We love to travel with friends, and one of the best trips for girlfriends, couples or families I’ve found is the new Fathom Cruise line. It’s a perfect pairing of relaxation, serving and getting immersed in a new culture. Oh, and the food…the food is amazing.
If you haven’t booked your trip – here’s a link to a special coupon code to save some money on your trip.
Now, this is one journey that makes it easy to travel solo. You’re on a ship with a few hundred friendly people who love to help others. Let’s just say making friends is really easy in the Fathom concept.
Here are a few quick travel hacks to make your life easier!
Before:
Don’t miss Miami! The last thing you need is a flight delay and the cruise ship leave port without you. We flew in the day before, and found an incredible deal on hotels right near the port. We got the Intercontinental for $79 on Priceline. To Uber from the Ft. Lauderdale airport to Miami was about $25. We found amazing, inexpensive restaurants right in the downtown area. So relieve a little potential stress. Come in a day early and enjoy a bit of Miami before you jump on the ship!
Aboard:
Bring along a few little travel size toiletries. Your cabin will have a few really high quality products for you to sample – shampoo, body wash, conditioner, etc. All products are organic and fair trade and you’ll love them…but they don’t refill them! They do sell incredible ethically sourced brands in the gift shop, but save some cash and bring a few along.
Don’t over pack! There are washers and dryers on board, and after a few of the impact activities you will definitely want to use them. Make your life easier and bring along a few of those Tide pods and dryer sheets. They sell powder detergent in the duty free shop when the ship is at sea, but it’s just easier to save the hassle and bring those pods!
You’re allowed to bring 1 bottle of wine when you board in Miami, per person! Stop by a drug store and pick up a bottle, wrap it in some bubble wrap and put it in your bag. You can’t drink it at dinner (well, you can but you’ll have to pay a corkage fee) so get something you’ll want to sip on pool side or watching the sunset. You’ll save a few dollars that way!
Cruise ships are metal – and while there was plenty of storage in our room for two, if you’re traveling with a family, likely you’ll need a bit more space. Grab some magnets with hooks on them at your local hardware store and you’ll have bonus places to hang swimsuits and gym clothes. Also, bring along a few refrigerator magnets to get schedules, tickets and other notes off your desk.
There is a decent amount of space under the beds – great for stashing your suitcase, or better yet, using your suitcase as extra storage! Also we had more than enough hanging closet space and you can maximize by brining some extra hangers.
There are interactive hallway signs for each room, but you need to have a dry erase marker to use them. Bring one along!
The wind can be pretty strong and chilly at night, so bring a sweatshirt. Also, a light rain jacket
or poncho will likely come in very handy, especially if you’re signed up to do reforestation.
The Adonia is a British ship, so tea is plentiful. The coffee is good, but if you are a coffee-holic, you may want to pack a few instant Starbucks Via packets in your luggage if you’re in a pinch
Bring at least 1 powerstrip and a nightlight. We also brought along 3 external battery chargers for our phones, and we used them all. You’ll thank me later.
The library on the ship is completely underrated! There’s a great selection of books, puzzles and board games that you can check out during the cruise.
Think casual! You can dress for dinner if you want to – but don’t feel like you need to. We could have dressed for dinner once or twice, but chose to just have a great time with our people in The Conservatory. I brought fancy shoes, but never wore them.
Bring extra money for shopping on the ship. The stores on the ship are filled with fantastic fair-trade, ethically sources products. Shinola watches, Krochet Kids clothing, Body Shop lotions, Proof Sunglasses. You’ll want to take some of this stuff home with you.
All of the wines on the ship are organic and delicious. The coffees in the coffee bars are also fair trade, organic and from the Dominican. Bring some extra cash and indulge in these yummy options!
Here’s where to overpack – Bring enough sunscreen and bug spray. You really don’t want to pay $27 for sunscreen, do you?
Run by GoodWill and buy a cheap insulated cup for cold drinks and a travel coffee mug for walking around the ship that you can throw out after the trip – or to help protect those delicious bottles of rum that you’ll be bringing home!
Bring a journal. I found myself wanting to take notes at several of the events around the ship, and it’s a great way to document your thoughts.
WiFi is just ok on the ship. There are data packages that you can purchase. But note, if you are a big fan of sports in the US, you will likely use all your minutes trying to access ESPN! Again, this is a British ship so American sports aren’t shown on board. WiFi is free and plentiful at the Fathom office in Amber Cove however, and it’s a fun evening to watch a game with others from the ship.
