Did the Maldives Ruin the D.R. for Us?

Yes, yes they did.  Constance Moofushi, Thank You!

Despite the lengthy and exhausting transit effort, the Maldives experience made it near impossible to book an all-inclusive in the Caribbean the next year.  

How could we justify spending per night rates on par with "Maldives Money" when we KNEW the service and experience would NEVER compare anywhere else (at least that we could afford and would be willing to risk that bucket of $$ on....)

We agreed that our best bet value wise would be a return to the Dominican Republic.  First I booked the Excellence El Carmen with a two-story, beach front suite.  It was pricier than where we had stayed before, but maybe it would pay off.  

That lasted about a week, and then I switched us to Sanctuary Cap Cana, Oceanfront Castle Suite.  Although with their over abundance of room categories, being satisfied with room location would be a bit of a crap shoot even with an extra $2000+ added to our typical DR/AI budget.  What's more, despite the Cap Cana location, their beach was tiny and appeared barely swimmable.  

Again, that reservation stood for about a week.  What finally stuck as a return to the Majestic Mirage. 

Adam had said last visit that he felt like we had tapped out our Majestic experiences in the DR, and we weren't interested in exploring their Mexico properties.  But those opinions were expressed before the Maldives skewed all perspectives to infinity and beyond.  

Ultimately, we decided we would rather spend $4000 for a solid, known quantity resort experience than $7000+ and risk still having just an OK experience.  For us, the all-inclusive stays in the DR and Barbados are mostly about relaxing on floating in the water anyway.  We just couldn't envision how spending more money would really impact the experience of reading a book on a balcony.  

Plus, that resort savings makes room for a perk that DOES definitely impact the vacation experience... VIP Arrival and Departure service at Punta Cana Airport.  👍