Traveling to Miches, Dominican Republic

Today we’re traveling to the Dominican Republic to a new-to-me area of the country. Our flight is midday which is a nice change of pace from the early flight to Cancun. Surprisingly, my son was disappointed about the flight time. It turns out that he loves being woken up in the middle of the night to go to a new and exciting place. 

There is only one airline that flies nonstop from Cleveland to Punta Cana so we are flying Frontier. I checked into my flight last night, but the app was being super glitchy. I did get checked in but couldn’t get TSA pre check on my boarding pass. I contacted Frontier via chat and they told me it was right on their end and if it’s not showing up, I need to contact the government. I used it on Tuesday, so I highly doubt much has changed with my TSA pre check status in five days, but I do reach out to the government who basically say all is good on their end. We aren’t able to use the kiosks to print our bag tags since it’s an international flight. We go to the counter where they check our e-tickets and passport. I ask if they can print my boarding pass to see if precheck shows up. It did show up so we can use TSA precheck which is a relief. My son doesn’t do well in long lines. 

We met another family on our journey, and they said they also had issues with TSA precheck showing on their boarding pass. They were able to get it to work by taking a screenshot from the computer where it was showing. 

The flight was easy. Nonstop to Dominican Republic and took about 4 hours. There was something different that happened when we boarded. We scan our boarding passes to enter and then our gate has a small room before entering the jet bridge. Three border patrol agents are there in full gear with small cell-phone-like devices. They take a picture of each person right before we enter the jet bridge. I’ve had my picture taken upon returning from a trip but not leaving on an airplane. This was new and surprised me. 

We land in the Dominican Republic and leave the plane. It’s a ramp outside and then we walk inside the terminal. It brings me back to the first time I visited in 2003. I like the tropical greeting right from the plane doors, but there is a newer terminal since I’ve entered since 2003. The lines for immigration are relatively short. It’s only our plane. It’s only my son and I and I expected more questions about traveling alone with him. She literally didn’t ask us a thing which was nice because my son isn’t always cooperative with answering questions. 

We arrive to baggage claim which was relatively close to immigration. We wait for a while until our plane’s bags are loaded. We grab our suitcase and walk out to the transportation area, and a gentleman asks which company we are looking for. We tell him and then he points to the proper desk. We check in with the man there and then he escorts us to our van. We are booked on a shared shuttle, but we’re the only ones from our plane to this particular resort so we get a private transfer. It’s about one hour and forty-five minutes to Club Med Miches Playa Esmerelda. The sun is starting to set as we arrive at the resort and it’s gorgeous. We are situated in the jungle, and this feels like vacation. 

The Club Med staff greets us as we arrive and then we move to some comfy chairs in the lobby. There is a fun nonalcoholic strawberry lemonade waiting for both of us and towels to clean our hands. We relax as we’re checked into the resort. The lady comes back with wristbands that she puts on each of our wrists. This wristband serves as our key for our stay which is very convenient. 

The same lady that checked us in also escorts us to our room. Our room is located right next to the lobby and is very convenient. We’re on the second floor of the building and the room is a nice size and has a giant patio. My son exclaims, “This is amazing.” He likes the ultra large patio, fridge stocked with drinks, snack bar, and bathtub. 

We unpack and then find the buffet for dinner. There are several stations manned with chefs. Each station shows the dish offered. You simply order from the chef manning the station and he prepares your food while you wait. I don’t like the waiting, but I do like being able to talk directly to the chef. He knows exactly what is in the dish and can customize it for you within reason. I opted for the surf and turf, but it had a sauce I couldn’t have. I instead get a nice steak with mashed potatoes from the same station. Brian makes amazing steak at home so most of the time we get steak out, it’s not as good. This steak was amazing and cooked to perfection. One of the stations is a fruit station and my son loads up on fruit for dinner. Mangoes, cantaloupe, passion fruit, and papaya fill his plate. He devours the mango and cantaloupe, but the flavors of the other two are a bit strong for him. It’s a nice and easy dinner for the first night. 

We roam around the mostly quiet resort. There is a show going on which is loud, but the rest of the resort has settled into the night. We plan to walk to the playground to check it out and a staff member asks us if we’d like a ride on the golf cart. We take him up on the offer. The playground isn’t meant for nighttime and is really dark, so we decide to come back tomorrow. Instead, the staff member takes us on a personal tour of the resort. We drive by all the different areas, and he tells us in Spanish what they are. I translate for my son. This resort is loaded with activities! There is a yoga area, archery, horseback riding which has an extra cost, basketball, pickleball, tennis, trapeze, and more. It’s a lot to explore in our short trip. The driver drops us off at our room and we settle in for the night. 

I generally like it warmer than most when I sleep, but it’s hot in here. I ask my son about the thermostat because he was messing with it. It turns out he didn’t like the sound of the AC and turned it off.  He turns it back on and the room quickly returns to a normal temperature and it’s the end of our travel day.