Serenade 22 jan 2011 - When to board?

[sbtagent]

Many who have sailed with Serenade, write they arrive to the Pan American pier in San Juan around noon, but my ticket says 'NO EARLIER THAN " 05:30 PM ". Ship sails 08:30 PM. This is the cruise starting 22. january 2011.

Is it it because this voyage has nearby St. Thomas as the first port of call, they leave this late?

Someone told me it was probably " not later than 05:30". This will be my 20. cruise, and I have never boarded any ship this late.

[cruiseguy1016]

Ships depart from San Juan at 8:30pm because a lot of the passengers' flights don't arrive until late in the afternoon. The ship usually arrives in port at around 6:00am and has cleared customs by 7:00. The ship is usually ready for boarding by 11:00 - 11:30. If you get to the pier by 11:00 you'll be on the ship by noon.

[waterbugohio]

Agree, we have sailed the Serenade the last three years. Each time my documents said the same as yours. Please do not follow what is on the paper. Thanks to all the wonderful people on here and the new friends we made thru our roll call, I knew that we could go early. We have been on the ship all three years between 12-1.

[MIcruiser99]

We did the Adventure before Serenade and followed the recommended time. When we arrived at 4 pm (Yeah, a little earlier than recommended) and there was a LONG, LONG line in HOT weather as the line was outside the building.

 

The next cruise was on Serenade and we went directly to the ship after the 11am hotel checkout. We did have a short wait before they started check-in but there was a SMALL line.

 

This time, we plan to arrive early again!

[subtchr]

St. Thomas was also our first port, and we boarded at noon.

 

We loved it, spent time relaxing and exploring, made it feel like a sea day!

 

Sue

[Miss Vickie]

You'll be boarding the day we disembark. We've got multiple sailings on Serenade, and the only time we've boarded after noon was when they had trouble clearing passengers on the previous cruise off through customs, which delayed boarding for the next cruisers.

[Sheffie]

We also love the Serenade and have sailed her 3X. We have always arrived a little after 11 a.m. and have had to wait only a little while before boarding our favorite ship.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[danp]

We will be doing the same sailing,a B2B,We will arrive about 1130 and hope to be in the windjammer by 1200 having lunch.

[Host Faith]

We also love the Serenade and have sailed her 3X. We have always arrived a little after 11 a.m. and have had to wait only a little while before boarding our favorite ship.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

We do the same thing. Have fun on your cruise!

[Sequim88]

We're of two minds on when to board. Some in the group want to get on and have lunch in WJ and get to cabin to take a nap. Others want to just drop off luggage and go over to OSJ. We might split up and do both but wanted to all check-in together since we've upgraded Mom & Dad to a balcony cabin as a surprise. Sort of hoping they don't notice at check-in and find out when the open the door. :D

 

Can you check-in and then leave the ship for the afternoon for touristing and then come back later prior to sailing? That would solve both desires. Our MTD is 6:45 that night so that would be plenty of time before the ship leaves. Not sure how muster drill timing factors in to all this though. :confused:

[39august]

Yes, you can check in on any ship and then leave for local exploring.