So Fascinating--Southern Caribbean (plus 3 days in PR) with Kids

[lolavix]

The views are lovely, and the path is very well marked. Not to mention, there are lots of others doing the same route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After about 35-40 minutes, we arrived at La Mina Falls. And as noted, it is super popular. We decided to head back and stop at a different spot with slightly easier access where we could swim. Note that we had water shoes with us, but we had stupidly left them in the car. Not sure why we didn't think that through, but it turned out OK...

Edited August 30, 2016 by lolavix

[lolavix]

We walked back for about 10 minutes and found a nice little spot to swim. While the access was rocky, it was much easier to enter here as well.

 

 

 

 

 

The water inspired DD to strike another dance pose.

 

We had a lot of fun playing in the water near these mini-falls. We probably stayed for 45 minutes, and then decided it was time to move on, as we still had about 25-30 minutes to walk up.

 

I didn't take too many photos on the way back, but someone (not me) spotted another snail, with the perfect camouflage backdrop again.

 

 

I will say that walking back wasn't nearly as tiring as I thought it would be. Perhaps the dip in the waters did energize us. The time went quickly and soon we were back up at the trailhead.

[lolavix]

We were hungry and decided to have lunch at the snack bar. The food wasn't bad. It was also nice to just sit outside and eat.

 

While we were waiting for our food, we ate some jelly beans that we had brought.

 

A little friend hung nearby while we ate.

 

After lunch, we drove the rest of the way. There was nothing else that we could do with our limited time, so we started the trek back down.

 

We did stop here:

to take in the view.

 

 

Despite our being tired from our earlier walk, we didn't think going up a few floors would be too bad. The views were worth it.

 

I think this might be Luquillo. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Looks a bit mystical, no?

[cpshaye]

Subscribing. We went on a southern caribbean route this past January and loved it so much we booked another for January 2017 (different stops, but also from San Juan) and again for January 2018 (different stops).

 

Can't wait to read your review!

[lolavix]

 

 

On the way down, I got this shot through three windows.

 

 

On our way back to the car, we spied another friend.

 

 

It was time to move on and end our time at El Yunque.

 

Our next stop was the beach...

[lolavix]

Subscribing. We went on a southern caribbean route this past January and loved it so much we booked another for January 2017 (different stops, but also from San Juan) and again for January 2018 (different stops).

--Where will your next ones go? Maybe I'm hunting for ideas. ;)

___________________________________________________

 

I had toyed with the idea of going to Luquillo to go to the beach, but right before we left I had read that Seven Seas Beach was supposed to be pretty good and it had the benefit of being close to the area where our Biobay tour would begin.

 

We arrived at Seven Seas Beach around 4 PM and paid the $5 entry fee. We had a little more than 2 hours before we had to go to our tour.

 

Here is our little corner of the beach where we settled.

 

 

We didn't waste any time and hopped in the water. The water was so warm...just like a bath. You have to remember that we are from New England, and our beaches can be pretty cold, even in summer.

 

What I liked about this beach was noticing that many adults were in the water. There were many family groups which spanned multiple generations, and they were having a great time just floating around with one another. I really enjoyed seeing the family aspect of that.

 

The kids were interested in the sand, for some reason.

 

 

The time went very quickly. We spent most of it floating and playing in the water.

 

This beach does have showers and changing areas. You pay $1 per person over the age of 8, and 50 cents for kids for access to the showers and the bathrooms. We got ourselves cleaned up and moved along to our tour of the Biobay.

 

I had read many reviews of the companies which offer tours of the bioluminescent waters. I had been warned about the mangroves and taking the kayaks out in an area which becomes pitch black. I made the call to go with BioIsland, as they offer tours in electric boats. I figured, the last thing we needed to worry about with kids is one of the kayaks not being able to keep up, or getting stuck someplace.

 

In the reviews, I read about the importance of going on a night when there was little light from the moon. Unfortunately for us, the moon was full on the 18th, and we were only 2 days away from that and didn't have any additional nights to try. I wanted to give it a try, though, since I figured we probably wouldn't be in Puerto Rico any time soon.

