C. Victory Sept. 16 '12 Review with pics

[Karpkg]

Last post before off to bed...

 

The owner/cook was very pleased by our actions. The kids had roast chicken and they ate every bit of it up. DD wanted more, but I told her wait, dessert was coming!

 

Banana walnut bread with vanilla ice cream.

 

 

This dinner turned out to be the cheapest dinner of our trip, drinks and all, about $55 not including tip for a party of 6!

 

We weren’t due at the Bio Bay till sunset so we relaxed and lingered. The kids grabbed hold of my camera and the next forty shots were of lizards so I’ll painlessly only insert a few here, LOL.

 

This one kept circling us. He was pretty big.

 

 

This was one of the smaller ones. Nope, any larger than the previous pic will probably start scaring you away from this review!

 

 

We had eaten outdoors and the owner took some of us around pointed to his garden, showing off which plaintains he cooks, the herbs he had growing that he used. We laughingly pointed at a rooster across the ways and said, there’s someone’s next dinner for some lucky guest!

 

[Karpkg]

Dusk is around 5:30 PM here and the bio bay was only 10 minutes away by car so refreshed and recovered from hiking we took off. Flor remarked to us now that we’ve worked out our legs, we were now going to work out our arms! That’s okay, I was really looking forward to this part of the trip!

 

Tips: If you have to go to the bathroom, do so before you get to the bay. There were only 2 stalls in the women's bathroom and they were no better than an outhouse. There was of course a line and what I immediately noticed was the women had toilet paper in their hands. My group didn’t. Whaaat??!!! Their guide had given them a roll of tp that they graciously handed over to us. When my daughter and I stepped inside- there was no toilet ring lid to sit on and not even a tp holder for any tp so… we managed.

 

All over the website it said if you need bug spray only use non-deet as it is toxic to the plankton. Upon arrival the kayaking guides said they have free bug spray that anyone can use if needed and to please use those. I appreciated that but wish I knew so I didn’t have to go out of my way to buy non-toxic bug spray specifically for this trip. Me and my daughter are mosquito magnets and the only ones in a crowd where the mosquitos would yell “Dessert!” and dive-bomb for us. Their’s was a Cutter brand, by the way.

 

Flor was staying behind with the van (he said he’ll nap inside) so our belongings were safe. Kayaking guides took over and those who arrived separately and only signed up for the bio bay tour joined in and the now large group was separated into the Spanish-speaking and English. There were 2 tours scheduled that night, we were the early ones who'll be going in while there's light, the 2nd group was going in later while pitch dark. Quick kayaking instructions were given and vests were put on, we chose our kayaking buddies. We would kayak through the mangrove trees I think 5 miles?

 

Then enter the bay while it was still light. No flashlights and done quietly to not disturb the wildlife as much. The hard part was going to be the kayaking back in the dark and while the other tour group was entering in.

 

 

Going through the foliage at first.

 

 

Then kayaking through the mangroves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We entered the bay then gathered around the guides for a quick informative talk. They used their pointers and pointed out landmarks on the surrounding mountains, talked about the dinoflagettes and then let us go. Due to weight and experience the kids were separated to DH and Billy, my sis and I were in our own and we paddled around quite happily.

[tampabay25690]

Very cool We leave next Sunday so this helps.

[Karpkg]

 

Wildlife. Sittin' on the dock of the bay...

 

 

 

 

Gathering around the guides for the informative talk.

 

 

Northernest point of Puerto Rico. Geological studies center located there for the bio bay.

 

 

[Karpkg]

Billy and DS

 

 

Me and my sis

 

 

DH and DD

 

 

It’s not technologically possible to take pictures of the glowing plankton unless you had really expensive equipment. They glowed wherever the water was disturbed. Those on the internet are photo-shopped. I can only describe, have you ever held fool’s gold from a river bed in your hand and watched it glittering in the sun? Glittering, flickering fairy dust twinkling around your fingers as you trail them in the water. We swirled our paddles in the water and marveled at the sight. The kids (and I mean, even the kids inside us adults) oohed and ahhhed.

 

I could spend all night there. As it was, it was pretty short time. By then we had a handle of how to kayak and it was time to go back through the mangroves again. I felt bad for the later tour. They were told to stay right, and we stayed on our right but they still crashed into us. They had yet to get a feel on kayaking and then were kayaking blind in the dark. We were following each other’s itty bitty light at the end of the kayak in front of you and if that kayak crashed into a mangrove, there was quite a train reaction. Yep, train, not chain.

 

The kayaking guides took pictures, so all of these pics are what they took and I had downloaded from their Facebook page.

