Sailing from San Juan - questions

[Ektor]

Ok guys, here's a great map I found on the PR Convention Center website...it looks to be pretty informative and interactive, too.

 

http://map.mapnetwork.com/destination/puertorico/prcc1/

 

First click on "San Juan" in a column to the left of the page. If you zoom in with the "Convention Center" aligned to the center of the map, you'll see inmediately the runway of Isla Grande Airport. The Pan American Terminal is located just above of where it says "Isla Grande Airport" in small letters and right below the "San Antonio Spring" lettering. If you zoom out, you can see the San Juan Islet and even the route to and from the airport, with Condado and Isla Verde in between. I'm a local so if you have any more questions regarding great places to visit, shop and eat in our beautiful island, well...just let me know. :)

[Ektor]

So then the PanAM harbor is closer to the airport and hotels or further.

 

I need to find a good map that kinda lays out the area. I always need to know where we are at!! I assume then we could taxi to the pier and then walk around to sailing time??

 

If you want to walk around the historical district of Old San Juan, you'll need to take a taxi from the Pan Am Terminal. You can also explore the Convention Center District, filled with gardens, fountains and some great photo ops of the Convention Center itself and the entrance to the islet of San Juan. In 2009 a new Sheraton resort will open right in front of the Convention Center, literally steps away from the Pan Am pier.

[waterbugohio]

I was looking at a map on my streets & trips and it shows 2 airports. One Luis Munoz, one Isla Granda.

 

Which one is "San Juan airport"? I just checked SJU in Expedia.

[wrp96]

SJU is Luis Munoz.

[Ektor]

I was looking at a map on my streets & trips and it shows 2 airports. One Luis Munoz, one Isla Granda.

 

Which one is "San Juan airport"? I just checked SJU in Expedia.

 

Luis Muñoz Marín Intl' Airport = San Juan Airport (located in Isla Verde, 10 mins. from the Pan Am Terminal)

 

Isla Grande Airport = regional airport (right beside the Pan Am Terminal...use it as point of reference when browsing through the maps)

[waterbugohio]

Great map Ektor, thanks.

 

Kinda getting a feel for San Juan now. Will keep researching. Is there a "rougher section" to avoid hotels??

[Coralc]

Best map and info, originally posted by Alexis and developed by CC member...

 

The Link is here:

 

http://www.langland.org/cruises/sanjuan.asp

 

:D

[puertorican]

Try to stay in Old SJU if want to be close to the history. But if you want to be more close to the beach, then go for the Isla Verde Area.

[waterbugohio]

So, if you want to do both, are the taxi's reliable and how expensive??

[waterbugohio]

another question: Has anybody stayed at the Comfort Inn. We have points there for a free night, but the website doesn't look like a great hotel. We are not over picky, just need a clean, safe room

[toonjie]

Guys, go to the San Juan board here at CC for info on bidding on Priceline for San Juan Hotels. (Also betterbidding.com) The short of it is that Priceline only has resorts in San Juan so if you select only resorts and bid, you can bid and if it is not accepted, you can simply add a new area anywhere on the island and enter another bid, this gives you multiple bids in one day. Most people are getting the Marriott, Caribe Hilton or the Intercontinental for $135 or less a night. All of these are much nicer than the Sheraton! We got the Marriott for $110 a night for our upcoming May cruise on the AOS. (For $25 a night at the Marriott you can upgrade to an ocean view!)

RCI ships that visit San Juan usually dock at the piers downtown, RCI ships that are homeported in San Juan dock at the Pan Am Pier.

Hotel El Convento is another great one that hasn't been mentioned in this thread. It is expensive, but bid on Priceline for a 4 * and only in Old San Juan and you may get lucky. Priceline 3 * only in Old San Juan is most likely the Sheraton, but you never know, check with betterbidding.com to get the best guess.

[kc320]

another question: Has anybody stayed at the Comfort Inn. We have points there for a free night, but the website doesn't look like a great hotel. We are not over picky, just need a clean, safe room

 

Not yet but we have a night booked there for our May 4th AOS cruise.. when do you sail? The reviews on tripadvisor looked ok and there are places to eat on the property so we won't need to get a cab for anything other than going to the ship...

[toonjie]

another question: Has anybody stayed at the Comfort Inn. We have points there for a free night, but the website doesn't look like a great hotel. We are not over picky, just need a clean, safe room

 

Check TripAdvisor and save your points for here in the US! There are too many great hotels and too many ways to get them inexpensively to bother with Comfort Inn. See my above post and the San Juan board to get some ideas!

 

Old San Juan is absolutely fantastic, both day and night. A must do is a visit to El Morro and for the admission fee you can also visit Fort San Christobol with its incredible underground tunnel system.

[waterbugohio]

kc,

 

we have over a year before sailing, 11/08 on serenade.

 

I will not book hotel until a couple of months out. Just checking things out right now. May watch for you after your cruise.

 

toonjie, thanks for your advice. Will check out these places. Not real familiar with price line, but may have to try it out. Do you get to confirm before you accept or do you bid on a 4 * and once you get the bid it is yours!!

[micdee]

Ok guys, here's a great map I found on the PR Convention Center website...it looks to be pretty informative and interactive, too.

