10/2013 - Rancho Tipico

[JD426]

Some people love cruises.

Some people love marriage..

Life is a box of chocolates...

[Señor JDR of Medellin]

http://www.ambercovecc.com/

There's the info on "Amber Cove"

Amber Cove, Labadee, CoCo Cay, Castaway Cay. It's almost like if the "real" Caribbean is too scary for these tourists.

The Caribbean’s newest destination, Amber Cove Cruise Center, is located in the Dominican Republic on the Bay of Maimon near Puerto Plata in the country’s North Coast.

The new facility represents one of the largest cruise industry investments ever made in the Dominican Republic. The project is designed to re-establish the Dominican Republic’s North Coast as a popular cruise destination. The last cruise ship to call at Puerto Plata was nearly 30 years ago.



The new two-berth Amber Cove Cruise Center will be able to accommodate up to 8,000 cruise passengers and 2,000 crew members daily.

A transportation hub allowing visitors easy access by land and sea to the surrounding destinations and attractions will be included, as well.





How many ships is that, two?


Crew gets off?

[SeaWeed]

It's almost like if the "real" Caribbean is too scary for these tourists.

hey some of these tourists are too scary...........lol

mi be sitting at Pee Wees Bar in Negril minding mi own business.........
and mi could hear the tourist talkie about this and that about Negril and Jamaica.....really stupid chit sometimes
sometimes the conversations mi heard were so bad that mi had to leave before mi be roaring with laughter.........lol
this huge fat fugly American lady sitting across from mi one day asked this Jamaican hustler/gigolo/Rent a Dread if he ever dated foreign women........lol
him said "no one as beautiful as you"
guess you had to be der......lol

[jose1234]

http://www.ambercovecc.com/

There's the info on "Amber Cove"

Amber Cove, Labadee, CoCo Cay, Castaway Cay. It's almost like if the "real" Caribbean is too scary for these tourists.

Most people want Disneyland (and some of the guys who come here...Westworld).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNgZFxAnKtA

[michel3275]

Most people want Disneyland (and some of the guys who come here...Westworld).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNgZFxAnKtA

Thats why we have to fill the hotel with princesses

[Westy]

http://www.ambercovecc.com/

There's the info on "Amber Cove"

Amber Cove, Labadee, CoCo Cay, Castaway Cay. It's almost like if the "real" Caribbean is too scary for these tourists.

I think these "private islands" offer an aspect of convenience and perceived safety for the passengers, and of course there's an aspect of revenue-enhancement for the cruise lines. Everything is controlled by the cruise line, there are no port fees, no customs/health/immigration issues, and everyone who isn't a passenger is either an employee of the cruise line, or a vendor licensed by the cruise line.

Private Islands - Caribbean Cruise Reports

Not sure if Amber Cove will be the same as these; seeing the website decoupled from the Carnival brand prompts me to believe it may be open to other lines. It's also based on an existing harbor; the closest parallel, Labadee, is a peninsula that Royal Caribbean leased and fenced off for security. It would be a good idea for them to set up a managed area of that beach, for cruise-tourist use....

Pardon me for adding to the thread-jack....

[j_d66]

I think these "private islands" offer an aspect of convenience and perceived safety for the passengers, and of course there's an aspect of revenue-enhancement for the cruise lines. Everything is controlled by the cruise line, there are no port fees, no customs/health/immigration issues, and everyone who isn't a passenger is either an employee of the cruise line, or a vendor licensed by the cruise line.

Private Islands - Caribbean Cruise Reports

Not sure if Amber Cove will be the same as these; seeing the website decoupled from the Carnival brand prompts me to believe it may be open to other lines. It's also based on an existing harbor; the closest parallel, Labadee, is a peninsula that Royal Caribbean leased and fenced off for security. It would be a good idea for them to set up a managed area of that beach, for cruise-tourist use....

Pardon me for adding to the thread-jack....

Amber Cove is not actually a private island.
It is the name they have given to the Maimon port and the area surrounding it that is being built all of which will be controlled by Carnival.

It appears they are going to let other ships dock there however.

[Mr. Smooth]

The Caribbean’s newest destination, Amber Cove Cruise Center, is located in the Dominican Republic on the Bay of Maimon near Puerto Plata in the country’s North Coast.

The new facility represents one of the largest cruise industry investments ever made in the Dominican Republic. The project is designed to re-establish the Dominican Republic’s North Coast as a popular cruise destination. The last cruise ship to call at Puerto Plata was nearly 30 years ago.



