sebas030

I was on the Getaway last jan/feb for 10 days and whatever they do to the ship will be welcome.

The ship is tired, a lot of broken things, broken bar tops on the pool deck, the wooden steps to the hot tubs near the main pool were so rotten, rust everywhere, broken outside doors on upper decks, and so on and so on...

 The ship was not in the greatest shape

2 hours ago, Qchell said:

Hi!  Since it appears you have been, I am hoping you can answer something for me.  I keep seeing descriptions of 88 stairs "down", but nothing about getting back up. Do you go back up the stairs, or is there another exit?  TYIA!  

Yes, went a few times already.

Same way in and out. No place to rest, stair is not large, not narrow but there is always a line of people going down and if you stop going up there is no space for someone to pass you on their way up unless the queue going down stops to make room for the "passer".

But the cave is worth it IMO

Plenty of videos on YT showing the stairs and what the cave looks like.

Have fun in Bermuda !

On 4/15/2024 at 12:24 PM, Beaver1975 said:

Can someone tell me what the lockers cost at Taino Bay? And how do you pay for them? Are they "coin" operated? Or do you pay a vendor and receive some sort of key?

I didn't use them but I saw them.

They are near the surf activity on the wall of a building ( bathroom/changing room ). There was a sigh "pay inside" or "get token inside", I do not remember. 

So yes you have to pay someone to use them. I choose not to because it is isolated. You cannot see the lockers from any pool area or lazy river or bar or nothing except the surf thing. There were a few people sitting on the ground in front of the lockers or just leaning on them. They were not cruisers, probably port employee or wtv but it did not look safe. Someone would have plenty of time to force open ( or use a master key ) a locker before anyone noticing.

Maybe it is perfectly fine, but to ME it didn't look safe enough to leave ID, cash, etc

I will be in Bonaire from 6am to 2pm,

I will either do Klein beach ou Chogogo day pass.

In either case no reservation are needed, so I guess I will go with the flow that day...

Klein looks amazing but the 90 minutes ( round trip ) of transportation is not the best with a short, early, day in port.

Chogogo is about 15 minutes( round trip ) by taxi from the port.

10 hours ago, TSUmom said:

That would be a great start for our cruise.  Also trying to decide how many days pre-cruise to arrive and if we want to stay in La Romana or Punta Cana.  Right now I am leaning towards La Romana but that will depend on flight arrival time.  I am also researching transportation and hotels.  I am a planner and have two years to figure it out but....like I said I am a planner😁

An other pax answered my question on the FB group. Yes we can enjoy the port area on embarkation AND debarkation day. This is great news.

Obviously I am a planner also 😉 

I have direct flights from my hometown to La Romana 2 days before the cruise and 2 days after the cruise, Or direct flight to Punta Cana any day.
 

Transfer is about $100 each ways, some drivers are reliable, some not so. This is why I will fly to La Romana and stay there. From what I have seen so far, the hotel prices are very reasonable. 
 

Will probably do an excursion 1 or 2 days before the cruise like Buggy and caves or Saona Island but this a a full 10/11 hour excursion. Or I might buy a day pass to a resort in La Romana to enjoy beach and stress free days before the cruise.

Like you said, plenty of time to decide, 640 days to go 😅 We will have plenty of time to plan and share our finds 😉

20 hours ago, TSUmom said:

I am looking for the same information.  I have a lot of questions about embarking in La Romana - Like you we don't cruise from there until 2026

On a group about the Sky on FB I asked the same question and someone who sailed from there a few weeks ago said that you can check in, board the ship then get out of the ship and enjoy the port area including the pool and then get back on the ship for sailaway.

Still waiting on others to confirm this.

But if it is the case, that is great ! It is almost like adding 1 day to the cruise.

Good morning, 

I have seen a few vlogs about the cruise port of La Romana. 

Looks nice with the pool and everything.

My question is, is the port area available for the cruisers that are embarking on the ship for a cruise ( La Romana being day 1 or starting port of the cruise ) or is it available only for those who are in port as a stop on their cruise ?

Thank you all in advance,

no passport, only ship card and driver's licence ( or gouv issued photo id ) for all pax over 18

On 3/31/2024 at 12:05 AM, Cruiser418Low said:

Thanks! Do you know if there’s a pool donut that can fit both me and my child? Afraid he might be too small to fit into a donut. 

