San Juan Help

We are going on a cruise ouit of San Juan PR in February. I know it is a long way off but I am just thinking about it & trying to figure things out. Our cruise leaves on Sunday night at 10pm and returns to San Juan the following Sunday at 7am.

I'm not sure if we should fly down on the Saturday & stay in a hotel & if so what is a good one?

What is there to do in San Juan for a day & a half?

probably wont stay over after the cruise but not totally ruled out.

What airlines fly there? Flights from what airports? JFK? LaGuardia by chance?

Re: San Juan Help

My parents just went last month and LOVED it. Are you doing a Princess Cruise by any chance?? That is the one they took and they said it was FAB - they came home and immediately booked another Princess Cruise to Canada and the Northeast for this August!

Anywho, they flew out of JFK on a non-stop flight. They said it was great and they flew American. But, my friend's parents have gone there before and fly Jet Blue a lot - they always get great rates... My parents chose American b/c it happened to be cheapest at the time they booked but I would suggest going to one of those cheap airline tix sights and just comparing what prices they give with Jet Blue (you can get their rates on their website). The flight wasn't that long - just a little longer than going to Florida and they said they were blown away by PR and now nice it was. My parents had never been and they raved about how beautiful it was.

They went a day earlier and stayed a day later on their way back - I would suggest doing two days -- either one and one like they did or two going or two after the cruise -- but, at the very least, one day - they said there is A LOT to see - and not just beaches and stuff! They have a GREAT city tour that if you can get tix for - DO! They also have nice sights to see - churches to tour, that military baracade thing - IDK it is supposed to be famous, etc. They said - lots to see, nice places to eat, the people are super friendly - they loved it!

I got them a great hotel rate at the Four Points by Sheraton which is not right in San Juan so it was less $ - which was the bottom line for my parents! But they said it was actually a really nice hotel, clean rooms that were really great - awesome beds, nice pools and that the hotel - overall - was beautiful and really worth the money. So, you can look into the Four Points Sheraton if you want -- it is the only Four Points in PR and has a casino.

BUT - I did a little search on Trip Advisor (great site, BTW) and it came up with a nice place that was voted #1 in popularity for a hotel on PR!

Check this out!!

The reviews are awesome, the place looks great and the $ is right - I wish I would have known about this then!

And here ya go - all the listings for hotels in Puerto Rico with their ratings and reviews!!

CLICK HERE!


HTH! GL! You'll have a great time!

Re: San Juan Help

Was in San Juan for HM...we planned and stayed in San Juan for 3 days..could of done 2...I recommend getting there a day early as you never know whats going to happen with weather, flights..etc..

We stayed at the Old San Juan Marriort hotel. Great time, they messed up our booking out first but they straighten it out as soon as it started..Very busy in March. They are things to see and do and Old San Juan. I think we took a cab over to the ports (we saw the ports from our room at the hotel)

Check to see what time you can get on the boat as if you get there too early, you have a bunch of waiting to do. If you had a hotel, you would have some time and get down there..

We took Princess..on our way home, we thought we be on the boat all day disembarking but we were one of the first people off and could of took an early flight home but we couldn't switch. You may want to call and ask but if you say you have an early flight, they will get you off the boat quicker.

I recommend JetBlue for flying down...You won't have TV coverage but they give you a choose of 2-3 inflight movies...(no tv cause of international waters)

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There is an awesome zipline company there. Right outside of Old San Juan.

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We are going on Carnival. We are sailing the Southern Caribbiean stopping at a different port each day. We are getting a balcony room this time.

Thanks for all of the information!

DH & I talked a little tonight & we will probably fly down Saturday and then take an afternoon flight home then have a day off at home but we still could end up staying a day who knows!

Re: San Juan Help

We just did a S. Carribbean Cruise from San Juan in February. Our ship sailed at 11:00 pm on a Saturday night. Because it was in February, and the weather can be unpredictible, we opted to fly in Friday evening. This also gave us all day Saturday to explore Old San Juan. It was a lot less stressful that way. We also did something we never do, and purchased travel insurance, espcieaclly because we didn't book our air through the cruise line. Gave us peace of mind knowning that if we couldn't get out because of the weather, we would get our money back.

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We went last year and flew direct on JetBlue. I agree with the others... definitely go the day before and spend the day in Old San Juan. Great shopping and food!

Re: San Juan Help

I can't stress staying over saturday enough if you can afford it. I have sailed out of San Juan about 4 times - and my parents a number of other times. There are some nice hotels right on the beach - we stayed at the intercontinental - but book early as the hotels can fill up. I would fly from JFK as there are more choices in flights - so you might be a better deal.

Here is my story why I say this - you are going in February and there could be a big snow storm here that might prevent you from missing the ship. Back in I think it was 2000 or 2001 there was a huge snow storm about 2 days before New Years Eve. I was going to cruise with my family - we had a 6 am flight to San Juan the morning the cruise left - normally we leave the day before but for some reason we were unable to do so that year. Well it was only starting to flurry by the time the car service picked us up at 4 am. Then it came down so hard that there was about 1-2 inches by the time we hit the airport (30 mins away). We got onto the flight - and they swore we were probably one of the only planes to fly out that morning. Needless to say by the time they deiced the plane about 3 times - and about 3 hours later - they closed the airport and our flight never took off.

Long story short - a man with a big bag placed it behind my moms feet and she fell back and broke her wrist - after many hours later trying to get home and get my mom's wrist cast we had about 1 ft of snow. The flights were all messed up for several days and so we could not catch up with the ship (b/c of sea days, flights etc until Wednesday -when the ship sailed Sat. - so we luckily had trip insurance and we were able to rebook the trip for the spring).

We have had a few other instances in the winter with flights getting delayed or cancelled for weather - since we now fly in the day before it isn't an issue if we are delayed. But every time we cruise in winter - we always hear stories of how many people were delayed from some part of the country due to storms - or how many people missed the ship for that reason.