The new two-berth Amber Cove Cruise Center will be able to accommodate up to 8,000 cruise passengers and 2,000 crew members daily.

A transportation hub allowing visitors easy access by land and sea to the surrounding destinations and attractions will be included, as well.





How many ships is that, two?


Crew gets off?

So......to the Dominican authorities, this is the vision they beleive will eventually become an economic bonanza for the North Coast. And honestly, if it was to actually happen in the future, why even question it?

You are talking about a potential mega cash cow, even at an average of, lets say, $50 usd spent off shore per passenger, if you have upwards of 10,000 people a day, that is an amount of money that a couple hundred mongers who visit 2-3 times a year for a week at a time can't even compare to, even if guys were all shelling out 5000 pesos for every single sleazy Pedro slut they saw, no matter how fugly and fat she was.

If a crew ship docks at 8 am and passengers are disembarking before 9, who's to say 200-300 hundred of those passengers wouldn't want to jump into taxis or air conditioned shuttle buses for a 45 minute ride to Sosua beach and spend 6 hours or so eating, drinking and splashing around in the water? You don't think those beach vendors wouldn't be all out in force welcoming these tourists with open arms? You bet your ass they would.

Since all of them would have to be back on board by 6 pm, the shuttles would depart the beach at 4pm and safely get them back to the port. Again, they only would need a few hundred out of 10,000, and Sosua would be able to capture a slice of that economic pie.

Look, the beach vendors pretty much all close by 6pm anyway, and on a ton of occasions I have walked past too many bars, restaurants and souvenir shacks with absolutely no one patronizing them. We all have our favorite 2-3 spots we go to anyway. Some guys only go to the same spot every time they visit the beach. I can see a slew of shuttles/taxis arriving by 10 am and that beach buzzing with a new crop of tourists everyday. And the vendors wouldn't miss us at all. Not one damn bit. The chicas might be another story.

Those cruise ship tourists read info on the internet as well. Since it's been 30 years since a boat has been to PP, those passengers might be curious about a cruise that takes them to a new place. They will read up on the local area and it very well could pique their interests, and the Lady Mayor will be on the case to do what she can to get Sosua on the radar for those people.

How many times has someone like MrHappy, who has lived in the DR for over 40 years, has said that there is no place else in the country like Sosua? If all these "whore" bars eventually close, maybe Sosua will indeed transform in time to another coastal town like Sabaneta or Rio San Juan or Cabrera, and lose it's decadent reputation.

Or at least have it toned down to where it becomes a much more discreet P4P place to be.

Remember guys, it's their country. With a handful of exceptions, we just vacation there.

[j_d66]

So......to the Dominican authorities, this is the vision they beleive will eventually become an economic bonanza for the North Coast. And honestly, if it was to actually happen in the future, why even question it?

You are talking about a potential mega cash cow, even at an average of, lets say, $50 usd spent off shore per passenger, if you have upwards of 10,000 people a day, that is an amount of money that a couple hundred mongers who visit 2-3 times a year for a week at a time can't even compare to, even if guys were all shelling out 5000 pesos for every single sleazy Pedro slut they saw, no matter how fugly and fat she was.

If a crew ship docks at 8 am and passengers are disembarking before 9, who's to say 200-300 hundred of those passengers wouldn't want to jump into taxis or air conditioned shuttle buses for a 45 minute ride to Sosua beach and spend 6 hours or so eating, drinking and splashing around in the water? You don't think those beach vendors wouldn't be all out in force welcoming these tourists with open arms? You bet your ass they would.

Since all of them would have to be back on board by 6 pm, the shuttles would depart the beach at 4pm and safely get them back to the port. Again, they only would need a few hundred out of 10,000, and Sosua would be able to capture a slice of that economic pie.

Look, the beach vendors pretty much all close by 6pm anyway, and on a ton of occasions I have walked past too many bars, restaurants and souvenir shacks with absolutely no one patronizing them. We all have our favorite 2-3 spots we go to anyway. Some guys only go to the same spot every time they visit the beach. I can see a slew of shuttles/taxis arriving by 10 am and that beach buzzing with a new crop of tourists everyday. And the vendors wouldn't miss us at all. Not one damn bit. The chicas might be another story.

Those cruise ship tourists read info on the internet as well. Since it's been 30 years since a boat has been to PP, those passengers might be curious about a cruise that takes them to a new place. They will read up on the local area and it very well could pique their interests, and the Lady Mayor will be on the case to do what she can to get Sosua on the radar for those people.

