Our Caribbean cruise from Barbados

Today we are in La Romana. For today, I had already booked an external excursion with Andy Tours in advance. The meeting point was at the parking lot in front of the port terminal. We waited there with a family with two children and another couple. Shortly after half past eight, the taxi arrived to take us to Bayahibe at the port. There we were greeted by And and Antonia. We were checked off the list and paid right away. There were already some guests from the local hotels waiting who had also booked the 'VIP Tour to Isla Saona' excursion. We then found out that Antonia was our guide for the tour and headed to the speedboat. Our captain was Helmut (without Kohl). Laugh.

We each received a life jacket and off we went. We thought it would be better not to lean back against the seat. We sped over the waves at a rapid pace. At first I had some concerns, but it was a lot of fun. However, our buttocks were quite sore afterwards. During the boat trip to Isla Saona, we made occasional stops and Antonia showed and explained some things. The boatman also brought two starfish to the surface for us to see and take pictures of. They must never be taken out of the water, otherwise they would die.

The first real stop was at Piscina Natural, a sandbank in the sea. In waist-deep water, 'Vitamina' was served... Cola with rum. The photographer, who was also on board, only spoke English. She did a little photo shoot with those who wanted to. It was quite funny, sometimes there were some communication difficulties and we didn't know exactly what she wanted. And my sexy poses look more like water aerobics. Laugh.

Afterwards, we stopped at an old naval base, where the crew attracted fish with bread. Well, they could have skipped that.

Then we continued at a rapid pace to the outermost tip of Isla Saona. Just before we arrived there, we got caught in a rain shower. Luckily, it was the only one of the day. When we arrived at the island, the first ones jumped from the boat into the water. The beach was beautiful but already quite crowded. The crew set up a small buffet on the beach with chips, sausage, cheese, and pineapple. Meanwhile, my husband fed a few birds with the chip crumbs. There were also a few ladies walking around offering massages. I treated myself to a little massage on the beach for $10. The water there was not very inviting, very murky and lots of seaweed. After the beach emptied out again, we continued to the main beach of the island, where the restaurant for lunch was located.

When we arrived there, we were supposed to all go there and eat first. However, the line at the buffet was very long, so we sat down first and the drinks were distributed. Antonia also had a delicious fruit punch. Unfortunately, the line did not get much shorter, so we joined in. The food was okay. After lunch, we were supposed to look at the photos that were taken. She wanted to burn them onto a CD for us. My husband wanted to have them, but we didn't have the $40 she actually wanted for it. We never took so much cash with us on the excursions. We had exactly €10 and $13 with us. She gave us the CD for that amount of money. I was a little surprised, but honestly, the CD wouldn't have been worth $40 to me either. After that, we wanted to go for a swim, but there was no more time. The water there looked much more inviting. I didn't think the whole thing was very well organized.

We then took a speedboat to a catamaran, which was supposed to take us back to Bayahibe. This time, there were no life jackets anymore, although we were going just as fast as before. After we all got on the catamaran, they told us which side would be in the shade and pretty much everyone sat on that side. Hmm... probably not good for balance. Laugh. I stayed in the shade, I was sunburned, despite SPF 50. I already put the wet towel around my shoulders to cool off. Three local girls also came on board, mainly serving drinks. One of the girls occasionally tried to get the guests to dance. With limited success. I felt a little sorry for her. The music on board was played from a mobile phone. Unfortunately, the music often cut out and you could hear incoming messages popping up. Well, not quite satisfactory. Later, my husband told me that the girl had also stood in front of me and tried to get me to dance. I hadn't noticed anything because I had dozed off a bit and she couldn't see it because I was wearing sunglasses. He came over and said to her, as she looked at him quite puzzled, 'This girl is sleeping'. As I said before, I hadn't noticed anything at all.

Shortly before Bayahibe, we had to switch to a speedboat again, which took us to the beach. We then took a taxi back to La Romana. They could have done without the catamaran ride, as well as the stop at the naval base. Then they might have been able to organize the lunch better. That way, there would have been more time for swimming. Too bad.

After dinner, we met with another couple on the pool deck. There was a welcome party for the newly arrived guests. However, he came alone, she wasn't feeling well. They had also done a tour to Isla Saona and on the way there, they took the catamaran and the ride didn't agree with her. We only stayed until the ship set sail and then went back to our cabin.

Next up is another sea day.