 

We followed the directions to Las Croabas, the park where their boat was located. It was a bit crazy trying to find a spot to park, as Las Croabas is a busy place on a Saturday night, but we managed to do so. While we were maneuvering the car, they called and made sure we were all set, which I liked. They came over to meet us and escort us to the waiting area, where we were given some water and snacks. Mario was going to be our guide, the captain was Jeff and the first mate was Barney.

 

They gave us some information about the rules, and the bay in general. We set out around 7 as it was starting to get dark.

 

 

The ride was very peaceful (especially since we weren't paddling kayaks!) It was nice to sit back and just take in the sites. Once we entered the mangrove area, we could not take photos as it could interfere with the kayakers. While going through this area, Mario used a flashlight to point out different things (fish, iguanas in the branches of the tree, etc.), much to the delight of my kids. I believe it was about 1 mile to the open lagoon, and once we got there, they pulled out the tarps to help with our viewing the bioluminescence.

 

 

We were instructed to run our hands through the water to stimulate the organisms to fluoresce. It worked, which was fun to see, but I was unable to get any photos of this because as soon as I stopped running my hands through the water, the light died down.

 

My kids thought it was great to see the fairy dust, and I did, too. I was disappointed, though, that we didn't get to see a little bit more of the unaided glowing. This isn't the fault of the tour operators; the bioluminescence has been challenged for awhile due to various factors such as pollution and loss of organisms due to seaweed.

 

We headed back in after awhile and I marveled at how dark it was while we were in the mangroves. We did spy more iguanas, which delighted DS1 in particular. We got back to the dock around 8-8:10, thanked our guides and headed back to the hotel. We stopped for dinner on the way; I was hoping for another mofongo but it wasn't to be. Ironically, we wound up at a different Sizzler as there weren't as many restaurant choices and we were pretty tired from our adventures.

 

We arrived back at the hotel by about 11 PM and went to bed pretty quickly. There was another function at the hotel but it was ending as we arrived back, so it was fairly quiet for us.

 

With regard to our day's activities, I would recommend El Yunque for sure. If you are going to go play in the water, be sure not to leave your water shoes in the car like we did. I wish we had more time to relax on the beach, and I will say that Seven Seas Beach was a nice spot with lots of shade. For the Biobay, I'd probably be more sure about the conditions of the glowing before trying it again. It was about $240 for my family and while we really enjoyed the tour operators and the boat ride, seeing the organisms light up would have made it more worthwhile. I have heard that the bay in Vieques is better, but we did not have time to get there for the days we had in Puerto Rico.

[Stinger-pr]

We continued on and drove back to the town of Arecibo. DH had looked up a few places on his iPad prior to leaving the hotel, so I picked one based on the high reviews. Thankfully, our phone cooperated and allowed us access to Google Maps and we wound up at

 

Good Times Restaurant. We figured the name was a good omen.

 

We were not disappointed at all. They had quite an extensive menu. While the kids chose familiar things like burgers, DH and I decided to try our first mofongo (the sign said 170 different types, but it seemed like even more). The waitress explained to us that mofongo is mashed plantains accompanied by whatever you'd like. She recommended skirt steak and shrimp, so that is what I got.

 

 

First of all I will be following this review very closely along with Mitsugirlys since I will be on the Fascination very very soon. I love that the Fascination's Southern itinerary PICTURE reviews are finally coming in. They get me pumped!

 

But seeing this restaurant's picture is too much! This restaurant sits in the corner of road PR-2. I don't know if you recall, but looking straight across the intersection with your back to the restaurant, there is a street that goes up a hill and you see houses at the top. My girlfriend lives just two blocks from the top of the hill (I live near San Juan BTW...lol). Awesome!!

 

And yes, food from that place tastes amazing, even to us locals.

[cyntil8ing]

Cyntil8ing--As soon as I clicked on your link, I realized that yours is one of the reviews I read several months ago. And in this next installment, something you said actually helped us out. Stay tuned. :)

 

Oh, that's neat. I am glad our wasted hour helped someone.

