When we first started to plan this trip we had not included a cruise. After we had booked and paid for a house in Spring Hill and a condo in Tallahassee we received an email from vacationstogo.com about a really good deal on a 14-day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. If we had known we would be doing this cruise earlier, we would have booked the two rentals in the opposite order. It took us about 9 hours to drive from Tallahassee to Stuart, where we spent the night before the cruise departure day. It would have been less than a 5 hour drive from Spring Hill.
The cruise we booked was a combined cruise that encompassed two 7-day cruises. This was a special deal we received by booking through vacationstogo.com. We were able to do the 14-day cruise for a price that was less than 75% of the cost of booking the two cruises separately. Another big savings on this cruise was the gratuities were included in the cruise price, for those who have not taken a cruise this is a savings of $14.50 per day per person, a savings of $406. We also each received a $25 beverage card, since we do not drink alcohol the cards lasted us the whole cruise.
This was the fourth time we cruised on Holland America's Oosterdam.
Cruise Itinerary
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Amber Cove/Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (two stops)
Dolphin Encounter at Ocean World
Puerto Plata Sightseeing & Cabarete Beach
San Juan, Puerto Rico (one two stops)
Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas USVI
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (two one stops)
Punta Cana Samana, Dominican Republic
Grand Turks, Turks and Caicos Islands we made a second stop in San Juan, Puerto Rico instead.
Fort Lauderdale
After a 9 hour drive from Tallahassee, we stopped in Stuart, FL for the night. It was an uneventful drive of a little over an hour to FLL Park Safe where we left the car while on the cruise. After a short wait we boarded a shuttle and in 15-20 minutes we exited the shuttle at the cruise terminal. A porter was right there to take our luggage and we entered the terminal. The check-in process was reasonably quick and simple. Using FLL Park Safe was convenient, easy, and comfortable, we will definitely use them again if we cruise out of Fort Lauderdale in the future.
We were in Fort Lauderdale 3 times on this cruise, as usual the cruise started and ended in Fort Lauderdale, the third time was a stop midway through the cruise to let the passengers doing the first 7-day cruise disembark and the passengers just doing the second 7-day cruise to embark.
After boarding the first day we brought our carry-on luggage to our cabin. We then walked around the ship and had some lunch. As is her usual thing to do, Dale took pictures of the channel in which the ship was docked. An interesting thing we watched was a man on a sail boat climbing up the mast on a sailboat to first lower the sail then later raise it. The mast was about 4 stories high, possibly higher. We saw what we think was a manatee swimming along the opposite shoreline of the channel.
When we returned to Fort Lauderdale at the mid-point of the cruise, we were required to leave the ship. Some passengers that were continuing on the next portion of the cruise elected to do excursions, they went as groups off the ship to the excursion. We elected to not do an excursion. We and the other passengers staying on the ship and not doing an excursion met in a lounge and waited until all other passengers were off the ship. We were led off the ship and through customs. There are several customs counters, two of which were open. We filed through one of the open counters having our passports checked, then turned around and went back in through one of the unopen counters to the large area where baggage taken off the ship is placed for departing passengers to pick-up. We had to wait in that area until they had a zero count, all passengers had gone through customs. Not surprisingly one passenger was late coming off the ship so we had to wait for him, luckily it was less than a 15 minute wait. Once back on the ship, we put our bathing suits on and went to the pool area to relax on lounge chairs and soak in one of the hot tubs. We ate lunch by the pool then did the usual walking around the ship and checking things out.
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Amber Cove/Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Dolphin Encounter at Ocean World
Our first stop was listed as Amber Cove, our tour guide told us Amber Cove is the name of the dock area, the town is Puerto Plata. We decided to do an excursion at this stop, the excursion name is "Dolphin Encounter and Ocean World Day Pass".
While we were waiting in Amber Cove for the bus, Dale found a short path that went around behind where we were waiting. The path had some man-made waterfalls and pools and some nice vegetation. Upon returning to Amber Cove we both walked the path so Ernie could see it.
