First, a short geography lesson for those who might need it.

Hispaniola is an island of two nations; Dominican Republic on the east end and Haiti on the west. The capital city of the Dominican Republic is Santo Domingo, a sprawling city on the south shore.

We arrived there at noon and were allowed to go ashore about 1 pm. We saw a beautiful cathedral and walked around the square saying, "No,thank you, we don't want any," Fortunately, "no" is the same in English or Spanish. There is a statue of Christopher Columbus in the town square. They would have sold it to me is I'd been willing to pay the shipping.

The sun was bright and the temperature was in the high 80's, which is normal there at this time of year. Or any time of year. A number of cruise ship passengers got their first souvineer sunburn in Santa Domingo. We sailed for Barbados at 6:10 pm, just as the last of the sunset faded. The distance was 707 nautical miles in a southeasterly direction. It would take two nights and a day to get there.
Next: 2 nights and a day at sea - the fun stuff.
Howard