- Thread starter Conchman
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Carnival Cruise Lines - Port in Maimon
Cruises are great for cheap people looking to fatten up on AI style food and drink while living in close quarters with lots of others. Only excitement is if you will get sick when norovirus breaks out. And yes you will. Its really contagious. Not a fan of cruises but went on one so I am an expert. Staying on topic, I think its wonderful that PP gets cruisers and look forward to the coming economic rebirth of PP as a result.
amber cove FB with more comments from cruisers: https://www.facebook.com/Amber-Cove-Dominican-Republic-cruise-port-697795690328703/
i would like to see the source of the taxi part, i have seen reviews of trips offered and the port itself. a poster quoted taxis charging 35 dollars for a trip to POP, it's about a dollar on a guagua 
but tourists are not likely to find that out.
all this part about maimon being stiffed on this is kinda sad. in a way i understand carnival, they want the passengers to stay with them and spend the money with them. shops inside the port not being open is a question of money, they charge few thousand dollars a month in rent, not many folks can fork it out right now.
miesposo's workers said that only a handful of people made it to maimon (restaurants/shops).
but tourists are not likely to find that out.all this part about maimon being stiffed on this is kinda sad. in a way i understand carnival, they want the passengers to stay with them and spend the money with them. shops inside the port not being open is a question of money, they charge few thousand dollars a month in rent, not many folks can fork it out right now.
miesposo's workers said that only a handful of people made it to maimon (restaurants/shops).
i would like to see the source of the taxi part, i have seen reviews of trips offered and the port itself. a poster quoted taxis charging 35 dollars for a trip to POP, it's about a dollar on a guagua
all this part about maimon being stiffed on this is kinda sad. in a way i understand carnival, they want the passengers to stay with them and spend the money with them. shops inside the port not being open is a question of money, they charge few thousand dollars a month in rent, not many folks can fork it out right now.
miesposo's workers said that only a handful of people made it to maimon (restaurants/shops).
my buddy and i spent 4 hours on the malecon today, as an exercise in observation. we set up shop in one particular caseta, and went up and down the malecon at intervals. well, not one cruiser came into the caseta i was in. not one trinket vendor sold a straw hat. we looked in , occasionally, at all the other casetas, and saw no appearance of any cruisers. we saw a parade of mini buses, like the Hyundai H1, passing down the malecon all day, but none stopped where i could see. i know that the vendors at the caseta where we were were sorely disillusioned.
First, sorry Gorgon, I confused you with the mythical Gorgons (Medusa, a female, was the best known). Second, even though my screen name is alfiefan (Alfie is our heroic Ottawa hockey player), I'm a woman. Phew, got all the genders straightened out!
It's better if you stop generalizing about cruise pax. Try to see them as a large mass of people with different interests. If 300 people on a ship are interested in a well-researched, interesting, small-group cultural tour, (which they are willing to pay for)- that's an opportunity. If 100 more want a challenging small-group hike in the rain forest and an opportunity to snorkel (which they are willing to pay for) - that's an opportunity.
And don't forget the shoppers - on every ship there are people who LOVE to shop. You think that is stupid? La Sirena is different than anything they've ever seen - I loved it when my local friend took me there. It's like nothing I'd ever seen before. How about a half-day shopping tour? A bus of 20 people, hit La Sirena, the produce market, a straw market, a typical small grocery store, a place where they can buy arts and crafts. Tell them in advance what to look for, what a reasonable price is. Tell them where to buy their delicious Dominican coffee and rum for less than they will pay at the pier.
Cheez, what about the baseball? There are (and have been) so many great Dominican baseball players in the majors. North Americans know their names. How do they become such great baseball players? Where do they learn? Can you take a small bus of people, maybe show and explain the place of baseball in Dominican culture? I've been going to the Dominican for almost 30 years now, and the baseball is still a mystery to me. You don't think there are a bunch of baseball fans on any ship? Guess again. One of my very best moments in the DR of all time was when I saw three kids with a bat, a ball and a glove playing ball on the beach near PP. My goodness, those little kids were so good! How did they get that good?
You also have the great Dominican dancing and music tradition, something these cruisers don't know much about. It's unique to the DR, you find that on no other island I've visited. That's a theme for a half-day tour. Tell the the history of dancing and music in the DR. Teach them the merengue, get them up dancing, make them feel they get it. Sell them some CDs.
