bajabirdy

1 hour ago, ravenjls said:

We received our test kits about 3 weeks ago.

Thank you for the information about the Inspire tests. How long did it take to receive the tests after you ordered them? Were they shipped FedEx or by another method? 

35 minutes ago, kj_connections said:

Do you know if it is safe to walk from Taino Bay to Puerto Plata downtown? 

We walked into town a couple of weeks ago and felt perfectly safe. There were police, security guards, and tourist aids all along the route to offer directions to the various tourist sights and to stop traffic when necessary to help us across the street. Most of the younger helpers spoke English. 

On 2/5/2022 at 2:05 PM, Travel Mom said:

Are there non ship excursions from this port? 

Yes. We are in Puerto Plata aboard ship and walked into town on our own. It took us two hours to visit the cathedral, Plaza de la Independencia, and the fort. We are in our 70s and don't walk fast. We were very satisfied with our walk. On our way back through the lovely port area, we stopped at a desk marked "Last Minute Tours" and talked to Victor Hernadez. His company offers several tours. Here is a sample: 

3-hour city tour $40 adults/$35 children

Monkey experience tour $25 adults/$20 children

Beach all-inclusive at Gran Ventana resort $70 adults/ $55 children

A different beach tour without the extras $50 adults and children

Victor's email is touroperator1@tricantours.com. His phone is 829-559-5917.

He suggested anyone interested should contact him and make arrangements to meet on the pier.

I want to stress that I have no personal knowledge of his tours other than what he told me. Nor can I vouch for the accuracy of this information. So, if you are interested, please contact him and use your own good judgment in deciding on a tour. Of course, you can also wait until you get to the pier. There were other guides outside the port fence offering walking and taxi tours. Again, I have no personal experience with these guides.

~Michele

42 minutes ago, rockymtn2 said:

Looks like the MSC Seashore docked at Taino Bay Puerto Plata!

Thanks for your encouraging update! We're scheduled to dock in Puerto Plata in February. I'm hopeful that any minor problems at the port will have been worked out by then. Cheers!

Have a wonderful cruise! We will be following along, hoping to glean a few tips for our own cruise on September 18th. Bon Voyage!

4 minutes ago, dianedebuda said:

Could you pay for taxi with credit card? 

Sorry, I can't say for certain. We don't remember seeing a credit card machine in the taxi, but we didn't ask about it. I don't remember seeing a meter, either. The price was quoted by the woman at the taxi stand at the airport. She called for the taxi, which arrived just a couple of minutes later. The driver didn't speak English, so we didn't chat much. Maybe someone else has better information? 

We flew into San Juan yesterday afternoon. Took a taxi from the airport to Old San Juan for a set price of $28. We are staying at an apartment in the center of OSJ. Lovely morning. Temperature of 77 Fahrenheit at 9:30AM. We're enjoying a slow recovery from jetlag and expect to ramble around town this afternoon, winding up at a bar that has 10-ounce ice cold beers for $1. Looking forward to being aboard the Summit again. See you soon!

Hi Brian,

I just stumbled upon this thread as I was looking for something else. I'm so glad I did! We were on the cruise with you and have enjoyed reading your comments made almost-live. Wish we'd known about this while we were aboard, but glad to have found it now. We are currently in Vietnam, and the cruise is but a happy memory. 

Michele 

Reading your review has brought back so many happy memories from the 28 days we have spent on Adventure and made me even more eager for next September to arrive when we'll board her again for two cruises back-to-back. Thank your for taking the time to write such a detailed review and to post so many photos. Best wishes to you and your family for many happy days cruising in the future.

I, too, received the email, and I HAD allowed a credit to expire in 2014. I was delighted with NCL's generosity. This seemed like a good opportunity to book a cruise without a big outlay. I called the phone number on the email and booked a cruise for April 2017. The woman who took the booking said she couldn't find my credit but that she would check with the deposit credit people when the office reopened the next day. When I called back 24 hours later, I was shuffled around until someone figured out that the $250 "Deposit credit" had been applied to the base price of the cruise, $125 to each of our two tickets. The bottom line was that I would have to pay the $800 deposit now in order to keep the reservation. Since the cruise was so far out, I decided to let it go and take my chances on a price drop or better offer next year. I had read the fine print on the email and the link it led to and never saw anywhere that what they were calling a "Deposit credit" was actually a reduction in fare. Granted, it would have reduced the cost of the ticket by $250 but I didn't want to invest the $800 in a trip that is so far in advance.