Dominica questions

So doing a cruise later in October that one of the ports is Dominica

from here I only heard negative reviews of the immediate area. So tips are good.

If the immediate port area is not best . is there any nice beach or anything to explore within walking distance?

otherwise what you do recommend for a must do trip here?

would the all day excursion on the safari bus be good to do?

Lots of great tips for Dominica here.

She took a major hit from Erika. Too soon to know when the port will be ready for cruisers. Thoughts and prayers for the wonderful people of Dominica.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=151

Lots of great tips for Dominica here.

She took a major hit from Erika. Too soon to know when the port will be ready for cruisers. Thoughts and prayers for the wonderful people of Dominica.

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=151

They took major blow for sure. If you go there, I'd not plan anything specific.

We did a tour of trafalgar falls, the sulphur springs and the botanical gardens which was great. Dominica is a beautiful island. I hope they are able to rebuild

Last November, on Celebrity, we were scheduled to do a ziplining, but a tree fell on the course. They suggested/replaced the tour with a private hiking tour to some waterfalls. I would really investigate whatever you decide to do...

If either my husband or myself weren't fairly fit and active people, we could never have done the 4 hours hike through the treacherous rain forest "path" to the waterfalls, and over the slippery rocks... I'm not saying it wasn't an experience, but I don't think I'll ever do it again. I was pretty much scared the whole time that I would break something, and be stuck in the woods because I wouldn't be able to get out of there!

Beautiful country (what I saw when I wasn't just watching my step).

God bless them!!

We visited Dominica on the Celebrity Summit last fall and actually only spent time in the immediate port area. We wanted to buy several Carib Baskets. They are made by the indigenous people to Dominica and look lovely in our home. We also bought several to give away as gifts. They are incredibly cheap to purchase, especially when compared to the sweetgrass baskets that we bought in Charleston made by the Gullah women. Of course they are not near the same quality of the sweetgrass baskets.

Champagne Reef was a pretty awesome excursion, definitely something different and worth seeing.

I don't imagine it would be affected by a hurricane?? But we thought the crew were great, and we wish them well. They were especially nice to our son and he was able to get some personalized attention from one of the divers that really made his cruise.

We went on a wonderful private tour with Woody. We got to see a lot of the island without the crowds. His website is https://woodydominica.shutterfly.com/

I hope you are able to visit the island, it is beautiful.

The hikes and falls and snorkeling excursions all looked beautiful but too difficult for my mom who was still recovering from hip replacement surgery. The Cooking excursion looked wonderful but didn't accept children as young as my daughter (13 last February).

We went on the excursion to Bois Cotlette offered through Celebrity. The name had taste or tasting in the title. First a bus ride that was 45 min to an hour long. We had an informative tour guide in addition to bus driver.

Then a tour of an old estate with tastes of fresh (green ?-it had a jellylike consistency) coconut and fresh cocoa bean and pulp as we were shown around some of the old buildings. Then refreshments and snack sandwiches were offered with a talk and then a little more touring of the garden and a new building. The ground was rough and my mom sat for most of it with me running back and forth with samples for her to taste. We all enjoyed the tastings.

I would not recommend the tour for anyone using a wheelchair or scooter. My mom had difficulty with the stairs needed to access the restrooms.

Other then that accessibility issue I would recommend the tour because you get to see a bit of the Island in the drive, hear interesting talks and taste stuff that was new to us but part of Dominica.

http://www.boiscotlette.com/

I hope they are ok after the storms Erika and Grace.

My husband and I visited Dominica on a cruise in 2012 and it was easily our favorite port (and we've been to a lot of places in the Caribbean!). We took a taxi tour which was arranged through a contact of mine at the Tourism Bureau, but you could do the same thing we did.

Many of the sites we saw are not handicapped accessible, but were easy for us to navigate, even in flip flops. We saw some beautiful vistas and jungle. After we got back to the ship, we enjoyed walking around Roseau and had an excellent lunch at a local place where we were the only visitors (we asked a security officer outside the court where his favorite lunch place was - my favorite way to find local eats!).

I think it's important to know, going in, that this is not like other Caribbean islands - no white sand beaches, no duty free shopping, etc. It's a much more authentic local experience.

I hope they're doing okay after the storms this summer - we're supposed to be heading back there in March and are really looking forward to it.

In the past we've enjoyed having a port stop in Dominica. Not so sure how it will be at this point after Erica. :o

How did you get in touch with him? When I try the email posted on the site you mentioned nothing happens?

Vie

We went on a wonderful private tour with Woody. We got to see a lot of the island without the crowds. His website is https://woodydominica.shutterfly.com/

I hope you are able to visit the island, it is beautiful.

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I don't know if this is what you're looking for but... We are doing a whale watching tour with "Dive Dominica". They are listed on Trip advisor. We have wanted to go to Dominica for years because that is where the whales and dolphins are seen year round. There are several companies that do these tours and they are less expensive if you book on your own than on the ship. Look at the following websites for more information:

http://www.dominica.dm/index.php/day-trips?catid=14&start=10

or

http://www.dominicawatersports.com/

There are other activities on those websites too.