San Juan with children? Any advice?

[KyBuckeye]

Will be cruising to San Juan in April and our party includes 3 children ages 6,7 & 8. Anyone have any suggestions for excursions with children these ages? We won't be docking til 5 departing at midnight. Would love some advice from all you experienced travelers. Thanks!!!

[cruizinmimi]

KyBuckeye,

 

I'm interested to know about San Juan in the evening also. We have a 7yr old with us in May 05 and we arrive at the Pier at 2pm-10pm. Our 7yr old wants to go to the rainforest, but I'm not sure there's enough time since we dock at 2pm and the rainforest closes at 6pm.

 

Anyone....Can anyone answer this question.

 

Linda :rolleyes:

[su2u]

Hi- Just some info. to help you plan. The castles close at 5 p.m. so you could make a trip either walking or by taxi if you are arriving at 2 pm. The rainforest, which closes at 6 pm. is an hour or so drive from San Juan. :( Don't know of any other child-friendly excursions but maybe someone else out there has a suggestion. We booked a cruise on Celebrity Millie due to their arriving in PR at 10 am- departing at 8 pm. for this reason.

[chris209]

We were in San Juan on a new years cruise (same hours 5pm to midnight). I booked a private tour with CoquiPie tours (http://www.coquipie.com) and we had a very good time. Jerry was very open to doing whatever we wanted and the price was quite reasonable. He picked us up at the pier and then took us to the hotel area and a beach where my son could do some body-surfing which he loved. Then he drove us around Condado and Isla Verde and out to a village where we ate some authentic Puerto Rican food on the beach. We then went into Old San Juan and toured around on foot with Jerry. Very good tour.

[Tharper]

I am alos interested in kid friendly ideas. My little one will be 3 by our November sailing he did great on our previous cruise and we booked a private tour similar to what Chris209 did.

[Boatingmom]

I too am looking for something to do with 5 & 8 yo childrren. We will be off the ship about noon and I dont believe we can check into our hotel until at least after three. So we'd be looking for something between the hours of noon until 5:00pm. Sombody mentioned the castles. What is this & how kid friendly is it? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

[Todd320]

On thing thats fun for kids that age is to fly kites in front of El Morro. Its a famous place to fly kites because it usually windy and wide open. Some of the local shops carry kites.

[Rockiesfan]

We've taken our kids to both El Morro and San Cristobal and had fantastic experiences. In fact the forts are the reason we like cruises with a San Juan stop.

 

We went to El Morro first (2001) with an 8-year-old, a 4-year-old and a 6-month-old. If your kids are imaginative they will love it. Lots of ramps, steps, turrets overlooking the ocean, etc. and a very long dark tunnel leading that the kids think is pretty cool. Tons of room to run around and not crowded at all. There is a small "museum" that is air-conditioned; I sat in here to feed the baby a bottle and cool off.

 

The next time in San Juan (2003) we went to San Cristobal. It is not right on the ocean so you don't have the same views but it also has lots of places to explore. On the top level are piles of cannon balls (stuck together) that make a fun photo op.

 

We are returning to El Morro on our next cruise in early Feb -- can't wait!