Carnival Horizon 2022 – Amber Cove

Hey y’all! Back for another cruise post. Today I’m sharing our time in Amber Cover the Carnival port near Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic.

When we arrived in Amber Cove, Dominican Republic, Rob and I headed to find our tour
guide. We had booked The Best of Puerta Plata excursion. This is a tour that drives by many highlights of the city. You are able to get out for several of the stops as you’ll see below.

Looking back at our ship

Following our tour guide to our bus.

Watching as we drive to our first stop

Puerto Plata Cable Car (Teleferico)

We got to stop and watch the cable car leave before continuing on. This cable car ride is a 10-minute ride up 2,625 feet (800 meters) for spectacular views of the ocean, the city, and mountains. Distance from Port: 5.9 miles (9.4 km).

Macorix House of Rum

They call this a tour, but really you go into a room that has information about how the rum is made after watching a short video about this history of the factory. You get to try 9 types of rum (Gold, Spice, Mama Juana, Coconut, Pineapple, Green Apple, Coconut Water with Rum). Then, of course, you get to go shopping in their shop to pick the best one like this John Paul Jones rum here.

Carmen Factory Gift Shop

This is where excursions like this get annoying, but these places do rely on tourists to patronize their shops. We got an explanation of the different types of stones. Amber and Larimar are the major ones in the D.R. Larimar can only be found in one location: a mountainous, relatively inaccessible area in the province of Barahona in the Dominican Republic.

We did get to see them the making jewelry, like that trending handcrafted jewelry, before heading into the store.

I probably could have gotten some earrings cheaper somewhere else, but I often try to live in the moment when traveling.

City view and celebrity cruise Ship

Random stop to see the view from a higher elevation.

There was a guy that just appeared out of no where and started acting like a tour guide. Then lured some of the people on our bus over to his house (which you can see in this pic behind our bus) so he could try to sell them something. Luckily our bus driver went over and got them, since we needed to load back up and get going again.

Nelson Liriano’s House

We drove by Nelson Liriano’s house. He played major league baseball from 1987-1998.

He was sitting outside, and some of the folks were big fans so they asked to get off and get a picture with him.

Saw this guy walk by while we waited on the bus.

Amber museum

Next stop Amber Museum, which I would have enjoyed this a lot more if we hadn’t already stopped at Carmen’s.

Umbrella street

This Umbrella Street was a spot that I really wanted to stop at. Great photo opps.

Independence Square at Central Park

We were hungry and thirsty at this point. This excursion was starting to drag on and we were no doubt going to be back to port later than expected. Rob got a coconut for $1. We drank all the water out and then the guy chopped it open and carved a lot of the meat out so could eat it.

Our bus parked a block or so down from Independence Square and we walked by this very pink area called Paseo de Dona Blanca.

Fortress of San Felipe

Celebrity cruise ship gets to dock here

Amber Cove Port

After getting back we had a little time to go to the cruise port area, get a snack, and put our swimsuits on and jump in the lazy river and pool.

Click to zoom inAlice and David elected to do something on their own. They ended up just hanging out at the port. They were back on the ship before we got over there. The taxi prices were ridiculously expensive.

So all in all, I do recommend this tour if you’re looking to get an overview of the city and the highlights. Just be ready for these added spots where the tour is obviously helping these small businesses make money by bringing busload of people there. Also, what I didn’t mention here, because I was trying to keep my complaining to a minimum. Just know not everyone on the tour has the same idea of what they want to get out a tour like this. People will run late and will talk over the tour guide and all that, so just be ready.

After 2 days exploring different areas of the Dominican Republic, Rob and I definitely want to come back. I’d be even open to an all inclusive here.

All the pics from our day in La Romana >>> Cruise Day 7

Other posts from this cruise listed here: Carnival Horizon::March 2022