And we just booked a cruise!

[AndreAggie]

It's our 4th Disney cruise, but our first time sailing out of San Juan. For those that have sailed from San Juan, are there airport or hotel transfers? Where do you stay? We are Holiday Inn fans (hubs travels a lot for work and we have a ton of points). We'll fly in the day before, so suggestions on what to do are also appreciated!

 

[cedricandsophie]

When we were there two years ago we stayed at Embassy suites so I don’t know anything about holiday inn. We got there two days ahead. Took cab to hotel. First day spent at pool and then took cab to old town for dinner and walked around. Cab back to hotel. Second day we walked a block to a car rental and rented car for 50 for the day. Drove to national park, hiked to a great waterfall and drove around the island a bit. Dropped off car late afternoon. The next morning we took cab to pier. We had five people with luggage so we needed a Minivan. I think the cost of the ride was about 60.

If you only have a day I would explore old town. It’s hard to know how the island has been affected by the hurricane though.

We have done another cruise that stopped in PR. We just got off on our own and walked around in old town. The ship usually ports close to town.

 

[IrishEye]

When are you going ? Embassy Suites is booked by FEMA through March so not taking reservations. I don't believe the ship docks in Old San Juan anymore, now using the main port. If only spending the remainder of a day after arriving, Old San Juan is a good choice, also walk out to the fort.

 

[mmouse37]

For the January 21 cruisers heads up that there is a festival in Old San Juan (4 days) and reports from years past are that all the streets close down and it is very hard to get to hotels within Old San Juan. Here is a link about this years San Sebastian

https://www.everfest.com/e/fiestas-de-la-calle-san-sebastian-san-juan-puerto-rico

We just recently booked (end of December) the January 28th cruise out of San Juan. I left San Juan on a cruise about 30 years ago and have had San Juan as a port stop on a few cruises. Was hesitant about booking it because of the devastation but everything I have read about San Juan is that things are pretty much back to normal for the most part and looking for/needing the tourist dollars.

We are staying at the AC Marriott Condado for our pre night.

MJ

 

[bumbershoot]

When is the cruise? If it’s close, check the San Juan section of the ports of call forum on the cruisecritic message boards to check for hotels. Not all of them are open yet to non-fema workers.

It’s not a holiday inn, but I would stay at El Convento or the OSJ Sheraton if staying in OSJ.

Taxis are on a zone basis (plus $1 per bag) so you know the cost from airport to hotel, or hotel to pier (most likely panamerican Pier for your cruise, which is not the osj pier) before you get in the taxi.

 

[AndreAggie]

We embark on February 3, 2019. So hopefully things will be somewhat back to normal by that time. Still have 13 months until we set sail.

 

[AquaDame]

We embark on February 3, 2019. So hopefully things will be somewhat back to normal by that time. Still have 13 months until we set sail.

I should hope you'd have your pick of hotels by then!

We've done two southerns from San Juan and are doing our third on 1/28 as well. The first trip we stayed at the Embassy Suites near the airport and the second time we just stayed at the airport hotel. You really don't have a lot of time if you are only staying one night anyway, and while the hotel is pretty bare bones it met our needs just fine and was clean. It was super convenient for us to rent a car from the airport that day, drive around and then when we returned to the airport we dropped the car back off so we didn't have to pay to park it. In the morning walked out the hotel doors right to the taxi stand at the airport and were on our way!

This time we decided to stay in Old San Juan so we're trying a boutique hotel and not getting a car at all - we'll just walk to a restaurant for dinner and get a taxi in the morning again.

For things to do - if you have a lot of time you can go see the rainforest if not hang out at the beach, or go to the two fortresses (San Cristobal and Felipe del Morro) which are in the old part of san juan. We've also gone to the Bacardi visitor center which was a good waste of a couple hours.

 

[Heard02]

We stayed at Caribe Hilton last spring.
We used Uber from hotel to port....it was approx $20....so much easier and less crowded than a transfer service.

 

[mmouse37]

When is the cruise? If it’s close, check the San Juan section of the ports of call forum on the cruisecritic message boards to check for hotels. Not all of them are open yet to non-fema workers.

It’s not a holiday inn, but I would stay at El Convento or the OSJ Sheraton if staying in OSJ.

Taxis are on a zone basis (plus $1 per bag) so you know the cost from airport to hotel, or hotel to pier (most likely panamerican Pier for your cruise, which is not the osj pier) before you get in the taxi.

I looked up the San Juan taxi calculator and figured our cost should be about 20 bucks from airport to hotel for 4 people. I figured in the $1 fee for originating at airport and the $1 per bag for luggage. Nice to have an idea before we get there

MJ

 

[karaeric96]

For those of you who have cruised out of this port before, what time does the port open up for arriving guests to start checking in?