Cayo Levantado excursion - how do the tenders work?

[ROBERTEVANOVER]

Has anyone been on the NCL excursion in Samana to Cayo Levantado? I was wondering if you sign up for or are given a set time for the tenders or do they run periodacally?

 

Thanks, Robert

[terrymtex01]

Has anyone been on the NCL excursion in Samana to Cayo Levantado? I was wondering if you sign up for or are given a set time for the tenders or do they run periodacally?

 

Thanks, Robert

 

My memory is that you are assigned a disembarkation time..ie... one group is at 9am, next group is 9:30AM, etc etc.. but after you are on the island, you can take any tender back that you wish. Again, just going by memory, the tenders did run every 20 or 30 minutes. They would just circle from the ship, to C. L. then to the dock then back to the ship.

[BikerAl]

We were given a time to meet in the theater, and left as a group.

 

Al

[ROBERTEVANOVER]

Thanks....did (this is for both) you like this particular excursion or would you have gone for the all inclusive on the mainland beach?

[terrymtex01]

Thanks....did (this is for both) you like this particular excursion or would you have gone for the all inclusive on the mainland beach?

 

We loved it when we went, but I do have some advise for you. There is a link you can check how many ships will be in port the day you are there. If there are a lot of ships, even as many as just one more, I might would do the private beach resort - Retreat to Grand Paradise. We are going to Samana again this coming Nov, and although we originally signed up for C.L., we changed it to Grand Paradise just because an CC friend highly recommended it and we thought it would be something different. If you are lucky and are the only ship in port, C.L. has a great beach and beautiful views from the beach.

 

Here is the link to check to see what ships should be in port the date you wil be there:

 

http://cruisereport.com/PortsOfCallList.aspx

 

Pull up that link then look under Samana, D.R.

[Ms belp]

I've done both Cayo and Grand Paradise and definitely preferred the latter. It was great!:)

[terrymtex01]

I've done both Cayo and Grand Paradise and definitely preferred the latter. It was great!:)

 

You are the reason we changed our reservation.. 8-)

[ROBERTEVANOVER]

I read some reviews that said the food at GP was not good...I am guessing that was not your experience.

[Ms belp]

I read some reviews that said the food at GP was not good...I am guessing that was not your experience.

 

I had the buffet, it was fine by me. I'm not much of a foodie though. I went for the beach and the drinks!:)

[tiggerfan616]

Terry or Ms Belp who did you book Grand Paradise through. We are going to be in Samana next Jan and also were looking at Cayo but I hate doing ship excursions.

[ken85121]

Here is the link to check to see what ships should be in port the date you wil be there:

 

http://cruisereport.com/PortsOfCallList.aspx

 

Pull up that link then look under Samana, D.R.

That link is EXACTLY what I have been looking for. I wanted to see how many other thousands of visitors would be there! You are a life saver!! :)

[Ms belp]

Terry or Ms Belp who did you book Grand Paradise through. We are going to be in Samana next Jan and also were looking at Cayo but I hate doing ship excursions.

 

I booked it through NCL. I prefer to do it that way.

[terrymtex01]

I booked it through NCL. I prefer to do it that way.

 

Ditto.. we generally book all of our excursions through the cruiseline we are sailing on. Just me personally, if you can find a private vendor to get you to C.L., you should be ok as you could swim back to the ship if you needed to. Grand Paradise is almost an hour away in a fairly under developed country. I'm too chicken of missing the ship if anything were to happen to a private vendor to get me back to the ship on time.

[Ms belp]

Plus, I think that NCL checks out their providers just as a potential liability issue. Safety of equipment is very important to me. Also, I know the ship will wait for their excursions; I've been on them when we stayed more than an hour past cruise time because NCL excursion was late getting back from somewhere...I've also seen them leave people not on their excursions.

[tiggerfan616]

Thanks for the help. It's actually hard to find independent operators in Samana not like some of the other ports. This is probaly one of the times I will use NCL.

We've had good luck with independent companies(knock on wood)on other trips and I've yet to be late for the ship