Carnival Destiny/Victory

[phinfan63]

We will be doing the Southern Itinerary next March on the Carnival Victory (Destiny's intinerary now). Has anyone done this itinerary that can tell me about Dominica? I have been reading the Ports of Call boards and there is very little information and very few people posting.

 

We would like to do the river tubing or possibly a beach. I have found lots of beaches there but no information on them such as chairs for rent, is there sand or just rock (pictures of some of them show nothing but rocks), etc.....

 

Any help would be appreciated!

[pholter]

I'm one of those people who posts on Dominica :) It's lush, unspoiled, friendly, and breathtaking.. You really need to take an island tour here or you'll miss the real island. JMHO

[ShedQueen77]

We booked our river tubing excursion in Dominica directly through Wacky Rollers via their website. It was cheaper than the ship's excursion and we got more time on the river and drinks and snacks were included. The ship's excursion had been cancelled that day because it was raining but we still went. The rain cleared by the time we got to the river.

 

Except for my unfortunate "bathing suit mishap" and a few butt bruises from going over rocks, we had a great time!

 

http://www.wackyrollers.com

 

I agree with the previous poster. Dominica isn't really an island that you can explore on your own without a little assistance. You'll miss out on a lot. The beaches in Dominica are very 'natural'. Read: rocky, not developed, etc...

 

JMHO, but I'd save the beach day for Antigua. The beaches there are fantastic! :)

[phinfan63]

Thank you. We were leaning heavily toward the river tubing but we have had some bad spills canoeing so thought I would look at other things to do :D

 

I may check into hiring someone for the day to give us an island tour if the river tubing thing doesn't work out.

 

I appreciate the information ~ it's so hard to find out anything on the POC boards. Just not as many posters over there.

 

Thanks!

[letmetellya]

bumping tours with Levi is a great way to explore the island

[habby]

Definitely book a tour to see this beautiful island. There are really none of the "typical Caribbean beaches" we've all seen so many pictures of. The sand at the shore is rough volcanic rock that has broken down. If you can, find a tour that visits Mr. Nice's fruit stand. Just as a guideline, we paid $30-40 per person for a tour, visiting combinations of Trafalgar Falls, the Emerald Pool, the botanical gardens, or Mr. Nice's. The roads on the island are not conducive to driving yourself. Once you take a tour, you'll understand.

 

We visited Dominica on our three Destiny cruises. I have pictures on Webshots. Click on the link in my signature to find them.

[Kevin Hort]

We will be doing the Southern Itinerary next March on the Carnival Victory (Destiny's intinerary now). Has anyone done this itinerary that can tell me about Dominica? I have been reading the Ports of Call boards and there is very little information and very few people posting.

 

We would like to do the river tubing or possibly a beach. I have found lots of beaches there but no information on them such as chairs for rent, is there sand or just rock (pictures of some of them show nothing but rocks), etc.....

 

Any help would be appreciated!

 

We did this itinerary in April and we also did the river tubing excursion on Dominica. I would HIGHLY recommend it! We had a great time. My son, who is 13, wanted to go back and do it again. Yes, there are some nice rapids but they have plenty of assistance along the way to assist. There were a couple of people that flipped, but if you just do what they tell you it is highly unlikely that will happen. The valley that you tube through is spectacular and the scenery is amazing. Definitely do it!

 

From this itinerary, here is how we would rank the islands (most favorite to least favorite):

 

St. Kitts

Barbados

St. Thomas

Dominica

St. Lucia

Antigua

 

They are all beautiful, but St. Kitts was amazing.

 

We will be doing this same trip again on the Victory in March of '09. We can't wait!

[SANDYJABS]

We will be sailing Destiny in one month. We booked a private tour with Beno to see Dominica. I will definitely be posting on the ports of call threads when we return for the entire intenerary. (got my docs today, yippee)

[CorbinCatFan]

We did this itinerary in April and we also did the river tubing excursion on Dominica. I would HIGHLY recommend it! We had a great time. My son, who is 13, wanted to go back and do it again. Yes, there are some nice rapids but they have plenty of assistance along the way to assist. There were a couple of people that flipped, but if you just do what they tell you it is highly unlikely that will happen. The valley that you tube through is spectacular and the scenery is amazing. Definitely do it!

