San Juan, Puerto Rico

After departing in the afternoon of January 28, 2006 from Ft. Lauderdale and a day at sea, MSC Opera docked in San Juan—the Americas’ second oldest city— around sunset. Unfortunately our delayed port call did not allow us to sightsee at some of the popular destinations open only during the day such as the 16th century El Morro fortress perched 140 feet above the sea with 18-foot-thick walls that once provided a formidable defense for the island. Begun in 1540 and completed in 1589. San Felipe del Morro was named in honor of King Phillip II. Most of the walls in the fort today were added later, in a period of tremendous construction from the 1760's-1780's. Today it is a National Historic site administered by the US Parks System.

Four excursions were offered passengers during our port call ranging from a night kayaking adventure to visits to the city’s night spots. But as it was only a five-minute walk from Pier 1 into Old San Juan, and I decided to walk around with some new friends from the ship.

Old San Juan’s seven-block area is noted for its cobblestone streets and beautiful Spanish architecture, many with lace-like balconies. Nearby, the Place des Armes—Old San Juan's main square on San José Street with four graceful statues representing the four seasons— was beautiful at night. It was fun peeking into some of the stores that rimmed the plaza that were still open or canvassing the wares of the street market by the port. San Juan is noted for its ceramics, papier maché fruits and vegetables and souvenirs of all sorts that incorporate the local icon, the coqui, a small frog native to the island.

Puerto Rico, an island of 4 million inhabitants, is 100 miles long and 35 miles wide has a vivid history dating back to Christopher Columbus when the island was first spotted by his ships in 1493. Permanent settlement of the island came about in 1508 when Spanish explore Juan Ponce de Leon arrived with 50 men. The city’s role as an outpost of the Spanish empire began in 1540 with the completion of the La Fortalezel. After more than 300 years of Spanish rule, the Spanish-American War broke out and ended in 1898 in America’s favor. The Treaty of Paris in 1917 ceded the island to the US. Today Puerto Rico has the status of a Commonwealth of the United States with its own constitution and system of government similar to that of most of the states in America.

More information on San Juan and the rest of the island can be found at  http://welcome.topuertorico.org/tinfo.shtml  or http://www.meetpuertorico.com. /

St. Maarten

MSC Opera next paid a call to St. Maarten, docking on the Dutch side of the island in Philipsburg. The island is believed to have been discovered by Columbus in 1493 on the feast day of St. Martin of Tours and thus it was so named. In the next 140 years, the Spanish, Dutch and French claimed the island to use its resources. In 1648 a treaty was concluded that gave the Dutch 16 square miles and the French 21 square miles owing to the latter’s superior naval force in the region when the treaty was signed. Since then, the territory underwent 16 changes of flag from 1648 to 1816 with France, Holland and Britain claiming possession at times. Sugar cane plantations prospered for a while on the island until slavery was abolished in the French side in 1848 and by the Dutch in 1863. It wasn’t until the mid-1900s that the island began to flourish again with the opening of an airport and resort hotels opening around the island. Today the island’s appeal is strong with the arrival of both land and sea guests.

The pier area in Philipsburg has been extended and modernized—it can accommodate four large cruise ships at the same time.  

The MSC Opera offered her guests eight different excursions during her port call. I took a 3 ½ hour deluxe bus excursion to get a feel for the island and to visit Marigot on the French side of the island. Marigot was lovely and in the distance, one could see the islands of Anguilla, St. Barts and beyond to Saba and Tortola. Actually St. Maarten provides a focal point for visitors to go island hopping on island’s ferries. The tour guide informed us that many of the day workers on St. Maarten just hop a ferry from one of the nearby islands.

St. Maarten has a scrubby terrain as it was created by a volcanic eruption centuries ago. It receives only 47 inches of rain annually. There is an abundance of almond trees as well as guavaberry shrubs from which a popular Guavaberry Liquer is made.

On our return to Philipsburg, the bus made a scheduled 30-minute stop half way in a nondescript area of the island for its passengers to refresh themselves and to buy the local wares. This stop, in my opinion, was unnecessary as we had just left Marigot, and the ship was only a short distance away. Valuable time was lost, as the ship was departing in the mid-afternoon, and left almost no time to see Philipsburg on foot.

