Thanksgiving On Splendor - Eastern Caribbean - CruiseXLife's Photo Review!

[cruisexlife]

Can you share which waterproof camera you use and how you like it? Am hoping to get a new one and am looking for recommendations. Thanks!

 

It is a Fujifilm XP Digital Camera. I picked it up at BJ's right before I went to Australia in July 2013 for I don't know how much, and I brought it as well as another camera. I planned on just using the other camera, and this one just for the Great Barrier Reef, but I ended up loving it so much that it was used that entire trip, as well as for all of my other trips, land or no land. All of my cruise review photos, including all of these, are taken with it! :D I love it, it's a great camera!!

[Beeslilmama]

I just got the Fujifilm XP70 (there's a new model out now) for a bargain on Amazon during the sales. I am so excited to try it out!

Ugh, your review is great and I hate waiting for the next installment. Why are all the good reviews the ones you have to wait for! Cliffhangers!

[pghsteelerfan]

I'm really enjoying reading about what you did in Amber Cove so far and I'm anticipating the rest...sounds like this is going to be a lot of fun. :D

[hockeyluver]

Thank you, you will have a great time!

 

 

 

Black Pearl Lower, Deck 3. :D

 

Thank you , we are new to this ATD :D We figured if we are going to give it a try, then this is the cruise to do it. First night is Superbowl and hubby wants to take me to the Steakhouse ( have never tried it yet :eek: ) for my birthday dinner

[cruisexlife]

I just got the Fujifilm XP70 (there's a new model out now) for a bargain on Amazon during the sales. I am so excited to try it out!

Ugh, your review is great and I hate waiting for the next installment. Why are all the good reviews the ones you have to wait for! Cliffhangers!

 

Why thank you! And this week is a busy week, so I haven't posted as much as usual. But I hope to get it written rather fast. Thank you for following along! :D

 

I'm really enjoying reading about what you did in Amber Cove so far and I'm anticipating the rest...sounds like this is going to be a lot of fun. :D

 

It was! Thanks for following along!

[cruisexlife]

Thank you , we are new to this ATD :D We figured if we are going to give it a try, then this is the cruise to do it. First night is Superbowl and hubby wants to take me to the Steakhouse ( have never tried it yet :eek: ) for my birthday dinner

 

Sounds like a good cruise! I had anytime dining on one cruise, and I liked it, but those in my party did not. So hopefully you like it! :)

[cruisexlife]

We had new guides join us earlier that I forgot to mention. Tyler was the "paparazzi", and Sebastian and Ari helped us all slide down the slides, in addition to Raul. Once we walked down that last step of stairs, we all entered the river, and walked towards the first waterfall. Here is Ari waiting to help us over the hump

 

 

You sat down, crossed your arms, and Sebastian held you, and then let you go.

 

 

I think I went fourth here. It was so fun, sliding down that first waterfall, and landing in the cold pool cooled me off from the hike. I was certainly ready for more!

 

From, here some of my photos are going to get a little blurry or have some water in them. I apologize, I had nothing to clean the lens off with, that wasn't wet.

 

We swam through this next part. Actually, I walked, but if you are most likely 5'10" or shorter, you will probably need to swim this portion. We reached another falls, this one much more rapid. This one, like the first, allowed you to slide right into the pool. Others had a drop. After that, we swam out of the pool for a bit, and walked in ankle-deep water to another waterfall. This was the river we walked down.

 

 

After a small waterfall, we got to the scariest thing I've ever done. The 25 foot jump! This is where we reached the decision-making point. Either jump 25 feet to the pool at the bottom, or walk up to the top walkway you see, and down a set of steps that is behind that cliff in the back.

