La Romana without an excursion

[KTRuby]

I will be on the Valor on 12/23 with my dad. We've been to all the ports except La Romana and none of the excursions are of much interest. Is there anything to do/see without booking an excursion? Would love to just have a beach day but open to anything!

[2toSea]

I will be on the Valor on 12/23 with my dad. We've been to all the ports except La Romana and none of the excursions are of much interest. Is there anything to do/see without booking an excursion? Would love to just have a beach day but open to anything!

 

 

I'll let you know. We leave on Valor 12/9

[ElleCee]

Anxious to see what people recommend. We're on the Breeze 12/22 and haven't planned anything either.

[jst]

There is basically nothing at the port, so unless you do a tour or something similar this becomes another sea day with a view. We were there on Valor last June.

[golfadj]

We did an excursion to the artists colony and not thrilled. Next time might just stay on the ship.

[darth frosty]

agree with Jst.

SOme in our group went to a restaurant with a nice view. Its called papa jacks ( I Know nothing else of this place or its exact location.)

 

[HeidiHo]

You could get a day pass to an All Inclusive resort. you could find the names of a couple on the ports of call board.

[golfadj]

The worst part of coming here as it kind of screws up an awesome itinerary.

 

We had to leave GT very early to get here. Because we were here we got to Curacao about 2 pm during the winter so it got dark a few hours later.

 

Would have been better if we stayed longer at GT, skipped this port and got to Curacao in the morning.

[Publius1787]

We were there a year ago and stumbled on an excursion you can get right at the pier to Altos De Chavon. It cost us $7 a person for a round trip bus pass and we had a great and relaxing time. It's a replica of an old French village with a couple of places to eat and drink and lots of awesome views for pictures and relaxing. I heard it was built as part of the filing of the movie Apocalypse Now in the early 70's.

[kiraryker]

We just went to the town square (so to speak) and were warned to just stay within that area and make sure to remember where to get back on the bus to get back to the ship.

 

Well it was rather "scary" but I did get an AWESOME painting that some guys were doing inside a garage - the people are kinda pushy - and as my husband said as we were walking thru this alley to get to this place isn't this how people wind up as a murder story on 20/20 HA HA but it was rather intimidating.

 

If it wasn't for my beautiful painting I had wished we stayed on the ship. So I would think you would want an excursion for this port

[mapsmith]

Last year on the Valor (same cruise as Stu) we took a cab/bus to the Central Plaza. They have a Craft market there. It actually was enjoyable to just walk around the Central Plaza. The Crafts were typical of most Caribbean Islands but they do have Larimar for people looking for that stone. They also have a walkway with lifesize statues of the Dominican Republics famous Baseball Players from the MLB.

You also have the Santa Rosa of Lima Church right across the street which is a beautiful church with the cooling provided by a "Big Ass Fan" No kidding that is the name of the ceiling fan. Just look up.

 

We'll probably do the same this year.

 

Another option, since baseball is the National Sport. There are a couple of fields right next to the port. If a bunch of kids are playing, go watch and cheer them on. I am sure that you will make some friends.

[LHP]

We were there a year ago and stumbled on an excursion you can get right at the pier to Altos De Chavon. It cost us $7 a person for a round trip bus pass and we had a great and relaxing time. It's a replica of an old French village with a couple of places to eat and drink and lots of awesome views for pictures and relaxing. I heard it was built as part of the filing of the movie Apocalypse Now in the early 70's.

 

We did this as well...only we did it by private taxi .

 

The price was agreed upon by the taxi manager before we left and even though our driver spoke little English...it was fine.

 

The taxi drivers stay with you the entire time at this island and that was different...but he just waited under a shade tree until we got back.

 

And the price we paid him when we got back was the exact price quoted...no issues there. A lovely day....

[jamie1436]

We just got back Sunday...You definitely want to have something planned. We would strongly recommend Seavis tours..we had the best time. We talked to a few people on the ship that did some ship tours and noone had good things to say about them. Go with Seavis tours!!!

[sailor_jimc]

We were just there. We took a ship excursion - Catilina Island Beach Break. The beach was great if you like beach days, but there was no real food available (someone paid $30 for some Chicken beans and rice!) And the only beverages available were water from an igloo cooler and the one rum drink they gave when we got there. If there were more in the way of food and bevvies it would have made for a good day. We almost booked a private to an all inclusive but the long bus/taxi ride made it worrisome and the cost became very close to the ship excursion so we figured why not take the ship tour.

