New stop for itinerary

[sadiwest]

Just got the email I was expecting.  In place of Labadee (for June) going to somewhere in the Dominican Republic.

 

Questions are: how long does it usually take for RCCL to switch shore excursion offerings on theire website?  Still shows Labadee and, since I've never been to DR I have no clue what do see/do.

 

 

Also....what to see/do in Puerto Plata, Dominican Rep?

[mo&fran]

https://puertoplatacruiseport.com/

[sadiwest]

2 minutes ago, mo&fran said:

https://puertoplatacruiseport.com/

Thank you. I'll check it out but I'm inclined to use the cruise excursions my first time anywhere.  

 

Just wondered what's out there and when we might see RCCLs offerings. 

 

Thanks again. 

[OCSC Mike]

@RFerrington was just there and went to "Aqua World", a sea life park that she spoke highly of if that's of interest to you. Maybe she'll chime in.

[sadiwest]

1 minute ago, OCSC Mike said:

@RFerrington was just there and went to "Aqua World", a sea life park that she spoke highly of if that's of interest to you. Maybe she'll chime in.

I'm not sure if being pooped on this morning by a bird (and nearly missed by another) is a good sign or a bad sign....    this time its a b2b so keep your fingers crossed for me.  Lol

[Ashland]

We were just there...not impressed with this port at all. We just decided to walk into town and once (finally) we got through the new port area (meh.JMHO overkill with high end shops) we were kinda hassled by locals trying to get you to pay them to walk you into town...said "we would be safe" don't fall for this. We saw some that opted for this but certainly they weren't walked back..So...apparently it was safe.

We walked the short walk by ourselves to umbrella street area with no problems but once we got there...very disappointed with this "new" port.

 

Opinions might differ but this was many others onboard overall consensus.

[RFerrington]

49 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

@RFerrington was just there and went to "Aqua World", a sea life park that she spoke highly of if that's of interest to you. Maybe she'll chime in.

Yes.  Ocean World.  It’s a very nice aqua park with sea lion, shark and dolphin shows.  There is a nice beach area and fresh water pools.  There are 2 (smallish) aviaries and 3 separate “performance” venues.  There is a nice, big aquarium full of lots of fish and coral in which you can snorkel.  It is a bit on the pricey side if you use the Royal Caribbean excursion (~$200 PP with taxes, etc) but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Our excursion included interactive experiences with the sea lions and the sharks.  There was also a package that included dolphins. Note:  the Royal Caribbean excursion included the buffet lunch which would be an additional cost if you went on your own.

 

Ocean World is not far from the port (~15 minutes by bus) so it might be less costly to do this “on your own” as opposed to going through Royal.  I simply do not know how much admission is, if you were to buy it individually.

 

My main concern in doing Ocean World on my own would be the time.  It’s actually a pretty big park with lots to do and our ship departed PP pretty early (I think 3:00 ??) so just be sure you give yourself enough time if you do this on your own.

[sadiwest]

32 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Yes.  Ocean World.  It’s a very nice aqua park with sea lion, shark and dolphin shows.  There is a nice beach area and fresh water pools.  There are 2 (smallish) aviaries and 3 separate “performance” venues.  There is a nice, big aquarium full of lots of fish and coral in which you can snorkel.  It is a bit on the pricey side if you use the Royal Caribbean excursion (~$200 PP with taxes, etc) but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Our excursion included interactive experiences with the sea lions and the sharks.  There was also a package that included dolphins. Note:  the Royal Caribbean excursion included the buffet lunch which would be an additional cost if you went on your own.

 

Ocean World is not far from the port (~15 minutes by bus) so it might be less costly to do this “on your own” as opposed to going through Royal.  I simply do not know how much admission is, if you were to buy it individually.

 

My main concern in doing Ocean World on my own would be the time.  It’s actually a pretty big park with lots to do and our ship departed PP pretty early (I think 3:00 ??) so just be sure you give yourself enough time if you do this on your own.

Thank you for your feedback.  

[toxicfairy]

2 hours ago, sadiwest said:

Just got the email I was expecting.  In place of Labadee (for June) going to somewhere in the Dominican Republic.

 

Questions are: how long does it usually take for RCCL to switch shore excursion offerings on theire website?  Still shows Labadee and, since I've never been to DR I have no clue what do see/do.

 

 

Also....what to see/do in Puerto Plata, Dominican Rep?

Lucky you! We'll be on FOS in August. We now will be stopping at Nassau. We're already going to Coco Cay so I was hoping for something better. Don't really like Bahamas that much so 2 stops there is horrible.  