 

 

Somehow, my other became the first person to be in line to make the decision. She went to jump. Key word went. When Ari continued to insist that she land in the space at the bottom, and if she didn't she would be hurt, was very unsettling to her. My mom has had 3 back surgeries, and has a foot surgery coming up. So, after turning to me and thinking she was going to disappoint me by not jumping, I recommended that she go up the walkway. Mom went on, and took the camera. Katie was next. Being the daredevil that she is, she jumped first. Wow, I was really considering not jumping after that, it looked like a long fall. But, I convinced myself to. I stood at the edge of the cliff, took a deep breath, and took the step. They recommended not jumping or leaping, just taking a step far enough to separate you from the cliff and land in the hole, which you could see. It was exhilarating. But scary! I hit the water, and plunged far down. I swept the bottom, just enough to kick off and come back up. WOW. That was such a fun thing to do. Granted, having my stomach in my throat wasn't fun, but that was part of the experience. I got up and swam to where I could touch, and met Mom and Katie.

 

We then watched everyone else jump. Elron somehow ended up last. But we all met up again and carried onto the fifth of our twelve waterfalls.

 

 

We had a little hiking to do until we got to the next waterfall. We crossed a bridge over a HUGE waterfall, that you could not really see under the bridge. But here was the view looking down.

 

Edited December 10, 2015 by cruisexlife

[cruisexlife]

We got to the fifth fall. It was rather small. But then we got to the sixth fall, and this one was a drop. I slid to the end, and it dropped you off about a foot above the water. It wasn't too bad, it just caught me. The seventh had a curve in it, like a curve on a waterslide.

 

 

It slid you right into the water. Here was the view on the way to the eighth.

 

 

The eighth waterfall was a regular waterfall, and the ninth was inside of a cave. We climbed into the cave, and saw the HUGE waterfall. There was a photo op there, where we all took pictures. This slide was the fastest one that we had contact with so far.

 

We left the cave and headed to the tenth. It was another drop off one, but this one caught Katie by surprise. She was the first one, and this drop was 5 feet up. She had no clue, so she landed flat on her back. Note to self!

 

The eleventh and twelfth falls were together. (Note: I am not counting the one on the left here as a fall). We slid down the eleventh (fell, actually) and then they gave us the option of climbing back up to the top and jumping. No one else in my party wanted to, so I also decided not to. There was a pool at the bottom that we all hung out in for a little.

 

 

Then we had the final fall. This drop was about 3 feet tall. It was rather leisurely. Ari (holding me during the picture) held us up above the falls, shook us, and would randomly let us go. That suspense made it fun. Ari also would hide underwater and pop out at random times, and would make strange animal music and scare you. He was surely a great person to do this with!

 

 

Here are the last two falls, and the huge pool at the bottom where we concluded our water activities. It was very beautiful here.

 

 

As you can see, there are ladders back to the top. Katie and I climbed back up and slid down the last two again for some fun, while Mom and Elron hung out in the pool.

[gapearl]

WOW that excursion looks AWESOME! That's something I might have to look into when I visit there next year. I'd be all about jumping off some waterfalls. It looks like you had a lot of fun here. Did you all have time to go to the beach after or should I just be patient and wait and see what else happened in the next installment? :p

[Danzkat17]

Thanks so much for your review so far! My hubs and I are cruising on the Conquest in a few weeks with a few of our friends and we booked the 27 waterfalls tour yesterday!! This will be my first cruise as an adult (I went on a few with my family as a child) and my husbands first non military related cruise! I have a question about shoes... The tour recommended tennis shoes for the hike that WILL get wet. Do you think water shoes would be sufficient? Or do you need real shoes? I'm trying to decide if my suit case can accommodate yet another pair of shoes without breaking that dreaded 50 lbs limit. Thanks again and looking forward to the rest of your review!!

[cruisexlife]

WOW that excursion looks AWESOME! That's something I might have to look into when I visit there next year. I'd be all about jumping off some waterfalls. It looks like you had a lot of fun here. Did you all have time to go to the beach after or should I just be patient and wait and see what else happened in the next installment? :p

 

Well I'll elaborate in the next installment (hopefully later tonight!), but the answer would probably be no. We arrived back at the ship around 1:30, and the onboard time was 3:30. The time after was perfect for shopping, taking photos of the port, using the wifi, or hanging out at the pool or bar, which both looked very nice, but we did not go to either. I think you will have to decide between beach or excursion.

