Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour San Juan

Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour  (photo album)

San Juan

Shore Excurions

Whether this is your first trip to San Juan, or like us, have been there many times before, you might be looking for something different to do this time around.

We had never been to the Bacardi Rum Distillery before, so we decided to book a shore excursion through the cruise line.   It is possible to do this tour on your own, but we opted for convenience over price.

Tour Coop

Carnival contracts with Tour Coop to provide the tour to Bacardi Distillery and Old San Juan.  Upon arriving at Bacardi, you are given two drink tickets and a tour number.  Tours depart every 20 minutes or so from the welcome tent.

The ticket can be exchanged for a rum drink of your choosing.  Be sure that you have enough time to finish the drink before your tour is called because no drinks are allowed on the tour.

Tram Ride

When your tour is called you'll board a tour tram for a short (1 minute) ride to one of the Bacardi buildings.   In the lobby you'll see various artifacts that tell about the Bacardi family history.   The tour includes a video about the family and then you proceed into another room where you'll be able to smell some of the different Bacardi rum "flavors" and watch a video that explains the rum making process from sugar to rum.

Shop Bacardi Rum (36 images)

There's a "bar" where they'll describe how two of the most popular rum drinks, Mojitos and a Cuba Libre, are made.   Browse amongst the various Bacardi displays, including magazine ads from the 40s.   You can purchase rum or Bacardi logo items in the gift store before returning to the welcome tent to finish your drink coupons if you haven't already done so.  You'll have ample time to explore before boarding your van for the ride to Old San Juan.

This is an enjoyable tour which we'd recommend that you try at least once in your lifetime.

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Tip: You can book a tour with the ship or travel to Bacardi on your own: From Old San Juan – Take the ferry from Pier 2 to Catano, for $0.50 pp, each way. When you arrive in Catano, go to the right for a taxi to the factory for about $3.00 pp each way.

We'll continue with more to see and do in San Juan and describe the rest of our cruise in future articles.   If you are just joining us, we have several articles in this mini-series already.   See our main article (click image).