Cruising on Freedom out of San Juan questions

[CruiseBell]

Cruising in March on Freedom out of San Juan.  My husband and I, my sister and brother-in-law will be in Junior Suites next to each other.   Flights are booked, but not our hotel.  We will fly in on Friday and cruise on Sunday.  So we will have a day and a half to tour.  My questions:

1. anyone have any recommendations for best location/hotel in San Juan to stay.  We will be there for two nights   

2.  Best way to get around. 

3.  Good recommendations for restaurants

4.  Will we be able to have the partitions opened between our balconies. 

5.  At the end of our cruise, we will not fly out till next day, any recommendations on best way to spend the day.  

 

Thank you you for helping me to get a grip on finalizing our plans. 

 

[Clarea]

See the San Juan forum for hotel/restaurant ideas:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/80-san-juan-pr/

 

 

[EeyoreRN]

21 minutes ago, CruiseBell said:

Cruising in March on Freedom out of San Juan.  My husband and I, my sister and brother-in-law will be in Junior Suites next to each other.   Flights are booked, but not our hotel.  We will fly in on Friday and cruise on Sunday.  So we will have a day and a half to tour.  My questions:

1. anyone have any recommendations for best location/hotel in San Juan to stay.  We will be there for two nights   

2.  Best way to get around. 

3.  Good recommendations for restaurants

4.  Will we be able to have the partitions opened between our balconies. 

5.  At the end of our cruise, we will not fly out till next day, any recommendations on best way to spend the day.  

 

Thank you you for helping me to get a grip on finalizing our plans. 

 

We're sailing on Freedom in May, so have been doing lots of research. I second Bob's suggestion to check out the San Juan board.

 

1. Where to stay depends on your budget. We have a moderate budget and chose the Condado Plaza by Hilton. It is in the Condado West area, which is close to the beach and in walking distance (for us, it's a healthy walk) to both the Pan American Pier (where Freedom docks) and Old San Juan (where we plan to spend lots of time). We found a nice rate on Expedia. Other favorite hotels are the Sheraton Old San Juan, El Convento, Intercontinental Isla Verde, and La Concha... 

2. Taxi from the airport to hotel (fares are reasonable and controlled by zone) and Uber or taxi everywhere else. Uber is not allowed to pick up at airport but can take you around otherwise.

3. Marmalade, Oceana, La Princesa (Sunday night for a street part), Punta de Vista, Raices, Casa Cortez Chocobar... 

4. Sometimes. Seems to depend upon cabin steward or captain?

5. Depends what you do the first 2 days but if I were staying for a Sunday night...see #3

[dddangerousdan]

I would second the Sheraton Old San Juan .  We stayed there and loved it.  Right at the port in the Old town( not the one you will use).  Easy to walk anywhere  in old San Juan.  There is a restaurant maybe 10 minutes away that has a free flamenco show each night.  My wife and I loved it  Put " 251 Calle Recinto Sur"  into your maps.

[SG65CB]

If you stay at a hotel in Old San Juan then there are tons of shops, restaurants, and bars in walking distance. You are staying two nights before the cruise which is good because some of the hotels there require a two-night stay to  make a reservation. 

 

Sheraton Old San Juan is one of the nicest hotels in Old San Juan, but expensive. Besides hotels consider looking at Air-BnB accomodations. 

 

The first thing you need to think about on that day after the cruise is what to do with your suitcases. Hotels have check in around 3:00 PM, but some will make arrangements to store your bags until you check in. 

[karena1]

2 hours ago, CruiseBell said:

Cruising in March on Freedom out of San Juan.  My husband and I, my sister and brother-in-law will be in Junior Suites next to each other.   Flights are booked, but not our hotel.  We will fly in on Friday and cruise on Sunday.  So we will have a day and a half to tour.  My questions:

1. anyone have any recommendations for best location/hotel in San Juan to stay.  We will be there for two nights We stay at Plaza de Armus in Old San Juan.  Nothing fancy but we love the location and can walk to pretty much anything.     

2.  Best way to get around. If you stay in Old San Juan, you can take the trolley for free.  If in Condado, I think it is like $.50 to grab it to get to OSJ

3.  Good recommendations for restaurants

4.  Will we be able to have the partitions opened between our balconies.Yes, On Freedom you can ask your stateroom person to open the partitions. 

5.  At the end of our cruise, we will not fly out till next day, any recommendations on best way to spend the day.  Rent a car and go to El Yungue.  Great rain forest.

 

Thank you you for helping me to get a grip on finalizing our plans. 

 

See above

[CruiseBell]

Thanks everyone.  This is very helpful. 

