Magic in San Juan today: any reports from repo cruisers?

[jenny_nichole]

The Magic is in San Juan today having just completed a repositioning cruise from NY. It will leave San Juan today on a 5 night repositioning cruise to Miami. If anyone was/is on either of these sailings, could you please share your experiences in San Juan? hotels? cabs? shops? restaurants?

We originally had an OBB for the 1/28/2018 Southern cruise on the Wonder out of San Juan, but cancelled prior to PIF due to uncertainties in Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria. We are still considering rebooking this cruise with a GT rate, but after reading some reports on cruise critic, it seems that many hotels are cancelling reservations(some without notice.) Personally, I had 2 reservations at Embassy Suites San Juan for the front and back end of our cruise. When I called them last week to confirm my reservations, they said that those reservations will be cancelled and I will get an email shortly about this. I currently have Hyatt Place booked for 1 night pre-cruise and Hyatt Place for 1 night post cruise...but I'm nervous about not having a place to stay.

We've visited San Juan three times in the past and love it there. I would love to book the upcoming cruise out of San Juan, but feel uncertain about the timing with hurricane recovery efforts underway. (I've tried to find an organization to volunteer with before and/or after our cruise too, but I haven't been able to come up with anything.)

Also, here's an article that mentions the Magic in port today:
http://caribbeanbusiness.com/touris...f-7000-cruise-passengers-to-port-of-san-juan/

If you have any thoughts, please share.

Thanks,
Jennifer

 

[bumbershoot]

Cabs are fine.

Are you following the specific hotels thread in the San Juan ports of call section on cc?

Many people are enjoying Airbnb there right now.

Remember that cruises have been embarking there since 10/7 because Royal was back the moment they could. I haven’t heard a single bad story yet from the people who cruised even that early. And now the day stops have started again.

 

[jenny_nichole]

Thanks bumbershoot. Yes, I’ve read the threads on cc about open hotels. Just wondering if anyone on here went down to SJ for either repo cruise and had helpful info to share.

We are a family of 5 and have stayed in SJ 3x previously. There are only a handful of hotels that accommodate 5/room. I have read the Airbnb recommendations too, so that’s worth considering if we go for the cruise.

Thanks again

 

[mhconley]

A TA on our January cruise out of San Juan posted some photos from one of their clients staying in San Juan prior to the Magic repo cruise. The client is staying at the Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino. They said there is some damage but the hotel is fully operational. Someone else posted a photo of the La Concha Renaissance Resort taken just today. We’re staying there before our cruise. Looked nice to me.

Martin

 

[katethegreat24]

I was in San Juan last week - not on a cruise, sadly, but I did have the opportunity to tour the island including the ports. While there is evidence of hurricane damage, the island is up and running! Almost every shop, restaurant, and hotel I saw in Old San Juan is open for business, whether they had power or not (most did). I did see a lot of signs saying they could accept cash only, so keep that in mind. But for the most part, Old San Juan is back! And they want you to visit - they need those tourism dollars to help rebuild the structures that were lost.
In all honesty, for the 4 nights I was there, I hardly knew a hurricane had gone through. The island has done an amazing job rebuilding, and the residents have such a positive outlook on the whole situation. Se levante Puerto Rico!

 

[lizabu]

There was a lady on Facebook who was on that cruise and she said pretty much what Kate said. We cruise out of San Juan on February 4 and I have also been anxiously watching what is being reported back. And crossing my fingers my hotel reservations don’t get cancelled. We’ve had a few people in our group have their hotels cancel.

 

[SteelersLover]

Just got off the Magic yesterday. I flew in morning of as opposed to dealing with the hotel situation but many in our chat group stayed over and had good stays. The airport and cans were perfectly seamless as was boarding the ship. Hopefully I'll get back another time to spend more time on the island

 

[MLSChi]

Hi, I'm new here but we were on the Magic to San Juan. We stayed an extra night there after getting off the ship. We were originally supposed to stay at the Hilton Caribe but were moved to the Marriott. It was lovely. We talked to many who worked there, they are only working two days a week right now. Many thanked us for staying the extra night. The beaches were gorgeous and we spend all out time out there until our flight back to Chicago from San Juan the next day. They need us to come back.

