Santo Domingo

[dstables]

We are visiting the port of Santo Domingo on our cruise and we had planned to take a cab ourself to Boca Chia Beach but have read some threads that Santo Domingo is not very safe. Are we okay to go by ourself or should we keep to an organized cruise line tour?

[wwinfl91]

We visited the Dominican Republic and took a ship's tour to Santa Domingo and didn't have any real problems. During an hour or so of free time we were given to eat or shop we were approached several times by beggars or pan handlers but we told them "NO" and moved on.

 

Seeing some of the historic sites in the city was worth the cost of the trip although we saw the Columbus memorial but didn't go in it. We did see one of the oldest houses in the new world that was built for one of Columbus's relatives and several old churches.

 

I don't feel this is a country I would have wanted to take off on my own and rent a car and do my own thing so to speak. Also we were there a few years ago and things may have changed since the Haitian earthquake.

 

I do know they have some beautiful seaside resorts and golf courses that are very seperated from the majority of the local population and a ship's tour to one of those for the day would probably be about as safe as you could get.

 

But if you want to see a historic city that is interesting and educational then go on the tour to Santa Domingo and just stay with the group as much as possible. If given free time as we were in one of the main city squares find others to team up with for shopping or finding a place to eat and don't wander too far away from obvious public areas. There are streets leading away from the square and while we went a ways down one of them to see an old church I wasn't totally comfortable getting too far out of sight of the main square where there was an obvious police presence.

 

I also might have been more comfortable if I had spoken Spanish and the little my wife understands sounded a lot different there than what we heard in Florida.

 

Good luck in deciding and have a great next cruise.

[CruiseSwag]

My parents are from the Dominican Republic and I live 1 hour away from Santo Domingo and I'll tell you to be aware of your surroundings and the people. Of course not everywhere is dangerous but the criminals in the country can spot a tourist 20 miles away and might try to take advantage of you. If you are with a group then I think you'll be fine but don't be naive. You'll be fine but take those precautions.

 

I will suggest the following: Do not wear gold jewelry. Do not speak to strangers. Stick with a group at all times, do not go around by yourself. Always look around and be aware of your surroundings.

[RedsRatBstrd]

Does anyone know what side the cruiseships dock?

From what i've seen there are 2 choices. One is on the Columbus Memorial side (Sans Souci) and the other is right adjacent to the old town (port Santo Domingo). If it's on the Sans Souci side how long does it take to get to the old town side? I can't find info about Santo Domingo on CC anywhere.

[new2cruising4us]

Wow I had not heard anything about this country until reading your post - thank you very much Cruiseswag for your info, we will certainly beware now!