We steamed into Amber Cove on the north side of the DR at about 9am. We’ve been here before on a cruise in 2017 and had a very “interesting day” scuba diving… As a result, we decided to have a quiet day around the cruise port today.

There can be no denying that the DR is a spectacularly beautiful island. Caribbean islands tend to fall into one of two categories: flat, sandy pseudo Floridian islands eg Cayman, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, ABC islands… and the mountainous, lushly green, semi volcanic ones like St Lucia, Dominica, Jamaica, DR …. The silhouette of the island is mountainous, peaked…. the colour is overwhelmingly green, densely covered in palm forest….. darkish beaches on the north side…..

We walked ashore at about 9am, and had a look around the shops in Amber Cove. Some interesting ones. It’s a manufactured cruise port so no good looking for authenticity here.. but there is a charm nonetheless. Bob bought himself a new cap to guard against future donations to the sea (which are a regular occurrence). Stuart and Fi decided on an afternoon tour to see a bit of the island. We decided to stay local. This meant pegging out around the pool in the village and very lovely it was. So hot today – like 29C. I had to lash on the sun protection, much more than anywhere before.

Went back to the ship around 130. Grabbed a bit of lunch and found sunbeds on the aft deck for the afternoon around the infinity pool there. It was lovely. Most people were off ship and we had the place largely to ourselves. Stayed out, baking and dipping, till about 430.

Tonight we met up in the lounge reserved for the top tiers of Princess Loyalty. Wow… their perks are generous compared to other lines. We get access to this area for 2 hours every night with totally free drinks, olus a wonderful buffet – you have to be careful not to ruin dinner.

We caught up with Stuart and Fi’s afternoon over martinis and some cheese and prawn cocktails. Then we went into dinner and had a most enjoyable time. We have leaarned that some dishes are very small portions, so we ask the advice of the waiting staff who are all too anxious to guide you. We also often take one of the fish main courses as a pre course. So tonight I had a first course of pasta marinara (a main choice, slightly sized down), and then grilled prawns in a lovely sauce. I asked the waitress how many prawns would be on the main course and she said 5. I said, that’s not enough and she wrote up extra prawns for all of us and in fact we all got 10 each. Just ask, is my advice. The staff are so eager to please, after the long terrible pause in cruising. They just cannot do enough to please….

After dinner we went up onto the open deck for the Caribbean music and dancing event. Had such a blast, We are so enormously lucky to be sailing throught the Caribbean on a night in early February….. up in the open air in tropical clothing, dancing to live music, without a care. So lucky……