Cruise ships fill Puerto Plata’s harbors

[Dolores]

This October 2022, more than 20 very large cruise lines are scheduled to dock at the two tourist terminals in Puerto Plata: Ambar Cove and the new Taino Bay. Fourteen of the ships will dock at Ambar Cove and ten will tie up at Taino Bay on the north coast with time off to enjoy Puerto Plata city attractions and take eco and cultural tours throughout the area.

As a sample of the increasing number of tourists visiting the two north coast ports, Jose Luis Rodriguez, executive director of the Dominican Port Authority, told the audience at the FCCA Caribbean Conference held in Santo Domingo that on 28 September 2022, 14,608 tourists arrived to the Taino Bay and Amber Cove ports. The number of arrivals can translate into more than US$1 million for the city, estimating each tourist spends on average US$80 between meals, excursions and shopping.

The Allure of the Seas, at one...

Continue reading...

 

[Yourmaninvegas]

"The number of arrivals can translate into more than US$1 million for the city, estimating each tourist spends on average US$80 between meals, excursions and shopping."

Interesting. 💰
"Dollar Dollar bills ya'll; get the money." 🤑

 

[JD Jones]

For the first time Puerto Plata will receive 60 cruise ships in December​

Any way you look at it, that's a lot of tourists in one month.

Por primera vez Puerto Plata recibirá 60 cruceros en diciembre

La provincia de Puerto Plata se prepara para recibir en diciembre la mayor cantidad de cruceros de su historia y la mayor desde el reinicio

listindiario.com

Edgar Lantigua
Puerto Plata, DR.
The province of Puerto Plata is preparing to receive the largest number of cruise ships in its history in December and the largest since the restart of operations after the impact of Covid-19.
The month of December marks the start of the high season for the tourism industry in the Caribbean, both for traditional hotel and maritime tourism. The ports of Amber Cove from Carnival Corporation will receive 35 vessels and Taino Bay from ITM Group 25.
December operations begin on Friday the 2nd with Carnival Horizon, Norwegian Encore and Celebrity Beyond; on Sunday the 4th the Regal Princess and the Grandeur of the Seas will arrive; while on Monday the 5th, the Norwegian Escape, Carnival Spirit and Seven Seas Splendor cruises; on the 6th, Carnival Celebration, Norwegian Getaway and Oceania Marina.
On December 7th the Carnival Mardi Gras, Carnival Freedom and the Celebrity Silhouette will arrive; 8 corresponds to Norwegian Dawn and Valiant Lady; on the 9th Norwegian Encore, NCL Sky and Celebrity Constellation; while the 10 will be the Seven Seas Navigator and the 11 the Scarlet Lady.
On Monday the 12th, the Norwegian Escape; on the 14th there will be 4, Carnival Celebration, Carnival Spirit, Norwegian Dawn and Seven Seas Navigator, two in each port; the 15th the Carnival Magic; on the 16th, Carnival Horizon, Norwegian Encore, MSC Seascape and Celebrity Beyond; on the 18th, Rotterdam.
On Monday the 19th, the Norwegian Escape and the Norwegian Epic will do so; on the 20th, Nieuw Amsterdam and Carnival Spirit; on the 21st, Carnival Magic, Carnival Mardi Grass, Norwegian Encore and Celebrity Silhouette; the 22, Carnival Celebration; on the 23rd, Zaandam, Carnival Sunshine, Grandeur of the Seas and MSC Seascape; 24 Nieuw Statendam and Pacific Coast; the 25 Carnival Freedom, Nieuw Amsterdam, Norwegian Dawn and Norwegian Gem.
For Monday the 26th, the arrival of Norwegian Escape, Odyssey of the Seas and Oceania Insignia is scheduled; on the 27th, Valiant lady; the 28th, Carnival Mardi Gras; on the 29th, Carnival Magic and MSC Seascape; on the 30th, Celebrity Constellation; closing the 31st, with the Zuiderdam.
In his speech on the occasion of the delivery of the Epifanio Lantigua National Prize for Tourism Journalism, Minister David Collado indicated that the country will end this year with more than one million cruise tourists as a testimony of the great recovery of the industry in all scopes.
The companies that manage the local ports project an excellent high season until April, since between May and September there is regularly a decrease in visits as trips to other regions of the world increase.

 

[BermudaRum]

Additional good news for the NC ports, as well as the Cruise Ship industry.

Dominican Republic receives the Carnival Celebration for the first time with 5,788 cruise passengers

<p>The Dominican Port Authority (APORDOM) announced that last Thursday, November 24, two Carnival Cruise Line ships arrived at the Amber Cove cruise terminal, located in Puerto Plata, where 9,450 cruise passengers disembarked. “The Carnival Celebration touched Dominican land for the first time...

dominicantoday.com

 

[BermudaRum]

For the first time Puerto Plata will receive 60 cruise ships in December​

Any way you look at it, that's a lot of tourists in one month.