 

I was hoping you would read this part, as I thought about you during it. It reminded me of what you did in either Dominica or St.Lucia (confusing all of the reviews!), and how adventurous you get in the exotic places! But yes, this tour screams your name! The website is http://www.iguanamama.com, just click on "Shore Excursions" at the top :D

Edited December 11, 2015 by cruisexlife

[cruisexlife]

Thanks so much for your review so far! My hubs and I are cruising on the Conquest in a few weeks with a few of our friends and we booked the 27 waterfalls tour yesterday!! This will be my first cruise as an adult (I went on a few with my family as a child) and my husbands first non military related cruise! I have a question about shoes... The tour recommended tennis shoes for the hike that WILL get wet. Do you think water shoes would be sufficient? Or do you need real shoes? I'm trying to decide if my suit case can accommodate yet another pair of shoes without breaking that dreaded 50 lbs limit. Thanks again and looking forward to the rest of your review!!

 

I see that this is your first post, welcome to Cruise Critic! :D Yes, I used water shoes during the whole tour. During the hike, they got a little annoying, because my watershoes are a little worn and the bottom kept sliding around, but I was fine. Katie, however, had no tennis shoes she could risking ruining, so I gave her an old pair of mine that I found hanging around downstairs, and she literally threw them out once the tour ended. Either works, but the shoes wil go through mud and heavy water, so be prepared!

 

You are in for a great time if you go!

[pghsteelerfan]

I have already written down the website for the excursion you took. This looks like so much fun...who needs an amusement park. This is right up my alley and would definitely be much better than an amusement park for me! I love your pictures and it appears just as beautiful in scenery as it was fun. Thank you so much for including all of the detail and the pictures. Of course, I'll continue to follow and am looking forward to the rest - when you have time, these things do take a lot of that. :D

[xcourtx]

Great review of the 27 falls excursion! I'm going with danzkat17 in a few weeks and we cannot wait!! Do you happen to know what the pricing on the photos they took was?

[cruisexlife]

I have already written down the website for the excursion you took. This looks like so much fun...who needs an amusement park. This is right up my alley and would definitely be much better than an amusement park for me! I love your pictures and it appears just as beautiful in scenery as it was fun. Thank you so much for including all of the detail and the pictures. Of course, I'll continue to follow and am looking forward to the rest - when you have time, these things do take a lot of that. :D

 

Thank you for following along! I think that if you found yourself in Amber Cove, this would be a good option. I hope it persuaded you to go with Iguana Mama, I really loved that company. But yes, they do take a lot of time. I'm hoping to get some more done right now, and then later on tonight. Thanks for following along as usual!

 

Great review of the 27 falls excursion! I'm going with danzkat17 in a few weeks and we cannot wait!! Do you happen to know what the pricing on the photos they took was?

 

Thank you! I know you will have a great time. But as for photos, my mom ended up buying the whole disk. For $45, they give you the disk with all of the photos, as well as all of the videos they took throughout the entire trip. However, please note that it has all of the photos of everyone in the group. This did not bother Mom, but just know that it will have all of the other people's photos as well

Edited December 12, 2015 by cruisexlife

[cruisexlife]

When everyone was done sliding and jumping and swimming, we began our hike back to the starting point. Here you can see some people catching some sun as they wait for their group, as well as a woman talking to a local.

 

 

This walk was going to be much easier, as well as shorter. Along the way, Raul narrated some of the plants and mountains we saw. It was very lush and beautiful on the walk back. There were many mango trees

 

 

Here is a mountain covered by a tree branch. The mountain in the back was HUGE!

 

 

A small, peaceful river.

 

 

After about a 15 minute walk through the river/mountain area, we ended up back at the trail. After a 5 minute walk down the trail, we found ourselves back on the rope bridge.

 

 

A few dogs hanging out by the starting building. I wish I had something to give them, they're just skin and bones.

