Dominica is rebuilding from hurricane...

[seafun]

I was on the Royal Princess that was the first cruise ship to call on Dominica on October 5. I had booked a tour with Nature Isle Explorers and it went very well.

 

Yes, the damage was quite obvious in many places, and there was lots of visible destruction. We drove right by the yellow church and across the bridge it is next to in the youtube video. Obviously, some bridges are open and others are impassible.

 

We were able to see all the tourist areas planned -- the Champagne Reef, Titou Gorge, Trafalgar Falls, the Botanical gardens and the overlook of the city. All were very beautiful. I had been to Dominica about 6 years ago, and the beautiful, unspoiled nature of the island is easy to see wherever you go.

 

Several of the roads around the island -particularly those by rivers - are somewhat washed away, but I never felt unsafe on them. You could see exposed water pipes along roads and banks that had washed away. We passed several road crews doing repair work.

 

There are major and minor landslides that are visible most places we went. They have cleared the roads and are continuing to improve road conditions. The worst damage I saw to the sights we visited was at Trafalgar Falls. The scenic pools below the falls have been destroyed by massive rock boulder avalanches, so it's just a jumble of boulders below them but the falls are still there, and the scenic rain forest you walk through to get there is still just as beautiful.

 

The ship had a lot of tours and I believe they all went off without a hitch as well, as I didn't hear a single complaint from other passengers.

 

If you plan on going to Dominica, I would advise you to continue those plans. The people are warm and welcoming (well, other than the folks over-zealously hawking their tours and taxis just as you exit the port area, but isn't it that way everywhere?)

 

Obviously, they need the tourism dollars, but you will not be walking into devastation. You will learn things, see things and experience things you can't learn on any other island.

 

I hope this information is helpful! :-)

Edited October 17, 2015 by seafun

[ETski]

Thank you got posting the update. We will be traveling there in two weeks.

[Beachbaby1229]

Thanks for the update! I hope you had a wonderful trip.

[OCruisers]

Thanks very much for your update.

Hated what happened to that wonderful island.

 

LuLu

[preschool teacher]

Glad to hear things are improving somewhat.....I feel for the people and the island. I have been there once and just loved it. Will be going back March 2016,

Thanks for sharing.

[TLCOhio]

I was on the Royal Princess that was the first cruise ship to call on Dominica on October 5. Yes, the damage was quite obvious in many places, and there was lots of visible destruction. Obviously, some bridges are open and others are impassible. Several of the roads around the island -particularly those by rivers - are somewhat washed away, but I never felt unsafe on them. If you plan on going to Dominica, I would advise you to continue those plans. The people are warm and welcoming. Obviously, they need the tourism dollars, but you will not be walking into devastation. You will learn things, see things and experience things you can't learn on any other island.

 

Appreciate this nice and first-hand reporting about the impacts on Dominica and how they are getting back in the swing of things to receive visitors, live their lives, etc. As you noted, we agree and did loved this island, its scenic location, the warm people, etc., while we were there.

 

At "Dominica Love: Our Experience, Pictures, etc.", I posted a number of pictures on details for what we saw and did on this island. It is at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2253384

 

Hope others who visit there in the coming months will update us on their activities, the progress there, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 31,130 views for these postings.

[Choozin Croozin]

Thank you for taking the time to post the update. Feel so sorry for those people. We will be there to support the economy in March 2016

[capriccio]

We were in Dominica this past week on the Royal Princess' second stop of the season. They are working extremely hard to clear and repair the roads. We did see the effects of multiple landslides but all the main roads to the tourist attractions were open and functioning. It was our first visit to the island and I'm so glad we were able to pump some money (via Nature Isle Explorers) into the economy.

[JanineM]

We were in Dominica last week (October 27?) and took an excursion to Emerald Pool. Some of the roads were in rough shape, but certainly passable. I believe one of the major roads was still closed so we wound around - a lot.

 

They are clearly very appreciative of tourists coming back. Our guide told us that they had just 2 ships visit in October, then there will be about 2 a week during November, then in December they'll have a full slate. I think they will be happy to see those tourism dollars coming in.