family input on Samana

[Leigh-Anne V]

I don't want to put this on the port of call board as it's more a family type question ... I've read conflicting reports about Samana if you are not on a ship excursion. I'd be just as happy staying on the boat but my daughter wants to go "where Mommy was last year" (I was on a land vacation in Dominican) so my husband was talking about just going in and having a walk around ourselves etc.

 

We are sailing on norweigan in March ... my question to those of you who have been there ... would you go in yourself and just have a walk around? Is there a beach near where you tender?

 

thanks!

Leigh-Anne

[muffinlover]

I was there last year on the NCL's Jewel, We did not do the ship excursion and we regretted it. We hired a taxi that was by pier and they hardly spoke any english, took us to a not so nice beach 45 minutes away with no real restroom facilities(very primitive), and someone tried to steal my husband's shoes while we were wading in the ocean-luckily we found his shoes hidden in a bush nearby and a guy came up and tried to charge us money for them saying he was keeping them "safe for us". There is no shopping area for walking around. Very poor country-not well developed yet. I strongly reccomend doing the ship excursion-we wish we did. You have to take the ship excursion to get to the nice beach across from where you tender in. No local will take you there-we tried.

 

 

 

 

quote=Leigh-Anne V;18012103]I don't want to put this on the port of call board as it's more a family type question ... I've read conflicting reports about Samana if you are not on a ship excursion. I'd be just as happy staying on the boat but my daughter wants to go "where Mommy was last year" (I was on a land vacation in Dominican) so my husband was talking about just going in and having a walk around ourselves etc.

 

We are sailing on norweigan in March ... my question to those of you who have been there ... would you go in yourself and just have a walk around? Is there a beach near where you tender?

 

thanks!

Leigh-Anne

[Leigh-Anne V]

thanks for the info!!

 

Leigh-Anne

[debnpaul]

Does anyone have any recommendations about NCL-specific excursion offerings in Samana that are good for a family? Our children will be 8 & 9 at cruise-time.

 

I was first interested in the Jeep4x4 or the Safari Adventure, but the website indicates a minimum age of 12 to participate. I also thought the whale watching could be a wonderful experience, but we'll be in Samana at the very earliest start of the season (season typically starts on 1/15 and we'll be there 1/18/10) and I'm worried about spending close to $400 on an excursion that could yield very little viewing.

 

We are looking for more than a beach day, the Cayo Levantado Beach Escape seems like it might be VERY crowded... we like to be active, we want to see a little of the island and don't mind getting a little off the beaten path, but based on other reviewers we will stick with NCL's offerings for this port.

 

Anyone done the Mangrove Exploration by Kayak? Or any of the Catamaran offerings?

 

Thanks for any feedback on visiting Samana with children!

 

Debbie