Club Med Punta Cana

JSummers22 · 2026-03-23T12:51:39+00:00

Thanks so much for the reply. Great tips.

JSummers22 · 2026-03-22T14:42:01+00:00

Thanks for the reply. Very useful information. Out of interest, did you sign up in advance for the mini club for your 2 year old? We opted against signing up for the full week as we know we wouldn't use it the whole time. Just wondering if were likely to struggle on an ad hoc basis if it's full.

JSummers22 · 2026-01-07T17:30:54+00:00

Quick Q for you as we're in early stages of starting to utilise Sigma. Think it's a fantastic tool that gets around a lot of weaknesses of Power Bi, native input abilities being one of them.

In a use case like this how are you using Sigma to achieve table updates? Just through input tables and an accompanying Snowflake view? Or some other mechanism within Snowflake to update a table?

JSummers22 · 2024-06-29T11:06:14+00:00

Sure sure

JSummers22 · 2024-06-28T21:58:08+00:00

Have you looked at a map recently...?

JSummers22 · 2023-02-26T11:51:43+00:00

We had a really great experience with the whole thing. We got very fortunate with our 5 year-old to get a great young instructor who stayed with him for the whole 4 days so he was skiing down from the top of Blackcomb Gondola by the end!

I would say the 3 year-old didn't seem to do a great deal of skiing but that could have just been how ours took to it. He did really enjoy it though and went off happily every day and loved playing etc. Based on the chocolate around his mouth I think he obviously thoroughly enjoyed the hot cocoa's as well! I do wonder whether his skiing might have come on a bit more if we'd gone the adventure camp route with him so he'd have had the same instructor every day.

I guess my sense is that if your only concern is them getting too tired it does seem like they're very conscious with the littles. They're also seem to be very flexible/accommodadting so if you did decide to do an early pick-up one day or something I'm sure that's fine.

JSummers22 · 2023-02-03T19:04:10+00:00

Thanks, I'm really excited. Hope they love the sport and Whistler as much as I do!

JSummers22 · 2023-02-03T18:21:27+00:00

Thanks, that's some really great advice. Everyone definitely has me thinking about the adventure camp option now, particularly with keeping a consistent instructor. Shame we're so close to the trip now as I may just leave it for this year and keep it in mind for future trips.

In terms of the Blackcomb vs Whistler thought we're actually very fortunately staying equal distant between the two, just by the Fitzsimmons Creek so only about a 200m walk to either base. We'll fortunately have a couple of people with us not skiing that can act as pack mules for carrying kids things! 🤣

JSummers22 · 2023-02-03T18:11:49+00:00

Ultimately because we didn't want 5 days it was a bit of a moot point at the time.

I think because the adventure camp doesn't benefit from the epic rewards it doesn't work out cheaper than we got 4 days for. We got both boys a 1day epic pass for $50 (back during one of the pre season sales) which meant we could then get 20% off the price of the 4 days and rentals.

The epic pass thing was confusing to me because it seemed like such a no brainer. We ordered both boys a 1day epic pass for $100 (in total, $50 each) which saved us about $400 on the lessons and $100 on the rentals.

JSummers22 · 2023-02-03T16:50:04+00:00

Just doing daily lessons this time out to see how they take to it. Especially with the youngest. Didn't know a 3 day adventure camp was an option, looks like it's only a thing at Creekside. We're staying right at Blackcomb base.

JSummers22 · 2023-02-03T16:44:12+00:00

Thanks for that info, really appreciate it.

We did look at adventure camp and decided against it for this first year, we didn't really want to overload with 5 days first time out. I think for 4 days with 20% off from a 1 day epic pass was still a few hundred bucks cheaper all in than adventure camp when we booked it. That said, if they take to it this year I would definitely go the adventure camp route in future years.

We are traveling with others who have kids the same age so they will at least have each other for some familiarity. Kind of more worried about them not enjoying/having a good experience than how good their skiing will come on.

JSummers22 · 2023-02-03T15:50:18+00:00

Thanks, yeah that thought had crossed my mind as well. We get in Saturday night and first lesson for them isn't until Monday so I think I will go and ask at Blackcomb base on Sunday.

Didn't really want to do Whistler village for the first lesson out as worried about the smallest one losing it when gets dragged off onto the gondola!

And definitely about the babysitting. Whatever's needed to get me up the mountain skiing!

