hello michelle
at the moment i can only get a quote for 7 days at the dreams resort & flights that are available. i thought i would post just to give you an idea of price etc...
firstly the flight option above is priced at £974 p/p. another option is with the same carrier american airlines that comes in a bit cheaper, is buying the rtn flight to NY (jfk) and a seperate rtn flight to punta cana from NY (jfk) at the AA site but allowing a little bit longer between the homeward bound flight from PC to NY and the check in at jfk for your flight home to manchester (to collect baggage and check in etc..)
man - jfk, dept. 18th the same flight details as above (direct) & rtn flight dept. 29th, jfk 21:15 arr. via london heathrow at 09:25, dept lhr 11:15 arr. man 12:30 on the 30th, cost p/p incl. of taxes etc... is £438 p/p
and booking the rtn. flight to PC 22nd from jfk, dept. jfk 22nd 08:00 arr PC 12;20, dept. PC 29th at 13:00 arr. jfk 17:25 (both flight direct, no stops) £260 p/p incl. of taxes..... total cost of flights £698 p/p incl. of taxes... or for £1 more leave jfk at 22:30 arr. man. at 14:40
as for the dreams resort i have a few quotes for 7 nights check in the 22nd. at their webbsite
http://www.dreamsresorts.com/drepc/index.html
7 night in a deluxe room king sized bed/2 doubles, tropical view, room cost with all inclusive and free airport transfer the cost per room is $1274 = £767 total cost. a honeymoon suite, outdoor terrace with jacuzzi is $1624 = £967 or deluxe with swim out acces $1414 = £852 via http://www.xe.com/ .thomson did quote for a deluxe room at £952. the best i found is via http://www.hotelpricefinder.com/ remember after putting in punta cana in the other city search box, after selecting PC dominican republic, enter "dreams" in their hotel name contains box and select dreams punta, sorry they have a dreams palm beach resort there also. (i did check the pictures at the dreams punta cana resort and it matches the official site) the best price that came up was at http://www.hotels4u.com/ part of the Thomas Cook group plc. and their price for a superior room all inclusive is £574 total, i think this may be a deluxe room with garden view as priced at the official site at £767? i expect this does not include the transfer from the airport which is complmentary with the dreams official site. i did see a private taxi transfer at http://www.lowcosttaxis.com rtn private taxi to the dreams resort is priced at £80.75 total price for the 2 of you or you can get a shared shuttle for a rtn price of £25.56
so the price excluding your new york hotel & transfer to NY hotel is £698 + 698 + 574 + 81 = £2051 total price for the 2 of you.
as for new york there are 529 hotels to choose from with hotelpricefinder with a check in on the 18th and check out on the 22nd. i did have a look at http://www.hotelpricefinder.com/ and did see some very good prices. if you visit the site just refine your search by maybe putting in a 2 mile distance in the refine your search box as some of the hotels are not in manhatten. i think it would be better for you browse and see what budget/grade of hotel suits the both of you. when i visited new york last year, i was based very near to the empire state building / madison square garden and within walking distance of times square. from jfk it's easy to get a taxi or book a private transfer to your hotel. the hotel i stayed at was more aimed at the budget traveller not honeymooners http://starhotelny.com/index.php saying that they have re-vamped it recently and some of the superior rooms look fine.
i would suggest michelle mulling over this quote and then see what the high street travel agents can do for a 7 day quote. what do you think? when the flight times become available for a 10/14 night stay in punta cane i will post.
regards
jim
ps just found a rtn. flight from manchester - jfk via dublin with AER LINGUS dept. man. 18/th 08:00 arr. dublin 09:00, dept. dublin 10:30 arr. jfk 13:00. return flight dept. 29/10 jfk 21:30 arr. dublin 30/10 09:00, dept. dublin 13;45 ar. MAN 14:40 via www.travelsupermarket.com for £387 p/p incl. of taxes etc..... + jfk - punta cana flight £260 p/p, hotel PC £574 & private transfer of £81 so the price with the aer lingus flight would be £647 + 647 + 574 + 81 = £1941 total price for the 2 of you excluding the hotel & transfers in new york. this flight still gives you time returning home after your flight from punta cana to jfk.
the outbound flight to jfk, the difference is that the direct flight with american airlines departs later in the day from man. on the 18th at 11:10 and arrives at 13:50. the aer lingus flight depts. manchester 3 hrs earlier and arrives at jfk at 13:00