St Maarten is certainly my favorite port in this part of the Carribean. There’s a nice docking facility for cruise ships and an extensive “duty free” shopping terminal district if you don’t want to walk into Philipsburg, the town just adjacent to the cruise facility. There they have souvenir shops, booze & butts stores, island clothing and jewelry stores and a few outdoor places to get a drink or five. There’s also usually a live band playing somewhere in the square and, of course, the ever-present taxi drivers trying to get you to hire them to take you around the island.

That might not be a bad idea, though. St Maarten is half Dutch and half French. We dock on the Dutch side and it requires a vehicle of some kind to get to the French side which I hear is very nice, although I have not been there. I like Philipsburg so much that I haven’t gotten around to it, although I hope to before my contract is up. I’ll have to talk to Eric the glassblower about that. He’s good at those things.

It’s about a 15 minute walk to the town of Philipsburg. Just follow the crowd through the taxi drivers and excursion vans and soon you’ll make a left onto a street, walk for a bit and then hang another left and go through a small parking lot and over a foot bridge and you’ll enter one end of the promenade that follows the beach for quite a distance. The beach is to the left. The sand and water are beautiful, although not good for snorkling. If you want snorkling, you have to go to other parts of the island, like the French side. The beach has rows of lounge chairs and umbrellas, grouped by colors. I suppose different people run the tending of these ammenities and color grouping keeps it all organized.

You will get offers from attendants for beach facilities and there are signs with various combinations of services. I was soon approached by a pleasant black fellow who goes by “Big Al”. He said that for $5 I could get a lounge chair, an umbrella and bottle of water and access to the showers for the whole day. Since this is exactly what I was in the mood for, I considered it a bargain. However I told Big Al that I wanted to walk around for a while first, which was true, and that I would be back, but I don’t think he believed me. I did continue my walk and was approached by other attendants offering various deals that included beer or food, and one who was smoking a particularly fragrant spliff and just shook his head when I told him I worked on the cruise ship. However, I was good to my word and went back to Big Al and his orange umbrellas and got my chair and water and laid in the shade of the umbrella, taking an occasional swim and chatting with the people who ended up next to me, pasty white older folks from Scotland who were actually pretty funny. It was an altogether pleasant afternoon. So when you go to St Maarten, make sure you ask for Big Al, or look for the guy with the spliff if that’s your thing.

A few of the other nice things about Philipsburg: There are outdoor bars and cafes, live musicians scattered about, it’s only one dollar for a Carrib Beer which is pretty tasty stuff, and there’s a ton of shops for those who enjoy the shopping experience. Of course there are palm trees and flowers and, for the Carribean, they do a decent job up keeping the place clean and tidy.

***********************************************************

Ever since we’d left the Mediterranean, I felt like I was suddenly getting scheduled for way more hours than I had been during the previous two and a half months. At first I thought it was just because of the crossing, but it continued during the first cruise. It’s getting close to 30 days since I had a day off and my voice is getting weary. So I gathered the daily schedules for all of the musical acts from the past ten days and added up everybodys stage time. Lo and behold, I was scheduled for more stage time than any other act except the party band by a significant amount. So I composed nicely worded emails to the new Bandmaster and the Cruise Director, both of whom are nice guys by the way, and pointed out the scheduling imbalance, the degradation of my vocal ability and my lack of a full days vocal rest for a long period of time.

It took two days, but they have cut my scheduled stage time to a much more civilized degree, at least for a few days, and the Cruise Director has assured me that a day off is in the works. They also thanked me for all of my hard work and told me how happy they are that I am here. This happy outcome is in stark contrast to the response I got last year on the Constellation when I expressed my concerns and was basically told to just shut up, do the job and deal with it or quit. I don’t know how long this reprieve will last, but I’m glad it’s here now, not a minute too soon. I know that the Cruise Director is under the gun from both the Hotel Director and the Miami offices to work the hell out of us, but they are musicians and performers too and they know how important the recuperation time is for singers and other entertainers.

