Freedom out of San Juan: Nov 2019

[tonyfsu21]

We are a family of 4 (kids 3 & 6) and thinking of taking Freedom Southern Caribbean in Nov 19. I have some questions for those who have sailed out of San Juan:

1. Is there a hotel or area that is preferred (close to port, dining exc)?

2. Best way from airport to hotel and hotel to port? 

I have Hilton loyalty so that would be preferred but open to all options.

*** Not taking any budget into consideration. I am interested in the “nicest” and most convenient options as I don’t like dealing with lines, crowds exc and would rather pay to play. ***

Thanks in advance. We are looking forward to an awesome itinerary! 

[Skid]

Hey, c'mon folks. @tonyfsu21 has answered probably hundreds of questions and provided amazingly helpful details on this forum. Now he has a question. Help him out (Sorry, but I have no answers, Tony.)

 

[Ray]

Airport to hotel by taxi ( uber not allowed to pick up from airport ) 

Areas are zoned so fixed price not metered. 

Depending on your preference you can either stay in old san juan or further out at one of the beach area hotels. 

Hilton has a couple of hotels on the outskirts of old san juan, you can use uber easily to get into old san juan or to the pan pacific cruiseport. 

[puertorican]

8 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

We are a family of 4 (kids 3 & 6) and thinking of taking Freedom Southern Caribbean in Nov 19. I have some questions for those who have sailed out of San Juan:

1. Is there a hotel or area that is preferred (close to port, dining exc)?

2. Best way from airport to hotel and hotel to port? 

I have Hilton loyalty so that would be preferred but open to all options.

*** Not taking any budget into consideration. I am interested in the “nicest” and most convenient options as I don’t like dealing with lines, crowds exc and would rather pay to play. ***

Thanks in advance. We are looking forward to an awesome itinerary! 

Hello, 

Let me try to help you:

1 - There are many hotels in the area but I will recommend you the Caribe Hilton, recently re-open after Hurricane Maria, it is maybe 5 to 10 minutes away (Due to the Traffic), but Sunday, that is the day you will board the ship, it will be no problem.  Dining, besides the restaurants inside the hotel, at walking distance, is "Paseo Caribe" there are different dining venues including a Fogo de Chao. At Uber distance there are lots of other local places very interesting that you may like.

2 - From the airport (since Uber can't pick you up there) you can take a taxi, with no problems, route rates are fixed and pre negotiated and given to you by a dispatcher, the driver will honor it. After that you can use Uber with confidence around San Juan.

Please let me know if I can help you with anything else.

 

[TXcruzer]

I just returned yesterday from San Juan, this was our 4th southern itinerary from there. We always stay at the Hilton Caribe, the rooms have been renovated very nicely and the grounds are very lush and tropical. The staff are top notch. Our family tradition is to have dinner at Oceano the night before embarkation, it is a $7 Uber ride from the hotel, right on the beach, and a great place to have a 5 Star dinner and watch the sun set. 

As mentioned above Uber can not pick up at the airport so we grab a cab to the hotel, after that it is Uber all the way. 

[tonyfsu21]

6 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

I just returned yesterday from San Juan, this was our 4th southern itinerary from there. We always stay at the Hilton Caribe, the rooms have been renovated very nicely and the grounds are very lush and tropical. The staff are top notch. Our family tradition is to have dinner at Oceano the night before embarkation, it is a $7 Uber ride from the hotel, right on the beach, and a great place to have a 5 Star dinner and watch the sun set. 

As mentioned above Uber can not pick up at the airport so we grab a cab to the hotel, after that it is Uber all the way. 

Thanks. What’s the travel time from airport > Hotel> Port?

[puertorican]

1 hour ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Thanks. What’s the travel time from airport > Hotel> Port?

Airport to Caribe Hilton ~ 15 minutes

Caribe Hilton to Muelle Panamericano  ~10 minutes

[Ray]

Last nov due to the fact there were 2 cruiseships scheduled to embark/ disembark that day, it took me an hour to get from isla verde to pan american pier, left hotel at 10am arrived at ship at 11am 

[puertorican]

5 hours ago, Ray said:

Last nov due to the fact there were 2 cruiseships scheduled to embark/ disembark that day, it took me an hour to get from isla verde to pan american pier, left hotel at 10am arrived at ship at 11am 

You are completely right, but I f you tried that same route one hour later it may be a different thing, The pier access road is a nightmare due to is only one entrance and exit, but after the disembark finishes it is more easy to get in, that is why I always recommends to go to the pier close to noon, the experience is different.

[Ray]

1 hour ago, puertorican said:

You are completely right, but I f you tried that same route one hour later it may be a different thing, The pier access road is a nightmare due to is only one entrance and exit, but after the disembark finishes it is more easy to get in, that is why I always recommends to go to the pier close to noon, the experience is different.

One hour later i was on deck 11 with a Lava Flow in my hand lol 

[TXcruzer]

17 hours ago, puertorican said:

You are completely right, but I f you tried that same route one hour later it may be a different thing, The pier access road is a nightmare due to is only one entrance and exit, but after the disembark finishes it is more easy to get in, that is why I always recommends to go to the pier close to noon, the experience is different.

Last week we had our shuttle pick us up at Hilton Caribe at 10:00,  handed luggage off to the porters at 10:20, were checked in and in the waiting area by 10:45, onboard at 11:05.