[Bill&Karen]

I'm on the same cruise and have arranged for a tour and tasting at a local cigar factory (http://www.cigarcountrytours.com/). My wife and her sister are, I think going to the beach on Catalina Island.

[golfadj]

We were there a year ago and stumbled on an excursion you can get right at the pier to Altos De Chavon. It cost us $7 a person for a round trip bus pass and we had a great and relaxing time. It's a replica of an old French village with a couple of places to eat and drink and lots of awesome views for pictures and relaxing. I heard it was built as part of the filing of the movie Apocalypse Now in the early 70's.

 

We did the same with the bus pass but knew about it beforehand.

 

While walking around we caught up with a tour guide giving a tour and just followed them around for awhile.

[hedy7813]

We just got back. Unless you want to snorkle....just go off the ship, walk up the ramp and take the $7 roundtrip shuttle to Altos de Chavon. It's a little "created" old village on top of a plateau in Casa de Campo. They have little boutique shops, beautiful views and cafes. You can also take a $5 shuttle to the town La Romana for some locals shopping. Some people did both. Carnival does have an excursion which takes you to Altos and includes a ride on the river in a little excursion boat....looked nice.

[markadele]

The worst part of coming here as it kind of screws up an awesome itinerary.

 

We had to leave GT very early to get here. Because we were here we got to Curacao about 2 pm during the winter so it got dark a few hours later.

 

Would have been better if we stayed longer at GT, skipped this port and got to Curacao in the morning.

That sounds like the best idea yet just skip this port and extend our day in GT and get to Curacao earlier Like you thinking

[blondietink]

Just a little FYI - we have been to the DR but never to La Romana. All beaches in the country are open to the public, even though some all-inclusive resorts will try and convince you otherwise. In the past, we have just asked a taxi driver to take us to a nice beach and they have taken us to an access point to get to the beach, even if it is near an all-inclusive resort. Now the resort can forbid you access to the pool, loungers, etc., but we have just taken our towels with us and never had a problem.

 

The people of this country are very poor, but very friendly. Nobody wants to land in a DR jail, and we have never had a problem as a tourist. Yes, they can be intimidating, but they are just trying to make a living. Bring a Yankees baseball hat with you to trade/give away and you will have friends for life.

[golfadj]

That sounds like the best idea yet just skip this port and extend our day in GT and get to Curacao earlier Like you thinking

 

But my 100 shares of CCL doesnt get me the ok to do this though.

 

Do understand that Carnival is building something here that will greatly improve our experience.

[SmileEh]

I will be in La Romana on Jan 23rd and have booked an excursion with Seavis Tours... it looks like it will be an amazing beach day... lots of good recommendations for this excursion.

[Karlyn8]

We were there in July and went to Catalina Island - It was beautiful. The water, sand and sun were a perfect mix.

 

The only thing I did not like were the shops. To the left of the beach there are several straw market shops and the people running them were very pushy. We just left them and went back to the lounges we had. We could hear them yelling "Ladies" clear down the beach.

 

You will need to take something to eat (We just took some bottles water and boxed cereal) because there is nothing there except the rum punch you get when you get there. A local man did climb a coconut tree and cut them for us to drink. It was different tasting, but good.:)

[KTRuby]

I think the Seavis tour might be the answer! I'm just concerned because their website says the tour starts at 9am and the scheduled time in port isn't until 10 so I just want to email them and make sure it will work for that day.

 

Thank you so much for all of the suggestions!

[CharmedMom]

we went here in June - it was ok (we did the countryside tour - we rode in open air buses, saw the villages, the sugar cane fields and got to taste some sugar cane, visited a cactus and orchid nursery, had some island rum, and we went to visit a locals house where we got to taste fresh homemade coffee, which was very very strong, see some cigars get made - we were supposed to taste homemade chocolate, but for whatever reason we didn't get to do that). I don't think I would want to go back to this port (but then again, each of the three cruises we've been on, has had one port that I don't want to visit again).

[Securityman]

If you do not have atour booked stay on the ship.Do not go to the shopping area; they all sell the same stuff. And after you pay for it,they will ask you for a tip.Carnival shoud drop LaRomana and spend more time in Grand Turk and curacao.