 

[cruisexlife]

After arriving at the starting building, we took off our lifevests and helmets and returned them. They took us over to the bus and let us grab our change of clothes. I just grabbed my shirt, as well as my cell phone, and changed out my flip flops. I went back to the building, where we would pick up our lunch. They were also selling the photo and videos they took during the trip. It was $45 for a disc of everyone's photos, and everyone's videos. My mother bought one for all of us to share. They had wifi here. I went over to the buffet station and got my lunch.

 

 

They had hotdogs, chicken, Spanish rice (pretty sure I had 2-3 helpings, it was VERY good), salad, and other island food. It was a very good selection. We sat down and talked with some of our group members. I came back and there was a nice cup of Cola with ice waiting for me. I was thirsty and took a big gulp. I was little shocked to taste the Barcardi! It was half rum, half Coke with ice. They had a name for it, which I cannot recall. But it was good, and unlimited :D

 

There was also a small shop there. Once everyone was finished, we bid the place goodbye, and left in our van. Next, we went to a cigar-making shop. None of us had any clue that this was even included in the tour, which was a plus. It was about a 10 minute drive. There seemed to be other cruisers in dry clothes there, so I assume it is on other tours.

 

 

We got to watch a cigar-making demonstration, and listen to a lady talk about how nice cigars are from the Dominican Republic. I do not smoke, and never have, so I went into the shop that was inside. They sold many things, lots of cheap alcohol and goodies. Lots of alcohol samples as well. I guess it wasn't until this trip that I noticed, but in the Dominican Republic they hand many kids alcohol, and do not care. Kids in our group back at lunch were handed the coke and rum, and drank it when their parents turned their backs. Many, including some parents, didn't find this to be a problem, and they weren't drunk, but I just feel like I should let all the parents know. Alcohol was very easy to reach in the Dominican Republic for the kids.

 

Here was the little village that the shop was in. Very quaint and beautiful.

 

 

After everyone was done shopping, we loaded back up and headed to the ship. It took about 15 minutes, and then I finally saw the whale tail.

 

Since the bus was not going to pick anyone up, they let it pull into the port and drop us off inside so we did not have to walk, which was a plus.

 

 

Yet another great tour in the books. For $60 a person, we got transportation, a fun and adventurous trip, lunch, and a cigar demonstration. Was about 5-6 hours long. I say that it was 100% worth it, and if you are coming to Amber Cove, I would certainly recommend it! We had a GREAT time, and Ari and Raul and all of the other guys were great. Very beautiful place and good organization. Certainly check them out: http://www.iguanamama.com :)

[cruisexlife]

We had about an hour and a half until we wanted to get back onboard. I figured I would use this time to shop and see the place. The question is, what place? Many places where stores should've been were empty. and said "store coming soon". The stores that were open were packed. Mom wanted to shop, as Larimar is her favorite and it is mined in the Dominican Republic, but Katie and I thought we'd go to the pool, but we could already see that it was pretty packed. We just decided to hang out outside one of the shops, lay our towels on the ground, take in some sun, and use the shop's wifi. We had a great view of the ship.

 

 

A pretty flower too.

 

 

Here is a catamaran. I have yet to do a catamaran cruise during my lifetime, but hopefully I will get the opportunity to sometime soon!

 

 

Look around. All of those building have dark insides with small pieces of paper on the door that saw "shop coming soon". That was that whole row! As well as that little tower thing in the middle. You can see the bar at the top, which was suppose to be really nice, but I did not want to hike all the way up there.

 

 

Mom and Elron went back on the ship, and it wasn't much longer until Katie and I decided to as well. We went inside one of the gift shops so we could each get some souvenirs to take home. I love cruising at this time of year, you can pick up Christmas presents!

 

 

We were on our way out, and Katie wanted to stop for some coffee. So, we stopped and she grabbed some.

