Breathless Punta Cana 2021 - Part IV - The Voyage Home

• VIP Lounge Punta Cana
• Air Canada Business Class Seat 2C

The lounge in Punta Cana is somewhat bare-bones. You pay extra for premium drinks, and are limited to 2 bar-rail.  However, they have a lovely courtyard, ostensibly for smokers, that gives you a last chance to commune with lizards and palm trees. 

I went to the gate ten minutes early, and discovered they were already boarding. I showed my departure forms, my proof of vax, and my boarding pass, and headed to my seat. It was the same one I had before, so I easily stowed my carry on in the cubby in front of me.

Sadly, they still haven't reinstated on the ground beverage service (bottled water is distributed), or hot towels, but the rest is now available, so once in the air we were offered beverages, and meals.

I chose the couscous, which was quite nice. I washed it down with more than one glass of the red wine on offer. 

 

The service was, as always, terrific, and my seat was comfortable and roomy.

PSA time: I was on the train home within 50 minutes of landing, thanks to my Nexus card. If you travel at all, the thing is invaluable.

Coming soon: the Celebrity Edge.

Breathless Punta Cana 2021 - Part III - Resort Life - Evening

Days are easy to fill at a beach resort, but what to do when the pools close, and the sun goes down? The lobby lounge is pretty, comfy, and has a variety of live musical entertainments. It's adjacent to the outdoor auditorium where there is a show every night. There was some confusion about whether the "Queen Show" was about royalty or the rock band. It was indeed about the band. There was also a metal night, and a diva night, and others, so the entertainment was definitely intended to appeal to a broad audience.

Every night, the entrance to the lounge hosted one or two models in masks and costumes. You could take pictures with them. I'm under the impression this is A Thing.

You could dine outdoors at the French restaurant every night, or indoors at any restaurant that was open (French included). If you wanted teppanyaki (called hibachi down there), you needed reservations, but the show was fun. 

The lobster bisque at the French restaurant was good, but never very hot, that I noticed. There wasn't a lot of lobster other than that, though. Other seafood was available in each restaurant, if you happen to dine that way.

I like to walk along the beach at night when available, so I did that here as much as I could. There was rain some nights, since we weren't out of that season (September in the tropics -- what else would you expect?). 

I normally finished off each evening with a glass of wine, and my waterproof Kobo, in my balcony hot tub. It's a wonderfully relaxing way to end up.

Next -- Part IV - The Trip Home

Breathless Punta Cana 2021 - Part II - Resort Life - Day

My room was right behind the pool with the swim up bar. Due to the plague, the swim up part was closed, but the servers would take orders and deliver into the pool, so it was no great tragedy. The service was excellent at all times. No one was going thirsty here.

On the other side of my building was the Xhale Club, where I had checked in, where there was a nice bar, with snacks, where I could get change, and where they had an exclusive pool with cushier loungers. The ones with shade were generally claimed very early, so I didn't spend a lot of time here.

Xhale also has a private area on the beach. There is lots of shade and abundant loungers. The service here is also wonderful. And, if you're really impatient, there is a bar, and a snack bar, within easy staggering distance.  One thing to note: the shoreline is public, so occasionally families from Dreams next door will wander over. I mention this because Breathless is adults only.

There is a bit of a reef just off the beach, so there's lots of stuff to see when the sand hasn't been stirred.  I didn't avail myself of the free non-motorized watersports, but I did use my own snorkel set, and had a good time.

I decide on my last full day to splurge, and booked a Bali Bed for myself. I invited a nice couple I'd met to hang out, so it was a very nice day indeed. Not only was it comfy, but they brought us an amazing number of bottles of sparkling wine in ice buckets. I did find it a little disappointing that they could not provide the fruit skewers and sushi that were supposed to be part of the experience (damn Covid), but they did bring anything we requested from the snack bar. It was nice, and I would recommend it.

Next - Part III - Resort Life - Evening