San Juan Recommendations

[CRSNDSNY]

Can anyone just back from the San Juan DCL cruises highly recommend any of the excursions that are offered? We're not looking to do anything on our own and would prefer to book the excursion through DCL. Currently, we have the Condado excursion booked but are having second thoughts.

Can anyone tell me what your experiences have been?

 

[Reignman]

Bump

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I'd like to know too!

 

[crescentlk]

we took a cab to the contado beack ( over by the el san juan....but u cant walk in the beach by the hotel, they know where to drop you off) the beach was WONDERFUL, the sand was beautiful, and there werent really any waves, they also had jet skis to rent. You will not be able to get into any of the hotels on the strip we were "escorted" throught the el san juan like we were criminals because we insisted on going to the cassino but they told us we could not come back throught the hotel to get to the beach so we went to the cassino before we left. i know you said u didnt want to do anything on your own, but i would highly reccomend that beach it was not crowded at all, and we felt safe enough to leave our stuff on the chairs and all be in the water together. the chair rental was $3/ chair $10/umbrella. and the cab shouldnt cost more then $16 for 4 people. If your into the cassino thing the cassino at the el san juan wasnt that great, we walked down to the ritz carlton a few blocks down and it was a really nice cassino, and the people in the hotel were a lot nicer, we didnt feel like criminals there we felt like guests. like i said we felt very safe there and had a wonderful day the only thing i wish is that we could have stayed longer in puerto rico then we did. I didnt want to leave!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Cathy, thank you so much for your details...it helps a lot!

 

[FLGalInTN]

We weren't too enthused by any of the excursions that DCL offered in San Juan. The beach excursions didn't interest us as we had spent the day prior snorkeling in St. John. We did a walking tour of Old San Juan on our own and it was wonderful. Puerto Rico's history is so interesting and there was so much to see. The Cathedral de San Juan is beautiful and contains the tomb of Juan Ponce de Leon. We also went out to El Morro and it was amazing. We stayed there for about 1.5 hours and then took a taxi to a nice restaurant near the port for lunch.

Others on our cruise really enjoyed the El Yunque rainforest tour. Some were disappointed by the shorter rainforest tour because there is no swimming at the waterfall like there is in the longer tour.

A few mentioned that the horseback riding was really good. If you do the horseback riding, do it in the morning because it gets really hot by the afternoon and the horses aren't too cooperative. I'm not very cooperative when I'm hot either.

If you want to gamble then the Ritz-Carlton is the place to go!

The prices on liquor at the port were the cheapest we saw anywhere.

Nearly everyone speaks English and taxis are very easy to get. There is also a free trolley that will take you to the center of Old San Juan (Plaza de Armas) and to other points in the city. It can be picked up a block or so from the port. Ask the guides in the port for more information if you are interested.

Have a great time!

 

[ksjayhawks]

To go along with what FLGalInTN said, don't forget that you can tour the rum factory. You take a ferry boat over, then grab a taxi. This is doable on your own and the ferry dock is very close to the cruise ship docks.

We loved exploring Old San Juan! There are so many things to see and history to absorb! There is a lot of shopping too and outside cafes to relax.

 

[FLGalInTN]

ksjayhawks - We ran out of time (and energy) but would have loved to do the rum factory tour. DH has mentioned repeatedly that we missed out on those free samples! We managed to bring back a bottle or two of rum so I can make mojitos at home!

 

[eye R.N.]

Everyone in our family wanted the experience of riding on a beach. Definately book the morning excursion. They use the same horses for both and the poor beasts were hot and tired after the first run. Bring your own water as well as you'll want more than one (tip water $2.50 for evian on ship or ship $1.00 for local bottle from vendor off the ship) Some of the horses tended to want to "get out in front" so if you are really adverse to a trot be sure to ask for an experienced horse.

I don't think there was one person who didn't nap on the bus on the way back.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

How long a ride was it to Contado Beach? Were there plenty of cabs to get back to the ship? Was traffic bad, how early did you leave the beach/casino area? Thanks!!!

 

[FLGalInTN]

It's San Juan. Traffic is always bad.

 

[ksjayhawks]

There are always cabs in front of the hotels, so that shouldn't be a problem.

We took the bus into Old San Juan from that area several times--we like doing local things when we are on vacation--and if I remember right, even with all the detours the bus makes through neighborhoods, it was about 30-35 minutes. So, I would allow at least that--even though the taxi would be faster. Better to get back early and be relaxed, than be worrying the whole way if you will make it.