[BIBPhotography]

I agree with those that stayed at Sheraton Old San Juan!  We stayed there this past June and was really impressed!  Easy to get anywhere in Old SJ and a quick taxi ride to the port!

Now here's my 2 cents.  When booking the hotel back in July of 2017, I ran across the "senior discount".  The website said you had to be 65 or older, at the time of my cruise, I was a youngster at 59.  So I was bummed out.  On a whim, I called Sheraton Old san Juan and they said no, as long as you had an AARP card, you were golden.  So I paid my $12.95 for a years membership and booked our room.  The price went from around $225 a night, down to $115 for the night.  Now I know things change, so don't quote the price based on my experience.  But I would say its at least worth a shot!  Enjoy your cruise!

[alfaeric]

I’m posting this from an Airbnb in Old San Juan. It’s like staying at El Convento, but for a fraction of the price. 

 

And it’s just as close to the restaurants as the Sheraton. 

 

We are finding some new restaurants, too. If you are familiar with the Oof ones, they are replacing those. Really good, too. I’ll post more when we get back about them. 

 

Fwiw, I would not plan on walking to the pan am pier from any location. 

[Cigar King]

The Sheraton OSJ is a nice hotel.  I would say though that we were booked there after the Hurricane.  They never canceled us, and in fact always told us our reservation was good.  Obviously it wasn't and there are reports of customers showing up and being told on site it was closed.  We changed our reservation, and were not impacted.

 

None the less, I can not support such poor customer service.  We're at the O:Live now...they have a new hotel that just opened and we'll be there in March.

[cruisegus]

Love Old San Juan, if it was me I would try to stay there for sure pre-cruise lot to do in walking distance there.  After cruise maybe one of the beach hotels in Isle Verde or Coronado area if your not all beached out then, or like someone suggested that would be a great time for a rain Forrest day trip, did it on our honeymoon years ago and love it.  Lots of good suggestions already, but like Bob said visit the San Juan forum and read alot.

 

San Juan is our favorite port to cruise out of, best way to hit the Southern Caribbean Islands

18 days to a freedom b2b cruise and counting

Edited January 9, 2019 by cruisegus

[bonsai3s]

Sorry CruiseBell...not trying to hijack your thread...just one question:

Is there a ferry that goes from the Pan American cruise port to Old San Juan?

Just curious, on a B2B, like cruisegus is about to do, is getting a taxi the easiest/cheapest way to get to Old San Juan? ...or UBER?...not sure if RCCL would provide a free shuttle to OSJ? Thanks.

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

 ...

Is there a ferry that goes from the Pan American cruise port to Old San Juan?

 ...

No ferry.

 

We used a taxi.

[bonsai3s]

6 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

No ferry.

 

We used a taxi.

Thanks Bob!

[karena1]

Same here, we love Old San Juan, my husband loves the Plaza which is why we stay at Plaza de Armus.  They give us a fantastic price because we have stayed there so many times.  Not the Sheraton, but we don't care, it is clean, great location and the staff is amazing.

[Dack48]

Last time we cruised out of San Juan we found a hotel online called the Gallery Inn....located right in Old San Juan, it was walking distance to everything touristy for a great price. The rooms and the Inn itself is really quirky but if you're into that sort of thing, it might be the unique place you're looking for! 

 Luckily for us, there was another couple that was also going on our Adventure Cruise so we were able to split the $20 cab fare with them. 

[Luv06012012]

We stayed at Tres Palmas Inn. It’s not in OJS, but it’s not far at all. Gorgeous, beach front and peaceful. Basically heaven.

For restaurant recommendations...I loved Barrachinas. Mofongo and pina coladas are a must. So good...


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[Luv06012012]

Also, walking OSJ, touring the forts and cemetery or taking a trip to see the rainforest are all excellent ways to spend your day.


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[katiel53]

We have stayed in the Marriott Stellaris resort and enjoyed our stay there.  We also stayed at the Hampton Inn and like that too, although they are very different hotels.

[Russ Lomas]

22 hours ago, Luv06012012 said:

Also, walking OSJ, touring the forts and cemetery or taking a trip to see the rainforest are all excellent ways to spend your day.


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These are awesome ideas.  The forts, the cemetery, and walking old San Juan are great ideas.  We have tried twice to go to the rain forest but have not made it (first time ALL the tours and cars were sold out - Christmas week, and the 2nd time the hurricanes had just hit).  We will be trying it this March (hopefully) again.  Got a great deal from Enterprise rentals in the Condodo Plaza Hotel for about $35 for a rental.  Hope it works out for us.

 

As for the free shuttle or water taxi from the embarkation pier to town, they do not exist.  You will have to pay for a cab unlsee you are docking for the day in Old San Juan.