A cruise may be possible?

Freefallfatty

Gone sailing!
Apr 20, 2009
109
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Hi,
I would like to take my lady on a trip, a small vacation when I return to DR. Could anyone inform me of the possibilities of this being on a cruise off the Island. I am aware she is unable to leave the country and would be needing to enter other Caribbean ports within this cruise, but the more I read about policies within the Dominican the less logic I appear to gather from anything that could be seen as logic within other countries I have visited before.

Would anyone be able to give me some enlightenment into where exactly I am able to take her, where we can visit and if limited to only DR a very good and simplistic link so I can understand exactly what I am dealing with. I expect this may be down to her and my ability to prove we shall return, as without doubt many must leave a country illegally with more than 25% under the poverty threshold and heaven knows what the unemployment figures show.
Would this in any way be possible? Or are we only legally able to travel within the Dominican until I submit to offering myself as a sponsor in the form of a husband, something I would only consider once retired which will not be in the near future. I may be moving to Saudi within the next year and would like my lady and (unborn) child to visit, I expect this would also be very unlikely from what I am gathering.
I have had a few PMs from a few guys working as I do on the rigs or strange HD shift patterns and thought maybe a way had been sought to get over this obstacle. I don't know but some kind of temporary sponsorship under on my head, down payment and return on return arrangement.
I apologise but my knowledge is somewhat limited on this and my agreement with policies on this matter lost in the understanding of a modern world.

Could anyone inform me of a direction that may be worth investigating or even legally exploiting.

Thank you,
Bill.
 

Freefallfatty

Gone sailing!
Apr 20, 2009
109
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I should add I shall not be leaving my obligation as a father or content partner to my lady, but my work will be carrying me to Saudi on a minimum of 12 month contract.
 

perlamarinajoe

New member
Mar 16, 2009
29
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she will need a visa to go everywhere but the local colmado and even then she can only drink dominican beer and rum
 
Apr 3, 2009
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What's With the Self-Defeating Attitude?

Unfortunately when a number of Dominicans jumped ship on a cruise some time back it ruined the chances for other Dominicans to take a cruise with only a Dominican passport. You will have to contact every destination port on the cruise and find out their visa requirements.

The person who joked about the fact that she can go anywhere she wants "as long as it is to a local colmado" was not far from the truth. It is very difficult for Dominicans to leave the island legally as has been pointed out in other threads.
Difficult to leave the island?? If you have proof of Dominican citizenship (cedula or birth certificate,) go get a Dominican passport for RD$4,000, and buy a US$500 - US$800 ticket on Copa and travel to Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Chile...

Hell!! My "Passport Only" Dominican girlfriend and I were touring the Incan ruins of Peru last Fall. My "Passport Only" Dominican girlfriend and I were cruising through the Caribbean (St. Kitts, Martinique, Barbados, St. Lucia) just three-months ago on Royal Caribbean, with a bunch of other "Passport Only" Dominicans.

It's just too bad that RC has no more cruises from DR this year or next year.

-BB :D
 

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
5,050
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Well

Sorry BB, it is just that I am a realist and don't want someone to think that it is easy for them to go anywhere they want with a Dominican.

I am glad to hear you had a good time in South America.

I am, however, very surprised that your girlfriend was allowed on a cruise. That is certainly not what I would have expected after hearing what I considered to be reliable information. Thank you for sharing that.

he said crusing, not that they all got off the boat
 
Apr 3, 2009
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Defeated Already?

he said crusing, not that they all got off the boat
1) First of all, I cannot believe that I am only person on DR1 who knows an unmarried Dominican citizen, who was able to board "The Vision of Seas" Royal Caribbean cruise ship, with ONLY a Dominican passport and NO visa. (There were like 15+ trips in 2009)

2) I can't believe that I am being asked, whether my girlfriend was able to disembark, without someone having thoroughly read my earlier post in the link that I posted earlier today on this thread!

3) I don't want to imagine what other bad advice has been distributed on this topic due solely to laziness and lack of diligence.

The Dominican Republic is not Cuba and it is not North Korea!!! A passport and a few hundred bucks will get anyone off of the island for a vacation. Those that chose to rely on either old or bad information missed a hell of a cruise.

I only wish that I had done it twice, but to the other offered "Vision of the Seas" destination (St. Maarten, Dominica; Venezuela, and Aruba.)


