My wife and I stayed at the Punta Cana Princess the last week of July and had a wonderful time. In my review I point out several things that were annoying and things that could have been improved upon, but over all we had a great experience. I want to start off saying that so I don’t give off the wrong impression. If we ever go back to the Dominican Republic I would not hesitate to return to the same resort.
One thing I will point out is that the Dominican Republic is much more "European" than places like Mexico.. i.e. more bare breasts and man-kinis (speedos). Just FYI.
The Resort itself
The resort itself is nice and we found it to be clean. My wife and I commented several times that had we not stayed at the Aventura Spa Palace in Mexico we would probably have been really impressed with the Princess. Overall though, we had no major gripes with the property. If I was going to point to one thing they could really improve on it would be the bathrooms. We had an issue with the bathroom in our room when we first got there. The shower head in the room sprayed water everywhere and the drain was clogged… which meant you were ankle deep in water within a few minutes. We didn’t want to have to deal with having someone come to the room and work on it, so I called the front desk and 
asked to be moved to another room. The guy I talked to said it would be no problem and arranged for us to be moved to a room in the next building over (building 5). This new room had a slow drain, but if you backed off the pressure a bit it worked like a champ. I’m assuming maybe it’s a problem in the hotel in general? Who knows. The bathrooms could have had better lighting as well. The lights that were in there didn’t project over in to the shower very well, so it left it a bit cavey. All this really wasn’t that big of a deal for us though as we spent very little time in the room anyway, but other travelers might be a bit more picky then we are. Additionally, building 5 feels like it’s right on top of where it’s neighboring hotel does their nightly entertainment… so it sounded like you had a nightclub in your room around 9PM every night. The shows ended around 10:30 or so, so again, it wasn’t a big deal for us.. other travelers might want to consider being moved to another building if you go to bed early.
Restaurants
The restaurants on the property were nice as well, and as mentioned by other reviewers the food was OK. I apparently missed the memo that guys have to wear pants to all the restaurants except the buffet and the Mediterranean restaurant for dinner, which was a major inconvenience since I didn’t actually have any pants with me. We ended up going to a mall (more on shopping in a minute) so I could buy some over priced blue jeans, just so we could eat at other restaurants. Had the restaurants been nicer and the food better, I could have maybe seen justification for the dress code.. however I personally thought it was a little overkill. The hotel could get by with a more laid back atmosphere and not robbed the experience of anything… just my opinion. Also, while there are 5 restaurants on
the property all 5 are not open every night (at least while we were there). At most there were 3 restaurants open, and one night there were only 2. Of the restaurants, my wife and I enjoyed the Italian (Il Bacio) and the Swiss (La Patite Fondue) restaurants the best. The fondue was a real treat and was a fun dinning experience. The Mediterranean restaurant (Mare Nostrum) was just OK as was the Steak House (Rio Grande). Breakfast was very good we though, with a wide variety of things to choose from. Lunch was a bit disappointing. Again, the information sheet said there were two restaurants open for lunch every day, however the only one we ever saw open was the one next to the beach… and unfortunately the dress code was not enforced here. People came through in their still we bathing suits and that’s it… not the most appealing thing ever while you’re trying to eat. At best, lunch was quick meal so you could get back out on the beach. Also, something to note, the hotel throws a beach party on Tuesday nights for the guests. The party is a mix of local foods and entertainment… and unfortunately local retailers as well. The retailers clog the way to the beach and you have to go through a gauntlet of people trying to sell you things… and they won’t take no for an answer easily. It was kind of funny at first, but then just got annoying as we just really wanted to eat. If you go (which I would recommend doing), go out on the beach by the far entrance and avoid the retailers altogether (that’s how we left so we didn’t have to see them again). The food at the party was interesting. We didn’t find much that we liked… but for us it about the experience of trying something new. The little band they had playing was enjoyable and everyone around us looked like they were enjoying themselves as well.
