X cruiser just back from 1st NCL Pearl cruise

[texaspring]

Hi Bisous:

 

 

You were smart to cancel Cayo Levantado. We did end up going and the day was a bust.

 

quote]

 

 

Did you take the ferry or a boat? How much did it cost roundtrip?

[themishmans]

Last year we cruised NCL, Carnival and RCCL with our kids.

 

I don't remember paying for kids crew while in-port on either Carnival or RCCL. They made no distinction in programming at sea or in-port. I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure I didn't pay a special "In-PORT" fee. There wasn't any TV watching during the day either.

 

My kids have watched TV during the daytime at the In-port babysitting on the Jewel and the Sun so I know its not unique to the Pearl.

 

So is it just on port days that they are allowed to watch TV? My DD9 is a TV addict so this is rather important. The less access she has to the boob tube, the better.

[Bisous3]

I had booked the ships excursion to Cayo Lebantado which was $29pp. It was too bad that the weather didn't cooperate because I did hear great things about this beach and Samana itself is a place to skip.

themishmans the TV thing was NOT on port days- it was on 2 at sea days in the morning.

[texaspring]

Thanks for the info.

[themishmans]

I had booked the ships excursion to Cayo Lebantado which was $29pp. It was too bad that the weather didn't cooperate because I did hear great things about this beach and Samana itself is a place to skip.

themishmans the TV thing was NOT on port days- it was on 2 at sea days in the morning.

 

Thank you. That just SUX!

 

Hopefully it will be different on the Dawn, but I will make sure to ask about TV before I drop her off (if I drop her off).

[Almagetty]

Hi Bisous:

 

 

You were smart to cancel Cayo Levantado. We did end up going and the day was a bust.

 

quote]

 

 

Did you take the ferry or a boat? How much did it cost roundtrip?

 

We took the ship's shore excursion. This is definitely a port where I would stick to the ship's offerings only!!! I am normally the adventurous sort and book my own tours independently, but I was nervous to do it here from previous CC reports. Now that I've been there, I can definitely say that I would never go off on an independent excursion in Samana! The infrastructure is just not there yet. By the way, people I spoke to onboard that took the ship tours (horseback riding and the hiking tour) had issues with the river rising rapidly due to the rains. It sounded like a pretty scary experience all the way around!

[Bisous3]

Makes you wonder why Samana is a stop at all?

There is a new little strip mall near the pier but when I saw all the police out on the street on surveillance all the way down the street from the ship to the strip mall it made me nervous !

[ute_fan]

Makes you wonder why Samana is a stop at all?

There is a new little strip mall near the pier but when I saw all the police out on the street on surveillance all the way down the street from the ship to the strip mall it made me nervous !

 

The port where I was the most nervous was in Cancun (not on the Pearl, obviously). When we got off the tender (which was right by a flea market), there were armed guards with machine guns and police dogs. It definitely makes you wonder, doesn't it??

[texaspring]

 

We took the ship's shore excursion. This is definitely a port where I would stick to the ship's offerings only!!! I am normally the adventurous sort and book my own tours independently, but I was nervous to do it here from previous CC reports. Now that I've been there, I can definitely say that I would never go off on an independent excursion in Samana! The infrastructure is just not there yet. By the way, people I spoke to onboard that took the ship tours (horseback riding and the hiking tour) had issues with the river rising rapidly due to the rains. It sounded like a pretty scary experience all the way around!

 

 

Thanks. We usually tour on our own, we will keep our cruise booking to Cayo Levantado. It sounds like our best option.

[Redsgj]

The itinerary was a good one- no real "dud" port except for Samana. We had booked the Cayo Levantado excursion but then canceled because of rain. Samana was depressing.

Just curious... Since you referred to cancelling because of rain, I am assuming that you canceled this the day of. Is this true? Did they allow this due to the weather since the normal policy is 48 hours?

 

This is something I have wondered about... I don't want to book this excursion and then end up out $60 if it is raining!

[Bisous3]

Actually it was NCL that offered us a refund only a few minutes before we were to board the tender and they did wind up taking some people who wanted to go. We got a full refund.

[fllchick]

We actually went to Cayo Levantado on the 11/16 sailing, and came back around noon because it just wouldn't stop pouring.

 

When we got a printout of our onboard account half way through the cruise, we saw that we weren't even charged for it.

 

It's a shame, too, because it looked like it would have been a really beautiful beach to hang out on for the day......

[Almagetty]

We actually went to Cayo Levantado on the 11/16 sailing, and came back around noon because it just wouldn't stop pouring.

 

When we got a printout of our onboard account half way through the cruise, we saw that we weren't even charged for it.

 

It's a shame, too, because it looked like it would have been a really beautiful beach to hang out on for the day......

 

I just re-checked my final statement and we were charged for Cayo Levantado. Oh well, we did in fact go over on the first tender and we did end up staying until about 1:30 or 2:00, even though it rained most of the day. NCL can't guarantee the weather. Bisous, its nice they offered you an out.

[Bisous3]

It was nice, I only booked the excursion in the first place because I read here on Cruise Critics that they'd let us opt out if the weather was not good.

[Hollyspop]

Last April we parked for under 70 dollars. This for a 9 nite cruise on the Pearl. Oh and they also washed my car on the day we picked it up. Do a little research and you will be able to find places much cheaper that will take you to the ship and pick you up when you return. There is no need to allow the port of Miami to rip you off and in some cases make you walk a mile to get your car.