Taíno Bay is the terminal in town — not Amber Cove
Puerto Plata has two cruise terminals and they are not the same place. Taíno Bay sits inside the city, beside the old port and the Malecón, 15 to 20 minutes from the airport. Amber Cove is 30 to 35 minutes the other side of town, on Maimón bay. Guests book a car for one and dock at the other more often than you would think, and the two are half an hour apart, so the first thing we confirm in writing is which terminal your ship uses. From there the rules are the same as any sailing: the gangway closes at a fixed time, no ship waits, and private vehicles stop at the terminal's ground-transport area rather than at the pier. The city approach can be slow in the late afternoon, and we plan for that instead of hoping.