Miracel Family Cruise Part III

[TheRaven]

Ok Today we finally see land lol. Woke up and went to breakfast in DR. good as usual. then went with SIL's fiancee to the gym which was very nice and not crowded aroun 930 or so. I had made reservations at the spa for the special of the day which was top to toe a full body massage scalp massage and facial for 129$. I had also booked DW for a pedicure after hers since she hadn't had time to get one back home b4 we left. Geneve was my therapist and did a wonderful job, I can rarely remeber meing more relaxed, I even survived the Facial which was a first for me but I figured it was worth a shot. DW's therapist RIA, was also excellent saying she had never had a better massage. The pedicure was ok nothing special but ok, was with a different person whom she said was very nice tho.

 

Lunch was kind of on our own and was the first time we didnt all eat as a group. I and DD and mom went to DR had a nice pasta dish as we waited for DW who was a few minutes behind my appt. and also had the pedicure.

 

Then we all ( yes all 12) gathered on our balcony as we were coming into SanJuan. was beautiful too see the fort and coast as we came in. everyone was getting excited as for many in the group it was their first venture outside the country. we docked smoothly and debarkation went well. It was now that we discovered that Nextel has no service in PR which is weird since my friend had Sprint and had great signal. anyway we didnt have much time to explore old san juan before our excursion took off. we wlaked around a bit then returned to ship to prepare for our bioluminescent bay kayaking. DD stayed with grammy onboard and they had a great time on top deck watching planes land and take off ( a favorite of DD) and Im sure she was spoiled with Ice cream. We met down on the pier for our excursion and were soon on the bus to the bay. the buses are old NJ transit buses we got a kick out of that youy can see the REG numbers were taken off on the sides. after alot of traffic and seeing some less then nice housing we stopped at a Mcdonalds and KFC for a snack and rest our legs. Obviously this was the worst meal of the cruise lol. soon we were at the bay where the kayaking was to start. This is where the excursion got really really unorganized. we kept hearing theres another large group out there we have to wait 5 minutes to get going, 30 miniutes or so later the other group started to show up. they began just throwing people life jackets and setting people up in kayaks. eventually there where enough for everyone but since we had an odd number in ther group I had to go alone which i was happy with as I have had experience in kayaling before and my family likes to say its in my blood since Im native alaskan. So we set out across the inlet to the opening in the mangroves and its nice and smooth. The path threw the mangrooves however is a different story it is not large and very dark and alot of people inb the group had no idea how to kayak. I was having a great time until I hear a woman scream to my left just before the tip of their kayak hits me in the ribs at a good speed :mad: . we eventually make it out into the bay which is gorgeous and really cool. there was too much moonlight since it was a full moon to totally appreciate the bioluminesence but you could see it every time you agitated the water in anyway. Our guide was very knowledgeable and even brought a tarp to put over a few kayaks at a time to block out the moonlight nad see even better the effects of the bay. I will not gointo full depth about how and why it all works but I strongly suggest you go if ever given the opportunity. After too short of a time we had to head back, which was considerably harder since it was against the tide and we had another group coming in it took aloooooooooooooong time. we got back to the busees where they had water and snacks waiting for us and a lil 2 room changing area with a shower to rinse off. then we were whisekd away back to the ship. The ride back to the dock was an excursion in itself since we were running late the driver was seriously making up time going faster then i felt comfortable a few times. there was no traffic but the trip out took 2 ansd a half hours atleast and we made it back in just over an hour:eek: ! We also by my FIL's count ran atleast 5 red lights. we made it back to the ship at about 5 of midnight but the second bus was nowhere in sight. obviously we had booked through carnival for this reason and about 10 after or so they showed up and all were aboard and pulling away from sanjuan by aboout 1220

 

The excursion was amazing I just wish they were a little more organized and we had more time in the bay itslef but I would highly recoomend it to anyone who hasnt had a chance to see it.

 

we got back to our room where DD and Mom where sleeping we had an extra key made so mom could use our balcony and stuff while DD slept instead of being trapped in her OV. she said they had a great time. we were all fast asleep soon .

[LisaT12]

Sounds great....keep them coming.

[Psweets]

Did you notice if the menu had changed yet on your cruise?

 

Pam

[mfboat]

Sounds like a lot of fun! We are booked on this excursion on the June 26th Miracle cruise. I had originally wanted to go with an independent kayaking tour operator, however, not all of the 19 people in pur group were comfortable with that. So we decided to stay with the Carnival excursion. So here are my questions:

 

What night were you in San Juan? We're there on a Sunday and I know that many of the independent operators take Sunday off from the biobay. I'm just hoping we don't run into tons of people.

 

How many people were on your excursion? More than 1 bus? Were the buses full?

 

Do they really need to stop at those fast food restaurants? Do you think we'd have any luck convincing them to stop someplace else?

 

What time did you have to meet for the start of the excursion? Do we have enough time to walk around a fort?

 

Thanks so much for answering all my questions.

Sandy

[mfboat]

The Raven,

 

Could you please tell me a little more about your San Juan excursion? See my many questions on the last post. Can anybody help?

 

Sandy

[CMM]

Thank you for the review.

I was interested in what the BioBay via Carnival was like. Do you think someone with a little canoe experience & enjoys camping etc., but no kayak experience do OK? Or would you only suggest this for someone who is good with kayaks? We are in our 40's. My husband usually adapts well and I am typically physically not much help:)

[mfboat]

I've been doing a little research on the biobay. It seems like you could handle this excursion quite easily. Go to the ports of call boards, look under San Juan, when you find a post asking questions about the biobay, usually Coqui (from San Juan?) will answer. He will give you a website that reviews the excursion and will give a little more insight.

Hope this helps.

Sandy

[TheRaven]

Sounds like a lot of fun! We are booked on this excursion on the June 26th Miracle cruise. I had originally wanted to go with an independent kayaking tour operator, however, not all of the 19 people in pur group were comfortable with that. So we decided to stay with the Carnival excursion. So here are my questions:

 

What night were you in San Juan? We're there on a Sunday and I know that many of the independent operators take Sunday off from the biobay. I'm just hoping we don't run into tons of people.

We Were in San Juan on a tuesday no idea how many would be operating on a sunday

How many people were on your excursion? More than 1 bus? Were the buses full?

I think around 60 between two busses mostly full

Do they really need to stop at those fast food restaurants? Do you think we'd have any luck convincing them to stop someplace else?

Well they need to stop somewhere because you leave around 5 and dont get back till almost midnight or after in our case. I have no idea if they will stop somewhere else I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask but i wouldnt get my hopes up

What time did you have to meet for the start of the excursion? Do we have enough time to walk around a fort?

We met at 5. we were a little late getting off the ship and so we walked around old san juan not quite making it to the fort if you can get off right away and maybe took a taxi to be sure you could get some time in the fort

Thanks so much for answering all my questions.

Sandy

Hope this helps if you need more just ask

[TheRaven]

Thank you for the review.

I was interested in what the BioBay via Carnival was like. Do you think someone with a little canoe experience & enjoys camping etc., but no kayak experience do OK? Or would you only suggest this for someone who is good with kayaks? We are in our 40's. My husband usually adapts well and I am typically physically not much help:)

 

Im sure you'd be fine a lot of people on our excursion had no idea what they were doing in a kayak and we made it threw