Prepared Monday, December 10th
We've been to the Dominican Republic before, but not to this part of the DR, so we were very much looking forward to today's stop in Samana. Alas, it wasn't to be. But I'm getting ahead of myself here...
Also, just to clarify, the Dominican Republic is located on the eastern side of the island of Hispaniola, sharing it with Haiti, and is not the same as the Caribbean island of Dominica (pronounced differently: Do-man-NEE-ka) that we visited last cruise on the Emerald Princess.
Moving on (finally!)...
I've figured out how to sleep through the noise of two ventilation fans: take two Benadryls and mix a drink of water, Target's generic Margarita-flavored Crystal Light alternative and a minibar bottle of gin and it doesn't really matter anymore. I slept well and long last night.
We've been a bit amused about how Holland America has been handling information about the port of Samana. Both on the cabin TV channel covering the port destinations, and in today's Explorer newsletter, this was said/printed:
"The Dominican Republic is still a very rustic, rural and developing nation. This means that there may be some areas that are poverty stricken. Please keep an open mind and appreciation for other cultures and their way of life being different than your own".
It's very well stated, but we're surprised that it's stated at all. Isn't that an inherent part of travel? The same could be said for nearly every place we visit. If we wanted things to be the same as they are at home, we'd simply stay home. I haven't seen such acknowledgement about the less than flattering aspect of a port since I cruised South America on Celebrity Cruises in 2002. When we were in Rio de Janeiro for three days during Carnaval, cruise director Ray Carr thought it was important to teach us the phrase, "Sir, please do not beat me about the head that way while you're stealing my wallet" in Portuguese.
;-)
BTW- for breakfast today, I had a slice of nut bread French toast. Yummy! G had several slices of carved ham and pronounced Holland America's meat- all of it- better than anything on Princess. Frankly, I'm missing all the seafood on Princess...
Yes, I know I'm jumping all over here today. Those who know me tell me I write exactly as I talk. What can I say?
We were scheduled to arrive in the Bahia de Samana (Bay of Samana) between 8 and 9am this morning. Like Half Moon Cay, Samana lacks a dock large enough to accommodate a cruise ship, and tender operations were anticipated to begin around 9:30am. Although we could see patches of sunshine on the surrounding hillsides, large, ominous-looking dark clouds loomed in every direction. The wind was topping 20 knots. Tender operations started, then shut down, then started again. We were taking a "wait and see" attitude about disembarking, and so were observing all this from the comfort of the buffet on Deck 9.
Our intention all along for Samana was to buy a day pass at the Gran Bahia Principe Cayacoa, an all inclusive resort that we could actually see from the ship. At a cost of $45pp, plus the short, required taxi ride each way, this was not something we were prepared to commit to with the weather so threatening. Around 11am, a serious squall came in, and we watched sheets of rain blowing sideways across the water. Tender boats were bobbing like corks on the big waves, and tender operations were once again discontinued for passengers wanting to go ashore. The winds were over 30 knots at that point. Finally, the captain made an announcement: tender operations were being discontinued for the remainder of the day.
Well...shoot.
We were anchored near the Norwegian Gem, an NCL cruise ship also in port today. We could see tenders going back and forth from that ship, but we couldn't determine if they were simply retrieving passengers from on shore or were still ferrying people into port. We did wonder if the Noordam's passenger demographic influenced the decision to discontinue tendering to shore, but, no matter; the Noordam captain had not made this decision lightly, and it was what it was.
The change of plans left the day slightly discombobulated. As there were still passengers on shore unaware that anything was changed on the ship, we remained at anchor in the bay, the thrusters running full stop to keep us that way. Meanwhile, cruise director Michael quickly published an addendum to the Explorer with new activities scheduled for the afternoon. Most impressive was that the Vista Dining Room which had not been scheduled to open for lunch suddenly did. As we had not yet been to the dining room, we decided to take advantage of this change in plans.
Lunch was good...the food was excellent (I had the Chicken Korma), but the service was just as we remember the dining room service on the Maasdam two years ago: painfully, uncomfortably slow. I don't understand it. There were few passengers and plenty of waiters. Why is it that this seems to always be our experience on Holland America? Furthermore, our Indonesian waiter had a very limited command of English. He might have understood us (or maybe not...the ladies at the next table were both brought the wrong food, especially perplexing as there were only three entrees from which to choose), but we certainly couldn't understand him. Ordering hot tea, I was brought a tea pot with hot water, then a full five minutes later offered a selection of tea bags from which to choose.
