EeyoreRN

So I have an important correction to make.  Pirate Hank the Drunk is Peter's pirate name.  Joey's is Stinkin' Hannibal Napier.

So back to last night's adventure.  Past the park, continuing west...

Some pretty beach views

Loved this architecture

Several monuments along the way

I think this is the capitol building?

Statues of presidents particularly friendly for Puerto Rico

This is a gorgeous Holocaust monument

Now coming into OSJ

38 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

So glad to find this review.  We were planning to cruise with you but work got in the way. So have twice the fun for me. 

Oh, no!  I hope you can plan another soon. Good luck with work!

So after our naps we woke up to pouring rain.  No worries, just donned the ponchos and headed for Old San Juan on foot.

We had no specific plan, other than arrive at Marmalade by 6:45.  I think we started out at around 4:30.  We meandered our way westward.

Mickey Mouse always and forever

We came to Parque Louis Munoz Rivera and explored around there

We found a mango tree with a mango on the ground, yum that smell!

A black chicken! Gorgeous!

5 hours ago, LBumb said:

Bon voyage

Thanks!

3 hours ago, FirstAnthem said:

Following! We will be on Freedom from San Juan in September, and my daughter has celiac! I remember you also asked some questions in a previous post about our excursion in St Kitts when we cruised in February—curious if you are going on the excursion on your cruise. It’s My Islands Tours by Javin. Looking forward to this review! 

Yes that is the tour we picked!

Good morning from beautiful, sunny San Juan!  Last night we had a lovely walk over to old Town and dinner at highly acclaimed Marmalade.  Service and food were amazing and well worth the price.  We are from new York remember so it seemed pretty reasonable to us. We have to run to catch a tour, when I'm back on wifi will catch up details!

16 hours ago, Canadian Disney Mom said:

Can't wait to see your review.  I loved Freedom class.  We are sailing on Liberty in August and Freedom in December.

 

 

Speaking of slots.... this is probably a silly question, but as you enter the casino from the Schooner, there used to be a row of slot machines on the right that have these little bonus tubes with cash inside.  Can you let me know if they are still there?

 

thanks & have a great time!!

Will do!  Thanks for following!

12 hours ago, mchin said:

Nice pictures of the room.  Looks like you have an awesome view of the lagoon.  

We do!  This morning it looked extra gorgeous in the bright sunlight!

11 hours ago, Btank said:

 

We just got off Freedom last Sunday.  You're gonna love it.  I hope you're assigned to Imelda (waiter) and Mohammad's (assistant)  table in the Main Dining Room!

 

     --bruce T.

Thanks for the tip!  Will ask for Imelda. We are doing my time dining so I'm not sure how much requests can be honored.

11 hours ago, davekathy said:

Watch where you step and have a great cruise. 

Haha we had another gum incident last night. Read on, and thanks for following.

4 hours ago, BNL1213 said:

Thank you so much for the hotel details! It makes me feel so much better. Enjoy your day in San Juan today. Looking forward to following along!

You're so welcome! Let me know if you have any specific questions! Thanks for following!

3 hours ago, DISFANS3 said:

Cool trip report, Just back from the Freedom last month fantastic trip and ports...

Thank you, I'm so excited!  I saw your thread last night and it distracted me from my own!  Thanks for following.

I'm here now and it's mostly lovely. The room is clean and comfy.  We haven't noticed a smell. It's a great location. I recommend. Read my full report on rci board.

We just woke up from some fabulous naps in our lovely, clean, comfy room.  These beds are so comfortable!!

Incredible shower!!

And the view!

We will be able to see Freedom over there Sunday morning!

Now we are off to explore a little of Old San Juan before dinner at Marmalade.

5 hours ago, mchin said:

Thanks!  I'm traveling with 12 other family members and am curious about some of the surrounding area, like food options within walking distance.  Sounds like Denny's is a breakfast option but will certainly keep expectations very low. 😉  

Plan to look around the neighborhood soon.  Will report!

4 hours ago, rorito said:

Have a great cruise! We are sailing same itinerary in September. Requesting photos of any Wheel of Fortune slot machines in the casino if you have a chance during your review. Bon Voyage!

Will check the slots.  I'm in a FB group doing a slot pull the first night.  We don't usually do casinos but will go for the team!

2 hours ago, LBumb said:

Have a great cruise 

Thank you and thanks for following!

1 hour ago, tcmagnum said:

 

Love this picture!!!  You need to frame/hang it at home!!

Agreed!  The kids just saw all the photos from the time they were napping. I love their reactions to this one.

43 minutes ago, Namelocg said:

Following. A bunch of us did a transatlantic on Freedom in 2017. She is one of my favorite ships. Have a great cruise.

Thank you and thanks for following!