 

I started my review. It's at Photo review: Adventure OTS, 8/13/16

[deladane]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review! I'm loving it so far and can't wait to read about the cruise!! I've taken 3 cruises that started in Puerto Rico, but I've never heard anything about those caves before! I'll definitely put that on my list for if/when I'm in Puerto Rico again :D I did the kayaking in the biobay and OMG it was insane! We kept crashing into the mangroves and couldn't see anything on the way back at the end because it was pitch black. To be honest, we didn't see much of anything glowing in the water... not sure if it was an off night, too much moon light, or what, but if I go again, I should look into doing it the way you did on a motorized boat and hopefully it'll be more successful. Definitely a memorable excursion thought, either way! :)

[lolavix]

Stinger-pr--I do remember the hill. We loved that restaurant and were sorry we only could eat there once. I'm glad we made a good choice. I have read your reviews and what stuck with me is that you toured with Thenford Grey in St. Kitts with your daughter. Since I was sailing with my kids, I figured he would be a good choice. While he didn't give us the tour himself, the driver he sent was great. So, I thank you for your advice. Turns out that St. Kitts was DS1's favorite.

 

Cyntil8ing--I will have to check out your review as well. :)

 

Deladane--I know I keep saying this, but I read your reviews, too. I even "borrowed" the idea of using candy to count down the trip. For Valentine's Day, I gave my DH 186 Hershey's miniatures. While he was a bit inconsistent in eating them (he ate a few each day at the beginning but then forgot so he wound up with a few on August 17 which we ate the night before we left), he liked the idea.

 

 

Of course, I had to use a Valentine pail and not a simple jar to hold all that candy.

 

The caves are definitely worth visiting, and I would love to have another go at the Biobay. But probably still on an electric boat!

 

_____________________________________________________

 

The big day had arrived. We loved Puerto Rico, but it was time to get ready for the cruise.

 

Of course, we still had plans for Sunday before our 10 PM departure.

 

We had breakfast, packed up and head out to San Juan.

 

We dropped our bags off at the cruise terminal :) and drove over to the Sheraton, where Hertz has a drop off location.

 

And that is what it is...you can pick up cars and drop them off, but it's not apparent what you are supposed to do once you get there. Although there are signs which say Hertz, we drove around the Sheraton twice and couldn't figure out what to do. There was no obvious place to pull in, no garage door or even an employee. I had to go into the Sheraton and ask. I found the desk, which is to the left, past the registration desks, and waited in line. There was only one employee working. Fortunately for me, I caught his eye as he was showing people to their car (he has to get out from behind the desk and out to the street to direct the people picking cars up). While he is doing that, everyone waits.

 

Anyway, he walked out with me and we found my family and he showed us where to park...just on the street, behind the hotel. We grabbed the two bags we had left and went back to stand in line to wait our turn. There were two couples ahead of us picking up cars and it took about 15-20 minutes to get them situated. It was finally our turn and we were pretty quick as we were just dropping off and he had already seen the car.

 

Since it was only around noon, we figured it was too early to try to check in and board, so we decided to head to the forts.

[lolavix]

Let me preface this by saying that I know that when I plan my trips, I usually add more than enough activities and know that we might not get to everything. Originally, I thought we'd see more of San Juan, but our three days had been pretty full. I had wanted to walk the streets of San Juan and look at the architecture and a few other places, but given that we were tired and we were just starting our cruise, I figured we'd just do the forts and be done...and save something for our next visit. ;)

 

It took about 10-15 minutes to walk to Castillo San Cristobal, which is the closer of the two.

 

We knew we were getting close when we spied this statue.

 

There it is!

 

 

DS1 was a fourth grader this past year (although as of right now, he's a fifth grader as he started school yesterday). The US National Park Service has the Every Kid in a Park program, where fourth graders and their families can enter all the parks for free. We had his pass from a visit to Acadia earlier this summer, and it was still valid as the new fourth grade passes go into effect September 1. Kids are free to enter the forts, but since we had the pass, we could all enter for free.

 

Let the views begin!

 

Now here's a view!

[lolavix]

Warning--lots of photos. I loved taking them here.

 

 

 

This particular vantage point made me nervous.

 

All the little walls were like mazes. I guess that was the point.

 

 

 

 

Another one of the Fascination. I didn't tire of looking at our soon-to-be home.

[lolavix]

 

So many crevices to explore.

