Aruba, Curacao, Grand Turk, La Romana

[Frequent Floater]

Frequent Floater: Where are the beautiful pictures from in your signature? They are amazing!!

 

Those are from our tour in La Romana with Seavis tours out of Bayahibe. It is Saona and Paradise beach along with the starfish sand bar along the way.

True it is beautiful everywhere along that tour.

[Wags67]

 

La Romana: Boat ride to Catalina Island. Most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Lovely place. Nothing to do right at the port except for one duty free shop. We enjoyed sitting on our balcony watching youth play baseball across the way. They had some very nice ball fields for what looked like such a poor town overall.

 

Hi. Did you take Carnival's excursion to Catalina Island or did you take an independent tour? If you took independent did they pick you up at the cruise terminal or did you have to find a taxi to there facility?

[imluvncruzn]

I hate to see the negatives about the port in La Romana. It is like many other industrial ports. It is another cruise ship companies port, therefor their rules. Only their ships tour vendors are allowed to come directly into the port area. Once you know that, you know what to expect. Our cruise stop there was some of the first so it was trial and error finding reviews from other cruisers to tell us about it.

The walk to the taxi's is not that bad. Once you know what you are doing and ask others about the taxi fares you will be prepared. Seavis told me is SHOULD be $10 per person round trip. Once we got to the gate I told the gate lady I needed 4 vans with 10 pax each which filled the van. The gate lady (police) said it was $150 per van, so this was the standard rate apparently back in March.

I am sure for those that take some extra time to research things on the web, you will be so happy to get off the ship and see this beautiful place. I spent hours checking everywhere and found trip advisor to have some really good into.

I am sure the gate police are getting better aquainted with the process of handling those pax that are wanting to use the taxi service. It did take us a few extra minutes with the language barrier but all in all it was just fine.

Bayahibe is a 25 minute ride from the port for those that would like to do a tour on own. I agree that going to Dreams is just like staying on the ship but much less expensive. If you are beach people, try to get to one of the beachs from Bayahibe. They are beautiful!!

Saona is a small beach village and the residents are so friendly.

Paradise beach is, well paradise. A nice snorkeling "pool" just near the part of the beach where the Pirates of the Caribbean jungle scenes were filmed.

Think it was over 30-45 minute boat ride, I really can't remember for sure but do know it was quite aways. We also stopped a few times to get some history and play with the starfish on a sand bar.

I do not know if there are private boats that can take you there, we used Seavis which had good speedboats to get there and back. I am sure they can help set up other smaller tours as well since they have boats that take up to 24 pax. If not they are good to suggest other options with other vendors.

 

 

Thanks sooo much for the info and pics! It looks great and we're looking forward to our tour with Seavis!

[blue_water]

Thanks frequent floater. We did get some great info from a destination expert on TA and they recommended the same tour you took, so we're planning that.

 

And thanks for explaining the situation there, many folks who do not research areas would have relied on some of the negative aspects presented here and stayed on the ship or just gone to Dreams.

[blue_water]

Frequent Floater, I took the liberty of pasting your helpful info on the thread below to help another lost soul like myself - thanks!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=31025691#post31025691

[lnew1gd1]

Thanks frequent floater. We did get some great info from a destination expert on TA and they recommended the same tour you took, so we're planning that.

 

And thanks for explaining the situation there, many folks who do not research areas would have relied on some of the negative aspects presented here and stayed on the ship or just gone to Dreams.

 

The negative aspects here are true and accurate and Dreams was an awesome day with a beautiful beach, pool and wonderful food and company. Definitely way better than staying on board. No comparison in the two. You make it sound like we know nothing about what we are reporting.

[Wags67]

The negative aspects here are true and accurate and Dreams was an awesome day with a beautiful beach and wonderful food and company. Definitely way better than staying on board. No comparison in the two. You make it sound like we know nothing about what we are reporting.

 

1new1gd1...we are considering Dreams...I'd rather go to Catalina Island, since we originally was supposed to tender there, but are now docking in La Ramona, it would cost $140 for Carnival to take us there and I'm having a hard time finding a tour company that will pick us up at the cruise terminal...it makes me nervous leaving our id at the front desk at Dreams, this is what we were told we had to do...did they make you leave it with them...just in case any mishaps happen, we couldn't get back on the ship!

 

Thanks.