As for the Malecon, What did the casetas look like? Did they have a sign out front saying "Welcome Cruisers. We speak English here." ? Was there anything outside that suggested cruisers should go in? Maybe a sidewalk board with a menu, offers of special Dominican rum drinks - Cruisn' Mama, Coco Carnival, special today? Did it look dark and scary inside? If somebody came in, was there a staff person who said, "Welcome, come in. Let's find you a seat."
And yes, the idea of the old grandma is great. Teach them to make Dominican food, and then eat a group lunch they helped to make. Then take them to a nice beach and let them swim. Put them back in the bus, stop by a small bar with drinks and meringue for 45 minutes, animate them and get them up dancing- that's a five-hour tour, $125.00 tour right there. They'd love it.
Hello? You may have to do some work so you can put together a great tour for people. You might have to learn about what is all around you, and figure out how to explain it and make it real to tourists. I've mentioned twice the lovely Victorian architecture of PP - do you even know what that is? I've mentioned the interesting geological formations on the trip from PP to Santiago - do you know what they are, how they were formed? what kind of agriculture is done in the valley and why? How much food is produced? Who the farmers are and how they produce food?
If I only represent 10% of the cruisers on a ship of 3,000, that is still 300 people looking for a high-end high-quality experience. If you could get 30 people interested in the tradition of baseball in the DR and give them a good experience, that would be two vans at $75 pp without lunch. If you could round up a few bats, balls and gloves, and some Dominicans to play a ball game with them, they'd love it.
But remember this. If you offer a tour and rip them off shamelessly, they will report you on Trip Advisor and you will never get another chance, because everyone in the world will know what you did. If you promise to get them back to the ship on time, you MUST do that, no exceptions, EVER. That is the kiss of death.
I recommend again that Dominicans and others who want to profit from this new dock go and register for the Cruise Critic website (free). People booked on cruises have been posting over there, trying to find tour operators and excursions. You cannot directly advertise on that site - they will take your post down - no direct advertising allowed on that site. But you can sure learn about cruisers and what they are looking for.
Lindy
It's better if you stop generalizing about cruise pax. Try to see them as a large mass of people with different interests. If 300 people on a ship are interested in a well-researched, interesting, small-group cultural tour, (which they are willing to pay for)- that's an opportunity. If 100 more want a challenging small-group hike in the rain forest and an opportunity to snorkel (which they are willing to pay for) - that's an opportunity.
And don't forget the shoppers - on every ship there are people who LOVE to shop. You think that is stupid? La Sirena is different than anything they've ever seen - I loved it when my local friend took me there. It's like nothing I'd ever seen before. How about a half-day shopping tour? A bus of 20 people, hit La Sirena, the produce market, a straw market, a typical small grocery store, a place where they can buy arts and crafts. Tell them in advance what to look for, what a reasonable price is. Tell them where to buy their delicious Dominican coffee and rum for less than they will pay at the pier.
Cheez, what about the baseball? There are (and have been) so many great Dominican baseball players in the majors. North Americans know their names. How do they become such great baseball players? Where do they learn? Can you take a small bus of people, maybe show and explain the place of baseball in Dominican culture? I've been going to the Dominican for almost 30 years now, and the baseball is still a mystery to me. You don't think there are a bunch of baseball fans on any ship? Guess again. One of my very best moments in the DR of all time was when I saw three kids with a bat, a ball and a glove playing ball on the beach near PP. My goodness, those little kids were so good! How did they get that good?
You also have the great Dominican dancing and music tradition, something these cruisers don't know much about. It's unique to the DR, you find that on no other island I've visited. That's a theme for a half-day tour. Tell the the history of dancing and music in the DR. Teach them the merengue, get them up dancing, make them feel they get it. Sell them some CDs.
As for the Malecon, What did the casetas look like? Did they have a sign out front saying "Welcome Cruisers. We speak English here." ? Was there anything outside that suggested cruisers should go in? Maybe a sidewalk board with a menu, offers of special Dominican rum drinks - Cruisn' Mama, Coco Carnival, special today? Did it look dark and scary inside? If somebody came in, was there a staff person who said, "Welcome, come in. Let's find you a seat."
And yes, the idea of the old grandma is great. Teach them to make Dominican food, and then eat a group lunch they helped to make. Then take them to a nice beach and let them swim. Put them back in the bus, stop by a small bar with drinks and meringue for 45 minutes, animate them and get them up dancing- that's a five-hour tour, $125.00 tour right there. They'd love it.