 

This picture makes me laugh. I couldn't remember which fort had the cannon balls and when we made it to the spot where they were, I went to take a look. I figured, I'd call the kids over and get the iconic shot that everyone who visits this fort posts photos of.

 

As you can see, no one was interested in posing for said photo. You can see the other four family members off in the distance. I guess this is my family's version of the cannon photo, then. :p

 

 

Pretty narrow.

More angles. I was having a lot of fun with the photography, and DH and DS1 were enjoying the actual fort. I think DS2 was OK with playing hide and seek and finding new spots before we did. DD probably was not thrilled with the fort, but I consider it a win when 4 out of 5 of us are happy.

 

La Perla with El Morro off in the distance. I told DH that we didn't want to stumble into La Perla, with its history of violence, and we'd keep our distance. Unfortunately, as you'll soon learn, we also kept our distance from El Morro.

[lolavix]

 

 

More playing with the photos.

 

 

Such a sprawling place. It looks like no one else is visiting, but that is not true.

 

Again, where is everybody, including my family?

 

Yeah, maybe I am the only one here after all...

[lolavix]

Oh, wait, found 'em.

 

 

Every so often, there would be placards to read.

 

Still playing

 

DS1 found a bell

I had him pose mainly because this photo reminded me of him with another bell, in another place, five years ago.

[lolavix]

 

To prove we were here:

 

 

When you go downstairs, you can look at some exhibits:

 

These don't look all that comfy to me.

 

The tunnels leading to the dungeon. The boys were very curious about the dungeon.

[lolavix]

Another placard to put the entire fort in perspective:

 

 

By now it was after 1 and we were pretty warn and getting hungry. We decided to head back to the ship and see if we could at least check in, if not board, since boarding time was officially 2:30 PM. We thought we'd eat and then take the trolley back to El Morro.

 

We left the fort and headed down to one of the free trolley stops.

 

We were told that the trolleys came every 20 minutes. We lasted about 8 and then decided to just walk to the ship.

 

I thought I'd snap photos along the way, but the only one I got was this one:

I liked the pink.

 

We arrived at the cruise terminal and to our relief, we could not only check in, but board. Because of lengthy stay in port, I think the lines were very manageable and we kept moving along. We set foot on board around 2 PM. We were able to access our rooms and our luggage was waiting for us, so we wheeled it in. DH and I had an ocean view on Deck 6, while the kids were across the hall in an interior room. They didn't seem to care that there were no windows...they had the room to themselves.

 

I apologize for no photos here. I think I was so hungry and hot and happy to be onboard that I forgot, and by the time I remembered, the rooms were already "lived in". We went up to the Lido deck and had lunch. The boys and DH had items from the grill, while DD and I decided to try the Mongolian Wok. I knew that it was only open for lunch and also knew that we'd be off the ship most days that it was open, so I figured that this would be a good time to try it. We weren't disappointed.

Edited August 31, 2016 by lolavix

[perfect match]

Great job on your review, Lolavix! I am really enjoying your family's vacation!

[ontheweb]

WOW! I can't believe I did not notice this thread until this morning!

 

It's lucky your kids are so cute! Otherwise I would not have recognized you guys, and we all would not have met when you all walked past my cabin just after I had stepped out of it.

 

We visited that same fort after the cruise. It was also free for us since it was a free weekend celebrating the 100th birthday of the National Parks Service.

 

If you were impressed with the cave you saw in Puerto Rico, I hope you went and saw the Harrison Cave in Barbados. It was truly spectacular!

 

Subscribing of course. It's always interesting to read a review of a cruise you were also on and compare and contrast your experiences.

[TrqoisWtrs]

Enjoying your trip report and pics. Love OSJ, so great to walk around in although have to be careful not to twist an ankle on the blue cobblestones. :)

[Bringonthesun01]

Great review so far!! One question about Puerto Rico, were there many mosquitoes? We are staying right on the beach for two nights before, but I figure the bugs should be bad.

[ginjer2911]

really enjoying your review.

 

This a cruise I really would love to do. Just have to convince DH. He is not much into cruises, but I think this one with lots of port days and very few sea days he would like much better.

[lolavix]

Perfect Match--Thanks for your kind words and joining us.

