Nancy Norris

Having visited San Juan on numerous occasions, I had not scheduled any excursions and was open to any spur of the moment adventure. I would like to note here, however, that Costa offered one excursion that I would be remiss in not recommending: The Bioluminescent Bay kayak tour. Having experienced this magical trip at nearby Mosquito Bay on Vieques (read more in my article “Moonlight, Magic and Mai Tais” on Nancy’s page of CruiseReviews) it is a phenomenal event, not to be missed (especially on a moonless night).

The ship had docked at the Pan American International Pier, which requires about a 10 minute taxi ride into Old San Juan. As my friend had not visited the island before, we paid the $10 fare and took our own walking tour of Old San Juan, beginning at the Wyndham Old San Juan. After a pleasant, albeit meandering, walk around town, with some T-shirt shopping along the way, we eventually find our way to the one place I wanted to stop: The Parrot Club. Located in the trendy SoFo area (San Juan’s version of South Beach in Miami) next to the Plaza de Colon, this is one of my favorite stops while in Puerto Rico. This upscale, but friendly, establishment has great ambiance and also serves some of the best food in Old San Juan, not to mention they make an excellent mojito. On this visit, we had the pleasure of being served at the bar by a very personable and friendly young lady. In fact, after sampling her perfect mojito, she kindly treated us to her specialty, a coquito, which is a traditional Puerto Rican drink made with rum and anise liquor. Her version was a rum and ouzo shooter. (Hmmm, did I say, “Kindly treated us”???) As an alternative to the Puerto Rican fare served here, I might suggest that if you are in search of an absolutely fabulous meal, although a bit pricey, try the nearby Trois Cent Onze. We ended our visit to Old San Juan with a brief stop at Senõr Frogs.

Check out the shore excursions available in San Juan.
San Juan, Puerto Rico Shore Excursions

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