 

[cruisexlife]

It was around 3:00 and we went to get on the ship. We were pretty bored in Amber Cove. There were about 7 shops total, and the pool was packed. Without our tour, we would've had to spend the day on the ship. Unless you plan a tour or rent a cabana while here, you will be bored. They tried to do what they did with Grand Turk, but without that huge beach, it gets boring. I don't even recall a Margaritaville, unless it was further down from the pool than the main entrance. I also heard of many people throughout the cruise complaining how they got bored, so they went to Puerta Plata, and they thought it was dirty and that with the sudden influx in tourists, the taxi cab drivers and store owners got a little wild and uncomfortable. And if you don't leave, you get no sort of experience with the local culture, which I do not like at all. Same reason why I don't favor Grand Turk. Either way, the legit port of Amber Cove was hyped way too much in my opinion, and without a tour, I would've been very bored here. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Dominican Republic, and I am actually going with a volunteer group in July for 10 days to do clean water work in mountain villages, but as for the port, I found it very boring.

 

 

I like this photo. Here are some of the water-looking cabanas. I have never done a cabana, so maybe that's what I will do next time, that is, if I can't find a tour.

 

 

The hillside next to the area was quite beautiful.

 

 

The Riu Baratcha (SP)'s beach. I do not think this was opened to cruisers. But I heard that it's a great hotel!

 

 

And here is something that really bothered me this cruise: the line to get back onboard. It took us 25 minutes to get back on the boat! I was very hot and very sweaty, and I really wanted to get back onboard. This really infuriated me in St.Thomas but we will get to that later. I just don't understand why it takes so long. Once I got up towards the front I realized two sides were closed. Why?!?!?!?? One was for those getting off, and another was for handicap assistance. I can understand that, but why can't the closest one to the pier be both? Or, why can't there be more gangways opened onboard? This was one of those things that really got to me this cruise.

 

[cruisexlife]

We had about an hour until sailaway. Katie and I changed, and both ordered sandwiches from room service. We ate them together. However, after the sandwich, Katie wanted a nap. So I went to watch the ship depart by myself. I went outside at 4:10 to this view.

 

 

Maybe I'll stay at this hotel someday!

 

 

The view off of the other side of the ship was gorgeous as well.

 

 

A very zoomed in photo looking down the coast to the city of Puerto Plata, the main destination for today's cruisers.

 

 

I really like this photo. The Amber Coast of the Dominican Republic is beautiful.

 

 

Right before sunset, we passed the city of Puerto Plata.

 

[cruisexlife]

I got a drink from the Lido Bar, and waited for the sunset. This seemed to be a regular throughout the cruise. Tonight's sunset wasn't like the previous nights, but it was still nice to watch.

 

 

I like this picture. I have no clue why I was down there, or what made me decide to take this photo, but I ended up really liking it.

 

 

Deck 12 aft was where I caught most of the sunsets this trip.

 

 

Goodbye Dominican Republic! I'll see you in July!

 

 

It was about 5:30 when sunset was over. I went to the room and Katie was still napping. I had until 8:00 for dinner, so I put on my workout clothes and hit the gym. I did some running, and some lifting, but I spent a lot of time in the steam rooms. The Oriental Steam Room's scent changes every day! At around 7:00, I went back, showered, and woke up Katie. She said she wanted to head to dinner with us. However, she had to get dressed. So I took off to the El Mojito Bar to meet some new people while she got dressed. I got there, had a drink, and met this really nice girl. We talked until about dinner time, but I did not manage to get her contact info. Darn.

 

For dinner tonight, I had strawberry bisque, my FAVORITE :D I still really like the old menus, I wish Carnival would put back the cold soups, like cherry and cucumber. It got to the point where I was more excited for those than the lava cake! I forgot what Katie had, it might've been shrimp and fried chicken. All I know is that after dinner, she said she wasn't feeling good. The boat was calm, but she said that her stomach hurt. Oh well. At around 10:15 I headed to the show, Vroom. It was good, similar to Motor City on Glory. I think I left about a quarter of the way through, as I got little sleep the night before, had a full day of adventure, and then worked out. But what's a day without a ship-at-night picture? So I headed up to Deck 14 and shot this.

 

 

It was around 11, and somehow I was suddenly awake. I headed to the club. The DJ was not very good, very little variety. I wasn't in there for long until I met this really cool guy, Justin, and we ended up leaving. We spent about an hour talking on the Lido. He was very funny and interesting. I checked my watch, and it was 1:05. Oops! I said goodbye to Justin, and we planned on meeting up later. I went back to the room, changed, and went to bed, nothing but excited for my day tomorrow in one of my favorites, St.Thomas.