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Further exploration of San Juan (J’s are pronounced like H’s in Spanish so the correct pronounciation is San Hwon) during the daytime showed it to be a very clean, graffiti-free city with a very visible police presense and a variety of things to do and see. If you hang a left at the end of the cruise ship pier and follow the street past the Senor Frog’s and a few eateries that feature cheap Carrib Beer and local food, you soon come to a walkway that runs along the harborline. The harbor is gigantic and very scenic. The promenade is at the base of a long fortress wall which, no longer being used to keep people out, is now dotted with gardens, sculptures, fountains and little shops and water-ice stands. It’s very pleasant and eventually brings you to a gate which long ago was the main gate for anyone entering the city, especially if you were arriving by ship. You were supposed to go through this gate to register your arrival and proceed up the street to the beautiful cathedral to thank God for your safe passage. So I stopped in the cathedral and thanked God for my safe passage.

So now you’re in the Old Town and it’s a grid of shops, places to eat, parks, fountains and monuments. I like it a lot. The local people seem cool with all the tourists walking around. There were a few Christmas trees in the squares, nativity scenes and other Christmas decorations. Christmas in the tropics. They have fake snow for decoration. Our timing there is a little weird. We arrive at 2:00 PM and one week we leave at 8:00 PM and the next week we leave at 10:0PM. For some reason they give me a 5:30 set which makes it tough to spend any serious time in town, but next week, if I’m done by 6:15, I figure Donna and I can head into town and get a good couple of hours of nightlife in San Juan. At least that’s my plan.

***********************************************************

Speaking of Donna, it should be fairly obvious by now that we’re getting pretty tight. Our time together in the Mediterranean was magical and I have a feelling that our week together for the New Year’s cruise is going to be yet another week to remember, to put it mildly. It is probably also obvious that this puts a whole different wrinkle on spending six months a year on a cruise ship. I’m extremely grateful that she is willing and able to join me here, but that still leaves long periods of time that we’re not together. We talk about it often, mostly via email, and we are both supportive of one another’s lives and don’t want to get in one another’s way as far as the living of our lives, but you know how love goes. It tends to change things.

So I’m not saying anything is changing…….yet. However, this blog is about my experiences here on the ship and this particular aspect of my life occupies a lot of my mental and emotional time, so it colors the rest of the experience. I will likely include this new monkey wrench in the machine as I relate my ongoing adventures. Hey, a little bit of romance is good for an epic tale, right?

That said, I should also include that in the many months I’ve spent on the ships, both this contract and on the Constellation, I never “hooked up” with any women, even when I was completely unattached. There were a few I was interested in and got to know as friends, and maybe even wanted to hook up with, but something inside of me kept me from pursuing it. Certainly if I were twenty years younger it would be different, but I’m kind of glad I never did. I see the kind of drama that plays out sometimes and I just don’t have the energy for that type of casual, but in-your-face-all-the-time kind of connection. Not anymore. Funny how age has tempered and perhaps refined my drives. I’m cool with that, finally.

Donna arrives on Sunday, two days after Christmas, so I’m getting my Christmas present a little late, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a real good one. Merry Christmas everybody.

***********************************************************

El Morro, San Juan

St. Thomas harbor at sunset

If a visit to St. Thomas, USVI, conjures up the idea of awesome shopping at ridiculously low prices, those days are over.  St. Maarten has taken the lead at the best prices in the Caribbean.  Nevertheless, downtown St. Thomas is a fun shopping area with its narrow cobblestone streets, shops with old doorways of heavy wood and iron and tucked-away cafes.  The currency is the US dollar and people shop til they drop. 

With a safe harbor and easy access to town, St. Thomas attracts an amazing amount of luxurious private yachts.  In the harbor today was the Rising Sun, Larry Ellison’s ship.  Equipped with a silver-colored funnel, I wouldn’t call this a yacht; it was a ship.  We docked next to Havensight Mall, rows of cinder block buildings housing dozens of shops and a few restaurants.  A quick walk from the ship and you are in the mall area.  If you don’t want to venture into downtown, you can find many of the same shops here, on a smaller scale.  If you do want to go into downtown to shop, eat and browse, Havensight mall is a decent walking distance.  If you are not so inclined, there is a shuttle van that goes back and forth into downtown every few minutes. 

Activities onboard were plentiful, but again I didn’t find my way to participate. Some of this afternoon’s activities included a Beatles music challenge, Wii Games, table tennis and bocci ball tournaments, line dance class and many more.   The cruise director is Gary Walker, a high-energy Brit whose love of what he does really shines.  The entertainment tonight was Lindsay Hamilton, a former West End theater performer and singer.  Among her repertoire of songs were most the big Andrew Lloyd Weber hits and a couple of religious melodies.

