San Juan Excursions

[jmb910]

I called the Marriott recently myself because I think we're gonna do part of the day at the pool there and part at one of the forts on our own. I was told it was $35 per person per day. (no room, just for their outside pool/beach area) They said you do not reserve it, you just show up that day and tell them why you're there.
I plan on calling again to confirm when we're closer to our sail date. Not sure if they only allow so many a day, that would be my only concern. Intend to ask next time I call.

I agree, I would be worried, too, that only a certain amount are allowed each day. Also, if the hotel was close to a sellout night, then would they still allow day passes? That is what makes me want to just get a room there. But that is $279 right now for the night we would need it, which is more than the Family Beach Day would cost us.

But being that much closer to the port, might make it all worth it since we would get a little extra time there.

 

[FabFivePA]

Will you please post again once you find out for sure? We are interested in this as well.

I gladly will, it just won't be for a few more months. So hopefully someone has some other experiences with it before then!

 

[over50visits]

Does anyone know what pier we are docking at in Old San Juan?

Just there, we were at Pier 3. Great location

 

[Meredith71]

Has anyone tried the horseback riding? My daughter is interested in this. DCL offers two different excursions so I did not know which one is better.

 

[jlowejd5]

We just stumbled off the Fantasy from last week. We did the single-rider ATV excursion, and it was one of the top five excursions we've ever done. Be advised, though, wear long pants and shoes you don't care much about. The wife just threw hers away. Mine were water shoes, and even after a full day at CC, it took fifteen minutes of scalding water after I got home to clean them. There were times when we were driving through two-plus feet of water and mud.

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

We were on the Fantasy last week, as well.

I DO NOT recommend the Old San Juan/New San Juan tour. What a waste of $59 (times 4 people!).

The bus was nice, but all they did was take us to the capitol building and let us walk inside it (about 20-30 vendors inside, it was kind of odd) and then they took us to the fort (which we could have easily walked to or taken the free trolley shuttle there from the ship). The entire rest of the time was spent driving on freeways to the "new" San Juan side of things ... where they pointed out the mall "we have every store you have in the US: Best Buy, Penneys, Sears, you name it ... and every restaurant you have: there's the Domino's, there's the Taco Bell, KFC, Starbucks, etc."

Then he looped back around and pointed out various hotels.

Seriously. That's IT. I think it wasted about 3.5 hours. Not to mention $200+. I was pretty irked when we finally got off. For as informative as the tour was, I should have just stayed on the ship and enjoyed having it to myself.

 

[OMD13]

We were on the Fantasy last week, as well.

I DO NOT recommend the Old San Juan/New San Juan tour. What a waste of $59 (times 4 people!).

The bus was nice, but all they did was take us to the capitol building and let us walk inside it (about 20-30 vendors inside, it was kind of odd) and then they took us to the fort (which we could have easily walked to or taken the free trolley shuttle there from the ship). The entire rest of the time was spent driving on freeways to the "new" San Juan side of things ... where they pointed out the mall "we have every store you have in the US: Best Buy, Penneys, Sears, you name it ... and every restaurant you have: there's the Domino's, there's the Taco Bell, KFC, Starbucks, etc."

Then he looped back around and pointed out various hotels.

Seriously. That's IT. I think it wasted about 3.5 hours. Not to mention $200+. I was pretty irked when we finally got off. For as informative as the tour was, I should have just stayed on the ship and enjoyed having it to myself.

Thanks for your post. DH and I were considering this but won't now. If we are interested in seeing the fort we will just walk.

 

[rosermama]

Thanks for your post. DH and I were considering this but won't now. If we are interested in seeing the fort we will just walk.

We walked to the one fort and took our time around there. We then took the trolley to the other fort. After that we had a long lunch in Old San Juan and then strolled the streets we went and saw La Forteleza (Governors mansion) and then walked to Christs old church.

There are people outside the ship who you can hire as a tour guide

 

[criddla]

Any other feedback about the Bacardi Rum Distillery & Old Juan city tour offered by Disney? Our kids 10 & 7 love the show "How it's made" and we thought we'd love the Bacardi Tour (with a few bevvies for mom & dad...) however there have only been 2 posts about this which are completely opposite. Any additional feedback would be great!

 

[Jane1967]

I gladly will, it just won't be for a few more months. So hopefully someone has some other experiences with it before then!

Ok...I might be going before you...March 9th is our cruise date.

 

[criddla]

I should have mentioned our cruise date is March 9th too! We are first time cruisers and so the date to book online is quickly approaching......I'm just not sure if this tour is something I should book as soon as I am able.....

 

[ldo]

we have done Bacardi on our own 2X prior and enjoyed it--but I think for kids, I would not do it--at one point you go into a bar and the bartender talks about the history of Old Cuba and the Mojito--interesting for adults, but I would take kids to the Fort and walk around Old SJ.

 

[AquaDame]

We did do the horseback riding excursion through the rainforest and it was just OK. They do not have their horses go single file so the whole way they are jostling each other for their space in a free for all and you end up fighting them if you get a.... spirited one. My horse kept biting the other horses and running me up against other people and vegetation - my knees got pretty bruised up. My husband on the other hand had never ridden before so he got a horse that would barely go. I was in the front and he was in the back the whole time so it was a little lonely... They also did not warn us about the mud so I ruined my new sneakers which is probably my own fault I suppose. I didn't even consider it and the mud STAINS badly. I was very glad I didn't wear pants as they would have been similarly ruined.

