ozarkmama

Last November when we cruised it showed a chance of rain in the caribbean every day. It just means that at some point in time, somewhere on the island, there is a chance of rain. Usually they are short showers and don't really affect you. It was rainy most of the day that we were at sea but that was not a big deal for us.

We had the same dilema and opted to not do the biobay. Also, we weren't comfortable driving on unfamiliar roads in the dark. Sorry, not much help..........We did however, love the west side of the island. We spent 2 days and went to the Rincon lighthouse, Crash Boat Beach, and Jobos beach.

Vieques is another island off the coast of PR. You would either have to take the ferry or fly over to do the tour. The ferry is very unreliable from everything I have read. There are biobay tours that operate out of Fajardo which is an hour or so from San Juan. What hours are you in port?

We were just there a couple of weeks ago. My DD and I walked all over OSJ. It is a little hilly but not steep. You should be fine.

Ellis will certainly customize your tour for you. We have used him twice. Last year we did one of his rainforest tours and because we had never been to PR, we let him decide where to go. 2 weeks ago we did his Mango Daiquiri tour but we wanted to go back to a certain gift shop that he had taken us to last year. The gift shop closes at 6, he made arrangements to call them and they would stay open if we were later than that (we made it at 5:45) He also went out of the way to show us something he knew we would like on the way back to our room.

I can't quote prices because it varies by tour. Send him an email. He will work with you and go out of his way to give you a great tour.

fleisherellis@aol.com

Here is the taxi rate chart

http://cabspr.com/

I don't think any of the hotels in SJ offer shuttle service. We booked a room at the Borinquin Beach Inn which is just across the road from Charlie Rental Car. Our flight got in at 1am and we needed a cheap, place close to the airport to crash till morning. The room was surprisingly large and the beds were very comfortable. I would stay at this hotel again.

why not post on the ports of call forum?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

here is the link to the taxi fare chart:

http://www.cabspr.com/

Thank you for getting back with me on my question.

 

Thank you for getting back with me. Are any of these beaches that you listed FREE, or do you know what it would cost to be on one of them?

 

If we took a Taxi, do you have any idea what the charge pp is?

I believe the beaches are all free. Here is a link to the taxi fare chart

http://www.cabspr.com/

Hi, has anyone tried this phentermine supplement http://www.fatburnsupplement.net ?

You do realize this thread is 2 years old?

Contact Ellis, we have used him twice and I can't say enough good things about him. He will personalize your tour to do what you want and he will go out of his way to give you a good tour.

http://puertorico.en.craigslist.org/trv/4863838615.html

I hate the tipping paradigm in general, and wish everyone would be given an appropriate, living wage at the start. It seems to me it has gotten worse over the years rather than better. I am talking about tipping in general; not tipping on cruises. Years ago (ok, maybe I am dating myself, but it was not THAT long ago), a tip of 15% was considered the standard. Except sometimes for large parties, tips were never automatically added to the bill. If a waiter/waitress was exceptional of course you gave more. If I had counter service I was not expected to tip as I was the one going up and getting the food or drink myself.

 

These days, 18-20% is the norm, and automatic tips are not uncommon for parties as small as six. Practically every counter service area I go to has a tip jar out, from Starbucks, to the local gyros joint I frequent. Really?!?! Somehow back when I worked those counters we never even considered getting a tip for working at Kentucky Fried Chicken!

 

Got that off my chest, so back to cruising. I am not happy about having Celebrity add an 18% surcharge automatically to my bill instead of 15%. I was not happy with them adding 15%. I am old school - to me a tip is supposed to be OPTIONAL. If it is not optional it is not a tip, it is a part of the cost that is being used to partially pay for a salary. If it is not optional, let's just include it in the price and the cruise line can allocate it as they see fit. Let's stop pretending, and just call it what it is - part of the price.

 

And before the flames begin, of course I believe the crew deserves to make a decent salary for their hard work, of course I will often tip more for exceptional service, and of course while it is the paradigm I will go along with it so as not to cheat anyone. I just would rather the paradigm change, and I don't like Celebrity deciding 15% isn't good enough anymore. That is a decision I prefer to make on my own for this 'optional' charge.

Yes, yes, and yes. I remember my dad leaving his pocket change on the table and that was an acceptable tip. Not sure when it became my responsibility to pay others' wages.

After the thread about the dogs, I thought you might enjoy this:

http://news.yahoo.com/kangaroo-mcdonalds-wisconsin-police-report-170025061.html?bcmt=1423144694036-b8925bf0-a6fa-4c8d-9e30-296ff2520700

We just booked with him for his El Yunque tour... Hope it turns out well!!

I really don't think you can go wrong. He will go out of his way to give you a good tour. When are you going?

Can you tell me if you are able to do this excursion with him if you are only in port from 7-3:30 or 7-2pm? It doesn't seem like a lot of time in port so I'm wondering if the rain forest and swim can even be done in that amount of time. (4-5 hours tops if that). I have heard that the rain forest is quite a drive from the port area.

 

Anyone know "around" what price ranges these rain forest tours cost? :confused: Just to give me an "idea" of what we are looking at.

The Only thing I can suggest is to email Ellis

Fleisherellis@aol.com

Do you have any pics from the hot springs? I'm glad you had fun. We are booked for June.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

That's the one place I didn't take any pics. Not sure if my daughter has any

Did you get back from the Mango Daiquiri tour? We have booked it for June. Just wondering if you enjoyed it or have any pictures! Thanks

The mango daiquiri tour was wonderful. We stopped at the hot springs, Guavate was an experience all by itself (we stopped for the pork-that is where they roast the whole hog) all in all a totally enjoyable day and would do it all over again

Check out tours with Ellis. He is on Facebook and also on Craigslist. We have done 2 tours with him and he is wonderful.

http://puertorico.en.craigslist.org/trv/4849274193.html

Only 78, I say only cause I've been watching my countdown clock since well over 500

687!! YIKES!! However, I do leave in the morning to spend a week in Puerto Rico with my daughter :D

saw this on the trip advisor forum:

"

I just called Verizon to confirm this since I am traveling to Puerto Rico tomorrow. I was told that calls, texts, data should all work for all US-based phones. However, they did say that there is some service called "International Dialing Allowance". For some reason, some phones need this turned on to work from Puerto Rico, but I was assured there would be no extra charges for calls, texts, or data. One extra charge possible is if texting pictures or video.

I was told tha service is sketchy in some areas.

Also, if you have a smart phone, they suggest a power cycle (turn off and back on) the night before you go and possibly when you arrive.

If you don't have a smart phone, you should call *228 and choose option 2 to reset the phone so it chooses the best towers. And do the same when you get back."

also this dated just this week:

"

**UPDATE**

Just got off the phone with Verizon Global Support. On my Samsung Galaxy S5, they had me go into SETTINGS->MORE NETWORKS->MOBILE NETWORKS->GLOBAL DATA ROAMING ACCESS, and select "ALLOW ACCESS FOR ALL TRIPS". Now, so far, I am able to send picture messages, but it takes a few minutes for it to send."

saw this on the trip advisor forums:

I just called Verizon to confirm this since I am traveling to Puerto Rico tomorrow. I was told that calls, texts, data should all work for all US-based phones. However, they did say that there is some service called "International Dialing Allowance". For some reason, some phones need this turned on to work from Puerto Rico, but I was assured there would be no extra charges for calls, texts, or data. One extra charge possible is if texting pictures or video.

I was told tha service is sketchy in some areas.

Also, if you have a smart phone, they suggest a power cycle (turn off and back on) the night before you go and possibly when you arrive.

If you don't have a smart phone, you should call *228 and choose option 2 to reset the phone so it chooses the best towers. And do the same when you get back."

We asked a cab driver for recommendations and he took us to Millers by the Sea. It was really nice. There was a great little beach and nobody else there.

try posting on the Celebrity forum;

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28