SWEET LIBERTY! The cruise that almost wasn't! Sept 20-27, 2015 review

[luvndabass]

Thank you so very much for your review!

The review was wonderfully detailed and with the pictures, you certainly took the review to another level! We leave for this itinerary on the 20th. My family and I are so excited and with reviews like yours it has helped us in our plans.

Many thanks!!

[valentinebaby1]

Kendra, I just read your review in one long sitting. Kudos!

 

Thanks for the detailed review and the generous number of great photos-the underwater shots and the sunrise/sunsets in particular were all spectacular.

 

Great job, so my thanks to you and your husband.

 

Norris

 

That's a lot to take in, all in one sitting! Thank you, and thanks for reading!

[valentinebaby1]

Thank you so very much for your review!

The review was wonderfully detailed and with the pictures, you certainly took the review to another level! We leave for this itinerary on the 20th. My family and I are so excited and with reviews like yours it has helped us in our plans.

Many thanks!!

 

Aw, thanks so much! Christmas on Liberty? How wonderful that will be with your family! Have an awesome cruise!

[mitsugirly]

Hi, I'm just tuning in (thanks to pghsteelerfan directing me here) and loving the review. I have been trying to get some information about SJ because it will be our first time leaving from this port.

 

We were thinking about finding a place in Luquillo for the simple fact that it's closer to the bio bay and we want to do that...and of course because I hear that the beach there is a do-not-miss beach. :D

 

How did you find the condo you stayed in? Was it on the air(bnb) site that you found it? Would you recommend it? It seems like you were a little disappointed in the size of it. We are a family of 3 (2 adults and a small child), so the size might not be a big issue to us (especially since most of the time we squeeze ourselves into an interior room on the ships to save $$). :p Or, if you know of any other hotels around that area, can you suggest them?

 

How did you manage to get around (in the car)? Did you use a gps, like on your phone, or something? I have anxiety when driving too (also due to a car wreck) and being in unfamiliar places driving is just...well, not good. But I think if we stay this far away, we will probably NEED to have a rental versus using a taxi, which could cost quite a bit. :( I'm just worried about how we'll figure out how to get around. Especially if we do the bio bay and coming back at night in the dark. :eek:

 

I know you didn't get to do the bio bay, due to cancellation, but it sounds like you really did your research prior to going. How far of a drive do you think it would be from this property to the bio bay? How difficulty of a drive would you think it is? Main roads?

 

The car rental: you mentioned Charlies/ACE. Do you take a shuttle from the airport there? Like is it on site at the airport like most rental companies are? You also mentioned $40 a day (well, before the upgrade to a van), did you find any added charges on to that? We just rented a VERY small car in Florida, after getting off a cruise and had an entire day to waste before our flights left that night, and we rented for around $50 a day and by the time we dropped the car off that night, we ended up paying double AND they didn't even apply our deposit we had put down. :eek: I didn't discover it until after we arrived home, but knew something didn't sound right. They charged for everything imaginable and it was a sticker shock! So, just wondering about this place.

 

So when you drop the rental car back off, you go to that location and then how do you get to the port? Just grabbed a cab and paid the cost back?

 

Thanks in advance for any info you can help me with. I'm a little nervous about our first time doing this. :)

[valentinebaby1]

Hi, I'm just tuning in (thanks to pghsteelerfan directing me here) and loving the review. I have been trying to get some information about SJ because it will be our first time leaving from this port.

 

We were thinking about finding a place in Luquillo for the simple fact that it's closer to the bio bay and we want to do that...and of course because I hear that the beach there is a do-not-miss beach. :D

 

How did you find the condo you stayed in? Was it on the air(bnb) site that you found it? Would you recommend it? It seems like you were a little disappointed in the size of it. We are a family of 3 (2 adults and a small child), so the size might not be a big issue to us (especially since most of the time we squeeze ourselves into an interior room on the ships to save $$). :p Or, if you know of any other hotels around that area, can you suggest them?

 

How did you manage to get around (in the car)? Did you use a gps, like on your phone, or something? I have anxiety when driving too (also due to a car wreck) and being in unfamiliar places driving is just...well, not good. But I think if we stay this far away, we will probably NEED to have a rental versus using a taxi, which could cost quite a bit. :( I'm just worried about how we'll figure out how to get around. Especially if we do the bio bay and coming back at night in the dark. :eek:

 

I know you didn't get to do the bio bay, due to cancellation, but it sounds like you really did your research prior to going. How far of a drive do you think it would be from this property to the bio bay? How difficulty of a drive would you think it is? Main roads?

 

The car rental: you mentioned Charlies/ACE. Do you take a shuttle from the airport there? Like is it on site at the airport like most rental companies are? You also mentioned $40 a day (well, before the upgrade to a van), did you find any added charges on to that? We just rented a VERY small car in Florida, after getting off a cruise and had an entire day to waste before our flights left that night, and we rented for around $50 a day and by the time we dropped the car off that night, we ended up paying double AND they didn't even apply our deposit we had put down. :eek: I didn't discover it until after we arrived home, but knew something didn't sound right. They charged for everything imaginable and it was a sticker shock! So, just wondering about this place.

