"LIVE" from Enchantment of the Seas / Nov 4, 2010

[Radio]

Pete was in St. Thomas last week and met one of your friends, namesakes. He said there was donkey on one of the beaches whose name was..........are you ready......... Monica Lewinsky.

Sorry, had to do it.

 

 

HA HA Ken. . . . You got me there. It is not a good Idea for me to be laughing out load in the Internet Cafe' (sorry passengers)

 

I owe you Ken !

 

It's time for me to wake up Casino Royale. . .

 

(hmmm . . . I think I have 2 dollar bills in my pocket. . .)

 

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

.

[lbullard]

Enjoy your night...and good luck at the casino....

 

What room number are you in or are you near 7060???

[onlysister]

Radio

 

Thank you for pic of Coki Beach. I can still remember going there and sitting on those outcroppings 3 1/2 years ago. Good times. Beautiful water, so clear. Lots of fish. Good snorkeling.

 

Thanks again.

[phreddiem]

Great thread, Radio! Thanks for making it feel like we're along for the ride.

 

I am making my way through your past "live" reports and watching the videos you've made. So much fun, and very professionally done! Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise. :)

[Radio]

We left a little late yesterday, due to a Medical evacuation. . . I hope all is well with the passenger(s). The weather was dry last night, as we went full speed to get to Samana.

 

The Tropical Deck party was cancelled last night due to rain. . .hmmm. . . it wasn’t raining. Maybe it was because of wind ? No. . .The winds were calm. . . Oh well, the Tropical buffet was held in the Windjammer at 11PM, and it was really packed in there. There were a lot of desserts, ice creams, and finger foods.

 

We have anchored in Samana(8:30AM), and the ship was cleared at 9AM. I booked the Cayo Levantado Beach Escape. . . What ? Radio booked and excursion ? He never does excursions. . . I know, I know. . .but it is the only way over to the Private Island. My brother went over there last year, and loved it.

I also have heard on Cruise Critic that the Island beach is very very nice. . . and taking the tender into Samana was an adventure as soon as you get off the tender.

 

My ticket shows I have to meet in the Orpheum Theater at 1045AM (in about an hour) I will see what I can see, and the weather appears to be cooperative. It is very sunny and warm (83F).

 

Thanks for tuning in. . . Here are a few pics of our arrival !

 

 

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

 

 

 

We approach Samana slowly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can see Cayo Levantado from the port side. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, we have a sunny day. . .and look. . .there are some blue skies !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enchantment deck crew prepare to lower the anchor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are about 6 Cayo Levantado tenders preparing to whisk passengers to the island

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Island Tour company provided a Gangway/Tender for passengers

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Radio]

Here is our current location. . . . We are anchored half way between Samana and the Island.

 

 

More pics when I get back to the ship !

 

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[TPKeller]

Samana is a little off the beaten path, for those unfamiliar with the layout, take a look at my Cruise Map of Samana.

 

Theron

[The Big Booper]

Here is our current location. . . . We are anchored half way between Samana and the Island.

 

 

More pics when I get back to the ship !

 

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

Looking at the map posted here, directly to the right of the red line is the small town of San Pedro de Macoris, extremely famous in the world of Major League Baseball. There is a large baseball training facility here where promosing young players move to elevate their game to a MLB-ready state. At one time, 7 of the starting shortstops in MLB listed this small town as their hometown, not bad considering there are 30 teams and shortstop is considered the most difficult position to play.

 

Little bit of trivia here from your friendly local trivia maven.:D

[tropiclvrs]

Looking at the map posted here, directly to the right of the red line is the small town of San Pedro de Macoris, extremely famous in the world of Major League Baseball. There is a large baseball training facility here where promosing young players move to elevate their game to a MLB-ready state. At one time, 7 of the starting shortstops in MLB listed this small town as their hometown, not bad considering there are 30 teams and shortstop is considered the most difficult position to play.

 

Little bit of trivia here from your friendly local trivia maven.:D

 

Interesting little tidbit, thanks for sharing:)

[TPKeller]

... shortstop is considered the most difficult position to play.

