El Morro Fortress

[momthecruisedirector]

I am a planner too. This year I am trying something different (which has put the family into a tizzy): I put all the port city names into a hat and the land cities into a hat and everyone had to draw one out of each. Whichever cities they pulled they have to plan - transportation, fees, activity, food, etc. I wish I would have done this while our oldest was still at home and traveling with us but it's been fun to watch husband and 16 yo son panic about the responsibility of planning a day. We have decided that everyone has to do a presentation and the others have a right to veto (or come up with suggestions) - like if someone wants to bungee jump or something, I get to VETO!!! We've been to the library and bookstore (will get the suggested frommer's ports of call book this weekend) and visited a lot of websites. Our cruise isn't until July but planning is a lot of the fun. It's been a good lesson for me too, giving up control on planning and I can't wait to see what they come up with.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I have the Frommer's book and I agree, I love it! However, I still think the BEST advice on what to do & why is right here on these boards! :D

 

Now, I have a couple of questions. We will be there in April, but we don't arrive until 2 PM and the ship leaves at 6. Not much time. Also, we will have my mother (76) and MIL (83) with us. They are both in good shape for their age, but excessive walking is out. I hope we can see the highlights of OSJ. I thought maybe we could take a cab to El Morro and then take a cab back to see The Butterfly People. I don't know where we will be docking yet. Does this plan sound workable in our time frame? Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks! :)

[texancruzer]

North Carolina Cruiser: Just so you know, I have seen the walking tour online and it is not as detailed or comprehensive as the one in the book......and I like cheap too.... but also like complete.

 

Momthecruisedirector: You sound like a neat Mom. I don't know what would have happened had I tried that when my kids were still at home :eek:

 

SunnyAZgirl: I too have found valuable info here on these boards. But I wouldnt give my Frommers back for anything. I have found that some posts say one thing and others say something totally different. Sometimes I think that people just forget or get confused and then some things just change from year to year.

HMM - plane arrives at 2:00? 30 minutes to get luggage and cab. 30 minutes into osj- that puts you at 3:00. Ship leaves at 6:00 so need to really be on by 5:00 = 2 extra hours. Mighty tight. You may want to pick one or the other or maybe just squeeze em in :D El Morro is a 1/4 mile walk from the street and lots of walking once there with many many steps. Good luck.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

HMM - plane arrives at 2:00? 30 minutes to get luggage and cab. 30 minutes into osj- that puts you at 3:00. Ship leaves at 6:00 so need to really be on by 5:00 = 2 extra hours. Mighty tight. You may want to pick one or the other or maybe just squeeze em in :D El Morro is a 1/4 mile walk from the street and lots of walking once there with many many steps. Good luck.

 

I'm sorry I wasn't clear. Our ship leaves from Fort Lauderdale on Sunday & arrives in San Juan at 2 PM and then leaves at what I thought was 6 PM. It's a port for us, not an embarkment. Those were the times listed when we booked. However, I just saw on the RCI excursions list for us that we are now suppose to leave at 8 PM. So, 2 extra hours! We have 6 whole hours in port. So, will we have time for El Morro plus some time for OSJ? Thanks bunches!

[texancruzer]

SunnyAZgirl: Sorry I just assumed.... we are flying into San Juan and leaving from there so I guess I am just in "that mode" of thinking..... you never said you were arriving by plane. :o Glad you have some extra time in San Juan. We decided that we wanted to try and see as much as we can so planned 2 night pre-cruise at hotel in Old San Juan. Will do walking tour and rainforest hike as well as hit some salsa clubs on Friday night. Can't wait !!

 

PS You know about the free trolleys right? Hop on Hop off...might be good for Mom & MIL.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Free Trollys....Hmmmm.......That would be a good idea. Guess I'll have to check that out!

 

We were booked on a cruise last year that we had to cancel. That cruise was going to start in San Juan like yours & I was going to do the same thing. What we liked about this cruise, though is that we are able to do round-trip from FLL - saves us big $$$$$$ on airfare. It's an 8 day cruise with 2 sea days (more relaxing) & we still stop at 5 ports. The only drawback is the short stop in San Juan. I wanted to really explore OSJ, too. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to book another cruise! :D

[momthecruisedirector]

Thanks Texancruzer - we'll see how the experiment goes! We went to the library this weekend and checked out an armload of videos about the Eastern Caribbean, Bermuda and New York - now if we can just find time to watch them all. I think planning this vacation will get us through the rain and gray skies of Seattle this fall and winter.

[andresnlt98]

http://search.itc.nps.gov/search?q=Puerto+Rico&numgm=5&site=www_nps_gov&client=www_nps_gov&proxystylesheet=www_nps_gov&output=xml_no_dtd&as_sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nps.gov%2Fsaju&x=10&y=11

[Ocean Boy]

The cheap way is to go to any search engine and type in frommers then go to whatever port you wish and print the walking tour of old San Juan or whatever else you want.....yes I like free!:)

The thing is there is SO much awsome information in the book that it is worth every penny that you spend for it. The book is great for spending an evening in an easy chair planning. It isn't like spending money to buy a CD that has only two songs that you like and a lot of garbage filler in between.

