First time holiday abroad eeeekk

marcsshell

Hi, just looking for any help and advice you lovely lot can give please.

Just booked our first family holiday abroad for myself, DH and 2 DDs (14 and 10/11 as she has her birthday over there) Super excited about it all.
We are going to the Dominican Republic in August next year. I know it's still a long way off but want to make sure that we get everything organised as soon as we can so we have no stresses.

We will be staying all inclusive for 11 nights.

A few questions that I can think of:-
On the plane should I book 2x window seats or 4 seats in the middle?
How much money do you think we should take?
Do you tip the staff?
Do we need vaccines?

I'm sure I will have plenty of other questions lol.

The first thing that we need to do is sort passports for myself, DH and DD2.
I'm struggling a little with mine as it asks for full birth certificate or adoption certificate.
Now my mum divorced sperm donor when I was 1 and met and married my dad when I was 7. He adopted me when I was around 11 (took forever to sort out) but apparently my mum also had to adopt me as well. If I get hold of my full birth certificate will they then ask for do prion certificate or should I just ask my dad if he had
S adoption certificate and just send that?

Thanks in advance

Voyager2002

Your adoption certificate functions as a birth certificate, so that is all that you will need. Be aware that there are "full" and "short" forms of these certificates, so make sure you get the right one.

marcsshell

Thanks Voyager, I will make sure that I ask my dad to see if he has it and what version it is this weekend so that I can get the passports sorted this month.

xxlouisexx56

Being all inclusive means you don't tip the staff. But I did tip my cleaning lady $20 as she was lovely, and we had the cleanest room in the hotel

Plane seats, go for whatever suits you. If your kids aren't frequent flyers, they might like the window seats.

McKneff

Always book your travel insrance on the same day as booking a holiday.
Always.
S**t can happen at any given moment from booking to travelling and beyond so make sure you are all covered

Katiehound

Your tour operator may advise which, if any vaccinations are needed. For up to date info this is a good site:
http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/home.aspx

However depending on what is needed allow plenty of time beforehand.

Some places, depending on their standard of living also appreciate goods in kind such as clothes, perfume etc as well as cash tips. I honestly don't know about the Dominican Republic. I know on cruises some people leave the stewardess all their cosmetic things as well as the tips.

Aced2016

I would take £1000 if your all inclusive. To be honest you probably won't spend it all, but good for excursions and any shopping. It's good on holiday not to have to watch money and just enjoy it especially if it's your time.

Your adoption certificate should be suffice ! If it's not the full one get a copy !

You don't need to tip on all inclusive but could leave a little something for cleaners at end that's what I do.

As for seats on a plane try get a row of 3 for you and two girls and on row opposite the outer seat for your hubby so he's basically beside you.

stephb34

Our doctors have a holiday form you fill in before you go, then we see the nurse who tells you what you definitely need, what is optional and if there has been an outbreak of something there. You do need to do this a few months in advance so they can fit you in. When we went malaria tablets were optional but we had to start taking them 2 weeks before we went, the 2 weeks whilst we were there and the 2 weeks after our return. I found they all expected tips (unlike the Cubans) When we left I left them all our toiletries and any clothes we didn't want. On knowing they needed things I did take my daughters clothes she had grown out of to give them. I preferred to use Dominican pesos than us$ it was easier to work out, but others will prefer $. The seats, if you don't want to look out the window then the 4 in the middle would be great so you can be together, otherwise you could have 2 window seats and the 2 middle seats but if its a 3 4 3 then you will have someone in the aisle seats next to you, or you could have the 3 next to the window and your husband across the aisle in the 4 seats, all about your preference.

marcsshell

Loads to take in. Thank you all for your replies.

I looked at travel insurance on compare sites and it wouldn't register the date so I was assuming that I would have to do it a bit closer the time. Was thinking maybe this August/September as it will be a year to the holiday.

The plane is 2 4 2. I have already booked the 4 together but was thinking 2 and 2 with it being first time on a plane the girls can look out of window. Might see if I can change that.

We are all so excited about this holiday so I want to get everything right lol.

zagfles

Aced2016 wrote: »

I would take £1000 if your all inclusive. To be honest you probably won't spend it all, but good for excursions and any shopping. It's good on holiday not to have to watch money and just enjoy it especially if it's your time.

Yes, £1000 seems far too much when they're going AI - especially to a relatively poor country like the DR. We spend about that in Europe when we have meals to pay for!

OP - check the travel money guide on this site http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/travel-credit-cards

Using a decent card for paying for stuff and getting cash out locally is almost always better value than changing cash, and if you do change cash it's nearly always better doing it there not here.

Sign up to the Tripadvisor forums for destination specific advice - they are a great source of local info.

stephb34

marcsshell wrote: »

Loads to take in. Thank you all for your replies.

I looked at travel insurance on compare sites and it wouldn't register the date so I was assuming that I would have to do it a bit closer the time. Was thinking maybe this August/September as it will be a year to the holiday.

The plane is 2 4 2. I have already booked the 4 together but was thinking 2 and 2 with it being first time on a plane the girls can look out of window. Might see if I can change that.

We are all so excited about this holiday so I want to get everything right lol.

Ooh you need insurance now, I've never used a compare site so can't help as to why it doesn't work. The main thing you need to be aware of is your excesses, its no good buying a policy cheap as chips and your excesses are huge, do you have a bank account that maybe gives you insurance?