Rain Forest In P.R

[pamssanity]

The description of the trip to the rain forest in San Juan says its an hour and a half bus ride- has anyone taken it? Can you tell me about the bus-- size , a/c , will my 6'3" boyfriend be comfortable or should I leave him on the ship-- what is a good thing to do in San Juan--and not shopping. Thanks..

1/5/:cool: 06 Infinity!!!!

[JUST ADD WATER]

When we went it was a "regular" tour bus.....like a Grayhound bus. If you want more leg room go to the VERY back....it is by the restroom (which was really clean), but it had more room.

 

It does take about that long to get there, but it is fun to see the little towns as you go....they usually stop at least once for a "potty" and stretch.

 

We LOVED this tour, if you can go I would.

 

Have fun!

[trcori]

and what other interests you have (I'm not much of a shopper either) ... we hired a private tour guide to drive the three of us to the Arecibo radiotelescope and its visitor center, about an hour and a half west of San Juan. It actually turned out to be a drive we probably could have easily made ourselves in a rental car -- freeway most of the way. Anyway, geeks that we are, it was the highlight of our cruise -- TR

[pamssanity]

When we went it was a "regular" tour bus.....like a Grayhound bus. If you want more leg room go to the VERY back....it is by the restroom (which was really clean), but it had more room.

 

It does take about that long to get there, but it is fun to see the little towns as you go....they usually stop at least once for a "potty" and stretch.

 

We LOVED this tour, if you can go I would.

 

Have fun!

 

Thanks for your input-- just one other quick question-- did you book through Celebrity or privately--thanks.

[Galaxy2004]

I have a slightly different view of this tour. Last March, we signed up through Celebrity for the El Yunque Rain Forest tour ($30 pp) because we had a late flight back home after a wonderful cruise and wanted an easy way to take care of the luggage before the flight. Plus, I love nature and really wanted to see the rain forest. Here's an excerpt from my review at that time:

 

We rode for about 1 hour then stopped at a gift shop for a refreshment and bathroom break then headed on to the park. Air conditioning was off during ascent and it got very warm inside the bus. We stopped for a few minutes to take pictures at La Coca waterfall, then stopped for about 20 minutes for a walk to a pool area and along a short walking trail. The final stop was at Yokahu Tower, which offers a nice view at the top of 98 steps. When dropped at the airport, our luggage was waiting for us in an area just outside the American Airlines entry. Overall, this was a nice tour; however, it was a full 5 hour tour with almost 4 hours of that riding on the bus through bumpy, rough roads. Last year we opted to leave our luggage at a little jewelry store in town that the ship recommended and walk through the downtown area. Next time that is what we will do.

 

NOW: Note that the luggage issue may be resolved with the luggage valet service. We remember this as a LOT of riding in a bus that got very warm at times with only a few opportunities to get some nice pictures. Not something we would do again.

[pamssanity]

Thanks --think we will look for a nice beach and practive relaxing--

[JUST ADD WATER]

We booked through Celebrity....It really is a personnal opinion when it comes to tours...while some do not like the long ride, like Rupert, we love it because we look out the windows and see the world go by....neither version is right or wrong, just different folks like different things :) .

 

I agree with Rupert that once you get to the forest, the places they take you are cool and have good views and places to take photos. I liked the falls the best.

 

We have been on this tour twice....once not long after a hurricaine (don't ask me which one, but it was in 1995) and once when all was "normal".....the difference was astounding....our first trip the trees were very bare looking and hardly any birds...next trip was like the Amazon jungle...

 

Have fun no matter what you decide. Rene

[vincent]

We stayed in San Juan for 2 days before our cruise, and had a wonderful time walking around Old San Juan, visiting El Morrothe large fort where the National Park Service gives excellent tours, the cemetery outside the fort to the right which has fascinating monuments,and the very interestingPonce De Leon's house (the entrance to which is rather hidden). There is a smallish sign at the gate to go in, but you can't see the house from the gate. Nice little park with fountains in back of the house. There are free trolleys that run arond the Old San Juan area.

We went on the El Yumque tour which we enjoyed very much. However we felt we would have liked to spend much more time visiting the Visitor's Ceneter, etc.

[danblinn]

We did the same tour Rupert described after disembarking, thinking that it was the most convenient and interesting way to spend time before our late afternoon flight home. A long, long bus ride, and the driver babbled inanely about the various Walmarts and other chain stores the entire trip out. He was more quiet about it on the way back. We would not do that again.

 

The rainforest is beautiful. On a later cruise that included our parents and our children, the ship made a port call in San Juan. We had booked a private tour. Our guide drove us to the fort and then out to the rainforest. We were able to stop by the visitor's center (which the excursion tour skipped) and spend some more time at more interesting spots - - and do the longer hike to a waterfall. That was a much, much better day.