Another night in the buffet to get caught up on this blog.  More vegetable curry, beef stew and rice, with a salad.  Funny, there was not a bit of cheese, sliced, crumbled or cubed, at the salad bar.  When I politely asked the server for more blue cheese salad dressing I was curtly told, “No, I’m trying to close down the salad bar.”  Okay…someone was having a bad day and it wasn’t me.   No problem, I went with the vinagrette. 

St. Kitts is our next stop on this ten night cruise.   One of the most beautiful of the Caribbean islands, it reminds me of Hawaii, I plan to make it a beach day.   My shore excursion ticket simply says, “Beach Tour” so it will be interesting to see where we end up for our tour.

Second day at sea en route to St. Thomas from Ft. Lauderdale.  Second day of more wine tasting, but breakfast must come first.  Trying room service one more time, my breakfast was delivered at the time I requested.  If you like the coffee you make at home, be prepared for a stronger version when you are on a ship.  I love my coffee, but sometimes it’s just too strong.  To circumvent a misguided uber-sugaring, order a pot of hot water whenever you order or pour your own coffee. 

"Wines Around the World" tasting

When am I ever going to get outside! The $20 prepaid wine tasting began at noon…and would last for an hour.  Lunch would have to be upstairs in the buffet.  The “Wines Around the World” event began at the Cellar Masters Bar with six tasting stations set up within the area.  There probably were not more than forty people signed up so it wasn’t crowded and there was easy access to the various wines, snacks and all-important dump bucket.  It was a cleverly organized event – a one time venture – but I did learn what wines I did and did not like.

With a lot of writing to catch up on, I decided it was best to sequester myself in the buffet for dinner.  A nice feature that is catching on with many cruise lines is the extended pizza/pasta bar.  While I haven’t met a pizza I didn’t like, except maybe that weird Hawaiian pizza concept, it’s good to note that you can request a made-to-order pizza.  The pizzas on the Equinox aren’t the personal size (by my standards) but closer to a 12” pie.  No, I didn’t get the pizza.  I opted for the salad bar, a wonderful spicy vegetable curry with jasmine rice and a small piece of some kind of baked fish.  Not knowing what I missed in the main dining room, I was quite happy with my choices in the buffet.  Bar service is also available, but by now I was up to my eyeballs in wine and an iced tea was perfect. 

Buffett dinner at Oceanview Cafe

Tomorrow morning would be St. Thomas and hopefully we’d dock at Havensight Mall, not at the industrial area at the other side of town.  No shore excursions are planned, just a day to take advantage of AT&T access in the USVI.

Sunset off St. Maarten. September 11, 2001.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

This picture of the sun setting on a smooth ocean was taken in 2001 off the coast of St. Maarten.  Some of that warmth would really be appreciated today!

Winter in Chicago is extremely brutal.  There is nothing powerful and miserable than the below negative and awful wind chill.  What can I say?! It’s a love and hate relationship with this windy city.  Sometimes, I wonder, if I can really enjoy stomping my Ugg boots through the stick snow and breathing in the crisp and winter air. 

So I was inspired to  list down My Own “Sexiest Beaches in the World” so this harsh winter feeling will subside and I shall escape the thick fogs, beautiful frozen architecture to deserted white sand lapped with turquoise waters and enjoyed the tranquility of ultra soft sand while walking in flip flops or barefoot.

KAUAI, HAWAII

AMALFI, ITALY

ST. MAARTEN/ ST. MARTIN

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

COPACABANA , BRAZIL

MYKONOS, GREECE

FIJI, AUSTRALIA

KO PHI PHI, THAILAND

BALI, INDONESIA

CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

AND OF COURSE, BORA BORA FRENCH POLYNESIA

AT LAST YOU HAVE HAIR CARE FOR THE BEACH AND IN THE WATER!

SUBSERIES.COM

Come on people,

why does it seem that only a few people care about the direction St Maarten is headed?

Except for an article in The Daily Herald,  and some very diligent bloggers St Maarten online.

I guess they feel that it will go away.

