B. B. B. B. D. '08 San Juan Puerto Rico to San Francisco, California
 |
This year we
went on a 14-day cruise (our first) aboard RCI's Serenade of the Seas
departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico April 19, 2008 with ports at Casa De Campo,
Dominican Republic; Cartagena, Columbia; Panama Canal transit; Puntarenas, Costa
Rica; Huatulco, Mexico; Acapulco, Mexico; Cabo San Lucas, Baja |
Here's the intinerary map courtesy of Royal Caribbean along with a picture of the ship
|
Casa De Campo, Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is actually part of the island of Hispaniola which is also home to Haiti. Casa De Campo is actually a resort area developed by Gulf Western on former sugar mill land. It is also known for a world class golf courses designed by Pete Dye. However our only plan was a tour of Altos De Chavón. This is a re-creation of a medieval European village conceived from the imagination of Roberto Copa, a former Paramount Studios set designer, and Charles Bluhdorn, GW's founder and CEO. Construction began in 1976 and was completed in the early 1980's as an 18th birthday gift to Bluhdorn's daughter, Dominique, who is the current president of the Altos de Chavón Cultural Center. |
Many well known artists including Julio Iglesias and Andrea Bocelli have performed at the Altos De Chavón amphitheater. On the bus over the driver told us that many celebrities have houses here like Sammy Sosa (a Dominican native) as well as many other Major League baseball players and champion boxers. Nearby La Romana claims the world's largest cigar factory. There are however many cigar factories in DR but they are many bus ride hours away so it was not a viable option.
Though it was hot and muggy we enjoyed our tour. The guides and all the shop owners were very nice. Steve and I found some habano's too! We didn't smuggle them back to the U.S. though, we smoked them on board :)
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
LINKS:
Click on the ship to keep cruising
