Dawn Shore Ex ?? Bacardi Distilary

[S&B Canada]

Hey everyone, going to be on the Dawn 4-16 est. carb. and was wondering if anyone has taken the Bicardi tour in San Juan in the past and was it worth it.... what type of things did you see, do , taste test's special offers to make a puchase things like that ? Thank's !:)

 

Cheers !

[Baitman19]

Hey everyone, going to be on the Dawn 4-16 est. carb. and was wondering if anyone has taken the Bacardi tour in San Juan in the past and was it worth it.... what type of things did you see, do , taste test's special offers to make a purchase things like that ? Thank's !:)

 

Cheers !

We took the tour in December 2005. I think it was $29.00. You go by bus to the Bacardi Distillery, There's a reception area where you get to sample the products (try the Mojito) while waiting for your tour to be called. You then take a short ride to the theater where you see a film on the history of the Bacardi family. After the film, you get a short tour of the Bacardi museum. You don't really visit the actual distillery.

 

There were many tours that day and we had to wait for awhile. They were doing a Fire Drill that day also. That took up 1/2 an hour. They kept handing out free drink coupons to keep us happy. We ended up with a lot of free drinks. There's a gift shop and store at the end of the tour. You can buy 12 year old Bacardi Gold. It's only sold at the store.

 

Remember the tour is at 10AM in the morning. You may need a nap after the tour.

 

I guess it was worth it for all the drinks we got and I now know why the Bacardi symbol is a bat.

 

Have a great cruise:)

 

Happy Sailing,

Monty

[stevethomas]

We went on one of the Bacardi tours on our February cruise on the Dawn. We found it very disappointing. We thought we would actually tour the manufacuring plant. It was primarily audio visual, with a visit to a room where they showed the process and history in sort of a museum setting. They brought us into a bar setup and a guy covered a few rum reicpes(no samples) You did get two coupons for drinks on your arrival, we had pinapple juice with Barcardi coconut, very tasty.

We then went on a bit of a rolling tour of San Juan and then went to the fort, then back to the pier. The guide was a character, never finished a story, I think he knocked back a few Mojitos at Barcardi.

Should have slept in this day.

Barcardi was cheaper at the duty free store at the pier.:)

[Cosmopolitan]

We didn't do the tour but...

on embarking the ship in San Juan, there were free drinks (many) offered..and a duty free liquor shop.

 

We had vacationed in San Juan previously so we just walked around at the port.

 

Some great stands set up on the streets by locals.

GREAT prices on novelty earrings/necklaces.

 

Also, we had visited the "fort" on our previous vacation to PR.

We thought NOT worth the long walk up to the fort.

You will have great views of the fort as you arrive/depart from PR.

[Momof2kids]

I went on the Bacardi Facility tour a few years back when I was on an RCL cruise. It was terrible. :mad: The Bacardi Facility is a bit of a drive from the pier and our bus took us through some awful slums to get there. Our bus lacked proper A/C and it was HOT!

 

The tour, as some others mentioned was primarily a movie and I think we got to peek through a window to see rum being put in the bottles. No neat views of the the fermentation process or anything of interest really.

 

I took issue with the Bacardi tour guide who described the former workers as "happy workers who worked in exchange for their room and board" (we call that slavery where I come from).

 

Before we left, each person was able to have a couple of drinks of straight Bacardi rum (outside), which wasn't my drink of choice in the middle of a hot day.

 

Everyone I know who has gone on the Bacardi tour has been disappointed.

[like2cruise]

The tour isn't as extensive as it use to be, still soemwhat fun and entertaining...but do not pay $29.00. Use the locals waterbus (depending on which pier you dock at) and you can get there for less than $5.00 a person and it is a free tour.