Casa de Campo

[sammynobrains]

It may have been my post you read about the 5:45 return. Our ticket said that the tour departed at 12:30, but the ferry didn't actually leave the dock until 1:15. We arrived at Catalina at 2:00, left at 5:00, and got back to the pier at 5:45.

 

I don't think you'll be able to do both. My recommendation is to chose one and avoid the rushing & worrying.

[gourmetgal]

Spiedieone, are you sailing on the Constellation April 9? If you are check out the message boards under RollCall, Constellation April 9. There are a bunch of us that have been communicating back and forth,.

 

We are also thinking about Catalina Island. We stopped there on our last cruise on the Millinieum ,but we did not get to port until late afternoon, we did the Altos De Chevon tour which was actualy pretty nice, beautiful views. I checked and you are not allowed to go to Casa De Campo Resort.

 

Any one: is there any shade on Catalina island beach, and how is the snorkling there?

[sammynobrains]

Shade: pavilions, umbrellas, and some trees.

 

Snorkeling: not bad. When you get off the dock, look to your right, and you'll see a cliff. Snorkle over there. Visibility is poor at first, but it gets better. Best snorkeling is past the floating platform.

[maxs mom]

We just returned from the Empress of the Seas 11 night Exotic Caribbean cruise. Casa De Campo was not on our itinerary, but we stopped there because we couldn't dock in Curacao or Aruba due to high winds.

 

We hired a taxi to take us to Bayahibe Beach...about a $25 minute ride...$10pp. The cab driver waited for us there ...about 4 hours. This was a very nice beach. We rented chairs and umbrellas...could get beer at a reasonable price...and no vendors bothered us. We had great fun swimming in the waves. This was a nice end to our cruise. We enjoyed it there.

[DeRon]

Max'smom, was the taxi driver "safe"? I have heard you don't want to take their cabs there. Is this not true?

 

We've already signed up for the Catalina Island excursion, but we would have liked to have gone to Sunscape Resort about 25 min drive from the ship.

[cruisieparker]

Su2u,

We are going on the Millenium on April 24, 2005. Are you going on that date?

[su2u]

Hi Cruisieparker- Yes, myself, DH and DS will be sailing with you! Have you signed up for the CC party as yet?

[cruisieparker]

Hi Su2u,

No we have not signed up yet. Do you have enough people for a party? My Dh and my friends, Kim and Keith are traveling together with us. I am really excited. I have wanted to go on the Millie for a while now. We have been on the Century twice and the Mercury once. Loved them both!!! We met our friends Kim and Keith on the first cruise we ever took on the Century. I have been reading all the threads about LaRamona. We were there last year in April on the Paradise. We went to Catalina Island and had a great time. That really was about all that interested us last year and we were trying to decide if we should do that again or just stay on the ship. I will sign up for the party. Would love to meet some fellow Critics.

[su2u]

Hi Cruisieparker- Yes, there are at least 25 signed up for the party. I think its great that you are travelling with the friends you made on the Century. Looking forward to meeting you all on the Millie. Regarding Catalina- yes, this is probably what we will sign up for and then try to find DH some good cigars;)

[maxs mom]

DeRon....We found the taxi service to be quite organized....set rates,etc....very professional. Our driver was a nice gentleman. He was easy to talk to. Waited for us for 4 hours right at the beach. We had no peoblems.

[amagar]

Hi,

 

I actually came to this board because we're planning to visit an all-inclusive in La Romana and I wanted to find out which resorts offered day passes. Although we are cruisers (this is our first all-inclusive), I'd like to stay where cruisers aren't welcome for selfish reasons (we want resort to ourselves).

 

Nevertheless, I'll share something I read on tripadvisor.com about the resort we were considering. It's called Casa Del Mar (Sunscape) and it's a 10-minute beach walk from Bayahibe. Someone who stayed at the resort in March said that her only qualm were legions of cruisers who showed up three times during her week-long stay. So that may be an option.

 

Resort has a great white-sand beach....and a natural reef about 150 yards off shore that appears to have a fair number of fish. If anyone knows if Dominicus Hacienda offers day passes, please post. We may stay there if it doesn't.

 

Happy sailing...we'll be back on the water in February : )

[DeRon]

We were actually considering going to the Sunscape resort, but 2 things: 1) It is about a 25 min ride from the port and I have read that taxis can be weird and dangerous. 2) They charge $50 pp and we get there around 1:00. May not be worth the money or the long drive.

 

I would welcome any comments on these thoughts. We reluctantly chose the Catalina Island excursion, but I have read that sometimes people get sea sick from the 40 min boat ride over there. We also like pools. So I don't know.

 

But I need to make my mind up fast! We are leaving Friday!

[amagar]

do a web search for it. recommended by washington post story on the dominican republic. debbie, a canadian, isn't a travel agent. just a fan. and there are TONS of reviews, tips, etc.

