Kikkycat

And I hope you mean Feb 2016 or you missed your ship by several months. [emoji41]

The nearest would be at the Sheraton Convention Center. It's also the largest casino in PR. There are some in Condado too.

Cruise timetables says there is one ship in addition to yours in San Juan that day. It is the Carnival Splendor. With a low number of ships, you will almost certainly dock at one of the piers in Old San Juan. The Pan American pier is used primarily for RCCL and Celebrity cruises beginning and ending in San Juan, and for overflow on very busy days.

From Shipwreck:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we were there two weeks ago, and saw exactly zero monkeys. But we did see four mongeese (mongooses?) and heard a monkey screech.

We used BioIsland in February when we spent a week on the island. They were very good, and I especially appreciated not having to paddle myself in and out of the dark mangroves. The crew gave a nice tour, very informative but with humor too ("It's time to play everyone's favorite game: Whack a Kayak!")

I read all the posts. wow lots of info still not sure where to go. but my question is

 

bathrooms! are there any on the beaches and is there a place to change or do we have to wear our suits to each beach?

We were on Palm Beach a couple weeks ago. We took a taxi to the pier and found chair vendors just to the right. There was a restroom/changing room, but they charged .50 to use it.

Unless there are a large number of ships in port for that day, all day stops are made at the piers in Old Town. The Pan Am pier is occasionally used for a day stop when all the piers in OAJ are full. You can get a good idea of how many ships are expected on a specific day at cruisetimetables dot com

We met him last week near the Sheraton. He didn't ask if we spoke English first, he asked "could I ask you for a little help?". He started to tell the tale of going into a not-nice area of the city and having his wallet stolen. I told my sister "this is the guy I told you about. Come on!" And pulled her away from him. Thanks for the heads up CC!

I stayed at Sheraton OSJ earlier this week for two nights after cruising on Jewel OTS. The only "four star" part of the hotel is the location. If you can walk at all, you can walk to EVERYTHING in the old city. The staff was courteous and efficient. However, our room smelled very musty and I saw mold in my bedding. The shower went from freezing to scalding with no warning, and the air conditioning seemed to be of the same temperament, making it hard to maintain a comfortable room temperature. The beds are definitely on the firm side, and are showing their age with just a thin pad and no pillow top. The pool deck has a nice view but the pool itself is a joke, being not much larger than two dining room tables. This list of complaints sounds like I hated it, but I really didn't. It just wasn't close to being a four star hotel, much less a resort charging a daily fee. 2.5 to 3 stars is more realistic.

Six of one, half a dozen of the other really. The Miramar is closer to Old San Juan, and the Isla Verde hotel is closer to the rain forest. The two hotels are at most 20 minutes apart.

There will be two hills to go up if you travel along Paseo de la Princesa to El Morro. It is relatively flat from the pier until you come to the San Juan gate. From the Paseo, turn right to go through the gate. Go through the gate and turn left. There is a fairly steep but short slanted sidewalk there which leads you to the statue of La Rogativa. You can catch your breath there (and/or take pictures and/or pet friendly stray kitties - the Save a Gato TNR and rescue group is located near here). The road that goes straight up the hill (as opposed to the road that goes to the left after the plaza) to the right of the Casa Rosa will lead you to El Morro. It's a fairly long hill but not awfully steep. I have arthritis in my knee, spine and ankle but can do this walk. I couldn't say how long it takes because I always stop to give attention to every kitty I see, and there are a LOT of them.

Thanks for this. Can I ask what rental company you used for your car? I have found cars plus the licence for less than $100 (US) but couldn't find a tour for two for this price.

 

Driving on the left isn't an issue as I'm from the UK - though I heard the cars are set up to drive on the right with the steering wheel on the left, like an American car would be, was that your experience? I would probably find that odd!

Our taxis to and from Shipwreck Beach Bar last week were both set up in the wheel on the right/British style.

The chain restaurant right across from the piers is indeed Señor Frogs.

I was speaking with someone in OSJ this week, who aptly observed that the city is very much as if someone took New Orleans and put it down in San Francisco.

There are no hotel shuttles from the airport anywhere in San Juan.

You should be aware that there is a large street festival in San Juan January 16 (over the long weekend). It will affect traffic so plan for extra time.

I didn't see any today, but there were no ships in port until 3:30 (expected then, it showed up close to 5).

There are some nice views of the cemetery from Calle Norzagaray even if you can't get inside the gates.

Sometimes they do have horse-drawn carriages between the cruise piers and the Paseo de Princesa. I don't know how much they cost however.

We have Verizon which doesn't have data coverage in PR without international access (voice and text work).

 

Sounds like I'll need to try and make some other plans.

 

 

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Have AT&T. My sister has the same but on a Samsung Galaxy and had access to data. My iPhone 6 had nada.

Cafe Ochoa is VERY local. My sister and I are the only tourists in here this morning. We each got two eggs with ham and toast, two sides of bacon, a bottled water and a small coffee for $12.17. We walked from Sheraton OSJ and it took maybe five minutes.

I have to amend my answer above on wifi. On the way onto the ship I had no issues. Upon leaving and going into the luggage area, I had no service at all.

Old San Juan is pretty compact and is easily explored on foot. Also Castillo de San Cristóbal (The Fort) is half a mile away. You can perfectly do this on your own while exploring the wonderful cobble stones of San Juan.

I would have to disagree about just walking around the old city if a person has issues with mobility. I am slightly affected by arthritis in my knee and spine. I do find it challenging here (I am just off Jewel of the Seas, and spent yesterday and today in Old San Juan). The streets are very narrow. Some curbs are on the high side and the cobblestones are very difficult to walk upon. Also, there are several hills to navigate.

For a scenic but mostly flat walk, I would suggest turning left off your pier when you reach the main street in front of your ship. You will have to cross a cobblestone street once, coming and returning. There usually are handicap ramps onto the sidewalk but they aren't always well-marked. The street will turn right after a couple blocks, and go up a daunting hill, but you want to keep to the left. The Paseo de la Princesa is wide, flat, and has many shaded benches so you can rest. You'll get a taste of the beautiful local architecture and statuary. There also might be some food and craft vendors there.

Once you reach the fountain called "Raices" (Roots, there's a lovely plaque explaining the meaning of the statuary in the fountain), you can either turn around or continue around the corner for a seaside walk. There are still benches, but no shade so it can be very hot there. I hope this helps.

Does anyone know if there's wifi inside the terminal? If there's nothing within walking distance I would need some access before we sail.

 

 

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I didn't find wifi but I had no trouble having enough signal to do whatever I wanted to do.