[lnew1gd1]

1new1gd1...we are considering Dreams...I'd rather go to Catalina Island, since we originally was supposed to tender there, but are now docking in La Ramona, it would cost $140 for Carnival to take us there and I'm having a hard time finding a tour company that will pick us up at the cruise terminal...it makes me nervous leaving our id at the front desk at Dreams, this is what we were told we had to do...did they make you leave it with them...just in case any mishaps happen, we couldn't get back on the ship!

 

Thanks.

 

No, we didn't leave an ID with them. They had our credit card number but never asked for anything else. Now that could have changed since we were there in February.

[blue_water]

The negative aspects here are true and accurate and Dreams was an awesome day with a beautiful beach, pool and wonderful food and company. Definitely way better than staying on board. No comparison in the two. You make it sound like we know nothing about what we are reporting.

 

Sorry Inew, but FF's input was extremely helpful after reading all of the posts saying La Romana is a bad port to hit or there aren't any good itineraries available other than Dreams or staying on the ship. I wanted to thank him/her for taking the time to post this valuable and helpful information, especially since it supported info I gleaned from other sources. We have not been to La Romana yet, and this useful feedback is extremely hard to find for this port in particular. I'm sure others found it very useful as well.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to the Dreams resort or with staying on the ship and enjoying a quiet day there. If there were actually no good options for this port we would also go to Dreams as a last resort (no pun intended) :p rather than stay on the ship. I'm sure it's as beautiful as the RIU's and Iberostars we visit, but we're not looking for that experience on a cruise and we'd prefer to see more.

 

But my point is there are good excursion opportunities to be found for those who research or inquire, some of which have not even been mentioned here. We've met dive instructors in Mexico who praise the area and can't wait to return. FF's post made us aware of the fact that the port has struggled with learning how to process large numbers of guests and people naturally get frustrated. So the reports about delays and communication issues make sense but hopefully that's improving. But the negative aspects are not "true or accurate" because they are misleading. I'm not criticizing the choice of Dreams over the ship, just the repeated statement there is nothing else to do there.

Thanks!:rolleyes:

[Frequent Floater]

The negative aspects here are true and accurate and Dreams was an awesome day with a beautiful beach, pool and wonderful food and company. Definitely way better than staying on board. No comparison in the two. You make it sound like we know nothing about what we are reporting.

 

There was NO intent in making anyone feel like they know nothing when posting their experience.

I just think that many persons would like to know as much as possible about each option and what their personal experiences were.

We are more active persons that prefer an adventure outing and not a resort hotel experience, just as some are not beach or aventure people. To each their own.

My personal opinon was that there were so many negatives, giving persons looking for something to do, a sense that staying on board was the only option in LR.

Our experience gettting off the ship and out on tour was wonderful, therefor a positive. There was little info at the time of our sailing so I took alot of extra research time to inquire from others experience where I could find it.

Sorry if you took offense.

 

Thanks to Blue Water_Water for accepting my opinions and thinking they had value enough to pass them along to others.

[comeon530]

Hi. Did you take Carnival's excursion to Catalina Island or did you take an independent tour? If you took independent did they pick you up at the cruise terminal or did you have to find a taxi to there facility?

 

We did the Carnival excursion. It was a little pricey, but an enjoyable boat ride and the most beautiful beach I've seen. Beach chairs were free, food wasn't.

[almondglaze]

This is my favorite itinerary and I cannot wait to do it again! We missed Grand Turk due to high winds, but here is what we did in the other ports:

 

Aruba: The Kukoo Kunukoo tour and beach break. It was a slightly silly, but fun way to see the island highlights and a very nice beach with calm water. The beach chairs were a bit crowded, but bathrooms were clean.

 

Curacao: Trolley tour. This is a great port to walk and shop. My favorite port by far of those I've visited.

 

La Romana: Boat ride to Catalina Island. Most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Lovely place. Nothing to do right at the port except for one duty free shop. We enjoyed sitting on our balcony watching youth play baseball across the way. They had some very nice ball fields for what looked like such a poor town overall.

 

One thing we learned: in Aruba and Curacao, don't expect to negotiate prices. The vendors there were not pushy, and seemed offended if you asked for a lower price.

 

What time of year where you in Aruba? Was it terribly hot on the KuKoo and Trolley tour in Curacao?

[bills blasters]

We were in Aruba the end of Jan. It was in the 90's the day we were there.