Same reason that a very large number of major league players at all field positions played shortstop for their high school teams! :D

 

Theron

[ChaserX]

Thanks so much for your reports. I may be taking the Enchantment out of Baltimore in the near future, in a balcony cabin. Can you(or anyone else) tell me how many 110V outlets there are, and how many 220V outlets? I'm thinking camera, laptop, cell, etc. and wondering if I'd need powerstrips, adapters, and the like.

 

Thanks in advance, and best wishes for the rest of your cruise.

 

Sean

[bjohio]

Radio- Did any passengers in Samana take the bus tour that goes to Las Terranas and if so what did they have to say about it?

Thanks.

[Radio]

Thanks so much for your reports. I may be taking the Enchantment out of Baltimore in the near future, in a balcony cabin. Can you(or anyone else) tell me how many 110V outlets there are, and how many 220V outlets? I'm thinking camera, laptop, cell, etc. and wondering if I'd need powerstrips, adapters, and the like.

 

Thanks in advance, and best wishes for the rest of your cruise.

 

Sean

 

There are 2 110V and 1 220v AC outlets on the desk in each cabin. . . I gring a power strip on every cruise. . .

 

 

 

Radio

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

.

[Radio]

Radio- Did any passengers in Samana take the bus tour that goes to Las Terranas and if so what did they have to say about it?

Thanks.

 

 

I will ask, and see if I can find out anything. . . If I find out, I will post it here.

 

I know that all tours for Samana were sold out. . .

 

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

 

.

[Radio]

Hello everyone. . .I think I have posted this before, but many times a vacation experience is based on how the weather is. . .

 

Well, today was a great day. . . The sun was shining, the skies were blue, (a little cloudy), and the water was calm and warm. I went to the Theater to meet up with the group of 40 who were going on the Beach Escape.

 

We walked down to deck 1, and were whisked (very fast) over to Cayo Levantado. It took 6 minutes for us to make over to the island. The Grand Bahia Principe Resort Hotel takes up half of the island while Cayo Levantado takes up the other half.

 

The beach is beautiful, and there is plenty of food and drinks for everyone (at an additional cost) There are several stations that are run by the staff of the resort, and lots more that are run by the locals.

 

There are also many vendors selling jewelry, shirts, hats, and cigars. Yes, and I am surprised at the vendors who were selling coffee. . . Hmmm. . .coffee is grown and processed in the Dominican Republic? Yes, I had to buy some Café Molido Santa Domingo. “Sabor que empieza aroma” I can’t wait to try some !

 

There were plenty of lounge chairs for all, and there were several restrooms (very clean) I could see that the Sea Lion Encounter was being offered on land, as well as beach mats, and snorkel equipment.

 

The food seemed reasonably priced, and you can get mixed drinks, soda and cold water at the many beach bars. The vendor area seemed to remind me a little of the Vendors in Labadee. I relaxed a while, read a local paper I bought in St Thomas, and swam a little. It was a wonderful beach day.

 

I came back to the ship and noticed that I still had time to make it over to Samana. I had to rush to my cabin, and put my Coffee under lock and key ! RCI uses the Lifeboat tenders for passengers going to Samana, and about 30 passengers hopped on and it was pretty quick. . .maybe 10 minutes.

 

When I arrived at the pier, there were a lot of vendors and tour operators. They all seemed very friendly. There were tours offered for local beaches, city tours, mangrove excursions, or ATV rides. I talked with several of the crew during the tender ride to Samana, and I asked them if it was safe to walk around through the city. They all suggested that it was completely safe. Yes, there may be a few aggressive sales people, and there were some children asking for hand outs, but crime there is not a problem. They invited me to walk with them to the internet café (8 blocks in town) I thanked them, but declined. I was happy to just see what I saw, and maybe next time I will get more adventuresome.

 

 

Here are a few pics from today. . . Tomorrow is Labadee. We only have 220nm to go. We will be going at 19kts, and should arrive at 7AM.

 

 

 

Thanks for all of the nice comments, and thanks for tuning in. . .