After a short bus ride we arrived at Ocean World and were given wrist bands indicating we would be doing the dolphin encounter. We were lead through the park where we were do the encounter.
We were given safety instructions, mainly for the safety of the dolphin, then went to the pool where we would interact with the dolphin. The group was split into two smaller groups. We sat on the edge of the pool while the people in the other group interacted with the dolphin. The interaction included patting the dolphin as it slowly swam past the line of people, each individual person feeding, hugging, & getting a kiss from the dolphin. Then each family posed with the open mouth (as if laughing) dolphin in front of them. We were not allowed to take our own pictures, but we bought a package that included each of us hugging & getting a kiss and the dolphin in front of the two of us. We had the option of paying $40 more each and swimming with dolphins, but we decided the $80 could be better spent on other excursions. We saw some people doing the swim and decided we had made a really good choice as we do not think we would have enjoyed what they were doing.
After the dolphin encounter we spent a short time in the water at the small beach that in in the park. It is a very nice beach with very smooth sand and water warm enough for Dale to be comfortable. The water is so salty that even Ernie, who has never before been able to float, was able to float.
After leaving the beach we went to see the birds. We first went into the enclosure that has hundreds of love birds, we thought they were lorys but the sign says love birds. We were each given some bird feed and several birds landed on our hand. We each also had several birds land on our heads. We then went into an enclosure with macaws and parrots. We again were given food to feed a macaw then posed with the macaw given us a kiss. From there we entered the toucan enclosure and again we fed the birds. What was really nice is we were able to take our own pictures.
Next stop was the dolphin show which was really good.
Then we went to the sea lion show, this was the best sea lion show we have seen. We think the reason why this show was so good is that it is a main attraction where other places we have been the sea lion show is more of a side show at a zoo or aquarium.
As we made our way through the park to meet the bus to return to the ship, we passed the shark show. We stood outside the area for a few minutes. We have never seen a shark show and we were surprised by it. The sharks have been trained to come to the men in the show, there were four of them. They do not perform tricks, but each shark swims to one of the men and calmly stays with them while one of the men talks about them. They turn on their backs while the underside of the shark to discussed. A few children were brought into the water, two of them were allowed to pat and feed a shark. The third child sat on the edge of the platform in the water and one of the sharks laid in his lap. Unfortunately, we had packed the camera and neither of us thought to take it out.
This was definitely one of the best excursions we have been on.
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Puerto Plata Sightseeing & Cabarete Beach
Our overall last stop was back here. The excursion we did was sightseeing in Puerto Plata and a couple of hours at Cabarete Beach. The tour guide talked about some of the history of Puerto Plata and Dominican Republic. We stopped at Independence Park in the center of town were we walked past city hall and statues of Juan Pablo Duarte & General Gregorio Luperón who were instrumental in gaining and forming independence for Dominican Republic. We went into the San Felipe Cathedral, where there was a Catholic doctrine class going on for teenage students of a private school. The tour guide talked about the history of the church and we had time to take pictures of some of the stained glass windows and some of the religious displays. After we left the church the tourist guide brought us to a store selling jewelry and souvenirs. The only thing Ernie found interesting in the store were samples of 78% cacao bars of which he had a few which were really good, but at the limit of cacao before they became too bitter for his taste. The cacao bars were ridiculously priced so he did not buy any. Ernie will have to be satisfied with the 72% bars he can get at home.
After leaving the park the tour guide pointed out some of the buildings and monuments we passed on the way to the beach. At the beach we had a very nice lunch, which was included in the price of the excursion. The restaurant was quaint, not many of the tables or chairs matched and the ceiling lights were table lamps hanging upside down. We thought it looked like they did their furniture shopping at thrift stores and yard sales. The effect of the "different" furnishings was pleasing to the eye. The wait staff were efficient & friendly.
The water at the beach was too turbulent to swim, but Ernie tried to do some body surfing. The waves though good size, were breaking in too shallow of water so after a couple of tries he gave up trying. We walked the beach and relaxed in the lounge beach chairs the rest of the time there.
