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sparrowgirl

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Hello!

 

I just recently found Cruise Critic, and have enjoyed reading your posts! Quite a few of them have had me laughing out loud here at work. :) (Much to the amusement of co-workers....)

 

I'm new to the board, but not new to Princess. I took my first cruise with them in November of last year. (Dawn Princess..Southern Caribbean) I absolutely fell in love with cruising!

 

My next cruise is coming up soon, and I'm so excited!!!!! I leave from San Juan on Halloween aboard the Golden Princess. Can't wait!

 

I fly into San Juan on Friday, so I have two days there. Any tips on good things to see/do?

 

Thanks!

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Welcome sparrowgirl! I'm sure you'll hear from someone regarding some great ideas on what to do in San Juan. We had very little time there before we sailed on the Dawn Princess a couple of years ago (also Southern!), so I really can't help out. Just wanted to welcome you to the CC boards!

 

 

TinaLee

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Welcome to the Boards Sparrowgirl and enjoy the ride. We were in San Juan for 2 days this past Feb and loved it. The 1st day we just hung around the hotel (Wyndham Condado) the second day we went into OSJ and took the free trolley to El Morro Castle and into the city and enjoyed lunch at Barrachina and walked the city. Have a great time and if you have any questions please ask.

 

Debbie

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The most memorable experience I had in San Juan was a night-time kayak trip to a bioluminescent bay. We did this as a shore excursion from another line. Total trip took about 6 hours from port, including transportation to the area. If I recall, transportation was close to 1.5 hr each way. If you are interested in that kind of activity, I can provide more information.

[note: my DH and I are active 55+'ers and had never been kayaking but successfully made this trip without mishap! that in itself was an achievement!]

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We will be in San Juan a day pre/post in mid-October. Last year we went to Old San Juan and the fort and enjoyed it. The Bacardi plant also offers a free tour that can be fun.

 

I was thinking of the bioluminescent trip post cruise this year. kruizenfool - any chance you could give me some details on rates and companies to contact - or did you book through the CL? (PS we are also 50's and my husband loves kayaking and anything scientific - I figured he'd love this!)Thanks!

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Hello!

 

I just recently found Cruise Critic, and have enjoyed reading your posts! Quite a few of them have had me laughing out loud here at work. :) (Much to the amusement of co-workers....)

 

I'm new to the board, but not new to Princess. I took my first cruise with them in November of last year. (Dawn Princess..Southern Caribbean) I absolutely fell in love with cruising!

 

My next cruise is coming up soon, and I'm so excited!!!!! I leave from San Juan on Halloween aboard the Golden Princess. Can't wait!

 

I fly into San Juan on Friday, so I have two days there. Any tips on good things to see/do?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Welcome to Princess and Cruise Critic

 

I think you've found the best source of information there is on both cruising and Princess. Here's a link to our review of the Golden Princess. We were on a different itinerary but the stuff about the ship is the same.

 

http://www.lifeiscruising.com/golden_princess1

 

We enjoyed San Juan (another ship) several years ago. One thing not to miss is simply a stroll around the streets of old San Juan. Lots of great architecture and history there that's not to be missed.

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Welcome, Sparrowgirl! You're going to love both the Golden and San Juan -

and you're going to get wonderful info here that will make it even better. My friend Tish and I were in San Juan pre-cruise in July and fell so madly in love with Old San Juan that we wished we had planned a longer stay. We literally never left OSJ in the two days we were there, so I can't comment on the beaches, etc. But the old city is beautiful and charming - and compact and really easy to get around in. We walked everywhere! There are fabulous restaurants and beautiful shops. We just wandered and explored and shopped. We stayed at the beautiful El Convento, which is in the heart of OSJ. I would definitely recommend it, if not for a stay, at least for a drink in the beautiful bar! Have a fabulous time! Donia

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OK...this is probably more than anyone wanted to know about our bio-lum tour, but here goes.

 

We did the tour as a HAL shore excursion - paid $69 pp. The mini-bus left the dock about 4:00 pm. When we arrived at our harbor destination, we did see groups there with tour companies other than the one that had contracted with HAL (our ship was the only one in port beyond sunset) so I assume it's not too difficult to find one. Our tour of about 20 kayaks was led by a young man who was formerly US military stationed in PR and had decided to make his home there; he was very competent giving instruction to those of us who had never kayaked. He had several assistants who were very helpful as well. We all donned life vests and applied insect repellant liberally.

 

We never felt in danger even though we were a little "anxious" about the possibility of "flipping" our kayak! [it never happened!]

 

We launched our kayaks, with assistance, from the beach at the harbor and then navigated single-file through canals in the mangroves....very exciting in the dark...you use the blinking light on the kayak in front of you as a beacon. Stars were out along with a sliver of a new moon in an absolutely clear sky. During this time, you could see fish swimming in the water around your kayak and around the mangrove roots because the fish were lit up by the bioluminescent critters excited by the movement of the fish [i'm talking about 1-2 ft long fish]. Every dip of the paddle would stir up light in the water....it was beautiful and awesome.

 

Once we got through the mangroves to the actual bay, we "rafted up" all the kayaks to listen to our leader give a little talk and an explanation of what we were seeing. He was very knowledgeable and respectful of the ecology. His assistants got into the water and swam around the kayaks, making everything light up. You could dip your hand into the water and millions of tiny lights went on!

 

There were several tours on gas-powered craft out the same night we were there and our leader explained that the pollution from them was threatening the existence of this natural phenomena (one of the few left in the western hemisphere). If you're not the kayak kind of person, I believe there are possibly some tours that use craft with electric motors that don't pose the pollution problem.

 

We had a light snack [water from plastic pouches and "rainforest" snackbars] and began our paddle back through the mangroves. Assistants on the beach helped us out of our kayaks, we boarded our mini-bus and, exhausted and exhilarated, slept all the way back to the ship, arriving about 10pm [ship sailed at midnight]. Fortunately, after cleaning up and getting into dry clothes, we found the buffet still open where we ravenously devoured a LOT of food [that rainforest snackbar didn't quite make up for dinner].

 

Not only was this the most memorable activity for us in San Juan, but, with the possible exception of seeing our ship sail over the horizon [as we're standing on shore!] in Villefranche, this may have been our most memorable shore activity on ANY cruise [we've been on 20+].

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Welcome, Sparrowgirl. You are going to luv this board. Everyone is very helpful. I might advise you that in San Juan it can be very hot & humid. I know you are in the Carribean and you want warm weather, but sometimes it is alittle too much (at least for me).

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Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Glad to see you stumbled upon this place, you'll be glad you did! Outside of the fact that only the coolest people that absolutely love cruising congregate here, you will learn a ton about cruising!

 

The search tool is invaluable, and there are quite a few websites made by members here that are just fantastic! Myerhaus has the patters and menus site, where you can find virtually any patter or any menu for Princess ships. CruisingIsLife has Lifeiscruising.com which is a big wealth of information, everything from how to ::gasp:: smuggle booze to port of call information, etc.

 

Enjoy your time here, it won't be long before you're addicted and your focus on work goes way down as your time on these boards goes way up!

 

Welcome again! Glad to have ya!

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