In his speech on the occasion of the delivery of the Epifanio Lantigua National Prize for Tourism Journalism, Minister David Collado indicated that the country will end this year with more than one million cruise tourists as a testimony of the great recovery of the industry in all scopes.
The companies that manage the local ports project an excellent high season until April, since between May and September there is regularly a decrease in visits as trips to other regions of the world increase.

Interesting results year to date in achieving over one million cruise tourist.

Does anyone know what the port tax is that the DR Govt charges for each arriving passenger? I can only think it's not the US$50-$75 per passenger that we charge here in BDA. 😱

 

[Playabavaro]

For the first time Puerto Plata will receive 60 cruise ships in December​

Any way you look at it, that's a lot of tourists in one month.

Por primera vez Puerto Plata recibirá 60 cruceros en diciembre

La provincia de Puerto Plata se prepara para recibir en diciembre la mayor cantidad de cruceros de su historia y la mayor desde el reinicio

listindiario.com

Edgar Lantigua
Puerto Plata, DR.
The province of Puerto Plata is preparing to receive the largest number of cruise ships in its history in December and the largest since the restart of operations after the impact of Covid-19.
The month of December marks the start of the high season for the tourism industry in the Caribbean, both for traditional hotel and maritime tourism. The ports of Amber Cove from Carnival Corporation will receive 35 vessels and Taino Bay from ITM Group 25.
December operations begin on Friday the 2nd with Carnival Horizon, Norwegian Encore and Celebrity Beyond; on Sunday the 4th the Regal Princess and the Grandeur of the Seas will arrive; while on Monday the 5th, the Norwegian Escape, Carnival Spirit and Seven Seas Splendor cruises; on the 6th, Carnival Celebration, Norwegian Getaway and Oceania Marina.
On December 7th the Carnival Mardi Gras, Carnival Freedom and the Celebrity Silhouette will arrive; 8 corresponds to Norwegian Dawn and Valiant Lady; on the 9th Norwegian Encore, NCL Sky and Celebrity Constellation; while the 10 will be the Seven Seas Navigator and the 11 the Scarlet Lady.
On Monday the 12th, the Norwegian Escape; on the 14th there will be 4, Carnival Celebration, Carnival Spirit, Norwegian Dawn and Seven Seas Navigator, two in each port; the 15th the Carnival Magic; on the 16th, Carnival Horizon, Norwegian Encore, MSC Seascape and Celebrity Beyond; on the 18th, Rotterdam.
On Monday the 19th, the Norwegian Escape and the Norwegian Epic will do so; on the 20th, Nieuw Amsterdam and Carnival Spirit; on the 21st, Carnival Magic, Carnival Mardi Grass, Norwegian Encore and Celebrity Silhouette; the 22, Carnival Celebration; on the 23rd, Zaandam, Carnival Sunshine, Grandeur of the Seas and MSC Seascape; 24 Nieuw Statendam and Pacific Coast; the 25 Carnival Freedom, Nieuw Amsterdam, Norwegian Dawn and Norwegian Gem.
For Monday the 26th, the arrival of Norwegian Escape, Odyssey of the Seas and Oceania Insignia is scheduled; on the 27th, Valiant lady; the 28th, Carnival Mardi Gras; on the 29th, Carnival Magic and MSC Seascape; on the 30th, Celebrity Constellation; closing the 31st, with the Zuiderdam.
In his speech on the occasion of the delivery of the Epifanio Lantigua National Prize for Tourism Journalism, Minister David Collado indicated that the country will end this year with more than one million cruise tourists as a testimony of the great recovery of the industry in all scopes.
The companies that manage the local ports project an excellent high season until April, since between May and September there is regularly a decrease in visits as trips to other regions of the world increase.

That's just too too many people tramping through these places all at once,Those ship carry a city's worth of people ,it must be chaos.

 

[malko]

That's just too too many people tramping through these places all at once,Those ship carry a city's worth of people ,it must be chaos.

They dont seem to get off the ships, as far as I could tell.
Was in POP the other day, there was at least one cruise ship in maimon, and one in POP, but the place was hardly crowded with tourists.

The only sign of tourists was, maybe, 3 of those safari lorries they use to shuffle them around, and they were 3/4 empty.

 

[william webster]

I'm looking forward to it....
The east bound ships pass me at Cabo Frances Viejo (oldest lighthouse in the New World)
without fail they veer NE to pass the Samana peninsula at that point...w/o fail

Very pretty at night when they pass all lit up

 

[Kipling333]

They dont seem to get off the ships, as far as I could tell.
Was in POP the other day, there was at least one cruise ship in maimon, and one in POP, but the place was hardly crowded with tourists.

The only sign of tourists was, maybe, 3 of those safari lorries they use to shuffle them around, and they were 3/4 empty.

