Blaise

The Scryer Rum Barrelhouse & Rooftop is very near the cruise doc. It's a few roads back and a bit to the west.

Yes, that's the cruise. If we went back to Trinidad, not sure what we'd choose to do. An hour drive for a crowded beach is not appealing (even though the Bake and Shark is tasty), and there were 3 other good beach islands on this itinerary.

Yes. That was our bus. It supposedly had wifi, but the network name presented at the front of the bus never appeared in the list of available ones. We saw numerous other similar network names when at the lot with the other buses, though. If you take this tour and want some food or drinks at Maracas, have somebody in your party line up right away for it while others do something else, like look at the beach or hit the restrooms.

I've heard that, but that's much deeper into town (thus taking longer to drive to/from), opens later (11am), and it seems awkward to drag the luggage through its usually crowded space.

Last cruise we had a late flight out of San Juan and chose not to do a post-cruise hotel (opting instead for more nights pre-cruise ). You can't check your bags at the airport until 4 hours before your flight, so we were interested in options for killing time before the flight. We tried to book RCI's "excursion" that drops you off in OSJ and then takes you to the airport (and to your bags) later. We were concerned about the timing and uncertainty of that, but it got cancelled on us anyway. While we were shopping one morning, pre-cruise, in the Costazul and Almacenes Fernández (which are interconnected), we saw someone wheeling their luggage in for storage. We asked them about this and also talked to the manager about it and saw the two rooms they use. He said that we could either use https://bagsaway.com/luggage-storage/san-juan to pre-book, or simply drop in unscheduled with the bags, as they seldom fill up. They open at 9am except on Sunday, which is 11am. Looks like $1.5 per bag per hour with an all-day max. We didn't end up using this opportunity, as the DW wasn't up for another day in OSJ post-cruise. However, I would not hesitate to do this. The shops are very nice, btw, and I bought a shirt at Costazul.

We have done the CasaBlanca Hotel a couple times now. Very reasonably priced and it's right in the heart of Old San Juan. It's an old eclectic place with a cool vibe and various hidden spaces (e.g., multiple roof-top areas). Rooms are small and quirky but adequate. The first time we got a king and it was darling. This is the kind of place where I can imagine each room has different personality and quirks. Drop your expectations to match the price and location, and you'll fall in love with the place. They do breakfast also, but they are so close to several awesome breakfast places that we've never eaten there. Also, note that they will store your bags after checkout so you can further enjoy the town and get to the ship at your leisure. We just called an Uber about 5 minutes before time to leave. Another note: this is on a one-way, single-lane street, so you'll want to get your bags in and out of transportation quickly.

We recently did the excursion, "See the Pitons by Bus" (4hrs). This travels south of the port and stops at various overlooks and eventually gets you within sight of Soufriere and the Pitons. Most stops are crowded with other buses and vans. Most have vendors, some with food or bar items. Some have restrooms for a dollar. At the end of the line is an overlook that has the most unobstructed view of Soufriere and the Pitons, but then just a bit up the road they stop for longer at The Beacon restaurant. This is a lovely place, but there's not really time for food, if it's even available to you. Bathrooms are free and only a non-alcoholic passion fruit punch is served. I recommend exploring downstairs where the bathrooms are. If you want to shop or get a snack/beverage anywhere on this tour you'll need to be quick. St. Lucia is a lush and beautiful island, so in a way this was a good tour that didn't take all day. However, please note that the roads are often steep, windy, and filled with potholes. The ride back from The Beacon was essentially 1hr non-stop of this. Some may be uncomfortable with the ride, or even the mountainside stops. Personally, I would love to have been in a smaller or private tour, and been able to stay at some of these places longer, or even stop at some of the smaller vendor/overlooks we passed up along the way, or even at some of the places in the valley's we passed through. This could have been much more fun if mixed with some dining and drinking stops.

