Samana, Dominican Republic

[Fun2snorkel]

I am sailing on the Grandeur of the Seas May 29 and there is very little information about this port on Ports of Call. I believe this is a new stop for RCL. Has anyone stopped there this year? What did you do? Did you go on your own or use the cruise lines tours? Any information would be appreciated.:D Thanks

 

Carol

[Rezdog]

I took the exact same cruise last year. I did not go into Samana but decided instead to take their excursion to Cayo Levantado. It is a nice beach on an island just off the coast. Its about a 5-10 minute boat ride from the ship and there is a buffet there as well to grab some food. My group enjoyed the beach a lot and from hearing reactions back on the ship from people who decided to go into town we believe we made the best choice. Our waiter the night before even suggested we not go into town.

 

Hopefully someone else who made their way into town will give you their opinion.

[Welovetokruze]

..:: Cruise Samana ::.. See ya on the ship. Hope this helps.

Glenn

[pjlee3333]

We stopped at this port in November of last year. I think a lot depends on your expectations. Its nothing like Cozumel or Grand Caymond either in terms of what can be done or being built up. You do need something of an organized tour, either through the cruise line or on your own, to enjoy the port.

 

Also, be prepared to see poverty, especially by US standards. We did the discover Samana tour and had an excellent guide. He was telling us that one of the reasons it takes so long for people to get homes is that banks charge 20+ percent interest. Therefore people save up and build as they can afford to pay cash.

 

Also, please read the tour descriptions carefully. While waiting to get off we overheard people being amused that they had to lead their horse up the hill as part of their tour. On the way home we checked the tour description--this was mentioned as part of the tour description. These people had apparently missed this part.

 

We did enjoy seeing the town and the tour. I'm one, however, that would enjoy just getting off the ship and people watching so take that into consideration.

 

We liked this cruise enough that we booked it again for the 15th of May. We are going to do the beach day this time, however, in Samana. We wanted something different than what we did in November.

[geojobes]

We went in Oct 2007, we did the Mangrove & Cave Tour. It was pretty good. Don't go out on your own, because a lot of people on this cruise were tormented by beggars. They were very aggressive & some people got scared. They said there wasn't a lot to see. The people who went to Cayo Levandato thought it was nice & some of the other tours got descent reviews by our friends that did them. The people who were disappointed were the ones that struck out on their own.

 

Hope you have a great cruise. By the way, the Grandeur is a great ship, actually one of my favorites.

[philnpen]

We were on the Grandeur last Oct. and had a stop in Samana. DW didn't even bother taking the tender to the dock. We are not beach people. I went just to buy a hat for self and something small for DW. There were two small buildings at the foot of the dock. The first one I went in had everything I wanted so I took the next tender back to the ship. There were two couples on board the tender that had taken one of the earliest tenders and tried to go out on their own. The young couple walked into town just to wander through the shops. They were pestered by beggars and a young boy wanting to polish their shoes. The guy was wearing tennis shoes and his wife was wearing Crocs. She got scared and told him to get her back to the ship ASAP. The other couple hired a taxi driver to take them to the falls. The driver initially told them $20 and would take about 30 min. to get there. After stopping every few minutes to talk with friends the driver then told them it would take longer and cost more. The man told him to get them right back to the tender dock. The driver tried to drop them off in town but the man said he strongly told the driver to go to the dock. A couple at our table did the beach escape and loved it while another couple took a ship excursion to the falls. Both were satisfied.

[TTown Traveler]

We were in Samana last December. We didn't do a ship excursion. Instead we hired a tour driver we found through CC. (There were four of us, and the cost was less than if we had booked four excursions through the ship...) He took us wherever we wanted and took excellent care of us. While we were driving around he would point out things about his country that he was obviously proud of sharing with 'outsiders'. He wanted us to enjoy our day in his country, and we definitely did!

 

We went to see Salto El Limon falls. (Take the horses - it is NOT an easy hike back to the falls!) We had a wonderful lunch there that was representative of what the locals would eat, and then onto Las Terrenas beach. Las Terrenas was a beautiful almost deserted beach.

 

The area where you come in off the tenders was not very nice, and I can see how someone who just got off the ship to wander around would not have a pleasant experience. But Samana has some beautiful areas to see if you are willing to go past the first impression.

 

The language of Samana is Spanish, which none of us spoke. Unlike some other ports that have a more developed tourist industry, most of the people we met in Samana did not speak any English. Our guide's English was very good and he translated for us. We had a wonderful day, and I would go back again anytime!

[fflady]

I did not enjoy Samana at all. When getting off the tender, we were surrounded by many children and beggers. They were not afraid to get very close. I have to say I did not feel safe at all and clutched my purse tightly. There was a police officer that did get some of the kids away. But there was one kid who refused to give up. DH and I are firefighters. DH flashed his fire badge quickly and the kid disappeared. We turned around and quickly made it back to the dock without even attempting to make it further into town. This is one of the few times I did not feel safe. There were many of us discussing how disappointed we were about this port on the 45 minute tender ride back to the ship (the captain wasn't permitted to get closer to shore).

 

To be fair, many of the passengers who had gone on tours were much happier about Samana. Most of the beach tours picked up the passengers right off the ship and didn't experience the dock area.

 

Keep in mind this was last May. So things may have changed since that time.

[Fun2snorkel]

Thank you so much for your help. I think we will try to do a tour of the town with RCL.

 

Carol

[spandance]

I am sailing on the Grandeur of the Seas May 29 and there is very little information about this port on Ports of Call. I believe this is a new stop for RCL. Has anyone stopped there this year? What did you do? Did you go on your own or use the cruise lines tours? Any information would be appreciated.:D Thanks,

 

Carol

:) Hi carol I went to Samana with my daughter in February. We went with NCL to Cayo Levantado (Bacardi Island) the tour was with cruiseline but i guess you could hire a boat. .It was a beautiful island with plety of places to explore. They also had a lovely market with wonderful paintings. Sea lions, parrots, monkies etc. We had a lovely day . I heard from other guests that Samana was not very nice full or dogs roaming around. Have a great cruise:cool: sharon