 

From this itinerary, here is how we would rank the islands (most favorite to least favorite):

 

St. Kitts

Barbados

St. Thomas

Dominica

St. Lucia

Antigua

 

They are all beautiful, but St. Kitts was amazing.

 

We will be doing this same trip again on the Victory in March of '09. We can't wait!

 

We were on the same cruise as Kevin and have to agree with the river tubing. Not a lazy drifting down the river but through some rapids (4 or 5 as I recall).

 

I would also suggest that you get in to San Juan a day early just to explore Old San Juan. We didn't do as much as we had planned due to an afternoon rain shower. We would love to go back to San Juan for sure.

 

We did Creole Cruises lobster lunch in Antigua and had a blast. This was our second time to Antigua and love this island. Probably would have it as the third best stop.

 

It's the best intinerary we've been on. (I don't care much for sea days.)

[jawas]

I'm one of those people who posts on Dominica :) It's lush, unspoiled, friendly, and breathtaking.. You really need to take an island tour here or you'll miss the real island. JMHO

 

 

I'm going on the Destiny in a couple weeks and looking forward to stopping in Dominica based on the descriptions I've read. We're going to Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls - are you familiar with this excursion and do you think it does Dominica justice??

[jawas]

We did this itinerary in April and we also did the river tubing excursion on Dominica. I would HIGHLY recommend it! We had a great time. My son, who is 13, wanted to go back and do it again. Yes, there are some nice rapids but they have plenty of assistance along the way to assist. There were a couple of people that flipped, but if you just do what they tell you it is highly unlikely that will happen. The valley that you tube through is spectacular and the scenery is amazing. Definitely do it!

 

From this itinerary, here is how we would rank the islands (most favorite to least favorite):

 

St. Kitts

Barbados

St. Thomas

Dominica

St. Lucia

Antigua

 

They are all beautiful, but St. Kitts was amazing.

 

We will be doing this same trip again on the Victory in March of '09. We can't wait!

 

 

As you can see, I'm gathering information:D ...... we elected not to book a shore excursion in St. Kitts and are planning to get out on our own a little - what would you recommend?

[Caribbreeze]

You really must take a tour with Levi or his friend Davy. (I've heard good things about Beno's tours, but haven't met him.) They have generations behind them on Dominica, and all of the knowledge that goes with that, which they are more than happy to share. They will give you a smaller, more personalized tour, and work around the larger tour groups at the sites you'll be visiting. If you're concerned about not going with a ship sponsored tour, everyone on the island knows Levi and Davy, so there's back-up available.

Davy, by the way, when asked, gave us our first lesson in cruise port economics and how the influx of tourism effects the local population...but that's another story.

Dominica was one of the most memorable places I've visited...and then there's the roads. My husband likes to tell stories about the one lane, two-way winding mountain roads with sheer drop-offs for road shoulders. He talks about the guard rails on a couple of really sharp curves - that would be the bamboo guardrails :eek:

[habby]

I'm going on the Destiny in a couple weeks and looking forward to stopping in Dominica based on the descriptions I've read. We're going to Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls - are you familiar with this excursion and do you think it does Dominica justice??

 

Yes, and yes. Because the pool and the falls are so far apart, you get to enjoy the beauty of this island on the twisting turning road between them. Many interesting things to see on the paths to get to each attraction, too!

[stu & SAND]