Two random observations:

1. I'm so tired I feel like I'm already on a ship.

2. There is a lot of chewing gum on the ground in Puerto Rico.  I am from NYC and I cannot remember the last time I stepped in chewing gum. This morning while deboarding the plane I stepped in a wad. Right on the plane!  Then at the baggage carousel I saw a kid around 10 years old spit his gum out right on the floor directly in front of his mother and they both just left it there. And I've seen many wads all over the hotel grounds.  Not judging just making an observation.

5 minutes ago, zencruisers said:

Following along. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Thank you and thanks for following!

2 minutes ago, mchin said:

Following.  We are also sailing on Freedom June 23rd and staying in the Hilton Condado Plaza for two night pre-cruise.   🙂

Aha, another intrepid Condado Plaza guest!! I have to say, so far (before having a room) I am pretty in love with this hotel.  Come with an open mind and low expectations and I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised!  Let me know if there's anything you want me to scope out!

Lots of things to do around the property!  Relax your body and soul:

Challenge your mind:

Toes in the sand (and the protected...cove? Inlet?)

Aha!  It's a lagoon!  



The way this sign is positioned I can't tell which is the salt water pool.  No worries, I'll just taste them later haha!

And near the salt or not salt pool there's also corn hole!! When my kids wake up we are on that!

Also, ya gotta know what NOT to do...

Some not so gorgeous aspects of the hotel I noticed:

Stuff like this doesn't bother me too much but probably plays a large roll in recent negative reviews.  So this is the ocean side of the hotel.  Will post on lagoon side a little later.  Gonna close my eyes...

2 minutes ago, HouCplCruise said:

We will be joining you on this one.  Headed that way today.  See ya at the Meet and Mingle!

Looking forward to it!!  Feel free to chime in, agree, disagree, whatever!

22 minutes ago, MarlboroBell said:

You must be our clones! We're also about an hour north of Manhattan, we're also going on the Freedom (in August at the end of the summer vacation), and we're also staying at the Condado Plaza beforehand! Really looking forward to hearing more about your trip... (Our kids are a bit younger though -- 15 and 12.)

Wow!  Hi, neighbor! Please stay tuned for more and thanks for following! I hope I can offer a few nuggets for your planning.

For the most part, this is a beautiful hotel in a gorgeous, centrally located setting. There are some things in obvious need of repair, mostly on the outside, where you see big rust spots, peeling paint and plaster that looks like it's melting.  These are things you'd think would be easily addressed by Hilton. Also things that don't bother me much to tell you the truth.  I don't understand some of the extremely low ratings on this hotel. All that said, I haven't seen my room yet, so fingers crossed, my first and second impressions hold up!

Front desk changes colors!  There's a large aquarium in the lobby, the lights are on a timer.  This is before:

And after:

More around the lobby:

and outside on the ocean side, looking east:

Looking west:

We checked in at 7 am, but our room isn't ready yet. The staff here are all very welcoming and helpful. They took our bags and tagged them so we're not lugging them around.  Not that Emma or Joey  would be lugging anything at all.  While I was writing my thoughts on Denny's, this happened:

I love the smell of the lobby. It reminds me of Disney's Polynesian Village resort. So far I have not noticed any musty smell (I have read about in reviews), only smells that are extremely pleasant and relaxing to me. The ocean, the pool, flowers....we shall see about the room.

Going to snap some photos around the place now.

So we sat down in the hopping Denny's around 5:30 am.  The hostess was very sweet and friendly and the server Fernando was too. They couldn't agree on where we should sit and you know we still had all of our bags (a carry-on plus a back pack each) so after we sat down and got all our stuff situated we were asked to move. Lol.  Nbd, 3 hale and hardy adults with a few small bags, right? But we're tired. Like, the kind of tired that makes your brain foggy, your mouth heavy and your bones shiver. I used to work the night shift, and it's that kind of tired I would feel after that final burst of adrenaline enabled me to drive safely home...and then see my bed. So. Tired. We're punchy and cranky from the tired.

Most of the breakfast was not good. What do you expect?  Idk, we don't have a local Denny's at home (if we go out to breakfast it's a diner or IHOP or occasionally Cracker Barrel). But I think I expected a good breakfast. Maybe we ordered wrong, you know, from the tired.

We ordered coffee, which was delivered in regular-sized Denny's coffee mugs but they were only about a quarter full with what tasted like espresso. Nothing wrong with that, it was actually the best thing about the breakfast, but not what I expected. Is this Puerto Rican coffee? This is not a rhetorical question, I would love to know. Had I been less tired I would have engaged Fernando in a conversation about that coffee. When he delivered the mugs I thought they were empty and we're waiting for a coffee pot.  Eventually realized the serving of coffee was there but so small.

For food, Joey was in the mood for the boneless chicken wings with Bleu cheese. They came out with no sauce. Well we think the menu didn't specify buffalo sauce but the photo certainly implied there would be some kind of sauce on there. Joey's fine but sauceless, boneless wings:

Emma has celiac disease and always appreciates when a restaurant serves gluten free bread products, so she ordered an egg breakfast with a gluten free English muffin. She was pleased with her choice.

