More NCL ships moving to ports outside USA?

[BermudaBound2014]

6 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

O.k., thanks but I'm a little confusion. You are talking about Punta Cana, Dom Rep?  I know you are out in Hawaii currently...

 
Are you sailing from Jamaica or punta Cana? I maybe confused. 

[farmersfight]

27 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I don’t want to come off as some arrogant expert, but about 20 years ago I wrote a paper that was referenced in a legal suit in the UK between guests of TUI and BAhai Principa regarding potable water in the DR.  Like I said, long story needed over drinks, but I’ve grown fond of Farmer and want him to be well. This is nothing to mess with and I’m afraid the odds are EXTREMELY high his $46 dollar a night room is going to have issues. At least the all inclusives  take proactive measures but even those fail at a rate higher than any other Caribbean island.

 

Man, now you're scaring the cr#p out of me! I've got plenty of time; I'll do some research. But thank you for your concern (and I've grown fond of you, as well) and sharing your expertise about the potable water in DR. Btw, drinks are on me.

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, farmersfight said:

 

Man, now you're scaring the cr#p out of me! I've got plenty of time; I'll do some research. But thank you for your concern (and I've grown fond of you, as well) and sharing your expertise about the potable water in DR. Btw, drinks are on me.

shoot- I don’t want to scare you, because non-potable water is manageable, but do your research on trip advisor reviews for people reporting being sick in the DR (and especially in non—all inclusives). It was 20 years ago and I know things have improved some, but not enough  for me not to tilt my head at a $46 a night In the DR

 

And while I’m thinking of it, only nicely fried food in the airport upon return. 🙂

[farmersfight]

9 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 
Are you sailing from Jamaica or punta Cana? I maybe confused. 

 

I'm flying into (and staying) in Punta Cana, Dom Rep but I believe the cruise terminal is in La Romana, Dom Rep. I guess a majority of the International flights arrive in Santo Domingo (the major DR city) but I was able to find a flight to Punta Cana instead (price wasn't bad and the layover times were very reasonable - about an our in Newark (outbound) and an hour in Washington Dulles (return flight).

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/La+Romana,+Dominican+Republic/@18.4829396,-68.8104726,11z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8eaf5468f250cc2b:0x174be55fc8eb99d9!8m2!3d18.4338645!4d-68.9658817?hl=en

Edited April 16, 2021 by farmersfight

[BermudaBound2014]

2 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

I'm flying into (and staying) in Punta Cana, Dom Rep but I believe the cruise terminal is in La Romana, Dom Rep. I guess a majority of the International flights arrive in Santo Domingo (the major DR city) but I was able to find a flight to Punta Cana instead (price wasn't bad and the layover times were very reasonable - about an our in Newark (outbound) and an hour in Washington Dulles (return flight).

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/La+Romana,+Dominican+Republic/@18.4829396,-68.8104726,11z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x8eaf5468f250cc2b:0x174be55fc8eb99d9!8m2!3d18.4338645!4d-68.9658817?hl=en

Got it. I’ve flown into both Santo Domingo and Punta Cana LaRomana is about an hour from each. Punta Cana is the better airport for people who don’t speak Spanish because it is the tourist airport. 

[farmersfight]

12 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Got it. I’ve flown into both Santo Domingo and Punta Cana LaRomana is about an hour from each. Punta Cana is the better airport for people who don’t speak Spanish because it is the tourist airport. 

 

Cool 😎, good to know. Yeah, the airport in Punta Cana doesn't look too big. Basically a grass hut terminal with a runway, lol. I could be wrong though...

[Goldconnection]

13 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Gosh, let me apologize. I worded that strangely. I read about NY/NJ making an announcement on one of the many social media sites I follow. It is pure hearsay so nothing formal at all. The husband of one of the dock workers at Port Liberty. Again, I have no 'facts' to back this up and should have worded it differently. I try to be better than that, sorry for any confusion.

 

Bottom line, a friend of a friend of a friend said...... nothing concrete, although they did say the announcement would come in May so we shouldn't have to wait much longer.

Thank you. We’ll see what May brings. We have a cruise booked leaving from NY later in the year. So you see why this peeked my interest.

