EXPLORING SAN JUAN BEFORE A CRUISE

If you plan to stay in San Juan before a cruise, stay in Old San Juan and not in some hotel near the airport. You will just need to pay for a taxi from the airport to Old San Juan and then you won't have to worry about transportation again until your cruise is over.

Staying in Old San Juan makes exploring the town easier.  You can leave your luggage in your room until it's time to check out.  When it's time to check out, carry your luggage to the ship, drop it off, and the go back out and explore until your ship leaves. 

You can read about our stay at the Casablanca Hotel in Old San Juan HERE.

Every time we walked past this alley, the dog had moved closer to the road.

Since my daughter's husband is law enforcement, she always has her photo with with other law enforcement when visiting other countries. 

Everyone we ran into was super nice!

If you have time, you need to visit Castillo San Cristóbal,also known as Fort San Cristóbal in Old San Juan.  It was built by Spain to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan.  

We did not have time to explore the inside of the fort but I understand that the admission price is reasonable.  I think it was around $5 when we were there.

This really long line was for Senor Paleta popcicles and ice cream.  You can check out their Facebook page here:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/srpaletapr/about/?ref=page_internal

Any visit to Old San Juan would not be complete without a visit to the magnificent courtyard of our two-century old building where, in 1963, Don Ramón Portas Mingot created the now world-famous Piña Colada.

Another must see site, if you don't have a fear of birds, is the Pigeon Park.  The park is very picturesque with a couple of large, twisted trees and a great view of the bay.  The back wall of the park provides shelter to the pigeons by way of cut out holes all along the wall. 

As you can imagine, where there are a lot of pigeons, there is a lot of poo. I mean there is poo everywhere!  

TO KNOW

Time Zone: Atlantic Standard Time (AST)

Language: Spanish & English are the official languages in Puerto Rico.  Spanish is preferred, but most locals, especially in tourist areas, speak English.

Currency:  U.S.A. Dollar 

As I always suggest, get on google maps before you leave and locate the place where you will be staying and any sites you plan to visit.  Use street view so that you will recognize landmarks.  I will make your life much easier.

This is especially true when you want to visit a large landmark or site.  By looking at a satellite map, you will be able to locate entrances to these site.  I have wasted a lot of time and energy in the past just trying to find out how to get into a place.  

WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY

It was hot when we were there the first week in May.  In the 80's with high humidity. When I go back for a visit, I will make sure to throw a bottle of water into my backpack.