 

Ontheweb--Glad you found us. Thanks for the nice words about my kids. :) We did not go to Harrison Caves. It'll be something for next time. I know you were looking forward to it, so it sounds like it lived up to your expectations.

 

Cruisin*tigger--Thank you. I wish we had more time to avoid tripping. ;)

 

Bringonthesun01--Thanks. Good question about the mosquitoes. It was very odd. We came armed with 3 of these:

 

and we didn't even use one completely. I was concerned about the mosquitoes as well, but we only used the spray when we went on the Biobay. I think DD and I both got bitten once on the ankle while we were out there (we must have missed the same spot) but that was it for the entire trip. I was surprised, in a very good way. I hope you find it the same way.

 

Ginjer2911--Thank you. I hope you can convince your DH. I actually wish we had one more sea day (not to take away from the five islands, but to give us one more day to chill on the ship--make this one 8 days). We generally sail for the ports, but it was a lot of go-go-go and my kids came home to their first day of school on Monday. :eek:

[lolavix]

Since this was a split day, I didn't post these earlier. I will for each day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lolavix]

After lunch, we head off to the kids' club to sign the kids up.

 

This was a little different from Norwegian (our other cruise).

 

Norwegian is very strict with the ages. DS2 turned 8 in the spring, and they offered to bump him up to the 9-11 group to be with DS1, so we did that. I liked the idea of keeping them together, and we thought that DS2 would be fine with the 9-11s, since he has two older sibs.

 

Here is the one shot I took of the kids' club.

 

 

There are two rooms. I will say that for the most part, the 9-11 year olds are relegated to a conference room, very far from the location on the 11th floor. My boys pretty much only attended at night (except for the sea day) and nights were spent in the conference room, which bummed them out a bit since they didn't have access to the toys and games.

 

We also registered DD for Circle C, which is the club for ages 12-14. I don't have any photos of that location, but it is located on Deck 8. DD loved the kids club, and she enjoyed the independence that went along with that age group. On our last cruise, she was 10.5 and we didn't give her sign out privileges, so this was new territory for all of us.

 

After this, we split up for a bit. Looking back, this was where I made my mistake. DH and the boys went to nap for a bit, and DD wanted to go to stay at Circle C. Instead of my getting off the ship and hopping on the free trolley to get to El Morro and see more of OSJ, I just explored the ship.

 

Anyway, I sat in the library for a bit.

 

The library has books and games that are always available. You don't need to check them out, which is nice since if you have a yearning to play something at 10 PM, you can. This is on Deck 8, pretty close to where DD was hanging.

 

This is the Palace Theater:

I'm on the balcony (Deck 9) but we pretty much sat on Deck 8 when we attended events held in here.

 

I then went upstairs to walk around. I don't have a ton of photos of the ship (sorry, since I know that many of you want to see those). How about a view?

 

 

By now it was around 5 PM. I had told DD to come back to the room by then and when I returned, the boys were all up.

 

This is when we made another mistake--DH offered to get off the ship and go to CVS to buy some soda and wine. He took both boys with him. This is when DD and I should have gotten off the ship, too and hit El Morro. I think that DD wanted to go back to Circle C, though, so I didn't want to just leave her on the ship alone.

 

DH and the boys took about an hour for their errand. They came back with 3 8-packs of soda and a bottle of wine. DH said to me that security only seemed to care about hard alcohol, and that maybe we should all go out, get on the trolley, do our little tour (too late to see the inside of the fort by now, but we could ride and see a little more of OSJ as well as the outside of El Morro) and then hit CVS again to get more soda and another bottle of wine.

 

We all left and walked over to the trolley station. There was a police officer nearby, and he told us that the trolley stopped running at 6 (not 7, which I had seen on their website), and we had missed the last trolley.

 

I was a bit disappointed to not get close to El Morro, but I knew that I had packed our schedule full and that sometimes, the plans would need to be adjusted (we're hot, we're tired, the kids are just "done", etc.)

 

We walked over to CVS with a lot of humanity.

 

Another view of the Fascination.

 

We picked up another 8-pack and bottle of wine. We could have brought more, since no one kept track of what we had already carried on, so there's a bit of advice for anyone who wants to stock up on beverages. You have to do a bit of walking, but it might be worth it.