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We honestly did not enjoy Carambola very much, sadly. A bit overpriced and the food didn't look very inspiring so we waited to eat when we got back to the ship. Not the nicest beach area either, lots of debris around the area and old shipping containers within view... We only found out about Shipwreck Beach Bar after the fact or we so would have wandered down there. Although the drive to Carambola was very scenic, for the beach itself we wish we had chosen Cockleshell.

Oh for sure. Everything is open and there’s air conditioning.

Just got back from St Thomas. We took a taxi to Coki beach and the snorkelling was amazing. You can feed the fish and they eat right from your hand! There were chairs / umbrellas and restaurants with good food and music. Great day.

We took taxi from pier to Coki beach and it was 9 dollars per person each way, and it stopped at Sapphire along the way. Sapphire looked very pretty. Coki was amazing, too.

Again, not ship sponsored, but definitely Coki beach on St Thomas for snorkelling, or Trunk Bay on St John (doable as a day trip from St Thomas), so look for a ship excursion to one of those two places. Just got back from Coki and it was amazing!

I've done both Herod Tours and Spencer Tours and both are comparable, though the staff with Spencer were more engaging and comical so I'd give them the edge. I'd rather reach the Pitons / Jalousie (Sugar) beach by water than by land, because the speedboats are so fun :)

Just got back from our cruise last week and we went with Spencer Tours. It was great, no issues.

We spent 5 days pre cruise last month. Honestly, I think they've done a great job with the clean up and many places are business as usual. The beach is wonderful, and is most beautiful around the Ocean Park area (easy bus ride) and we spent many hours there. Pretty much all the casinos are open. Old San Juan was very nice. We loved the Placita at night, very lively. We also had great food. Would be happy to answer any questions.

There's a taxi line up in front of Starbucks.

We were off the ship at 9 am and breezed through customs. Cabs were lined up waiting. I don't think you'll have any trouble with a 12:30 flight ;)

We took a taxi to Valley Church, and it cost us 6 dollars per person each way (group of 6). It was very relaxing, with no sellers harassing us. The water isn't clear but rather milky shades of turquoise (very pretty, but no snorkelling). The beach is made of crushed shells, and indeed there are many shells to pick up, we even found a massive conch shell further down the beach.

I don't know about ship sponsored excursions, but locals on the island recommended Long Bay to us for snorkelling.

Valley Church was recommended to us and indeed it was very beautiful, but the water is not clear (more like milky, pastel tones).

I am sorry if I misunderstood your comments, but if you go back and read what you said and how you might understand where I was coming from. I will also add, which I think you can agree, there are few ships that actually serve fresh fish. Where in Gods name would they get fresh fish on a daily basis?

From reading other posts I think it is easy to see you prefer another line. That is fine, there are so many cruise lines to choose from which is the way it should be, I just am puzzled as to why you find it necessary to tell us you only eat fresh fish and fresh cut fries. Oh well enough said on the topic, you and I will have to agree to disagree. I find the food good on NCL, as good as any other line we have cruised with the exception of HAL, you don't even seem to think the upscale restaurants are anything above mediocre. Again, I am sorry I misunderstood what you were saying. I guess it is not only what one says but how they say it that can make a difference.

"Par" is a relative term. That's all I was saying. I don't quite understand where you're coming from because you're preaching your qualifications in nutrition and your love of gourmet food and at the same time trying to glorify frozen, processed fish and chips as "above par"... which is kind of a contradiction in terms, in my opinion. Yes, on a ship, of course some ingredients are hard to come by fresh. I just don't see how their frozen commercial alternatives become "above par" just because it's all that's available... But... You are free to enjoy any dish you choose, and I am free to not enjoy it. I, too, enjoy the atmosphere at O'Sheehan's for drinks and such but it doesn't mean the food is for everyone, and I just don't see why me stating my dislike of a food should be taken personally, or why people think it appropriate to vilify me as a snob for choosing, for example, a fresh potato over a frozen, processed, reconstituted one. Preferring fresh, real food does't make me weird, and choosing to eat the foods I like doesn't make me a snob, nor does it entitle or qualify others to pass judgement on me. People are always looking for reviews on vacation food, whether here or on Tripadvisor, and we honestly all just felt that overall, the food on the Dawn was lesser in quality than the food we eat every day at home, which is annoying as I think most people expect to be treated to better food than usual on their vacation, not worse! We were six people and are sharing our experience. Are all six of us delusional? No, but it just appears to me that not all opinions are welcome in this forum sometimes. I try and give good advice when I can, and in this case would advise choosing to dine elsewhere on the ship than O'Sheehan's. That's my take. And yes, I do find the food on RC a step up, but I wouldn't call it gourmet, either. And yes, we will try Celebrity or Oceania next, but not because we are snobs (or because we prefer caviar to chicken wings, as one poster so kindly put it), but because food is an important part of our vacation and we enjoy eating well, and why shouldn't we enjoy the food on our vacation? Life's too short.

well I guess we all have our own ideas: As for the quality of the prime rib, no I would not expect it to be top of the line. You are not talking about $50 a person like you might pay at Ruth Chris for instance.

