Advice about San Juan

[wlee7]

Hi all,
My wife and I are thinking about doing a Southern Caribbean cruise and had some questions about San Juan:

1. Is there a transport from the airport to the cruise port? What kind of transport?
2. If we decide to stay at a hotel is it fairly easy to get a ride to the cruise port?
3. Any suggestions for hotels to stay at?

thanks,

 

[MakiraMarlena]

1) They'll offer transfers from the airport to the port and vice versa, but probably not hotels unless you can book the hotel through DCL. Taxis are plentiful and reasonable cost.
2) In Old San Juan taxis are plentiful. If you're further out a taxi will cost more or you might need a rental or car service.
3) Depends on what you want. Historic Old San Juan? Beach? Rainforest? Makeup of party (all adults, or are kids involved, of what ages?)

 

[Steve Dexter]

Taxis are super easy in San Juan, easy and cheap, no worries there. We stayed at Hampton Inn and Suites 6530 Isla Verde. It was a great place, and the neighborhood was really nice, lots of cool restaurants and an easy taxi ride to the Pan American Pier. It's easy to love San Juan.

 

[jrabbit]

A few years ago was our first visit to Puerto Rico. We loved it. If you can swing the time, I would suggest staying for a few days before / after the cruise.

We stayed at the Sheraton "Casino" in Old San Juan. Easy walking to both fortresses (or there's the free Old Town "Bus / Trolley"). from our hotel we did excursions to the Rainforest and Bio Bay nighttime kayaking.

Food options in OSJ were many and very good. There's a walking food tour that is fun and tasty as well.

We took a taxi from OSJ to the Cruise Departure Port (it's different than the "Day Use" cruise Port on OSJ). Was quick and easy and not very expensive (less than $15 if my memory is correct). I don't remember how much we paid to get from the Airport to OSJ.

 

[bumbershoot]

As jrabbit mentioned, the port you'll be cruising out of is different than the one where ships stop in for a day. It's in a totally different area than Old San Juan.

I'd pull up a really good online map and check out where OSJ is, where the Panamerica port is (where you'll be leaving from), where the main airport is, and b/c a lot of people stay there, find the Condado region. People stay in all sorts of areas when visiting SJ and taking a cruise. No matter what you'll end up in cabs.

I think we've decided to set up camp at the Embassy Suites (which if memory serves is in the Condado area) and just take cabs wherever we need to go. Staying in OSJ is tempting, but free breakfast and drinks hour is tempting as well.

 

[wlee7]

1) They'll offer transfers from the airport to the port and vice versa, but probably not hotels unless you can book the hotel through DCL. Taxis are plentiful and reasonable cost.
2) In Old San Juan taxis are plentiful. If you're further out a taxi will cost more or you might need a rental or car service.
3) Depends on what you want. Historic Old San Juan? Beach? Rainforest? Makeup of party (all adults, or are kids involved, of what ages?)

Would the Disney transfer cost additional like from Orlando to Port Canaveral?

It would only be my wife and I and we'd stay around Old San Juan.

 

[wlee7]

Taxis are super easy in San Juan, easy and cheap, no worries there. We stayed at Hampton Inn and Suites 6530 Isla Verde. It was a great place, and the neighborhood was really nice, lots of cool restaurants and an easy taxi ride to the Pan American Pier. It's easy to love San Juan.

Thanks I'll check it out!

 

[wlee7]

A few years ago was our first visit to Puerto Rico. We loved it. If you can swing the time, I would suggest staying for a few days before / after the cruise.

We stayed at the Sheraton "Casino" in Old San Juan. Easy walking to both fortresses (or there's the free Old Town "Bus / Trolley"). from our hotel we did excursions to the Rainforest and Bio Bay nighttime kayaking.

Food options in OSJ were many and very good. There's a walking food tour that is fun and tasty as well.

We took a taxi from OSJ to the Cruise Departure Port (it's different than the "Day Use" cruise Port on OSJ). Was quick and easy and not very expensive (less than $15 if my memory is correct). I don't remember how much we paid to get from the Airport to OSJ.

Thanks we'll consider staying in San Juan. We only did a quick Old San Juan tour a couple years ago. We'll consider a taxi also.

 

[wlee7]

As jrabbit mentioned, the port you'll be cruising out of is different than the one where ships stop in for a day. It's in a totally different area than Old San Juan.

I'd pull up a really good online map and check out where OSJ is, where the Panamerica port is (where you'll be leaving from), where the main airport is, and b/c a lot of people stay there, find the Condado region. People stay in all sorts of areas when visiting SJ and taking a cruise. No matter what you'll end up in cabs.

I think we've decided to set up camp at the Embassy Suites (which if memory serves is in the Condado area) and just take cabs wherever we need to go. Staying in OSJ is tempting, but free breakfast and drinks hour is tempting as well.

That's really good to know. Thanks! I was unsure about the ports. Nice, free breakfast and other perks are always important for us!