A question for those in the know, do any of the Vieques hotel/resorts handle pre-cruise type stays? My specific concern is with the amount of luggage and the small planes in which my wife won't fly. I'd love to find someone who will meet a family of 4 at the airport and transport us to Vieques for three nights and back to the port for our cruise. Any good ideas? Thanks, DaveM

Not sure what you mean by precruise type stay but the hotels will take you for a few nights stay. No real resort on the island, Martineau Bay has been purchased by the W Hotel chain and is being updated so it is unavailable until sometime in 2008.

The plane we flew to Vieques was a nice twin engine with 6 seats, including pilot. I haven't heard of anything larger that goes to Vieques right now.

If she doesn't like the idea of the plane, and with your amount of luggage, take the ferry to Vieques. When you land in San Juan you would take a cab to Fajardo for the ferry.

You could contact the hotel you're interested in to see if they could help arrange pickup for you on Vieques.

Are you renting a car on Vieques??

Here is a thread that may be helpful:
http://tinyurl.com/2m2lxl

Also, have you considered staying on Puerto Rico? There are lovely places to stay so you won't be lugging all of that luggage back. You could visit El Yunque, Old San Juan and Condado beach for relaxation.

I would be concerned getting back to Vieques for the cruise departure since you would be relying upon the ferry, which can cancel and change their times due to weather.

The most common "workhorse" plane flying between San Juan and VQS is the 9 seat Britain-Norman Islander. I have also flown in an 11 seat Cessna Grand Caravan. Cape Air is the airline with the smallest planes.

Good to know, eaf. What airline flies the caravan?

how many days do you plan to be in PR before your cruise? you definately want to be on the mainland on the morning of your departure, as the previous poster said, they ferrys are very often late or broke down, etc.

you could do a day trip.

at this point,
Martineau Bay Resort is still open. they will close after this winter season.

Soggydollar, good that you know that Martineau Bay is still open.

Caribbean Travel & Life has an article this month stating it was closed. I wonder when its closing down for the makeover.

hi beachgirl...i have come across people staying there in the recent past. i will look into it to be sure, but there are no signs outside the property, the gate is not closed. and the idea was to stay open during high season, then close for renovations. makes sense business wise.

also, they are still adverising on the vieques enchanted isle website. i willfind out for sure in the next few days.
in novemb er we all heard they are closing, so ,maybe with magazine deadlines, their info was accurate..

I *think* it was Vieques Air Link that had the Caravan, but I'm not phobic about small planes so I just fly on whatever is scheduled to make the run!