Old & New San Juan City Tour

[JIA2000]

Hello. We will be visiting San Juan on September 27 via Royal Caribbean. I am thinking of taking the shore excursion "Old & New San Juan City Tour" offered through the cruise line's Web site. I have seen mixed opinions about San Juan shore excursions in these forums. Some say you should do a self guided walking tour. Others say an organized tour is worth the money. What do you think? My concern is that I've read when ships are in port (my ship is Harmony of the Seas, the largest in the world, and I don't know what other ships will be docked) that the trolleys are very crowded. I also want to see as much as I can. I've never been to San Juan so perhaps the tour will show me more than I can see on my own since I won't know where I am going.

 

One more question. The tour description says you can remain at Old San Juan for shopping at the end of your tour or elect to return the ship. It says it's a five minute taxi ride. I don't know how scrupulous taxi drivers are there. How far a walk is it from the shopping district to the port? My biggest fear is missing the ship.

 

Thanks,

Justin

[maryjaden]

We sailed from San Juan and stayed there for a few days prior to our Liberty cruise last year. We booked this tour at the end of the cruise with an airport drop off through Royal. I was not impressed. We didn't go to the forts prior to the cruise because we had this tour scheduled at the end.

 

We only had about 20 minutes at each fort, which is really not enough time to hardly walk through part of them. The tour was very rushed and then it turned out there was a parade (which we couldn't see) in old San Juan, so we ended up in traffic so we missed a few stops. Then had to rush to get to the airport. We also had a very bad tour guide (he almost left people at the forts both stops). My thought was if you are going to give a tour of old San Juan, they should have known about the parade.

 

On the other hand, we found local taxis to be very good while we were there prior to the cruise. We used them several times. My suggestion would be to do some research and get a cab or a tour on your own. We did a tour to the jungle one day (4 of us). We hired Ellis tours for $70 pp. The tour was 5-6 hours, customized to what we wanted to see and do. It was great. I would think they would do a similar tour around old and new San Juan. I am sure there are other reputable companies as well.

 

I would also not recommend walking back to ship. Get a taxi. Have a great time on the Harmony. We are sailing on her in August and really looking forward to it.

[alfaeric]

If you can walk- the distance from the shopping area to where the ship will port is a very short walk. It would take us just barely more time than a taxi in good traffic. If the traffic is bad, we'd beat the car by a long way.

 

For sure, the ship will dock in the Old San Juan area- the Panamarican Pier is for starting and ending cruises.

 

When you look at a map of Old San Juan, look at the distance measure- the area is pretty small.

 

But that only helps if walking is a good option.

[Riveyman]

Heading to San Juan on a cruise in July. From what I've found it's better to just do a self guided tour of Old San Juan.

I found a self guided tour route that someone put together that gives a good route to hit all the main areas of interest. And added a pdf with info on each. This way I can skip what I'm not interested in and go at my own pace. I'll have to see if I can find it. Pretty sure it was put together by San Juan tourism.

[Turtles06]

Heading to San Juan on a cruise in July. From what I've found it's better to just do a self guided tour of Old San Juan.

I found a self guided tour route that someone put together that gives a good route to hit all the main areas of interest. And added a pdf with info on each. This way I can skip what I'm not interested in and go at my own pace. I'll have to see if I can find it. Pretty sure it was put together by San Juan tourism.

 

We found the walking tour maps at this web site to be very helpful.

 

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/old-san-juan-walking-tour-1/

 

And there's plenty of other free info about Old San Juan on the internet as well.

 

As others have said, assuming no mobility issues, OSJ is very do-able on your own. The ship docks right at the foot of town. It's a beautiful walk to get to El Morro (the fort that is farthest from the ship). You can walk outside the city walls, then enter the old city through a gate. Along the way, other things to see. You can then walk over to the other fort, etc. Have a fabulous mofongo lunch at any number of places, and a piña colada at Barrachina's where they were invented.

 

Old San Juan is a very compact area. Just be sure to have a hat, sunscreen, and water; it's hot!

[Riveyman]

Yes! That's the one .

Thanks for sharing the link.

 

We found the walking tour maps at this web site to be very helpful.

 

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/old-san-juan-walking-tour-1/

 

And there's plenty of other free info about Old San Juan on the internet as well.

 

As others have said, assuming no mobility issues, OSJ is very do-able on your own. The ship docks right at the foot of town. It's a beautiful walk to get to El Morro (the fort that is farthest from the ship). You can walk outside the city walls, then enter the old city through a gate. Along the way, other things to see. You can then walk over to the other fort, etc. Have a fabulous mofongo lunch at any number of places, and a piña colada at Barrachina's where they were invented.

 

Old San Juan is a very compact area. Just be sure to have a hat, sunscreen, and water; it's hot!