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

 

 

I make down the gangway to the tender. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only about 40 passengers were taken over on each tender

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We see the Grand Bahia Principe Hotel (Cruise passengers were not allowed in the hotel)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We dock at the tender pier at Cayo Levantado.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I walked on the property, it seemed a lot like Coco Cay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water was serene, and the beaches were very soft.

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Radio]

Here are a few more. . .

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

 

There were plenty of chairs for all passengers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue skies, and blue water. . . With Enchantment in the background

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok. . I’ll take some Crad, and Spaguety. . .Oh yeah, and a Cafe`

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Enchantment of the Seas was anchored maybe 1 mile from the resort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water was beautiful. . .did I say that already?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We head back to Enchantment of the Seas

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Radio]

Here are a the last few from Samana. . .

 

I will post many more when I return home on Saturday. . .

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

 

We take the Lifeboat Tender over to Samana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Samana. . .Last Tender back at 5:30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were many venders there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is that a motorcycle pulling a modified golf cart? The Tourist Police (Politur) keeps a look on things. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tender pier was through these gates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We pull away from the tender pier, and head back to Enchantment of the Seas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[DeltaOne]

Radio, are the passengers talking about the engine room fire on the Carnival Splendor?

[Radio]

Radio, are the passengers talking about the engine room fire on the Carnival Splendor?

 

I haven't heard much, but I talked about it with a couple crew members over in Cayo. . . They suggested that there are engine room fires all the time on ships, but the fire on CCL caused the power plant to fail. Not good :(

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

 

 

.

[ChaserX]

There are 2 110V and 1 220v AC outlets on the desk in each cabin. . . I gring a power strip on every cruise. . .

 

 

 

Radio

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

 

.

 

Thank you so much.

 

Sean

[cruiselover58]

Great pictures Radio, looks like you had a really nice day today. Got some coffee when we were in Santo Domingo, it was the best. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

Deb

[webnut]

There are also many vendors selling jewelry, shirts, hats, and cigars. Yes, and I am surprised at the vendors who were selling coffee. . . Hmmm. . .coffee is grown and processed in the Dominican Republic? Yes, I had to buy some Café Molido Santa Domingo. “Sabor que empieza aroma” I can’t wait to try some !

I had to rush to my cabin, and put my Coffee under lock and key !

.

 

 

Radio,

My brother has me pick up some coffee for him every time I go to the DR. The last time I went, he had me get him some of the Vanilla Extract too. He says it is great! Enjoy....

Dorothy

[beachbuddy]

Radio,

 

Dominican Republic coffee is great! I'm a big coffee drinker and it's weird because I like the Blue Mountain coffee in Jamaica which is very smooth but I also like the D.R. coffee which is quite robust and strong........LOL

 

Patty

[crisndeefromde]

Radio,

 

Dominican Republic coffee is great! I'm a big coffee drinker and it's weird because I like the Blue Mountain coffee in Jamaica which is very smooth but I also like the D.R. coffee which is quite robust and strong........LOL

 

Patty

 

oh patty...I love my keurig and i grind this coffee and use in my single cup basket...

 

love love love the coffee there. Looking at Radios pics reminds me of our trip there this year. Except we were on regular tenders when we went into Samana after doing the beach excursion. Not much going on in the town area. So have to ask Mark where he went in town.

[crisndeefromde]

Here are a the last few from Samana. . .

 

I will post many more when I return home on Saturday. . .

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

 

We take the Lifeboat Tender over to Samana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Samana. . .Last Tender back at 5:30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were many venders there

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is that a motorcycle pulling a modified golf cart? The Tourist Police (Politur) keeps a look on things. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tender pier was through these gates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We pull away from the tender pier, and head back to Enchantment of the Seas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Radio!!!

 

I have a few of these pictures but with the Explorer in the background..lol

 

Where abouts did you go in town? After we did the beach excursion....oh we love that beach...we came back to the ship and put our stuff in the cabin and went right back down and caught a tender which they used regular tenders and not from the ship...into town. There wasn't much going on in the area that we walked to which was a ways from the pier area.

 

Hope you are enjoying the Enchantment!