 

As for nightly specials being advertised, it must depend on the ship. They were always posted at each table on the Pearl when we sailed her less than a month ago.

 

As I said, the food at O'Sheenhans is just what one should expect, fast food diner quality, not gourmet or even close. For what one would expect at a diner of pub type of restaurant it is very much up to par.

 

I guess I should also add, at this point and then just forget it, we have traveled all over the world, lived in San Francisco, Los Angeles and the DC area. We do know quality food, not to mention my degree is in Foods and Nutrition and my passsion is gourmet cooking. :rolleyes:

I find you feeling the need to qualify yourself a bit silly... I don't think I said anything so strange or shocking that you need to brag about yourself... If you are allowed to express your opinion about why you like O'Sheehan's, I'm allowed to express the perfectly valid reasons why I don't, and I don't feel the need to list my qualifications and degrees in order to do so.

Secondly, nowhere did I say I was expecting O'Sheehan's to be gourmet. I don't think anything on NCL would be considered such. We kept our expectations low, and were still disappointed. Not everybody likes the same things. It's called balance.

People likely differ in their definition of what pub food is or should be, and not everybody who dislikes O'Sheehan's fails to "get" the concept, as you imply. If you like it there, awesome for you! We don't. The six persons in our party all agreed that the food at O'Sheehan's, or at least the menu items we tried, were not edible and not something any of us would ever order again or recommend to others. Just passing our opinions along just like everyone else in hopes that it may be helpful to like-minded individuals. Clean eating is a fairly large movement and most people we know avoid frozen and process foods. It's not a new concept. Pub food and fast food can still be REAL food. Anyways... Our point to the OP was, don't be too sad if prime rib night at O'Sheehan's is gone because in our opinion we didn't find the prime rib good anyways, and if they still want it, on our recent cruise they served it in the MDR and the buffet.

We are going on NCL for first time next month (Escape), ironically chose itinerary that included Tortola which of course was tragically damaged by hurricanes. We have really enjoyed the food on Celebrity. A lot is freshly made on the ship. I am hoping food on NCL is decent. Looking forward to the activities on the Escape.

There wasn't much freshly made on the Dawn but its an old and small ship. You may have better luck on your ship. I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts once you're back and how you felt the food compared to Celebrity, so please do come back and post once you get home. Hope you enjoy your cruise :)

I don't dispute what your are reporting in your post. However, I have never experienced 90% of what you reported.

I expect that the eggs at the buffet are reconstituted, not fresh eggs. Celebrity has an omelet station where fresh eggs are used, but they may use reconstituted eggs for the already scrambled eggs. I frequently get the Eggs Benedict or poached eggs on Celebrity and they are fresh eggs.

 

As far a salad bars on cruise ships are concerned, we have rarely seen any problems. I do remember seeing on one cruise, can't remember which one, there there was ice in the lettuce that had melted and the lettuce was soggy. Normally, I don't see ice in the lettuce. I do agree that most of the desserts on NCL are nothing to brag about, but we have had some good desserts.

I should note that I did not experience any of these things on our two cruises on Royal Caribbean either, just our most recent NCL cruise. There were, in our opinion, very obvious differences in quality between them. The salad bar on RCC was rather substantial. I think we will try Celebrity next.

so you checked every day, right? When we were on the Pearl it was the first night in O'Sheehans. As for the food in O'Sheehans as being inedible, I guess it is a matter of opinion. We enjoyed it more this past sailing than on any other and we have been eating lunch at O'sheehans since the first one opened on the Jewel in 2005. The sandwiches were great, the Cesar salad very tasty and the wings and fish and chips were all above par. I think it is important to remember O'Sheehans is meant to be a quick place to grab a bite just like a diner and not meant to replace the main dining rooms or the specialty dining rooms. It is just a feel good place to eat.

Correct. We had drinks here nightly. No sign of any "specials".

There was prime rib in the MDR. It was a mediocre cut of meat and overcooked.

As for O'Sheehans, I guess it's all relative to the standard and quality of food that one is used to that defines what "par" even is. I don't consider frozen processed fries and pre-battered frozen Captain Highliner triangular fish fingers as "above par" because the pubs we are used to serve fresh cut fries and fresh caught and battered fish... so for us O'Sheehan's would be "sub par". The "artichoke dip" was cream of mushroom soup with fake processed parmesan on top... the "nachos" had some kind of plastic orange sauce with zero resemblance to actual cheddar or any type of cheese for that matter... Caesar salad, again with fake parmesan vs the real thing. We don't eat anything frozen or processed during snack or meal time at home, so why would we want to on our cruise?

