pdc2013

Are there any beach clubs close to the port in San Juan? Something similar to the beach clubs/beach bars in Cozumel that has beach chairs/umbrellas for rent and clean facilities? I've looked on tripadvisor and other sites and can't find anything?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

If your looking to go to the beach walk around and rent chairs Isla Verde/Carolina is a good beach. Not to many facilities though.

I bought a beach package through Island marketing and was more than happy. Good food, drinks and includes chairs and umbrellas. https://puertoricocruiseexcursions.com/excursion/san-juan-beach-break/

I Cannot remember which hotel has a day pass. Not my kind of thing, i do not need a pool and would prefer to have less people around me.

I'm cruising on the Jewel of the Seas departing San Juan on Sunday 1/8/17. I'll be staying in San Juan two days before embarkation. The cruise seems like it departs at 8:30pm with all aboard at 7pm. I'd like to board the ship by 4-5pm to give some extra headroom and to enjoy the ship a bit before it leaves port. Is it possible to do a full day tour in this time frame going to El Yunque and then Luquillo Beach? Would the tour company be able to carry our luggage with us and drop us off at the cruise ship or would we have to leave the luggage in the hotel and come back for it then take a taxi?

 

Thanks!

I did this exact same tour and found i had plenty of time to do the things i wanted in the time i wanted. I did a private tour with luggage and at the end was dropped of at the airport. Not sure how many are in your group but i paid less than the $90.00 per person.

We have booked a Fortress tour with Island Marketing. Eve has been so helpful, and responds to all my e-mails quickly. I do have a question about the forts. We will be in San Juan in February. I would like to see El Morro, but the Fortress tour is for San Cristóbal. Should we try to see both forts?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

I can only tell you what i did, not sure what's best. I ended up going into El Morro on my own during my stay in Old san Juan. I used the same ticket so did not have to pay extra. I saw more in san Cristobal than in El Morro and it takes about 15 minutes each way, walking at a good pace, to get to the entrance of El Morro. So have water with you, i did and was happy i did in the heat.

When on tour we saw the grounds and the cemetery. I think that was good enough and glad entering was not part of the tour, even though if i wanted ot i could. BUT i stayed and new that i would do it another day, that way i got more out of my tour. So it really is up to you. I found what they told me to be true the grounds are beautiful and walking around the cemetery was worth it, creepy but worth it LOL.

Hope this helps

Been to Cancun many times so for some Beach and shopping and a day of it Playa del carmen. You can get there by bus very easy to do.

Catamaran trip to Isla Mujeres great tour, drinks , food and a stop at this island.

Ruins i found the Tulum ruins kind of not enough for me even though its a breathtaking view. I enjoyed Chechin Itsa and Coba better. you stop at a little town in a different state. I like that experience better.

In port from 8:00am - 5:00pm... looking for a nice not too crowded beach to visit. Any recommendations?

 

Thanks!

Isla Verde and ocean park are good beaches to visit via taxi. Not to many people on the beach during the week. They can get more crowded on weekends with locals. But they are long and wide so you will really never feels packed in.

These are the hotels we were looking at but I don't know how close to the pier they are. I just don't want to be 30 minutes away by taxi.

 

La Concha

Intercontinental

Hyatt House

San Juan Marriott

 

Any help guiding me in the right direction is appreciated.

 

Bill

Most hotels will only be between 10-15 minutes aways depending on traffic.

San Juan will be like any other city with rush hour traffic but still VERY close.

I can't figure out what we'll have time to do besides walk around the Old Town. Could we do El Yunque in this time frame....3pm to 10pm? Other suggestions? I wanted to do Arecibo but it seems like a far drive. Is there something closer to the cruise port that isn't history/shopping related? Please and thank you!

It will probably take you about 30 minutes to get of the ship and the forest closes at 6pm. You might get a drive in but not sure if that is worth the money, unless you also stop in Luquillo. Have not done Arecibo yet but hoping to do more of the island next time.

Go to the beach and enjoy the afternoon, have a few cocktails and watch the sun go down! If you are not a history person, the beach is always great that time of the day, at least for me it is.

What age to drink for the historical tour?

Does Puerto rico have different drinking age laws?

The OP is arriving on Celebrity, so that will be the Pan American Pier. She will need to take a taxi to Old Town SJ. Not a big deal, but not quite as easy as walking off the ship and into Old Town.

Ooops, yea that is a 15-20 minute taxi ride $20-25 with luggage, each way.

Thats starts to become more pricy and time consuming, i would tour or stay as long as you can on the ship.

We will be staying at the Comfort inn in Condado.

You can tour then be dropped of at your hotel, since you thin it is 3pm tour to the rainforest and save on the taxi to the hotel.

If that is not an option, go right to your hotel and check in if the room is available, most of the times it will be. If its not keep your bathing suites handy change and go to the beach!

Hi Everyone,

 

We are a party of 5 with a ton of luggage, and would rather just pay extra to have secured airport pickup rather than take a taxi when we arrive at 3 AM. (I know they are reliable and always there).

 

We are staying at LaConcha, and I found VIP Limo PR as an option suggested by one individual... but I wanted to reach out to others, as the last thing I want is to have a problem at 3 AM.

 

Who do you suggest for van transportation for us and all out luggage? :D

 

Thanks!

I am sure they will be there if you already booked, we used Island Marketing. How much did they charge you?

Hi there.... I just looked at the excursion link thru Island Marketing. I just want to make sure I understand.. you are recommending the tour for $45, which includes 6 drinks, food, beach chair & umbrella?!?! Thanks!

Yes very much so, least expensive package that i have found, great value. Nice beach and tasty food!

