El Sonador River Experience, Dominican Republic

After two days at sea, we stopped at Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. I've done a walking tour of the city during a previous cruise and was disappointed at how "touristy" that was. This time around, I signed up for the El Sonador River Experience which took us into the rainforest in Yasica Arriba.

The excursion started by boarding a small open air bus at the cruise terminal, the drive to the river took about an hour during which the guide gave us a short history of the island and the way of life here. Upon arrival at the base of operations, we were given life vests and safety helmets. I changed into my rash guard, running tights (to protect from impact with rocks, etc) and water shoes. I was a little worried about jumping into the river and floating down rapids: breaking a limb would definitely mess up my vacation. We hiked along a trail to where we would get into the water. The areas where we went in were quite safe although the water flowed fast in some sections. We went in and out of the river in three spots along the trail. At least two staff members were in the water with us. The river was beautiful, with clear and in parts, blue/green water, cool and refreshing. We all, especially the kids in the group, had a great time!

The excursion included a simple lunch which was very good: grilled chicken, fried plantains, beans and rice and salad.

We boarded the bus back to the cruise terminal. Near to town, we persuaded the driver to stop at a roadside stand that sold puerco asado (roast pork) that we were told was commonly sold during the new year. Some of us bought a plate of the meat that was served with boiled bananas (interesting).

At the terminal, I had time to walk about to take more photos. I really enjoyed this excursion, given the chance, would do it again!

New Year Cruise on MSC Divina

My cruise buddies and I went on our annual new year cruise, this time departing from Miami on the MSC Divina, Dec 28. I flew to FLL on Dec 25 to stay with Suzie who has a condo in Ft Lauderdale. We have not seen each other since the previous year's cruise (on Virgin) and had a great time catching up with wine and snacks on the balcony. Two days later our two other friends joined us. We had a great Korean hot pot and BBQ dinner before getting an Uber to the Miami cruise terminal on embarkation morning. The drive was stressful as the tunnel to the terminal was closed and traffic was backed up for at least two hours. We could not understand why they would close the tunnel on with so many of the cruise lines departing today. Fortunately, just when our driver was about to turn around and go the long way, the tunnel opened and we go through.

After that it was relatively easy to check in and board. This is the first time we cruise on MSC. Unfortunately we were not impressed by the service, the food, nor the entertainment. First of all, they played Christmas music for most of the cruise, remember, we boarded on Dec 28, past Christmas. The food was so so, we went for a couple of speciality restaurants, and it was OK, not spectacular. I joined most of the exercise sessions (like Zumba) and a couple of dance classes, plus trivia. The highlight was a "top chef" type of game where everyone who showed up answered a quiz related to cooking. Amazingly I one of 6 people with the highest points for correct answers. We went up to the stage, paired up, put on chef hats and apron and were given a short time to come up with a dessert with the provided mystery ingredients. Although I'm not one who like to be in the limelight, it was a lot of fun. No, my partner and I did not win.

The lounges and bars were OK, although I did enjoy the meet and greet session with the ship's officers. The officers invited ladies to dance, and I got to waltz with two different officers for a minute or so. Pretty cool and unique!

All in, I would say this was not one of the best cruise experience I've had, although the excursion in the Dominican Republic was fun (more on that in the next post). Some photos of the food at dinner: