Disembarkation Day

[Wake2port]

Disembarkation Times - How long can we stay on the ship on Disembarkation day? We don't need to rush off since our flight doesn't leave San Juan until 4pm.

 

Is it necessary to be at the San Juan airport 3 hours prior to departure time?

 

We are coming off the Carnival Victory and I'm suspecting we will be exhausted due to the port intensive cruise, On embarkation day we will have a few hours to tour San Juan, not sure how much we can really do on the last day and wondering if we can stay on the ship as long for as possible before heading to airport.

 

Even if we leave the ship at 11 we will still have a few hours to spare, doesn't really seem like enough time to really do anything though.

 

Anyone got any ideas

[dz63]

Disembarkation Times - How long can we stay on the ship on Disembarkation day? We don't need to rush off since our flight doesn't leave San Juan until 4pm.

 

Is it necessary to be at the San Juan airport 3 hours prior to departure time?

 

We are coming off the Carnival Victory and I'm suspecting we will be exhausted due to the port intensive cruise, On embarkation day we will have a few hours to tour San Juan, not sure how much we can really do on the last day and wondering if we can stay on the ship as long for as possible before heading to airport.

 

Even if we leave the ship at 11 we will still have a few hours to spare, doesn't really seem like enough time to really do anything though.

 

Anyone got any ideas

 

We were also on the Carnival Victory. For disembarkation, we were given assigned tags which ranged from numbers 1-32. We were given the number 28, so we knew we would be one of the last ones called off the ship. That was fine with us. We planned on staying on in San Juan for four more days and were in no hurry to disembark. At 10:15 our number was called. That was our cue to say goodbye to the Carnival Victory and leave this splendid and majestic ship.

 

By 10:30 the last numbers were called. So it looks like on disembarkation day, everyone will be off the ship by 11:00 am. Since your flight doesn't leave until 4:00 and it is required for international flights to check in 3 hours earlier, you would have a few hours to either explore Old San Juan or perhaps even visit one of the forts. You could always leave the ship earlier too if you think you would like to have the extra time to see sites. (I have read on the boards that on "cruise ship" days, the airport is very busy, so it would be a good idea to be at the airport 3 hours prior to departure. Since we left mid-week on a "non-cruise ship" day, we went through the airport check in and security process fairly quickly).

 

 

Precruise we visited the forts of El Morro and San Cristobal and post-cruise we did our own walking tour of Old San Juan. We revisited Pier 4--the Carnival Victory Cruise ship terminal (minus the ship), Plaza de Colon with the statue of Christopher Columbus, La Casita, Plaza de Hostos, La Princesa Promenade, Racies Fountain, the city wall along the Paseo del Morro, the entry door to Old San Juan, Plaziela de la Rogativa, colorful buildings, the Bell Tower and of course, the famous blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan!

 

Timewise, we spent approx. 1 1/2 - 2 hours at each site.

 

 

If you are interested to get an idea what there is to see and explore in Old San Juan, I have written a detailed review with photos and put together youtube videos to help.

 

 

El Morro and San Cristobal review with photos (post #2-6)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1038334

 

Our Youtube video:

 

 

 

Our Walking Tour of Old San Juan (post #197-201)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1038334&page=10

 

Our Youtube video:

[mom4ms]

Can anyone recommend a hotel that will offer a day rate to store luggage for a few hours before we need to leave for the airport for our 4p flight.

 

Possibly one that may also let you use their pool?

 

Thank you!

[IslandBoundKS]

We were on the Victory last week and our flight wasn't until after 4:00 as well. We were off the ship around 10:30 and as we were heading out of the terminal we found someone from San Juan Happy Tours who was advertising a short tour and then transportation to the airport. It was $25 per person and we made stops at the Capital building and Old San Juan. We had the choice of walking around San Juan until 1:00 or 2:00 and then being picked up and taken to the airport. We chose to be picked up at 1:00 and were at the airport by 1:30. We thought it was much better than spending the entire day at the airport and worth the money. Our driver was great and gave us lots of interesting information about San Juan as we drove around. The only problem might be that we had to wait on the bus for about 1/2 hour before we left because they wanted it filled. It wasn't a problem for us because the bus was airconditioned and our flight wasn't until later, but I know some people were getting anxious.