We did have a wonderful table for two at the back of the ship with full windows, so the experience was not a total loss. I just don't anticipate us returning to the dining room this cruise. Not when the service there is so poor and we're enjoying the buffet experience as much as we are.
By 3:30pm, the sun was out, but the swells were still huge and any passengers returning from shore on the tender boats were getting quite a ride (as we heard later from fellow passengers who found themselves in that situation).
During the afternoon, we walked on the Promenade for awhile, but, with parts of it closed off due to the tender boats being in service, it was more walking back and forth rather than in a full loop. Finally, I decided that, with the ship fairly stable, it was a good time to have another go at coloring my hair. The lighting in our cabin, but especially our bathroom, is much better than the lighting in our Emerald cabin. With not much scrutiny, I could see how blonde I was getting, with a smidge of grey growth thrown in for good measure. I had brought the supplies I needed from home, and this time mixed up color with slightly less medium copper blonde.
It turned out perfectly. :-)
I also took advantage of the time to take apart my Lifeproof iPhone case, clean it, and do another water test with it empty. It's supposed to be done once a month, so it was overdue. Meanwhile, I used the sink filled with water (and phone case) to do some clothes hand washing. How are we surviving without free laundry or any self-serve laundries on the Noodam? Well, we're only three days into this cruise, and, thankfully, we've spent much of them in swimsuits, but, with the help of a twelve-year old twisted, stretchy travel clothesline, a bar of Holland America's soap and a big bottle of Fresh Linen scent Fabreeze, we're doing just fine. My intention is to do much as we do on the Emerald even with our unlimited laundry there: downgrade clothes from ship wear to workout wear to beach wear, thanks to large amounts of Fabreeze. At the end of this cruise, the dirties will just walk themselves back to the Emerald. (Sheila, this just brought back memories of our trip to China. I still laugh about that!)
By 5pm we were dressed for dinner and up on Deck 10 for sailaway. Cruising out of Bahia de Samana, the scenery was spectacular. With verdant hills covered in rainforest rising right out of the water, it reminded me a great deal of our Alaska cruise, and, although we were unable to get to shore, the day wasn't a waste at all.
Photo 1: cruising in the Bahia de Samana
Photo 2: the storms move in
Photo 3: cruising out of the Bahia de Samana just before sunset
Photo 4: looking back up the bay toward the town of Samana
Photo 5: the day had cleared and we had a beautiful "sort of" sunset, but the winds remained high
Also, just to clarify, the Dominican Republic is located on the eastern side of the island of Hispaniola, sharing it with Haiti, and is not the same as the Caribbean island of Dominica (pronounced differently: Do-man-NEE-ka) that we visited last cruise on the Emerald Princess.
Moving on (finally!)...
I've figured out how to sleep through the noise of two ventilation fans: take two Benadryls and mix a drink of water, Target's generic Margarita-flavored Crystal Light alternative and a minibar bottle of gin and it doesn't really matter anymore. I slept well and long last night.
We've been a bit amused about how Holland America has been handling information about the port of Samana. Both on the cabin TV channel covering the port destinations, and in today's Explorer newsletter, this was said/printed:
"The Dominican Republic is still a very rustic, rural and developing nation. This means that there may be some areas that are poverty stricken. Please keep an open mind and appreciation for other cultures and their way of life being different than your own".
It's very well stated, but we're surprised that it's stated at all. Isn't that an inherent part of travel? The same could be said for nearly every place we visit. If we wanted things to be the same as they are at home, we'd simply stay home. I haven't seen such acknowledgement about the less than flattering aspect of a port since I cruised South America on Celebrity Cruises in 2002. When we were in Rio de Janeiro for three days during Carnaval, cruise director Ray Carr thought it was important to teach us the phrase, "Sir, please do not beat me about the head that way while you're stealing my wallet" in Portuguese.
;-)
BTW- for breakfast today, I had a slice of nut bread French toast. Yummy! G had several slices of carved ham and pronounced Holland America's meat- all of it- better than anything on Princess. Frankly, I'm missing all the seafood on Princess...
Yes, I know I'm jumping all over here today. Those who know me tell me I write exactly as I talk. What can I say?
We were scheduled to arrive in the Bahia de Samana (Bay of Samana) between 8 and 9am this morning. Like Half Moon Cay, Samana lacks a dock large enough to accommodate a cruise ship, and tender operations were anticipated to begin around 9:30am. Although we could see patches of sunshine on the surrounding hillsides, large, ominous-looking dark clouds loomed in every direction. The wind was topping 20 knots. Tender operations started, then shut down, then started again. We were taking a "wait and see" attitude about disembarking, and so were observing all this from the comfort of the buffet on Deck 9.
