Other things to know:
What is the primary language? You can't assume everyone speaks English everywhere in the world. As a matter of fact, out of 195 countries in the world, 67 list English as their primary language. If you don't know the language, find an app to assist you. There are quite a few to choose from like Google Translate, TripLingo and make the effort to say a few words in the primary language. I can't tell you the number of times I said, "Hola!" "Como Estas?" Muy bien, y tu?" and "Gracias." Thankfully, taking Spanish in high school and college helped out.
Check your room thoroughly: Don't just assume that when you walk in and it looks nice, that means everything is OK. We had to change rooms twice. The first time was because the TV didn't work. The second time was because there was no jacuzzi in the room that was part of the package deal. Because we arrived on a Tuesday, it was easier for the hotel to make the changes rather quickly but if you check in on a Thursday or later, you may have some frustrations.
If there's a concierge service, take advantage of it: It may cost extra, but it is well worth it in my opinion. At the Resort we stayed at, the concierge is known as the Butler and it took us a couple of days to find that out but once we did it was smooth sailing from there. Anything we needed or requested was handled by the Butler service.
Know where everything is: If you are staying at a resort or all-inclusive hotel, take some time, after check-in, to know where things are. It may require you to walk around but if you do it early on you won't end up wasting a lot of time trying to figure out where to go when you should just be relaxing and enjoying the trip.
Know what the main currency is: We spent time trying to figure out if we should exchange our American dollars into the currency of the Dominican Republic, which is the peso. We learned that our dollars would be accepted. As a matter of fact, one peso is the equivalent of $0.018 on the dollar.
Please Understand the Tipping policy and tip generously: Even if you stay at an all-inclusive, you may want to consider tipping for various services (unless it specifically says ALL-INCLUSIVE INCLUDING TIPS). Prior to leaving for the Dominican Republic, I asked a couple of people I knew in the U.S. what was the customary tipping amount. I was surprised to learn that the average was $2.00 (because ya'll know in this country, servers would feel totally insulted if you left them a $2.00 tip on a $20-$30 meal). Because the currency is different in the Dominican Republic, a $5.00 goes a long way.
See and Do as much as you can: The purpose of a vacation is to get away and enjoy yourself. If you're traveling to a foreign country, that's all the more reason to take advantage of all the country (area) has to offer. You may never get the opportunity to visit again.
Know what you can and cannot eat or drink: There may be items on a menu that sound appetizing but you need to think about your digestive system and the impact eating such items will have. Even when the food sounds similar to what you may have eaten in the past, it may be prepared differently. In the Dominican Republic, it is NOT SAFE to drink the water unless it's bottled water and you need to see them bring it to you in the bottle! They also warn against eating raw fish or cerviche. At one of the finer restaurants we went to, there was goat on the menu, which is a delicacy there, but we weren't willing to experiment.
Be Friendly: When you're in a foreign country, you are going to meet people from other parts of the world. That's a grand opportunity to learn more about their who, what, where, when, why and how story. Perhaps that's just the journalist in me (lol!) I met a couple who was honeymooning from Canada, a man from Ukraine, people from other parts of the Caribbean and it was fascinating to talk to them. For those of you who know me, you know I'm a very outgoing person. I never meet a stranger. I believe we as human beings share more in common than we have in differences. Communicating with others helps create the memories of a lifetime that you can share---just like I'm sharing with you.