How many times has someone like MrHappy, who has lived in the DR for over 40 years, has said that there is no place else in the country like Sosua? If all these "whore" bars eventually close, maybe Sosua will indeed transform in time to another coastal town like Sabaneta or Rio San Juan or Cabrera, and lose it's decadent reputation.

Or at least have it toned down to where it becomes a much more discreet P4P place to be.

Remember guys, it's their country. With a handful of exceptions, we just vacation there.

So under that scenario why can't you have both?
Your saying these cruise ship passengers will be at the beach and gone by 4pm.
So why would the bars on the PC ever have to be shut down. They don't get going before 5pm anyway.
The policia could make sure that few chicas are seen on the PC before 5pm and the cruisers would never know the dirty little secret even exists.

Anyone that has been to Pattaya knows that the family tourists and the pfp exists together and without issue it seems and the pfp scene in Sosua or anywhere else in the DR for that matter is nothing compared to what is going on in Pattaya. Even Phuket a huge tourist scene also has a vibrant pfp scene and it's not hidden it's right on a main road off from the beach.

I find this all so hypocritical that you know the powers that are so against this are also the same ones taking these same chicas to the cabanas and are no doubt profiting from the very thing they are publicly so against.

[michel3275]

So under that scenario why can't you have both?
Your saying these cruise ship passengers will be at the beach and gone by 4pm.
So why would the bars on the PC ever have to be shut down. They don't get going before 5pm anyway.
The policia could make sure that few chicas are seen on the PC before 5pm and the cruisers would never know the dirty little secret even exists.

Anyone that has been to Pattaya knows that the family tourists and the pfp exists together and without issue it seems and the pfp scene in Sosua or anywhere else in the DR for that matter is nothing compared to what is going on in Pattaya. Even Phuket a huge tourist scene also has a vibrant pfp scene and it's not hidden it's right on a main road off from the beach.

I find this all so hypocritical that you know the powers that are so against this are also the same ones taking these same chicas to the cabanas and are no doubt profiting from the very thing they are publicly so against.

The problem is that the little secret is not at all a secret anymore and thats what they are working on right now, reputation. All the places that have been closed or owners deported are what guys post on youtube and facebook and free open boards. Thats also the reason cuba dave shortened is last trip.

[wayne1967]

...I can see a slew of shuttles/taxis arriving by 10 am and that beach buzzing with a new crop of tourists everyday. ...

The schedule by Carnival calls for four to five ships docking in Maimon per month!!!!
So, forget about grand visions of hundreds of tourists flooding Sosua beach daily.

[SeaWeed]

If a crew ship docks at 8 am and passengers are disembarking before 9, who's to say 200-300 hundred of those passengers wouldn't want to jump into taxis or air conditioned shuttle buses for a 45 minute ride to Sosua beach and spend 6 hours or so eating, drinking and splashing around in the water? You don't think those beach vendors wouldn't be all out in force welcoming these tourists with open arms? You bet your ass they would.

first off cruise passengers don't usually jump in a taxi.....very few do...they aren't traveling no distance to do anything........
they'll go maybe 5 minutes away from the pier..........maybe 10-15 minutes tops.......to go check out the local area.......that's it......
cruise passengers are basically very lazy travelers and just getting off the ship is a major exercise for most passengers........
plus the majority of cruise passengers when they get off........just walk around and window shop and have sumthin cold to drink......
or they've already sign up on the ship for an excursion......where you are captive on a tour bus and you don't get to venture from the group....
they'll take you into Puerto Plata and tour the downtown district or you go swim with the dolphins thingy......then back on the bus....but that is it
Cruise ships have a captive audience and they don't want you to venture off........just like the All Inclusives in the Caribbean......cause it a loosing proposition for them...

Sosua doesn't have anything to offer for a tour except for a few shops and a small beach.......
and it is not nearly enough in Sosua for a tour director to bring bus loads of passengers to Sosua.......
Sosua would need to be at least three times bigger than it is right now to do that......
the best bet for Sosua is to have a bunch of boutique businesses that cater to the affluent........hotels, restaurants and shops......
and betting that is what the current Mayor of Sosua is striving for.........affluent travelers and not a bunch of mongers and Putas......

