Baby Club Med

   

Hi there,
We are exploring the idea of going to CM Punta Cana in February 2011 with our son who will be 13 months at the time. The reason we are considering CMPC is that it offers a baby club med, but I''ve read mixed reviews online about the service and wanted to see if anyone has enrolled their child recently?

Or would you recommend doing private babysitting when you need it during the day and evening instead?

Also, we have no idea how much an all inclusive with a baby should cost, but the quote that we are getting seems quite expensive ($3800 USD for one week in February which includes Baby Club Med). Can anyone share deals that they have gotten this time of year?

Thanks so much!

   

Hi there,

I just posted back to you on my blog but I would personally do babysitting. Also see a parent w/infant post from Winter 2010 here, http://www.clubmedplanet.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=8841.

Can't really speak to rates; we've had different room types each year, and to be honest once we plan and book I try to block out the cost so I can enjoy! Although they aren't really comparable, I would run some rates at other "family" type resorts, such as Beaches (I'm getting a rate in the same price zone on first try).

   

As to the price, CM seems to run specials so if there is not one running you may want to wait a bit. Also, some travel agents will rebate part of their commission so you may want to check on that. It is not much, 8% or so, but every little bit helps. I am not sure it is okay to mention them by name but I will send you a PM with the one I use. I am like WHREZ and block out the cost. We love CM and this is our big vacation for the year so I try not to let price bother me. I try to recoup it at the bar!

Jim

   

I wish the travel and even Club Med telephone agents were more knowledgeable of the different room categories and where in the village those rooms exist. Sometimes the cheapest room gives your the longest distance to travel. I would really push the travel agent to get an idea as to the location of the room category you get. There might be different categories in one building. It is not like the old days with only two room categories.

Jim

How many gold bar beads?

   

Just remembered to mention - CM does not provide pagers to parents with children in the Baby/Petit/MiniClub. On one hand, this is great - the campus is big, but not enormous, and you're on vacation! You do note on your communication form each day where you expect to be (roughly) during the day, and I think you can also provide a cell phone number if you have one that works there. On the other hand, for a new parent, and particularly for those accustomed to always being reachable regarding the status of one's child, this might be a new tether to cut loose. Other parents have noted or complained that they did not receive a pager, and I know others who have received pagers on other types of vacations that had childcare. I can say that I wouldn't personally go on excursions (but honestly didn't want to), for example, because I wouldn't feel confident that I could be reached and that I could return promptly. On the other hand, I can see that while pagers might be useful, they might be lost, or might not go off as planned (or might go off accidentally!), and plus you don't have to always look to see if it's "ok", so you really do just have to relax, enjoy, and trust that things will go well! :)

On the same note, I'm not entirely sure how a babysitter would reach you in a real emergency, but you should provide (on paper) your name, destination(s) within the village, and cell phone (if working), and she can work with the Reception to find you. As I mentioned, the campus is good sized, but it's still contained: we sometimes had to actively avoid our babysitter once nap was over, as she took our child out in the stroller, etc., and other people would also comment to us that they had seen them and where (which was kind of nice to know).

And no, I'm not totally neurotic, but when you meet a whole group of new people in a new place far from home, and leave your very small child with them, this stuff does cross your mind. Think dsiegel mentioned walkie-talkies in his post for parents, which I thought was interesting.

Another comment on BabyClub - I think a lot of parents pay for the slot, which covers the full week, all day, but may use it only part of the time. So they might send the child in the AM, or the PM, but not necessarily the entire day (even though they've paid for the entire day). Partly this may be due to the child (let them adapt) but partly because mom actually does want to see her child a bit and enjoy some time together (even if or just because she is on vacation) and partly because mom may feel a little guilty or nervous about leaving her little one - that's one of the contradictions of being a mom! My point is that families may pay for a whole week of full day infant care, but may not use all that time, so it may come out to be a bit like part-day babysitting from a cost standpoint.

I would sign up for babysitting right away (on day of arrival) if you are interested, as there are a limited # of babysitters. We also tipped our babysitter a bit separately from the fee we paid at the Reception (babysitting is not cheap, but I'm not sure the babysitters themselves get such a good cut).

   

We used walkie-talkies in Cancun when we had a family outing and they worked fine. The grandmother was our babysitter. Although Cancun has a CDMA cellular system it had poor coverage in CM and those cell phones were basically useless. Punta Cana is probably GSM and if you have that kind of phone it should work there if you have international roaming. Note if you have an iPhone there have been stories of horrendous roaming fees as the phone constantly downloads data. There is probably a way of turning that feature off.

   

Thanks everyone. So I've been talking to a few agents who said they couldn't really discount the cost, but that they had been talking to Club Med who offered them on-site gift certificates. For example, if I book with one agent, she said CM had offered $150 to spend on the resort.

Wondering if anyone had any luck getting these incentives through the Club Med booking directly? I figure they should from an economic standpoint as they don't have to pay the travel agent commission.

Overall, we'd prefer to book directly with CM so that if there are any issues, it is with the HQ, but wanted to hear other experiences.

Thanks!

   

Hi just sent you a pm with the agent we have used for 3-4 years now.
Hope he can help you out.

   

If you mean booking online, no we have not seen a use-at-the-resort incentive such as you mention. Definitely curious to see what everyone says!

   

i got one when travel agent booked for us. We both used for lovely massage by the ocean. It is not like years ago when CM would give things. Have gotten a lovely watch and small travel bag for booking, but not directly online. Our agent also gives a % back off the price.

How many gold bar beads?