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Aruba, Curacao, Grand Turk, La Romana


sonicbuffalo

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Has anyone been on this itinerary? If so, what did you like or dislike about it? We're leaving to go on it in a few weeks. We'd like to know as much as possible about it?

 

 

 

Hello Sonicbuffalo ( great name),

 

DW and I went on the MIRACLE in Feb. that had this itinerary.

 

Grand Turk- great day for chilling at the beach right beside the ship.

Half decent snorkelling ......go into the complex and make a right......past the small pier and down the beach until you reach a small reef. Enjoy!

 

LaRamano- Not much to see . Granted we didn't go into town.

Small tourist bar near the port.....cheezy souvenirs. Walked around and tried to watch some Dominican kids play baseball at the clinic.

 

Aruba- Did the MI Dushu sail boat and snorkelling tour. No big whoop.

Water was nice but the guys running the tour had a hard time tieing up at one spot and wasted about a half hour. Snorkelled a sunken ship and the water was kind choppy and the water was murky. :(

 

Curacao- Don't miss the Aquarium if it's open . Great spot. Dolphin encounter, beginner scuba etc. Book on your own.....save some $$$$$

Great downtown area with a pontoon bridge. Go over and see the shops on the other side. Fantastic HUGE bridge that the freighters go under as well. Some flea market stalls and the natives don't seem as pushy as the other islands. :cool:

 

We enjoyed the 8 day itinerary and the other sea days were great as well.

 

Hope you have smooth seas and don't feed the fish over the railing! :eek:

 

All the best,

 

TIGERS CRUISER

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Yes...La Romana doesn't sound too inticing...but we have Bully booked for a tour and Indie Tours in Curacao. Grand Turk will probably be a beach day. The independent tours are few on this itinerary. I'm sure we'll have a great time though...but not doing the Bayhibe Beach Tour in La Romana. Many arefrom our roll call, but not us. Too much $$$ for not enough in return. We were thinking of the Catamaran Tour on la Romana.

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We did this itinerary in January - on the Miracle.

 

We did Catalina Island (a private CCL beach) instead of LaRomana - but we have done LaRomana before and I agree that there is not alot there. Heard there is good golf nearby - but we aren't golfers!

 

But....back to your itinerary.... WE LOVED IT - one of our best cruises EVER!!

 

In Aruba we did the "Sunset Dinner on the Beach" at the Passions Resort. It was FANTASTIC. Food was great and having dinner on the beach as the sun sets - with a drink in your hand and your feet in the sand can not be beat ;) :D.

 

I have attached a few pictures - but they do not do it justice!! :o :D

 

In Curacao we went in to town. Don't miss the swinging bridge in action - it is pretty neat. We wandered up and down the streets and throughly enjoyed the architecture and beauty of Curacao. There is a Fort - very near where we docked - that has been converted to shops and restaurants - so there are plenty of places to enjoy a drink and get a bite to eat, if you'd like.

 

Grand Turk we hung out at Margaritaville for a while and ended up planted on a lounge chair on the beach to enjoy some sunshine and warmth - since we had come from the frigid northeast!

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Yes...La Romana doesn't sound too inticing...but we have Bully booked for a tour and Indie Tours in Curacao. Grand Turk will probably be a beach day. The independent tours are few on this itinerary. I'm sure we'll have a great time though...but not doing the Bayhibe Beach Tour in La Romana. Many arefrom our roll call, but not us. Too much $$$ for not enough in return. We were thinking of the Catamaran Tour on la Romana.

 

 

LaRomana - definitely go to a nearby AI (maybe Dreams?)for a beach/pool/lunch excursion. There's nothing near the pier, so get out a bit. The Cat tour might be a long bus ride past bayahibe and then a cruise to Sanoa Is.?

Grand Turk - nicest beach is a 5 minute walk past where the crowd's flop, food/drinks are cheaper and less crowded. Good snorkel excursions at this port also.

Aruba - nice calm beach under the lighthouse, may be called Fisherman's Huts or something. Weird backside to this isle, lots of boulders & cacti, I thought it resembled northern Utah or southern Nevadan deserts.

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Loved this itinerary. Did it back in April and had a great time. All tours I set up private to save money for the group that was with me.

 

Grand Turk Jacks Shack

Curacao, Irie tours

Aruba We alway use Kuku Kunkoo. You can book thru the ship or if enough of the roll call you can charter.

La Romana, Seavis tours in Bayahibe was wonderful in setting up a nice day over to Saona and Paradise Beach. Again if you get the roll call to go along it is very reasonable to charter.

Alexander, the owner, took great care to help me set up taxis to and from.

We all still speak about how great this tour was

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LaRomana - definitely go to a nearby AI (maybe Dreams?)for a beach/pool/lunch excursion. There's nothing near the pier, so get out a bit. The Cat tour might be a long bus ride past bayahibe and then a cruise to Sanoa Is.?

Grand Turk - nicest beach is a 5 minute walk past where the crowd's flop, food/drinks are cheaper and less crowded. Good snorkel excursions at this port also.

Aruba - nice calm beach under the lighthouse, may be called Fisherman's Huts or something. Weird backside to this isle, lots of boulders & cacti, I thought it resembled northern Utah or southern Nevadan deserts.