It is much the same in La Romana , maybe a hundred or so get off the boat and go into the town and maybe two of those safari tour trucks. The cruise ships that come to the DR are the large budget style type . I normally go on a cruise every year and my experience is that less than 50% of the passengers go on the shore excursions except in large cities where many more leave the ship. Some cruise lines drop off their garbage onto trucks in DR and I am surprised that there has not been more complaints .

 

[keepcoming]

In 2024 Norwegian (Sky) will have cruises that leave from La Romana according to Cruise Critic. Many of the cruises we are looking at stop in Puerto Plata. We live/lived in the DR but maybe it will be nice to see it from another perspective.

 

[Auryn]

We watched one pass by Cabarete bay awhile ago. It seemed to have a smaller boat following it the entire time until it was out of sight to the east.

 

[Kricke87]

They dont seem to get off the ships, as far as I could tell.
Was in POP the other day, there was at least one cruise ship in maimon, and one in POP, but the place was hardly crowded with tourists.

The only sign of tourists was, maybe, 3 of those safari lorries they use to shuffle them around, and they were 3/4 empty.

Well why would they? IMO except for beaches, the DR does a very poor job at attracting tourists. There's like nothing to see or do, except for a few old monuments/buildings, it took me 5 minutes to get bored after entering the Fortaleza de San Felipe. People are not service minded, but instead are just eager to make a quick buck without any effort. Except for my parents, who obviously only come her to see their grand children (and me, I hope) I've not been able to convince any of my old friends or other relatives to come here, even with free accomodations included. So I don't expect these "potential" tourists to make any difference in the local economy, except potentially increasing the price of goods for the rest of us...

 

[NanSanPedro]

Well why would they? IMO except for beaches, the DR does a very poor job at attracting tourists. There's like nothing to see or do, except for a few old monuments/buildings, it took me 5 minutes to get bored after entering the Fortaleza de San Felipe. People are not service minded, but instead are just eager to make a quick buck without any effort. Except for my parents, who obviously only come her to see their grand children (and me, I hope) I've not been able to convince any of my old friends or other relatives to come here, even with free accomodations included. So I don't expect these "potential" tourists to make any difference in the local economy, except potentially increasing the price of goods for the rest of us...

I don't know if it was included in touristy things to do, but we had a blast 4 wheeling in PP the last time we stayed there. Yes you can do it at home but the DR is still a lot of fun. I also enjoyed San Felipe for much more than 5 minutes.

 

[william webster]

I see 2 ships now, right now, waiting to enter PP.....coming from the east.... at Cabo Frances Viejo

 

[tee]

Having worked on cruise ships for many years I am so happy to see that the ships coming to the north coast. People make negative comments but just don't get that the cruise ship industry creates thousands of jobs in the area surrounding the ports and thanks to the cruise ships Puerto Plata has never looked so beautiful. The ships bring more positives than negatives and if there really was not enough for the passengers to do in the area of Puerto Plata then believe me, they would not be stopping here! For anyone interested in knowing what ships are in any port worldwide on any given day then take a look at this great website. You can click on the ship and it will give you info on the ship and the cruise that it is doing at the moment.... https://www.cruisemapper.com/

 

[william webster]

Exactly.... if this wasn't a good port of call..... no ships

People should visit to see the high level of activity and employment.... tee is right

 

[JD Jones]

We watched one pass by Cabarete bay awhile ago. It seemed to have a smaller boat following it the entire time until it was out of sight to the east.

Maybe a police pursuit? Could you hear a siren? Flashing lights?

 

[william webster]

Cruise Ships..... an amazing story

They were the first to fall and fell the furthest at the onset of CV19..... dead in the water (hahaha)

Looky looky now.... who bounced back first ??!!

A great story.... rags to riches .......... again !!

As one passes by Cabo Frances Viejo as we type !!

 

[Kipling333]

As Malko points out , there are many passengers who do not disembark but all passport details are still given to the Dominican authorities and passengers can go ashore with their cabin pass. I have not been to the North Coast ports but if the ship takes on supplies of food and water there ,then it can be good business for the DR. Even the tours bring in cash to the economy . I feel that many experienced cruise passengers shy off the organised tours and would prefer to be comfortably transported into a port town or city where they can walk around and get a feel for the place...this is an area where the DR must get right. I hope the North Coast can cut out a niche with cruise ships rather than building too many AI hotels...that will spread the tourist dollar around the country more evenly . We are still way behind the cruise port facilities in the Caribbean islands further east but can only get better.

 

[william webster]

Another cruzera passing now

Interestingly, as they go east they are close to shore until Cabo Frances Viejo (oldest lighthouse in the new world) and then they veer out to sea ti get around Samana

They’re all the same

I suppose Cabo Frances is point #1 on the nautical maps here