Day 7 - NCL Encore - Peurto Plata, Dominican Republic

We were up early as usual, and both went for coffee together.  We opted for The Local for breakfast since it is always hot and fresh.  The ship docked much earlier than the arrival time and we watched us pull into the harbor while walking laps on the Waterfront.
   
Our plan for the day was to explore the port area at Taino Bay and possibly walk to the Amber Museum.  This was Chris’ first time in the Dominican Republic but I was here on my second ever cruise in the late 80s.  I bought an amber and a larimar pendant on that trip.  I was curious to visit some jewelry stores to compare.
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The port area has stores, restaurants and a large pool that is complimentary to use.  The loungers in the pool looked very inviting and I am sure this will be a popular stop.  We walked past the pool and explored an area still under construction where a lazy river is being made.  At this point, we were close to the port entrance and decided to see about walking to the Amber Museum.  After reaching the exit, I saw the tons of tour guides and decided to stick to the port area.  I did not feel like telling everyone “No thank you” and I will admit I was a bit nervous after reading the cautions in the Freestyle Daily.  I saw a sign for Monkey Island which intrigued us both.  It was more a large, caged building where you could hold squirrel monkeys.  We passed on that and made our way back to the boat.  It is a large port area and we ended up walking about two miles around it.

I wanted to do some writing and we went up to the pool deck since most were off the ship.  Chris read while I wrote.  The lure of the frozen drinks called to us and Chris had a pina colada while I had a frose.  I had been watching the massive amounts of frozen drinks being made all week and told Chris to go surprise me with something I do not usually drink before lunch.  He came back with a Bushwacker and while tasty, I cannot imagine drinking these milkshake type drinks all cruise as some do.  Lunch was the buffet, and we ate at our poolside table.
 
Late afternoon, we did go to the Sustainable bar to have a Bananaruma.  I will commend Aran at this bar as his versions seem slightly better than on Joy and Breakaway.  We enjoyed our cocktail with a great view of Puerto Plata.  We ran into our friends and heard all about their ATV adventure.  They had a blast trekking through the mud but after seeing pictures and hearing the tales, I do not think it would be my cup of tea.
Tonight, we dined once again in the buffet.  The theme was Oriental Night and I found it to be not as good as on other ships.  The choices seemed very limited although some were very good.  Of course, you cannot go wrong with the large Indian food selection.
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The entertainment tonight was the comedy magician, Eric Buss.  Chris said we did not need to go but I knew he still wanted to.  Plus, there was not much else that seemed exciting.  This show was about the same as the first with magic but less annoying.  The Glow Party was tonight but we decided to skip it and hit the casino for a little bit before bed.  We ran into our friends there once again.  It was not too late an evening for us.  Tomorrow is our last day and we wanted to get up early to make the most of it.