Overnighting in the Dominican Republic . . .

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Up until this week, we've spent Fridays in Antigua and Saturdays at sea. But with our new itinerary, we arrive Friday at 3pm in the Dominican Republic and stay overnight until 5pm on Saturday. Overnights with the big cruise lines are rare, so the crew on the Destiny have all been more than excited about this new itinerary.

We dock in La Ramona which is on the South side of the Dominica Republic, about an hour and a half East of Santa Dominigo. We're really quite in the middle of nowhere on the island. I was working during the day, then getting random personal things done, then working again in the evening, so I didn't have a chance to get off to see much. But one of the shore excursion guys did some research for everyone. Near where we dock is this resort-like area, that’s actually more like a commune. My details are sketchy, but to my understanding, it’s an artist’s village somehow connected to some university. Apparently there are lots of nice places to eat during the day and some local shopping things and most of the tours the ship provides leave from this area. But what the crew were most excited about were the nightlife. Remember, we're back on the ship almost always before sunset, so the idea of being able to go out, at night, to whatever hour we like and it be on LAND? That is exciting.

So on the resort (I believe it's called Casa de Campo) is a restaurant/tapas bar and also a nightclub. And that's where the crew was headed. I had a movie night in my club and was finished work around midnight. One of the social hosts, Terri also finished late, so she, I, Lonelle (dancer) and Tully (showband) got off the ship around 12:30 and headed off. Met some other crew waiting for a taxi so we all piled in and headed to the resort. When we got there, close to 1am, a ton of crew were at the tapas bar place, so we went there first.

Because it was night time, I couldn't see much of the resort, but what I saw looks lovely. Lonelle has been on a ship that has docked here before and she says it's gorgeous. In future cruises I'll work out my schedule to get off during the day and look around. But for this first overnight, I was just out along with the crowd.

The nightclub was pretty dead, except for the huge crowd of crew members that were there. It was like a big crew party, except in a nightclub onland. What a fun night! Everyone was in such a great mood and so excited to be out. We were dancing up a storm. Something about the air in the Dominican I guess. I learned later that by midnight nearly every single guest (out of 3000) was back on the ship, but only 1/4 (of 1000) the crew were! I got back with some friends somewhere around 4:30am. It's so funny to go out and then come back home to the ship. But that is our life here.

Today, back on the ship, everyone just keeps grinning at each other like we've all shared some big secret. So funny. So much fun. And so many overnights still lie ahead.

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Photos

The Girls at the Club
Me, Lonelle & Terri

Comments

[swills82]

Sounds like quite the night. :)