Those cruise ship tourists read info on the internet as well. Since it's been 30 years since a boat has been to PP, those passengers might be curious about a cruise that takes them to a new place. They will read up on the local area and it very well could pique their interests, and the Lady Mayor will be on the case to do what she can to get Sosua on the radar for those people.

not too long ago......another Caribbean Cruise port opened in Falmouth, Jamaica.......
the Jamaican government and Royal Caribbean have spent 4 years and a small fortune (220 Million Jamaican dollars) building it....
Jamaicans were saying this was big time and they were going to make a killing with all the cruise ships coming into port........
Jamaicans talked about moving there and setting up a businesses like a bar, gift shop, restaurant, etc........
there really was a gold rush fever mentality in Jamaica with talk in the press and everywhere about this new port that was the saving grace of Jamaica....
but guess what.......the Jamaicans are very upset over the lack of passenger spending....many are starving.....many have gone out of business
many have returned home with empty pockets.......there was no gold in Falmouth for many Jamaicans....

here is an article regarding this;

The local merchants in Falmouth, Jamaica that hope to sell their crafts to tourists from Royal Caribbean cruise ships are upset that not enough money is being spent by tourists. Locals say passengers simply are ignoring the merchants and opt to go on Royal Caribbean's excursions or shop at the chain shops on the pier.



Royal Caribbean partnered with Jamaica's port authority to build the $220 million port in Falmouth, where locals were told that they could expect tourists to spend about $100 each. Locals say that just isn't the case.

"We were promised that we'd be able to show people our Jamaican heritage, sell our crafts. But most of the tourists stay far away from the local people," said Asburga Harwood, an independent tour guide and community historian. "We're on the losing end."

Royal Caribbean brand communications manager H.J. Harrison Liu commented on the criticism, "We don't discourage guests from going into the town of Falmouth, but many of our guests choose a Royal Caribbean excursion to see some of the country's beaches and famous attractions."

According to trade groups, about $2 billion a year is pumped into the economies of the Caribbean by the cruise ship industry. Critics, however, say that all that money does not produce a lot of revenue for locals because most passengers dine and shop in international chain stores such as Colombian Emeralds or Diamonds International.

According to William Tatham, vice president of Jamaica's port authority, that's because the city is still adapting to its new role as a resort town. He noted that nearly all businesses in the town are aimed at locals, such as hardware suppliers, meat markets and general stores.

that's mi 2 cents on this subject.........

[Hunter]

Sosua doesn't have anything to offer for a tour except for a few shops and a small beach.......
and it is not nearly enough in Sosua for a tour director to bring bus loads of passengers to Sosua.......
Sosua would need to be at least three times bigger than it is right now to do that......
the best bet for Sosua is to have a bunch of boutique businesses that cater to the affluent........hotels, restaurants and shops......
and betting that is what the current Mayor of Sosua is striving for.........affluent travelers and not a bunch of mongers and Putas......

........[/I]

Yeah I don't really think there is any link between sosua and the cruise ships. This cruise ship hypothesis of the reason Sosua is cleaning up seems far fetched to me.

If anything I agree with you above...higher end travelers that aren't mongers that stay there is maybe their grand vision but not cruise ship passengers.

[Hanzo]

I honestly don't know why you guys have spent so many post discussing the merits of whether cruise ship passengers are willing to get off one boat, and hop on another one, or if they're willing to get off in one part of POP, go to Sosua for a couple hours, then travel back, you're all wasting your time trying to rationalize something that is very simply.

If the Dominican government has an agenda on their mind (and it sure seems like they do) for Sosua, there is probably very little actual pratical business plan in place, all they can think about is all the money they BELIEVE they will be able to line their pockets up with, nothing more and nothing less, just tell them there is more money to be made, and they're game, regardless if whatever business plan they have is even feasible, all they know is that they're under the impression they can make more money, and they will do whatever it takes to see it happen. This is the same country that the president has openly said he's afraid to fight the corruption because he knows he would be murdered before he can even blink his eyes.

[Señor JDR of Medellin]

I honestly don't know why you guys have spent so many post discussing the merits of whether cruise ship passengers are willing to get off one boat, and hop on another one, or if they're willing to get off in one part of POP, go to Sosua for a couple hours, then travel back, you're all wasting your time trying to rationalize something that is very simply.

Mostly we have lots of free time.

[steviewonder]

another Caribbean Cruise port opened in Falmouth, Jamaica.......

The local merchants in Falmouth, Jamaica that hope to sell their crafts to tourists from Royal Caribbean cruise ships are upset that not enough money is being spent by tourists. Locals say passengers simply are ignoring the merchants and opt to go on Royal Caribbean's excursions or shop at the chain shops on the pier.

