Leaving Jewel of the Seas in San Juan

Hi all,

We are on our first cruise in the Southern Caribbean on Dec. 3rd out of San Juan.

When the ship arrives in San juan on Dec. 10th it says the arrival time is 6:00am. I understand you can stay on the ship for a while after (like about 3 hours) and then you have to leave. And I also understand as you leave you take your bags as they are on the pier waiting for you...

My problem/question is our flight doesn't leave San Juan till 4:10pm. We plan on getting to airport 2-3 hours before, but during the times of say 9am-2pm what do we do with our bags? Can they hold them?

We have transport from ship to airport with Air2Sea but I'm sure they won't hold them.

We'd love to look around but don't really want to be rolling luggage with us.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

First, your bags will be in the cruise terminal, not out on the pier.

Second, if you want to look around, you probably should not use the cruise line transfer, because that will get you to the airport early. You will have to leave the ship when the cruise line transfer is ready to go, so you won't have a bunch of time. The transfer is timed to get people to the airport for flights as early as noon.

I'd take a taxi to a restaurant called Barranchina's in Old San Juan. They will hold your bags for free. Explore Old San Juan. Then take a taxi to the airport.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

 

First, your bags will be in the cruise terminal, not out on the pier.

 

Second, if you want to look around, you probably should not use the cruise line transfer, because that will get you to the airport early. You will have to leave the ship when the cruise line transfer is ready to go, so you won't have a bunch of time. The transfer is timed to get people to the airport for flights as early as noon.

 

I'd take a taxi to a restaurant called Barranchina's in Old San Juan. They will hold your bags for free. Explore Old San Juan. Then take a taxi to the airport.

Is it safe to leave the bags there?!? All I hear in my head is Customs saying "and have you been in sight of your bags all the time?" haha:o

Take one of the ship's excursions that drops you off at the airport We have done both the Rainforest and Bacardi Rum factory. Your luggage is delivered to the airport and you pick it up after the excursion

Ontario Cruiser

Is it safe to leave the bags there?!? All I hear in my head is Customs saying "and have you been in sight of your bags all the time?" haha:o

It's been used for years and recommended by many on Cruise Critic. You can ask on the San Juan forum for confirmation:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=131

Take one of the ship's excursions that drops you off at the airport We have done both the Rainforest and Bacardi Rum factory. Your luggage is delivered to the airport and you pick it up after the excursion

Ontario Cruiser

Who did you book this with? Shore Excursions doesn't have any in San Juan that take you from the pier with luggage, do the tour and drop you at the airport

Who did you book this with? Shore Excursions doesn't have any in San Juan that take you from the pier with luggage, do the tour and drop you at the airport

On our last cruise from San Juan, there were a couple of cruise line excursions that ended up at the airport. If you cannot see any, I would check on board.

smokeeater2...also be advised when you first get to the airport (return trip) you will need to send all your luggage including carryon luggage through the agriculture scanner/inspection area. Each bag will have a sticker placed on them by the agriculture agent. It's quick but mandatory. Then you can proceed to your airline to check-in for your return flight home.

I wonder if you could just go to the airport, check in, check your bags (if you are checking), then just take your carry ons with you on a cab into town?

I wonder if you could just go to the airport, check in, check your bags (if you are checking), then just take your carry ons with you on a cab into town?

Possible, unless the airport has limits to how early bags can be checked, like FLL.

We've used Barrachina's. Works great. Also have taken ship excursions in San Juan. Both work, no problem. Enjoy your cruise.

Hi all,

We are on our first cruise in the Southern Caribbean on Dec. 3rd out of San Juan.

When the ship arrives in San juan on Dec. 10th it says the arrival time is 6:00am.

I have some pros and cons here.

Our first time off a ship in San Juan we took royal's ship excursion to the rainforest with luggage dropped at airport for us. Hand luggage kept with us. When we got to the airport all our luggage, for everyone on the bus was in a pile outside the terminal. Unguarded, unattended, unwatched. It upset me, so don't leave anything important in there.

The next time, also with a later, more affordable flight we went right to the airport, and had to wait until 4 hours before our flight before they would Check in our luggage.

This time, I just picked an earlier flight.

Barrachinas has an excellent reputation. It is also the home of the original Pina Colada, don't forget to have one whether you leave luggage there or not and say Hello to their red parrot.:D

That 4 pm flight out of SJU is just killer. One time we opted to stay at

the Embassy Suites on debarkation day and fly home the day after. That

was nice and relaxing. Another time we booked the hotel in the airport

for the afternoon and took a nap while waiting for the flight.