 

So when you drop the rental car back off, you go to that location and then how do you get to the port? Just grabbed a cab and paid the cost back?

 

Thanks in advance for any info you can help me with. I'm a little nervous about our first time doing this. :)

 

Thanks for reading! Check my siggy for my first review of the same itinerary on the Valor. There might be some useful info for you in that one too. We actually got to see the bio bay that time, and we also rented a car, but we stayed in San Juan on that trip.

 

We found the condo in Luquillo I think on Homeaway. For the area it was probably the best option. The photos were just a little misleading but it was actually plenty of space for us. Part of our disappointment was the a/c (which they fixed the next morning). I would stay there again if we went back, all things considered. In Luquillo there is the large beach by the kioskos, then around the point of that cove to the East is the next beach which is where the condo was. Further east of us the beach is much more rough, bigger waves and surfers. I have read about more than one occasion of drownings at that beach further East of where we were (I think it's called La Pared) so we didn't want to stay further East of where we were just for that reason.

 

There are many units, all individually owned, in the building we stayed at. There are 3 buildings in Playa Azul, with 1 large pool shared by the 3 buildings. It is all gated too.

 

If you didn't stay in Playa Azul, I would look in to staying at the El Conquistador Resort, which is very near the bio bay. It was a bit pricey for our taste, since we would have needed 2 rooms for 4 nights. For one room it might be worth it. It's a full on resort and they even have a private island they'll take you to. We'd love to stay there some day!

 

We used GPS for the car. The first trip we brought a GPS unit with us, the 2nd trip we used our phone. It was fairly accurate. The main highway that runs from San Juan to the East coast is well maintained and marked. It's when you get off the main roads that things get a little tricky at times...just give yourself extra time and don't be afraid to ask locals for directions. We did that several times and could always find someone to ask. We found that most people we talked to in the Luquillo area spoke some English. When we ventured further south on the island that wasn't the case. The company we booked our bio bay tour through sent us directions that we had printed out. Sometimes the streets aren't marked so it was directions like "turn left at the Burger King" so having landmarks instead of street names helped. It's really the only realistic option for getting to the bio bay. Some companies will offer shuttle service from San Juan but require a minimum number of people and then it still costs I think $20-25 per person just for the shuttle. The drive from the condo we stayed at to the bio bay isn't far at all. Maybe 10 minutes. But from San Juan it would be an hour. From the El Conquistador it would be maybe 5 minutes.

 

The car rental through Charlies/Ace: They shuttle to/from the airport and they have a 2nd office near the cruise port. We designated pick up at the airport and drop off at the cruise port and they shuttled for both of those. There was no additional charge for this. On the days we rented after the cruise we picked up at the cruise port and dropped off at the airport and used the shuttle those times as well. There was no issue being dropped off at the cruise port, but after the cruise we were instructed to walk across the street to be picked up, and it seemed like we waited 15-20 minutes. But the traffic in Old San Juan on Sundays is crazy busy with everyone trying to get on and off the ship.

 

We didn't pay all of those extra charges because we opted to not take the extra insurance. Our credit card company gave us insurance (most do) and even our own personal insurance covers us for cars we drive. If anything were to happen that was our fault we would have had a deductible to deal with, but we were willing to take that chance. As I understand it, Puerto Rico is governed by US laws so there isn't that same type of risk as there would be in say...Mexico. The amount we booked online was the exact amount we paid in the end except for the upgrade we ended up deciding on, and we paid an extra $10 so that we could skip the highway tolls. There are a couple of tolls between San Juan and Luquillo, and there were more on our route to the Pork Highway so it just made it easier for us and was worth $10, and if I remember correctly it was just $10 per rental, not per day. Also, if I remember correctly the $10 was just so that we could use the express lane, but didn't cover the actual charge of the toll so we might have had another $5-10 in actual tolls.

 

I hope I answered all your questions, but if not let me know!

[Dirkgun]

Hi, I'm just tuning in (thanks to pghsteelerfan directing me here) and loving the review. I have been trying to get some information about SJ because it will be our first time leaving from this port.

 

We were thinking about finding a place in Luquillo for the simple fact that it's closer to the bio bay and we want to do that...and of course because I hear that the beach there is a do-not-miss beach. :D

 

How did you find the condo you stayed in? Was it on the air(bnb) site that you found it? Would you recommend it? It seems like you were a little disappointed in the size of it. We are a family of 3 (2 adults and a small child), so the size might not be a big issue to us (especially since most of the time we squeeze ourselves into an interior room on the ships to save $$). :p Or, if you know of any other hotels around that area, can you suggest them?

 

How did you manage to get around (in the car)? Did you use a gps, like on your phone, or something? I have anxiety when driving too (also due to a car wreck) and being in unfamiliar places driving is just...well, not good. But I think if we stay this far away, we will probably NEED to have a rental versus using a taxi, which could cost quite a bit. :( I'm just worried about how we'll figure out how to get around. Especially if we do the bio bay and coming back at night in the dark. :eek:

 

I know you didn't get to do the bio bay, due to cancellation, but it sounds like you really did your research prior to going. How far of a drive do you think it would be from this property to the bio bay? How difficulty of a drive would you think it is? Main roads?