 

http://map.mapnetwork.com/destination/puertorico/prcc1/

 

First click on "San Juan" in a column to the left of the page. If you zoom in with the "Convention Center" aligned to the center of the map, you'll see inmediately the runway of Isla Grande Airport. The Pan American Terminal is located just above of where it says "Isla Grande Airport" in small letters and right below the "San Antonio Spring" lettering. If you zoom out, you can see the San Juan Islet and even the route to and from the airport, with Condado and Isla Verde in between. I'm a local so if you have any more questions regarding great places to visit, shop and eat in our beautiful island, well...just let me know. :)

 

Great map for showing where all the hotels are, thanks!:)

[volleyballmom87]

we stayed at the coral princess in the condado district, one nite prior and two nites after our empress sailing. about $150 and a good breakfast included. the hotel is about equal distance from the pan-am pier and the airport and old san juan. we did walking tours of old san juan and loved the forts (we toured both). we did spent a little on taxis to get around. good resturants in the condado area, too. we were going to take the rainforest tour but they never arrived at the hotel to pick us up as planned, so old san juan recieved our attention. we enjoyed san juan.

 

happy sailing

gary

 

good to know...we have reservations at the coral princess before and after our Christmas Cruise

[Kimmer727]

I have just read a horrible review on the Adventure of the Seas. This guy said "Aquahound" that the ship was overrun with Puerto Ricans who were "gang member" types and literally took over the ship - and even vandalized some parts of it. Has anybody else had this experience sailing out of San Juan? I have sailed out of San Juan twice and NEVER experienced this - and we do have a cruise coming up in April leaving from there.

[toonjie]

kc,

 

we have over a year before sailing, 11/08 on serenade.

 

I will not book hotel until a couple of months out. Just checking things out right now. May watch for you after your cruise.

 

toonjie, thanks for your advice. Will check out these places. Not real familiar with price line, but may have to try it out. Do you get to confirm before you accept or do you bid on a 4 * and once you get the bid it is yours!!

 

Yes, first thing I would do is check out all the hotels so you know which ones you want and which ones you don't and then peruse the sticky in the San Juan boards here on CC to see what people are getting. Also familiarize yourself with Priceline: The 2 main sites are betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com. With priceline you bid and if it accepted, you pay in full in advance. You never know for sure what hotel you will get and that is why the above mentioned sites have developed. On them they have folders for each state and country, etc. and they tell you all the different hotels according to their star numbers. You can post the exact description of the hotel facilities that you get on Hotwire or Priceline and they will tell you their best guess. You may get a great deal this far out since November is low season, but usually 2 months out is the best for bidding as long as you are not going in peak season. I won my bids last August, but that is because May is very slow.

[toonjie]

SkyAuction is another great tool to use and that lets you know what you are getting in advance. I used SkyAuction for my post-cruise stay because we wanted to be in the Fajardo area near the rainforest and biobay, but we only wanted the Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort (formerly Westin) and not El Conquistador. There was not way to guarantee which resort we would get on Priceline, both were coming up in all the forums. So I used SkyAuction and got a room for $130 a night when the hotel website was going for around $359! With SkyAuction you just have to read the auction carefully and make sure the dates you want are not blacked out. If you win and the dates are not blacked out and the hotel does not have availability, then you get your money back.

 

So even though SanJuan area hotel prices are ridiculous, people in the know don't pay full price and there are some great ways to get discounts. Using rewards points is also a great idea. When I get enough Marriott Rewards, I'm going to try the new Renaissance La Concha, that should be a new major player on the bidding sites once it opens.

[waterbugohio]

thanks for the info.

 

between researching hotels and excursions, I don't get much else done.

[toonjie]

thanks for the info.

 

between researching hotels and excursions, I don't get much else done.

 

LOL. Me either, but it's so much fun! :) I've got 2 cruises and a week at Disney World coming up over the next year and a half and it is like a part-time job!

[dream41180]

Hi,

I just booked Da House in Old SAN jUAN. I decided to take a chance. It is right next door to a salsa club so I am told and read it is for those seeking nightlife. The hotel looks wonderful and the reviews were great. Some of the rooms do not face the side with the salsa club so they are normal in sound threshold considering you are in a downtown area and not the country. The total with tax was 112 so if you are on a budget and dont go to bed at sunset and dont mind a little loud music it might be an option. I will write up a review when I get back, but I dont go til April.

[Bakincakes]

I have just read a horrible review on the Adventure of the Seas. This guy said "Aquahound" that the ship was overrun with Puerto Ricans who were "gang member" types and literally took over the ship - and even vandalized some parts of it. Has anybody else had this experience sailing out of San Juan? I have sailed out of San Juan twice and NEVER experienced this - and we do have a cruise coming up in April leaving from there.

 

He isn't the first one to have this experience. There is another thread regarding his experiences on this board now. Other posters have had the same issues on the AOS out of SJ.

 

Seems like this kind of behavior is limited to the AOS and not Serenade. Someone posted that RCI runs "fire sales" to fill the AOS out of SJ and the ship is loaded with people who take over and run rampant.

 

Here is a link to the thread..http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=648749

[waterbugohio]

hope you are correct in it not being the serenade. Why would they run the special on just one ship??

 

I was hoping for low sales on our 11/08 cruise and maybe get a price drop. But in hearing this, I would rather stick with the price I paid and have a full ship without any last minute special for gangs, etc.

[Bakincakes]

hope you are correct in it not being the serenade. Why would they run the special on just one ship??

 

I was hoping for low sales on our 11/08 cruise and maybe get a price drop. But in hearing this, I would rather stick with the price I paid and have a full ship without any last minute special for gangs, etc.

 

 

No one has posted about these issues on the Serenade...so it is an assumption that these things haven't been happening on her.:confused: