A Fascination Graduation and a week in San Juan

A Fascination Graduation- my first review. I think I have a lot to learn, especially about posting pictures! In fact, can anyone explain how to post pictures from an iPad? Copying and pasting isn't working... Anyway, here we go...

We used our middle daughter’s college graduation as a great excuse to plan a family vacation. With the older daughter 3 years out of college and living a grown up life, it has been difficult to continue our family tradition of taking a big trip every other year. Our youngest daughter started college 2 years ago – so all that work to pay tuitions means I needed something to dream about and plan for! There aren’t too many Fascination reviews, and these boards have been so motivating to read that I am going to try and pay it back somewhat.

I booked 3 inside cabins online at Carnival.com for a good price 18 months ago, including $50/cabin OBC. About 7 months before our May 21st sailing I got an email about upgrading to an outside cabin for $35 pp. I debated a bit, since the new cabins would be on the Empress deck and I had read some reviews about noise from the galley above. In the end we decided to chance it, bring ear plugs, and enjoy the window. This turned out to be a great decision. I read the blogs, made lists and researched excursions. Note to future self – bring that notebook with you on the cruise!

Airfare was the next challenge. Daughter #1 and her boyfriend decided to fly in the Wednesday before the cruise and stay in the Condado area, near San Juan. The other 2 daughters had school responsibilities and would be flying in on the Friday, leaving them one day to relax before the cruise on Sunday. I was playing around with different dates and found that my husband and I saved $300 each by flying on Wednesdays. That would pay for the extra hotel nights, so it was like getting a free week’s vacation in San Juan, Puerto Rico! Sold! Plus I was able to use my Hilton points and Hotels.com free nights to make it even better. All the kids were flying back a couple of hours after the cruise ended, so that would give hubby and I a few days of post family vacation recovery time..

San Juan, pre-cruise – The flight to San Juan from California is so darn long. First to somewhere on the East Coast (Miami, Baltimore and Fort Lauderdale), then 2-6 hours in that airport, and finally a very full plane and a 3-4 hour flight to SJU. Considering we got up at 4 am to catch the 5 am shuttle, it made for a very long day. The taxi process at the airport was easy, if somewhat pricey ($20 inc tip) for a 5 minute ride. But at that point it was 9 pm, and we didn’t have the energy to care. (Apparently I didn't have the energy to take pictures either, since I can't find any from this day.)

When we had first planned this cruise I had booked us all rooms at the Embassy Suites in Isla Verde. I researched only the Hilton properties since I had points to use. When I really thought about the reality of that long first day of travel I decided that a close hotel, followed by a relaxing day at the beach without any plans, would be the perfect start to our vacation. The Embassy Suites was perfect for this. We checked in and went down to eat at the restaurant/bar in the atrium. I wanted a vacation drink and Hubby was hungry. He ordered the burger and fries, and was very happy. The flavor of the burger was delicious. Plus the fries went well with my wine ;) The ambiance was nice too. This is a large property with the classic indoor atrium design including lots of plants, twinkly lights and fun music. We explored a little and called it a night.

Sounds like it was a great vacation! Can't wait to hear more about San Juan, I haven't been there yet, but I will get there eventually. For now I have to live through wonderful reviews. Congrats to your daughter!

Sorry, can't help with the picture situation.

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Here is a (long) thread on how to post pictures. Just disregard use of photobucket as it is now for a fee:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1714741

Will be following your review.

Excited to hear about the rest of your trip. We are in the process of booking this cruise for my "50th" birthday next year and it is somewhat hard to find recent reviews. Also interested in your stay in San Juan as we will also plan to stay a few days after the trip. I completely understand the long day of flying...we will be coming from Seattle.

Sounds like it was a great vacation! Can't wait to hear more about San Juan, I haven't been there yet, but I will get there eventually. For now I have to live through wonderful reviews. Congrats to your daughter!

Sorry, can't help with the picture situation

 

 

Thank you! We ended up loving Puerto Rico, who knew?!

Here is a (long) thread on how to post pictures. Just disregard use of photobucket as it is now for a fee:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1714741

 

Will be following your review.

