Departing from San Juan

[Ektor]

Hi! I've got a quick question for ya, if you don't mind. We'll be on the Adventure on January 20th, 2008 but we're flying in on the 18th, which is the weekend of the San Sebastian Street Festival. Have you ever been to that? Is it fun and crazy or what? Do you think we'll still be able to have a nice dinner or should we just go out and party in the street? :p

Thanks!

Laura

 

"Las fiestas de la calle" as they're called by the locals here, are indeed crazy...too crazy, in fact.:D During that week, Old San Juan gets insanely crowded with thousands and thousands of people, hundreds of artisans displaying and selling their work, and the booze and music never seem to stop. It's a fantastic local event to experience...the end of our christmas season. So, be prepared to walk amongst huge crowds...a suggestion? Go by day. At night, it turns into "kiddie land", with groups of teens teeming the place since its their only chance to "party" with their friends in a "mature" setting. :rolleyes:

 

EDIT: If you want to eat at a OSJ restaurant during that week, I recommend not doing so within the perimeter of the festivities...as I stated above, it gets insanely crowded up there in San Sebastián St. There are great dining venues in Fortaleza St. and Recinto Sur St. (Dragonfly, The Parrot Club, Aguaviva, Tantra and Marmalade, among others), which are near the pier and apart enough of all the hoopla of the festival.

[wolfatlga]

I have cruised out of San Juan and had no problems with "locals", in fact I highly recommend doing the Tour with airport transfer after the cruise is over. San Juan is a beautiful city and it is worth seeing as much as you can.

 

 

We were thinking of doing the same thing..I think our plane leaves around 3pm. So I thought this sounded like a fun way to spend the day. I assumed RCCL transports the luggage with you, so I wanted to make sure we had enough time to check in and go thru security..

 

Thanks..

Wolf

[rascalious]

From my signature below, you can see we have done the AOS three times . I am anxious to go again!

[PH8]

We were thinking of doing the same thing..I think our plane leaves around 3pm. So I thought this sounded like a fun way to spend the day. I assumed RCCL transports the luggage with you, so I wanted to make sure we had enough time to check in and go thru security..

 

Thanks..

Wolf

We did this tour a few years ago with RCCL and it was great.......they do transport the luggage with you.......UNLESS you do the valet luggage deal.......where you pay and the airlines will take your luggage right from the port,,

 

The cost will be $20 for the valet program. This service fee is per guest and includes up to two pieces of checked-in luggage. This service can only be purchased onboard the ship. The participating airlines include; American, Continental, Delta, and United.

[cruisindoggie]

San Jaun will always be my favorite departure port.

[Miss Vickie]

Hi! I've got a quick question for ya, if you don't mind. We'll be on the Adventure on January 20th, 2008 but we're flying in on the 18th, which is the weekend of the San Sebastian Street Festival. Have you ever been to that? Is it fun and crazy or what? Do you think we'll still be able to have a nice dinner or should we just go out and party in the street? :p

Thanks!

Laura

 

 

We were in San Juan pre-cruise during the San Sebastian Festival a couple of years ago, staying at the Milano on Forteleza, and had a great time! There are bands, and groups of dancers, and parades (as well as all the partying mentioned before). It was fun walking around, hanging out on the periphery of the party, and watching it all.

[BobofArizona]

This is in no way a cultural issue for us. We want to go in the first week of January (on the Empress), and I just realized that this will still be during the Christmas break - and lots of kids will probably be aboard, of all cultural persuasions.

 

I like kids, but don't want to be overwhelmed. I guess I'll request different vacation time, though I wish it weren't so.

[Coralc]

I don't think it is an issue on Empress. It is a smaller ship. And there are very, very few children on 11 night cruises. :D

[puertorican]

Hi! I've got a quick question for ya, if you don't mind. We'll be on the Adventure on January 20th, 2008 but we're flying in on the 18th, which is the weekend of the San Sebastian Street Festival. Have you ever been to that? Is it fun and crazy or what? Do you think we'll still be able to have a nice dinner or should we just go out and party in the street? :p

Thanks!

