Carnival Cruise Lines - Port in Maimon

[dv8]

but there was an article saying that all restaurants in the city centre were full? are you saying it was all a lie?
http://www.diariolibre.com/economia...-de-100-mil-dolares-en-puerto-plata-EJ1487341
Informaron que a las 10;00 de la ma?ana el 98 por ciento de los restaurantes del centro hist?rico y sectores aleda?os estaban ocupados por los cruceristas.

 

[Conchman]

I heard the Malecon was full of Carnival guests and I know for sure that over 100 taxis took clients out of the port, and that was just in the morning.

 

[the gorgon]

I heard the Malecon was full of Carnival guests and I know for sure that over 100 taxis took clients out of the port, and that was just in the morning.

if the malecon was filled with Carnival cruisers, then they must have all been in the bathroom when i was there. i spent hours on the Malecon, to satisfy my curiosity, since i am one of the guys who can easily be thought of as a naysayer. i saw a few people getting into a Toyota Previa, and the rest of the casetas were absolutely dead.

 

[BelgianMik]

And I have a bar on the malecon, and because I almost didn't have nobody (1 group of 8 from the cruise-ship), I drove around 2 that day and only the second time I saw 2 people. And the bar on the left had 4 people from the cruise and the bar on the right 10. And the 2 next to them not one.
I was here all day on the malecon, believe me, it was a big joke.

 

[BelgianMik]

but there was an article saying that all restaurants in the city centre were full? are you saying it was all a lie?
http://www.diariolibre.com/economia...-de-100-mil-dolares-en-puerto-plata-EJ1487341
Informaron que a las 10;00 de la ma?ana el 98 por ciento de los restaurantes del centro hist?rico y sectores aleda?os estaban ocupados por los cruceristas.

I'm only saying what all of the owners where saying this afternoon. I know the situation on the Malecon because I have a bar here and was here all day and went with my car a couple of times to see all of the malecon. I wasn't in the centre (parque central), but they said today that they saw the tourists passing by but that these people had an city-excursion and didn't have time to drink or eat.

And about the article: the 50 dollars per person was with the excursions paid. more then 75% took an excursion (and Carnival takes 60% or more on every excursion, see my post from a couple of days before) (and from those excursion, a big part is for Ocean World, Brugal, the government with the cable line etc) and from the remaining, a bunch stayed in Amber Cove, so all of that money whent to Carnival also.
And from the people who did go to the city on their own, they had to pay 35 dollars for the cab..
So yes, they probably spend 50 dollars per person, but the people didn't see a lot of that.

 

[BelgianMik]

And at 10 o clock the restaurants where full, lol. the cruise-ship came here at 8 o clock, then the 40 excursion-people had to get their clients of the ship and only after everybody that has booked an excursion is gone, the other tourists can leave the ship. And that took about 2 hours (2 clients of me work with Carnival for excursions). and then they still have to take a cab and go to Puerto Plata....

 

[Tom0910]

I know a bar owner on the malecon and he told me that he didn't get a single person from the ship at his bar.

 

[bigbird]

I know a bar owner on the malecon and he told me that he didn't get a single person from the ship at his bar.

Maybe I am missing something as I admit I have only been to the POP malecon a few times. What is there to do on the malecon that would attract the "cruisers"?

 

[bigbird]

Another silly question. Why would a cruiser want to eat at a restaurant on the malecon when they can just wait a couple hours and get a free meal on the ship?

 

[Tom0910]

Maybe I am missing something as I admit I have only been to the POP malecon a few times. What is there to do on the malecon that would attract the "cruisers"?

Bars and restaurants,that's what. What else is there to do anywhere else in Puerto Plata?

 

[alfiefan]

You are correct. If all you think PP has to offer is some bars and restaurants on the Malecon, it's not much. And it's true, cruisers can get back on the ship and eat the food they've paid for instead of eating ashore. So the challenge is to find a way to make the shore more attractive. Here are some ideas.

PP is full of beautiful Victorian architecture, and also some old parts like the fort (I'm going on memory here). You could package a half-day walking tour of PP with Dominican lunch for $75 per person. You'd have to do your research and really understand and explain the Victorian architecture, the history starting with Columbus's landing and naming of PP, a walk around the fort with explanation with some history of when battles involving the fort occurred. Cough up some believable explanation of why the Neptune thing is in the bay. Maybe you'd have to rent a van if the sites were too spread apart, in which case you charge $125 per person. All along the way, you explain the Dominican way of life to the tourists. What do people eat? Where so they shop? Do they get any health care? What are the schools like? Stuff like that. You finish with a really nice lunch featuring some Dominican specialties, with a couple beers and some rum punch included. Maybe get a guy to play and sing while the lunch is happening (he can sell his CDs and get tips for the gig). Or you get a DJ in to play some music and get the old white people up dancing to make them feel young again. Then take them back to the pier.

