Avoid the Rain Forest Hike in San Juan

[Summersemester]

We had several hours to kill in San Juan before our flight left. We read the shore excursions offered by the ship. The trip we scheduled cost 69. and lasted 4 hours. It was awful. Do Not Book This Tour. The guide never stopped talking-inane chatter.

 

The "rain forest" was a dusty walk through the woods. The guide kept saying, "In the spring this happens; In February this is what it looked like." I have had more interesting and in-depth field trips with elementary school classrooms.

 

The bus broke down because it couldn't go up the hill and have the air conditioning on! The second bus arrived and wouldn't but the AC on. It had tiny, high windows-terribly hot. One older-not elderly- man was faint and could not leave the bus during the second stop.

 

Drive through quaint neighborhoods of San Juan turned out to be a 90 minute drive on the main roads and smaller roads as we climbed the hill to the forest.

 

I know RC will not stand by the tour for a quality assurance, but no one else should book this misleading tour.

[NYGirl1002]

You should post this in the San Juan board under ports.

[Summersemester]

I tried; I'll go back and try to post. Sorry to post it here.

[marci22]

Thank you for posting !

[racerxspeedy]

We had a similar experience during a SJU port of call. The bus broke down and was "stuck" on the narrow steep road. We were refunded 50%.

This excursion needs a full day (and a small group)- otherwise you spend more time on an old bus than enjoying your time at the park.

[NYGirl1002]

I tried; I'll go back and try to post. Sorry to post it here.

 

No need to apologize! There's people here that it would benefit too. It also benefits the people that just read the port boards.

[dacsmom]

Why won't RCI stand by their excursions? What did they tell you? We had mechanical problems on an excursion a few years ago and RCI refunded the price with no hassle at all.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Was the guide's name Dan? If so, I had him on a Disney excursion in Feb and he was awful. The girl who had the other group seemed to be awesome.

[ace1zoe2]

Why won't RCI stand by their excursions? What did they tell you? We had mechanical problems on an excursion a few years ago and RCI refunded the price with no hassle at all.

 

I agree. We had basically the same thing happen in Vancouver at the end of our Hawaiian Cruise. First we waited forever for someone to board, then they were on the wrong bus, then the bus broke down at Stanley Park and they sent another. We couldn't leave the area to enjoy the park as we had to be nearby to switch buses, by the time we reloaded it was almost time for the drop off at the airport or someone was worried about missing their flight so they were going to the airport early. We were spending the night so had them let us off near our hotel on the way.

 

I emailed RCI afterwards to let them know how the excursion went and how disappointed we were. I didn't ask for anything but they refunded the full amount of the cost for both of us for the excursion.

 

Tell RCI so that they know what is going on with their vendors.

 

PS

I think the title should have been to avoid the "excursion" not the hike in the rain forest. We did the El Yenque on our own in a rental and had a fabulous time. We hiked several trails, saw waterfalls, swam, saw beautiful lookout points, towers and exotic plants. The rain forest itself is not to be missed in my opinion.

 

Cindy

 

 

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[JulieRose]

avoid san juan is more like it. (I kid) the worst excursion we were ever on was an rci excursion in san juan. We did a kayacking tour to the biolunescent bay. Everybody with us hated it too judging by the discussions on the bus on the way back to the ship. the description didnt tell us that we should bring a towel and change of clothes or that we should probably have kayacking experience. in the words of our cruise friends' teenage son "I hate Puerto Rico".

[riclop]

How about avoid the rain forest altogether.

[ace1zoe2]

avoid san juan is more like it. (I kid) the worst excursion we were ever on was an rci excursion in san juan. We did a kayacking tour to the biolunescent bay. Everybody with us hated it too judging by the discussions on the bus on the way back to the ship. the description didnt tell us that we should bring a towel and change of clothes or that we should probably have kayacking experience. in the words of our cruise friends' teenage son "I hate Puerto Rico".

 

We loved Puerto Rico! We did 2.5 days pre-cruise the first trip and a day pre-cruise the second time.

