Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic Port Reviews

Very pretty mountains. Friendly people, no “begging” as others have reported at this port. Enjoyed Monkeyland and Dominican-flavors with Runners Adventures. Shout out to our guide Saturnino and driver Juan B. Lots of playful little interactive monkeys and delicious coffee, cocoa and Mama Juana!! Highly recommend.

Sat at pool in port. Fun atmosphere but did get loud with music. Sit further back, you will still hear music but will be able to converse too!

Amber Cove, oh boy. This stop was a bit of a bummer for me. I mean, why build a waterpark here instead of a beach? It's the Caribbean, for goodness sake! Don't get me wrong, the area had some greenery, nice eateries, and shops to browse through. But let's be honest, the aqua zone with pools and water slides was the main attraction. Although, the pools were not deep enough for my liking. Sure, there was a semi-civilized beach nearby that I could see from my cabin, but getting there required leaving the area and taking a taxi. Not exactly convenient, you know? I skipped that part. There were shore excursions offered to Puerto Plata, but in my opinion, a stop should be worth the visit without any add-ons. But to be real, I'm not sure if I would ever want to come back here again. I ended up heading back to the ship, where I had the whole pool and hot tub to myself. Watching a movie on a giant screen and chomping on some chicken tacos was the perfect way to end the day. If I ever book another cruise, I'll definitely avoid any itinerary that includes Amber Cove. Overall, I give it a 2.5-star rating.

This was a very boring port. Nothing really to do unless you are willing to pay $70 to get out of the gated shopping area. Which is something we were not willing to do. Why pay $70 just to get put of the gate and then pay more for excursions? Sorry, not this family.

Visited: Aug 19, 2017

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**** We enjoyed a really fun beach & pool day at Playabachata on Maimon Beach near the cruise port! Plenty of good drinks, fun in the pool, & decent food for lunch. Can’t wait to go back next year. **** Got a great deal on an alexandrite ring at Diamonds Intl at Amber Cove! Last ones on the ship!

We had a great tour of Pourta Plata and it was very educational. A lot of motorcycles and mopeds. We had a great tour guide.

Visited: Jun 22, 2019

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There was alot of shopping at the port and also a place in the middle of the port to get your passport stamp. We booked the damajuagua waterfall excursion through iguana mamas and had a great time. Raul was the lead guide and was a big help. If you do this excursion the hike up may be difficult but the waterfall slide and jump down is a blast. Also this excursion says wear tennis shoes or water shoes, and we definitely recommend tennis shoes due to it being very rocky and hard on the feet. Loved this port!

We enjoyed this port. The main area includes a lot of shopping and pool. We walked outside of the Carnival area and took a public bus. They are run down vans that say JT tours. We took it to the cable car. The entire trip was about $20 USD for round trip transportation and enterance for two people. I would recommend! The view was awesome.

Amber Cove has nothing to do at the port.. so we chose the Coconut Cove Beach All Inclusive excursion. What a waste of $140. A very small not really good buffet awaits you. The drink menu had less items on it for the "All Inclusive". 6 drink options and 2 beer selections served in 8oz plastic cups. Other drink options were available at full price. Carnival should be ashamed to advertise this as a "Top Pick". The beach itself is beautiful. Which is why it gets 1 star. But "All Inclusive" it is very far from it. Highly misleading on Carnivals part.

Of the 3 ports I went to this was my least favorite, lucky I read all the reviews from other shipmates and was prepared...I will echo what everyone said, you need to do an excursion. The port consists of like 8-10 stores. That's it. I love shopping but the stores were small, lacking, and on the expensive side. We did an all inclusive beach excursion. It was worth the $64.00 we spent all day there. Meal and drinks included.