Hello? You may have to do some work so you can put together a great tour for people. You might have to learn about what is all around you, and figure out how to explain it and make it real to tourists. I've mentioned twice the lovely Victorian architecture of PP - do you even know what that is? I've mentioned the interesting geological formations on the trip from PP to Santiago - do you know what they are, how they were formed? what kind of agriculture is done in the valley and why? How much food is produced? Who the farmers are and how they produce food?
If I only represent 10% of the cruisers on a ship of 3,000, that is still 300 people looking for a high-end high-quality experience. If you could get 30 people interested in the tradition of baseball in the DR and give them a good experience, that would be two vans at $75 pp without lunch. If you could round up a few bats, balls and gloves, and some Dominicans to play a ball game with them, they'd love it.
But remember this. If you offer a tour and rip them off shamelessly, they will report you on Trip Advisor and you will never get another chance, because everyone in the world will know what you did. If you promise to get them back to the ship on time, you MUST do that, no exceptions, EVER. That is the kiss of death.
I recommend again that Dominicans and others who want to profit from this new dock go and register for the Cruise Critic website (free). People booked on cruises have been posting over there, trying to find tour operators and excursions. You cannot directly advertise on that site - they will take your post down - no direct advertising allowed on that site. But you can sure learn about cruisers and what they are looking for.
Lindy
That's a great post Lindy.
It certainly changes my idea about cruisers and I really hope you are right, which, from your experience I think you are.
We can't expect overnight success and it will take a while before the DR tourism people work out how to profit from the new venture for sure. It will need a cultural shift in the North coast but I reckon that even if a small percentage trickles down it's better than nothing.
Carnival are there to make a buck (or lots of) so it's naive to think they are going to let anyone else in on their huge investment but something must squeeze through.
What many of us here are saying is that the hype given to the local people has led to false hopes and expectations,plus the Dominican attitude of 'take it or leave it' will need to change...And that will be hard.
i can just see tourists going to La Sirena, with eyes like deer in headlights, because they have never seen anything like it back home. the DR did not invent the box store. there is one on every block in the USA. besides, people stocking up on goods in the DR are going to have to take it home. in these days of excess weight baggage charges, i do not think people are going to be doing any real shopping in a supermarket. besides, most of the stuff in La Sirena comes from where the cruisers are from.
Maybe they will buy something to eat, that they can't get on the ship? When I am on vacation, I like to go to the supermarket to see what kind of local or home food I can scrape up, to avoid the typical buffets.
i would like to see the source of the taxi part, i have seen reviews of trips offered and the port itself. a poster quoted taxis charging 35 dollars for a trip to POP, it's about a dollar on a guagua
all this part about maimon being stiffed on this is kinda sad. in a way i understand carnival, they want the passengers to stay with them and spend the money with them. shops inside the port not being open is a question of money, they charge few thousand dollars a month in rent, not many folks can fork it out right now.
miesposo's workers said that only a handful of people made it to maimon (restaurants/shops).
A lot of stores are closed only because you need a separate company to operate in a free zone, and it takes time to establish a company and get the licenses. Dominican red tape.
Very interesting thread, I sat @ my desk all day wondering if the Amber Cove Cruisers would have an opportunity to stock up on bulk dried fruit @ La Sirena.
I was at Amber Cove all morning and there were some noticeable differences from the first cruise. Almost everybody had a pre-booked excursion, I probably saw 20 groups of 50 people, everything from several city tours, 3 different beach picnics, buggy rides, ziplining, Ocean World, Outback safaris, etc. At least 1000 of the 2000 passengers went on excursions, and that was before 11 am. There were far less people by the poolside, and less taxis were taken. I think the shore excursion department on this ship was far better organized and took suggestions from the first ship. This ship was a 7 day cruise from Charleston whereas the first ship was a 5 day cruise from Miami, so the crowd was a bigger spending crowd, they paid more for the cruise and it came from a better area.
Thank you Conchman, Sosua News is anything but a "News Source", morons.
Perhaps they should stick with their expertise, snipping dog granos.
Perhaps they should stick with their expertise, snipping dog granos.
if your estimate of at least 1000 of the 2000 cruisers going on tour is accurate, that is in keeping with the dataset, whch says that 65% of cruisers to the DR go on a tour of some kind, and that 84% of the tours are booked aboard the ship.