We left from Tucson International Airport the evening of February 19, 2024. The day after Karli's homecoming after her mission.
Welcome to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. William dropped us off at the Tucson Airport. We flew from Tucson to Phoenix, then to Miami and then to Punta Cana.
We stayed at this resort Paradisus Punta Cana
The resort pool looked beautiful at night
The beach was a little bit away from our room. They had a little golf cart that shuttled us back and forth.
There was parasailing and several vendors offering massages, hair braiding, snorkel and glass bottom boats. We took a snorkel trip and saw manta rays and lots of fish. The water was beautiful!
Pirate Ship off the coast of Punta Cana Dominican Republic
After a week at the resort, we took a taxi to the cruise terminal which was about an hour away.
Dominican Republic countryside is very beautiful
The Map of our Cruise Ports
La Romana
For some reason, we were assigned to a "handicapped" room. It was bigger than we expected! Our room steward brought us a jug of distilled water. He said it was for our CPap machine. He said most people that get the handicap room need water for their CPap machines.
The bathroom was good sized too.
The show for the first night was a comedian named Landry
Day 1 - Catalina Island, Dominican Republic
Our first stop was at Catalina Island. This is a small private island. We used a tender to get to shore. The pilot of the tender was just learning how to drive it which made the ride and docking a bit entertaining. We were greeted by some Dominican musicians to welcome us. There was an area to snorked close by the pier. We enjoyed swimming there and spent a little time on the beach until we went back to the ship. On the way back we saw a whale rise out of the water briefely.
The evening show was a singer named Rechell Sears. She told about being in the military in Korea and singing one night on duty and her officer ordered her to join a talent competition which encouraged her to pursue her music career.
Day 3 - Willemstad
Second stop was Willemstad Curacao. The port was a former fort that is now used as a shopping mall. On the other side of a pontoon bridge is a section of town with some floating markets where the locals shop for produce and food and supplies.
Two other ships were in port as well so there were lots of tourists in town.
Day 4 - The next stop was Oranjestad, Aruba
I wore the dress that we bought in Curacao
There were several shops and an expensive mall near the port. I bought a shawl and Alan got a shirt and hat and a few coin purses for the kids at home.
We got a group taxi to Eagle Beach and enjoyed our time swimming and sunbathing
Then we caught a trolley for a little tour
Very colorful buildings. We learned that there is a city bus that we could have taken for the day. So next time ....
That evening we caught a photo of a beautiful sunset as we were leaving port.
That night we went to dinner in the dining room. Since there was only two of us, we were asked if we were willing to share a table. So we were joined by two couples from Utah. It didn't take us long to realize they were members of the church!
Day 5 - Our next port was Kralendijk, Bonaire
We saw some flying fish as we were going out to the island.
The boat dropped us off. We left our towels there and then we walked up the beach and swam back.
Our entertainment on the ship this night was a Latin dance couple Alex and Magdalena.
Day 6 - St George, Grenada
We enjoyed watching the ship come into port
We got a taxi to the beach and the driver waited for us. Our driver was surprised that we'd been married almost 50 years. We told him we just learned to work things out. Alan snorkeled off the shore for a while. I had gotten too much water up my nose in Bonaire, so I just enjoyed swimming.
Day 7 - Kingstown, St Vincent & Grenadines
It was a bit rainy in St Vincent and it was Sunday. We got off the ship for a while. Most of the shops were closed for the Sabbath. We did find a little market that had wi-fi. We were looking for some aspirin since I had a little cold. But we decided to just go back on the ship and rest.
Day 8 - Barbados
Our next stop was Bridgetown, Barbados. We took a taxi van to the beach. Alan saw some turtles, tarpin, lots of fish and starfish.
At breakfast, the crew sang to us "Hey Baby Baby I want to Know, Did you Wash Your Hands"
On the way to the beach we passed a shop called Bryan's Bakery next to Nana's Shop
Day 9 - Castries, Saint Lucia
There were four ships in port. And it rained off and on. We spent most of the day on the ship.
Day 10 - Roseau, Dominica
During breakfast, we noticed a turtle swimming near the ship
This is called Champagne Beach. The shoreline is rocky and rough, but if you swim out a ways beyond the big rock, the water is bubbling from an underground volcano. It was interesting to see and feel and hear the bubbles!
We shared a taxi with a young couple from California. The driver waited in the nearby cafe.
A tour group came out to the beach too
Day 11 - St John's, Antigua
We spent another great day enjoying the beach. Our driver's name was "Action Jackson"
Jolly Beach Antigua
Day 12 - St Kitts
Our friend had suggested that we visit the fort at St Kitts. But it's far and we didn't have anyone else to ride with, so we signed up for a group tour of the island. We waited around by the shops while some more people were rounded up.
Our driver was named "Legendary"
We ended up at a resort named Cambriola. He said he would wait if anyone wanted to swim for 15 minutes. So we hopped in the water and it was so good, he said he would come back in 45 minutes if we wanted to stay longer. So we stayed!
This was an old sugar plantation. They stopped producing when the economics changed. Thomas Jefferson's ancestors worked the plantation back in the day.
The Atlantic Ocean is on the left and the Caribbean Sea on the right. We drove past the LDS chapel on the road.
We could see the ship from the resort where we swam
We enjoyed some music and shopping when we got back to the port
Day 13 - Philipsburg, St Maarten
The port seemed very quiet when we got off the ship. We found the water taxi that took us across the bay to the beach. We got a beach chair and umbrella and wi-fi and enjoyed our day.
There were some amazing yachts in port
Day 14 - Tortola
We only had a short stay in Tortola but it was definitely one of our favorites.
We met up with our Utah friends and walked to church!
There were a few visitors from our ship and another ship. Also some visitors from Utah that came for the wedding the night before of a branch member that they had known from Snow College.
The members of the branch were so kind and welcoming to us. We enjoyed our visit with them.
Our Relief Society class
And away we go.
Back to La Romana Port.
We got a taxi to the Punta Cana Airport, then flew to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was so crowded there, that we had to stand in line to get through customs. We ended up missing our flight to Phoenix. They sent us on to Dallas instead. After a night in the airport, we were finally able to fly on to Tucson. We landed in Tucson the morning of March 12. Sunny met us and we drove on home.
It was a wonderful trip. Well, maybe except for the traveling part. We sure enjoyed our beach time!
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