Laura

 

As Ektor said before, it is fun with lot of music art & crafts and lots lots lots of people, it is fun, but if you stay at old San Juan because if you stay outside OSJ, then the traffic to get into OSJ is horrible during the Fiestas, have that in mind.

 

I like kids, but don't want to be overwhelmed. I guess I'll request different vacation time, though I wish it weren't so.

 

 

Don't worry, the Empress in the route of 11days is not so popular for us, here, in that ship, they preffer the weekend routes.

[BobofArizona]

Thanks for your hopeful replies about the kids. I'm still worried, though, since this particular cruise is only 9 nights and returns the Friday before most kids return to school on Jan. 14th. I really do like kids but I just retired recently from a 30-year plus teaching carreer and need some quiet time.

[Tex_Jen]

Thanks for your hopeful replies about the kids. I'm still worried, though, since this particular cruise is only 9 nights and returns the Friday before most kids return to school on Jan. 14th. I really do like kids but I just retired recently from a 30-year plus teaching carreer and need some quiet time.

 

I certainly understand your concern. I stopped cruising during Easter week because of that issue. That being said, Empress is an older smaller ship which is not as popular with the family crowd. Those with kids prefer the Voyager/Freedom class or can be seen on Radiance class during the holiday weeks. I doubt you will be smothered with children on the Empress.

 

Jen

[BuyReallyLow]

I certainly understand your concern. I stopped cruising during Easter week because of that issue. That being said, Empress is an older smaller ship which is not as popular with the family crowd. Those with kids prefer the Voyager/Freedom class or can be seen on Radiance class during the holiday weeks. I doubt you will be smothered with children on the Empress.

 

Jen

 

Hey Jen!!

 

Did you note my post on the Serenade thread? If there are specific things you would like us to cover on our "live" post on Serenade on December 1, let me know! I like to do as much advance planning as I am able.

 

BRL

[CLQ]

Hi! I've got a quick question for ya, if you don't mind. We'll be on the Adventure on January 20th, 2008 but we're flying in on the 18th, which is the weekend of the San Sebastian Street Festival. Have you ever been to that? Is it fun and crazy or what? Do you think we'll still be able to have a nice dinner or should we just go out and party in the street? :p

Thanks!

Laura

 

Laura--Always great to see you on here. Congrats on your upcoming wedding/cruise! We've booked a place at Condado, but I'm curious from your pictures. What was your hotel in SJ? It looks great.

[KillaFee]

Laura--Always great to see you on here. Congrats on your upcoming wedding/cruise! We've booked a place at Condado, but I'm curious from your pictures. What was your hotel in SJ? It looks great.

 

Thanks! I can't wait!! Our Hotel in Condado was El Consulado and unfortunately when we tried to book it for this years pre-cruise stay we were told that they we're closing down and then remodeling/re-opening a few months later. :confused: We absolutely LOVED that Hotel and it was only $105. It was very small and unique and the staff was wonderful. I wrote a review on tripadvisor and I'm really bummed that they won't be open when we're back. Hopefully they actually will be closed though because if when we get to Condado and I find out they're still open I will be really mad!!:p So we're staying at the Comfort Inn in Condado which is the only place that we could get a decent deal for all 25 of us during the weekend of the San Sebastian Festival. I'd definitely check out the Consulado in the future though - it will be interesting to see what becomes of it.

Laura

[KillaFee]

As Ektor said before, it is fun with lot of music art & crafts and lots lots lots of people, it is fun, but if you stay at old San Juan because if you stay outside OSJ, then the traffic to get into OSJ is horrible during the Fiestas, have that in mind.

 

We were in San Juan pre-cruise during the San Sebastian Festival a couple of years ago, staying at the Milano on Forteleza, and had a great time! There are bands, and groups of dancers, and parades (as well as all the partying mentioned before). It was fun walking around, hanging out on the periphery of the party, and watching it all.

Yay!!