[KennyFla]

4 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

shoot- I don’t want to scare you, because non-potable water is manageable, but do your research on trip advisor reviews for people reporting being sick in the DR (and especially in non—all inclusives). It was 20 years ago and I know things have improved some, but not enough  for me not to tilt my head at a $46 a night In the DR

 

And while I’m thinking of it, only nicely fried food in the airport upon return. 🙂

 

I can't speak for 20 years ago, but the all inclusives in the DR are now a major tourist destination.  I have made 3 trips into the rural part of Haiti a few years ago, where the problems where the potable water were exactly as you said.  After spending 7 days there we always overnighted at one of the all inclusives to decompress, and it was great.

 

The recent problem they had in Punta Cana was nothing to do with the water.  If I remember correctly, it was caused by a cleaning crew that was putting a drug in whisky bottles in the minibar to render people unconscious so they could go back and rob them.  Some had a reaction to the drug and died.

 

Really.

[Laszlo]

21 minutes ago, KennyFla said:

 

I can't speak for 20 years ago, but the all inclusives in the DR are now a major tourist destination.  I have made 3 trips into the rural part of Haiti a few years ago, where the problems where the potable water were exactly as you said.  After spending 7 days there we always overnighted at one of the all inclusives to decompress, and it was great.

 

The recent problem they had in Punta Cana was nothing to do with the water.  If I remember correctly, it was caused by a cleaning crew that was putting a drug in whisky bottles in the minibar to render people unconscious so they could go back and rob them.  Some had a reaction to the drug and died.

 

Really.

I remember that, been there twice and have absolutely no desire to ever go back. Most resorts as of 5-7 years ago had armed guards, security or whatever you want to call them. You are told not to leave the resort, don't wander around. I did leave with a friend, took a taxi into town, witness two people get mugged. No thanks

[DCGuy64]

6 hours ago, farmersfight said:

 

Cool 😎, good to know. Yeah, the airport in Punta Cana doesn't look too big. Basically a grass hut terminal with a runway, lol. I could be wrong though...

I'm jealous! We were supposed to visit the DR at the beginning of January for an AI but my wife caught the 'Rona and gave it to me, so our plans were shelved. At the risk of stating the obvious, I would take with a grain of salt anything someone on here tells you about the hotels. I'd trust the reviews online, because (especially if you compare reviews of the same hotels from different sites) you'll get a better sense of what works for you. Just because a hotel that costs $46/night seems like a dump to someone on CC, doesn't mean it is. Unless the person commenting has personally been there, he/she is just guessing, whereas a reviewer who's actually been there can better describe the place. It's also important to know what matters to you vs someone else. My SIL is a classic example, her idea of a "regular" hotel is a 5-star, $300/night and up type of place. But this is the same woman who complains about high grocery bills but shops at the most expensive boutique store in town! My wife and I are decidedly unfussy about where we stay. On our honeymoon, we stayed at a little hotel in Portofino, Italy. It cost us about $75 and Portofino is famously quite expensive. Friends told us it was sure to be a rat-infested dump. Nope, gorgeous hotel right near the water. My point? Don't trust suggestions by people who don't know what they're talking about. 

[cruisingrandy]

7 hours ago, farmersfight said:

 

Cool 😎, good to know. Yeah, the airport in Punta Cana doesn't look too big. Basically a grass hut terminal with a runway, lol. I could be wrong though...

I have flown in and out of Punta Cana several times and no it is not a grass hut with a runway.  It is not a bad airport at all and they have several flights a day from different cities in USA and several from Europe

[farmersfight]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

I'm jealous! We were supposed to visit the DR at the beginning of January for an AI but my wife caught the 'Rona and gave it to me, so our plans were shelved. At the risk of stating the obvious, I would take with a grain of salt anything someone on here tells you about the hotels. I'd trust the reviews online, because (especially if you compare reviews of the same hotels from different sites) you'll get a better sense of what works for you. Just because a hotel that costs $46/night seems like a dump to someone on CC, doesn't mean it is. Unless the person commenting has personally been there, he/she is just guessing, whereas a reviewer who's actually been there can better describe the place. It's also important to know what matters to you vs someone else. My SIL is a classic example, her idea of a "regular" hotel is a 5-star, $300/night and up type of place. But this is the same woman who complains about high grocery bills but shops at the most expensive boutique store in town! My wife and I are decidedly unfussy about where we stay. On our honeymoon, we stayed at a little hotel in Portofino, Italy. It cost us about $75 and Portofino is famously quite expensive. Friends told us it was sure to be a rat-infested dump. Nope, gorgeous hotel right near the water. My point? Don't trust suggestions by people who don't know what they're talking about. 

 

Thanks. Great info & advice. Much appreciated! I'm going to take your advice and read more reviews of the hotel on Expedia.

