Looking for feedback on RCI's El Yunque rain forest tour

[Loves Snorkeling]

I am thinking of doing this tour through RCI or on my own with a rental car.

Questions:

1) did you enjoy this tour?

2) did you find you had enought time in the National park?

3) was the bus ride to the parc air conditioned and comfortable?

4) was your luggage safe and secure?

 

I notice the cost for this tour is $38 *2 persons = $76. Vs renting a car for $28.00 + gas.

 

Any feedback you have is appreciated.

Fyi, we arrive in San Juan at 7am and our flight leaves at 5pm so I definetly want to be at the airport by 2pm.

The RCI tour starts at 8am for 4 hours.

[Laoghaire]

Hello...DH and I did the Rainforest Tour on January 25th, after Empress OTS cruise. We enjoyed it very much. The bus was large and airconditioned. Took about an hour to and an hour back to airport. Beautiful rainforest, one could take a 20 minute walk to a waterfall (in the rain! Take a throwaway poncho). We had a very knowledgable guide in Alex Vegas. Kept close track of us all, so we would be back to the bus in time. Some guides didn't give a time frame, and the bus almost left without the wanderers.

 

Our flight left at 5pm, and we were at the airport about 2pm. We did the Luggage Valet Program, so we only had our carry on with us. Others had their to be checked luggage on the bus with them.

 

It was a worthwhile tour, great not to have spent 8 hours in that terrible San Juan airport!

 

Helen

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

This is just my opinion. My husband felt the same way too.

 

For my taste the trip to the forest was just too long. You travel through San Juan a long time, then country side a long time. We stopped at a place that sold souveniers on the way. This stop was an utter waste of time. The souveniers were run-of-the-mill.

 

The bus is comfortable enough and air conditioned.

 

El Yunque is a rain forest and yes, it rained. It is very tropical. The drive up presents you with beautiful views from the high elevations. We stopped at a place with a waterfalls and were given time to follow a path through the rain forest. I think there was another photo op after that.

 

Then we rode all that long distance home in the dark and heavy rush hour traffic. Our guide was kind of funny. Both going and returning, he kept pointing out every fried chicken place as if that were a tremendous tourist draw.

 

Unless you just love tropical rain forests, I felt the time invested in going and returning was out of proportion to the time we spent in the rain forest and what we were able to do there.

 

Others have answered this same question in previous threads and they really enjoyed the trip, so I guess it depends on your personal taste. My judgment may be impacted by the fact that we have lived many years in other countries that have rain forests, so we had seen them often before. For someone who has never had the opportunity however, the trip might be very worthwhile.

[a-tx-brit]

Check my answer to your prior thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=694314

[BroadwayGirl]

Not specifically RCI tour related, but having lived in the San Juan area for a lil over 3 months, I can tell you El Yunque is very beautiful and that the walk to the falls is worth it. I will say though, I would not rent a car and do it myself. Our professor rented a car and drove when we went on that excursion. San Juan and its rush hour traffic scared me. Then again, I hate driving in cities like Philadelphia or NYC. If you can drive in a big city, you would probably fare ok in San Juan. It's not a short trip though and takes awhile for the payoff of seeing the rainforest.

[Loves Snorkeling]

Thank you so much for your feedback. We have never been to a rainforest except in Hawaii. Therefore, I really would like to experience this Park.

 

I guess I will most likely decide at the last minute what to do.

I am mostly concerned with the traffic and returning at the airport by 2pm.

[stogeycruiser]

After having lived in San Juan for over a year I would be concerned with driving myself. The traffic is horrible both during the week and especially the weekend. It can take two hours alone to get to the airport coming back from El Yunque. My recommendation is to do the trip with the cruiseline they know the shortcuts to get you back by 2pm, if necessary.

 

El Yunque is worth the trip while you're in the San Juan area, plus as someone earlier has said it beats sitting at the San Juan airport for 8 hours. :eek: