6 hours usable time in La Romana..possible to do private island?

My wife and I would like to do a private island excursion when in port at La Romana in a couple of months.

We'll be on the Vista and port times are 9:30 - 4:30, approx 6 hours usable excursion time.

Is it possible or worth it to seek out a non-ship excursion that would essentially shuttle us to a private island and then back? The Sanoa excursions through Carnival look very hit and miss and would like longer than 1.5 hours at the beach area.

Suggestions?

No replies are necessary. My wife and I decided to book the Chavon Special tour with Seavis. Looking forward to doing something a bit different!

No replies are necessary. My wife and I decided to book the Chavon Special tour with Seavis. Looking forward to doing something a bit different!

I was wondering how you liked the Chavon Special Tour, I was thinking about booking it for my cruise in May. La Romana is a hard place to find something to do. Would love to hear your suggestions

I was wondering how you liked the Chavon Special Tour, I was thinking about booking it for my cruise in May. La Romana is a hard place to find something to do. Would love to hear your suggestions

BreAlan,

We loved this tour. Our riverboat seemed to have a bit more excitement than the cruise (assuming) boats we saw running up/down the river.

Some notable points about this excursion:

1. If you book, you will most likely be in contact with Ingrid, Rober's wife. Robert is the one who runs this tour. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A PRINTOUT OF YOUR FINAL PAYMENT OR SOMETHING THAT SHOWS YOU HAVE PAID FOR THE EXCURSION!

2. Ingrid will send you an email with directions on where to meet and get a taxi. This info is partly true. Once you leave the shops area of the port, you will take the sidewalk all the way around to the left. At the very far end by the fence is a little shack for getting a taxi. When I walked up and mentioned Seavis tours and De Chavon, the gentleman working the booth acted dumb and wanted to book me on something else. Thank goodness we saw some other folks sitting down on some nearby benches who also booked this tour. Turns out there is someone in this area who gets enough people together so we can take a van down to the river. So, DO NOT GO TO THE TAXI STAND. The individual you need to talk to is in the shuttle van area immediately prior to this.

3. Once we hit the riverboat, the rum and coke started flowing an didn't stop! Seriously good rum/coke.

4. The scenery was beautiful and the river like glass. There is someone with the tour that will take photos of your excursion and burn them to CD at the end. $30 CASH.

5. When you arrive at Robert's property (about 3 or 4 miles up river), you will meet "Bo" the resident Boa Constrictor. Bo was a rescue and has a broken spine, paralyzing her from the break on down. All that want to can hold Bo and get their picture taken.

6. Next is a short hike through the area which shows the indigenous plant life. Pretty neat.

7. For those that are adventurous, there is a nice hiking trail which goes up into the jungle. There is a spanning bridge up here and a good place to get a pic of the river. If you can't climb steep inclines, then sit this out.

8. There are two toilets. Very open and you flush by pouring water into toilet and let gravity do its thing.

9. There is a terrific lunch of pork, chicken, yucca, eggplant, beans/rice. Very filling.

10. You will be introduced to MamaJuana....no, not the drug, but a Dominican drink made from herbs/spices, red wine, honey and rum. Delicious. You can even buy some in the port area.

11. You will probably get to kayak (canoe) down the river a bit.

12. Upon your return on the riverboat to where the pickup van is, Robert will come around and ask for full payment from those who haven't paid.

Here's my only negative about our experience. Even with my printout showing that I had paid in full, signed by Ingrid, Robert still contacted Ingrid to make sure I had paid. I guess having that email wasn't proof? Anyway, there was no problem once he contacted her and Robert said he would give me a CD for free. I had offered to pay for it, but he told me that it was his way of apologizing for the mixup with the payment. Well, once we got home, I had a payment request from Ingrid for the $30 CD. Even after repeating to Ingrid what Robert had told me, I was told I was confused. So, since I had already offered to pay and not wanting to ruffle feathers, I went ahead and paid for this. But, I know what I was told.

All in all, this was a great excursion, just long enough, good rum, met some nice folks, seemed to have a much better time than the cruise ship excursion, great lunch, scenic view, some kayaking and a nice relaxing day. Much better than walking through some replica ruins or spending a lot of time traveling to Sanoa.

La Romana is a hard place to find something to do. Would love to hear your suggestions

I did some research before our cruise a few years ago and found there are actually several excellent excursions you can book with independent operators who are very reputable and safe. There are numerous threads with ideas on this forum now, there was nothing when we cruised to La Romana.

One of our favorite experiences in La Romana was the Seavis Saona Island excursion. You'll find many recommendations for both that and the excursions with Pro Excursions. Both are top-notch independent outfits with excellent staff and they work with the taxis and Carnival to monitor the changing Carnival port times. Both leave out of Bayahibe which is a small fishing village a 20 minute taxi to the east of the port. We returned for a 2-week stay at Dreams and enjoyed a cat sail to Catalina Island with Pro E that visit on their gorgeous 65' cat the "Quetzal".

The thread titled "Everything you wanted to know about the port of La Romana" made me laugh, that was the most touristy thing you can find at this port. The excursions Seavis, Pro E, and other operators offer to Carnival passengers are great options to get away from the busier crowds and tourist spots and enjoy some of the gorgeous natural beauty of the area! And yes, Ingred and everyone else at both Seavis and Pro E are exceptional and take very good care of everyone. Both families are very close, and you can get a sense for the friendliness of the people of Bayahibe when you visit there. Reviews are consistently excellent for both so enjoy your excursion wherever you go with them!

Thank you both for the info, I go out on the Vista May 20th, ready to get my Tan on!!

Thank you both for the info, I go out on the Vista May 20th, ready to get my Tan on!!

I'm also on this sailing and I'm stumped as to what to do. I'll have my elderly father with me so maybe it's better to keep it as a beach day and shopping

I'm also on this sailing and I'm stumped as to what to do. I'll have my elderly father with me so maybe it's better to keep it as a beach day and shopping

I decided to do the Tour to Saona Island for Cruise ship passengers that is with Pro Excursions, you might look them up on Trip Advisor and visit there website. It is like a beach day with a few extras and I think your Father would do fine. I picked it because the other one said it was on a speed boat and this one is on a slower pontoon boat and I had neck surgery in November and its better for me. I hope this helps you out and I agree this port is a hard one!!

I decided to do the Tour to Saona Island for Cruise ship passengers that is with Pro Excursions, you might look them up on Trip Advisor and visit there website. It is like a beach day with a few extras and I think your Father would do fine. I picked it because the other one said it was on a speed boat and this one is on a slower pontoon boat and I had neck surgery in November and its better for me. I hope this helps you out and I agree this port is a hard one!!

Make sure to have some MamaJuana for me!

I decided to do the Tour to Saona Island for Cruise ship passengers that is with Pro Excursions, you might look them up on Trip Advisor and visit there website. It is like a beach day with a few extras and I think your Father would do fine. I picked it because the other one said it was on a speed boat and this one is on a slower pontoon boat and I had neck surgery in November and its better for me. I hope this helps you out and I agree this port is a hard one!!

Thank you so much

I decided to do the Tour to Saona Island for Cruise ship passengers that is with Pro Excursions, you might look them up on Trip Advisor and visit there website. It is like a beach day with a few extras and I think your Father would do fine. I picked it because the other one said it was on a speed boat and this one is on a slower pontoon boat and I had neck surgery in November and its better for me. I hope this helps you out and I agree this port is a hard one!!

BreAlan - How was it?

Doug

Just as an aside, we enjoyed the Seavis Tours Saona Island with the powerboats and one friend had just had shoulder surgery and was fine getting in and out and riding in the boats.

Just as an aside, we enjoyed the Seavis Tours Saona Island with the powerboats and one friend had just had shoulder surgery and was fine getting in and out and riding in the boats.

Thanks for the info Blue Water.

Doug