kevlangton

We spent Christmas week in Puerto Rico after a cruise. I thought it was worth putting some thoughts and pics down. I avoided discussing our cruise the week before so I could focus on PR. Hope you enjoy. http://kevinlangton.blogspot.com/2018/01/puerto-rico-christmas-2017.html

Your story is from 2013...

 

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Sorry this was a couple weeks ago.

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We just got back from an extended post cruise stay in San Juan. Before the cruise, we stayed at Da House Hotel. We were told if we needed wifi to go to the Casablanca a block away, as they shared owners. Punto de Visto was the best mofongo we ate the entire trip! Glad you had a good time.

We just stayed last week at a condo next door to The Sandy Beach Hotel, in the condo between the hotel and the beach. I really like the neighborhood, very busy with lots of good places to eat. CVS and Walgreen's just on the corner. The Condado beach itself is okay, not the greatest, but not a bad beach either. When I say it's okay, really the only negative about it is that it can be really wavy where some of the other beaches (Isla Verde and Escambron) are more protected and calmer. I actually enjoy the waves though. I do a lot of running, so to give you a sense of location I could run down Ashford and be in Old San Juan in about 2.5 miles, and 5 miles would get me to the gate of El Morro.

Forgive me if this story has already been shared here. We were on the Jewel of the Seas last week (Dec 16-24)and had a wonderful time. On December 21 we were in Saint Lucia. A few hours (it was after sunset) after departing the island, some people eating at Izumi on Deck 13 heard voices in the water and reported it. The announcement "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar," came through the loudspeakers. I didn't know yet that it was the code for Overboard. The ship stopped (well, you know, it is a ship in water) and set out flares and smoke signals and threw life rings in. My wife and I were in our cabin after dinner and I heard a buzzing noise outside so I went to our balcony. A rescue (smaller motor boat) was zipping around in the water and a spotlight was sweeping the dark ocean surface from the bridge. It was a horrifying and surreal moment. The lady on the balcony below us said they had pulled someone from the water already. She said the ship's staff in the rescue boat hadn't been able to see the people in the water but had been calling to them to locate them by voice. The people in the water were safe and were pulled out. We assumed it was passengers from the ship (how did they get in there? we asked each other) but we were wrong. The captain announced the full story when everything was settled down. He said it was a couple of people from Saint Lucia who had been in the water all day. They had been scuba diving in the morning and when they came back to the surface their boat had lost its anchor and drifted away. Throughout the day, the men were pulled further away from Saint Lucia by the currents. It blows my mind, how many things came together for them to be pulled from the water. It's even hard for me to imagine that someone dining on deck 13 would have heard them from the water. All day they were probably thinking they had rotten luck and then found the best luck of their lives, if you want to call it luck. The action of the ship's crew was incredibly impressive. It was really something. Amazing.

I believe the divers got overnight medical attention on the ship and joined us all the way to Barbados, where they were able to find a way back home. At times I heard differing details of the story and what happened to the divers, but this is the best I can put it together from talking to a lot of people. We did a bridge tour on the last day and it was interesting hearing their point of view of how it all went down.

After our cruise we stuck around Puerto Rico for about a week. We spent much of our time in San Juan but we rented a car and drove around a lot of the island too. Feel free to ask me anything about that if you like and I'll do my best to answer.

We leave this Sunday. After reading this post a few days ago I upgraded our balcony room to the Junior Suite W guarantee for a similar but slightly higher price. This morning I saw our room has been assigned to us as a Grand Suite. Yaaay! Thanks again. Time to pack.

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Thanks for posting. I sail in a couple weeks but was able to upgrade from balcony to junior suite for similar price, but Royal gets to choose the room. Now it's a fun little mystery to see where we end up (what room).

I just saw that El Morro is planning to reopen Monday November 27 yay!

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PR is as much a political mud slinging event as anything. I certainly feel sorry for them, and I think a great deal has improved. Still, every time I hear or see the San Juan Mayor I just want to puke. She has taken a disaster and politicized it to a degree that sickens me. Beyond that, her whole attitude reeks of someone who's just begging. Instead of being a leader towards self-sufficiency she just seems to want bash the US and plead for handouts.

 

If she, and the government of PR as a whole had a better handle on their finances, and if they would have focused on preparing for an almost certain event, such as this one - they would be in much better shape.

 

I feel sorry for the people who have allowed such lackluster leadership to thrive for so many years.

 

 

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My perspective is different. I appreciate her advocating for help for her people. It seems someone needs to. I don't see it as "handouts" but as humane help for our fellow citizens. I'm ashamed that our government hasn't done more for its people. I also find it hilarious that you blame the people of Puerto Rico for their situation. What you call "lackluster leadership" is something I see in our federal response to the situation. But the beauty is you don't have to go there if you don't want to. I'm looking forward to visiting soon, and can't wait to visit with as many of the locals as I can. I admire their spirit.

Hate to sound negative......but honestly, the Hotels do not really seem to care. They have FEMA.....they have panicked tourists with no place to stay. Yes, there are exceptions to this strategy, but from all I am reading, not so much so with way too many hotels in San Juan at this time.

I keep hearing about the need to spend tourist dollars to help out....and I know there is this need without a doubt....but the Hotels in San Juan are exhibiting behaviors that are less than commendable....and less than deserving of the tourism dollars.

It leaves a real sour taste, both now and for future visits........IMHO.

From my limited experience it appears this is mostly coming from the chain hotels, the Marriots, and (especially) Hiltons etc. We always stay at Hiltons because my wife travels a ton for work and has loads of loyalty points but we've been knocked around a few reservations from them on our upcoming December trip, a few cancellations from their different hotels, without letting us know they were cancelled. So instead we are staying at a local place (Wave Hotel) before the cruise and a vrbo after the cruise. When I was looking around after getting bounced from the bigger places, the smaller non-chain places seemed much easier and better to work with. I'd rather spend where most of the money is going to stick around the island anyway.

Thanks for the thread. What's the dress code in the MDR for breakfast?

Our cruise disembarks in San Juan on Christmas Eve and we (me, my wife, and my parents) will be staying for a few days in San Juan. I know Christmas is a big deal that lasts a while in PR, so I'm excited to be there then. Are there any holiday events that we should definitely check out (we're there through the 28th)? Any restaurants that are known for great Christmas/Christmas meals?

On an unrelated note, we have a rental car reserved and would like to explore the island some, within reason for an island rebuilding from Maria. We would plan to stay on major roads, but are there places we should avoid because of washed out roads etc? I'm considering possibly driving south toward Ponce or possibly even all the way to Cabo Rojo, or driving the north coast toward Rincon.

Thanks for any advice!

This is different too but I see East Island Excursions is up and running with day snorkel trips to Culebra. http://www.eastislandpr.com/

San Cristobal opens Monday November 20.

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Following. We have rented a place in the Condado for Christmas.

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After seeing all the hotel cancellations (we're staying a few days post-cruise over Christmas) and getting cancelled ourselves, we found a great place through vrbo. Penthouse condo in the Condado (I enjoy that neighborhood) with a two level balcony terrace and the building is on the beach. The price was much lower than what we (me and my wife and my parents) would have paid for two hotel rooms, plus we get a kitchen. The owner said there currently isn't electricity in the neighborhood, but it's expected to be on by then, and if it isn't running by the end of November he would return our money. I'm pleased with the setup.