[DCGuy64]

I pulled the trigger and booked us on a 7-day from the DR in September. 😁 We may just check out the hotel you were talking about. 🏩

[farmersfight]

5 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I pulled the trigger and booked us on a 7-day from the DR in September. 😁 We may just check out the hotel you were talking about. 🏩

 

Way to pull the trigger! I assume you're on the Norwegian Gem? You wouldn't happen to be on the Sept 12th sailing? If yes, that's the one I'm on. We could make that CC Rat Pack cruise a reality!

 

I'll shoot you an e-mail with a link to the hotel on Expedia.

[DCGuy64]

4 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

Way to pull the trigger! I assume you're on the Norwegian Gem? You wouldn't happen to be on the Sept 12th sailing? If yes, that's the one I'm on. We could make that CC Rat Pack cruise a reality!

 

I'll shoot you an e-mail with a link to the hotel on Expedia.

I went for Sept 19-26, we are theoretically supposed to sail in Europe Aug 29-Sept 5 but if it looks like that'll be cancelled or we won't be able to go due to Covid-19 restrictions aka closed borders, then the DR is our back-up. Norwegian Gem, yes. I'm toying with the idea of booking us at the same AI we were going to visit earlier this year, but I booked the cruise with the airfare included so I'd have to see about paying the deviation fee to fly earlier.

Edited April 16, 2021 by DCGuy64
added more information

[farmersfight]

10 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I went for Sept 19-26, we are theoretically supposed to sail in Europe Aug 29-Sept 5 but if it looks like that'll be cancelled or we won't be able to go due to Covid-19 restrictions aka closed borders, then the DR is our back-up. Norwegian Gem, yes. I'm toying with the idea of booking us at the same AI we were going to visit earlier this year, but I booked the cruise with the airfare included so I'd have to see about paying the deviation fee to fly earlier.

 

Wow, that's the cruise after I get off. When I send you the e-mail with the link to my hotel in Punta Cana on Expedia, would you return the e-mail with a link to your AI? I'd like to check it out. Thanjs!

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

Wow, that's the cruise after I get off. When I send you the e-mail with the link to my hotel in Punta Cana on Expedia, would you return the e-mail with a link to your AI? I'd like to check it out. Thanjs!

Sure thing!

[OZ.]

22 hours ago, graphicguy said:

If that’s truly the case, Bahamas,Caribbean and Bermuda have to be ecstatic as they’ll be the beneficiaries.  

 

My flight to Jamaica is the same as it is to MIA.  Hotel costs are similar, plus, I’m spending some time pre-cruise in a resort.  Win-Win!

It will definitely give them a much needed boost to their economy which they can really use.

[OZ.]

18 hours ago, farmersfight said:

 

That's what I'll be doing. I was able to find a flight to Punta Cana out of Newark, NJ (EWR). Here's where I'll be staying;

 

https://www.expedia.com/Punta-Cana-Hotels-Ducassi-Suites-Rooftop-Pool-Beach-Club-Spa.h24362140.Hotel-Information?eapid=0&langid=1033&tpid=1

 

I was really surprised at how affordable this hotel was. I think it was $46 per night!

That seems a bit cheap, but it could be because they are hurting. Have you checked the ports of call boards on here to see it others have had any experiences with them?

[OZ.]

19 hours ago, farmersfight said:

 

That's what I'll be doing. I was able to find a flight to Punta Cana out of Newark, NJ (EWR). Here's where I'll be staying;

 

https://www.expedia.com/Punta-Cana-Hotels-Ducassi-Suites-Rooftop-Pool-Beach-Club-Spa.h24362140.Hotel-Information?eapid=0&langid=1033&tpid=1

 

I was really surprised at how affordable this hotel was. I think it was $46 per night!

I didn’t see any water sports listed nor any in their photos. I don’t know if that’s something you are interested in, but you might want to check if there are any around.

[farmersfight]

59 minutes ago, OZ. said:

That seems a bit cheap, but it could be because they are hurting. Have you checked the ports of call boards on here to see it others have had any experiences with them?

 

No I haven't (yet). Great idea, thanks. I have read many reviews of the place on Expedia and it got a lot of "Excellent" and the comments were good (i.e. close to the beach, close to restaurants & bars, etc).

[DCGuy64]

12 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

No I haven't (yet). Great idea, thanks. I have read many reviews of the place on Expedia and it got a lot of "Excellent" and the comments were good (i.e. close to the beach, close to restaurants & bars, etc).