1) Barrachina works excellent.

2) We were supposed to leave the ship at 9.15AM. A delay was announced for everyone. At the end, we got outside at 10.30AM.

Delays at disembarkation should be taken into account:D

I wonder if you could just go to the airport, check in, check your bags (if you are checking), then just take your carry ons with you on a cab into town?

We got to the airport too early and had to wait an hour until we were able to check bags. Pre-security at that airport is very boring. At that point it's three hours until flight time anyway so what's the point in going anywhere?

FYI the post that said you wont be off the ship until 11:00 couldnt be more wrong.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Forums mobile app

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

 

First, your bags will be in the cruise terminal, not out on the pier.

 

Second, if you want to look around, you probably should not use the cruise line transfer, because that will get you to the airport early. You will have to leave the ship when the cruise line transfer is ready to go, so you won't have a bunch of time. The transfer is timed to get people to the airport for flights as early as noon.

 

I'd take a taxi to a restaurant called Barranchina's in Old San Juan. They will hold your bags for free. Explore Old San Juan. Then take a taxi to the airport.

To the OP, page 7 of my review we did exactly what Bob said and had a great time.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2496823&page=7

Our disembarking number for our Jewel cruise last February was 22. We were not called until almost 10 am. We had to leave our cabin by 8:30 am (no problem since we had a 5 pm flight) and we sat in the computer area on deck 7. When our number was called it was an easy exit from the ship. We got a porter to help us with our luggage (strongly recommended) and we were whisked through a special customs line (or non line really). Once outside the terminal, we had two choices. There were mini vans directly to the airport. The other choice, which we took, was a mini tour of downtown San Juan. We stopped at the capitol and Morro fort. We had an hour stop to walk around and shop. On the way to the airport, we stopped at a local restaurant (cafeteria?) for lunch on our own. Very good food. We were back to the airport by 2:30ish.

FYI the post that said you wont be off the ship until 11:00 couldnt be more wrong.

 

Sent from my LG-D850 using Forums mobile app

If I "couldn't be more wrong," then why don't you explain to me what alternate universe I was in two weeks ago when we docked in San Juan at 6:00 AM and it was around 11:00 when I walked out of the terminal building?

Both Delta and American would not allow luggage checkin until 4 hours before the flight. We had precheck and club access but were stuck with luggage outside the secure area. We were able to check in without the bags to get boarding passes. Note that there are only a few chairs and one coffee shop outside security - no where to sit. American terminal had a luggage storage area (cost was $20/bag) but when I went back out of security to check in the bags the attendant wasn't there. Waited for over 1/2 hour before he showed up. Checked in bags, back through security and back to club lounge. At this point lines were very long for ag inspection and checkin.

Moral: Don't get to the airport earlier than 4 1/2 hours if possible.

It's a lose/ lose situation. You either have an enormous amount of time to kill, or you pay substantially more to fly. I'm gonna end up paying $100 extra to leave SJU at 1:30 pm as opposed to 3:30.

Sent from my LG-H631 using Forums mobile app

I think you meant to say something more along the lines of "my experience has been somewhat different."

 

If I "couldn't be more wrong," then why don't you explain to me what alternate universe I was in two weeks ago when we docked in San Juan at 6:00 AM and it was around 11:00 when I walked out of the terminal building?

Our experience in December was also very different.

We did self-disembark. Had breakfast at the Windjammer at 6, lined up in the theater about 6:40 (we were about 15th in line), walked off at 7, through customs and in a cab by 7:10 (first in line at the passport station), at the airport by 7:25, and at our gate (quick agricultural check, Southwest bag drop, and TSA precheck) by 7:45.

Then we looked at each other and said, "How did we just do that?" :D

One of the more interesting threads for us personally that I've read! Smokeeater2, we'll be getting off the Jewel the day you board! Booked a 5:35pm flight just so we'd have time to roam around before flying out, so got lots of good information in this thread on what/how to do that day.

I do have a question: what time does anyone suggest getting to the airport by in order to get checked in/get through security, etc. It's normally by 2 hrs. before the departure time at most airports stateside. Does this hold true for San Juan? From what I've picked up in reading, looks like most people spend several hours waiting in the airport, and I'd like to maximize our 'exploring' time/minimize our waiting time.