They do not have any double donuts (8 style) The donut is large and would fit an adult and an infant, but probably not a kid 5 yr + and an adult.

10 minutes ago, Cruiser418Low said:

How deep is the lazy river? I have a young child that doesn’t know how to swim. Are there any very shallow pools or splash pads to play in?

The lazy river is about 48" deep.

Yes 1 pool is shallow with hamac barely touching the water.

The main pool had a ledge (about 3' wide ) of shallow (about 12") water, the rest of the pool is about 60" deep 

You can have a great time in all the water area in the port

On 3/23/2024 at 11:49 AM, PORT ROYAL said:

LP is on BBC Beach, which is at the northern point of Mourne Rouge.  And yes, the views are stunning.  Plus S.H.T. Never ventures that far.   One’s custom at LP will be greatly appreciated.

Link- https://www.facebook.com/Laplywood

 

Grand Anse is not the place it was.  It’s now Babylon and getting more expensive as the years pass.   Some have posted also rudeness has increased.  The best place to eat on GA was Umbrellas, but to get a front row table on the balcony will now be a long wait.  Also, heard that the food quality has dropped.

GA is only considered THE place, because it’s cheap and easy to get there, either by ferry or cab.  Some even walk.

 

Because liquid sunshine may appear towards the end of the day, suggest purchasing cheap, pocket folded, plastic Ponchos, just in case

 

Enjoy the beauty of this island and it’s people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is there a water taxi to BBC/Morne rouge beach ? Or how should we get there from the cruise pier ?

I think I would prefer that beach to Grande Anse.

Thank you,

22 hours ago, blue_water said:

If you decide to stay on Tortola, there are drivers at the dock offering shared island tours of Tortola, some with a beach stop. You can inquire at the info center or just ask the taxi coordinator when you arrive…The beach would probably be Cane Garden Bay since there are several beach restaurants there…

That is was I did my first time on the Island. We did have a nice beach stop at Cane Garden beach. I really loved the Island. 

This time around I wanted to do the Baths with the teens. I guess I will have to either take a ship sponsored tour to the Baths and fight with my fellow passengers to get in the baths 😉 or do a beach day on the Island.

Good day everyone, 

We will be in port for a short day from 9am to 2pm. Is this enough to take the ferry, visit the Baths, dip our toes in the water and get back to the pier ?

It seems a bit tight ?

TIA

14 hours ago, nolegirl01 said:

Aruba is one hour ahead so the companies that I did contact all told me that if the ship says it's docking at 8am, it's on ship time and it'll be 9am in Aruba so we will have missed the time. So we have decided to get a 2pm reservation for the UTV tours.

On my 9 cruises ship time was always local time. You get a card the night before the time change in order to adjust the time.

There might be a period of the year where the Island time is not ship time tho... I didn't experience that yet, but I think it can happen.

1 hour ago, CroozeNoob said:

Does anyone know which games are in the arcade on the Sky? I see that they have a picture of Guitar Hero 3, which is really great, but I want to be sure its on there before I pay for the pass!

Do an arcade tour before you buy the pass. There are a lot of games not included in the pass ( they have stickers on them informing you if it is the case), have a look and buy after.

4 hours ago, AandBmom said:

I have checked both of those Port schedules in our ship is not listed but we just changed itinerary this week so I'm not surprised. But it does look like Royal always docs at Taino

If docked in Taino Bay; it is a new port area. lazy river ( free ) takes about 20/25 minutes to do the loop. A large pool (free) with 2 different water deep. An other pool (free) that is shallow with lounger righ in the water. A lot of lounger all round. A new wave maker machine to surf on ($35 for 20 minutes ). Monkeyisland, 30 minutes experience with the spider monkees for 25$ ( I would do it again in a heartbeat ( it was AWESOME ). Also cabanas for massages ($).

Many shops of all kind, restaurants and bar. The port area is quite large. It takes about 10/15 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

If you exit the port area, a 7-10 minute walk will bring you to Umbrella street and an other 3 will get you to Pink Alley ( look up pictures on the web for both ).

Obviously many excursions are available with or without the cruise line. The one that is less recommended is the gondola to get on top of the moutain. There is only 1 gondola in each direction and wait time can be from 10 minutes to 2 hours to get in one... so returning to the cruise ship can be a bit stressfull....