 

The car rental: you mentioned Charlies/ACE. Do you take a shuttle from the airport there? Like is it on site at the airport like most rental companies are? You also mentioned $40 a day (well, before the upgrade to a van), did you find any added charges on to that? We just rented a VERY small car in Florida, after getting off a cruise and had an entire day to waste before our flights left that night, and we rented for around $50 a day and by the time we dropped the car off that night, we ended up paying double AND they didn't even apply our deposit we had put down. :eek: I didn't discover it until after we arrived home, but knew something didn't sound right. They charged for everything imaginable and it was a sticker shock! So, just wondering about this place.

 

So when you drop the rental car back off, you go to that location and then how do you get to the port? Just grabbed a cab and paid the cost back?

 

Thanks in advance for any info you can help me with. I'm a little nervous about our first time doing this. :)

 

 

First off this has been a great review and has some really great pictures and equally great stories. Thanks again for taking the time to write it. Especially the last few pics of the Pinones area.

To Mitsugurly.... the sites like airbnb, homeaway, etc are great for finding condos or homes for rent anywhere. Our last trip there we stayed in a great condo in Fajardo real close to BioBay for a couple of days then went into Old San Juan the day before the cruise. Rental cars are very simple as well... as the OP says Charlies has some great reviews, we have always used the enterprise location in the Hilton in Condado. They won't pick you up at the airport but taking a cab there and then coming back to the airport is more than made up for in the cheaper prices than the airport rates. Also they will take you to the cruise port when you turn the car in. Driving in Puerto Rico is pretty easy just realize most signs are in Spanish and English. GPS really does save you also. We took our Garmin but my kids had their phones doing GPS and they all worked great. Hope you have a great cruise.

[mitsugirly]

Thanks for reading! Check my siggy for my first review of the same itinerary on the Valor. There might be some useful info for you in that one too. We actually got to see the bio bay that time, and we also rented a car, but we stayed in San Juan on that trip.

 

Oh gosh, I'm definitely going to have to check that review then...especially if it has your trip to bio bay in it. :D

 

We found the condo in Luquillo I think on Homeaway. For the area it was probably the best option. The photos were just a little misleading but it was actually plenty of space for us. Part of our disappointment was the a/c (which they fixed the next morning). I would stay there again if we went back, all things considered. In Luquillo there is the large beach by the kioskos, then around the point of that cove to the East is the next beach which is where the condo was. Further east of us the beach is much more rough, bigger waves and surfers. I have read about more than one occasion of drownings at that beach further East of where we were (I think it's called La Pared) so we didn't want to stay further East of where we were just for that reason.

 

I have never heard of Homeaway. I'll have to check them out. Thanks for the info. I was looking on the airbnb site and wasn't really impressed with the places they had on there. :(

 

Did you find that Luquillo beach is very pretty? I know that everyone says it's the prettiest beach there...and if so, I gotta see it. If I don't stay here, then I might just have to just go there to experience it (if we rent a car). Is there places in this area to just park here for people just coming to the beach?

There are many units, all individually owned, in the building we stayed at. There are 3 buildings in Playa Azul, with 1 large pool shared by the 3 buildings. It is all gated too.

 

Are there things to do within walking distance of this place? You mentioned the kioskos...is that within walking distance? Is it just shopping and restaurants?

 

If you didn't stay in Playa Azul, I would look in to staying at the El Conquistador Resort, which is very near the bio bay. It was a bit pricey for our taste, since we would have needed 2 rooms for 4 nights. For one room it might be worth it. It's a full on resort and they even have a private island they'll take you to. We'd love to stay there some day!

 

Thanks for this info. I will look them up and see if it's within the price range that we might want to pay. We are planning on staying maybe 2 nights before the cruise, but unsure if we want to stay in the same place or not. We may just stay in one place for the first night, go to bio bay and then move to another pace for the next night. I'm still trying to figure it out.

 

We used GPS for the car. The first trip we brought a GPS unit with us, the 2nd trip we used our phone. It was fairly accurate. The main highway that runs from San Juan to the East coast is well maintained and marked. It's when you get off the main roads that things get a little tricky at times...just give yourself extra time and don't be afraid to ask locals for directions.

 

That's the problem I'm having, getting worried about once you get off the main road and then trying to ask a local which way to go if they don't speak English. :eek: Did you find all the areas to feel pretty safe when you were in them? I'm usually not too bad when we have a big group, but with this trip just being the 3 of us and 1 of them being a young child, I'm a little more worried than normal.

 

 

We did that several times and could always find someone to ask. We found that most people we talked to in the Luquillo area spoke some English. When we ventured further south on the island that wasn't the case. The company we booked our bio bay tour through sent us directions that we had printed out. Sometimes the streets aren't marked so it was directions like "turn left at the Burger King" so having landmarks instead of street names helped. It's really the only realistic option for getting to the bio bay.

 

Good to know they give you places as markers to turn. That's comforting. I figured it was probably the only good way to make it there (staying close and renting a car versus taxi).

 

Some companies will offer shuttle service from San Juan but require a minimum number of people and then it still costs I think $20-25 per person just for the shuttle. The drive from the condo we stayed at to the bio bay isn't far at all. Maybe 10 minutes. But from San Juan it would be an hour. From the El Conquistador it would be maybe 5 minutes.