[Sheffie]

The only drawback is the short stop in San Juan. I wanted to really explore OSJ, too. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to book another cruise! :D

 

I think that the 6 hours you have there will be fine for exploring OSJ. Just take a taxi up to the fort and walk your way back down to the ship. You don't have to take the complete tour of the fort if you don't want to walk up and down the battlements, and it is still impressive from the outside.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Just take a taxi up to the fort and walk your way back down to the ship.

 

A friend just told me that the taxi's can't take you directly to the fort and that it is a good half mile walk up to the fort & then another half mile back down on a grassy hill. I'm afraid our moms won't be able to do that! What was your impression of the walk from the taxi drop-off?

 

Thanks!:)

[Sheffie]

A friend just told me that the taxi's can't take you directly to the fort and that it is a good half mile walk up to the fort & then another half mile back down on a grassy hill. I'm afraid our moms won't be able to do that! What was your impression of the walk from the taxi drop-off?

 

Thanks!:)

 

Ginny, Here is a link to an aerial view of OSJ. The place where it ways El Morro is the long walk up to the fort. Sorry, forgot you said they couldn't walk a long way. At the other fort, Cristobal, a taxi could drive you right up to the entry. Maybe you could take a taxi to El Morro just to look around, and then taxi to the other fort. The walk from there would be all downhill, too, and not very far.

 

http://www.langland.org/cruises/sanjuan.asp

[VikkiGarcia]

We just got back from San Juan. We were in port 2-8 ( I think). When we exited the ship we got a cab to take us to the entrance of El Morro. It cost $6 for the cab. It saved us at least 45 min (and an uphill walk). We spent an hour at the fort. We walked back (downhill) through the city. We bought ice cream from the streetcart right outside the fort. 4 ice creams and a gatorade $5. A cheap great outing in old San Juan. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

[Lovely_Star]

I am beginning to sound like a broken record - if you have read any of my other posts - you will know what I am talking about : but here goes,

 

GO TO YOUR BOOKSTORE AND BUY FROMMERS "CARIBBEAN PORTS OF CALL"

Make sure and get the 5th edition (latest printing) for $16.99. It is well worth the investment. Why?

 

It has so much information on all the caribbean ports....

 

What to do (inc. cost and times things are open)It has an awesome walking tour of old san juan/forts all detailed out for you...where to start, turn left turn right etc... and each thing to visit with times/costs - cant go wrong !

best ship tours

best own your own tours

how to get around (costs of taxis buses and advice on renting/not renting a car)

restaurants

shopping

beaches

a little history thrown in

where NOT to go (bad areas)

 

and much more... Wish I had bought it before my first cruise.

I keep going back to it for info even tho I have all my island excursions figured out for our cruise in Nov. Each port we will be visiting is earmarked 1,2,3 etc for easy reference.

 

Thanks for the recommendation, I purchased the 2006 6th edition of this book for only $5!

[rainforestgirl]

Thanks for the recommendation, I purchased the 2006 6th edition of this book for only $5!

Wow, that was an old post!

 

I am sure that Frommer's will have lots of great ideas, but from 2006, you might want to double check the info. Things in the tourist industry changes pretty quickly. Lots of new things to do!

 

Check my travel blog for PR to check current hours of operations/things to do etc.

http://www.Puertoricodaytrips.com

[Stacey779]

Frommers' guides are great, but we always just check them out from the library. That way it's free and we always have the latest edition for whatever trip we're on. :D

[Crusin Karen]

Oh, I would LOVE to see the cemetary. Is it easily visible or do you have to go "hunting" for it? :rolleyes:

[rainforestgirl]

As you look at El Morro from the lawn, the old cemetery is to the right. You can get there by walking down the little road on the right (be careful, the occasional car does use it).

We went in ( my SIL loves old cemeteries). It is very pretty. Some of the monuments are works of art. Parts of it are in disrepair (the mausoleums were being reconstructed) and some graves show vandalism.

Just as an FYI- It is at the end of La Perla (the poor neighborhood). We had no problem and nobody (alive!) was around to bother us.

[Coqui2007]

Here is a short post about the San Juan Cemetery

 

You can get some great views from El Morro also

[cruisedawgg]

I agree! We loved seeing all the families out for the day with their kites. The view was breathtaking! Not to be missed.

 

Reminded me of the Kite Runner !

[cruisedawgg]

Reminded me of the Kite Runner !

 

Forgot the pics!

[suzski]

Attached are a photo of the gate of El Morro and the view from El Morro looking towards the cemetery. It's really quite beautiful.

[Crusin Karen]

Thanks for all the info and the pictures of the cemetary. That's a definite on our list!

[Coqui2007]

Hi

 

The forts cost $3 per person for admission.

 

Some of the museums charge but it is not much

 

Check out this Puerto Rico Travel map just zoom in and out to see attractions and links to articles

 

also if you want to walk around here is a walking tour of Old San Juan

 

Hope that helps

[Crusin Karen]

One more question. We are thinking of doing the Segway tour, and then after that going to see the fort. I would imagine it might be closed by then, but are you still able to wander the grounds? Can I still go to the cemetary or is the whole area gated and latched. :confused: Thanks.