I do not think so.
Labadee, Haiti has less to offer and Royal Caribbean has made it one of its main port of destination for years.
- Thread starter the gorgon
- Start date
Cruise Lines Give Up on Samana
I do not think so.
Labadee, Haiti has less to offer and Royal Caribbean has made it one of its main port of destination for years.
Labadee and Samana are two different animals. Labadee is an enclave. Samana is a town. people going to Labadee do not even know that it is in Haiti. it is completely owned, lock stock , and barrel, by Royal Caribbean. the rules of engagement are different there.
Here's a RE site that has pics of the ongoing work at the new facility in Maimon (aka "Amber Cove").
Carnival Cruise Lines Breaks Ground ~ Amber Cove ~ Maimon Dominican Republic North Coast
Carnival Cruise Lines Breaks Ground ~ Amber Cove ~ Maimon Dominican Republic North Coast
We are not trying to argue who own the animals, but what animal has more to offer. If you compare both animals, Samana has so much more.
I just hope that the local politicians learn their lesson.
Because there is no cruise ship port, and there is no town, you need more than just a beach.
Dominican taxi drivers, vendors, and other locals are not civilized enough to even come close to cruise ship passengers. Anything they do is so annoying so the passengers just want to go back to the ship as fast as possible. The cruise port in DR must be fenced off from the surrounding area, like Lebadee.
Reality? It will take 10+ years to make Samana a viable cruise ship destination. This does not apply to all Dominicans, believe me there are some bery smart cookies out there, but in general Dominicans can screw up a wet dream. Everyone is so intent on getting their piece of the pie that no one ends up with the pie. It will take a government action to clean up, put rules in place, and build the infrastructure to bring in the tourists. It's still my personal opinion, but like Barahona and other places, I still believe that the those with interest in Punta Cana will not allow the competition. Politicians will be bought off until there is a will to make this happen. Just an opinion.
DR already has enough rules and laws, the problem is that rules and laws are never enforced in DR, and I don't see any DR politicians that have balls to start enforcing them in the near future.
Probably the lack of facilities and committment by the Dominican government to build a pier has given the Cruise lines reason to avoid Samana. Perhaps the cost of tours from the Cruise ship was not worth it for the tourists
There is certainly enough in the area for a day off the ship, such as, Limon Falls, Zip lining, Playa Rincon, Playa Valle, Las Terrenas beaches and restaurants. Perhaps the costs of coming into the DR were prohibitive like it is on the taxes for flights into the airports. It is a shame that the DR gov has reacted to slowly to the problem in Samana. It will be a battle to get the Cruise lines to come back. To answer your question regarding the new roads. They were necessary to attract tourists and locals from Santo Domingo to the Samana Peninsula. Also the airport at El Catey has been slow to develop because of the lack of large all inclusive resorts in the area. It was necessary, however for the DR gov to make these investments for future growth. It is difficult to grow tourism in Samana when garbage washes up next to the Malecon and very little is done to solve the problem on an on going basis. It is evident that if you can't solve the simple things to build tourism than the bigger problems will be almost impossilbe to overcome.
LTSteve
and POP has the new port coming...
some cruise lines have made a commitment to that one.... they may not need two stops in RD
The 'piece of the pie - no pie left' comment is so accurate...... so Dominican
some cruise lines have made a commitment to that one.... they may not need two stops in RD
The 'piece of the pie - no pie left' comment is so accurate...... so Dominican
Dominicans don't see garbage. Rich people who live in half-million dollar apartments in the center of Santo Domingo, they don't pay attention to the garbage next to their buildings like it doesn't exist. Ask them about garbage.... what garbage? Ah, that garbage... that's nothing, no importa... This problem can't be solved until some foreign company (like Royal Caribbean) will fence off the piece of land (like they did it in Haiti), clean it up and deny access for locals.
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You mean there is a private beach in Maimon?
As far as I know DR constitution [article 15?] does not allow that, beaches are public domain.
in this day and age, ports do not need to have much to offer. no port has anything like the ship does, in terms of food, drinks, shopping, nor entertainment . cruise ships are no longer transportation. they are the destinations. when the ship syops at an island port, it is just to break monotony, and for tourists to say they stopped in Barbados. what the islands have to do is just to make the stop as least annoying as possible. it does not have to be spectacular.