Tell me about Casa de Campo Dom Rep EOS

[glen tev]

Who's been to Casa de campo on Explorer.I'm leaning towards the one with Bermuda and St Marteen,but we don't want to miss Labadee.I'm kinda torn on which one to do.The one last year included St marteen and Labadee,but this year it's been replaced with the Dom Rep Stop.Any insight on this stop would be great.Thanks

[BopRN]

We have been there on Carnival...It is one of those places you have to book an excursion because there is nothing else you can safely do. We went on a boat excursion to Sammana...a little island with a beach barbecue, watersports, etc. It was fun but pricey...$80+ pp. The boats were speed-type and on the way back, thye had a race between the boats which was rather exhilarating:eek:

 

You might check on the Ports boards...I'm sure you will learn more about what's available. It's not a port I would seek out since you can't explore it on your own as we like to do.

[maxs mom]

We stopped there once as a substitute for a missed port and we were pleasantly surprised. We took a taxi with some other cruisers to a beautiful beach and had a great day. It was the same beach that RCI had an excursion to, we did it on our own and it was fine.

[raina*faith]

BopRN~"because there is nothing else you can safely do."

 

What does this mean?

[BopRN]

When we were there, we were instructed not to try to do anything on our own as it is not a safe country to roam the streets. And there were no shopping areas like most ports have.

[glen tev]

I guess that settles that.I think we'll go for St martin and Bermuda.Been to Labade 3 times anyway.Thanks

[raina*faith]

that's too bad that they aren't set up like the other islands. I would rather stay on the ship I guess. Maybe get off and get a post card. :)

[webecruzin2]

It's really funny reading responses about the Dominican Republic from people who have never really been there. By that I mean never really explored the country and gotten to know it's people. Twenty three years ago I met my husband there while on vacation with a girlfriend (he's an American that was living and working there). We were married and I moved there and we had our daughter while there in 1985. His family was living in Casa de Campo while we were working for various hotels and ultimately a couple of local airlines. This took us to Puerto Plata, Punta Cana and lastly back to Casa de Campo. I'm from New York and I'll tell you I felt so much safer with my baby down there than I did when I would come up to New York for a visit. We have been down there almost every year since and I still feel safer there than here. (We're in North Carolina now)There can be petty crime like there is everywhere else but much less than in a big city and there's far less violent crimes probably because the punishment is swift and just.

I haven't been to the La Romana pier in a few years but as I remember it you could get a taxi there to take you anywhere you wanted to go.

Casa de Campo has a nice beach (although man-made) and the hotel is considered a luxury resort with world class golfing. Up the road is Altos de Chavon, a recreation of a 15th century Spanish village that was built about 30 years ago with an amphitheatre that was inaugurated by Frank Sinatra. Very good restaurants and shops and even a museum up there.

Down the road about 15-20 minutes are beautiful beaches that used to be completely deserted except for a wonderful little lobster restaurant that is still there, but now there are hotels there too.

If you only have a few hours here I would skip going into town unless you're really adventurous. Yes, this country is still a poor one but it's people are wonderful and you just have to keep an open mind that it IS THEIR country with a different culture than ours and you should respect that and enjoy it for what it is. Oh yea, if you get the chance to have Dominican Chicaronnes de Pollo don't pass it up, it's the one thing that turned me back from being a vegetarian to a meat eater.

Any questions feel free to ask. Eileen

[webecruzin2]

We have been there on Carnival...It is one of those places you have to book an excursion because there is nothing else you can safely do. We went on a boat excursion to Sammana...a little island with a beach barbecue, watersports, etc. It was fun but pricey...$80+ pp. The boats were speed-type and on the way back, thye had a race between the boats which was rather exhilarating:eek:

 

You might check on the Ports boards...I'm sure you will learn more about what's available. It's not a port I would seek out since you can't explore it on your own as we like to do.

You were probably not at Casa de Campo (town of La Romana) if you took a boat excursion to Samana. That would take you all day just to get there. You were probably docked off the Samana peninsula which is north of La Romana and accross the bay. That's a very pretty area, we went there for our honeymoon. Beautiful beach on the private island and I hear there's very good whale watching at certain times of the year, but not much else to do (but I bet you would be safe!) :D ;)