Thanks! I will read it at work today. I want to post more tonight. I'm thinking it might be easier from the computer... my iPad is so much more convenient that I'm hoping to make it work.

We have a cruise booked for May 2018 from San Juan on the Fascination - very happy to see you are doing this review.

I did a review of our San Juan/Fascination trip in April/May 2017. It can be found in the review section of Cruise Critic (sorry, don't have the link for it). We had a wonderful time. I look forward to reliving it with your trip.

Excited to hear about the rest of your trip. We are in the process of booking this cruise for my "50th" birthday next year and it is somewhat hard to find recent reviews. Also interested in your stay in San Juan as we will also plan to stay a few days after the trip. I completely understand the long day of flying...we will be coming from Seattle.

We loved the cruise. I don't know of anyway to make the flight less cumbersome, really. At least from LAX there were no direct flights. Which is too bad, because I think Puerto Rico could get a lot more tourists from the West Coast if there was.

The Fascination was the first ship my wife and I sailed on it 1996. We have been on it 3 times since and it's a favorite of ours over all although now my favorite is the Dream and my wife's is the Magic. I need to get back on the Fascination. Look forward to the updates and some pictures. :cool:

Thanks! I will read it at work today. I want to post more tonight. I'm thinking it might be easier from the computer... my iPad is so much more convenient that I'm hoping to make it work.

Some find it more convenient doing it on tapatalk on their iPad.

Some find it more convenient doing it on tapatalk on their iPad.

I think I may have found the key- I downloaded the Cruise Critic app! Hopefully this works...

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Excited to follow your review as this will be my next cruise.

Our only goal for the next morning was to make it downstairs before they closed the breakfast line. I had read complaints online about the lines at the Embassy Suite's breakfast, but we didn’t find that to be true at all. Maybe a benefit of traveling in May? I grabbed a cup of strong Puerto Rican coffee and waited 10-15 minutes for my made-to-order omelette and sides. They also had hot milk in a thermos so I could make the delicious café con leche I had in Spain. In fact, there were many things in Puerto Rico that reminded me of Spain – the accents, the Spanish language on all the signs, items on the menus, the warmth and friendliness of the people. I guess I had expected Puerto Rico to be like Hawaii – American with Spanish flair. But it felt much more foreign. More Spanish with an American accent. Loved it!

After breakfast we geared up for the beach. It is a short 4 blocks away, and Embassy Suites has an area with umbrellas and lounge chairs. Just make sure you are wearing the wristband they gave you on check in. I love the ocean, my husband isn’t much of a swimmer, but we both enjoyed relaxing here. The view was gorgeous and there was a nice breeze. We had passed a CVS on our walk, so we had some cold drinks and snacks available too. (Actually, we went into that CVS at least daily for the four days we were here!) I’m a runner, and when I was looking into places to run in San Juan this beach came up frequently. I was concerned about the temperature and the humidity though. As we were relaxing on the beach I saw a group of 4-5 runners go by. Why not? I thought. My "bathing suit" is a sports bra and running shorts anyway. It was a fun 3 miles back and forth along the beach, with a refreshing cool down in the ocean afterwards.

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Excited to follow your review as this will be my next cruise.

Thank you everyone for the support and encouragement with this review. It is getting easier as I figure it out. [emoji15]

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Thank you everyone for the support and encouragement with this review. It is getting easier as I figure it out. [emoji15]

 

 

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Well it shows how it is now easy for you with the nice photos you posted.[emoji846]

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Eventually we got hot and hungry and headed back to the hotel to change and walk around to find food. Our stomachs were not adjusted to the time, since we started looking for "lunch" at 3:30! We walked down the main road to a Spanish restaurant I had seen on Yelp - Panaderia Espana. There's a bakery, deli and wine bar inside. I ordered pulpo (octopus) and Galician cabbage soup – more memories of Spain for me. And some leftovers to keep in our room fridge for later.

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The area we walked through felt safe, but too industrial and kind of run down to be attractive. It felt like one long strip mall, with tacky souvenir stores and tiny places to eat. We walked back to the hotel by going along the beach, and that was beautiful.