 

Thanks for this info. That helps a lot.

 

The car rental through Charlies/Ace: They shuttle to/from the airport and they have a 2nd office near the cruise port. We designated pick up at the airport and drop off at the cruise port and they shuttled for both of those. There was no additional charge for this. On the days we rented after the cruise we picked up at the cruise port and dropped off at the airport and used the shuttle those times as well. There was no issue being dropped off at the cruise port, but after the cruise we were instructed to walk across the street to be picked up, and it seemed like we waited 15-20 minutes. But the traffic in Old San Juan on Sundays is crazy busy with everyone trying to get on and off the ship.

 

Good to know about the shuttle service. It sounds like a great deal then.

 

We didn't pay all of those extra charges because we opted to not take the extra insurance. Our credit card company gave us insurance (most do) and even our own personal insurance covers us for cars we drive. If anything were to happen that was our fault we would have had a deductible to deal with, but we were willing to take that chance. As I understand it, Puerto Rico is governed by US laws so there isn't that same type of risk as there would be in say...Mexico. The amount we booked online was the exact amount we paid in the end except for the upgrade we ended up deciding on, and we paid an extra $10 so that we could skip the highway tolls. There are a couple of tolls between San Juan and Luquillo, and there were more on our route to the Pork Highway so it just made it easier for us and was worth $10, and if I remember correctly it was just $10 per rental, not per day. Also, if I remember correctly the $10 was just so that we could use the express lane, but didn't cover the actual charge of the toll so we might have had another $5-10 in actual tolls.

 

We didn't opt for any extra's on our car either and it was still outrageous at the end of the trip and nothing that we had been quoted or agreed to. We DID however opt for the "tolls" pass they offered...then found out there WEREN'T any tolls along the way we went. So nice that they screwed us over on this feature. (We won't rent with that company again). In the long run, we did dispute some of the charges with my cc and got our deposit money back that was not credited to our rental fee. So HA! TO THEM!

 

How do you find out where the tolls will be and if there are any that we would need to use the toll package? Are there a lot of tolls? For $5-10 it sounds like there's a lot or either they charge a lot so just wondering. How do you pay the tolls? Is it cash only? Do they accept US dollars?

I hope I answered all your questions, but if not let me know!

 

 

You have been most helpful thanks so much. Now I'm off to read your other review. :D

[mitsugirly]

To Mitsugurly.... the sites like airbnb, homeaway, etc are great for finding condos or homes for rent anywhere. Our last trip there we stayed in a great condo in Fajardo real close to BioBay for a couple of days then went into Old San Juan the day before the cruise. Rental cars are very simple as well... as the OP says Charlies has some great reviews, we have always used the enterprise location in the Hilton in Condado. They won't pick you up at the airport but taking a cab there and then coming back to the airport is more than made up for in the cheaper prices than the airport rates. Also they will take you to the cruise port when you turn the car in. Driving in Puerto Rico is pretty easy just realize most signs are in Spanish and English. GPS really does save you also. We took our Garmin but my kids had their phones doing GPS and they all worked great. Hope you have a great cruise.

 

Do you have any suggestions on a place near Bio bay? (Like where you might have stayed at and enjoyed). I was also thinking about staying close to there and then moving the next night to a different location closer to the cruise port.

 

Good to know that you find renting a car easy as well. This is putting my mind to ease a little more. If I remember correctly (and I'm not always paying attention when we're in a cab because I'm too busy taking tons of pictures, you drive on the right hand side right?

 

Good to know they have the signs in English as well. I would definitely have to use my GPS on the phone. I wonder if there are extra roaming charges for using my phone there (Verizon). I'm going to have to make several calls prior to going to find out. LOL :D

[JKirkN]

Do you have any suggestions on a place near Bio bay? (Like where you might have stayed at and enjoyed). I was also thinking about staying close to there and then moving the next night to a different location closer to the cruise port.

 

Good to know that you find renting a car easy as well. This is putting my mind to ease a little more. If I remember correctly (and I'm not always paying attention when we're in a cab because I'm too busy taking tons of pictures, you drive on the right hand side right?

 

Good to know they have the signs in English as well. I would definitely have to use my GPS on the phone. I wonder if there are extra roaming charges for using my phone there (Verizon). I'm going to have to make several calls prior to going to find out. LOL :D

 

It's more like 30min to get there from Luquillo. Here's a link to google maps and a screen shot of the route from where we stayed at Playa Azul bldg 1. It's not really hard... it gets a little complicated near the end because you are driving through back roads and neighborhoods...but it's not bad...and locals are always happy to help if you feel lost.

 

Also, my old GPS was HILARIOUS...it can NOT speak Spanish...and my phone wasn't a lot better...sure they have a lot of signs in both Spanish and English, but the actual street names are in Spanish..and the GPS sounds hilarious trying to pronounce them... so don't rely on what you hear so much as what you see... :)

 

Taxi rates in SJ go by zone rates...so they aren't too expensive. But if you leave SJ, they get REALLY expensive... It's much cheaper to rent a car to go to Luquillo and the BioBay than to take a cab both ways...MUCH cheaper! :)

 

If you have time, try taking a quick little online course of some very basic Spanish... (not the Mexican kind.. they are more like true Spanish in PR) It helps a little and makes the locals happy that you are trying... :) (I know there are lots of free ones out there...)