 

 

Good point!!

 

We too were VERY surprised with Aruba during our first visit in 2005. It arid (to the point of cacti and tumbleweeds :eek:) is not at all tropical - as we had expected :o.

 

OP - on that visit we (and another couple traveling with us) rented a "jeep type" vehicle and we took off to explore the island. It was a great way to see Aruba the first time.

 

There are beautiful beaches, churches, dunes - and the lighthouse is not to be missed either. There was a restaurant at the lighthouse when we were there that would have been a great place to have lunch - had we known about it :cool:.

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We did this itinerary in Feb on the Miracle.

 

Grand Turk- We rented golf carts and toured the island. Although we were with a few people and one of their carts literally went up in flames. :eek: I'm hoping that doesn't happen very often.

 

Aruba- We used Bully and toured the island then went to the beach.

 

Curacao- We went to the Hilton during the day and walked around a little at night.

 

La Romana- We did Dreams and absolutely loved it. Would go back there in a heartbeat.

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We did this itinerary in Feb on the Miracle.

 

Grand Turk- We rented golf carts and toured the island. Although we were with a few people and one of their carts literally went up in flames. :eek: I'm hoping that doesn't happen very often.

 

Aruba- We used Bully and toured the island then went to the beach.

 

Curacao- We went to the Hilton during the day and walked around a little at night.

 

La Romana- We did Dreams and absolutely loved it. Would go back there in a heartbeat.

 

We are planning on heading to Dreams in February, can't wait! Glad to hear you enjoyed it that much! :)

 

Curious about the transportaion you used. Did you arrange for a cab/van or were you able to get a ride at the port?

 

TIA

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We are planning on heading to Dreams in February, can't wait! Glad to hear you enjoyed it that much! :)

 

Curious about the transportaion you used. Did you arrange for a cab/van or were you able to get a ride at the port?

 

TIA

We went with a big group and I had arranged transportation ahead of time with an outside company, I can't remember the name right now, but I wouldn't suggest doing that. We had a very difficult time getting out of the gates. I guess the port authorities were mad we weren't using their transportation and kept us waiting and waiting. I would definitely suggest getting cabs right at the port.

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We did this itinerary in December on the Miracle....it was AWESOME! We didn't plan anything on this trip.....instead, we got off the ship in each port and got a 2-3 hour taxi tour for about $20pp. We were happy with what we did.

 

In La Romana, this allowed us to see things but they took us to these awful souvenier shops, drove is around Casa de Campo to show is the big houses....only thing that stood out to us were all the people riding mopeds while holding a propane tank or a baby off to the side. Wouldn't go back there really.

 

In Grand Turk, we did the beach & pool at Margarritaville.....but Jack's Shack is a but further down the beach and is MUCH less expensive for srinks & food...and I think they still have FREE WIFI. Then we took a taxi into town...the OLD town....and walked around a bit, was nice to not be around a huge group of people...old time shops there that backed up to the ocean..was nice.

 

Aruba, again, did a 3-hr tour that included taking us to the rock formation thing AND the California Lighthouse....which was awesome to see the Atlantic meet the Carribbean. Then they dropped us at the beach for 2-3 hours right by the Westin....was beautiful...I also thought Aruba was supposed to be lush & tropical....had no idea it was a desert island really. Funny to learn they import all their Christmas trees from Canada. Was also weird to see Tire Kingdom on the main road from the beach to the downtown port area.

 

Curacao was our FAVORITE place. Did nother taxi tour here and walked around the main town area for a while....had NO IDEA that Curacao is a huge oil rifining island either....the swinging bridge was cool....we really want to go back there and stay at the Renaissance that has the infinity edge, man-made salt water "beach" that overlooks the ocean....along with the infinity edge freshwater pool!

 

have fun with this....seriously considering this itinerary again...even on Royal Caribbean Adevnture of the Seas out of San Juan....has a sea day up front, 2 ports, sea day, Curacao & Aruba and another sea day....anything to skip La Romana. I know lots of people on our trip did the Dreams resort.....but I wasn't spending $60pp to go spend 3 hours on the beach....which is about our time limit...and we certainly weren't going to drink $60 worth.....but everyone who went that we spoke to love it...

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While in La Romana, Dominican Republic, we went to the Higuey Basilica & Bayahibe Fishing Village

 

Loved our visited to the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, mecca for pilgrims seeking health or spiritual well-being. It was hugh and we loved the beauty of this Catholic basilica. We then went to San Rafael de Yuma where you we viewed the former home of Juan Ponce de Leon, Spanish Conquistador and first Governor of Higüey.

 

We found the town of Bayahibe to be a joke, wish we would have stayed on the bus for the most part. All of the buildings were boarded up.

 

We absolutly loved the cruise.

 

Irish:cool:

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We went with a big group and I had arranged transportation ahead of time with an outside company, I can't remember the name right now, but I wouldn't suggest doing that. We had a very difficult time getting out of the gates. I guess the port authorities were mad we weren't using their transportation and kept us waiting and waiting. I would definitely suggest getting cabs right at the port.

 

 

It was an awesome day at Dreams. Great food, all you wanted, great drinks, fresh cut fruit, beautiful pool. We did the beach and rented the water bikes. (included, no cost) Had a blast.

 

Would def do this type of day again since there really isn't much of anything in LaRomana.

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Yes...La Romana doesn't sound too inticing...but we have Bully booked for a tour and Indie Tours in Curacao. Grand Turk will probably be a beach day. The independent tours are few on this itinerary. I'm sure we'll have a great time though...but not doing the Bayhibe Beach Tour in La Romana. Many arefrom our roll call, but not us. Too much $$$ for not enough in return. We were thinking of the Catamaran Tour on la Romana.

 

We are doing this itinerary in May on the Freedom, we plan on doing an all inclusive at Dreams at La Romana - it's $65 for the day all you can eat and drink at their private beach

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It was an awesome day at Dreams. Great food, all you wanted, great drinks, fresh cut fruit, beautiful pool. We did the beach and rented the water bikes. (included, no cost) Had a blast.

 

Would def do this type of day again since there really isn't much of anything in LaRomana.

 

Planning to try Dreams next Nov on the Breeze sailing..have heard nothing but great things including feedback from people who actually stayed there for the week on a land trip.

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Looks like we were on the same cruise with Happy Cruzin and we also found it to be one of our favorite cruises!!

 

Aruba - We also did the sunset dinner at "Passions on the Beach." Would highly recommend it - great experience!! I have noticed that not many itineries are in Aruba at night now though. They seem to be doing Curaco at night now...

 

Curaco - we took a taxi to Playa Porto Mari and had a nice beach day. http://www.playaportomari.com/ Taxi was $20pp plus a small entry fee ($5??) Beach was a little rocky but great snorkeling.

 

Grand Turk - we always rent a golf cart from Nathan (you can find info in the Grand Turk forum). We love walking the beach around the light house, the museum, and stopping for drinks on the deck at the Bohio!!

 

At first I didn't think I would like all the sea days, but it turned out to be just perfect. Can't wait to do this one again!!!!

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I, too, am happy to see this thread. We're booked on this itinerary next year. DH has been wanting to do an itinerary with Curacao for a couple of years and I really have no idea what we'll plan.

 

Anyone that wants to continue with the suggestions, I'm all ears:) We are pretty much beach and snorkel people, not so much into tours. The last one we had was pretty much a disaster and DH looks at me with stink eye if I bring up taking another.

 

Sonicbuffalo, I hope you come back and tell us what you enjoyed!

 

Enjoy your cruise.

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We went with a big group and I had arranged transportation ahead of time with an outside company, I can't remember the name right now, but I wouldn't suggest doing that. We had a very difficult time getting out of the gates. I guess the port authorities were mad we weren't using their transportation and kept us waiting and waiting. I would definitely suggest getting cabs right at the port.

 

Thanks! I've heard similiar stories about the "taxi gate police" in La Romana. Appreciate your input. :)

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Someone tell me more about Dreams in La Romana.... did you have to prebook?? I found their website and it looks very nice.... it's totally all inclusive? How much was a day pass? The snorkeling offshore, water visibility? Chairs included on the beach?

 

How far from the port and how much for a taxi ride??

 

Thanks guys.... soo many questions, so little information about it. LOL I can find everything ever on Nachi Cocum for our December cruise, but this is an entirely different ball game!

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Someone tell me more about Dreams in La Romana.... did you have to prebook?? I found their website and it looks very nice.... it's totally all inclusive? How much was a day pass? The snorkeling offshore, water visibility? Chairs included on the beach?

 

How far from the port and how much for a taxi ride??

 

Thanks guys.... soo many questions, so little information about it. LOL I can find everything ever on Nachi Cocum for our December cruise, but this is an entirely different ball game!

 

Yeah, it's tough to find much info about this itinerary.

 

We are booked at Dreams for February so I can't tell you first hand about the resort but I can answer a few of your questions.

 

Yes, you do need to prebook. Send an e-mail to the resort to ask about availability. We are apying $60 per person for an All-Inclusive day pass. We will have access to the entire resort are including the beach, pools, chairs and non-motorized watersports. All drinks and food included in the price.

 

I have heard that the ride is about half an hour and costs $40.00 for a van (up to 4 pax) each way.

 

We've heard nothing but great things about it.

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Loved this itinerary. Did it back in April and had a great time. All tours I set up private to save money for the group that was with me.

 

Grand Turk Jacks Shack

Curacao, Irie tours

Aruba We alway use Kuku Kunkoo. You can book thru the ship or if enough of the roll call you can charter.

La Romana, Seavis tours in Bayahibe was wonderful in setting up a nice day over to Saona and Paradise Beach. Again if you get the roll call to go along it is very reasonable to charter.

Alexander, the owner, took great care to help me set up taxis to and from.

We all still speak about how great this tour was

 

So happy to hear someone else's experience with Seavis Tours! We have them booked for January. How long was the cab ride from port to Bayahibe? Also, did you take speedboats or catamaran? How was the lunch and drinks...safe to eat and drink I hope?? Thanks in advance for your input!

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