To continue my Amber Cove shots...for C&C too if you want...

[IzzieK]

Amber Cove is new just a new destination in the Caribbean located in the Dominican Republic in the country's North Coast. It represents one of the largest cruise industry investments ever made in the Dominican Republic by Carnival Cruise Corporation. Fathom, one of the ships that shares this location has an Impact Center located near the entrance where one can learn some Spanish phrases or learn to dance to the rhythms of Merengue and Bachata or even try out your hands on workshops on how to sort out cacao nibs, recycling paper or planting seedlings for future generations. Holland Cruise Lines also come to this area and many more ships in the future will do the same. At the moment this place is only a year old.

1 So to continue my story about going down to the port of Amber Cove, here is the obligatory sign inside the port:



2 As usual, Bill decided for us to go to a free wifi place. We took a walk and came upon Skybar Restaurant. This one is located high up the hills, I guess I can call it the high part of the land where one can see forever. I took several shots of this building but the best came from when were already in the ship. Admission: it was a hard climb up there, running down is easier...



3 The first one that I took was our ship. You can see the bow of the other ship at the left.



4 What you can see here is the pre-arranged Tour Pick-up area.



5 Waterfront bungalows. Those that do not really enjoy the heat can just rent one of these waterfront bungalows for 5 hours complete with amenities including chef, bartender and entertainment staff. Cost -- $$$$ and some of them were fully booked when I was looking for places to stay in away from the sun.



6 Anyway wanting to please Bill, I decided for us to go down to civilization and take him to a wifi-free place which I heard said when I attended one of those sales pitch at the Toulouse Theatre –Café El Cibao. Requirement: buy a cup of coffee and they will give you the password at the checkout by the check-out chick there. Well, I settled for Frappucino s there is nothing there for me to eat nor drink. Not having drink nor sip coffee for many years, the coffee was welcome change. So beautiful….!! (BTW, I went back to being caffeine free when we got back home.)



7 I left Bill at Café Cibao and and roam around the place. I think this one is interesting to note – only for Carnival Cruise guests.



8 Well, Bill lost his sunnies at the ship and Diamond International's sunglasses cost a fortune so I left the Café and found a Mercado (market) and found him a $20 Rayban and found this place where there are some pretty characters on display. Being excited about my sunglasses find, I forgot to take note of what these iconic displays are apart from knowing these are cultural and historical exhibits.







I kinda like this last one better so I did not crop it at all. The building at the back comprises the gift shops for 4 establishments.

OK...till next time I can upload...pooter will be shut off from here...have to access my hubby's when he is not using it...

Thanks for viewing and criticizing, everyone...

[rpcrowe]

Fun images... Really looks like an interesting place to visit!

[rtbaum]

Oh Izzie....these bring back memories.

#7- I saw many signs like this at our ports of call, it was pretty confusing the first time...trying to find the correct place to connect with the scheduled tour

#8-10 I think #8 and #10 are representative of the Spanish heritage, #9 is Taino Indian perhaps

[bnnrcn]

Interesting series Isabel, thanks for sharing My favs are the B&W image and the last one. 1,3 and 4 look a bit underexposed to me and I can see some blue color cast on them.

[Geoff F]

Yes I was thinking the same; but I assume these are more or less straight from the camera and you will be spending a bit of time on more detailed editing at some time in the future.

[madcrow]

Izzie, you did not leave me down, great images looking forward to more.

[Shadowman]

Nice series, very colorful masks.

[IzzieK]

Fun images... Really looks like an interesting place to visit!

Yes it is, Richard...thanks for your comments.

[IzzieK]

You have to go on another cruise, Randy...it was fun just find your footing. Just a short one will do because I find that on our trip, when you reach over 7 days, the food was the same as the Monday ones. Same with hospitals, short stay is better because once you get to the 7th day, the menu starts again from the beginning...

Oh Izzie....these bring back memories.

#7- I saw many signs like this at our ports of call, it was pretty confusing the first time...trying to find the correct place to connect with the scheduled tour

#8-10 I think #8 and #10 are representative of the Spanish heritage, #9 is Taino Indian perhaps

[IzzieK]

Interesting series Isabel, thanks for sharing My favs are the B&W image and the last one. 1,3 and 4 look a bit underexposed to me and I can see some blue color cast on them.