We've spent quite a bit of time in Old San Juan before and after cruises. Love it! There is a local bus/hoho that does a circuit. Go to Castillo de San Cristobal, spend time watching the kite flyers, touring the fort, if you are lucky you can get good photos of ship's arriving & departing... Walk back down the hill past the Cathedral to the shopping streets. Have some mofumbo. (The other fort closer to the main portion of Old San Juan doesn't have the views, is smaller, not really a big deal.) Walk to the Harbor overlooks. Depending on the day you are there, find the local outdoor artists' market and browse their creations. Oh, opposite the cathedral is a small square, interesting statue, directions to a nearby children's museum. And keep an eye out for the many many cats who own the city and are well taken care of. Enjoy!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

If beach or Old san Juan is not your thing, Zipline or go to the Rainforest.

Hi All,

 

I am a seasoned cruiser (more than 20 mostly Carnival and Disney) and have been to San Juan only once before but was unable to do Old San Juan. We are looking for a private tour as one of our members has limited walk capabilities (about 30 minutes at a time). Many have recommended Island Marketing but am wondering if there are others as I suspect they are booked already.

 

Thanks for any responses as this is my first post!

Hi I have done this tour with Island marketing and thought they were great!

I had 2 different guides for the 2 tours i did with them and found them to be thoughtful on top of knowing their stuff.

Which beach/hotel was this at?

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Sorry forgot to put that in. Ocean park and the restaurant/beachclub was called Pamela's

Hoping to do something like this. Looking for a Hotel to stay at that is nearby.

We drove through a town called Rio Grande and was told that there were big hotels by the sea. This tour took us to Loquillo at the beach and a stop at some food court type place. Very local and loved it!

Which beach hotel was this at? Did you eat there as well?

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Yes i did eat there and was great, i had the churasco (its meat) wrap and my then boyfriend had the fish. Rice/beans and banana chips, was Awesome, drinks were good too!

I would like to know where this beach is too. Since transportation isn't included I want to know how far away it is and price of taxi.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

send them an email, they answer pretty quickly. it should not be more than a 15 min ride. Taxi should be around $20.00

Oh, no.....I agree that's it's not worth the $25 when you can get so much more for just a tad more. This is definitely our thing. The problem is that we don't dock until noon and if things go as planned we'd be off the ship by 12:30 ish and then hailing a cab with the hope of getting there by 1:30pm the latest. If we were to stay for a couple of hours and then head back to do the Old San Juan thing enjoying some authentic Puerto Rican food, we feel that we would be rushing having to be back to the ship by 7:30 the latest. So.... It's more of hanging at the beach and enjoying the day, or hanging around Old San Juan enjoying the authentic lifestyle. Want to do both but to truly enjoy, we have to do one or the other therefore not feeling rushed. If only we knew if the weather would be warm and sunny........ Thanks for your help :)

I think you could be at the beach by 1PM and leave 90 minutes before your ship leaves. BUT if you have never been to old town and like history then stay and go to the beach another time. Walking around Old Town is great! Have a coffee and local desserts. Try a resto called Jibarito great local food.

So if we don't do the package (seems like a really good deal) we could still go and just get chairs an umbrella and pay the $5 and $10 respectively? We would do the package in a heartbeat if we were there earlier. Still may do the package but nice to know that we could go for just a couple of hours.

I had asked, this package was/is exclusive to island marketing. The hotel has their own package to use the facilities with chair, umbrella and is $25.00 per person. I thought that was NOT worth it at all.

6 hours at the beach is not enough time? Thats how much time i spent there and was more than enough. I drank all my dranks and had a nap..LOL

If this is not your thing i would go to Isla Verde. Lots of people renting chairs, the only thing i did not like was very few places to get a bit and no bathrooms.

But the beach was great!

Drop your bags off where?

 

Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk

I toured with my luggage but i have read that you can drop off your luggage at a restaurant across the street at the Pier in Old town. Also a restaurant called Barrachina.

As far as a beach hotels i would stay in Isla Verde.

I cannot tell people enough to stay in Old San Juan. I loved walking around and taking my time, since i had plenty of other days to be at the beach. Mostly boutique hotels other than the Sheraton right at the pier.

I didnt see one at the pier but i have read somewhere that they will come to the pier. I just do not remember what the name was.

My Husband, Mother and I will be in San Juan in November we are interested in seeing Old San Juan, the forts and cathedral, Lots of photo ops! is there a fairly priced tour that includes most of these or is it better to walk on our own? Walking is ok but uphill too much may be a problem for some in our group.

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Forums mobile app

I absolutely loved Old San Juan. Take a private tour and take your time, might be worth it if all that walking will be tiring with some in your group.

I too used Puerto Rico Cruise excursions by Island Marketing, did 3 tours with them and was not disappointed. Their beach break package was great and well worth it. The Fortresses tour was more than informative and we saw everything there was to see. Our guide really took his time with us, asked us what was most important to us and off we went!

Ok thanks. Do you know what is the latest time we could disembark?

 

Sent from my SM-N915V using Tapatalk

If i am not mistaken you have to be off by 11am. If you do not want to tour you can drop your bags off and enjoy the same time but in Old Town. You will not be disappointed. Walk around have coffee and some sweet bread.

We are looking to spend a few hours at a nice beach not to far from the port that has maybe a beach bar for liquids and some snack foods.

 

Does anyone have any info or recommendations?

 

Just looking to have a few hours on a nice clean beach with a local happy drink in hand and maybe a chair or umbrella to rent.

 

Thanks All

I bought this package and later realized that it is the least expensive way to spend time at the beach. The beach is public so you need to rent chairs $5.00 each and umbrellas $10.00.

https://puertoricocruiseexcursions.com/excursion/san-juan-beach-break/

Well worth it, if you do go let me know how it is, planning another trip soon.