Kathleen Welsh

We had a long day in San Juan, and I expected to enjoy that the most, but I enjoyed it the least. Most the people we met went on the city tour, and the distillery tour. They thought it was okay, but they don't allow any photography in the distillery, and that disappointed some. We went on the Rain Forest Tour, which was our biggest disappointment. In hindsight, I would try to book this tour with a local tour company that offered a longer stay there. We had an adventurous, ride up the mountain (which seemed to bother a few, but I thought it was nice), and stopped at a local store for a snack, and bathroom break, although I saw a bathroom on the bus. Then we got to the Rain Forest (about a 45 minute drive, or so), and stopped at a SMALL waterfall. You CANNOT get in it to swim, but you can climb up the rocks for a photograph, if you are in reasonably good shape, with good shoes. Only a few tried it. Then back on the bus for a ride further up, and a short walk through the forest, where you will see some trees, ferns, a few flowers, and that's about it. We never saw a single animal, not even a lizard or a frog. You can buy postcards up there. Then you go back down on the bus, and stop at a tower, which you can go up for a view of the forest. That's it. The shame is that the locals know the best part is at the bottom of the Rain Forest (an hour and half hike, or so I'm told), where the BIG waterfall is that you can actually swim in. We came prepared with water shoes, and the whole bit, and were disappointed. The tour guide, who was German, and seemed very miscast as a guide in the Puerto Rican Rain Forest, was not very helpful, and we could not find a taxi to get a later ride back down to the ship. It probably would have cost quite a bit too. So, we had no choice, but to leave with the tour, even though we had SEVEN more hours until the ship left. I think Carnival should plan this tour better, and allow people more time for the real Rain Forest highlights. Instead they plan for another tour bus to come up there for a second tour, later in the day, and rush everyone through it. When we got back, we just shopped in San Juan, but it was hard to find a restaurant to eat in. We finally found a small, diner, where the locals eat, and my husband thought the food was quite good. Others said they ate at the Hard Rock Cafe there. It's VERY Americanized in San Juan, and you will find a lot of products from home. In fact, it was too Americanized for my tastes. I guess you would have to get out of the city to see more of the local culture. We were just rather bored with it, even though I had always wanted to go there.

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