Samana

[islander1763]

Hi there; anyone been to Samana ? :confused: I will be going with a group of 12. All family members in our 40's and need feedback as to any good beaches to spend the day and would like opinions on the town. We all speak Spanish so language is not a problem. :D

Thanks in advance. We will be sailing on Dec.30th on NCL Dawn. By the way, none of us have sailed with NCL and would appreciate if someone is willing to inform about the freestyle dining.

Thanks,

Islander1763 :)

[slotaddict]

From what I hear it is terrible. Only heresay. My Pearl cruise will be stopping there, I want some more info. Right now my plan is stay on the ship.

[lovetocruise99]

Don't go to Samana. Take the ship tour to Cayo Levantado and you'll have a terrific day on a beautiful beach. Every report I heard back from people who went into Samana was not good. I'm not sure why ships stop there to be honest.

Here are several pictures of Cayo Levantado. You have to take a ship excursion to get there.

http://www.familytravelfun.com/cayo-levantado-photos.html

[ctr1258]

Can you tell me how far this beach is from the dock? Will we have no problem getting transportation to and from this place. It looks nice.

Is there any shopping near where the ship docks?

We were debating on whether to stay on the ship too.

Thanks.

[islander1763]

Thanks for the info. I have been doing some resarch and I think the whole gang will be happy and we will have a nice day at the beach. Is there any good snorkeling and other water activities offered at Cayo Levantado?

Islander1763

[shamu718]

We took the ship's tour (minus lunch) I did hear from others who got the lunch included that the lunch was not that great. I really liked the beach at Cayo, although the water did have a drop off where we were. In fact, I thought it was the best beach we went to on the trip (we aslo went to the beach at Labadee and Meghan's Bay in St. Thomas).

There is a shopping market on the island, but I only saw typical souveniers, paintings and jewelery. I got a nice painting from one of the locals for a good price. I did not think they were pushy at all - if you don't want what they are selling simply say no thank you and they leave you alone. Same with the people who offer to braid your hair or give you a massage.

There is a place to get lunch and a bar to get drinks at. Lunch was all you can eat for $20.00. But again, we did not get food there, so I can't tell you first hand how it was.

According to the map that they hand out when you get off the tender, you can rent kayaks, snokel equipment, pedal boats and sun floats. Did not do any of that, so can't tell you the condition of th equipment. However, some people said that they were able to see all kinds of fish and a few starfish snorkling right offshore.

If your ship anchors where ours did (Grandeur of the Seas), it would not be worth it, IMO, to go into town and try to get to Cayo from there. You would waste alot of time going all the way into Samana and then bactracking.

Our ship excursion without luch was only $15.

Hope this info helps.

Melissa

[Pamywyner]

We sailed on NCL last year and enjoyed the 'freestyle' dining. It gave us more time to come in from the islands and not rush to get ready for dinner. All dinner attire is 'resort casual' and it felt good not to have to fight with pantyhose! ;) If you choose, you can go to any of the other restaurants also. Some have a cover fee of approx. 15.00 pp. We tried the steak restaurant and the Italian restaurant on a night where they were having a 2 for 1 special. It was great!!! All the food you wanted in a beautiful setting for only 7.50 pp! Otherwise, we enjoyed the dining rooms, anytime from 5:30-10:00, and sat where ever we chose. We usually travel on RCCL but, this was a nice change. We liked it so much, we booked again on NCL for a November cruise! Have fun!

[ctr1258]

Sounds like you need to tender in. Is this true?

Thanks.

[realent]

I saw a thread somewhere about some neat caves. There is a website. Actually sounds very different and beautiful.

[bankofdad]

Here are several pictures of Cayo Levantado. You have to take a ship excursion to get there.

http://www.familytravelfun.com/cayo-levantado-photos.html

Thanks for the photos! These are great and help alot.

[Bahia Cruiser]

Dear Islander1763 , when in Samana I will recommend that you do the Cayo Levantado excursion as some of the other users already have. Here you will find small shops and watersports. You can make your visit more exciting by combining a Cayo Levantado excursion with either the Cave Mangroves or whale watching during season (from january until march) as these are the unique excursions in Samana that you will not find somewhere else.
Also, if the line offers it, you can do the Town and Cayo Levantado combination. In town there is a brand new shopping plaza where you will find all types of souvenirs and arts crafts.

Ships anchor at Samana so all departures are done by tender. Cayo Levantado excursions depart and return right from the ship as do all the water based excursions and the boat trip to Cayo Levantado island takes less than 10 minutes.

Hope this helps, any more questions and I will be happy to help.

Bahia Cruiser

[islander1763]

:) I had posted a question regarding NCL's freestyle dinning in the roll calls. We are a group of 12 :o and we are all looking forward to the trip on the NCL Dawn 12/30/07. We have traveled before on Carnival and wanted to experiment a different cruise line, eventough we are sailing on the Carnival Triumph on 12/15/07. You can imagine, with a group of 12 there needs to be some time alone to enjoy as a couple.:D I am sure we will all have a blast.
Thanks for your input.

Islander1763

We sailed on NCL last year and enjoyed the 'freestyle' dining. It gave us more time to come in from the islands and not rush to get ready for dinner. All dinner attire is 'resort casual' and it felt good not to have to fight with pantyhose! ;) If you choose, you can go to any of the other restaurants also. Some have a cover fee of approx. 15.00 pp. We tried the steak restaurant and the Italian restaurant on a night where they were having a 2 for 1 special. It was great!!! All the food you wanted in a beautiful setting for only 7.50 pp! Otherwise, we enjoyed the dining rooms, anytime from 5:30-10:00, and sat where ever we chose. We usually travel on RCCL but, this was a nice change. We liked it so much, we booked again on NCL for a November cruise! Have fun!

[islander1763]

Dear Bahia Cruiser;
Thank you very much for all the info. on Samana; I have decided to do the excursion to Cayo Levantado; I will forward the info. to the rest of the gang. Can you tell me what kind of watersports are offered ? :confused:.
Do you remember what kind of food there is on the island? I hope they serve typical food of the region as well as some typical drink :p. would love to tour the town of Samana including Cayo Levantado. NCL only offers the excursion to Cayo Levantado. Do you know if there is a local independent tour operator that might offer it?.

Thanks for your input.

Islander1763 :D




Dear Islander1763 , when in Samana I will recommend that you do the Cayo Levantado excursion as some of the other users already have. Here you will find small shops and watersports. You can make your visit more exciting by combining a Cayo Levantado excursion with either the Cave Mangroves or whale watching during season (from january until march) as these are the unique excursions in Samana that you will not find somewhere else.
Also, if the line offers it, you can do the Town and Cayo Levantado combination. In town there is a brand new shopping plaza where you will find all types of souvenirs and arts crafts.

Ships anchor at Samana so all departures are done by tender. Cayo Levantado excursions depart and return right from the ship as do all the water based excursions and the boat trip to Cayo Levantado island takes less than 10 minutes.

Hope this helps, any more questions and I will be happy to help.

Bahia Cruiser