Blogs from Puerto Rico, Central America Caribbean - page 6

This trip was somewhat of an afterthought. Where could we go that's warm, outside of the contiguous United States, can fly out in the morning and be on the beach by the afternoon, and somewhat affordable? Puerto Rico it was. I can say with certainty that if you're a fan beautiful clean beaches, a touch of Caribbean culture, eclectic shopping and beautiful architecture, then this is the place. For me though, that word "vacation" still hasn't found a comfortable place in my vocabulary. Why take a vacation when you could be traveling? Well, maybe because I have a husband who doesn't relish the idea of every trip we take involving a perpetual threat to the orphaning of our children. "I insist that the next trip we take will be to some place clean, got it Andrea?" ... read more

I arrived ahead of everyone else to make sure everything was prepared for the wedding. I stayed at a great little guesthouse in Old San Juan called Posada San Francisco where I met a lot of great people to hang out with during the week. Mostly I searched for little trinkets to put in welcome bags. I thought Puerto Rico would be cheap like central america, but Old San Juan was not at all. I ended up taking a bus about an hour away to a market to buy things. It was an adventure, but it was worth it. Everything was about a third of the cost and the exact same stuff. Part of the group arrived on Thursday to spend the day in Old San Juan, so we went out to a salsa club. Andrew ... read more

Hello folks! This is the beginning of my travels here. It has almost been a month since I arrived, and it sure has felt like it. I have been through a series of dengue fever and serious cravings for foods of all different types. Turns out waiting a month to meet fun people with similar interests (I'm referring to when my classes start) is a bigger pain in the a$$ than what I had originally thought! It will all be worth it though here in a few days, not only do classes start in 11 days, but people will be all moved in in 9. So all I have to do is hold on a little longer and I have already made it through the toughest part of this trip! So far on this trip, I ... read more

A full service resort located 10-minutes from the International Airport and adjacent to the convention center.While the surrounding area within walking distance doesn’t offer much, it is a convenient 10-minute taxi ride to old San Juan and Condado Beach and 5-minutes from the Panamerican Cruise Terminal. The lobby is chic with lots of ochre- colored marble and soft lighting that changes hues in the evening. A large bar/café extends from the check-in area and serves as an entry way into the casino. Check-in is efficient, except on cruise departure days, when large numbers of cruise passengers checking in and out at the same time, seem to overwhelm the housekeeping staff. This was what happened in our case, when we had to wait 2 hours past the 3:00 PM check-in time to get our deluxe king room ... read more

Friday morning, March 9th, we were walking out the door heading for the airport in Toluca, an hour and a half away, when the phone rang. Spirit airlines informed us that due to mechanical failure, our flight to Puerto Rico had been cancelled. We had two options: receive a credit for another flight with Spirit or fly with them on the following Tuesday to Puerto Rico. We responded that neither option was acceptable! We had a flight booked with American Airlines from PR to Saint Lucia on Sunday, and that we had to get to PR to make that flight. We were told we then had to go to the airport in Toluca to discuss the matter with the staff at the ticket counter. At 11:15 we were standing in line with other irate Spirit customers ... read more