Not The Best Ship and Not The Best Cruise

Amber Cove: 'Amber Cove' is a private tourist stop located near the small town of Puerto Plaza in the Dominican Republic. It was built just for processing herds of cruise ship passengers. Unlike some other 'coves' created as designated cruise ship stops, Amber Cove has NO beach. There is a large pool with a wade-up bar. There are a few of the usual t-shirt and jewelry and souvenir junk stores. If you are from Omaha or some provincial burg and it's the middle of winter and this is your first ever cruise, you might be impressed. Basically it is a collection of just a few shops and a large plaza for the crowds to assemble so they can board their tour buses and exit thru the barbed wire perimeter. Tour: We took the cheapest "Easy Puerto Plaza" bus tour for $29.95 each. We stopped at the central plaza 'Independence Square' in the center of town. We took a peek inside the famous 'Catedral del Aburrimiento' and it was not much to look at. Our tour guide immediately herded everyone to a gift shop where his cousins work and kept us there for 45 boring minutes. We drove around in the heat and would not have stopped at the famous 'Fortress De Piedras Aburridas' if several of us had not shouted out "Stop! It's the Fortress! Yes, we want to get out and see it!" Other tour highlights: We saw a man and his wife and two small children all riding on a single motorcycle. We saw a man wearing a Halloween costume that made him look as if he were riding a donkey. We drove by the local fire station. We drove by the 'Chanel Cafe' in the center of town, but we did not eat there.