I can't help you if dock in Amber Cover, sorry

On 3/18/2024 at 7:47 PM, towner35 said:

My wife and I have been in food service for 45 plus years and would love to hear if anyone had any recommendations on food outside the port area and in town. Any street food? Shops that sell spices or chocolate you visited? Any places to buy a beer that I can walk around with? Thanks for your voice! Going to be there 3/29

There are multiple ports in DR. Where are you docking ?

17 hours ago, robinbtigger said:

I was wondering if we I would be able to tell in advance if we will be tendering into Taino Bay.  There are 3 ships in the port (Breakaway, Independence of the Seas and the NCL Sky.  The Carnival Celebration is at Amber Cover alone.).  We are on the Sky which is the smallest of the three and the last scheduled to arrive.  Does that mean we will be the one tendering?  I was considering going back to the ship for lunch, but tendering back for lunch is a PITB.

Your cruise confirmation ( contract ) that you got via email has a list of the ports with the arrival and departure time AND the mention "dock" or "tender". You should have your answer there.

On 3/19/2024 at 3:07 PM, AandBmom said:

We just found out that our Mariner of the Seas cruise will be moving from Haiti to Puerto Plata. I have never been there and don't have much  experience with this port. I've been doing some reading on here and I can't quite figure out if we would be Amber Cove or something different. Can someone please break down for me how this works or where Royal Caribbean would typically be docking?

What date are you docking in PP ?Amber Cove has a ship schedule on it's website.

There are 2 docks, Taino Bay and Amber Cove. 2 competely different experience.

Business almost as usual. There is a border crossing ( armed ) between Haiti and the DR. They cannot leave Haiti unless they use a tank. Law enforcement officers are not afraid to shoot and they know it.

I would not be worried. The Haiti situation ( humanly ) is horrible but it is contained in Haiti.

On 3/7/2024 at 7:19 AM, wlbox said:

How’s Mullet Bay beach for snorkeling?  Is the water normally calm?  Any problems with saragassum seaweed?  We’re hoping for a nice beach day. Thanks 

On a calm day, Mullet is perfect !

I went for the third time a month ago ( did not snorkel )

When facing the ocean, on your left, there is a long wall of rocks and I have heard it is great for snorkeling. No seaweed and crystal clear water.

On rough days the waves can crush you on the rock wall if you venture there to snorkel. But again, on a good day, it is 100/100.

On 3/14/2024 at 4:17 PM, snorklinbarb said:

Enjoyed yr lazy river video, thanks.  Your daughter is a young lady now, having followed yr NCL reviews for years.

 

Question is how long a walk from the ship to the pool/lazy river area?

Did you happen to notice any carts going back & forth for those who might need a little help?

 

Someone on another thread mentioned a locker near the lazy river area for one's valuables.  Did you happen to use that?  Is there a charge?  Bring change?

 

Enjoy your next adventure!

Yes there are lockers near the change rooms near the new surf activity.

There is a fee, you have to get a special token ( I think inside the changing room ) to use them.

They are out of the way, besides if you are going to the surf thing you will not see them. 

I ( and it is only MY opinion ), didn't feel safe leaving my things in there. If someone wanted to tamper with the locker to get your things they would have the time and tranquillity to do so because of the location.

Well to be precise, there are more than 2 ports in DR.

Taino Bay and Amber Cove are in Puerto Plata if this is the route your ship is taking.

Also La Romana, Santo Domingo and Samana.

What is your route ?

Yes, Taino Bay and Amber Cove.

Amber Cove has a specific schedule on the web for the ships docking there. If your ship is not on the list, then it will dock at taino Bay.

Only ship currently listed  is : 

We had 12 hours in port when we went last month.

I used Bernard's tour 2 times in the past but this time we went on our own

We got a taxi as soon as we exited the port to go to Marigot. It was a shared taxi, we paid $9 each for 1 way. We had breakfast at "Chez Fernand" ( delicious ) walked a bit, went to the straw market and took a taxi back to Mullet Bay Beach. Spent 2 hours there ( AMAZING beach ). Walked ( 15 minutes ) to Maho. Got blasted by 2 airplanes departing and had a dozen go just over our head to land. We stayed about 90 minutes there.

Taxi back to the ship was $7 per passenger. The port area has plenty of shops.

We loved our day !!!