Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

Well this past week I got to go somewhere new in the Caribbean and that rarely ever happens to me nowadays.   Our ship called at Amber Cove in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic for the second time. I wasn't onboard for the first call so it was new for me. I've been to DR several times before but not on the north coast. So my friends and I decided that we were going to take the local bus to the market. Some people discouraged us from doing it and others encouraged us. We walked out of Amber Cove (the port area that our company built and developed) and walked out of the premises. We got bombarded by taxi drives and guides offering to take us to the market for $30 there and $30 back.  Since the bus was $1 we insisted that we would take the bus. Regardless of two of us speaking Spanish to them, they still followed us around and pestered us to take them up on their services. Then just as we were going to cross the street and catch the bus, a young gentleman stopped us and told us he would give us a round trip ride for $20 (all three of us) and he would give us a tour. He showed us his guide card and we negotiated more in Spanish and it was a deal.

Now I wouldn't recommend getting into a strangers car and if you don't speak Spanish and you're in the DR I wouldn't tell you to try it but for us it was the best decision ever!  We spent 4 hours with the 2 guides and they took us to the market, souvenir shopping, drove us around through some nice neighbourhoods.  They also took us to some pretty photo op spots, the malecon (ocean side walk) and to the ruins. We also went latin music shopping and went to a local restaurant to get us some local  food. It was a great day!

Here are a few photos from our adventures.

Contract Number 13, 9th year in the Caribbean -- Part 2

Alright Part 2 of my Caribbean adventures.

One of my craziest weeks on board when my very first roommate from nearly 10 years ago came to cruise.  Emily and I were a disaster together then and we are a disaster together now, haha but I had a blast. We did a lot of excursions and I was running on very little sleep but it was worth it.

Off roading in La Romana

Off roading in La Romana

Off roading in La Romana

Off roading in Aruba

Off roading in Aruba

Off roading in Aruba

Off roading in Aruba 

Off roading in Aruba

Off roading in Aruba

Emily and I are planning to go to Vegas together. It's going to be a disaster!

Now I don't know how I ended up with so many South African friends but South Africans and Canadians always seem to get along. And one of mine and my  friends' favorite ports is St. Maarten, this time around we found a new spot for food and drinks.

Also had a chance to catch up with one of my dear old friends in Ocho Rios, Jamaican (his home town) when we were in port. Invited him over to tour the ship and I got these awesome shots.

And of course we can't forget the crew favorite of Cozumel, Mexico.  We haven't been there in 6 months and the island has grown significantly; new businesses, restaurants and more cruise ship traffic. The owner of Fat Tuesday was nice enough to throw a Thanksgiving Party for us when 4 of our ships were docked, it was so nice to catch up with old friends.

We had a rare late night call to Aruba just before holidays and we had an opportunity to wonder around. It was lovely to do some shopping and to watch the day into the night. The island was already  decorated for Christmas and it looked lovely!

And in the spirit of the holidays, we also had our fabulous Christmas Tree up in the lobby.

 I had one last opportunity to hit the beach before going home. Grand Turk is wonderful as the beach is right off the pier. Chanel and I brought our adult sippy cups and off we were.

Yoga on the beach

Adult sippy cups

I was due to sign off on my birthday which in a way is nice but in a way is not as you spend your special day traveling. We went to steakhouse a  few days before my actual birthday. We all met up at our favorite bar and funny enough, all the girls were in black and if I must say so myself, we all looked stunning!

My actual birthday I spent with a few good friends in Miami having unlimited all you can drink mimosas. It was a perfect and lovely way to finish off my 13th contract.

Even though I consumed bottomless mimosas for 5 hours, I still managed to get to the Miami airport on time. I didn't get a chance to eat and there was no food on the plane so I did what every reasonable person would do, I kept drinking ;)

I arrived home safe in one piece, filled out my immigration paperwork all wrong, got my luggage, had my bestie pick me up and rolled up in my warm and sweet home. The next day my niece, the love of my life woke me up.  I unpacked, did my laundry, packed again and made my way to Poland.

Oh the life of a seafarer :)