We stopped at San Felippe Fortress on the way back to the ship. We did not have enough time to go into the fortress, but we took some pictures of the outside.
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San Juan, Puerto Rico
We elected to not do an excursion in San Juan. We stood at the bow of the ship and watched as it pulled into the harbor. We noticed there was a park with a carousel just a short distance from the ship. We waited for most of the passengers to disembark then we got off and walked to the park. Unfortunately, nothing in the park was open, there was a nice fountain running and that was all. We spent a little time walking around the park, then Dale mentioned that she had seen a large church while coming into port. We found a tourist info place that was open and we got a map. Looking at the map we discovered that we were near San Cristobal Castle. We walked to the castle, but did not go into it, we just looked around outside it. At the castle we were 6 or 7 blocks from San Juan Cathedral, so we walked to the cathedral. We walked throughout the cathedral, then made a circuitous route back to the ship.
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We were suppose to stop in Grand Turks, Turks and Caicos Islands, but because the conditions were unsafe for using the tenders we instead stopped in San Juan where the ship docks so tenders are not needed. We discussed visiting San Cristobal Castle, but decided to stay on the ship.
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St Thomas, USVI (St John National Park)
At St Thomas we did an excursion that took us to St John, USVI. After a ½ hour ferry boat ride to St John we boarded an open bus for a tour around St John National Park. About 2/3 to 3/4 of St John is the National Park. The tour took us around the perimeter of the park. We made several stops along the way. The tour guide was informative and entertaining. The scenery was spectacular, but many of the resorts are closed due to damage done by hurricanes in the last several years.
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Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
We were scheduled to stop at Half Moon Cay twice. The only people who could use the beach were the passengers on the ship we were on, so there was abundant room on the beach and in the water. The ship can not dock here, so tenders were used to bring us ashore. Unlike most places, there are resident tenders that bring passengers ashore, instead of using lifeboats. These tenders are much easier to get on and off, hold many more passengers, and are much smoother in the water. The tendering experience was far and away the best we have had.
The first time we stopped we rented a clamshell shelter. The clamshell is a canvas shelter that is enclosed on three sides and the top. It is big enough to put two large lounge type beach chairs completely in it with room enough to have no problems getting in or out. The open side of the clamshell is set up facing the beach. We loved having the clamshell to protect us from the hot sun.
Dale tried going into the water, but it was too cold for her. She walked the beach, while Ernie did some swimming. We comfortably relaxed in the clamshell. A major highlight of the stop was the wonderful BBQ put on by the ships crew.
The first stop at Half Moon Cay was the last stop of the first 7 days before returning to Fort Lauderdale. The second stop at Half Moon Cay was scheduled as the first stop of the last 7 days. Unfortunately, the waves were too high and powerful to safely tender people ashore. After calculating the risk, the captain made the decision to continue on to the next stop. We had planned to go ashore a short time before the BBQ was to start, walk the beach a little while, have some BBQ, then return to the ship, so the only thing we regret was not having the great BBQ.
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Punta Cana Samana, Dominican Republic
We were scheduled to stop in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, but it was not safe to tender in there so we went to Samana, Dominican Republic instead. The Samana harbor in Mango Bay is much more protected than at Punta Cana and that day on the less turbulent side of the island so it was safe to tender in there.
We elected to do an excursion that brought us across Mango Bay to the Dominican National Park, then returning across the bay to spend some time at a beach. In the national park we were told about some of the 54 islands that make up the park, viewed some wildlife, and went into caves on two of the islands. We did not have to tender ashore, the speed boat that was used for the tour picked us up at the ship and returned us to the ship. We only had a little over an hour at the beach, but that turned out to be good as when we were waiting to re-board the speed boat it started to drizzle a little, then it started raining hard as we were being brought back to the ship. They gave us each a plastic poncho and it had stopped raining before we reached the ship, so we did not get extremely wet, but it was a good time to leave the beach. We both really enjoyed this excursion.
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Last updated: dec 04 2021