Anyway, this is J with AdloftM, of course things are not going as fast as we hoped, but it’s getting done.

We’ve added over 10.000 contacts in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS.

Our blogs have added over 200 followers in 1 WEEK!

Our blog insights show that we went from none existent last week, to over 800 visits this Sunday.

We’ve added K. Hardeman, B. Cannegieter, J. Roumou, A. Brown, C. Panthophlet, J. Burnettt and D. Roumou

Thanks for all of the positive feedback, the hits, the comments.

I do the video/ picture uploads, and I add the blog feed to our network,

anyone interested  in adding their blog contact Ad Loftm on Facebook.

Peace

Royal Caribbean International is set to christen the newest addition to its fleet, the 225,282-GRT Oasis of the Seas, in Fort Lauderdale later today. The vessel will be named at a ceremony during the inaugural celebration-fundraiser onboard the ship, which will benefit the non-profit Make-A-Wish Foundation.

In a twist to maritime tradition, the line has appointed 7 godmothers for the vessel to represent each of the ship’s “neighbourhoods”. Chosen because they personify strength of character, exemplify the spirit of giving and are role models, the godmothers include renowned singer-songwriter Gloria Estefan, multiple Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jane Seymour, film and television actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, international television personality Daisy Fuentes and Olympic medallists Michelle Kwan, Dara Torres and Shawn Johnson, who will also be granting wishes onboard the ship for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Following the festivities, Oasis of the Seas will set sail on a 4-night cruise to the Bahamas with its first paying-passengers. 

The largest cruise ship in the world, the 5400-guest vessel features luxury accomodation, world-class dining and revolutionary recreation across its 16 decks. Accomodation options onboard include 12 stateroom and 10 suite types for guests to choose from, ranging from comfortable Interior staterooms to the ultra-luxurious Presidential Family Suite that can cater for up to 14 guests, while 23 food & beverage outlets located throughout the ship provide guests with a choice of various cuisines during their cruise.

The ship pioneers the “neighbourhood” concept, with the public space divided into 7 unique areas, including the outdoor Central Park featuring 12,000 plants and 56 trees. Cruisers familiar with Royal Caribbean will find many of the cruise line’s signature recreational offerings onboard Oasis of the Seas, including the Royal Promenade shopping district, Casino Royale, Vitality Spa and Flowrider surf simulators, while discovering new attractions such as the only merry-go-round at sea at the Boardwalk neighbourhood.

Oasis of the Seas will embark her first paying passengers tomorrow, 1 December 2009. She will spend her inaugural season sailing the Eastern Caribbean from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, calling at Charlotte Amalie, Phillipsburg and Nassau, with cruises in the Western Caribbean to follow in 2010. Royal Caribbean is currently building a sister ship, the Allure of the Seas, which is due to enter service in late 2010.

For more information, visit www.royalcaribbean.com.

Copyright Photo: Royal S. King. Ex-Alitalia DC-9-82 PJ-SNC (msn 49434) arrived on September 14, 2009 and is pictured at St. Maarten.

Insel Air International (Curacao) with the delivery of its third jetliner, modified its 2006 livery to now include much larger Insel Air titles.

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Bleu Emeraude provides everything you need for the perfect Caribbean vacation villa. Overlooking stunning beaches with an endless view of clear, turquoise waters, Bleu Emeraude is a new residence located in Grand Case, Saint Martin, and is the epitome of elegant luxury.

Studios, two- and three-room apartments are available to rent in Bleu Emeraude, and all come complete with beautiful modern furnishings. Your Saint Maarten vacation in the Grand Case bay at Bleu Emeraude is made complete with state-of-the-art entertainment devices, such as a flat screen television and DVD player.

Set in the picturesque village of Grand Case in the North of Saint Martin, Bleu Emeraude is located just a few minutes’ walk from some exquisite gourmet restaurants.

http://bleuemeraude.com

I am a bit behind here in the blog posting, haha…but just wanted to say that the cruise was amazing and my favorite stop was definitely St. Maarten!