I have been eating virtually carb free for more than a year (except on vacation, and this vacation is no exception😜), so today was they day I couldn't decide between pancakes or hash browns with cheese. Joey convinced me I should get both and not to worry, he'd help.

You can't tell from the photo, but the pancakes were hard on one side, like a poster board that has one solid side with that spongy foam the rest of the way through. They tasted fine, and again, I was thinking maybe this is a cultural thing? I mean, perhaps in Puerto Rico they like their pancakes a little crispy like we eat waffles?

But those hash browns with cheese!? Seriously, there is no excuse for why they couldn't simply melt the cheese over the top...or at least serve the hash browns hot so the cheese would melt. You know these days I really need to make my carbs count.  Bad idea I should have ordered an omlette. In this photo you can also appreciate the coffee mugs, which you now know are virtually empty.

The whole experience put us back about $48 with the tip, but the service was delightful and we killed time until 7 when we could check in for tonight. We won't be returning to Denny's, unless we are craving mimosas or shots of tequila at 5 am, not because it was bad or way overpriced, but because we are in San Juan, and who wants to go to Denny's in San Juan? Once it served it's purpose for us. Glad there was an open place and some warm smiles.

3 minutes ago, Reginaldvanpelt said:

Sitting on the  Freedom ots promenade  right now drinking coffee. You’re gonna love this ship!

Ooh two of my favorite things, cruising and coffee! Can't wait!  You hear so many mixed reviews of Freedom, I look forward to assessing her myself.  Thanks for the positive vibes!

21 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

We would love to do a cruise out of SJ but it's soooo complicated and expensive to get to from this side of the pond. 

Looking forward to following your trip report. Have fun! 

Thanks for following, Fiona!  Yeah, I could imagine how expensive it must be to get here!  Our flights from NY were much pricier than I expected.  And the hotels here are expensive, too!  Thanks for following!

So many months ago I asked the question, what does one do after arriving in San Juan in the middle of the night?  Answer: Denny's!  Which is conveniently located in our hotel. It is open 24 hours and even serves alcohol from it's full bar all day and night.

There was a prom in the hotel last night so the restaurant is really hopping the am!

14 minutes ago, Surfguyxxx said:

Following along.  Freedom OTS is one of my favorite ships and have traveled on her many times (alright only about 4 but.....).  You're all going to have so much fun.  Congrats to Joey on his graduation.  Can't wait to read more of your adventures!

 

Thank you so much for your best wishes and positive vibes about Freedom.  This will be our first cruise on this class.

Just now, LuCruise said:

What a sweet family!  Sage travels and enjoy your cruise.

Aw, thanks so much!!  Will do!

This installment comes to you live from the 24-hour Denny's in the Condado Plaza Hilton!

The flight finally took off at around 1:15, about 2.5 hours late. 

We were not in any hurry to get to Denny's, so we didn't mind the delay. The flight was full and though we were able to pack all our stuff in carry-ons, they made us check them at the gate (for free) as the overhead bins were already full when we boarded.  Again, no big deal, just had to wait a while for the bags. First photo from San Juan:

For those concerned about ground transport from the airport to your resort, wow!  It is so easy and convenient in this city!  And prices are regulated.  Follow the signs to ground transportation.

Once you exit you will see a long line of taxis with a dispatcher. Just tell the dispatcher where you're going and he tells you the price and gives you a ticket to hand the driver.  We didn't wait at all (well it looked like our flight was the only arrival at 4:30 am, so ymmv). The drive to the Condado Plaza Hilton was about 15 minutes long and cost $24 plus tip for the 3 of us.

Our first impression of the hotel is that it's beautiful!  We stopped at the concierge to see if we could check in.  Too early, come back at 7.

So we used a pirate name generator to discover our pirate names, you know, because when in the Caribbean, one uses a pirate name. I am Cap'n Helga Knock-knees.  Emma is Butt-Ugly Bette Scar.  Joey is Pirate Hank the Drunk. We are pleased with our pirate names.

And with that, we are getting ready to board the plane.  More from San Juan!

Cheers from JFK!  Security was a breeze and we have a few hours to kill before boarding our late flight.

2 hours ago, tcmagnum said:

Following...Have a great trip...

Thanks so much and welcome!

2 hours ago, umpisoccer said:

Looking forward to your review.  We leave on June 23rd.

Thanks for following!  Hope you enjoy the review!

1 hour ago, leetompkins said:

Enjoy your cruise.  We are on the same cruise next May 2020.  Look forward to your review.

Enjoy the anticipation part.  We've been planning this one for almost a year.  Let me know if you have any specific questions.

55 minutes ago, BNL1213 said:

Have fun!!! I would love to hear how the Condado Hilton is. Reviews online are not great.

Yeah, I saw those reviews, eek! Will be sure to give a pretty detailed report about it.

51 minutes ago, SweFlo said:

Looking forward to the review! We are leaving on the Freedom out of San Juan June 2.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

You must be so excited!  Wish we could stay aboard for that itinerary too!