 

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Playa+Costa+Azul/Pure+Adventure+Bio+Bay+Location/@18.3561531,-65.6905395,14z/am=t/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0x6a6bf9fcc67e7404!2m2!1d-65.7204951!2d18.3822272!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0x9fbc99d620268c09!2m2!1d-65.6252991!2d18.3632223

 

[Dirkgun]

Do you have any suggestions on a place near Bio bay? (Like where you might have stayed at and enjoyed). I was also thinking about staying close to there and then moving the next night to a different location closer to the cruise port.

 

We stayed in some condos right by the marina the property # is 188281 on homeaway in Fajardo I think it was called Pena Mar Ocean Club Condos. On the map that JkirkN posted it is just south of the biobay by the Playa Sardinera..... maybe 5 minutes away.

 

Good to know that you find renting a car easy as well. This is putting my mind to ease a little more. If I remember correctly (and I'm not always paying attention when we're in a cab because I'm too busy taking tons of pictures, you drive on the right hand side right?

 

Yes in Puero Rico they drive on the right side of the and the left side of the car just like in the USA ( since it is a US Territory).

 

Good to know they have the signs in English as well. I would definitely have to use my GPS on the phone. I wonder if there are extra roaming charges for using my phone there (Verizon). I'm going to have to make several calls prior to going to find out. LOL :D

 

Yes every cell service I know of will treat Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands as you are in the US. Our phones were just like home every time we were there. Call Verizon to make sure but...... should be.

[valentinebaby1]

Hubby (Jkirkn) is right, I was off on my estimate of the drive to be that long from the condo we stayed at to the bio bay. You can see on the map that he posted that the El Conquistador Resort is right by the bio bay.

 

We didn't really walk around Luquillo. We drove to the kioskos and there was parking where we stopped, right behind the kioskos. There is a better public beach that is just to the east of the kioskos that I believe charges for parking, but has restrooms etc so it's probably worth it. (I don't know the cost for sure, but I believe I read somewhere that it was only $5 or something like that) We ate at one of the restaurants at the kioskos so we just stayed there. The beach is nice..the water is very calm there which is what we liked about. The water isn't crystal clear like other beaches we've been to since then, but it's still a nice place to spend a few hours, and it is very pretty with big palm trees and nice sand. Right behind the kioskos there is a lot of coral right along the shore. I'm pretty sure the beach that you have to pay to park at doesn't have the coral so it might be better.

 

Homeaway is affiliated with VRBO I believe.

 

The kioskos are basically just shopping, bars and restaurants. It's a long stretch of little stalls all connected together...maybe 50-60 stalls, but a lot of them are similar to each other, selling the same types of foods.

 

If you only stay one night near the bio bay, I would recommend staying in Old San Juan for the night before the cruise. If you do that you may not even need the rental car the 2nd day, as there is very little parking in Old San Juan and there is plenty to do that you can walk to. There is a Sheraton very close to the cruise pier. There are also a lot of smaller boutique type hotels in the area if you want something more authentic. There just really isn't a beach in Old San Juan so keep that in mind.

 

We felt very comfortable in most of Puerto Rico, but the further you get from San Juan, the harder it is to find someone who speaks English, but it's not impossible.

 

There are tolls or at least 1 toll between San Juan and Luquillo, but I don't remember what the cost was. With the toll pass we didn't have to stop at all. So I'm not sure if they only take cash or what. If you were only driving to Luquillo for the one day, or only driving back and forth once you probably wouldn't need to pay for the toll pass. We opted for it because of the other driving we did further south on the island.

[JKirkN]

Hubby (Jkirkn) is right, I was off on my estimate of the drive to be that long from the condo we stayed at to the bio bay. You can see on the map that he posted that the El Conquistador Resort is right by the bio bay.

.

.

.

There are tolls or at least 1 toll between San Juan and Luquillo, but I don't remember what the cost was. With the toll pass we didn't have to stop at all. So I'm not sure if they only take cash or what. If you were only driving to Luquillo for the one day, or only driving back and forth once you probably wouldn't need to pay for the toll pass. We opted for it because of the other driving we did further south on the island.

 

Actually I think the last time we were there (Sept. 2015) they told me that they no longer have toll booths and that you HAVE to have the electronic toll pass thingy to use the toll roads. I'm pretty sure there weren't any booths when we went through.

 

There are always ways around and old highways to avoid the toll roads though...but they are not as fast and tend to have lots of stop lights now.

[JKirkN]

Yes every cell service I know of will treat Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands as you are in the US. Our phones were just like home every time we were there. Call Verizon to make sure but...... should be.

 

That's correct. We have Verizon and there were no roaming charges. It was just like being back home in the states.

[mitsugirly]

It's more like 30min to get there from Luquillo. Here's a link to google maps and a screen shot of the route from where we stayed at Playa Azul bldg 1. It's not really hard... it gets a little complicated near the end because you are driving through back roads and neighborhoods...but it's not bad...and locals are always happy to help if you feel lost.

