Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.- It´s possible that when the world´s biggest cruise ship company named him its CEO in June, 2013, Arnold W. Donald had never heard of tiny Maimon, a sleepy little cove nestled in Dominican Republic’s lush Atlantic coast.
On Monday Carnival Corp., in the voice of Donald, confirmed to foreign and local media that it’s just weeks away from ribbon-cutting on its US$85.0 million cruise port project named Amber Cove, which can dock two ships and receive nearly 10,000 passengers during an 8-hour visit.
He said his company is willing to take on the challenge of establishing an enduring foothold in the area of Puerto Plata, despite the city´s failure to sustain a viable cruise tourism business that went belly up in the early 1990s. “First of all we are working with the local government officials and businesses…this ensures success because what is good for them is good for us.”
Once open the port at Maimon is expected to have such an impact on the once-thriving area that the government is even widening the around 8-kilometer road from Amber Cove´s entrance to Puerto Plata to four lanes, giving passengers the option of a quick day trip to the city with nearly 500 years of history, culture, architecture and cuisine.
Carnival has announced the port´s inaugural headed by president Danilo Medina for the first week of Oct., and said it expects as many as 23 ships from its eight brands, offering 42 varied tours for its passengers, and perhaps even reawakening Dominican Republic´s tourism juggernaut from its quarter-century slumber from the cruise industry.
Amenities
The 25 acre land layout features transportation and entertainment facilities, administrative area and even a sky bar and zip lines for passengers who prefer to stay close to the ship.