Question On Amber Cove?

[GranysT]

I tried to find Amber Cove at Ports of Call, but couldn't find it listed anywhere. We are hopefully stopping there, for our Oct cruise. I say hopefully because our cruise last Oct, we were to stop there, but a hurricane sent us Western, not Eastern.  

Anyhoo, I am wondering just what there is to see or do, at Amber Cove.  Is there 1 particular thing we shouldn't miss?

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

Amber cove is a port in the Dominican Republic. Click the DR link.

 

have a great cruise

[Theosprey247]

It’s a Carnival owned port. There is a giant pool, water slides, zip lining and things of that nature.  Outside of the port popular things are the Damajagua Falls (my kids favorite) and a cable car thing that takes you up the mountain (we are going to do this next time).  Note it is a looooooooooong walk from the ship to the exit gate (if you don’t book through Carnival).  

[Organized Chaos]

You have to use the Dominican Republic port of call forum. There isn't one specifically for Amber Cove. Here's the link: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/280-dominican-republic/

 

Amber Cove itself is a large, secured port complex owned by Carnival that's only available to cruise passengers. There are the usual shops and vendors, a very large pool w/ an eatery, one waterslide, and a zip line that runs over the pool area. The zip line is $20 for unlimited runs (at least that's what it was last year). The waterslide is free. We didn't hang out there last year, but had a look and it's a very nice area to spend some time.

 

We were there last summer. We took a taxi to the Teleferico. That's the cable car that goes to the top of Mt. Isabel de Torres. If you don't want to do an excursion, there will be a bunch of taxis staged at the other end of the port complex, opposite the pier. There's signs indicating how much it costs to go to some of the more popular places. The cable car is about 15 min. away and cost us $60 round-trip for 4 of us. Our taxi driver waited for us at the bottom (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours) and took us back to port.

 

The view from the cable car is amazing. I think it was about a 10 min. ride to the top. Up there, they have a smaller replica of the "Christ the Redeemer" statue that's in Brazil. Plus some vendors in the domed building under the statue. One of them came out and told us he'd take some pictures of us (using our camera). He just asked us to come see his shop when we were done with the tour in return, which we obliged. He knew exactly where to pose everyone  and how to pose so it looked like we were holding the hand of the Christ statue, different things like that. It was neat and made for some great pictures. When we went into his shop later, he wasn't pushy at all and none of the other vendors bugged us, which is a plus for me.

 

There's also some hiking trails up there to walk around the forest and gardens. Some are paved, most are gravel, but easy to navigate and it's not too terribly far to walk around the area. There are some steps, not many. We had a guide that met us at the bottom and stayed with us the whole time. We weren't expecting one, but I'm glad we did because we had no idea those trails were up there. He showed us the mouth of a cave where indigenous people once lived, a replica of an old hut, a "waterfall," as he called it (more of a small stream coming down the hillside). And a little man-made pond at the bottom of it with some fish & turtles.

 

The cable car is $10 each and the guide was free, but obviously accepted tips. Next time, since we're familiar with what's up there, we probably wouldn't even use a guide. We left as soon as we got to port. It doesn't take long for the crowds to get there and the cable cars fill up. When we went up, it was the 4 of us, plus 4 other people (2 from the ship, our guide, and the operator). We spent 1.5 - 2 hours up there and by the time we came down, there was a lot of people up there and our cable car was full. Also, the fog rolls in near the top of the mountain in the late morning hours and blocks your view down below until you break through. The scenery is very beautiful up there. I highly recommend it. We'd like to do it again some day.