Leaving San Juan - flight time change question

[bikinibottom]

We are on the Summit next spring out of San Juan and I could really use some opinions here. I just happened to notice that our flight was cancelled and we are rebooked on a flight that now leaves at 12:00 noon from SJU (our original flight was at 2:30)

So what do you guys think? Can we make a noon flight home?

[ozark74]

The should be no problem, anything after 11am is good. In March we made a 1035 flight with plenty of time to spare. We were off the Summit and at the airport by 0830. The airport is only a 20 minute ride from the dock.

[cruisecriticmember]

I wonder if you can request priority disembarkation to give you more of a cushion?

[richsea]

A noon flight should leave you plaenty of time to get to the airport. Celebrity askes you early in the cruise to fill out a form advising them of the time of your outbound flight & they will get you off the ship on time.

[Peteymil]

We've done it, no problem.

[bikinibottom]

Thanks all for the input. I usually try to do a 2:00 flight or later - and when I saw my flight had gotten cancelled and we were now on the noon flight I was a bit worried. I prefer the noon one because it has only one connection (others would be 2 or more to get us back to San Diego) and it would be nice to get home that day (and not too late).

When we got home from our PC cruise on the Infinity last April the disembarkation was a nightmare and many people missed their earlier flights. Since we were arriving to SD we didn't have to fly home so that was not an issue (for us) but I vividly remember how stressed out people were that we trying to get off the ship with flights that were early. I was told it was because of customs and they held up the disembarkation in San Diego for over 2 hours.

[urbancruiser]

We just returned from a cruise onboard RCI Serenade of the Seas on Oct 10 and were through USDA check and security and sitting at our gate by 9 AM. Our flight was at 12:40 PM. So you should have no problem.

 

Don't forget that you have to go through the USDA check before checking your luggage and going through security. Just follow the signs.

[everbell]

Oh ya, don't forget the USDA thing. That was soo annoying when we left SJU last year. Nobody told us we had to do this BEFORE checking in ... so we stood in line to check in, went through the whole self check-in routine (only option available for economy), boarding passes wouldn't print, told "nope you can't be here yet" and had to go back to USDA and go through the whole process again. Very frustrating and could have been avoided if it was made clearer when you come in to the airport that USDA MUST be done FIRST.

[gisnered]

Barring a horrendous tie-up, you should be fine. Debarkation in St. Juan is pretty cut and dried - Royal Caribbean uses the same terminal so they have plenty of practice.

 

You might want to look into the Luggage Valet that Celebrity offers. Used it last year and think it's the best thing since sliced bread. For $20.00 or $25.00 we turned our bags over to the valet after going through customs and didn't see them or worry about them until we got to Philadelphia. The service includes issue of boarding passes so, at the airport, we only had to worry about getting through security. Left us roaming around the gate area with plenty of time - I started a new the murder mystery I had planned to read on the flight home. :D