Back from the Med. 3/1 - 3/8 Eastern Itn. - Review

[Ramblinboy]

one more question for ramblinboy, was there hand rails when you went up the 2 steps to the truck to help pull yourself up?

There were no hand rails, as such. There was a gate that swung shut that had a jump seat that the guide sat on when we were touring but it swung. The biggest help was one of the tour members who was a big guy who gave everybody a hand. We saw him, then, everywhere we went for the rest of the cruise. I'm not trying to scare you off, just prepare you. There were no 'spring chickens' on this tour and all but the one lady I mentioned got on and off the truck OK. As always, patience and the kindness of strangers go a long way to make things work.

Have fun !

Dave

[kapeavey]

Could you please tell me which two nights are formal nights?

 

Thank you.

[tweety33]

Could you please tell me which two nights are formal nights?

 

Thank you.

 

From what I read it is Sunday and Thursday night. Listed is what I had copied from one of the threads a while ago.

 

sat: casual

sun formal welome gala

mon casual -mediteranian night

tues casual- italian night

wed casual tropical night

thurs formal-farewell gala

fri-toga

[mom07]

Our ship had so many Europeans that we were able to bypass most of the line for customs/immigration and go right through.

 

I think we waited behind 2 people for immigration and one person for customs.

 

We had blue tags and waited in the lounge outside the restaurant until we were called. Once we were called we were through and outside with our luggage within 30 mins. We would have had no trouble making an 11:30 am flight.

[sakapfet]

Hi everybody, we were on the same cruise as Christa and Monica. We took the Costa excursion in La Romana that was "the Real Dominican Republic" We were in 4x4's (well, actually trucks that had padded benches facing each other) and toured a sugar cane field, a local cigar factory, a flower nursery and a souvenir shop/art studio/bar in downtown La Romana. It was a very interesting tour (

Dave

 

I doubt the tour guide mentioned anything about modern day slavery on the sugar cane field:

 

Today's Sugar Slaves

Today activists question whether slavery really is over. The lush sugar cane fields in places like the Dominican Republic are still tended by men who are expected to cut a ton of sugar a day in stifling 50 degree heat for a mere $2.

Video journalist Mark Ellam traveled to Central Romana, the largest sugar corporation on the island, owned by the Fanjul family in the U.S. According the Jose Pepe Fanjul, "Central Romana has a very high and good reputation ... it's the largest taxpayer, the largest employer and the most progressive employer in the Dominican Republic."

Workers at the Central Romana plantation claim to work in the fields all day without food. When they no longer can afford food at the company store they chew on the sugar cane.

Conditions at Central Romana

When Ellam visited the 240,000 acre spread he found shantytowns full of Haitian sugar cane workers who were lured over the border to work with promises of a good job. Once they arrived they were trapped, kept stateless and forbidden to leave. Central Romana hires 90,000 of the 650,000 Haitian workers on the island.

Workers told him that they were barely paid enough to buy food from the company store - at twice the cost available elsewhere. They could be deported if they left the property to buy goods in town and weren't they allowed to grow vegetables to supplement their diet.

There were no doctors and little medical attention for injured cane workers. Men on horseback wearing pith helmets rode through town regularly to ensure that everybody was kept in line.

"What I saw was straight out of a book before the Industrial Revolution. I felt like I had stepped back 200 years," says Ellam