 

"Las fiestas de la calle" as they're called by the locals here, are indeed crazy...too crazy, in fact.:D During that week, Old San Juan gets insanely crowded with thousands and thousands of people, hundreds of artisans displaying and selling their work, and the booze and music never seem to stop. It's a fantastic local event to experience...the end of our christmas season. So, be prepared to walk amongst huge crowds...a suggestion? Go by day. At night, it turns into "kiddie land", with groups of teens teeming the place since its their only chance to "party" with their friends in a "mature" setting. :rolleyes:

 

EDIT: If you want to eat at a OSJ restaurant during that week, I recommend not doing so within the perimeter of the festivities...as I stated above, it gets insanely crowded up there in San Sebastián St. There are great dining venues in Fortaleza St. and Recinto Sur St. (Dragonfly, The Parrot Club, Aguaviva, Tantra and Marmalade, among others), which are near the pier and apart enough of all the hoopla of the festival.

 

 

Awesome! Thanks for the info! I'm staying in Condado....do they still operate the buses that go from Condado to OSJ during the Festivities for like $1.00 or no because it's too crazy? :o I know when we stayed there last year you could go from one place to the other on a bus but maybe it's different because of all the stuff going on? If they don't operate the bus, how would you recommend that we get from Condado to OSJ? Hehee I'm so excited and the fact that there's a huge festival going on when we're there is a pretty sweet bonus. It will be REALLY fun for the first time cruisers going with us to experience San Juan in all her glory. Ahhh! it's only like 10 weeks away!!! Thanks for the Restaurant recommendations also.

Laura

[Cheerysmom]

the only thing that got annoying was the announcements first in English and then in Spanish, No way around that:D ,

 

During our recent 14 night European cruise all of the announcements were in English, French and German . .. took forever! The trio in the lobby would stop playing and go get a drink . .. then come back and the announcements were STILL going on. Nobody minded .. . we were on vacation. Met wonderful people.

 

We have sailed out of SJ many many times. Love it .. never a problem with anyone. We were on vacation. ;) In fact I (and three other wild and crazy ladies) will be on AOS on the Jan 13, 2008 sailing. I can't wait .. .

[Ektor]

Awesome! Thanks for the info! I'm staying in Condado....do they still operate the buses that go from Condado to OSJ during the Festivities for like $1.00 or no because it's too crazy? :o I know when we stayed there last year you could go from one place to the other on a bus but maybe it's different because of all the stuff going on? If they don't operate the bus, how would you recommend that we get from Condado to OSJ? Hehee I'm so excited and the fact that there's a huge festival going on when we're there is a pretty sweet bonus. It will be REALLY fun for the first time cruisers going with us to experience San Juan in all her glory. Ahhh! it's only like 10 weeks away!!! Thanks for the Restaurant recommendations also.

Laura

 

From Condado, there are buses who run through Ashford Ave. regularly so you won't have a problem there. Just be sure right when you land, buy a local newspaper and/or ask in your hotel reception to confirm the bus routes...the local authorities do make some changes to the traffic flow and overall transportation going in and out of the islet of San Juan during the "fiestas". But yeah, I think going by bus is the easiest and fastest way to reach OSJ during that time...until they build the light rail, that is. : /

 

Also, if you're staying in Condado, you could try one of the newest and hottest restaurants around, Budatai, which is located right in front of the "Ventana al Mar" (above the Salvatore Ferragamo boutique). Its chef (Roberto Treviño) is one of the island's most innovative and has already experience in the "haute" cuisine business, having being executive in The Parrot Club, Aguaviva and Dragonfly in OSJ, which you should try visit too since they're sublime dining experiences. I mean, there's no way you could go wrong...San Juan is filled with incredible restaurants, that's one of the reasons I love this city so much. :D

 

PD If you want to dream a little, this might help you in your decision...

 

http://www.oofrestaurants.com (all four located in OSJ, three of them in Fortaleza St.)

 

http://www.budatai.com (in front of "La Ventana al Mar" in Condado, just steps away from where you're staying)

 

The "best" list from Frommers

 

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/sanjuan/0323020003.html

 

Happy to help,

 

Ektor

[Miss Vickie]

Thanks for the info on Trevino's new restaurant. We really enjoy Parrot Club and Aguaviva. Next time we stay in that area, we'll try that one.