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Traveling to the Dominican Republic?

tsmckenney

Mick
Joined
Mar 7, 2007
Messages
2,952
The wife and I just got back from Punta Cana.  Fantastic beaches and a great time all in all.  I did not, however, follow the advice of many.  I only brought 4 cigars.  I don't have a big humidor anymore, hardly have one at all actually, and I simply didn't get around to stocking up.  So, I thought f-it, surely I can find some cigars in the DR.  Well, they do have cigars at the resorts, but they do not have the cigars a person would think they had.  The stock consists of some local brands, some fake Fuentes, and loads of fake Cubans.  We are talking blatantly, pathetically, horrifically fake cigars.  Poorly kept as well (cracked and miscolored wrappers).  One line that looked decent all around was the Santa Ana.  I couldn't find anything useful about this brand online, but after close inspection of the construction and a nice scent of spice and cinnamon from the foot, I decided to go on a mission to score 5 or 6.  I found them in robusto and toro sizes.  My troubles began with three separate merchants demanding at least $20 a cigar.  I figured in the states, this was a $5-6 cigar.  No fng way on planet Earth am I paying $20 a stick.  I started to think my mission was going to be a complete failure.  Then, I caught a dude slipping.  I went into a fourth shop (located in a mall within a large resort connected to ours), found the Santa Anas and began inspecting a few.  Dude walks up and starts going on about the greatness of this cigar.  How much?  "If you buy at least 3, $20 each."  F......ck.  I keep looking and Bam!  I find some bundles of Santa Ana robustos.  Ten to a pack, cheaply packaged in cellophane.  Next to them are some Santa Ana flavored cigars, which again had me thinking, 'F......k'.  Still, I pushed on.  One of the bundles was marked $49.  "I'll take these."  He responds, "No, those are not the same cigar.  Different.  Very different.  Not good like this one."  A quick comparison and yep, they are the exact same cigar.  As I am comparing, the dude takes the bundle from my hand, puts it back on the shelf and politely puts the single $20 robusto into my hand.  That was pretty hilarious.  So, I returned the robusto to its box, grabbed the bundle and walked up to check out.  Dude was not amused, and not happy, but I walked out with that bundle and those cigars are actually pretty fng good. 
 
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So, if you're headed to the DR, bring plenty of your own cigars.  Do not buy anything Cuban.  Nothing.  If you would like to try some local flavor, try a Santa Ana.  If I had to compare them to anything, I would say they are similar to the Tampa Sweethearts line.  They tasted much like how they smelled; cinnamon and spice, and medium bodied.  Oh, and make sure what you are buying is coming from a shop with some form of controlled humidification.  Everything I saw from outdoor vendors was disastrous. 
 
I always tell people that travel to the DR or any other country for that matter, never buy anything around the resorts (or keep it to a minimum) because they will always try to screw you with the prices since you are a "tourist" they assume you don't know any better or do not mind paying top dollar for it. I know it is hard to go where the locals go when you are not familiar with the country you are visiting, but somehow I always find my way around this. Everywhere I travel I always rent a car and drive myself everywhere. I never shop or eat where the tourists do, what's the point of eating "Americanized food" if I can eat that here all I want. I recently went to Aruba and a single bottle of water in my hotel was 7 dollars, drove for like 10 minutes to a store and got myself 3 gallons of water for $4 dollars. Same thing with the Cuban cigars there, at the hotel they were way over priced but when you actually go to a real cigar shop, their prices are competitive with the prices we see online and they were the real thing.
 
Glad you enjoyed these cigars and got a good deal on them.
 
Absolutely agree.  Ordinarily, I would have brought plenty of my own.  Outside of the tourist jungle, I was able to find good NCs in the Virgin Islands, and great CCs in Cabos.  Jamaica, forget it.  The DR, read above.  Whereever you go, have your own stash regardless. 
 
No burns.  In fact, I had to back off the SPF 50 just so I could come back with some color.  Oh, and another thing, lots of Europeans in Punta Cana.  I felt like a hard-ass walking around all these dudes who couldn't manage a single push-up with a .45 to their heads.  LOL.  Although, they seem to do alright with the ladies.... 
 
tsmckenney said:
Absolutely agree.  Ordinarily, I would have brought plenty of my own.  Outside of the tourist jungle, I was able to find good NCs in the Virgin Islands, and great CCs in Cabos.  Jamaica, forget it.  The DR, read above.  Whereever you go, have your own stash regardless. 
 
