Overnight in Santo Domingo

[LNugent]

On Crystal Serenity in the Caribbean. We had an overnight in Santo Domingo. Not sure why they would stop at all at this port as nothing to do and unsafe according to many. Well, maybe they were going to have a party on deck….nope. We discovered last night that they overnighted to bring on a large group of travel agents. They dined, went to show and were in the lounges. Not cool Crystal. 

[Texas Tillie]

26 minutes ago, LNugent said:

On Crystal Serenity in the Caribbean. We had an overnight in Santo Domingo. Not sure why they would stop at all at this port as nothing to do and unsafe according to many. Well, maybe they were going to have a party on deck….nope. We discovered last night that they overnighted to bring on a large group of travel agents. They dined, went to show and were in the lounges. Not cool Crystal. 

 

So, would it be better to not court travel agents who will then promote Crystal and have the line go under because they can't attract enough passengers?

 

Patty

[LNugent]

No problem with courting agents or bringing them on board just not at the expense of passengers. Overnighting at a dumpy and unsafe city to do so is what is unacceptable. 

[Texas Tillie]

6 minutes ago, LNugent said:

No problem with courting agents or bringing them on board just not at the expense of passengers. Overnighting at a dumpy and unsafe city to do so is what is unacceptable. 

 

So, if they had sailed and floated around the Caribbean and you did everything there is to do on Crystal in the evening, it would have been ok, but it wasn't ok to do all those same things on board while docked?

 

Patty

[LNugent]

By the way, big fan of Crystal. Ship, service and food great. A few other hiccups on this cruise besides overnight . In Jamaica our VIP Beach Club excursion was to an abandoned, falling down hotel where local tour company was using lobby and small beach as a so called beach club. The building was unsafe, bathrooms had no running water, and appeared unsanitary for preparing lunch that was included. We left and went back to ship. Many people very upset.  We have received apology and refund.  Home office needs to vet excursions better. Let’s just say Crystal still has some kinks to sort out. They will get there but I do believe feedback is productive in helping them to do so. 

[BWIVince]

1 hour ago, LNugent said:

No problem with courting agents or bringing them on board just not at the expense of passengers. Overnighting at a dumpy and unsafe city to do so is what is unacceptable. 

 

Having done a million FAM tours in my career, both on the agent and intermediary side, I can't imagine that the overnight was planned for the agents -- it's always the other way around.  (The ship has to be here, turn those lemons into lemonade sales department!)  The FAM would have been over long before morning -- there had to be a logistic need for the overnight.  

 

OTOH, I have a hard time imagining this was unsafe to the people onboard.  If you didn't feel comfortable going ashore overnight (I often don't), then don't go ashore.  Problem solved.  🤷‍♂️ 

 

Vince

Edited November 20, 2023 by BWIVince

[krb1000]

We are currently on board..and certainly did not feel disadvantaged by any visitors.
Additionally, we spent some time ashore, and had several interactions with residents of Santo Domingo … to a person, these folks were kind and friendly…we certainly did not at any point feel uneasy or unsafe.