Pre Cruise in San Juan

Does anyone have a recommendation for a great place to stay one night before a cruise in San Juan?

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I always stay at the Sheraton Old San Juan. It's right across the street from the pier. Wake up in the morning and see the ship and just walk over there to board.

sometimes they require a two night stay. you will have to check with them. nice place.

Are you wanting to stay right in San Juan or are you wanting to maybe rent a car and visit El Yunque or other parts of Puerto Rico?

We stayed at the Yunque Mar Beach Resort in Luquillo the night before our cruise. It's not a bad drive if you arrive late morning or early afternoon. It's right on the beautiful beach. We took a night time cruise our of Fajardo to Vieques to the Bio Luminescent Bay and then the day of the cruise visited the rainforest and El Morro and Old San Juan before returning the car in the late afternoon and then boarding the ship.

My Southern Caribbean review is in my signature below. Have a fantastic time on your trip.

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We Stayed at a Marriott Courtyard. Was short Taxi drive down to the port. We left Hotel at 830 am and dropped off our bags at the Ship and then went to Rum Factory and walked around til about 7 pm til we boarded the ship. We stayed at the Courtyard because we wanted to use our Points.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a great place to stay one night before a cruise in San Juan?

We cruised the Valor in Dec. 2013; stayed 1 night prior and 3 after the cruise.

Prior to the cruise, we stayed in a hostel opposite the pier, Posada San Fancisco. They have dorms and private rooms; if you have two or more people you can get private rooms for four; baths are shared whether you stay in a dorm or private room. It is basic and inexpensive, about $40-$50 for two people including all fees and taxes.

We had a good night's sleep and checked out the next morning. They stored our luggage in a locked room after checkout. They provide this service for free if you wish to explore Old San Juan before embarkation on the ship. We left our luggage under lock & key and left to explore Old San Juan for a few hours. Came back, collected our luggage and walked over to the pier for embarkation. After depositing our luggage, had lunch on-board, then came back out to do some souvenir shopping nearby and minor stuff at CVS across the street.

This is the view from their balcony: Carnival Valor docked in the port.

It is a few blocks further than the Sheraton, a 10-15min walk with luggage. If you have a lot of luggage or have difficulty walking it will feel a lot further away. A taxi should be really cheap considering it's literally a stone's throw away.

Considering the value for the money, we would stay there every time.

Here are walking directions and a map of the area:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Posada+San+Francisco,+405+Cll+San+Francisco,+San+Juan,+00901,+Puerto+Rico/San+Juan+Cruise+Port,+San+Juan,+Puerto+Rico/@18.4642055,-66.1135051,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x8c036ec15a312377:0x377e78373fd8ba39!2m2!1d-66.11222!2d18.466478!1m5!1m1!1s0x8c036ec5b0b710a5:0xdebffafbea14ebd6!2m2!1d-66.109886!2d18.461933!3e2

Another vote for Sheraton in Old San Juan. Great location for strolling through Old San Juan. Great restaurants close by. And it definitely is very cool to wake up in the morning to see the cruise ships! There are lots of great choices for hotels - just depends on what you want to do pre-cruise.

We will be staying at the Sheraton Old San Juan for 5 nights before our cruise next June. I haven't been there yet, but I've heard it is very nice and very convenient to the cruise port. Also a great location for exploring San Juan.

We have been to San Juan as a cruise stop several times before and we are very excited to be starting our cruise there as it is one of our favorite ports. So far, we are leaning to the Sheraton because of its location to the port and also to restaurants.

We were wondering, though, if anyone has stayed in any smaller boutique type hotels in the Old San Juan area.

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Ooooo...I forgot to ask if anyone knows of a place to buy wine near the port in San Juan...

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There's a CVS near the port that sells wine. Go to google maps and search "CVS San Juan, Puerto Rico." :D

😀🍷

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We stayed twice at the Casablanca hotel maybe 5 minutes walk from the cruiseport. They also stored our luggage when we arrived early. Great decor, free continental breakfast in the morning. Just avoid rooms facing the street. Every weekend there is a street party going until wee hours. One of the best rooms we had was Ghandi room. Spacious and quiet.