We did the "Trinidad Highlights & Scenic Drive" excursion last week. It was a decent survey of Trinidad but not very fulfilling. It was mostly a drive by of various places. There were 3 stops. One was at the botanical gardens, where you'll see only a small part of this place (restroom available). Note that the longer you stay here the less time you'll have at the final stop: Maracas Bay. There's a quick stop at an overlook of Maracas Bay w/some vendors. At the bay you'll be dropped off across the beach (east side) at Uncle Sam and Sons Bake & Shark. It is a decent sized place with a separate bar. We had only 20 minutes there. I only had time to use the restroom, cross the street to the beach to take pictures, then order a Bake & Shark to be eaten on the bus (messy but quite good. I recommend adding pineapple and the Tamarind sauce). The ride back to the port from here was an hour or more.

We decided to bypass Pigeon Point and try Store Bay Beach instead. We were a little apprehensive about just grabbing a random cab there but we're glad we did (we've never regretted doing this on any island yet). We simply stepped outside the port building and asked for a cab among those begging for our business. At least one person tried to convince us that we really wanted Pigeon Point. The fellow that took care of us signaled for the actual driver to come in and pick us up. We knew in advance that we wanted drivers with plates beginning with "H", and that's what we got. I doubt that any non-certified persons are allowed directly into this area. The driver was a nice young woman and we talked about the beach. She warned that it might have seaweed, which it didn't. She recommended we try the crab and dumplings, which I did. Tasty, but quite impossible to eat. The ride was $25 US each way. We ended up paying the full fare after she returned us to port. This is a gorgeous little stretch of beach. The water was very calm when we visited and it was not at all crowded - basically one row of chairs with some never occupied. We were there on a Wednesday from 10 - 1pm. 2 chairs w/umbrella was $20. There was a bar right on the beach, and another bar with various food booths just behind the beach. There were quite a few vendor booths back there as well (nothing fancy), along with shower and changing facilities (for a dollar). Within walking distance of this area are other restaurants and shops if you've got plenty of time. A double-decker boat pulled in at one point to take people up toward Pigeon Point. In fact, a section to the north side of the beach was roped off for various watercraft to pull in for paid experiences like this. We went out into the waters for a bit and were surprised at the number of fish continually swimming among the people, some of which were quite large. Things were generally very quiet here and there were several families enjoying the sand and water. We weren't sure how to get back to the port or if the place would be busy, so we only scheduled a few hours before the cab would pick us up again. Wish we'd allotted more time. I did not see cabbies hanging around looking for passengers, so I'm glad we did schedule the return pickup.

Our excursion stopped by this beach (on a recent Tuesday). We were dropped at Uncle Sam and Sons across the street to the East end of the bay. Good bar and food there. We only had 20 minutes so I only had time to take a peek at the beach. Seemed pretty busy to me... 2 and 3 rows of chairs as far as I could see. How was your experience of the crowds? Given that this is one of the only beach options, I'd expect it to get pretty busy.

We went back to Café El Punto again on our recent visit. Food was still exceptional.

They were not there the weekend before last, and the street was blocked off.

We hung out for about 3 hours in the Dutch Blonde Beach Bar. Great ocean view up on the second floor of the place, and few people there in spite of the beaches being packed that day. Good food, which includes both sweet and savory dutch pancakes. The place is sponsored by the largest local distillery and takes it's name from the featured beer.

Philipsburg (apart from Old San Juan) is by far the best port town, for shopping, dining, drinking, and views. Whatever we do, we always reserve time to hang out in town. It is also a good island for beach time, rivaled by Barbados (I think I know your itinerary based upon your posts).

St. Lucia is a gorgeous, lush island. Just note that no matter how good the tour, if you're looking to get deep into the southern part (e.g., close to Soufriere and the Pitons), you're talking about some winding, bumpy, narrow mountain roads. We recently did "See the Pitons by Bus," which takes you only within sight, and it took an hour+ to get back to the ship.