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visiting san Juan


usafun

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We're going to a couple of places, one of which is Roatan , we "may" go to the port, but other than that, may just stay on the ship! From what I've heard, so many stay on the ship & relax with so much the ship has to offer. Just "My" thoughts though & you can see what others come up with also!

Enjoy❣️

KimS

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I am debating what t do as well..as we are there from only 7am-2pm....so limited time for sure...we wanted to have a whole day to explore SJ as never been there.......exploring on your own is an option....Royal has a Cpl tours offered that seemed ok and a fair price and took 2.5 hrs so still some time to explore on your own as well.

 

Back on the ship at 1:30pm for us makes for a short/quick stay there which is a little disappointing for sure.

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We've never done a shore excursion in San Juan.  You can go to El Morro (walk or taxi) which is $7 per adult and my kids have enjoyed it and offers some great views.  Then walk leisurely back through Old San Juan to the ship.  The walk back to the ship is all downhill so it makes it a very easy walk through shops, etc.  

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3 minutes ago, Fuzzywuzzy said:

We were just looking at San Juan excursions today for our July 2020 sailing. Looking forward to the replies and suggestions.

We were recently there on the Allure and took the “Old and New San Juan” excursion. Included a variety of sites in a short period of time and the guide was very informative. Our party of 4 enjoyed it!

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we decided on a self tour, and ill appriciate some help from those who familiar with s.j to help with time frame.

first we go to the old & new city, and then we would like to see the fortresses and finally, go to the bacardi factory.

the question is how to split the time and can we manage to see more then 1 fortress?

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29 minutes ago, usafun said:

first we go to the old & new city, and then we would like to see the fortresses and finally, go to the bacardi factory.

I really doubt you could do all of that in 5 hours, at least not if you plan to also have lunch while you're there. And be sure it's really 5 hours; all-aboard time is always 30 minutes before departure time, and you need to allow some padding in front of that for getting through security at the port entrance and waiting in line to board the ship.

El Morro is closest to the port, and will itself take at least 90 minutes between walking there at a normal pace and giving enough time to explore the fortress even half-decently. There are two levels there, and you'll likely find yourself exploring the walls around the field that surrounds the fortress and looking in the guard vestibules that give nice views to the cemetery down below.

San Cristobal is further away; haven't done that one, but IIRC you have to walk pretty much the entire way down the path that hugs the coastline at the bottom of the wall.

I'd personally recommend starting off going to El Morro since that's an uphill walk, explore the fortress, then make your way back through the old city by way of the town center square and historic barracks like we had done on my visit there last April. Lots to see, including the pigeon park, and plenty of chances to stop somewhere for lunch. Restaurants don't really get going much before 12, so you may have to "settle" for grabbing something from a street cart to be sure you're back on board by the 1:30 all-aboard time (assuming your ship departs at 2 PM). If you really want to maximize your time, get up as early as possible to hit the Windjammer as soon as it's open and get off the ship the moment you're cleared to leave.

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On 7/30/2019 at 3:45 PM, usafun said:

we do not intend to waste time for a full meal when wee have only 5 hrs

and wher exactly is the pier when we arrive? i try to figure maybe the best will be to take a cab once we start our tour to save time on firs destination.

The ship will be docked directly in front of the Sheraton Old San Juan and there will be plenty of taxi's as well as other vendors trying to sell you excursions. See map below.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sheraton+Old+San+Juan+Hotel/@18.4621272,-66.1120039,17z/data=!4m15!1m6!3m5!1s0x8c036ec438f4875b:0x26fd083b4ad73035!2sSan+Juan+Cruise+Port+Terminal!8m2!3d18.4621221!4d-66.1098152!3m7!1s0x0:0xc5be878252d1157c!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d18.463976!4d-66.1125201?hl=en

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We were there in 2018 and hadn't planned any excursions, but when we saw how close we had docked to Old Fort, we got off the ship.  Walked uphill to the Old Fort and paid the $5.00 entry fee per person for a self-guided tour.  It was very interesting.  That $5.00 gets you entrance to the New Fort too.  AND a free trolley between the two.  The New Fort had great views. HUGE waves crashing on the rocks. Then the trolley brings you back to the ship.   All for $5.00.  We poked, didn't hurry at all and if I remember correctly, it only took two to three hours.   A very enjoyable and educational time.

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Hello everyone!

I've been doing research on San Juan too.  We'll be in port from 7 am - 4 pm.  We've never been there before and this is the port I'm most excited about. 

I can't walk too much, so I was hoping for a guided city tour (in an air conditioned van). I'd like to spend about 4-5 hours max and I'll be taking pictures as well - not sure what to expect ...

There are so many tour operators, so if anyone has a good recommendation, I'd appreciate it.  I'd rather not walk out and randomly pick a tour operator since I like to read up about them first. 

@JLMoran - those are some nice pictures!

 

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