We were on an open window bus, and it was very hot.

Of course when you leave 20 below zero weather, anything over 60 seems very hot.

claudia

[S.Jersey Adventure]

has anyone been to the beach at Bayahibe ?

I see some nice pics of the place

we are beach and swim people and will be looking for a nearby beach without having to pay $120 just to swim

we prefer low cost or NO COST

 

thanks

 

[almondglaze]

We were in Aruba the end of Jan. It was in the 90's the day we were there.

We were on an open window bus, and it was very hot.

Of course when you leave 20 below zero weather, anything over 60 seems very hot.

claudia

 

Wow. 90. I live in Atlanta and that is too hot for me. Guess I'll look at some of the tours on air conditioned buses. Anyone out there taken any (Carnival)?

[w8ing2cruz]

has anyone been to the beach at Bayahibe ?

I see some nice pics of the place

we are beach and swim people and will be looking for a nearby beach without having to pay $120 just to swim

we prefer low cost or NO COST

 

thanks

 

 

I agree - I've heard of folks that paid to take the 'excursion' to Bayahibe through the ship and were very disappointed - basically I'm thinking they just paid for a very expensive taxi. If you could get a small group to share the price of a cab I think the beach would be nice. I have heard there are hawkers on the beach but very few islands in the Caribbean don't have them. Sanoa Island totally peaks my interest - still have to get to Bayahibe though :(

[sds1arm2]

So glad I found this thread! I just booked Carnival Valor for June 2012. Never been to any of these ports before. Hoping to find something to do with a 3 and 8 year old. Suggestions?

[comeon530]

What time of year where you in Aruba? Was it terribly hot on the KuKoo and Trolley tour in Curacao?

 

We were there last November. It was very warm, but both open-air tours were comfortable enough. Aruba is quite breezy, so the bus didn't get terribly hot. The Trolley tour in Curacao was a little warmer because it didn't move as fast as the open air bus.

[Flatland]

Can anyone comment on the Carnival tour called Santo Domingo Deluxe? Looks to take quite a bit of time touring. Thx.

Kev

[w8ing2cruz]

Can anyone comment on the Carnival tour called Santo Domingo Deluxe? Looks to take quite a bit of time touring. Thx.

Kev

 

I think I remember someone writing a review of sorts on the DR board. You might try a search over there. Seems like it would be a LONG ride in a bus!

[Notion_of_the_Ocean]

There's some good info here. :) Will be doing this itinerary in July.

Anyone here have any information/pictures of bayahibe beach in la romana?

 

Edit: I don't mean the excursion but rather just going to the public beach part of the beach for the day (how much is it to get there? chairs to rent? facilities near the beach? any other info or recommendations?)

[blue_water]

I agree - I've heard of folks that paid to take the 'excursion' to Bayahibe through the ship and were very disappointed - basically I'm thinking they just paid for a very expensive taxi. If you could get a small group to share the price of a cab I think the beach would be nice. I have heard there are hawkers on the beach but very few islands in the Caribbean don't have them. Sanoa Island totally peaks my interest - still have to get to Bayahibe

 

Looking forward to this excursion from the reviews but need to look at the best transport option.

[molole]

I am considering this itinerary for Thanksgiving week next year. I know hurricane season will be winding down but still alive at that point.

 

My question is should I be worried about hurricane, bad weather and re-routing at that time? If it is indeed quite a concern, I'd rather book Jan 2013. This is one itinerary I do NOT want to be re-routed. :) Of course no one can ever guarantee anything but I'd like to minimize the possibility.

[blue_water]

No one can answer that question, just do what you feel comfortable with. It's certainly no fun anticipating a cruise if you're going to be nervous for a year!

[hockeyluver]

We did this itinerary in February and loved it, as mentioned Grand Turk is a beach day, check out Jack's shack http://www.jacksshack.tc/ it is a short walk down the beach. In La Ramona we did the carnival beach break and had a great time. Curacao we just walked around did some shopping not much. But Aruba..... lol we did the catamaran snorkel excursion from the ship..... had a great time.... on the way back well lets just say what happens in Aruba stays in Aruba loved loved loved this itinerary!!!

 

this is the beach in LaRamona at the resort we went to:

 

and this is the catamaran we snorkeled from

 

click on the pictures and it should take you to my albumn from this cruise.