There was no food or water although they did try to sell $2 bottles of water at the river stop. Its just a quick one to let the horses rest a bit - no one got in the water or swam or anything, it was pretty dirty there - a couple benches and an outhouse. I did rinse my legs off and try to clean my shoes a bit in the river though I just got them muddy again.

I am glad we did it - my husband knows he doesn't like horseriding now at least, lol - but we would not do this again and wouldn't recommend a newbie do it since the horses can be a pain to control. They trot and mine even went off at a gallop at one point which was a bit out of my comfort zone.... they wanted to get back quickly and kept trying to pass our leader which they weren't supposed to do.

OH! And someone was injured as well - his horse bit another horse and that horse kicked out and caught the kid in his leg. He was not badly hurt but it still DID hurt and he was bleeding from a cut on his leg. Just unruly is I guess how I would describe it. I'm not turned off of horses mind you, but I would not go with that place again.

 

[KaryCam]

I should have mentioned our cruise date is March 9th too! We are first time cruisers and so the date to book online is quickly approaching......I'm just not sure if this tour is something I should book as soon as I am able.....

My family is scheduled for the March 9th cruise also.
Have you joined our cruise meet thread? You should. You'll find a nice group over there and find other families that have kids the same age as your's.
Hope to see you over there.

Our plan for SJ is to go to both Forts on our own. Looking forward to it.

 

[Rambler5678]

We took a private tour with Carlos and had a great time. He picked us up and droped us off at the entrance to the port.

https://customtourspr.com/About_Charlie.html#About_Charlie

 

[Jane1967]

We took a private tour with Carlos and had a great time. He picked us up and droped us off at the entrance to the port.

https://customtourspr.com/About_Charlie.html#About_Charlie

I see there are a few different options. Which one did you do?

 

[dhluvsDisney]

Anyone do the surfing? My 2 boys are scheduled to surf in January and were wondering about it?

 

[Rambler5678]

The gentleman I am talking about is Carlos Medina. I read about him on www.tripadvisor.com and cruise critic/San Juan , PR Boards. This was NOT a disney excurtion nor a taxi driver just wanting to give you a tour as you exist the port gate. Mr. Medina has a custom van that is as comfortable as a limo lol. On the tour it was two adults and two childern one 8 and the other 18 months. He furnished a car seat for her. He as several tours you can take or you can mix them up as time allows. He charges by the hour not the tour and has a 4 hr minimum length. If you do at least 4 hours, he will drop you off for lunch and pick you up and not charge the hour your dining. He is friendly and professional. He takes lots of pictures that he emails to you back home and also sends you a CD of the pictures. He also furnished water/sodas and snacks as part of the pkg. The special part was that he knew the day we toured was my wifes B/D and he stopped at a backery and got her a piece of cake with a candle to blow out. Singing happy birthday in Spanish at no extra charge lol.

 

[Meredith71]

We did do the horseback riding excursion through the rainforest and it was just OK. They do not have their horses go single file so the whole way they are jostling each other for their space in a free for all and you end up fighting them if you get a.... spirited one. My horse kept biting the other horses and running me up against other people and vegetation - my knees got pretty bruised up. My husband on the other hand had never ridden before so he got a horse that would barely go. I was in the front and he was in the back the whole time so it was a little lonely... They also did not warn us about the mud so I ruined my new sneakers which is probably my own fault I suppose. I didn't even consider it and the mud STAINS badly. I was very glad I didn't wear pants as they would have been similarly ruined.

There was no food or water although they did try to sell $2 bottles of water at the river stop. Its just a quick one to let the horses rest a bit - no one got in the water or swam or anything, it was pretty dirty there - a couple benches and an outhouse. I did rinse my legs off and try to clean my shoes a bit in the river though I just got them muddy again.

I am glad we did it - my husband knows he doesn't like horseriding now at least, lol - but we would not do this again and wouldn't recommend a newbie do it since the horses can be a pain to control. They trot and mine even went off at a gallop at one point which was a bit out of my comfort zone.... they wanted to get back quickly and kept trying to pass our leader which they weren't supposed to do.

OH! And someone was injured as well - his horse bit another horse and that horse kicked out and caught the kid in his leg. He was not badly hurt but it still DID hurt and he was bleeding from a cut on his leg. Just unruly is I guess how I would describe it. I'm not turned off of horses mind you, but I would not go with that place again.

Thanks so much for the review. That did not sound like an enjoyable time. We were actually looking at the other horseback riding excursion so hopefully that one might be better. We have some experienced riders and some beginners in our group. I am going to have to think about this some more.

 

[rosermama]

The gentleman I am talking about is Carlos Medina. I read about him on www.tripadvisor.com and cruise critic/San Juan , PR Boards. This was NOT a disney excurtion nor a taxi driver just wanting to give you a tour as you exist the port gate. Mr. Medina has a custom van that is as comfortable as a limo lol. On the tour it was two adults and two childern one 8 and the other 18 months. He furnished a car seat for her. He as several tours you can take or you can mix them up as time allows. He charges by the hour not the tour and has a 4 hr minimum length. If you do at least 4 hours, he will drop you off for lunch and pick you up and not charge the hour your dining. He is friendly and professional. He takes lots of pictures that he emails to you back home and also sends you a CD of the pictures. He also furnished water/sodas and snacks as part of the pkg. The special part was that he knew the day we toured was my wifes B/D and he stopped at a backery and got her a piece of cake with a candle to blow out. Singing happy birthday in Spanish at no extra charge lol.

I was going to use him and he came highly recommend by some friends. I talked to him a couple of times he is really nice and will customize a tour to what you want he is really concerned with your happiness.