There is a very good restaurant next door. If memory serves me right is called Puerto Rican Kitchen or something like that. Very good and inexpensive food. There is small supermarket few streets down where you can buy wine, beer, soda and snacks. I really liked Casablanca.

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We have been to San Juan as a cruise stop several times before and we are very excited to be starting our cruise there as it is one of our favorite ports. So far, we are leaning to the Sheraton because of its location to the port and also to restaurants.

We were wondering, though, if anyone has stayed in any smaller boutique type hotels in the Old San Juan area.

 

 

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We booked a small boutique hotel, but are still 10 days from staying there! We are easy to please though so I'm not expecting any problems. Was only $125

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147320-d151832-Reviews-Acacia_Boutique_Hotel-San_Juan_Puerto_Rico.html

We just stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott San Miramar and had an excellent room with a king bed. The price was, including all taxes, about $193. My only caveat is we told taxi ticket writer the Courtyard but the taxi driver dropped us (and apparently a lot of other people) at Hotel Miramar so if you stay at Courtyard, make sure taxi driver understands Courtyard by Marriott San Miramar - it is only a two block walk on same street but who wants to schlep all your own luggage two blocks. BTW, there is a grocery store between the two hotels that sells wine!

We were on 9th floor, room was quiet and very clean and nice. We did eat dinner in hotel but went to a local Subway for breakfast - fast and good. Do remember that English is a 2nd language - outside of the hotel where language was not a problem - we did have to be a little more careful! Learned that English is taught in private schools - not all public schools.

Luxurious Old San Juan Apartment, Calle Fortaleza, San Juan, San Juan,Puerto Rico

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4022506?checkin=02%2F20%2F2015&checkout=02%2F21%2F2015&guests=2&s=FKue

Wonderful location close (15min) walk to pier and restaurants / night clubs are in between pier and this location. Hotel Milano is right down the street and we had a meet and greet with other cruisers at the restaurant atop the hotel. Wonderful food and even better Mojitos.

Cigar lounge is across the street and there is a supermarket / drug store / department store and coffee shops up the hill about 8 minutes away.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a great place to stay one night before a cruise in San Juan?

 

 

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El Convento - never stay anywhere else when in SJ.

Just class and worth every cent of the few extra dollars.:D

We stayed twice at the Casablanca hotel maybe 5 minutes walk from the cruiseport. They also stored our luggage when we arrived early. Great decor, free continental breakfast in the morning. Just avoid rooms facing the street. Every weekend there is a street party going until wee hours. One of the best rooms we had was Ghandi room. Spacious and quiet.

There is a very good restaurant next door. If memory serves me right is called Puerto Rican Kitchen or something like that. Very good and inexpensive food. There is small supermarket few streets down where you can buy wine, beer, soda and snacks. I really liked Casablanca.

 

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Another vote for a good value budjet hotel. Drinks on the roof is a must do.

Hirent, do you happen to know how hard it would be to find parking near Posada San Francisco?

We're already booked there pre-cruise, but would also like to spend the night before heading to the airport, except we'll have a rental car at that point and I'm worried there might not be any parking nearby.

Hirent, do you happen to know how hard it would be to find parking near Posada San Francisco?

 

We're already booked there pre-cruise, but would also like to spend the night before heading to the airport, except we'll have a rental car at that point and I'm worried there might not be any parking nearby.

Parking might be difficult. There is only street parking available there.

We didn't stay there after our cruise, we stayed at a place called Dreams Hotel; it is in the middle of the city and inexpensive. $60-$70 for a double room for 4. They arranged parking nearby.

I would suggest you contact the Posada, they might have some suggestions on parking.

Chateau Cervantes was great. We stayed after our cruise but it is right behind the Old Sheraton. Would be great for pre-cruise as well. It seems prices have gone up since we stayed there though.