April 9 - Millennium Review - Part VIII - Eastern Caribbean Ports

[CaribbeanBound]

Part VIII - The Ports

A. Casa de Campo, Dominican Republic

1:00pm to 11:00pm. We docked at the pier in La Romana. You have an opportunity to purchase a number of excursions or take a shuttle, provided gratis by Celebrity, to Altos de Chavon and Casa de Campo Resort. Altos de Chavon is a recreation of a medieval Spanish village with cobblestone streets. It's an interesting stroll, but not of interest to kids. Casa de Campo is a 7,000 acre resort. The shuttle took you to the marina where there are shops and restaurants. During the Port Talk, we were encouraged to visit the marina after dinner. Unfortunately, it closes at 7:00pm.

 

We chose to take the Bayahibe Beach Break excursion at a cost of $44 per person. An air conditioned tour bus took us to the Sunscape Casa del Mar La Romana Resort. This is a very nice all-inclusive resort on Bayahibe Beach, about 30 minutes drive from the ship. The excursion included transportation, beach lounge chairs, use of the resort beach and pool, and access to the open bars. This is an excellent facility for families. There is a big white sand beach and lots of shade. Food and watercraft are available at a small additional charge. The large pool has a 12-foot tall tethered floating "Iceberg" climbing wall/slide that the kids couldn't get enough of. We got hit by a late afternoon downpour, but it didn't dampen the fun. I do recommend it. We felt secure at all times. When you've got an excursion like this available, I do not recommend staying on the ship.

 

We would have done the Bayahibe Beach excursion on our own, but we couldn't get any enough information on the Ports of Call thread to feel comfortable about it. Let me remedy that right now. You can do this on your own, and you shouldn't hesitate. At the port, it is easy to arrange for your own transportation to Bayahibe Beach. (A fellow passenger arranged for a van for their group of ten for $10 per person. They got roundtrip transportation to Bayahibe Beach and the driver even waited for them for 3 hours while they enjoyed the beach). If you don't need the resort facilities, you can access and use the beach just East of the resort.

 

You can do the Sunscape Casa del Mar La Romana Resort on a Day Pass, which would be great if you arrive in the morning. A day pass runs $50 per person (less for children under 11), from 10:30pm until 5:30pm It includes unlimited drinks, food, and access to non-motorized watercraft, snorkel gear, beach chairs --- pretty much the works! The resort personnel are extremely friendly. Shirley Sánchez, the Chief Concierge, is very good at answering any questions you may have via email. A taxi for 4 should run in the $30 to $35 range each way. If the driver doesn't stay, the resort will get call a taxi for your return trip to the pier.

 

B. San Juan, Puerto Rico

10:00pm - 8:00pm. Upon arrival we immediately headed for San Cristobal Fortress on foot. Then on to El Moro Castle via the city wall walkway by the sea. Both were really cool to visit. Very impressive, massive, structures. Cost is $3.00 per person for each site, or $5.00 per person for both sites. It is pretty easy to walk around town as places are closer than they appear on maps. Highly recommend visits to both. (Check out the restrooms in El Moro. You won't find a restroom anywhere with better views). On the way back to the ship, just off The Street of San Francisco, we stopped at a street cafe for papaya and guava frappes, chips, and guacamole. It was a nice break.

 

C. St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

7:00am - 5:30pm. St. Thomas is a major shopping destination. On our last trip here we privately arranged for an island tour with Godfrey's Tour for $20 per person (plus tip) which included shopping in Charlotte Amaile, an island tour, and 2-hours of beach time. This trip, we opted to enjoy Sapphire Beach on our own and shop Havensight at the pier. Despite what everyone at the pier will tell you (and there will lie to you), you can get local transportation for $2 per person in an open-air taxi to Sapphire Beach. Simply walk out of the Havensight pier main gate, cross the street, turn left and walk until you get to the Bus Stop (there is a pullover area) across from K-Mart and cross the street so that you are standing on the K-Mart side of the street. It is a leisurely 10 to 15-minute level walk. When you see an open-air taxi drive up, flag him down, tell him where you wish to go and enjoy the trip. The drive takes about 20 to 30 minutes each way depending upon traffic. Pay upon exiting the taxi. If you are going to Sapphire Beach, you will be dropped off at the entrance to the Sapphire Beach hotels which is at the top of a hill. A short 5-minute walk will get you on the beach. Sapphire Beach is a gorgeous white sand beach with lots of shade trees and awesome views of several nearby islands including St. John. The snorkeling is good. We saw several schools of fish (previously unknown to us), an eel, and a small stingray. Beach lounges are $5 each if you want to rent one, or free if you just occupy one of the many chairs abandoned by their previous inhabitants. A dive shop, bar and grill, and restrooms are available. Some water sports are also available. Pick up the taxi again where it dropped you off.

 

D. Nassau, Bahamas

12:00pm - 5:30 pm. Having been to Nassau a couple times before, we opted for a 45-minute "cheap tour", jumping on the #10 Jitney ($1.00 each way, or $2.00 roundtrip, payable when exiting) to Cable Beach. The drivers are really friendly. Greet them with a hearty "Good Day" as you board. You can catch the #10 near the British Colonial Hilton (a few blocks to your right after you leave the pier). There is an incredible amount of construction going on currently. It looks like the island is upgrading its image as well. We thought about checking out the beach at the Wyndham, but the kids didn't weren't up for another beach day. So we did simply rode roundtrip. We then took in a little shopping, scooping up some shirts, that become vibrantly colorful when exposed to sunlight, at Del Sol. Walked through the Straw Market. If you are looking for junk, this is your place. There are about 300 vendors crammed into a relatively small area all selling the same stuff. Whatever you do, don't pay the asking price. If you simply pick up an item and then set it down and start to walk away, the price will drop at least 25%. (How many palm leaf purses featuring SpongeBob Squarepants do you need anyway?) Of all the ports, our weather was the best in Nassau. Very warm, but with a very cool breeze (felt like air conditioning) and crisp blue waters.

 

E. Days At Sea

We had two days at sea. Both were rough. There was no lack of things to do on the ship. Sea Days actually provided nice rest spites and allowed us to get reenergized. It also helped pace the cruise. We slept in late. You can also eat, play games, attend art auctions, port shopping briefings (basically a way to kill time watching a talking advertisement), watch movies in the room, attend shows, eat, nap, blackjack tournament, slots tournament, midday snack, cards, pools, bars, eat, trivia contests, shuffleboard, ping-pong, paddle tennis, basketball, darts, read, chat with fellow passengers, eat, board games, Bingo, eat, rum tasting, shopping, gambling, exercise, movies, live entertainment... the list goes on!

 

F. Ships in Port

Visit CruiseCal.com to see which ships are likely to be in port during your cruise.

 

Complete review can be seen on one page at: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/millennium.html

 

 

[bonbon663]

Fanatastic thorough reviews!! Could you please do one for the Infinity to Alaska??:D ....LOL

[CaribbeanBound]

I've got Alaska covered...

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/alaska.html

 

I just don't have Century.