Beautiful Day! In the morning we planned to go to the Champagne Reefs. We hired a taxi ($40 roundtrip for 4 including our Cruise Critic friends Dancer and Gonzal) and planned for him to pick us up at 1. TIP: We had to negotiate with quite a few cabbies before we got this price. One group of 4 paid $100 round trip while another person paid $5 one way. It was about a 10 minute drive to the reef; we paid a small fee to enter the park ($2 per person) and hired a “snorkel” guide for my wife who is not a strong swimmer. If we go back (or make it when), we would definitely hire the guide again. For $5, she swam with my dw for about an hour, pointed out the unobvious and was very insightful. This made my dw’s day. I was finally able to try out my new and exciting underwater camera (The SeaLife ECOshot 6mp: http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=SeaLifeECOshotDigitalCamera) which took pretty good pictures. The above website is information only as I bought the camera elsewhere for about $200. The area is absolutely gorgeous and as we were one of the first off the boat, it was not crowded at all. The one area I did have for concern was that everyone left there backpacks and equipment all over the place and it made me feel a little unsure of my valuables (about $50, two cameras and my ship pass). Thankfully everything was ok. One family we met there brought a pizza from the ship and planned to spend the day at the reef. They had some young girls (10-15 yrs old) and planned to snorkel and picnic all day which to me could have been an ideal day. The beach is rocky so don’t plan to make any sand castles. The cabbie was waiting for us (along with 5 others) when we made our way back to reef entrance.

In the afternoon we booked the Hot Springs Escape through Carnival. We thought this was an excellent trip as well. The ride into the rain forest is very interesting. The roads are extremely slim and the driver’s favorite pastime appears to be honking the horn. The tour guide was informative and funny as we made our way to Titou Gorge. (http://www.fortyounghotel.com/titou.cfm) The swimming at the gorge is wonderful and quite refreshing, even after swimming in the morning for 1 ½ hours. The local guides get to jump off the cliff into the water but they would not allow us to do so. (about an 8 foot drop but extremely narrow opening). By the way, the water is a little chilly but oh so nice! After about a 20 minute swim we make our way back to the van for a 20 minute ride to Screw’s Sulfur Spa. I found it interesting and humorous that no where on the Carnival site it mentions the real name of the Hot Springs. Right before the drop off point, you pass the sulfur vents with a not so pleasant smell but don’t let this deter you as the springs themselves are quite nice and odor free. There are 4 “pools”, warm, hot, hotter and hottest and all are quite enjoyable. At this point in the vacation I was finally able to reach a state of nirvana (not the grunge band) which basically means I was truly and utterly relaxed, something I have not felt in years. Unfortunately we had to leave Screw’s and as we headed into the van we grabbed some local produce and a good local brew. The trip back to the ship was much the same, the highlight passing a field in which a cricket match was being played. Our expectations of this excursion were met and exceeded and if you want to do something informative, fun and relaxing we would recommend this to you.

[Wags67]

http://www.bumpiingtours.com/Dominica.htm

Levi was our personal guide when we visited Dominica last October... I highly recommend Levi if you want an island tour. He did an excellent job & makes sure you have plenty of drinks (unlike some other tours we have been on)...

Happy Sailin' and Good Luck in your decision...

[phinfan63]

Great pictures Sandy ~ thanks for sharing. I talked to one of the other girls going with us and she still thinks river tubing sounds like fun so that is probably what we'll do. BUTTS UP! :D

[phinfan63]

Wow, I left this up yesterday so I could finish looking at Sandy's pictures and came back to a lot of great replies. I appreciate everyone's suggestions. I imagine this thread will eventually get moved since it is more of a POC thread but I swear I tried over there and just didn't get any information :D

 

For the person who posted the creole cruises pics - that is high on our list for Antigua too.

[phinfan63]

We did this itinerary in April and we also did the river tubing excursion on Dominica. I would HIGHLY recommend it! We had a great time. My son, who is 13, wanted to go back and do it again. Yes, there are some nice rapids but they have plenty of assistance along the way to assist. There were a couple of people that flipped, but if you just do what they tell you it is highly unlikely that will happen. The valley that you tube through is spectacular and the scenery is amazing. Definitely do it!

 

From this itinerary, here is how we would rank the islands (most favorite to least favorite):

 

St. Kitts

Barbados

St. Thomas

Dominica

St. Lucia

Antigua

 

They are all beautiful, but St. Kitts was amazing.

 

We will be doing this same trip again on the Victory in March of '09. We can't wait!

 

Kevin ~ did you do the river tubing excursion thru the ship or did you book on your own?

 

Also, if you don't mind ~ what did ya'll do in the other ports?

 

What date are you sailing in March 09? We leave on March 1st.