-BB :rolleyes:

http://www.dr1.com/forums/741475-post28.html
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
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i would like to kindly point out the fact that majority of dominicans do not have few hundred bucks for a cruise hence it is very true they can only make a trip to a nearby colmado.
having said that: my mother in law took a cruise in the caribbean few weeks ago. she has american passport so lets pass on her. the thing is that my sister in law joined the trip virtually last minute so there was no time to get any visas.
she had no trouble whatsoever to disembark in any of the destinations.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
5,485
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Sorry just read this thread. I did book for 2008, not this year, for myself and husband (Dominican with US and Uk visa) and his kids (Dominican - no visa). We were called a week before we were due to leave and told that the kids would have to have visas as there had been Dominicans who had jumped ship. We had paid in full. I don't have to tell you how disappointed we were. We asked the travel agency and the cruise line to relax the rule as the kids were under 18 and we could guarantee them. The cruise line refused and reiterated the visa stipulation - Schengen it has to be. It was the French Islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique who were insisting on this. We asked if they could stay on board in these islands and were told no. Maybe this year they changed the rules. It certainly was visa free before we booked it - otherwise we would not have booked it. Maybe we will try again next year.

I certainly was not giving bad advice through laziness nor lack of diligence. it was a fact - in March 2008.

Matilda
 

Freefallfatty

Gone sailing!
Apr 20, 2009
109
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Thank you everybody, I ain't quite sure on some of you guys but hey you helped me out heeps so thank you !


Take care,
I'm off shore tomorrow.

Bill
 

rafael

Bronze
Jan 2, 2002
1,633
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www.dr-tourist.tv
I will attempt to answer your question about where a Dominican can travel as simply as possible:

1) To any country on the list that was posted to where Dominicans can travel visa free. Keep in mind they must get there directly without stopping or have a visa valid for any country they will pass through in order to reach the destination. The US does not offer such transit visas.

About the only option you would have to get to Chile for example, would be to use Copa Airlines and travel through Panama. Panama does let Dominicans transit because the airport is secured. Because of this, Copa can charge very high rates for their flights. Much higher than if you could travel through Miami.

2) To any country to which they can get a visa. It is very, very difficult for Dominicans to get visas.

I disagree. I travel through MIA to south america all the time because I am exec platinum on AA, but when checking expedia the Copa flights through Panama are almost always less money. I may take a dominicana to Buenos Aires later this year and would fly copa to panama and then switch to LAN so I can get miles.
 
Apr 3, 2009
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CA Lifts Visa Restrictions

i would like to kindly point out the fact that majority of dominicans do not have few hundred bucks for a cruise hence it is very true they can only make a trip to a nearby colmado...
Listin Diario
4/29/2009

CA Lifts Visa Restrictions

Four Central American countries have removed visa travel restrictions on Dominicans in order to bolster commerce and tourism activity between the nations, says the Ministry of Foreign Relations. El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua made their decisions during discussions between diplomats at the Central American Visa Creation Agreement meeting. The initiative is also part of continuing integrations by the CA-4 nations. The Dominican government has agreed to reciprocate the offer and will remove visa restrictions on the CA-4 nations. The DR has a free trade agreement with Central America, and is also a co-signatory of the DR-CAFTA free trade agreement with the US.
 

sylindr

New member
Nov 29, 2007
509
18
0
you can cruise

she will need a visa to go everywhere but the local colmado and even then she can only drink dominican beer and rum

she will need a dominican passport and royal caribbean out of santo domingo will take you to four islands . it is reasonable and a wonder ful trip
 

AlaninDR

Mr. Chunky Skin
Dec 17, 2002
702
135
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Saint Maarten, Dominica, Margarita Island and Aruba. Cruises are over for the Summer and nothing has been posted yet for the Fall.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
982
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Has anyone visited El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras or Nicaragua and can post their experiences?
I have visited and worked in all these countries. They all have their attractions, and serious security issues, far worse than the DR. Most to offer in terms of tourism would probably be Guatemala. Honduras has a lot of hidden gems, like the western highlands and the ruins at Copan, and the Bay Islands. The others are also interesting and beautiful in their own ways... the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua is fascinating, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua have volcanoes, interesting history... great people... really depends what you are looking for.