There was concern buzzing around because there was only one way on and off the ship. For EVERYONE including crew members. So trying to get off took a while but we hung out on deck and enjoyed that last time with my sister's family before they flew back to Detroit. It was obvious the port had been beat up really good by the hurricane.

I've been reading here for months, my first post. I miss our first cruise ever, our cruise on the Disney Magic from NYC to PR. It was the best. I've cried every day. If you miss your vacation, own your own business and work from home, don't download a bunch of Disney music and listen to it in the morning or you won't work.

 

[MLSChi]

A TA on our January cruise out of San Juan posted some photos from one of their clients staying in San Juan prior to the Magic repo cruise. The client is staying at the Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino. They said there is some damage but the hotel is fully operational. Someone else posted a photo of the La Concha Renaissance Resort taken just today. We’re staying there before our cruise. Looked nice to me.

Martin

We stayed there too. Maybe there was outside damage, but inside and the pools and beach were stunning. They upgraded us to a massive suite on the Penthouse level it was great. Wish we had gotten another day in it.
We had a starbucks across the street, a burger place called Buns and a CVS where we got some swimming masks.

 

[MelissaE1]

We were on the San Juan to Miami repo and stayed at the Doubletree in Condado the night before. We made the reservation after the hurricane when nothing else was available and never had a problem with cancellation. We loved this property! When I checked in I asked if they could give us the best available room in our category because we were celebrating our 25th anniversary. The room wasn't ready as we were early, but when we came back to check in later we found our bed decked out with towel swans and rose petals, and a complimentary bottle of wine. The customer service all the way around was excellent. The hotel was within walking distance of plenty of restaurants and things to do. The rooms are on the small side but well appointed.

As far as the hurricane, there is still clear damage to be seen and many people we spoke to still did not have electricity but plenty of things were open. We were told by several locals not to wander around at night. I personally never felt unsafe.

As a side note, we asked the hotel desk where to get good local food at a casual place because we didn't want to dig into our luggage. They recommended Bebo's and it was delicious! Obviously a local hangout.

We really enjoyed our day there.

 

[ustasmom]

There was a lady on Facebook who was on that cruise and she said pretty much what Kate said. We cruise out of San Juan on February 4 and I have also been anxiously watching what is being reported back. And crossing my fingers my hotel reservations don’t get cancelled. We’ve had a few people in our group have their hotels cancel.

We will be on this cruise.

 

[lizabu]

We will be on this cruise.

40 days!!!

 

[mthrelkeld]

There was a lady on Facebook who was on that cruise and she said pretty much what Kate said. We cruise out of San Juan on February 4 and I have also been anxiously watching what is being reported back. And crossing my fingers my hotel reservations don’t get cancelled. We’ve had a few people in our group have their hotels cancel.

We are also sailing out of San Juan or I our disney cruise feb. 4! Happy sailing!

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We are also sailing out of San Juan or I our disney cruise feb. 4! Happy sailing!

Us too! We head to San Juan on Thursday and are hopeful that the island will be in decent shape.

 

[AquaDame]

We got in to PR mid day on the 27th and are sailing in the Wonder today. I’m so glad we came! We’ve had no issues, though we did see signs of the hurricane damage on our cab rides. Everyone has been friendly and there are no issues getting around or with power, water (could have had a hotter shower though tbh), or any feeling that we were not safe wandering OSJ last night after dinner.

 

[tlprice]

We were in San Juan for the 1-14 to 1-21 Southern Caribbean cruise. We stayed in Old San Juan. We didn't see very much hurricane damage. Everywhere we went had electricity. It all seemed like business as usual. It was just me and my 10 year old DD and we never felt unsafe. We walked to a restaurant at night and walked around Old San Juan to the forts. We loved San Juan and would love to go back and experience more of Puerto Rico in the future.

 

[lizabu]

Us too! We head to San Juan on Thursday and are hopeful that the island will be in decent shape.

We will be arriving Thursday too. Looking forward to the sunshine.