Here is a shot of Janel and I on the beach in St. Maarten…check out that water! gorgeous

SPRING BREAKERS NOW HAVE PROFESSIONAL WATERPROOF HAIR AND SKIN CARE TO

DIVE FOR!

www.subseries.com

Oh dear. Today is St. Martin’s Day. It’s times like this that curtains would be useful. Today is the day that kids in some areas go around house to house singing songs and receiving treats. Sort of like Halloween, but not as ghoulish or costume-y. That said, we don’t have any treats to give out.

Fortunately, we didn’t get any visitors last year and I’m hoping this year will be the same. Maybe we should turn the lights out and eat dinner on the sofa. Just in case.

Those topics go together like….well actually, they don’t go together at all.

Sorry if I seem all over the place today. I’ve officially switched into vacation mode. But before we talk about that, let’s get serious.

It’s just for a second, I swear!

How old were you when you had your first drink?

13? 15? 18?

Am I close? Or am I being too conservative?

Me? I was 25.

……what? I was!

Alright, I only put that because I know my dad reads my posts, (Hi Dad!), so I have to pretend I’m somewhat responsible.

I’m not sure what the average age is, but I think it’s safe to assume most kids have tried an alcoholic drink by the time they’re 16 or 17. I’m not saying all 16 and 17 year olds are going out and getting smashed every weekend (although I know some are), but it would be pretty naive to think they’re not experimenting.

Anyway, back in October, Nickelodeon aired a special episode titled “Kids in Rehab” for their series Nick News with Linda Ellerbee.

Of the 2 million people who checked into rehab in 2007, almost 25,000 of them were under the age of 15.

15 years old.

And we’re not talking they had tried a drink by the age of 15, or even gone out and gotten drunk a couple times by the age of 15. These kids that checked into rehab were alcoholics.

High-freaking-five Nickelodeon for bringing attention to this.

I already thought you rocked because you constantly play marathons of Spongebob Squarepants, but highlighting such a scary and important issue makes you rock even more.

OK, now onto the second part of this post…

This time tomorrow, I’ll be on a plane, headed HERE:

Ahhhhhhhh

And this is what I’ll look like flying in:

Did you see me waving??

Needless to say, I’m pumped.

I won’t be anywhere near a computer for the next week, so this will be the last post for a bit.

Have a great weekend/week. I’ll be thinking of you all while I’m on the beach.

Wait, who am I kidding. No I won’t.

The World’s largest cruise ship has arrived:

Oasis of the Seas Delivery

This is an exciting time for us travel agent’s,  The World’s largest cruise ship has arrived!

Just look at these stats:16-deck, 5,400-capacity, complete with a park-at-sea, zipline, handcrafted carousel and multilevel urban-style loft suites. It also offers seven themed areas and an aquatic amphitheatre that is a pool by day and a theatre by night. This ship is the largest cruise ship on the seas, weighing in at 220,000 tons and offering  2,704 – staterooms.

Heading for Florida

The ship  sailed from Turku in Finland on 30th October 2009 for its home port of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it will make its debut on November 11.

Why don’t you Follow along with her?

The ship’s progress will be fed onto daily webisodes broadcast on oasisoftheseas.com and via Twitter.

Visitors to the website can view Google Maps applications and follow the ship’s passage, and fans can also follow two blogs about the ship from chairman Richard Fain and President and CEO Adam Goldstein.

Royal Caribbean has innovated hugely within the sector in the last five years, introducing the formerly sedate world of cruise to the onboard FlowRider surf simulator, rock climbing walls, ice-skating rinks and cantilevered whirlpools.

 Big names

And kicking off the entertainment lineup -  Rihanna will perform next month. The November 19 concert will take place during a three-night preview voyage scheduled before the official debut in early December.

The concert is the first to promote Rihanna’s new album, Rated R, the line says. The new album, due out on November  23, is Rihanna’s first since 2007’s Good Girl Gone Bad, which went multiplatinum. 

Staterooms to be had

Royal Caribbean said that sales for the Oasis of the Seas are where they want them to be – but they’re not at capacity, bookings were still available for the Oasis’ inaugural sailing on December 5th 2009, the 7 night  itinerary if you like it is below:

Ports of Call: Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Nassau, Bahamas; Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Prices from only: $1,299.00 per person (USD, based on double occupancy, inside stateroom, plus taxes and fees, subject to availability )

For more information visit: http://www.rainbowtravelonline.com/cruisesearch

Vambora para o Caribe no final do ano? Foto: Cancun-Flickr, Mike McHolm

Estamos vivendo um período ótimo para quem quer viajar ao exterior. Com o dólar a U$ 1,70 e poucos, tendendo a baixar, quando se trata de viagens no final de ano, MUITOS, destinos fora do Brasil, estão com preços compatíveis , e até mesmo mais baratos, do que por aqui.

