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Share any info on Samana, please!!

kjbacon

By kjbacon,
in Dominican Republic

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kjbacon "Live from...." Rare

kjbacon

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We will be on The Gem in a couple weeks (yay!) and cannot get much info on Samana. The board on the Port of Call section has precious little activity and time is ticking. We are hearing and reading accounts that are making us feel that safety issues may trump our desire to go the rainforest (or otherwise disembark the ship in port) but ..... complaints are always more prevalent than praise, so would like to get as much input as possible. Can you chime in and help? Thx!

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Rhea58

Rhea58

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I was there last Feb. & country was so lush and perfectly safe.

 

Some folks opted to take the ship's excursion to a local beach.

 

I found this website: www.whalesamana.com.

Took the tender in and walked a few blocks to the office to pay the fee.

Was a great tour as only 3 boats are allowed near the whales when they are

breaching.

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chellebells

chellebells

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We will be on The Gem in a couple weeks (yay!) and cannot get much info on Samana. The board on the Port of Call section has precious little activity and time is ticking. We are hearing and reading accounts that are making us feel that safety issues may trump our desire to go the rainforest (or otherwise disembark the ship in port) but ..... complaints are always more prevalent than praise, so would like to get as much input as possible. Can you chime in and help? Thx!

 

Check out

http://www.toursamanawithterry.com/

 

We have used him several times and his tours are some of the best we have ever taken at any port. Our favorite was the ATV....

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PorkChopKid

PorkChopKid

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We made a stop there in October 2010 and you can tell things are "rustic" when the daily paper has nothing in it about shopping. :eek: We opted to do an NCL sponsored excursion called "Waterfall Hike". It was a very memorable experience that, even to this day, we talk about with our friends. Maybe things have changed in the last couple years. You can read about it 1/2 way down this page--> SAMANA.

Some other, more adventurous, folks simply went ashore and rounded up some like minded folks to share a van ride to the beach.

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candygirl27540

candygirl27540

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Check out

http://www.toursamanawithterry.com/

 

We have used him several times and his tours are some of the best we have ever taken at any port. Our favorite was the ATV....

 

I'll second this!! Did the ATV also and it was a wonderful day. The people of Samana live in some the the poorest conditions I have ever seen,but were so warm and welcoming.All along the drive they were smiling,waving, saying hello to us.The countryside is lush and beautiful too.Don't pass up a great opportunity to experience this exotic place and its people,

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kjbacon "Live from...." Rare

kjbacon

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Thank you all for chiming in! I would love to see this beautiful country, never have, and we've already booked an excursion that I was so excited about. In fact, it sounds similar to the one that PorkChopKid described. Its called something like Rainforest Hike to Natural Waterfalls and Cascades. Could it be the same one with a new name? Long story short, we were telling friends who strongly advised us against going ashore for safety reasons. We did some searching on the topic and it does seem to be a very founded concern. Both NCL and RCI are removing this port and I suspect that this may be why. It is very hard to know what to do! We aren't young kids anymore (except at heart) so we may not handle a tough spot as well as we could have when younger.

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sebas030

sebas030

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I did an extensive review of Tour Samana with Terry on the Samana page here on CC.

 

To resume it all JUST DO IT !!

 

This guy ( company ) is great. Off of the beaten path and just superb.

 

Check him on social media, trip advisor and such.

 

Highly highly highly recommend him !!

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geegee1

geegee1

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We did Cayo Levantado back in '08 and really enjoyed ourselves on the beach. My brother in law, who is a police officer, took the tender into town, walked around for 5 minutes and came back. He said he felt a little uncomfortable walking around. If you take an organized tour you'll probably be fine.

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Seanote

Seanote

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We were recently on the Gem and the concierge summed up Samana pretty well. He said his guests who took excursions/ private tours or went to Cayo were impressed with the destination. Guests who opted to tender into town, on their own, were pretty disgusted with the place vowing never to return. Us? We went to Cayo and it was a great beach day.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

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Posted
We will be on The Gem in a couple weeks (yay!) and cannot get much info on Samana. The board on the Port of Call section has precious little activity and time is ticking. We are hearing and reading accounts that are making us feel that safety issues may trump our desire to go the rainforest (or otherwise disembark the ship in port) but ..... complaints are always more prevalent than praise, so would like to get as much input as possible. Can you chime in and help? Thx!

 

I think the reason you cant find much information is, only a few ships use it as one of their ports. For us (and I have to add, this was several years ago) it was one of the worst ports we have visited. I am not going to say we felt unsafe, and yes, like most of DR it is very pretty, but it just did nothing for us. I don't think I would bother to get off the ship if we were to go there again.

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eh24fan

eh24fan

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My parents and grandparents were on the Gem last year and used Terry -- my parents took my then 12yr old son on the ATV tour while my grandparents did an open air bus type tour. My mom couldn't say enough nice things about Terry and his company! In fact, we are ALL going on the same itinerary in April and eagerly looking forward to Samana and our tour! My son insisted we all go this year. :)

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Arubamoose

Arubamoose

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The first time we went to Samana - NCL Dawn tenders took us to the mainland. We had no excursion planned. We were bombarded immediately and felt very, very uncomfortable, even in a large group. We walked around a bit and headed back to the boat.

 

The second time we went to Samana - MSC Orchestra tenders took us to Cayo Levantado. What a WONDERFUL day. What a WONDERFUL beach. Great food, CHEAP, CHEAP beer! (DH was happy!). Would go back in a flash.

 

I do admit that it was our bad not having an excursion planned that first time. But with a sponsored trip it shouldn't be an issue.

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xenagurl

xenagurl

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We were there earlier this month. We took the tender from the ship and just walked around and bought items from some of the vendors that were set up. (About 50 stalls). There were lots of other tourist walking along the boardwalk so we didn't feel uncomfortable. However we didn't stray from that area.

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jrgles

jrgles

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My mom also did a tour with Terry last week, and thought it was one of the best excursions she's ever done. She chose the zipline tour, and had a blast... and she's almost 80 yrs old and had knee surgery a couple of months ago. Felt totally safe and had a wonderful time.

 

She raved about Terry himself, saying that he was incredibly nice, professional, and helpful.

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daydrem_dw

daydrem_dw

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Thank you all for chiming in! I would love to see this beautiful country, never have, and we've already booked an excursion that I was so excited about. In fact, it sounds similar to the one that PorkChopKid described. Its called something like Rainforest Hike to Natural Waterfalls and Cascades. Could it be the same one with a new name? Long story short, we were telling friends who strongly advised us against going ashore for safety reasons. We did some searching on the topic and it does seem to be a very founded concern. Both NCL and RCI are removing this port and I suspect that this may be why. It is very hard to know what to do! We aren't young kids anymore (except at heart) so we may not handle a tough spot as well as we could have when younger.

 

We were also looking at the Rainforest Hike to Natural Waterfalls and Cascades excursion, but the reader reviews were not very good. Has anyone else tried this particular excursion?

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merrilyanne

merrilyanne

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We had a wonderful local tour by a young local man called Alex Rymer at Mono Tours. 809-816-3248 email rorislamorena@hotmail.com He speaks three languages, is very accommodating and flexible and very reasonably priced. He has a very new van and great air conditioning. He went beyond the call of duty to take us to some interesting places. We drove quite a long way to Rincon Beach, mostly for a swim and for the scenery along the way, with the lagoon at one end, and a marvellous view and beach at the other end. He also took us to a local waterfall where children came out and jumped off the top into the pool below. It was nice just to see the countryside, mountains and lush vegetation along the way. We also went to his house to visit his lovely wife, son and new baby. I highly recommend him. Tell him Marilyn sent you.

 

I felt very safe there - there is a nice new boardwalk along the waterfront from the tender dock to some new shops that look like two storey colourful Colonial houses. There is also a local market with the usual crafts and souvenirs right there. There are also two interesting churches. I found the people friendly and would go again. Anyone who did take a spur of the moment local tour, really enjoyed it. Also, some people travel up to various beach and resort areas that are all within an hour's drive.

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