all of which had ensuites, although at times, hot water was optional.

Nickie posing on the beach

The house also had a well stocked kitchen, large dining room, living room, outdoor dining room and pool.  Did I mention there was 12 of us?  I was flabbergasted at the amount of food, water, beer and wine (not in that order) we consumed.  We bought eight 10 liter jugs of water and had to buy more the next day!  It was great to see how everyone pitched in and helped with making the meals, maintaining an adequate supply of Pina Coladas and washing the dishes.  Yes there was a dishwasher, but of course it did not work.  We had need of a mechanic (Jason) in order to resurrect the BBQ.

Home in the DR

Because we spent so much time together, I think the objective of reuniting the family (and for me, getting to know them better) was a success.  We spent considerable time at the pool, went on a few walks along the golf course and hit the beach on 2 occasions.  We ate supper out twice.  It was not overly expensive, once you factor in that we were 12 people, but eating at the house was much more relaxing.  Not that anyone imbibed excessively, but driving in the DR is not something I would recommend after 6 glasses of wine.  At the house, a few drinks during the meal was more comfortable.

The flight home was uneventful.  The next day. Sarah's family had to fly home to Vancouver.  All in all, although a beach vacation is not my preference, it was a fun week!