I also found out that if one is adventurous, you can hop the local bus for the half-hour trip to Marigot for your own private tour as some passengers did. For those just wanting to visit Philipsburg, there is a convenient water taxi stand next to the pier.

For more information on St. Maarten/St.Martin, visit: http://www.st-maarten.com.

Dominican Republic

Rich in history, the Dominican Republic's first tourist was Christopher Columbus in 1492. Since then, it has developed into a diverse destination offering both Dominican and European flavors. At 10,000 feet, the Dominican Republic is home to the highest mountain in the Caribbean. It also features some of the best golf courses and beaches in the Caribbean and is the ultimate place for fishing enthusiasts of all levels to reel-in an impressive catch. It is fast becoming a popular place for North American travelers. For a capsule summary of the island’s varied history, visit 

http://www.godominicanrepublic.com/main.asp?xmlpath=/DominicanRepublic/About/History/history_en.xml .

La Romana, DR

La Romana was our first port call in the Dominican Republic. It is only a short walk from the ship into the town of La Romana for shopping.

Most of my time was spent at the wonderful and luxurious Casa de Campo, which has 300 rooms and 150 luxurious villas to accommodate families or groups. This winter the resort in a new alliance with MSC Cruises, allows day visits by ship passengers to use its resort facilities which number many. There is golf (three 18-hole courses), tennis, horseback riding, polo, to name a few of the activities offered at this lovely 7000-acre resort. A complex of high-end boutiques were situated not far from the hotel center and shuttle buses run frequently to ferry guests to different parts of the resort.

There are three swimming pools—one with a waterfall and swim-up bar—and a lovely beach offering a wide selection of water sports. At the beach I had lunch in an open thatched-roof restaurant El Pescador—one of seven dining venues on the resort grounds—that serves very fresh fish.

In the evening I toured Altos de Chavon, a village that was built to replicate a 16^th century Mediterranean town on the periphery of the resort complex and is a center of culture for the island. After walking around the village square where artisans sold their wares, the group I was with enjoyed a most delicious dinner al fresco at the Italian bistro La Piazetta where we were caressed by soft breezes and serenaded by the local frogs. We then walked to Altos de Chavon’s open-air amphitheater for the Latin musical extravaganza called Kandela. It is a wonderful show performed by 50 versatile dancers and ends with a spectacular fireworks display. For information on Casa de Campo, visit www.casadecampo.com.do

In addition to my excursion to Casa de Campo, nine other excursions were offered ship guests during our port call. For more information on the DR, visit http://www.godominicanrepublic.com. 

La Samana/Cayo Levantado, DR

The last port call on this seven-day cruise was Cayo Levantado. The ship anchored in Samana peninsula off the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic. The town of Samana is located on the southern side of the peninsula along Samana Bay.

Samana's beauty lies in her simplicity. Here, unspoiled beaches serve as a threshold to vibrant coral reefs while mountain waterfalls intersect lush rain forests. But while Samana is a top destination for eco-tourists and naturalists, some come to this area to interact with humpback whales as the area is home to one of the largest and best breeding grounds in the world for this elusive mammal during the winter months.

Seven excursions were offered passengers ranging from a jeep safari adventure at several plantations to a mountain trek in the interior of the Samana peninsula where the Opera was anchored. I opted for the Whale Watching trip where we saw lots of humpback whales and their young cavort at their winter home grounds. Though we initially did not spot many whales, patience won out and on the way back to the ship were treated to a whale of a show. Two of the whales were curious enough to swim beside our vessel. However, this wonderful excursion is not for those who are prone to sea sickness as the vessels we were in were going up and down in the swells and several passengers became ill.

Cayo Levantado

Cayo Levantado is a small island in the Samana peninsula. A private beach on the island is operated by MSC cruises for its passengers. White-sand beaches and crystal-clear water offer an ideal swimming site for guests of the MSC Opera and MSC Lirica. It is equipped with beach chairs, towels and public toilet facilities. At a large open shed at the beach, the lunch buffet was provided the ship’s culinary staff from the ship.

Unfortunately, it was unusually crowded this time as both sister ship MSC Lirica and the MSC Opera had anchored in Samana at the same time and passengers from both ships were using the beach. Website for more information on Samana: http://www.godominicanrepublic.com