Made it back for Happy Hour too! They had large jars of pre-made rum punch and blue long island punch, plus mixed drinks, wine, popcorn, chips and hummus. We ended up having dinner at the atrium restaurant again, and then sitting out by the pool, enjoying the night breeze. Our planned day of relaxation was a success.

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Well it shows how it is now easy for you with the nice photos you posted.[emoji846]

 

 

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Thanks! I can't believe how exciting it is to have figured that out!

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We're taking this cruise in November and I'm excited to read the rest of you review! Thanks!

Great start to this review. I will be on this cruise next April. I look forward to reading about your time in San Juan. I will have 2 days in San Juan. I also look forward to reading about the cruise excursions. Thanks for posting your review. :)

The next was Friday. The girls wouldn’t arrive until 11pm, so we had another day on our own. We were up in time to enjoy our nice breakfast and delicious coffee, then decided to head into Old San Juan to explore. After talking with the concierge we decided to take the city bus the 6 or 7 miles into town,($0.75 each) and take a taxi ($20) back in the evening. We walked a couple of blocks to the bus stop, waited about 15 minutes, then soaked up the atmosphere on the 40 minute ride to the main bus station. The last stop is the main bus station, near the port and across from a large Sheraton hotel. We went into the Sheraton there to get a city map and talk to the concierge about the local sites. She planned a nice route for us. We were right near the port, so it was nice to see what that was going to be like for Sunday.

Old Town is very walkable. Hilly in parts, but with a great European vibe from the colorful buildings and cobblestone streets. We decided to walk through town and go to Fort El Morro. Interesting to read the sign with a relatively positive spin on the La Perla area next to the Fort, then look over the wall at the ghetto that it is.

I had researched getting a National Park Pass online, but when my husband tried at home the website kept getting stuck. Lucky for all of us, he was able to get one onsite at the Fort, and then take in 3 friends for free. For $10! If you are 60 or over I recommend you look into it.

The Fort was fun. The weather was breezy and not too hot. There is a lot of walking uphills and stairs, with beautiful views of the Harbor from the top. We took a ton of pictures.

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We walked down the stone steps to see where the soldiers lived and worked. Then back up again to the main level, and a cold bottle of water from the gift shop. We exited by walking out the main entrance and down a long drive, through a grassy park. This area is known for for being consistently windy so there were lots of people flying kites here.

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We found a lost kite that had been blown under a bench, and a discarded roll of tangled kite string, that we put together so we could participate too. So much fun! I recommend packing a cheap kite if you are going here. Especially if you have young kids. But we old kids really enjoyed it too!

By this time it is 5pm, and the trail mix we had snacked on for lunch was worn off. We pulled up the Yelp app and looked for dinner. Daughter #1 and her BF had joined us to tour the Fort and have dinner. She has celiac and had done research about safe places to eat. Barrachinas was on her list and a top restaurant on Yelp, so off we went. The first of several meals there over the course of our vacation! They claim to have invented the Pina Colada. Whether they did or not, the Pina Colada they serve there is absolutely delicious! I suppose people may be against eating at such a touristy place, but it was just very nice. We were outside on the patio with plants, lights and music – and their squawking parrots. We got fajitas and shrimp mofongo (a classic Puerto Rican mashed plantain dish) and everything was delicious.

After dinner we enjoyed walking around town as the lights came on, then shared a cab back, dropping them off at their hotel in Condado on the way back to Isla Verde.

A little quiet time in the hotel sharing pictures, then our other two girls arrived. Of course we had to stay up and hear their stories about that long flight, so it was almost 1 am when we went to bed. At least breakfast is open later on weekends (10 instead of 0930)!

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Sounds like it was a great vacation! Can't wait to hear more about San Juan, I haven't been there yet, but I will get there eventually. For now I have to live through wonderful reviews. Congrats to your daughter!

Sorry, can't help with the picture situation.

 

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Thank you! We are proud of her.

I love reading reviews, for trips I'm planning, ones I've been on, and ones I may never do. My form of relaxation at night[emoji41]

With help from the posters here, I followed a link that led to a link that led to the cruise critic app. That was the key!

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