Com a nossa pesquisa de “Onde você quer passar o Reveillon de 2009“, mostrando o Nordeste como destino ideal, mas ainda bem caro, esse post é para você pensar na possibilidade de pagar uma quantia semelhante, e até mesmo menor, para viajar para fora.

E dentre tantos destinos, o Caribe, que já estava uma barganha, agora, virou quase uma pechincha!

Só para você ver: um pacote de 7 noites para St. Maarten (num hotel de primeira linha, com café da manhã e aluguel de carro), no dia 26/12, está saindo R$ 3.650,40, pela Cvc! 3650 REAIS!  Com essa quantia você não consegue pagar muita festa de réveillon em pousadas, aqui no Brasil.

Outro exemplo: 7 noites em Curaçao, no Marriot, está saindo por U$ 1708, pelo Submarino Viagens! Muito barato, mesmo em dólares! Caso você não queira ir com Pacote, como o blog Aquela Passagem mostrou, dá para ir para Aruba, com 15 mil milhas pelo Smile!

Agora, se você, não sabe muito bem a diferença entre as ilhas (onde é mais legal, menos muvucado, etc), segue aqui o básico do Caribe, para você decidir, onde quer ficar:

* Aruba e Curaçao:

Pertinho da Venezuela, tem a garantia de mar azul/verde transparente em praticamente todas as praias. Olha só:

Praia de Aruba...Foto: Flickr: Serge Melki

Linha costeira de Curaçao...Foto: Flickr, Travelling Pooh

Na dúvida entre se hospedar entre uma e outra, dê uma lida nesse post do Ricardo Freire: Aruba ou Curaçao?

* Cancun:

Fica na parte extrema direita do México. É o destino mais conhecido do Caribe aqui por nós. Dá para aproveitar o agito, descansar e ao mesmo tempo conhecer um pouco de história com as ruínas maias de Tulúm (2 horas de Cancun).

Cancun-mar azul, só que mais agitado. Foto: Flickr,Mike McHolm

Ruinas de Tulum, em Cancun. Foto: Flickr, Lee Otis

Para decidir qual hotel ficar, recomendo também esse post do Riq! Mais completo impossível:  Cancun, como escolher seu hotel.

* Punta cana:

Fica na República Domenicana. É uma região formada por praias lindas, seguidas de hotéis e hotéis (maioria all inclusive).

Praia do Club Med, em Punta Cana. Foto: Flickr, Ed Yourdon

* St. Maarten :

Point de muitos cruzeiros, é um território holandês, que fica na fronteira com St. Martin (território francês). Na verdade, é a mesma ilha só que dividida ( sendo que de ambos os lados, todo mundo fala inglês e aceita dólares ). Essa foto do avião com o mar azul é da praia de Maho Beach, do lado holandês (Saint Maarten).

Maho Beach, em St. Maarten

Para ver se essa é mesmo sua praia, dê uma lida nos relatos de viagem do Arnaldo e do Riq, para o mesmo lugar, e tire suas conclusões…

Esses são os destinos mais conhecidos e fáceis comprar (principalmente em grandes agencias), mas o Caribe tem muito mais: Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, St Barts e Los Roques, por exemplo.

Los Roques. Foto: Flickr, Arnoldo Riker

Animou?! Eu, se fosse você, não perderia nem mais um minuto e já garantia essa sua viagem de final de ano hoje! Depois não vai reclamar do transito para descer a serra no dia 31/12  e da falta de água no dia 01/01!!!!

Só lembrando: a pior época para ir para o Caribe é entre Outubro e Novembro, onde ocorrem as chuvas e furacões, então não se empolgue muito com os preços de agora, mas foque no final do ano, férias de janeiro, fevereiro, carnaval, etc…

Vambora para o Caribe!!!!!

The Dominican Republic — one part baseball mecca and one part beach colony, with a ton of Caribbean history and culture thrown in for added flavor.

