Boarding

[5521544]

I have a boarding question... We are going on a Southern Caribbean Cruise on Serenade of the Seas in September out of San Juan. We do not leave port till 8:30pm what time will we be able to start boarding the ship? On our last cruise on FOS we left port at 4pm and we boarded the ship between 11:00 and 11:30. Just trying to figure out what time we can start boarding and if we need to look into getting a late checkout at our hotel. Also, if you have any hotel recommendations near the port in San Juan that would be great too!!

 

Thanks. Happy Cruising!

[ricew001]

We left the San Juan port at 8:30 and boarded about 3 pm that day with no problem. That was based on the fact our flight arrived at 2 pm. I suggest getting there as early as you can so you can take advantage of all the onboard fun! I'm sure the web site will state somewhere how early you can board.

One of the best tips we got was to board the ship and then get off and go back to CVS where we picked up our sodas and bottled water and forgotten toiletries. We are even considering next time we're considering not packing anything that we could buy at that CVS!

[Choozin Croozin]

I have a boarding question... We are going on a Southern Caribbean Cruise on Serenade of the Seas in September out of San Juan. We do not leave port till 8:30pm what time will we be able to start boarding the ship? On our last cruise on FOS we left port at 4pm and we boarded the ship between 11:00 and 11:30. Just trying to figure out what time we can start boarding and if we need to look into getting a late checkout at our hotel. Also, if you have any hotel recommendations near the port in San Juan that would be great too!!

 

Thanks. Happy Cruising!

 

Was just on the Serenade 4 weeks ago and you could start the boarding process about 11:30a. We stayed at the Sheraton Old San Juan but they are very pricey unless you have Starwood points. There is no hotel that is close enough to the pier that you don't have to take a taxi as the Serenade is at the Pan Am pier not the one that is in Old San Juan. Another hotel in Old San Juan that my db & sil stayed was the Howard Johnsons. They said it was an older hotel, but clean and ok for a night or 2.(they stayed 2) They did have a nice balcony room. They like the "finer" things in life so I would not hesitate to stay there if they said it was ok. Hope that helps a little.

[Coralc]

The turnaround and boarding time is still the same 11:30-11:45 AM. The ships leave later in San Juan to accomodate (the non-cruise critic) passengers that fly in the same day of embarkation. :) We all know to fly in at least the day before our cruise. And you can board early, they just sail later. :D:):D

[5521544]

Thanks so much for the info! Glad to know we can board early in the day it helps out a lot, now just need to figure out which hotel to stay at.

 

Thanks again!

[Choozin Croozin]

One further note, FWIW, you can also board early and if you want to go back into OSJ or somewhere else you can get off the ship and do that. Not that you would want to mind you, but just thought I'd let you know.