Overnight in Puerto Rico before Cruise

[penny3333]

Bub, we've spent a good amount of time there. There are definitely some places you shouldn't stop in, but there are many that are fine. If you speak Spanish, it will be a HUGE help. They do have their own version, just like any other country. Cuba speaks different than Puerto Rico, etc., but you'll be able to understand most of it. There are a lot of great little bistros all over the place. We spent time in Condado, Old San Juan, and Ponce. Their coffee is REALLY strong. I, too, hope Cas can give you some names. I've slept too many times to remember the places we've stopped.

[Casanova frankenstein]

Ok San Juan is a difficult place and believe me you have to be careful where to stop, not all the places are safe to do so. If you stay on the places near the principal road well you should not have any problem.

Usually on San Juan there is a lot of traffic so that will depends on the time of the day. Renting car on the island is easy, as mike the kid tells you, just after arriving there are a few rental places outside. As for driving on Puerto Rico, San Juan is not one of my favorite places to drive the people can go crazy depending on the hour of the day. Also most of the signs on San Juan now are changing to english insted of spanish for the tourists son in the future you will not have any trouble finding places on San Juan but on the rest of the island they will be on spanish not much to do there...

There are very nice places outside of San Juan and interesting places like:

* Arecibo radio radar station (1:30 hr. from San Juan)



*Porta Coeli on San German: A church an a similar town like old San Juan (3 hr from San Juan)



* "Las Cascadas" Acuatic park (2 hr from San Juan)



If you are looking for pubs and bars, well that will depend where in Puerto Rico you are, Here on the west side of the island there a lot of them and safer than the ones on San Juan problem is we are like 2 hour per travel from it.

[gabbyw]

We are stationed here in Puerto Rico and have been here for almost three years. There are very nice hotels in Condado and Isla Verde if you want to be on the beach. I would not recommend a taxi for getting to the rainforest. It is a long way and you will want your car (or a tour bus) for getting up into the trails. You only have to pay the entrance fee if you go to the visitors center. It is nice, has a movie about the rainforest, free trail maps, and a giftshop. Otherwise you can just drive straight up the mountain. You do want to wear good walking shoes, bring water, and a bathing suit if you plan to get in the water or falls.
Otherwise I recommend Old San Juan to get a feel for PR. You can walk to the fort (El Morro) and watch the movie which gives a good history. There are lots of good little shops, restaurants, and bars. The walk along La Princessa (at the base of the fort-along the water) is a very nice walk.
Hope this helps.

[mooneydiva]

We did the Adventure of the Seas cruise in 2005 and the Victory in Nov., and both left from San Juan. In 2005, we stayed at the Marriott, and last month we stayed at Le Consulat. Both are in the Condado section. For the difference in money (about $200 per night), I'd stay at Le Consulat.
They are about 2-3 blocks away from each other.

The Marriott is on the beach, and Le Consulat is land-locked, but that didn't bother us. We walked the few blocks and enjoyed the beach anyway. Restaurants abound in that area (Try Danny's Pizza.), and you can find information about tours to many areas at the hotels.

We liked the room at Le Consulat a lot even though it was small (so was the Marriott). It was recently remodeled and very clean/comfortable.

Hope this helps!

[Dwayne]

San Juan has a great (did the last time I used it) public bus system. I've used it to go over to Condado a few times from the cruise terminal area. Exact change required! The people are very friendly from my experiences. I asked directions once to the bus stop in the Walgreen's over at Condado and they went out of their way to help me.

Dwayne

[Bub]

Thanks so much to all of you, really appreaciate the tips and advice. If you can think of anything else that might help us out,please post.

Bub