El Yunque and Luquillo Beach on embarkation day?

[rjmig88]

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!

[Viv0828]

One option would be to rent a car, load up your luggage and do it yourself.

 

 

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[tatt2ed]

You can drop your luggage off at the pier and then go about your day.

[rjmig88]

How early can you drop off your luggage at the pier?

[slidergirl]

What are you doing your two days prior to boarding? It makes more sense to use one of those days to drive all the way up to El Yunque, take your time exploring, drive down to Luquillo, relax, hit the food kiosks, then drive back to San Juan. To try to do this on your boarding day is going to be too much - it'll seem more like a ship's excursion where you do not have time to do anything but snap a photo and get back on the bus... It takes about an hour to reach El Yunque, then more time to go through it, stop at the waterfalls, visit the Visitors Center. Then, about 20-30 minutes to get to Luquillo. Back to San Juan from Luquillo is about another hour. To try to do that AND be onboard the ship at 4:30pm is not what I would call fun and relaxing...

[rjmig88]

I'm wishing I had more time to explore San Juan. Friday I get in at 10 am from an overnight flight from the west coast so my plans were probably napping on a nice beach. I don't want to risk driving tired because of that. Saturday I'm doing a full day snorkel from 8 am to 5pm to Flamenco Beach in Culebra. I suppose I could do a rental car but it seems like a huge hassle and I only need it on Sunday. But then I guess it gives me time in my own hands to go visit both locations. Where would you suggest picking it up? At the airport?

[rjmig88]

We're doing a rental car. A full size through Alamo was $60 for the 3 days after tax which is significantly cheaper than the $70-$90 per person we were looking at for a tour. It will give us time to explore and not feel pressured about making it to the ship on time and we won't beholden to any other tourists on it. Thanks for the suggestion!

[pdc2013]

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.

[ozarkmama]

We used Ellis pre cruise for a tour. He picked us up with our luggage. We went to El Yunque and then Luquillo for lunch at the kiosks. You will have plenty of time.