People will pay the prices I stated for an excursion like this. Let's say you could get 10 people to pay $75 for the walking tour and lunch with beer or rum. That's $750 for about 5 hours work, less costs - you have to figure that out, but my guess is you'd make a good profit.

So no, cruise passengers won't magically find the Malecon. Malacon restaurant owners have to collaborate with other people locally to give these people an easy five-hour experience. And then everyone can make money.

 

[alfiefan]

As a cruiser, I am going to answer some of the questions and objections posed in the last several posts. Lets' be clear who is on the cruise ships (not just Carnival's), and let's be clear, most of the cruise lines operate about the same way.

The people on cruise ships have already paid for their breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday on the ship. They are in a floating hotel, with pools, hot tubs, good meals, and entertainment. You can say these people are fat, old, lazy, racist, stupid,..whatever. But these are your potential customers, and they have money to spend ashore. You might better ask yourselves how you can make the PP area interesting, different, welcoming and helpful to them, if you want them to spend their money in your place.

They DO want to learn about the places they visit. They want to eat the local food (but they are afraid it will make them sick). They want to see how people live, where the kids go to school, where people shop, how much it costs to live, what careers people can have, what their houses are like.

They have approximately 5/6 hours ashore before the ship sails. If they miss the ship it will cost them thousands of dollars to re-join it at the next port. So they want to book an experience on-line in your country before they ever leave home. They want a guarantee that you will get them back to the port before the ship leaves. And in those 5/6 hours, they want you to give them a taste of the culture and the society they are visiting.

Of course they are not going to venture to the Malecon on their own (even if they could find it). They have no idea what a Malecon is. Or how to get to it from the port. Or what to do when they get there. Or how to get back to the ship on time.

Package it up people! Then get it up on the Web and sell it!

 

[bigbird]

............So no, cruise passengers won't magically find the Malecon. Malacon restaurant owners have to collaborate with other people locally to give these people an easy five-hour experience. And then everyone can make money.

Excellent, I got the impression the bar and restaurant owners thought somehow the cruisers were just going to run to their little hole in the wall to eat the same crap they have been serving for the past ten years.

 

[the gorgon]

You are correct. If all you think PP has to offer is some bars and restaurants on the Malecon, it's not much. And it's true, cruisers can get back on the ship and eat the food they've paid for instead of eating ashore. So the challenge is to find a way to make the shore more attractive. Here are some ideas.

PP is full of beautiful Victorian architecture, and also some old parts like the fort (I'm going on memory here). You could package a half-day walking tour of PP with Dominican lunch for $75 per person. You'd have to do your research and really understand and explain the Victorian architecture, the history starting with Columbus's landing and naming of PP, a walk around the fort with explanation with some history of when battles involving the fort occurred. Cough up some believable explanation of why the Neptune thing is in the bay. Maybe you'd have to rent a van if the sites were too spread apart, in which case you charge $125 per person. All along the way, you explain the Dominican way of life to the tourists. What do people eat? Where so they shop? Do they get any health care? What are the schools like? Stuff like that. You finish with a really nice lunch featuring some Dominican specialties, with a couple beers and some rum punch included. Maybe get a guy to play and sing while the lunch is happening (he can sell his CDs and get tips for the gig). Or you get a DJ in to play some music and get the old white people up dancing to make them feel young again. Then take them back to the pier.

People will pay the prices I stated for an excursion like this. Let's say you could get 10 people to pay $75 for the walking tour and lunch with beer or rum. That's $750 for about 5 hours work, less costs - you have to figure that out, but my guess is you'd make a good profit.

So no, cruise passengers won't magically find the Malecon. Malacon restaurant owners have to collaborate with other people locally to give these people an easy five-hour experience. And then everyone can make money.

i fail to see how you can charge 125 per person for a city tour, when all the data which has been compiled on 22 destinations in the caribbean conclude that the average weighted spend of visitors on trips and excursions is a shade under 18 dollars. as a matter of fact, the complete spend of visitors to the DR ports is somewhere under 80 dollars. 125 just is out of the question.