Definitely read some of the reviews, both good and bad. There are some reviews I see of hotels that are so far out in terms of exaggeration, I think the people are either outright lying or hiding some details. I like TripAdvisor and I like the feature where the hotel can respond to reviews, positive and negative. I have read many where the reviewer accuses the hotel of doing this or that wrong, only to have the Manager respond and correct the record, usually NOT in the reviewer's favor. Furthermore, having stayed at many hotels, I've had the unfortunate experience of being near some rather rude a-holes who complain about literally everything, and those are the ones I'm convinced can't wait to get home to pen a nasty review. As always, keep perspective in mind. I don't care, for instance, if the sheets aren't changed every day if I'm only there for 1-2 nights before a cruise. I don't care if they don't have enough English-language channels on the TV. Stuff like that. YMMV, as they say. I think the Ducassi looks nice. It seems to be in a rather busy area of Bavaro, which is a good hotel district but if "busy" means "loud" and you're a light sleeper, that would be something to consider.

[farmersfight]

2 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Definitely read some of the reviews, both good and bad. There are some reviews I see of hotels that are so far out in terms of exaggeration, I think the people are either outright lying or hiding some details. I like TripAdvisor and I like the feature where the hotel can respond to reviews, positive and negative. I have read many where the reviewer accuses the hotel of doing this or that wrong, only to have the Manager respond and correct the record, usually NOT in the reviewer's favor. Furthermore, having stayed at many hotels, I've had the unfortunate experience of being near some rather rude a-holes who complain about literally everything, and those are the ones I'm convinced can't wait to get home to pen a nasty review. As always, keep perspective in mind. I don't care, for instance, if the sheets aren't changed every day if I'm only there for 1-2 nights before a cruise. I don't care if they don't have enough English-language channels on the TV. Stuff like that. YMMV, as they say. I think the Ducassi looks nice. It seems to be in a rather busy area of Bavaro, which is a good hotel district but if "busy" means "loud" and you're a light sleeper, that would be something to consider.

 

Yeah, I e-mailed you the Expedia post for the Ducassi. There were a lot of + reviews but also some that rated the hotel as "poor", but I take those with a grain of salt because I think these posts may be from competitors or other hotel "cheerleaders" trying to make the Ducassi look bad. I'm going to take @OZ.'s advice and check out the ports of call boards and see if there are any CC members that have stayed there and posted a review of it.

 

I thing I did pick up on in the reviews of the hotel on Expedia, were complaints about the water. Maybe this is a common problem in other hotels as well? I don't think the water quality in the hotel room will be a "show stopper" for me; I'll just buy/bring lots of bottled water.

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

Yeah, I e-mailed you the Expedia post for the Ducassi. There were a lot of + reviews but also some that rated the hotel as "poor", but I take those with a grain of salt because I think these posts may be from competitors or other hotel "cheerleaders" trying to make the Ducassi look bad. I'm going to take @OZ.'s advice and check out the ports of call boards and see if there are any CC members that have stayed there and posted a review of it.

 

I thing I did pick up on in the reviews of the hotel on Expedia, were complaints about the water. Maybe this is a common problem in other hotels as well? I don't think the water quality in the hotel room will be a "show stopper" for me; I'll just buy/bring lots of bottled water.

Interesting. We stayed at an all-inclusive in Cancun late August-early September of last year, and we always had fresh water. They restocked our minibar every day. And they had bottled water at the bars and restaurants. Wasn't an issue. And it's super cheap to buy that kind of thing down there, I'll bet you there are convenience stores nearby where you can stock up.

Yep, sure enough, here's one close by. It's called Supermercado Ciccolella, just 210m from the Ducassi. The place we were looking into is the Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana. It's close to your hotel.

[farmersfight]

9 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Interesting. We stayed at an all-inclusive in Cancun late August-early September of last year, and we always had fresh water. They restocked our minibar every day. And they had bottled water at the bars and restaurants. Wasn't an issue. And it's super cheap to buy that kind of thing down there, I'll bet you there are convenience stores nearby where you can stock up.

Yep, sure enough, here's one close by. It's called Supermercado Ciccolella, just 210m from the Ducassi. The place we were looking into is the Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana. It's close to your hotel.

 

Thanks. I'm going to look at the Dreams Royal Beach Punta Cana. Also, I saw a place called Api Beach resort that was recommended on the Ports of Call (Dominican Republic) forum. I want to check that one out as well.