 

We also did the bioluminescent bay on our own the first trip thru a company in Vieques. We had a great time. It included dinner, a bus ride thru the jungle and then a boat ride and swim in the bay and a party boat back to the dock.

 

I think the main thing you need to do before booking tours is to read the reviews on the company, the excursion itself and see if it is something you would be comfortable booking on your own or doing pre-cruise (cheaper) with another tour company other than RCI normally for a lot less money, in smaller groups.

 

Cindy

 

 

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[ace1zoe2]

How about avoid the rain forest altogether.

 

Why avoid the Rainforest?

 

 

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[JulieRose]

We loved Puerto Rico! We did 2.5 days pre-cruise the first trip and a day pre-cruise the second time.

 

We also did the bioluminescent bay on our own the first trip thru a company in Vieques. We had a great time. It included dinner, a bus ride thru the jungle and then a boat ride and swim in the bay and a party boat back to the dock.

 

I think the main thing you need to do before booking tours is to read the reviews on the company, the excursion itself and see if it is something you would be comfortable booking on your own or doing pre-cruise (cheaper) with another tour company other than RCI normally for a lot less money, in smaller groups.

 

Cindy

 

 

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we would have had a much better time on your excursion. i always do my research and in this situation where we had about 6 hours in port a cruiseline excursion was our best bet for not being left behind.

[NemoCrownie]

We booked this excursion in February to avoid sitting in the airport all day with the benefit of transport to the airport with luggage. We very much enjoyed the few hours there BUT we had been there before and we had a great guide. Unfortunately you can't pick your guide so I would also complain to RCI with the expectation that I would get a partial refund and the tour company would provide better guides for all bookings.

[setsail]

There are 2 or 3 excursions for the rain forest. If you go directly to the one you booked on rci's website you can leave a review so others will know. Here is one, scroll down to write a review

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=SJA7&DestinationCode=

Edited July 20, 2015 by setsail

[Viv0828]

Another option is to take a cab to the rainforest. We had a great cabbie and a nice tour with time for a hike and no waiting around for anyone!

[JamesEM]

How about avoid the rain forest altogether.

 

Good idea, terrible tour, bus was old and in need of repair, and the guide needed to be in another line of work.

[north29]

We did the rain forest in December near New Years. We used a local company booked at the port. IT WAS GREART, the tour guide (she) was a very good, but maybe had done this too many times LOL. Having said that, the hike was fun, but dangerous, well we like that part, rocks and trail were slippery at many many point and the upward ending part was steep, I was sucking air, unusual for me. We were in a bit of a hurry, it was getting dark so taking a earlier time in winter would be better.

NO, this trip is not for everyone, maybe it should be worded more extreme, but even with better wording many of our tours have been with people who clearly should not have been on it and yes they complained.

Mechanical break downs can happen, but I do think RC should refund portions depending on what was missed.

[alfaeric]

Another option is to take a cab to the rainforest. We had a great cabbie and a nice tour with time for a hike and no waiting around for anyone!

 

Or rent a car. We've only been there that way.

 

As for the dry and dusty trails- Puerto Rico is going through a drought right now. Sometimes it does not rain there, even if it's called a rain forest.

Edited July 20, 2015 by alfaeric

[cyntil8ing]

We did this excursion in Dec 2013 and had the old bus with no a/c too. I think it was from the 70's! But our guide was much better and while it was in no way the best tour we've ever done, I'm glad we did it.

 

 

We're returning to San Juan in a few weeks and are spending 5 days pre-cruise. I cannot wait! I love San Juan and am looking forward to seeing more of Puerto Rico. But we will NOT be taking the cruise ship rain forest excursion when we leave the ship! Find another way to visit the rain forest, because it is worth it.

 

 

[BillOh]

I tried; I'll go back and try to post. Sorry to post it here.

 

If I read the OP's message it was a Royal post cruise excursion, so I think its appropriate here. That said. The last bad excursion I took was A TASTE OF ANTIGUA and I did a review of it on Royal's site. I got a message saying it was accepted and it was the 2nd in a row bad review and both reviews validated each other to some extent. Shortly after that Royal removed that offering from that island.