New Port Review - Amber Cove

Amber Cove

I recently visited a new port....which is getting hard to do these days. Amber Cove was developed by Carnival for their brands: Carnival, Holland America, Princess, Costa and is also hosting bi-weekly Fathom "social impact" cruises from Miami.  They spent a lot of money and really did a good job on making this port fun for all.

Thankfully, Amber Cove is not a tender port.  That is the first great thing  The second thing I noted is.....IF you were on a budget or tired.....this port has enough to do to just "chill" out.

The Dominican Republic is a beautiful place so I want to make sure you don't misunderstand me.  I am not saying that you should just hang out at the port and not take an excursion or see the island.  There are wonderful tours offered by the cruise line as well as independent tours for those like me who dare to find my own.  In fact, I am scheduled to go there again in soon and I must take the Waterfall Tour! 

You will find: shops, a huge pool with a swim up bar, a restaurant, waterslide, cabanas for rent, a zipline over the pool area, cultural center, another "sky" bar and more.

Rental Cabanas are seen as your ship docks.  There are actually 4 types of cabanas at the port:  Grand Cabana for a larger group, ocean side, pool side  and hill side. Although I recommend reserving in advance through the ship, when we were there cabanas were available to rent still. This is a picture of the Grand cabana and several ocean side cabanas.

This is the back of the Hill side.  The front porch area hangs over the hill with a great view of the port and pool below. 

Each cabana has it owns shower as seen here.

The pool area is huge with an abundance of lounge chairs, Swim-up bar and plenty of music. If you look closely  you can see the restaurant behind the bar.  Unlike Half Moon Cay, the employees at this port are NOT from the ship and you do NOT use your Sign and Sail Card to make purchases.

Ziplining is purchased as a daily add-on and guests may "zip" as much as they want.  It is perfect for teenagers!  The waterslide is enjoyed by just about anyone !