Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Cruises

Not a lot to do close to the ship.

Visited: Nov 23, 2003

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Santo Domingo is a very nice old City. the colonial zone is very historic with several museums and monuments. a plethora of restaurants with very modest prices and varied cuisine. The colonial zone has security now and almost every block. The Colonial Zone is very a good place to sit and sip on a coffee or beer and people watch. Uber is plentiful and it costs between three and five bucks to get almost anywhere in the city. There are few Mega malls about 15 minutes from the Colonial Zone. A very good restaurant overlooking the ocean is Adrian Tropical. A meal is about 8 bucks there. Also a good place to people-watch is at a cafe called Paco's aka Grand Cafe located at the edge of the Colonial Zone. Download Google maps before you leave the ship and pinpoint the locations. Many of the restaurants offer free Wi-Fi you just have to ask the waitress. Good as well to download Google Translate Spanish for offline use. Note Santo Domingo is not safe at night. Even most locals are in the house by 8 p.m. Daytime is not a problem. Still best to leave all your touristy looking gear on the ship. All restaurants take credit cards and cash. Dollars are not widely accepted but you can get change at the change bureaus throughout the colonial Zone. Most tourists stick out because they wear the tourist uniform like shorts, sunglasses and tank tops and backpacks. If you're trying to blend in you want to wear blue jeans and leave the backpacks cameras goofy mama gardening hats and purses on the ship.

My mom and I decided to walk around on our own. Several port police told us that it is extremely dangerous to walk around alone without a tour group due to the chance of getting robbed. We took a taxi to Los Tres Ojos which was fabulous, but this port was dirty and unsafe.

Stay on the ship Trash everywhere in the water nothing to do at the cruise port armed guards everywhere Not what I want on a carribean vacation Everyone I talked to that went out said they were terrified

I enjoyed this port-Santa Domingo. There is tons of history to explore! Be sure to take an excursion-I did the day City Tour and felt safe.. otherwise you may not feel as safe.