What would YOU do?

[sendtodb]

Have almost a full day (7am to 6pm) in San Juan at the end of our cruise. Guessing we'll be tired. Might be nice to have a relaxing day as opposed to a nut-house, lets-see-how-much-we-can-cram-in type of day.

 

The kicker? We have two adults, two kids (8 & 9 yrs old), and a 76-yr-old grandma. Now, the kids & grandma are active enough, so a fort walkthrough or a small amount of shopping will be fine. Just not sure about much more.

 

Thought about a private tour guide for beach and/or fort and/or a little sightseeing and/or....

 

What would you do with this group???

[green eyed lady]

I would do the Segway tour with Jose. We just did it in August and loved it! And it requires very little walking...you get to tour Old San Juan the easy way :D

[stones902]

The last time our flight left SJ we were in this situation. We ended up hiring a limo guy (acutally a towncar) right as we exited the ship to give us a private tour of the city and also a stop at El Morro.

 

Sorry I don't have his name or card but he was a very nice and honest man. I think we ended up paying him around $60. He dropped us off at the airport.

 

There are tons of these guys at the terminals as the ships are exiting / loading. You can hire any of them I would assume for about the same $$.

[wrp96]

Just an FYI, you probably won't be off the ship until mid morning so when you are planning things take that into account.

[kehlx2]

I would do the Segway tour with Jose. We just did it in August and loved it! And it requires very little walking...you get to tour Old San Juan the easy way :D

 

I agree with this message...although we got off in the first group it was close to 8:30 so we would have been fine--but our dil had a mixup in her payment & never received any information on it til we passed thru the last security & hers was flagged--as they had her down to pay by cash--I myself, added her back in Feb as credit card & everything on our end looked FINE..so this took about 45 minutes to take care of--as they had to wait in line..so we got to a taxi close to 9:30--½ hour late--but Jose was waiting for us--I DID have his number & address--but in packing up the last night I mistakingly packed that information and 411 couldnt' help me..so make sure you have his phone number if you have a cell phone & add it to your contacts BEFORE leaving home (as I should have done).(this is "just incase") also Jose speaks excellent english

[138east]

If you are interested in the Segway tour, be sure to check that your kids are old enough. You also want to check to see if you can valet check your luggage so you don't have that with you all day.

 

Two public beach options are Balneario de Escambron and Balneario de Carolina, both of which have facilities. Another possibility is the Rain Forest tour - typically this excursion will leave later in the morning and drop you off at the airport at the end. They always recommend that you have a flight after 4 pm.

 

Arranging a private tour is also an option. You could do a late lunch after the tour (2 pm?) and then take a cab to the airport.

[rainforestgirl]

Well,it looks like you have about 6 hrs (say you get off the ship at 10am and need to be at the airport at 4pm). That is plenty of time to do something.

 

Since you want to take it easy, hire a driver (there are tour companies or private taxi drivers that will do a day tour for a rate).

The rain forest is very nice, relaxing and cool, but how fit is Grandma? If she can't walk a few miles, then you miss the best parts. She might just wait for the rest of you as you walk to the waterfall..... (http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/category/rainforest/)

 

Afterwards, you can go to Monserate Balneario for a nice beach and some local fare from the kiosks. Or go to a nice restaurant for lunch (like Richie's or Bamboo).

 

 

You can tour OSJ on your own- you can take a taxi or the free trolley up to El Morro fort, then walk back (or take a trolley). But walking around will be HOT. Luckily there are a number of really nice and air conditioned museums close by. (My favorite- Museum of the Americas). Then you can shop (along Calle Cristo and Forteleza) and go to a nice meal. There are even horse and carriage tours available.

 

Segway is great, but the kids probably don't weigh enough.

 

Info:

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/category/oldsanjuan/page/2/