San Juan departures

[amanda ek]

Our first Royal Caribbean cruise leaves out of San Juan in 6 months....I'm wondering what other people's San Juan related pre-cruise experiences with booking flights, hotel options, and sight seeing the morning of embarkation are. (We will definitely have to fly in the day before.) Plane tickets are $600/person at 6 months out. Has anyone had any luck waiting until closer to sail date to get a better deal? Any thoughts on if going to el yunque embarkation morning is possible?

 

[bumbershoot]

We will know in December.

We are actually staying at WDW for a couple days then spending 5 days in SJ before the cruise. So we are flying Jet Blue or Southwest from MCO and back, and we are spending two days at WDW before going home.

I personally wouldn't feel comfy with a rainforest trip on embarkation day. Too many what ifs unless somehow there was an official excursion through the ship.

Any chance to arrive even earlier?

You will almost certainly be leaving from the panamerica pier, not the one in old San Juan, so find it on the map and familiarize you're let with the areas. We are almost certainly stayin at the embassy suites up further north and east of the dock, and we will take a cab into OSJ and later to the ship etc.

With you only being there the day before it might be more fun to stay in OSJ. The Sheraton there is popular; just remember that the day visit ships that dock right there aren't yours. We had wanted to stay at Hotel el Convento but the price is too high for as many days as we will be there. Oh well.


Cruisecritic's message boards have a Ports of Call forum that is quite good. You can see all sorts of ideas there.

 

[jenf22]

We flew from Denver to Ft. Lauderdale and spent the night there before flying to San Juan. The times just didn't work for us and we were able to meet up with my parents in FLL to all fly together so it wasn't bad. We went in 2 days early though so we could sight-see on a full day. We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriot Isla Verde and it was really nice. They are on the beach and have a casino. We took a cab everywhere. On the day we toured we went into Old San Juan and took the tram around to visit the forts. It was wicked hot but the forts were awesome. We just played in the pool the morning of the cruise.

 

[amanda ek]

Thanks for the ideas, will check out Cruise Critic for sure!

 

[Sweetsarj]

We leave in 6 months also on Adventure of the Seas! I booked JetBlue flights the day they were released for 385 pp. We fly in 1 day prior and fly out 1 day later.

 

[moericus]

We took a Southern Caribbean cruise out of Puerto Rico probably 10 years ago at this point. So I can't help you much on costs.

I will say flying into San Juan the night before and staying in the newer part of the city worked well for us. We stayed at a hotel near the beach and took a walk in the surf in the afternoon. It felt like we were in the nice part of Miami.

Flying out on the other hand was a nightmare... The terminal seating areas were tiny and I think every cruise passenger chose one of maybe 3 flights leaving for the US. We sat on a concrete floor for hours. Seating never did open up because we were all waiting for the same flights. So if you have the option to stay an extra night and fly out of San Juan early in the AM then I highly recommend it.

 

[Laz]

We cruised out of San Juan 2 years ago. True that years ago, San Juan airport was a challenge. We found that it had remodeled and was much easier to navigate and wait in. My best suggestion when leaving from San Juan is to make sure you have your luggage cleared through agricultural inspection first thing before you check your luggage. The airlines will not accept you luggage until it is cleared and tagged. My wife and I got a porter for our luggage, and it was well worth the tip. They got us through Customs very quickly and took us right to the taxi stand.

We stay the night before at the Sheraton Convention Center. Yes, it is one of the more expensive hotels. However, my wife had work to get done and we knew the room WiFI was good. The pool area is really nice and has a great view of the ship on Sunday morning

 

[Mokat76]

I wouldn't try to do the rain forest the day of embarkation. It's well worth doing, though, so if you can add an extra day in PR, I'd highly recommend it. As others have said, the airport on the day you get back to PR sucks. You could arrange a tour guide to meet you shipside (I recommend Charlie's Custom Day Tours) and do the rainforest. Then another evening in PR and an early flight home the next day.

 

[bigtony777]

If you have the chance, I recommend applying for global entry. There are many credit cards that will reimburse the fee. It will get you through customs upon returning to the port and it also includes TSA precheck so you will not have to wait in as long of a line at the airport.

Since there are no hotels that are close enough to the pier to walk to, pick your hotel based on what you want to do. You could do some beach time, Old San Juan, or something else.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you have the chance, I recommend applying for global entry. There are many credit cards that will reimburse the fee. It will get you through customs upon returning to the port and it also includes TSA precheck so you will not have to wait in as long of a line at the airport.

Since there are no hotels that are close enough to the pier to walk to, pick your hotel based on what you want to do. You could do some beach time, Old San Juan, or something else.

Does San Juan have a GE customs line?

Issue with precheck at the airport there is that it's not always open. Do not base your flight timing on having pre because it's not a guarantee that it'll be open.

 

[bigtony777]

Does San Juan have a GE customs line?

Issue with precheck at the airport there is that it's not always open. Do not base your flight timing on having pre because it's not a guarantee that it'll be open.

Yes they had a global entry at the port when we returned in January of this year.

 

[ronandannette]

We stayed an amazing little boutique hotel called At Wind Chimes - we LOVED it! It's in the Condado region of San Juan, which was about a $20 cab ride from the airport. Very safe area, we strolled (well after dark) 7 or 8 blocks to find dinner and a CVS. Each of the rooms are unique and while not exactly luxurious, we'd stay again in a heartbeat. (NOTE: This hotel is likely more suitable for a romantic getaway than a family stay.)
http://atwindchimesboutiquehotel.com/

After a leisurely morning on boarding day we took a cab to the pier and checked our luggage in just before noon. We then took a segway tour of Old San Juan and El Moro and San Crystobal. It was the PERFECT way to see the area and a real hoot! The guide was extremely professional and informative. We had a great, great time - the amazing vista from the old battle ground at El Moro (now a recreation area, great for flying kites!) was worth the price alone. The tour took about 3 hours and began and ended a 3 minute walk from where the ship was boarding.
https://www.segwaytourspr.com/guided-tours/

We spent a little time getting a cold drink and going to the drugstore (pretty much right across from the pier) and then boarded at about 4:00. The only downside at all was that the line was long but we could have avoided that by arriving either earlier or later. Overall we adored our time in San Juan - I hope you have a great time too!