 

[dv8]

first, carnival has already sealed the deal with tours.

second, carnival already offers POP city tour from 30 to 56 dollars per head (depending on what attractions are visited).

third, we all know the city will get to lick few dollars here and there but the problem is that the politicians made promises impossible to keep, that POP will fill with tourists, that it will revive the economy. heck, one politico went as far as to say that folks should borrow money in order to open new businesses. and looks like all this is not coming to fruition. some may say it's still better than nothing but it's not cutting it.

 

[dv8]

i fail to see how you can charge 125 per person for a city tour.

this notion is ridiculous. at 130 dollars carnival sells a helicopter tour of this dump of a town plus two hours lounging on VIP lifestyle beach with drinks and snacks. and that's one of their most expensive excursions...

 

[the gorgon]

first, carnival has already sealed the deal with tours.

second, carnival already offers POP city tour from 30 to 56 dollars per head (depending on what attractions are visited).

third, we all know the city will get to lick few dollars here and there but the problem is that the politicians made promises impossible to keep, that POP will fill with tourists, that it will revive the economy. heck, one politico went as far as to say that folks should borrow money in order to open new businesses. and looks like all this is not coming to fruition. some may say it's still better than nothing but it's not cutting it.

this posting says it all. nobody is saying that some people in POP will not get a few scraps. and, as we all know, something is better than nothing, in a case like this. my beef is that the politicos painted this wonderful picture of cascades of riches, and the people bought it. guys did go out and borrow money to spruce up their businesses, thinking that they too had been invited to the party. they failed to know that certain players had the game all wrapped up, and that D?Fausto?s Pescado y Lambi on the Maimon main road was going to see the tourists from a respectable distance. those guys who make those large, colorful wooden parrots along the road past Cofresi must have been working overtime to ramp up production. ask them how many they have sold, since the tour buses are probably express, and do not stop where they are, since Carnival has its gift shops at the pier, and on the ship. every ceramic mug and Dominican tee shirt you can buy in Parque Central is sold on the boat, anyway.

 

[bigbird]

this posting says it all. nobody is saying that some people in POP will not get a few scraps. and, as we all know, something is better than nothing, in a case like this......, and that D?Fausto?s Pescado y Lambi on the Maimon main road was going to see the tourists from a respectable distance..........

I think the big misunderstanding, well at least on my part, is NOT really understanding what the "cruiser" is really about. The cruiser is a harder market for the local to sell his "parrots" to than someone staying at an AI. At least the tourist at the AI there is time to lure him out the compound to see a "tiny" bit of the "real" DR. The darn cruiser on the other hand is in and out of Dodge so quick if you blink an eye he is gone.

From a few previous posts I now understand the cruiser's every move has to be planned before he steps off that ship. The cruiser doesn't have that leisure time to just stroll and look and maybe buy.

Well, it does put Puerto Plata back on the map.

Yes, yes, yes .............. Carnival is raking in some cash-o-la, but they did shell out $85 million to get the ball rolling.

 

[the gorgon]

I think the big misunderstanding, well at least on my part, is NOT really understanding what the "cruiser" is really about. The cruiser is a harder market for the local to sell his "parrots" to than someone staying at an AI. At least the tourist at the AI there is time to lure him out the compound to see a "tiny" bit of the "real" DR. The darn cruiser on the other hand is in and out of Dodge so quick if you blink an eye he is gone.

From a few previous posts I now understand the cruiser's every move has to be planned before he steps off that ship. The cruiser doesn't have that leisure time to just stroll and look and maybe buy.

Well, it does put Puerto Plata back on the map.

Yes, yes, yes .............. Carnival is raking in some cash-o-la, but they did shell out $85 million to get the ball rolling.

your last sentence says it all. they shelled out 85 million to build the port. the DR government did not. he who has the gold makes the rules.

the data on cruise ship ports of call, as late as 2012, finds that about 65% of cruisers to Dominican ports take a shore excursion. that is higher than many other ports. the data also shows that 86% of the excursions in the DR ports of call are bought on the ship. that too is higher than most other ports.

 

[the gorgon]

let me put things into perspective here. in 1999, the government of Grenada tried to levy a 1.50 head tax on cruise passengers, in order to develop a landfill there. Royal Caribbean simply cancelled that stop of the itinerary. yes, for 1.50 per head.

these are hardball operators, and they are not about to leave any loopholes wherein others can make money that they should be getting. this is not going to be a free for all. they are going to control everything, and seize as much revenue as they can. go read up about Mickey Arison and his father, and see what we are dealing with here.