 

Also, my old GPS was HILARIOUS...it can NOT speak Spanish...and my phone wasn't a lot better...sure they have a lot of signs in both Spanish and English, but the actual street names are in Spanish..and the GPS sounds hilarious trying to pronounce them... so don't rely on what you hear so much as what you see... :)

 

Taxi rates in SJ go by zone rates...so they aren't too expensive. But if you leave SJ, they get REALLY expensive... It's much cheaper to rent a car to go to Luquillo and the BioBay than to take a cab both ways...MUCH cheaper! :)

 

If you have time, try taking a quick little online course of some very basic Spanish... (not the Mexican kind.. they are more like true Spanish in PR) It helps a little and makes the locals happy that you are trying... :) (I know there are lots of free ones out there...)

 

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Playa+Costa+Azul/Pure+Adventure+Bio+Bay+Location/@18.3561531,-65.6905395,14z/am=t/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0x6a6bf9fcc67e7404!2m2!1d-65.7204951!2d18.3822272!1m5!1m1!1s0x0:0x9fbc99d620268c09!2m2!1d-65.6252991!2d18.3632223

 

 

 

Thanks so much for this information. I forgot all about using googlemaps to get the distances. I didn't know until tonight that there was a button on there to "send to phone". I'll have to map out everything before hand and send it to our phones.

 

 

That's funny about the GPS trying to say Spanish words. Heck I experience that on my phone now just driving down the road. The pronunciation is so funny on some streets.

 

I actually took a year of Spanish in High School. But, I only know basic words and a lot of them I have forgotten (but remember once I'm told again). However, I don't think the things I learned in Spanish class will help me too much with directions and what to say. I also took care of a lady from Puerto Rico that was helping me learn things, but then again, that was all medical terminology and won't help me here either. LOL

 

Any suggestions on things I should look up prior to going that might come in handy?

 

 

Yes every cell service I know of will treat Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands as you are in the US. Our phones were just like home every time we were there. Call Verizon to make sure but...... should be.

 

 

You see we were told that before our prior cruise here back in March and we took our phones with us to the beach a Numero Uno so that we could get service and we couldn't get anything at all. :( We ended up using the resorts wifi that day. Maybe we just didn't know what we were doing. LOL (Big possibility). I assume you have to take it off the airplane mode of course (and off wifi if you're not in a building on it) and if my memory serves me right, our phones kept asking us to verify something or if we wanted to do something (which freaked us out thinking it was going to charge us extra or roaming charges) so we kept telling it no. I think it was telling us we were out of area or something like that. Did you experience anything like that?

[mitsugirly]

Hubby (Jkirkn) is right, I was off on my estimate of the drive to be that long from the condo we stayed at to the bio bay. You can see on the map that he posted that the El Conquistador Resort is right by the bio bay.

 

We didn't really walk around Luquillo. We drove to the kioskos and there was parking where we stopped, right behind the kioskos. There is a better public beach that is just to the east of the kioskos that I believe charges for parking, but has restrooms etc so it's probably worth it. (I don't know the cost for sure, but I believe I read somewhere that it was only $5 or something like that) We ate at one of the restaurants at the kioskos so we just stayed there. The beach is nice..the water is very calm there which is what we liked about. The water isn't crystal clear like other beaches we've been to since then, but it's still a nice place to spend a few hours, and it is very pretty with big palm trees and nice sand. Right behind the kioskos there is a lot of coral right along the shore. I'm pretty sure the beach that you have to pay to park at doesn't have the coral so it might be better.

 

Homeaway is affiliated with VRBO I believe.

 

The kioskos are basically just shopping, bars and restaurants. It's a long stretch of little stalls all connected together...maybe 50-60 stalls, but a lot of them are similar to each other, selling the same types of foods.

 

If you only stay one night near the bio bay, I would recommend staying in Old San Juan for the night before the cruise. If you do that you may not even need the rental car the 2nd day, as there is very little parking in Old San Juan and there is plenty to do that you can walk to. There is a Sheraton very close to the cruise pier. There are also a lot of smaller boutique type hotels in the area if you want something more authentic. There just really isn't a beach in Old San Juan so keep that in mind.

 

We felt very comfortable in most of Puerto Rico, but the further you get from San Juan, the harder it is to find someone who speaks English, but it's not impossible.

 

There are tolls or at least 1 toll between San Juan and Luquillo, but I don't remember what the cost was. With the toll pass we didn't have to stop at all. So I'm not sure if they only take cash or what. If you were only driving to Luquillo for the one day, or only driving back and forth once you probably wouldn't need to pay for the toll pass. We opted for it because of the other driving we did further south on the island.

 

 

Thanks for the description of the kiosks. I had a feeling that's what they were, but wasn't sure.

 

The more I think about it, the more I believe I will probably enjoy staying in Isla Verde and just rent a car to drive to Luquillo Beach and the bio bay. I am starting to think I also want to go the the rain forest. I loved your pictures of that as well. Is there different ways to go there (in the car) and you just pick a route and drive until you see something you want to stop and get out and look at? Or do you just drive in and park and walk everywhere? Gosh I don't want to get lost. LOL Any suggestions? Are there markers along the way to tell you different places to go.

 

 

 

Actually I think the last time we were there (Sept. 2015) they told me that they no longer have toll booths and that you HAVE to have the electronic toll pass thingy to use the toll roads. I'm pretty sure there weren't any booths when we went through.

 

There are always ways around and old highways to avoid the toll roads though...but they are not as fast and tend to have lots of stop lights now.

 

I imagine that the car rental place would be able to tell us about this pass and whether or not we need it right? If they have done away with the booths, I guess that makes it an easier decision. :D

[JKirkN]

Thanks so much for this information. I forgot all about using googlemaps to get the distances. I didn't know until tonight that there was a button on there to "send to phone". I'll have to map out everything before hand and send it to our phones.

.

.

.

You see we were told that before our prior cruise here back in March and we took our phones with us to the beach a Numero Uno so that we could get service and we couldn't get anything at all. :( We ended up using the resorts wifi that day. Maybe we just didn't know what we were doing. LOL (Big possibility). I assume you have to take it off the airplane mode of course (and off wifi if you're not in a building on it) and if my memory serves me right, our phones kept asking us to verify something or if we wanted to do something (which freaked us out thinking it was going to charge us extra or roaming charges) so we kept telling it no. I think it was telling us we were out of area or something like that. Did you experience anything like that?

 

If you go up into the rain forest or to the edges of the island, coverage can be spotty or nothing at all (valleys in the rain forest are dead zones... but they also have a lot of towers, so it's getting better all the time...) But it worked pretty well for us.

 

You can leave wifi on...it won't do anything unless you connect to something (if it's available) Definitely take it off of airplane mode...that turns off the phone part basically... Just use it like you would at home. There are some places that might incur roaming charges, but you have to be way the heck out of town for that... so you should be fine...

 

Data is pretty decent...I don't think they had 4g...I think it was just 3g, but I'm not positive... but it was plenty fast for GPS and looking for restaurants or attractions.

 

Btw, be prepared for some harrowing adventures if you take any of the back roads into the rain forest. I LOVED it, but it scared the living daylights out of my wife! 40-50 degree roads (or more) and no shoulder, just a cliff with a hundred foot drop or more... roads that barely fit your car, let alone the one coming towards you... But the views make it worth it!

[JKirkN]

Thanks for the description of the kiosks. I had a feeling that's what they were, but wasn't sure.

 

The more I think about it, the more I believe I will probably enjoy staying in Isla Verde and just rent a car to drive to Luquillo Beach and the bio bay. I am starting to think I also want to go the the rain forest. I loved your pictures of that as well. Is there different ways to go there (in the car) and you just pick a route and drive until you see something you want to stop and get out and look at? Or do you just drive in and park and walk everywhere? Gosh I don't want to get lost. LOL Any suggestions? Are there markers along the way to tell you different places to go.

 

 

I imagine that the car rental place would be able to tell us about this pass and whether or not we need it right? If they have done away with the booths, I guess that makes it an easier decision. :D

 

It's marked fairly well...but sometimes it's easy to miss the markers... but it's well worth the trip...and if you get lost, just start going down... you'll eventually hit a town and be able to figure it out from there :)

 

Here's how we got there from Isla Verde

 

 

And here's how we got there from Luquillo

 

 

 

I might have been wrong about the toll booths...or maybe the guy was just trying to sell me on the pass thingy...but it's still worth getting that so you don't have to worry about the toll roads... Especially since you would get a ticket if you didn't pay and they'd charge your card for that later...

[mitsugirly]

If you go up into the rain forest or to the edges of the island, coverage can be spotty or nothing at all (valleys in the rain forest are dead zones... but they also have a lot of towers, so it's getting better all the time...) But it worked pretty well for us.

 

You can leave wifi on...it won't do anything unless you connect to something (if it's available) Definitely take it off of airplane mode...that turns off the phone part basically... Just use it like you would at home. There are some places that might incur roaming charges, but you have to be way the heck out of town for that... so you should be fine...

 

Data is pretty decent...I don't think they had 4g...I think it was just 3g, but I'm not positive... but it was plenty fast for GPS and looking for restaurants or attractions.

 

Btw, be prepared for some harrowing adventures if you take any of the back roads into the rain forest. I LOVED it, but it scared the living daylights out of my wife! 40-50 degree roads (or more) and no shoulder, just a cliff with a hundred foot drop or more... roads that barely fit your car, let alone the one coming towards you... But the views make it worth it!

 

Awesome. Thanks!