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, sadiwest said:

how long does it usually take for RCCL to switch shore excursion offerings on their website?

Likely several days.

[nzdisneymom]

We had Labadee changed to Grand Turk for our April 12th sailing - it took 2 weeks before we could see shore excursions listed for our cruise, but we were able to change the app to look at other sailings prior to ours to see what was offered on theirs.  You may have similar luck by switching the sailing dates in the app and looking at one that is going to Puerto Plata to see what is offered as shore excursions. 

 

We were in Puerto Plata last week.  We did the Isabel de Torres excursion that also included a city tour.  It was really enjoyable.  The ride up the mountain was beautiful and our guide (Pedro, aka Kappy) gave us a lot of information about the town, country, and the mountain.  It was cloudy so the view was pretty much non-existent, but the national park was still very nice to tour.  The city tour part was actually okay because Pedro knew his way around and was able to get us into the souvenir shop when it wasn't crowded, and also onto Pink Street and Umbrella Street when it wasn't slammed completely with tourists.

[Colorado Buffalo]

https://countryworldadventures.com/

 

Great place to visit. We did horseback riding and zip lining followed by a delicious lunch. 

Highly recommend 👌 Was our favorite on our Eastern Caribbean itinerary. 

[sadiwest]

Not too weird.....they're halfway between the switch to new excursions. 

 

 

[mugtech]

        Wish they would schedule stops or cruises out of DR in the fall while the baseball league is playing.

[Bleueyes44]

My daughter and I were in the DR last month and did a ship excursion, a city tour with beach break.  Only problem for me was lots of walking which I  can't  do,  but my daughter enjoyed it . I  stayed on the nice ac bus.  Also they drop you off at the other end of the shops and again a long walk back to ship. That being said they do have  a free shuttle that will get you to the end of the pier.  Also there is a pool and lazy river where the shops are located that is also free or at least that's what we were told. 

[soremekun]

21 hours ago, sadiwest said:

I'm not sure if being pooped on this morning by a bird (and nearly missed by another) is a good sign or a bad sign....    this time its a b2b so keep your fingers crossed for me.  Lol

Hmmm.  Which is worse, bird poop or monkey pee?

 

[LeeW]

Ocean World.  Dolphin show and experience, shark demo, beach, snorkeling in tank, great bird house where you can feed them.  Pretty good park food.  We would go again. 

[RFerrington]

2 hours ago, LeeW said:

Ocean World.  Dolphin show and experience, shark demo, beach, snorkeling in tank, great bird house where you can feed them.  Pretty good park food.  We would go again. 

We did Ocean World as well. We did the Sea Lions and Shark Experience.  I was very surprised at how large and well-maintained the Park is.  It’s a bit pricey but we thoroughly enjoyed it and would go back again.

[reallyitsmema]

On 4/23/2024 at 3:50 PM, sadiwest said:

Just got the email I was expecting.  In place of Labadee (for June) going to somewhere in the Dominican Republic.

 

Questions are: how long does it usually take for RCCL to switch shore excursion offerings on theire website?  Still shows Labadee and, since I've never been to DR I have no clue what do see/do.

 

 

Also....what to see/do in Puerto Plata, Dominican Rep?

 

It took over a week for our excursions to load after they changed us to Puerto Plata.  Even then, half of the excursion were only there in title, with not details or ability to book.  Took a few more days for them to load completely.

[sadiwest]

5 hours ago, soremekun said:

Hmmm.  Which is worse, bird poop or monkey pee?

 

Definitely monkey pee  

[cruzeluver]

Actually, the guys just outside of the port in orange or yellow shirts offering free walking tours are employed by the government. We had a terrific tour of the area! Highly recommend. It was just the two of us and our guide, so no concerns about others, we saw and did what we wanted to do. We were with him for about four hours. We offered him a gratuity though none was expected. We paid a heck of a lot less than anything we could have booked through the cruise line and had a far better experience. No crowded bus, no forced souvenire shopping or waiting for others who need potty breaks every twenty minutes. 

[ONECRUISER]

On 4/23/2024 at 1:17 PM, sadiwest said:

I'm not sure if being pooped on this morning by a bird (and nearly missed by another) is a good sign or a bad sign....    this time its a b2b so keep your fingers crossed for me.  Lol

Some consider this Good Luck...

[sadiwest]

5 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Some consider this Good Luck...

For rhe bird, yes. I assure you mine hasn't improved since that moment. Lol