 

I think we finished by 8 pm and were back at the hotel at 9 pm. Forget the gym, we had a complete workout that day! The kids fell asleep immediately but we adults were famished. Everything was closed so we ordered room service and chowed down close to midnight. I had fish tacos, a chocolate cake and a Coke, I don't know what the guys ate, I was only concentrating on my food, LOL! I fell asleep about 1AM.

 

[Karpkg]

Very cool We leave next Sunday so this helps.

 

 

Good! Honestly when I look at reviews I want as much info as possible so I'm writing with that in mind. i'm a very visual learner so I use a lot of pics and writing. I hadn't found any first hand accounts of this particular excursion when I first researched, so I hope people will consider this particular one if they get a chance to stay overnight in Puerto Rico.

[ibcnusoon]

Great reviews and pics of the biobay tour! I don't see many reviews so detailed of it. Thanks soo much!

[Sundown331]

Thank you so much for this fantastic review.

 

We're sailing out of San Juan on the Valor at the end of March, same itinerary.

 

Can't wait to read and see more.

[erewhon]

Thanks for starting your review.

Great photos.

[Yankeegirl]

Loving your review....:)

[chipq]

Loving your review and photos so far. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying the review, looking forward to hearing more. Thanks

[alreadypacked]

Great review! Thanks. Though I'm not adventurous enough to kayak, your details about the excursion and pictures undoubtedly provides excellent info for others. Great job! Looking forward to the rest.:)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[Karpkg]

Quick note about kayaking through the mangroves. The tour people are huge into safety, but also the kayaking through the mangroves is only about 2 feet deep. :D It was really funny how the kayaking guides say if you fall over and have finished yelling and flapping around, just get your feet under you and...stand! :rolleyes:

 

This was also one of the rare ones that allow kids to kayak. Probably because of the shallowness of the water through to the bay and the enclosure, a more controlled environment. Sea kayaking I believe is almost no kids under 10 yrs of age.

[Karpkg]

Plan: Breakfast, pack up, taxi to the pier board ship and deposit luggage. Keep only stuff for walking around Old San Juan. Lunch in Old San Juan, see a fort or two, then a final board.

 

Group- “Aye-Eye, Sir! Er, Madam!”

 

We got out of the resort and crossed the street to the shopping mall and had breakfast at Mi Casitas. Breakfast was…breakfast. Service a bit slow, nothing stood out.

 

We packed up, I borrowed a stapler from concierge and stapled our boarding tickets to the handles of our luggage. Got out stuff I needed only for walking around and our boarding passes, then hailed a taxi.

 

We got to the pier and were immediately surrounded by porters. If I had thought about it it wouldn’t have been much to wheel our luggage into the terminal and put it on the conveyor belt myself. As it was our party started piling up our stuff onto their luggage cart then he immediately wanted $1 per luggage. Drat, we were going the same way anyways, oh well.

 

We started to get in line then we encountered this official Carnival looking guy blocking the entrance. (I snuck a pic of him from across the street)

 

 

Beware! He started saying we were going to need these lanyards, blah blah blah, and it was between $2-5. I was paying attention then quickly realized that he was trying to get us to buy something we didn’t need, told everyone out loud he’s a vendor and not Carnival and it’s not required, then went around him and past him. Pat myself on the back for falling for that!

 

Time was 11:00 AM. I knew we could officially board at 2:30 PM but when I asked at the hotel concierge they said Carnival can accept luggage starting 11 AM. So we went on ahead. Lines were very short, we got processed then immediately went through.

 

Saw the alcoholic sales and cashiers but didn’t attempt any. Had our sail & sign cards out, they double checked them with our passports, then somewhere along the way got pics, then they used them again, and finally on board.

 

The gangway plank was out of commission so we entered the ship at deck zero.

 

Our rooms weren’t ready so we just zipped on back out.

 

Saw the official looking Carnival guy again blocking the way and women who were uncertain and listening to him. I said quite loudly “He’s trying to sell you lanyards, he’s not Carnival, don’t bother!” And they gasped and said “Oh!” and squeezed around him. I don’t think he was too happy with me by then.

 

My original goal was to go to the left along the pier and take that scenic route that will lead to El Morro, the fort. (Google walking guides of Old San Juan) But the sun and humidity was oppressive and my sister was wilting with every step and loudly complaining (I didn’t think about the free trolley until we got back to San Juan at the end of the week) so we instead started looking for a place to eat lunch. I had heard of St. Germain Café so we Yelped it with our Iphones and followed the directions.

 

Along the way walking off the ship and turning left along the pier:

 

A quick pic with our ship!

