Trip report 12/24 and 12/31/17

[let's go cruising]

Day 1 San Juan 12/24/17

 

 

Our flight got into the airport before 11 am. The airport was perfectly fine. On our way to pick up our luggage, I saw the RCI representative collecting people for the transfers. I don’t like using the cruise transfers, so I just asked what pier we were at, to be certain. The Rep said that we should NOT use a taxi, that we should just go with them. She said it in a way that made it seem as though there was a problem with taxi drivers there. From Cruise Critic, I knew that plenty of people had used a taxi with no problems, so I did not listen to her. We picked up a taxi for about $30. This was Christmas Eve remember. Our driver did not speak much English. We thought we had explained that we wanted to stop to pick up a couple of bottles of wine on our way, but she just took us straight to the ship. She said that either the wine store had been closed for two months, or it wouldn’t open for two months. So that was sad news, but then there was happy news! Inside the terminal, there was a wine and liquor store. DH picked up our two bottles for about $10 each. We were very happy with the way that turned out!

 

 

A word about conditions: the island was green. We saw damaged buildings and other things all over, but it wasn’t overwhelming there to see. Since it was Christmas Eve, there was very little traffic and we got right to the ship. The language barrier prevented us from talking about how things were, but we had absolutely no trouble in any way.

 

 

We were on board to the ship at 11:59 am. Total win.

 

 

Return San Juan 12/31/17

 

 

Our debarking time was 9:15, but they shooed us off the ship at 8:30.

 

 

We took a taxi to Barrachina to drop off our luggage. It was up and running perfectly.

 

 

This taxi driver had excellent English. We didn’t notice on our way in, but none of the stop lights in San Juan are working. Still. He said that many people have been hurt from accidents. We saw generators being used still in Old San Juan. I think there is sometimes confusion about electricity and generators. A lot of things are just being run by generators, so sure, they have power. Until the generator doesn’t want to work. A couple on the Jewel had their hotel cancel the day they were going to arrive because the generator wasn’t working. They had to stay in the last room at the airport hotel.

 

 

I had read that the trolley in Old San Juan was up and running again. The police officers we saw said that they weren’t. It was New Year’s Eve when we were there. They certainly weren’t running that day. We sat for over a half hour in front of the fort in the delightful shade and would have seen them.

 

 

We walked around OSJ and had a very nice time. The buildings there survived very well. As our driver said, they are hundreds of years old. This is not their first hurricane. It seems that a lack of water and electricity are the main problems being faced.

 

 

We stopped in Plaza Colon and had a snack and drink at the Rican Cuban restaurant. It was the hottest day of all, so we were wilting. DD ordered a sort of Cuban sandwich style slider. They were delicious. DH ordered a Cuban style coffee. He felt very cosmopolitan. Other DH and I just had cokes. This restaurant was very good. It looks touristy from the location, but it was really nice inside.

 

 

We headed back toward Barrachina then. We were looking for a shop called Ole, but never found it. We DID find one called The Handcraft Store across the street from Barrachina. Everything they had for sale was made by people on Puerto Rico. Many of the materials were palm debris from the hurricanes. They had a “man couch” in the back that DH spent his time, happily. They might add coffee at my suggestion. DD, DD and I all found lots of wonderful things and this is where we spent our shopping money. The young women running things that day were an absolute delight. At the end of our shopping they said they would like to go out for coffee with us. We talked about what they had gone through with the hurricanes. One of them had finally gotten actual electricity back on Christmas Eve. She had been on generator power since Sept and she has a little baby. Her generator only lasts for four hours on a tank. The line for gas was five hours long.

[the4dreamers]

Thank you for the review :)

[cltnccruisers]

Several recent threads saying the OSJ trolleys were running. Guess we'll find out when we get there. Mostly just planned to wander a bit then have dinner someplace near the pier.

[let's go cruising]

Several recent threads saying the OSJ trolleys were running. Guess we'll find out when we get there. Mostly just planned to wander a bit then have dinner someplace near the pier.

 

I know. I had read that too, so it was frustrating.

Renee