We were on the Dawn this past week. No prime rib at osheahans and the rest of the food in the pub wasn’t edible.

Here’s our food review as we just returned from our cruise yesterday.

The food in general was mediocre, at best. It was very reminiscent of resort food in Cuba and we were super disappointed.

Most of the buffet was absolutely inedible. Salad bar practically non existent. Food cooked to mush. Saw a few items repurposed at the next meal (ie unused scrambled eggs from breakfast becomes egg salad sandwiches at lunch). Unsanitary omelette station... got sick one day and pretty sure the way the eggs were kept was the culprit. If you order fried eggs, they are not freshly cracked for you, but rather are sitting in bowls already cracked, in the fridge, and uncovered by film or any protective covering. Gross. Definitely skip dessert in the buffet, except the freshly made crepes, which are ok. The rest of the buffet desserts are frozen, commercially made, and artificial.

Don’t bother with breakfast in the main dining room... it’s essentially the same food that goes to the buffet, although served in a more relaxed setting. Literally, the exact (horrible) eggs Benedict, and fake powdered scrambled eggs. The dinners in the main dining room were better than the buffet by only a slight margin. Very processed food. Designed to look pretty but no taste. For example, the “tomato sauce” was seasoned tomato soup... Again, most foods are over cooked or clearly microwaved, and the descriptions are worded to sound way more fancy than they actually are. “Fried mozzarella” for example, sounded fresh and delicious but turned out to be the gross frozen mozzarella sticks from Costco... Most of the time our party ordered steaks or prime rib and they were generally pleased. The consensus was in general that the most edible entrees of the cruise were the steaks. Desserts in the main dining room also only marginally better than the buffet. Chocolate lava cake w no lava... over cooked into a brownie. Mostly frozen, premade items that are microwaved and dressed up. Bread pudding was just ok, but everything else was a waste of calories.

Specialty restaurants are really the only half decent meals we had... and even then... At Cucina (Italian) pasta is cooked to mush, sauces are not authentic Italian sauces and again, flavoured soup and stock bases are used rather than real tomato sauce or butter based sauces. The gnocchi in pesto was ok. Vegetable lasagna was not edible. Tiramisu was comercially made, not homemade or authentic Italian recipe. The sides were mushy and boring. At Cagneys, most in our party enjoyed their steaks. Baked potatoes were good. Dessert was gross. Raspberry creme brûlée was not edible... tasted like raspberry yogurt with soggy sugar on top. Le Bistro was probably the best overall meal but a far cry from anything resembling French cuisine. Again, if you order steak you’re probably safe, but others in our party also enjoyed some of the seafood dishes here. Le Bistro surprised me and actually served a decent, authentic creme brûlée this time. The tarte Tatin however was mushy and not worth the calories.

It was all pretty hit and miss. My advice would be to stick to basics that are hard to mess up, the meats were a safer bet than ethnic dishes, and if you have skills in the kitchen or have, for example, been to Europe, keep expectations low to avoid disappointment. We were on the Dawn which is older and smaller so I’m hoping the bigger fancy new ships with more dining options have more to offer.

Currently at the Dream Inn for 4 nights. It’s amazing. Love the area. Beach is fantastic. Everything is pretty much open and back to normal. Clean up efforts are visible but in no way interfering w tourist travel as far as I can see. Power is back. Credit cards accepted in most places. We are really loving our pre-cruise stay in San Juan.

Ps. Kasalta, B de Burro, and Pirilo pizza are all fabulous places for a bite to eat.

Thanks very much. Still a bit of a tie, maybe I'll flip a coin lol Both have suitable vegetarian entrees and both look pretty. Maybe the beach at Jacqui O's has a slight edge based on pictures... hard to tell. I guess we can't go wrong ;)

Which has better food and which has the better (prettier or scenic) beach? Thanks a bunch :)

We are at dream inn currently. It was hard to tell yesterday what was closed due to thanksgiving and what was just closed. Street lamps were definitely out last night. Way less people out and about on our run this morning compared to previous years.

 

 

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Oh awesome! We’re staying at the Dream Inn next week! Do you have any tips for us?

Hi! I tried finding a thread that addressed my question, but was unable to.

We're cruising with Carnival in a few months and would like some beach time during our time in San Juan. Carnival does not offer any excursions for the beach. Can anyone recommend a beach for our family? (Husband/wife/6yr old son) Or give us some direction on how to pick one and get there? A beach relatively close, where we can take a taxi from the port? Are their safety concerns we should be aware of, traveling with a small child? Thanks!

 

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We are staying in Ocean Park and there is a very nice beach there, but there can still be some surf. I have heard that the Balneario Escambran in San Juan is a bit more sheltered /calmer, maybe better suited to a small child. There is reportedly lifeguard service, if it is still in effect.

https://sanjuanpuertorico.com/balneario-el-escambron-beach/