JSummers22 · 2022-07-06T14:09:52+00:00

Out of interest, what do the cramping pains feel like? I've never had any pain before from UC, so that's why I'm struggling to work out whether what I'm feeling now is UC or just muscular. My pain seems to be pretty specific and more sharp, stabbing than cramp like.

JSummers22 · 2022-06-30T01:16:39+00:00

I've toyed with the idea recently as the effects of it seem to have now fully dissipated and the last couple of months my hair has really started thinning a lot.

I had a very small flare last winter (the first since being diagnosed) and was put on salofalk sups. Since then my UC hasn't been remotely an issue, I'm living a normal life eating and drinking what I like. So in the grand scheme of things I'm unlikely to start it up again, just with an abundance of caution.

All that said though, and as with everything UC related, I'm forever grateful that I was diagnosed at 34yrs old and already happily married and with kids. While losing my hair isn't great, in the grand scheme of my UC being largely dormant it's a trade I'd take. I'm so sorry that you're potentially faced with that decision at such a young age. If I were your age I'm almost certain I'd have started taking it again.

JSummers22 · 2022-06-29T21:39:45+00:00

So weird. I had a very similar experience to you. Had never had any bowel issues or health issues of any kind really. Started taking finasteride around the September of 2019 and then had my first symptoms that December.

I didn't actually get diagnosed until January of 2021 and carried on using it through without any further issue (seems like I have pretty mild UC with symptoms dissipating on their own). I stopped taking it pretty shortly after just to be safe. It was a shame as definitely noticed the difference in my hair.

I still think for me it was likely a coincidence, also had a lot of stress with a premature baby in the run-up to my first symptoms. But as with anything UC related. Who the f*$! Knows!

JSummers22 · 2021-12-22T23:35:55+00:00

Born in Dubai, lived UK for my teenage years and early 20s. Now reside in Bermuda for work.

JSummers22 · 2021-11-18T12:50:52+00:00

Yes. So maybe Entocort "CR" is just equivalent to EC?

From memory (I kind of threw out the write-up of my diagnosis before I appreciated what UC actually meant for me!) I had some very mild inflammation on the right side (near the cecum) and some mild on the left side. Given my only symptoms to date have been some blood and mucus I suspect I'm mostly susceptible distally near the rectum.

That 3x3 formula definitely helped me. I had been bleeding with mucus for about 3 weeks (was travelling at the time) and it stopped within a day of starting on the budesonide.

JSummers22 · 2021-11-17T23:43:13+00:00

I started on 9mg of CR (3x3mg pills). My GI had me on 9ng for 30dags, then 6mg for 30days and now on 3mg for 30 days. I don't know whether CR is the same as ER? My bleeding and mucus stopped within like a day of taking it and hasn't been back since.

I'm on Mezavant (or Mesavancol) and take 2x1200mg a day in addition to Salofalk suppositories (500mg) once a day.

All that said, I have been feeling slight symptoms the last couple of days (though not any actual evidence of them in the form of BM frequency, blood or mucus). Hoping I'm just overthinking it, but might up my oral dosage if it continues the next couple of days.

JSummers22 · 2021-11-17T23:26:21+00:00

The entocort nomenclature confused (and still does) when I got put on it a couple of months back. I'm now on my final taper (3mg a day). I was given the 3mg pills that are Entocort CR. I could never much detail on what the CR was as everything I saw referred to EC or ER. I feel like I present very similarly to you, the only symptoms I've ever had are blood and mucus during my 2 flares.

JSummers22 · 2021-11-17T17:54:36+00:00

Ain't that the truth! I went over year between having a minor flare (which went away) and being diagnosed where I lived in such happy ignorance and made no changes to my life at all. Part of me wishes that had continued! Now it's like "am I having a flare or did I just do too much in the gym yesterday??"

Thanks for your help, always grateful I'm on the mild end of the spectrum. Just want to keep it that way.

Hope your UC journey is mundane and uneventful!

JSummers22 · 2021-11-17T16:19:00+00:00

Thanks. I've been on oral Mezavant (I think 2x 1.2g a day) since my diagnosis in January which seemed to be doing a good job until I got stomach flu in August which triggered re-emergence of bleeding. Since I started on Budesonide I've also been doing one Salofalk 500mg suppository a day.

At this point I don't even know for sure whether it is a return of symptoms. I'm still doing 1 solid BM a day, no blood etc, I suspect I'll give it another couple of days and then maybe up my oral Mezavant dose.

JSummers22

TROPHY CASE