1, 3 and 4 went through Colour EFex and I was in a rush to edit because I was about to lose my pooters' access. I am now using Bill's and his 22" inch monitor, not calibrated until I get my pooters back next week. Those little bungalows were cute really..there were quite a few of them around but I wasn't able to get one of them for me and Bill even if I had tried to book one of them way before the cruise. With #6 I have some image distortion there so to keep it away from Dave's critical eyes, I cropped the building just to show the Cafe. On #8, I did not have time to edit these as they are only P&S shots anyway.

'Thanks for your comments and critiques. I am learning a lot from you.

[IzzieK]

Yes I was thinking the same; but I assume these are more or less straight from the camera and you will be spending a bit of time on more detailed editing at some time in the future.

Only #8 are unedited for the reasons already stated. Thanks Geoff.

[IzzieK]

Izzie, you did not left me down, great images looking forward to more.

Maurice, nice kind words and request. There are many more but I have no pooter. Maybe next week. 'Appreciate your comments.

[IzzieK]

Nice series, very colorful masks.

Thanks for your comments, John....

[rtbaum]

You have to go on another cruise, Randy...it was fun just find your footing. Just a short one will do because I find that on our trip, when you reach over 7 days, the food was the same as the Monday ones. Same with hospitals, short stay is better because once you get to the 7th day, the menu starts again from the beginning...

I think I would prefer to fly somewhere next time....it drove me nuts, only spending a few hours in a port

As far as the food...I could eat the chocolate lava cake every night

[Dave Humphries]

Dave has suspended his 'critical eyes' taking account of the unusual circumstances currently pertaining

In all seriousness, the lighting wasn't doing you any favours in several of these; quite harsh and looks like large clouds blocked the sun from shining on parts we might otherwise wished it had shone on (e.g. 3, 4 and 5) and we've little time to wait for things to change when on holiday with other's needs to consider.

My favourites are 2 and 5.

[mugge]

I concur with Dave 2 and 5. By the way it was 13 degrees here. I am not happy.
Cheers Ole

[NorthernFocus]

An interesting photo essay on the location, Izzie. I really like no 5 and B/W was a good choice for that one. IMO composition would have been better had you excluded the bit of railing at bottom left.

[IzzieK]

I think I would prefer to fly somewhere next time....it drove me nuts, only spending a few hours in a port

As far as the food...I could eat the chocolate lava cake every night

Cruise is a tease. If you like the port, then perhaps one day you'd visit longer...The best part are the people we meet, the culture ....whether you are in the ship or on port. At the ship everyone smiles at you and once in a while you get to talk to them. I even like that guy who sold me the Rayban at the Mercado. You know, little things you encounter are the best moments...like the smile of a child across the room ...

We are so lucky that Bill is a retired pilot from a commercial airline, we have TSA Pre-check automatically. I have my cane for my "disability". I even got me a ride on a wheelchair which I refused but the lady said, it will be fun...hahahaha... That cane got me through many flights and lines in the past. Then going through, I have my Global Entry. We were in and out of the line in a jiffy...Our zone was called at 8am and we were out of Customs before 9am. It was fun. Our flight was booked for 1:30pm but we could have taken the 10am flight out to Charlotte then to St. Louis.

[IzzieK]

Dave has suspended his 'critical eyes' taking account of the unusual circumstances currently pertaining

In all seriousness, the lighting wasn't doing you any favours in several of these; quite harsh and looks like large clouds blocked the sun from shining on parts we might otherwise wished it had shone on (e.g. 3, 4 and 5) and we've little time to wait for things to change when on holiday with other's needs to consider.

My favourites are 2 and 5.

I guess you like those two because I took time to compose my shots there. I have several angles of those two. #2 I tried on the land shooting up several times but they were not really pleasant and then we went to the quiet part of the ship to view the island and saw that restaurant while the ship wasn't moving yet. I was able to get the shot I want but wasn't able to access my shots until I got home as I purposely left my laptop home. I guess shooting from above instead of shooting to above is very good and convenient as both shows here as one got time to compose the shots.

Thank you for your C&C. As usual, I appreciate it very much.

[IzzieK]

I concur with Dave 2 and 5. By the way it was 13 degrees here. I am not happy.
Cheers Ole

Thanks Ole...13°C is about 55°F...not bad...I'd be happy with that when comes winter. I will probably be sweating... We have central air and heat at the switch of a button so I do not worry much about temperature. It comes with the territory. We have extreme cold and extreme heat here at the Midwest so people die either way from too much of either/or when they do not reach the shelters allocated for them. 'Appreciate your comments...