 

Next: St.Thomas, USVI!

[cruisexlife]

Sorry for the delay, I was waiting for some responses, but I would like to continue for those who need this done or mostly done by Sunday.

 

I had stayed out pretty late the night before, and Katie was sick, so we somehow managed to sleep through our 9:30 alarm. I think maybe Katie got up and turned it off. Anyhow, since we had an interior room, and wanted to know what was going on outside (also works as a great light to the bathroom in the middle of the night by the way), we had the TV on mute with the forward camera on. I woke up, planning on peeing, until I saw the mountains and the front of the Disney Fantasy. I turned the lights on, and screamed for Katie. She said she would be out in a few. I had her order two grilled cheeses from room service so we wouldn't be hungry. I grabbed my room key and camera, and bolted! Welcome to St.Thomas!

 

 

Disney looks like a great cruise line, and after looking into them a little more, I found out they are actually not just for kids, and have a lot to do for adults. I would like to try them one day..... Hopefully not breaking the bank! This was the Fantasy, she was on a 7 night cruise to St.Maarten, here, and their private island.

 

 

 

The Allure of the Seas was also with us. She was on a 7 night cruise to Nassau, here, and St.Maarten. Since she is so large, she docked in Crown Bay, with the Westerdam.

 

 

Beautiful yachts parked in Saint Thomas.

 

 

The Regal Princess was in front of us. She was on a 7 night cruise to Princess's island, here, and St.Maarten.

 

Edited December 16, 2015 by cruisexlife

[cruiseonthebrain]

It is a Fujifilm XP Digital Camera. I picked it up at BJ's right before I went to Australia in July 2013 for I don't know how much, and I brought it as well as another camera. I planned on just using the other camera, and this one just for the Great Barrier Reef, but I ended up loving it so much that it was used that entire trip, as well as for all of my other trips, land or no land. All of my cruise review photos, including all of these, are taken with it! :D I love it, it's a great camera!!

 

I was going to ask this too! Your pictures are terrific! Awesome review!

[cruiseonthebrain]

We got to the fifth fall. It was rather small. But then we got to the sixth fall, and this one was a drop. I slid to the end, and it dropped you off about a foot above the water. It wasn't too bad, it just caught me. The seventh had a curve in it, like a curve on a waterslide.

 

 

It slid you right into the water. Here was the view on the way to the eighth.

 

 

The eighth waterfall was a regular waterfall, and the ninth was inside of a cave. We climbed into the cave, and saw the HUGE waterfall. There was a photo op there, where we all took pictures. This slide was the fastest one that we had contact with so far.

 

We left the cave and headed to the tenth. It was another drop off one, but this one caught Katie by surprise. She was the first one, and this drop was 5 feet up. She had no clue, so she landed flat on her back. Note to self!

 

The eleventh and twelfth falls were together. (Note: I am not counting the one on the left here as a fall). We slid down the eleventh (fell, actually) and then they gave us the option of climbing back up to the top and jumping. No one else in my party wanted to, so I also decided not to. There was a pool at the bottom that we all hung out in for a little.

 

 

Then we had the final fall. This drop was about 3 feet tall. It was rather leisurely. Ari (holding me during the picture) held us up above the falls, shook us, and would randomly let us go. That suspense made it fun. Ari also would hide underwater and pop out at random times, and would make strange animal music and scare you. He was surely a great person to do this with!

 

 

Here are the last two falls, and the huge pool at the bottom where we concluded our water activities. It was very beautiful here.

 

 

As you can see, there are ladders back to the top. Katie and I climbed back up and slid down the last two again for some fun, while Mom and Elron hung out in the pool.

 

Best Freakin Review Ever !!!

[cruisexlife]

I was going to ask this too! Your pictures are terrific! Awesome review!

 

Thank you so much! It is a great camera, I would recommend it! Thanks for reading! :D