 

I read that in the review about the cliff-hangers, small roads and no shoulder. :eek: I will freak out! Seriously. Are there a lot of roads like this? Are they one way roads or something? I remember we took a trip to Smokey Mountains in a huge extended Suburban that we had that year (7 years ago) and we followed this path that went WAY up in the mountains and had roads just like you described. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. There was an opening at one point and we pulled over where I would sit for a good 1/2 hour trying to talk myself into getting back into the truck to continue. It was so scary and not really something I want to experience again. Hopefully these roads in the rain forest have regular roads that you can take instead of the cliff roads. Will you know you're about to go on this type of road BEFORE you head down it? I don't want to get on the road and all of a sudden it's so small you can't go back. :eek:

 

It's marked fairly well...but sometimes it's easy to miss the markers... but it's well worth the trip...and if you get lost, just start going down... you'll eventually hit a town and be able to figure it out from there :)

 

Here's how we got there from Isla Verde

 

 

 

And here's how we got there from Luquillo

 

 

 

 

I might have been wrong about the toll booths...or maybe the guy was just trying to sell me on the pass thingy...but it's still worth getting that so you don't have to worry about the toll roads... Especially since you would get a ticket if you didn't pay and they'd charge your card for that later...

 

Thanks for the maps and info. I appreciate it.

 

Is there a place somewhere there in PR that they give you maybe a map of the rain forest? Kinda like the little site-seeing maps that will show different interest that are must-see things?:confused:

[qzyksw]

I 1st read your Splendor review. I was so impressed, I had to read this one. Thanks for the good read. I am in awe on how much you know about each stop and what to do. I liked the last of your trip about PR and OSJ. We will be going in March and just walking around. I think the forts are 1 mile from each other so the family can make that walk. Not that we are fit...but we are "in training' by walking around our neighborhood. It is a 2 mile hike. So hopefully be ready. Not sure due to the heat...So old mom and dad might need some breaks.

 

Do you have any suggestions about OSJ and the forts?

[valentinebaby1]

I 1st read your Splendor review. I was so impressed, I had to read this one. Thanks for the good read. I am in awe on how much you know about each stop and what to do. I liked the last of your trip about PR and OSJ. We will be going in March and just walking around. I think the forts are 1 mile from each other so the family can make that walk. Not that we are fit...but we are "in training' by walking around our neighborhood. It is a 2 mile hike. So hopefully be ready. Not sure due to the heat...So old mom and dad might need some breaks.

 

Do you have any suggestions about OSJ and the forts?

 

Aw, thank you! We do TONS of research before cruising. I know some people just wing it when they get there, but we'd prefer to know everything we can in advance. It helps pass the time between cruises too.

 

We did walk a long ways around OSJ on our 2nd trip and hubby can walk and walk and walk without issues. Me, not so much. So we stopped often and it seemed like there were lots of places with shade and benches and little fountains and pretty things to see, so that made it bearable. Now there is a free trolley that runs through OSJ and you can get maps for it in a lot of the shops and restaurants. The problem we found with using the trolley was that it didn't run often enough and was usually pretty full, but it is still an option. If you make it to the forts from the cruise port, it's mostly uphill in that direction, so coming back would be much easier. It might be possible to get a cab from the port to take you to the first fort, just to get you over that "hump" of walking uphill there. I'm not sure you HAVE to see both forts, one is probably sufficient. If you see San Crisobal, it's a little smaller but you'd be able to see your ship from port and get neat views. It's also a slightly closer walk. If you see San Felipe del Morrow, I think it's more iconic, but a further walk and no view of your ship from there. It has a long expansive walkway to get there but that's all the big green stretch of land that people use to fly kites so it's very pretty. Hope that info helps!

[CruisinCrow]

As we drove through Castries we saw several landmarks including the large Samaan tree that is said to be over 400 years old. They call it the Massav Tree. The story behind it is that there was a tourist who asked a local what the name of the tree was, and the local replied "massav", which means "I don't know". So the name stuck!

 

Oh my goodness, that is too funny. On our first trip to St Lucia, we went scuba diving. We asked our dive guide about a fish we'd seen and he said it was a "massav fish". I think that was in 2001 (?) but I always remember it.

 

I know this is an older review but we booked a last minute cruise on Liberty for next week and I'm soaking up all the info I can get. Love all the pictures!

[CruisinCrow]

Here's another last time/this time comparison for you...Maho Beach 2013

 

 

Maho "Beach" 2015:

 

 

 

Wow, that's wild. Here's Maho Beach in April 2015. I wonder what happened between April and October.

 

[valentinebaby1]

Oh my goodness, that is too funny. On our first trip to St Lucia, we went scuba diving. We asked our dive guide about a fish we'd seen and he said it was a "massav fish". I think that was in 2001 (?) but I always remember it.

 

I know this is an older review but we booked a last minute cruise on Liberty for next week and I'm soaking up all the info I can get. Love all the pictures!

 

I don't recall if I posted this earlier, and I'm too lazy to go look, but the first time I heard "Massav Tree" I thought they were saying massive tree, and that it was just named that because it was huge! lol

 

Thanks for reading! It's nice to hear it when someone digs this out the archives :)

[valentinebaby1]

Wow, that's wild. Here's Maho Beach in April 2015. I wonder what happened between April and October.

 

 

That is a huge difference in only a couple of months. I swear I read or heard somewhere that they bring the sand in every few months because it gets eroded away from the jet blasts...and I've heard it has something to do with the tide and weather, so I really don't know but I've always been curious.

[pghsteelerfan]

So happy to see this pop up again. Guess what I did yesterday? I didn't read word for word this time, but did enjoy going through to re-live one of our favorite cruises. So glad we got to sail together and hope to again. :)