 

 

Cafe Colao, a place for breakfast TripAdvisor talked about but we skipped. (Bacardi billboard plastered on it's side), also place where to board the water ferry to see the Bacardi Rum Factory.

 

 

Las Casitas (Visitors Information Center) on the scenic walking map. (Free rum, check inside; I forgot about that and didn't do it!)

[funinthesun1964]

We saw that same guy selling the lanyards on our Victory cruise in February. I just ignored him. I thought porters were kind of pushy also! I always tip them $2 per bag anyhow, but still don't like pushy and demanding people!

 

Anyhow, wanted to comment that the photos are beautiful! I am looking to buy a new camera, may I ask what kind of camera you used for these photos?

Thanks!!!

[kclvt]

Enjoying your review. We are doing this itinerary the end of March and love gathering as much info as I can!

 

Thanks

[ibcnusoon]

Quick note about kayaking through the mangroves. The tour people are huge into safety, but also the kayaking through the mangroves is only about 2 feet deep. :D It was really funny how the kayaking guides say if you fall over and have finished yelling and flapping around, just get your feet under you and...stand! :rolleyes:

 

This was also one of the rare ones that allow kids to kayak. Probably because of the shallowness of the water through to the bay and the enclosure, a more controlled environment. Sea kayaking I believe is almost no kids under 10 yrs of age.

 

Thanks for the update. I don't think I can get my girls to kayak in the dark. They were skittish when I mentioned tubing the dark caves in Belize, so we planned something else.

 

Loving your review ... so looking forward to sailing her for Thanksgiving!! The port stops are amazing, and a first time for us!!

[ibcnusoon]

 

We started to get in line then we encountered this official Carnival looking guy blocking the entrance. (I snuck a pic of him from across the street)

 

 

Beware! He started saying we were going to need these lanyards, blah blah blah, and it was between $2-5. I was paying attention then quickly realized that he was trying to get us to buy something we didn’t need, told everyone out loud he’s a vendor and not Carnival and it’s not required, then went around him and past him. Pat myself on the back for falling for that!

 

Thanks for the warning. There are reported scammers all over San Juan. Here's a thread with pictures towards the end. It's not stopping us from enjoying San Juan, so just be cautious.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1079834&page=5 post #86

[Karpkg]

We saw that same guy selling the lanyards on our Victory cruise in February. I just ignored him. I thought porters were kind of pushy also! I always tip them $2 per bag anyhow, but still don't like pushy and demanding people!

 

Anyhow, wanted to comment that the photos are beautiful! I am looking to buy a new camera, may I ask what kind of camera you used for these photos?

Thanks!!!

 

To be honest, it's a few years old and has been dropped a few times. :rolleyes: It's a Canon Powershot S5IS and I was hoping to upgrade when I was in St. Thomas but internet pricing and current tax-free and free shipping makes getting electronics online cheaper so I haven't replaced it while there.

 

Thanks everyone for the comments!

[Karpkg]

Few more pics than I gotta go to work; I'm working the weekends to make up for the fun in the sun. :mad:

[Karpkg]

We turned right and started walking uphill following our GPS Yelp app for the Cafe. Again, hindsight, if I had stopped into Las Casitas I would have saved myself some time and grabbed maps, directions and what not but I hadn't known it was THE Information Center. But along the way grabbed beautiful architectural pics of Old San Juan architecture.

 

I loved the wrought ironwork. Reminds me of Savannah's GA historical district. Also New Orleans.

 

 

 

Then there's Charleston's NC colorful row houses although Old San Juan's was more colorful and plentiful.

 

 

 

 

 

I love, love the colors.

 

 

[Karpkg]

And we're here.

 

 

 

 

It's a French Bistro brunch style menu that had reasonable prices. Rated well in TripAdvisor and the Yelp app. I wish I had the menu, but I did take pics of the food.

 

Sis had the quiche.

 

 

I had this, very light and fluffy!

 

 

Billy had the Nordic Sandwich, which was a take on lox and bagel.

 

[Karpkg]

Sis, DH and I enjoyed a Mimosa. Billy had a wonderful fresh smoothie. Kids enjoyed omelettes and juices.

 

 

We finished and refreshed, ventured out into the heat again. We were slightly closer to San Cristobal than El Morro so we continued upward until we hit the ocean and turned right. The breezes helped quite a bit.

 

Monk Parakeets or Quakor Parrots on the tower.

 

 

We haven't even reached the entrance yet but we were already at the fort.

 

 

Entrance was $3/per adult, kids under 12 free and if you visit both forts within a day, I think it was $5.

 

 

We found the flags were flying half mast because our Ambassador in Libya had recently died. :(