The island of Hispaniola sits in the eastern Caribbean between Cuba and Puerto Rico. The western third of Hispaniola is controlled by Haiti. The Dominican Republic occupies the rest.

The Dominican Republic sends a steady stream of talent to Major League Baseball. You’d be hard-pressed today to find a National or American League team that doesn’t have at least one dominicano on its roster. One town, San Pedro de Macoris, practically specializes in producing infielders.

The DR also is known for its all-inclusive beach resorts — more than 30 of them at last count. Lodging, meals and just about everything else are included in a single, sometimes staggeringly low price.

But is that all there is to the country? Not by a long shot. The capital city, Santo Domingo contains enough history of the Americas to make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Most of that history is packed into the Zona Colonial, where the age of almost everything except the residents is measured in centuries.

For instance, the Pat’e Palo restaurant has been doing business on the same spot for 500 years, which makes it three centuries older than the United States! The Hotel Palacio, where I stayed on a baseball trip a few years back, is a mere 400 years old.

The remains of Christopher Columbus are buried here. At least Dominicans think so. It’s a long story, and a big argument. There’s also a museum where you can see treasure from sunken Spanish galleons.

Even the thoroughfares have history. Calle de las Damas, so named because frilly ladies used to promenade there, is the oldest street in the Americas. It runs just below the perimeter wall of the old Ozama fort, which is not your typical Caribbean bastion.

Most colonial fortresses were erected to discourage pirates; Ozama was built to lure them in. Its buildings were designed to resemble a European church — from a distance. Only when they came into gun range did the pirates learn that the canons of this “church” were really cannons. Oops!

Americans still can’t legally visit Cuba because of the US embargo (although thousands skirt that ridiculous rule annually), but two stretches in the Zona Colonial can give you a sense of what Cuba is like. One is the seaside boulevard known as the Malecon. The other is El Conde.

The Malecon is lined with major hotels, casinos and restaurants overlooking the Caribbean. This is where we encountered a tasty liqueur known as Guavaberry. But don’t go looking for a bottle of this stuff to take home. It’s sold only on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten. You can order it online, though.

When the sun goes down, lovers take over the concrete benches on the side of the street closest to the sea. On Sundays, the Malecon is closed to traffic. Kids play basketball and soccer and fly kites in the street, while vendors sell sweets, cold drinks and ice cream.

El Conde is a tree–shaded alleyway in the Zona Colonial lined with restos and shops. You’ll also find the Cubania cultural center, a good place for Cuba Libres, daiquiris, piña coladas and mojitos. This spot was used to simulate Havana in the film Godfather II.

If you’re into jewelry, El Conde also is a good place to find larimar, a stone similar to turqoise — and found nowhere else in the world.

Along both the Malecon and El Conde, you’ll see folks selling pieces of art done in the style of the Taino people, the original inhabitants of Hispaniola. The one thing you won’t find is any trace of the Taino themselves. The Spanish colonizers — and the diseases they brought with them — pretty much wiped them out.

(The decimation of the Taino by the Spanish led to African slaves being brought to Hispaniola, a pattern that would be repeated by Europeans throughout the Americas, including in what eventually became the United States.)

One of the must-sees in Santo Domingo is a restaurant called El Conuco. They specialize in traditional cooking known as criollo. The food is tasty, but that’s not why you go. What makes this place a command performance is the dance they call “bachata in a bottle.”

Baiguate waterfall, Dominican Republic

Bachata is a traditional Dominican music and dance style. The dance is performed by a couple who take turns spinning on one foot, while balanced atop an empty bottle of Cointreau. Think I’m kidding? Take a look!

As with the rest of the Caribbean, the DR is not the best place to be during hurricane season but makes an ideal winter getaway — especially if you live anyplace where it snows. The weather is warm and the Presidente beers are always — and I do mean always — ice-cold. In fact, don’t be surprised if your beer arrives with little chunks of ice stuck to the bottle.

If you’re inclined to rent an SUV and go exploring, the countryside is also tropically beautiful, especially in places like Baiguate, with its waterfalls.

But the most beautiful thing about the DR may be the people who call it home. Bright-eyed, quick to smile, warm and strong in spirit despite the poverty that makes life a struggle for many of them. Ultimately, they may be the nation’s best tourist attraction.

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