Our intention all along for Samana was to buy a day pass at the Gran Bahia Principe Cayacoa, an all inclusive resort that we could actually see from the ship. At a cost of $45pp, plus the short, required taxi ride each way, this was not something we were prepared to commit to with the weather so threatening. Around 11am, a serious squall came in, and we watched sheets of rain blowing sideways across the water. Tender boats were bobbing like corks on the big waves, and tender operations were once again discontinued for passengers wanting to go ashore. The winds were over 30 knots at that point. Finally, the captain made an announcement: tender operations were being discontinued for the remainder of the day.
Well...shoot.
We were anchored near the Norwegian Gem, an NCL cruise ship also in port today. We could see tenders going back and forth from that ship, but we couldn't determine if they were simply retrieving passengers from on shore or were still ferrying people into port. We did wonder if the Noordam's passenger demographic influenced the decision to discontinue tendering to shore, but, no matter; the Noordam captain had not made this decision lightly, and it was what it was.
The change of plans left the day slightly discombobulated. As there were still passengers on shore unaware that anything was changed on the ship, we remained at anchor in the bay, the thrusters running full stop to keep us that way. Meanwhile, cruise director Michael quickly published an addendum to the Explorer with new activities scheduled for the afternoon. Most impressive was that the Vista Dining Room which had not been scheduled to open for lunch suddenly did. As we had not yet been to the dining room, we decided to take advantage of this change in plans.
Lunch was good...the food was excellent (I had the Chicken Korma), but the service was just as we remember the dining room service on the Maasdam two years ago: painfully, uncomfortably slow. I don't understand it. There were few passengers and plenty of waiters. Why is it that this seems to always be our experience on Holland America? Furthermore, our Indonesian waiter had a very limited command of English. He might have understood us (or maybe not...the ladies at the next table were both brought the wrong food, especially perplexing as there were only three entrees from which to choose), but we certainly couldn't understand him. Ordering hot tea, I was brought a tea pot with hot water, then a full five minutes later offered a selection of tea bags from which to choose.
We did have a wonderful table for two at the back of the ship with full windows, so the experience was not a total loss. I just don't anticipate us returning to the dining room this cruise. Not when the service there is so poor and we're enjoying the buffet experience as much as we are.
By 3:30pm, the sun was out, but the swells were still huge and any passengers returning from shore on the tender boats were getting quite a ride (as we heard later from fellow passengers who found themselves in that situation).
During the afternoon, we walked on the Promenade for awhile, but, with parts of it closed off due to the tender boats being in service, it was more walking back and forth rather than in a full loop. Finally, I decided that, with the ship fairly stable, it was a good time to have another go at coloring my hair. The lighting in our cabin, but especially our bathroom, is much better than the lighting in our Emerald cabin. With not much scrutiny, I could see how blonde I was getting, with a smidge of grey growth thrown in for good measure. I had brought the supplies I needed from home, and this time mixed up color with slightly less medium copper blonde.
It turned out perfectly. :-)
I also took advantage of the time to take apart my Lifeproof iPhone case, clean it, and do another water test with it empty. It's supposed to be done once a month, so it was overdue. Meanwhile, I used the sink filled with water (and phone case) to do some clothes hand washing. How are we surviving without free laundry or any self-serve laundries on the Noodam? Well, we're only three days into this cruise, and, thankfully, we've spent much of them in swimsuits, but, with the help of a twelve-year old twisted, stretchy travel clothesline, a bar of Holland America's soap and a big bottle of Fresh Linen scent Fabreeze, we're doing just fine. My intention is to do much as we do on the Emerald even with our unlimited laundry there: downgrade clothes from ship wear to workout wear to beach wear, thanks to large amounts of Fabreeze. At the end of this cruise, the dirties will just walk themselves back to the Emerald. (Sheila, this just brought back memories of our trip to China. I still laugh about that!)
By 5pm we were dressed for dinner and up on Deck 10 for sailaway. Cruising out of Bahia de Samana, the scenery was spectacular. With verdant hills covered in rainforest rising right out of the water, it reminded me a great deal of our Alaska cruise, and, although we were unable to get to shore, the day wasn't a waste at all.
Photo 1: cruising in the Bahia de Samana
Photo 2: the storms move in
Photo 3: cruising out of the Bahia de Samana just before sunset
Photo 4: looking back up the bay toward the town of Samana
Photo 5: the day had cleared and we had a beautiful "sort of" sunset, but the winds remained high