I only vacation where there is an LCDH close by. If by Cabos, you meant Cabo San Locas, I had a great time at that LCDH. I went there every day!
 
Yeah man, the place where they had a photo of Michael Jordan on the wall.  The chicks working there told me I was better looking than MJ.  I'll take that to the grave with me.  :)  Prices at that shop were very reasonable and the cigar selection was divine.  I wouldn't go back to Cabo though.  I prefer the Caribbean.  Warm, slow rolling water.  The waves in Cabo were pounding.  Snorkeling sucked.  It was also a huge party town, which was good for the time.  I'm an older dog now.  Chilling and staring at some topless French women, that's more my scene.  Although, all the drunken nights did lend a hand in the creation of quite a few interesting experiences.  Like a stripper clutching me by my shoulders and asking with genuine concern, "Are you going to be alright?"
 
tsmckenney said:
No burns.  In fact, I had to back off the SPF 50 just so I could come back with some color.  Oh, and another thing, lots of Europeans in Punta Cana.  I felt like a hard-ass walking around all these dudes who couldn't manage a single push-up with a .45 to their heads.  LOL.  Although, they seem to do alright with the ladies.... 
 
Europeans in Punta Cana:
 
1.  Negatives - Dudes in speedos........way too small speedos at that.
2.  Positiives - Topless sun bathing.  Just glad my wife points out those to me as well, as I try and keep my head on a swivel when there :)
 
I often wonder if they go back and comment about how Americans stare too much.
 
Interesting Mick, glad you found some solid sticks though.
 
I spent time in Punta Cana as well and got angry with the fakes I saw.  Found my way in a shop and the guy was pushing his fake Cubans.  I let him give me his pitch, then completely blasted it with about 20 ways I knew they were fake.  When he realized he was talking to at least someone who did know something, he got angry about it. 
 
Luckily, my wife had the cool head to talk sense into me.  Basically she said "why get all worked up over this, he's not going to stop, you can't educate every tourist, and you haven't spent a dime".  Good point.  So I said no thanks and walked away.
 
tsmckenney said:
In fact, I had to back off the SPF 50 just so I could come back with some color. 
 
This happened to me in Maui. My wife threatened my life if I got a burn, because our last night there we were renewing our vows and having pics taken. I got minimal color up until then. The next morning, I was up at sunrise out on the beach to soak up as much sun as possible to make it look like I actually went outside while on vacation.
 
bfreebern said:
No burns.  In fact, I had to back off the SPF 50 just so I could come back with some color.  Oh, and another thing, lots of Europeans in Punta Cana.  I felt like a hard-ass walking around all these dudes who couldn't manage a single push-up with a .45 to their heads.  LOL.  Although, they seem to do alright with the ladies.... 
 
Europeans in Punta Cana:
 
1.  Negatives - Dudes in speedos........way too small speedos at that.
2.  Positiives - Topless sun bathing.  Just glad my wife points out those to me as well, as I try and keep my head on a swivel when there :)
 
I often wonder if they go back and comment about how Americans stare too much.

Couldn't agree more. The wife was creaking up when I first noticed that the women were topless at the pool at the resort we were at. But for every hottie there was 2 old ladies at the couples resort we were at.
 
Punta Cana = Russians in speedos...at least when I was there.
 
In Europe, Americans are often banned from public swimming pools due to the stare factor.
 
Had you bothered to ask me to go with you, which you didn't, I could've been your personal cigar buyer for a nominal fee plus room and rum.  Lesson learned?
 
Juanote said:
In Europe, Americans are often banned from public swimming pools due to the stare factor.
 
Does not surprise me at all.
 
MoeCizlak said:
Had you bothered to ask me to go with you, which you didn't, I could've been your personal cigar buyer for a nominal fee plus room and rum.  Lesson learned?
The fake Cubans were probably better than the La Lunas you would have bought for him.
 
searsa1 said:
Punta Cana = Russians in speedos...at least when I was there.
 
Right.  Still the same.  Also accounted for all the jaw-dropping blondes we saw catwalking about.  Sweet Jesus, I thought we had amazing blondes in Minnesota... 
 
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