Beach
Other reviewers have mentioned that the beach chairs go very quickly, and this is absolutely true. There is a sign going out to the beach that states that after you’ve been 
gone for 30 minutes your stuff can be moved, however this was not at ALL enforced. We found that we had to be on the beach every morning by 7AM to get a front row seat to the ocean. Otherwise you had to spend the whole day staring at the ocean over someone else’s shoulders. Just out of curiosity I walked down to the chairs one evening after everyone had left and found that people were leaving their stuff in the chairs OVERNIGHT to make sure they got on the front row. This was especially annoying because most of those people didn’t make it to the beach until around 9:30 or 10AM, well after the second row of cabanas had filled up. The hotel staff comes by and cleans the area in the evening, and sweeps of the chairs in the morning, so they have at least two times to realize what is going on. The beach itself is beautiful though, and the water was nice and cool. Beware of the people walking up and down the beach though… they will try to lure you in to time share sales by telling you you’ll get a free massage, etc. We talked to a couple who got roped in to sitting through a presentation and were never given anything in return. Simply tell them you’re not interested and walk off.
Hotel Staff
One thing I have no complaint about what-so-ever though is the hotel staff. We found the staff to be EXTREMELY nice and very eager to please. The various beach staff would stop by your chairs and joke around with you and the restaurant staff were always smiling and dancing around through the restaurant. The staff truly made up for any small issues we may had found with the property as a whole. They made the trip. This was the first time we had left a resort being a little sad because we felt like we had made a few friends with the employees.
Excursions
We didn’t do any excursions while we were there with the exception of going parasailing. We booked this through the dive shop there at the resort and felt like the whole thing was run very well. We didn’t feel in danger at all (with the exception of my wife being afraid of heights) and again found the people running the show to be friendly and professional.
Shopping
My wife and I are not big shoppers while we’re on vacat
ion, but as mentioned previously we had to go shopping because I didn’t bring any pants… and we weren’t all that excited about eating at the buffet every night. We ended up taking a bus from the sister resort next door (Caribe Club Princess) to a shopping mall called Palma Real. Don’t bother going there. We did find some pants for me there, but its very much like a mall here in the US, except the prices were OUTRAGEOUS. I paid $67 for pair of blue jeans that you could buy at Wal-Mart for less than half that price. We don’t speak Spanish, and the clerks there didn’t speak English… so there was no bargaining going on. Overall this mall felt like a tourist trap. However… there is another mall within walking distance from the neighboring hotel called the Plaza Bavaro which is supposedly much better. I talked to some people who had been there and they said the prices were low and the people were ready to bargain. It was more of a market looking place then a shopping mall. Also, if you go to the beach and turn to your left and walk for about 15 minutes there is a flee market where you can find all kinds of gift type things. It’s VERY high pressure sales here as well but overall a good place to find deals. One thing I’d like to comment on as well are the cigars. You would expect to be able to find great deals on cigars here (it is the Dominican Republic after all), however I was not all that impressed with the prices. In many cases you can find them cheaper here in the US. Also, I didn’t see one authentic Cuban cigar while I was there, but TONS of fakes. If you’re interested in finding some Cubans, I HIGHLY recommend reviewing Cigar Aficionado’s site on counterfeits before making a purchase. It’s my advice to stick with the Dominicans and do some bargaining. Even the flee market down the beach started EXTREMELY high. Oh yeah, and before I forget, don’t even bother going to the shops there at the resort. The prices here are outrageous. Oh, and bring cash. Everywhere we went they wanted to add 5% to the cost if you paid with credit card (which retailers are not supposed to do… but when you’re in a foreign country it’s kind of hard to argue).
One other note on shopping is mama juana, which is apparently the national drink of the Dominican Republic and a popular selling item at the souvenir shops. As of July, you cannot leave the country with mama juana if you’re heading to the US. I’m not sure why this is, I’m guessing because the drink has roots in it from various plants in the country, but I saw it being taken out of peoples bags and thrown away, both in the dry form and completely mixed. After you go through that part of the security check they put a USDA sticker on your bag (this is why I’m assuming its something to do with the roots in the drink). I have friends who were in the DR earlier in the year and had no problem, so it’s apparently something new.
–Dan Thompson