Royal Caribbean partnered with Jamaica's port authority to build the $220 million port in Falmouth, where locals were told that they could expect tourists to spend about $100 each. Locals say that just isn't the case.

"We were promised that we'd be able to show people our Jamaican heritage, sell our crafts. But most of the tourists stay far away from the local people," said Asburga Harwood, an independent tour guide and community historian. "We're on the losing end."

Royal Caribbean brand communications manager H.J. Harrison Liu commented on the criticism, "We don't discourage guests from going into the town of Falmouth, but many of our guests choose a Royal Caribbean excursion to see some of the country's beaches and famous attractions."

According to trade groups, about $2 billion a year is pumped into the economies of the Caribbean by the cruise ship industry. Critics, however, say that all that money does not produce a lot of revenue for locals because most passengers dine and shop in international chain stores such as Colombian Emeralds or Diamonds International.

According to William Tatham, vice president of Jamaica's port authority, that's because the city is still adapting to its new role as a resort town. He noted that nearly all businesses in the town are aimed at locals, such as hardware suppliers, meat markets and general stores..

You could replace Falmouth, Jamaica in this story with Puerto Plata, DR One just needs to see the new amphitheater being built next to the fort on the malecon. 3,500 concrete seats which will allow the passengers to fry their asses off with no shade to be found.

http://www.sosuanews.com/index.php?id=3830&article=1

As far as Sosua is concern, I just hope that the beach vendors, as well as chair guys are not told to invest in upgrading their business, or they will be going hungry as well

[snoozer]

So under that scenario why can't you have both?
Your saying these cruise ship passengers will be at the beach and gone by 4pm.
So why would the bars on the PC ever have to be shut down. They don't get going before 5pm anyway.
The policia could make sure that few chicas are seen on the PC before 5pm and the cruisers would never know the dirty little secret even exists.

Anyone that has been to Pattaya knows that the family tourists and the pfp exists together and without issue it seems and the pfp scene in Sosua or anywhere else in the DR for that matter is nothing compared to what is going on in Pattaya. Even Phuket a huge tourist scene also has a vibrant pfp scene and it's not hidden it's right on a main road off from the beach.

I find this all so hypocritical that you know the powers that are so against this are also the same ones taking these same chicas to the cabanas and are no doubt profiting from the very thing they are publicly so against.

The P4P scene in Pattaya is actually a tourist attraction. Try making your way down Walking Street before 11 pm and you cannot move for the guided tours of Chinese and Koreans, following their tour guides with their flag or umbrella. The same happens in Amsterdam. A good friend of mine is a window girl in the RLD and she says that 90% of the people who peer into her window are regular tourists. She called me a while ago to ask me how to tell someone to shove their camera up their ass in English!!

Maybe Sosua should turn it around and start marketing tours through Rumbas and Classico.

[JD426]

The P4P scene in Pattaya is actually a tourist attraction. Try making your way down Walking Street before 11 pm and you cannot move for the guided tours of Chinese and Koreans, following their tour guides with their flag or umbrella. The same happens in Amsterdam. A good friend of mine is a window girl in the RLD and she says that 90% of the people who peer into her window are regular tourists. She called me a while ago to ask me how to tell someone to shove their camera up their ass in English!!

Maybe Sosua should turn it around and start marketing tours through Rumbas and Classico.

they could use like them Safari Buses and shit

call it D'Nile Tours...


Thats the thing with the DR, they dont embrace the Sex Tourism at all. They would even deny it exists if they could ,even though its legal.
when chicas who straight up take money for sex are telling you
" mi no puta" obviously there is a cultural Stigma.. yet they have no problem taking money from Fat Gringos..

So there will not be red light districts in the DR's near future
.. Their culture is just not ready for that kind of advanced shit..

[jose1234]

they could use like them Safari Buses and shit

call it D'Nile Tours...


Thats the thing with the DR, they dont embrace the Sex Tourism at all. They would even deny it exists if they could ,even though its legal.
when chicas who straight up take money for sex are telling you
" mi no puta" obviously there is a cultural Stigma.. yet they have no problem taking money from Fat Gringos..

So there will not be red light districts in the DR's near future
.. Their culture is just not ready for that kind of advanced shit..

When your in Sosua and the putas say they come from santo domingo or elsewhere it is for a reason, they say they are not a puta for a reason, they say they really like you and love you for a reason... Also, are our home towns ready for that advanced shit? LOL

[weyland]

... he is changing the staff to ugly ass Dominican waitresses lately.

And issuing new staff uniforms: