Once on your way to finding your taxis or transfer; you will be swamped with gentlemen wanting to help you with your bags. Sometimes they will literally take them right from your hands. Now, I’m all for earning a buck anyway you can, but these gentlemen will only take your bags to the transfer company waiting for you or a taxi driver waiting for a fare. We’re talking about 10 – 20 feet and their hand will be out for a tip. Just say “No Gracias” and hold onto your bag(s) until you meet up with your transfer rep or taxi driver. It is my belief that they are the ones to receive the tip as they are also the ones loading my bags into a vehicle and getting me and my luggage to my resort.
Now comes the drive to your resort or hotel. There will be many different thoughts that these drivers have about how and when you should arrive. Some drivers drive. They don’t talk much, they just drive. That’s fine.
Some drivers will chat you up, give you some pointers and become your Dominican friend and offer their services to take you on tours and such. Some will even bring you to a friends’ shop so you can purchase a nice cold cerveza (beer) or some souvenirs at a really good price. They will ask for permission and it will be up to you whether to stop or not. It’s totally up to you. Depending on the length of your drive time, you may want a nice cold drink for the ride. But if you’re only going to be on the road for 20 minutes or so; I’d decline their offer. Why pay when you can get a FREE cold beverage at your resort?
There are many different types of vehicles that will comfortably take you to your resort. Most are medium to large vans with air conditioning so no worries there. My very first trip to the Dominican; we were loaded on a big air-conditioned bus with 50 or so other guests going to a couple of different resorts. There was a cooler of iced drinks (sodas and beers), they gave a very nice informational talk about the Dominican Republic like their food specialties, the importance of sunscreen, about NOT drinking the water and other such pertinent information. And then, they went up and down the aisle and put on our all-inclusive identification bracelets on the bus!!! We were actually checked into our resort on the bus with our rooms keys and all, so when we got to the resort, we pointed to our bags and then taken to our rooms. Talk about sweet!