We don’t have an international cell plan, but Sprint did have free data and texting while we were in the DR. Great way to stay in touch with people both at home, get updates from your dogsitter and track down your new friends on the island.
Impact Activities:
Bring a pen along with you every time you leave the ship. Every time. Every time.
If you’re doing reforestation, concrete or water filters, you’ll want to bring clothes that you 
can get dirty. You’ll want to have closed toed shoes, bug spray, sunscreen and the people who brought their own work gloves were much happier! (You’ll want bug spray for RePapel too.)
Bring some extra cash if you’re heading to RePapel. The ladies have a store where they sell paper, crafts and jewelry. They have gorgeous products at very reasonable prices. You can get all your Christmas shopping done in one stop while you help support these amazing women! We are using our paper as mattes for photos.
People in the DR are very conservative – so ladies, be respectful. Cover your shoulders and have long shorts or knee length skirts, especially for teaching in the schools.
Other tourist activities:
Amber Cove has shopping waterslides, bungalows, hammocks, zipline…it’s great fun, and close enough to the ship to walk back and forth. There is no beach, but there are plenty of places to lounge around. Note that on Wednesday and Friday other massive Carnival ships will be docked at Amber Cove, supplying a few thousand sun-worshipping travelers. If you want to spend a few hours or a day at Amber Cove, shoot for Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday evening or Thursday.
We found the Top 10 Tour to be not worth the money. The tour drove past sites before we knew what we were supposed to be looking at. Total bust. Here’s the deal. Get a cab at Amber Cove for between $70-100 for a day. The taxi will comfortably hold about six people. This driver will be your guide all day, and will be honored to show off the sights and sounds of the DR. Just let the driver know what you want to see, agree on a price, and the cab companies will make sure you are well taken care of. Note – this is CASH. No cards accepted by these folks…tip well!
The places in Puerto Plata you don’t want to miss:
Teleferico Puerto Plata Cable Car up to Mount Isabel de Torres – Have you camera ready for incredible views as the cable car takes you up the mountain. I would recommend having one of the guides in the green shirts to accompany you on your ride (they do this for a tip-it’s well worth the extra cost). They will give you the full history, walk you around the botanical gardens and share great stories of the region. Also – at the top, it’s worth it to have one of the kids in blue shirts take pictures for you (for a tip or a purchase from their gift shop!). They do a great job, and while we were skeptical at first, these are some of our favorite pics from the trip!
Brugal Rum Factory – It’s rum. It’s delicious. What’s not to love? Note that the prices are great in their gift shop. ($4 for a small bottle of rum? You’d be losing money not to take them up on that offer)
Amber Museum – If you’re with kids and they like bugs, this is the place. The museum is small but oddly fascinating. Who knew that tree sap could be so interesting! They have a very large gift shop, and the prices for amber are very competitive.
Cathedral San Filipe – Beautiful church in a fun location just down the block from the Amber Museum. There are concerts on the plaza, mom and pop shops for souvenirs and a little place for some fantastic gelato. Also, make sure to buy some bird feed from a vendor and have an experience that rivals a Hitchcock film.
27 Waterfalls – We ran out of time and weren’t able to make it to the waterfalls, but everyone we spoke to raved about the trip. Apparently it’s a gorgeous excursion. We were warned – first, it’s pretty physical so be ready to walk. Second – only bring waterproof cameras! Best to get here by getting a crew of people and grabbing a cab.
Beaches – Our cab stopped at Long Beach in Puerto Plata, at our request. This is a beautiful beach, but during the weekdays it’s essentially deserted! We also heard rumor of a great beach just to the west of Amber Cove.
Grocery Stores – if you want to bring coffee, rum or chocolate home with you, ask your taxi driver to take you to a grocery store. Coffee and chocolate prices are much cheaper outside of Amber Cove! We become big fans of El Cibao coffee – sample a cup at their store at Amber Cove and then buy it at the grocery store! The rum prices are pretty similar between the Duty Free at Amber Cove, the grocery store and the Brugal distillery.
Our other hack?
Bring along a lot of business cards and make sure you start following your fellow travelers on social media early on the trip. We have great photos of many people from the ship, and we don’t know how to reach them.
So go! Have fun! Prices are incredible (some weeks are $300 for an inside room, for a week!) – and if you use this link you’ll get an even bigger discount on travel.
Have fun and if you decide to go, please post pictures so we can track your travel!
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