 

people, in general, insist on her site and on tripadvisor that the island is poor, but safe. it's a tough call. if you read these boards, you know that some people describe jamaica as a death trap. i think it's no more risky than las vegas or other tourist destinations (there are criminals hoping to rip off people everywhere)...and I would venture to guess that part of the fear is generated by people unfamiliar with travel or people of other cultures.

 

why not grab a cab with another couple if it would make you feel better? you'd save money and have the security of others with you. just a thought.

[amagar]

what cruise line are you on?

 

i want to know how many ships are visiting at any one time...and travelocity no longer lets you search by ports of call.

 

tx

[DeRon]

Millennium. We will be there this coming Tuesday. Sharing a cab is a good idea, but we are traveling/eating alone. How do you connect with someone?

[amagar]

on our last cruise, we met up with people to split a deep-sea fishing venture in cozumel through the roll call boards (each cruise, each sailing date has its own roll call if you are unfamiliar).

the other people just posted something asking if anyone was interested in splitting a charter. half the price of excursion...and no crowd.

 

hope this works for you all

 

we're primarily celebrity folks, but haven't sailed millenium. looks like a lovely ship.

 

have fun!

[2CutiesCruisin]

I think this may be the excursion for me - hopefully it is offered on NCL :)

[sheilb4]

This is on my itinerary, but can't see much on CC about it. Anyone been here? any suggestions what to do? any input would be great! thanks.

[greatsally59]

Stay on the ship, it's more interesting.

We stopped there in Feb. 2003 on the Milli. You can take a (aprox) 30 minute bus ride to the yacht club. There are a few shops ($$$$) a restaurant and bar and small grocery store. On the ride to the yacht club you go through a development with a lots of high dollar homes that look like what you would see in most gated golf course communities in the U.S., except there is a security guard standing in the road every 1/4 mile. The yacht club looks like any yacht club in FL. There is a Latin review show in the evening (no show on ship that night) it's a good show show if you like singing and dancing, but it cost $30 or $40 extra. Also, there is a golf excursion and as I remember it's $350.

Where the ship docks, to the port side there is a sugar refinery that belches colorful smoke, to the starboard side there is a baseball field where locals youth play (I found this the most entertaining part of the stop). You can take a taxi to shop in the town, but I heard it's NOT recommended for the typical tourist. In my opinion, Casa de Campo is a wasted stop. When we were there in 2003 there was no beach, no snorkel trips, no hike or bike, no real shopping. The court yard of the yacht club is a nice place to have a drink, and the shops were interesting if you want to buy a $3800 ship in a bottle or pay $600 for a swim suit. I don't know why X keeps this stop, no one I've talked too likes it very much, and the Casa de Campo is a small part of the reason we are trying HAL this year.

[Host Star]

i've been to DR before and am looking forward to returning.. last time we took the electric bike tour which was excellent and also if your ship is there at nite don't miss the kandela show.. its wonderful and the amphitheater is worth seeing ..also the buildings made of stone and a gorgeous fountain area.. this time we are doing the bayibe beach break at the casa de campa sunspree resort which is supposed to be lovely.. if the ship was departing later we would have booked the kandela show again but we are leaving at 8 p.m. :(

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We are considering changing our 2008 cruise to an itinerary that includes the DR. (We are trying to book with a group of friends - this one seems to work out best for us.) I am discouraged by what I read about this port so far.:(

 

However, the Catalina Island excursion looks like something DH & I would love. I do not see it as an option on the Royal Caribbean site. We will be on the Explorer. Is this strictly a Celebrity option? It sounds as if we may want to stick with a ship's excursion in this port....:)

 

We do love to snorkel & I see an Eco Water Tour that looks like it would be interesting on the RCI website. Also a catamaran sail & snorkel. Any opinions on these tours? How is the snorkeling? Thanks for the help!:D

[BarryOtt]

Hi:

 

We will be in Casa de Campo, DR and are thinking of going to the Cueva de las Maravillas.

 

Has anyone been there? What's your experience with the cave excursion?

 

A website in Spanish has these pictures which remind me of a smaller version of the Postjona (spelling) in Slovenia.

 

Here is the website: http://www.cuevadelasmaravillas.com/

 

I am interested in tourist caves...not spelunking (spelling, again).

 

I'd love to find out if the excursion booked via Celebrity (Millennium in a week from now :D) is any good.

 

Thanks,

Barry

[renroc13]

Hi Barry

 

We were just looking at the options for Casa as well. I think the last time we were on the Millennium we just satyed on the ship. We had taken the tour of the city and the ampitheater on a previous trip as well as looking at the small artist community but there is not much to do and it is not a port I would go off on my own which we usually do elsewhere.

 

The caves do look interesting. Thank you for the site. Might look into this further. It does not look like Celebrity is running anything to Catalina Island unless I am missing something. Are you sure this is the cave location Celebrity has on its list??

 

Thanks

Sue

[BarryOtt]

Hi:

 

To the best of my knowledge it is the same tour (to the caves). I didn't see any Catalina island tours from Celebrity either.

 

Barry