Samana Tendering Question

[Zukeeper4]

As you can see from my last post, I'm a fan of Playa Rincon. It is huge and very rustic. There is some 'development'. Our driver took us to the East End where there are a few grass huts that serve as the restaurants. They don't have electricity, but they will grill fresh lobster, fish, shrimp or chicken over an open-air charcoal grill. The Presidente beer and soda is on ice. I understand that there is another 'restaurant' at the West end of the beach which I gather is pretty basic: a blue plastic tarp on bamboo poles. From the East end where we spent the day, I could just barely make the blue tarps with a strong telephoto lens.

 

Otherwise there is not much development. There are about 40 - 50 beach chairs for rent, someone offering beach massages or hair braiding, and a couple of fellows trying to sell locally made cigars. The rest of the beach is yours to explore.

 

P.

 

Thanks for the review, it confirms that I picked a spot that I WILL REALLY ENJOY!

 

Jan

[terrymtex01]

We'll be on the Dawn the week of Feb 7th and we were told that mid-Jan thru mid-March was whale-watching season at Samana. Does anyone know anything of the excursions (either NCL run or independent) to do this?

 

Karen

 

We have never done the whale watching from Samana, but I can tell you that if you have the opportunity to do a whale watching excursion, do it if you never have done one before. I have said it before and will always say it, but it is magical to see them so up close.

[iluv2go]

We'll be on the Dawn the week of Feb 7th and we were told that mid-Jan thru mid-March was whale-watching season at Samana. Does anyone know anything of the excursions (either NCL run or independent) to do this?

 

Karen

 

Hey Karen - The whales are absolutely a treat to watch. I've been on several whale watching excursions but never in DR. On our cruise last Jan. we saw the whales from our ship but this was in Cabo. If you have never seen them upclose I would consider the excursion. But first, I would do a little research - maybe with tripadvisor also - regarding the sightings. You would hate to go and not see any.

 

Velvet

[Cookiesbykk]

Hey Velvet!

Thanks for your reply! We're on the same cruise and we're both signed up to do the M&G! Looking forward to meeting you there! Did you and Karen figure out which excursions you're doing yet?:confused:

 

Karen (I've been going by kk on the roll call thread so as not to be confused with your karen):)

[flashcruise]

I will echo what a few others have said about Playa Rincon-beautiful beach and maybe the best chicken I have ever had. Catherine and Roberto Guzman run the tour company and are just great people. It is $260/group of ten. We used the roll call boards to get groups of ten and we had 40 Cruise Critic people that day-and there were very few people other than us there. This is a great day- I would highly recommend them. They will have a driver waiting for you at the tender dock and then Catherine will put you on the speedboat you take to Playa Rincon. Roberto stays at the beach with the group all day. It runs very smoothly and we had plenty of time.

[iluv2go]

Hey Velvet!

Thanks for your reply! We're on the same cruise and we're both signed up to do the M&G! Looking forward to meeting you there! Did you and Karen figure out which excursions you're doing yet?:confused:

 

Karen (I've been going by kk on the roll call thread so as not to be confused with your karen):)

 

It will be good to put faces with names. We will stay onboard on Samana; planning to ferry over to St. John and we are taking the ferry from Road Town to Tortola and doing the Baths by ourselves. After alot of research, this is the cheapest way to go to the Baths and then we'll still have time in Tortola to shop. What are your plans?

[Cookiesbykk]

:)We're still up in the air about all our excursions. I thought I'd really like to do some whale watching in Samana since it's the perfect time of year for it but I haven't had any luck finding an independent tour operator for that. I think we may follow your lead in Tortola; could you tell me more about the Baths? I know that St. Thomas is known for shopping but again, I don't know if a tour of the island is worthwhile...I think maybe we can just figure that one out once we dock. I'm usually so organized by now but the other 3 in my party are so easygoing, it's been up to me to make the big decisions and I can't handle the pressure:D.

 

BTW, I just saw your post about the dailies...all those tastings sure sound interesting (esp the martinis, margaritas and sushi & sake). Looks like we might be bumping into each other more often (literally if we do too many sippings:rolleyes:).

 

Let me ask you another question since you've been such a good resource and I haven't gotten an answer that I understand yet regarding the following. This is our first time on NCL. We booked through a TA less than 90 days out so we paid in full up front. Where can I look to find out how much my particular OBC is for? Since the TA paid NCL, I can't imagine she would have that information...and I couldn't find it on the NCL site.

 

KK

[bakerintn]

Let me ask you another question since you've been such a good resource and I haven't gotten an answer that I understand yet regarding the following. This is our first time on NCL. We booked through a TA less than 90 days out so we paid in full up front. Where can I look to find out how much my particular OBC is for? Since the TA paid NCL, I can't imagine she would have that information...and I couldn't find it on the NCL site.

It should be listed on your Confirmation - Guest Copy document... on the left, just above "Important Information". You should have recieved one of these from your TA. It is not shown on the e-documents that you get from NCL, so bring your Confirmation to the ship with you "in case".

 

 

[Cookiesbykk]

Thanks for your reply, Bakerintn but we booked & paid for the trip prior to knowing we'd get the OBC so the confirmation we got shows the fuel surcharge on it. Should I be going back to the TA now to ask if they've received updated information or should I just be confident that something will show up in my documentation once I board?

[marysb]

Does anyone know if there is a way to get to Cayo Levantado privately without paying the $45 ship excursion fee? We would love to go and it looks beautiful, but with 3 of us and the Canadian exchange right now it would be about $200 to go to the beach...something wrong with that picture.