Flying to San Juan for Serenade of the Seas!

[Universe93B]

Wanted to go on saturday 3/17/11 Serenade of the Seas for a relaxing Southern caribbean cruise, but there is no way I can fly to San Juan a day earlier due to work. Would have to leave on Saturday. Leaving from NC, taking the earlier flight we can get there by 12pm. There are other flights from charlotte going there too throughout the day. The ship leaves at 8.30pm, so we need to be on by 7 or 7.30pm?

 

Is this doable? Seems like people do it all the time. Have been on over 5 cruises but we always fly in a day earlier, so thought I would ask.

 

Really want to do this particular cruise!

[mommabean]

Wanted to go on saturday 3/17/11 Serenade of the Seas for a relaxing Southern caribbean cruise, but there is no way I can fly to San Juan a day earlier due to work. Would have to leave on Saturday. Leaving from NC, taking the earlier flight we can get there by 12pm. There are other flights from charlotte going there too throughout the day. The ship leaves at 8.30pm, so we need to be on by 7 or 7.30pm?

 

Is this doable? Seems like people do it all the time. Have been on over 5 cruises but we always fly in a day earlier, so thought I would ask.

 

Really want to do this particular cruise!

 

You missed the ship! :eek:

 

Oh, you mean next year? :) Go as early as possible and hope for no delays. You'll make it way before 7 if your flight gets in a noon. It's a short taxi ride from the airport to the cruise port. Be sure to book a flight with the least connections possible.

[wrp96]

For an 8:30 sailing, you must be onboard the ship no later than 7pm. That is a DHS requirement.

 

If you have to fly in day of, take the flight that arrives earliest into San Juan. It should be okay.

[OKC Cruisers]

Oh, it's can be done. With your ship not departing until 8:30 pm you will want to be on the ship for sure by 7pm. But, were it me, I'd get the earliest flight possible just to allow a buffer for any unforeseen delays that seem to crop up on flights these days. Besides, why not get on the ship as early as possible and enjoy exploring the ship and basically starting your vacation as soon as possible.

 

We found San Juan airport to be fairly easy to navigate. Getting a taxi to the port is easy, but it is a little bit of a drive from the airport to the pier.

 

Oh, and by the way, I am assuming your sail date isn't 3/17/11, unless you have a time machine! :eek:

 

Go early...Have Fun!

[cdamion]

 

Oh, and by the way, I am assuming your sail date isn't 3/17/11, unless you have a time machine! :eek:

 

 

No, it's 3/17/11, their agent simply gave them a good discount they couldn't refuse.

 

You should be fine with the early flight. I would avoid arriving at rush hour because traffic can be horrendous there, but it is only about a 15 minute ride from the airport, if that. I love leaving from San Juan.

[TOlson70]

We were on the Adventure in February out of San Juan with an 830 departure and if I remember right, all aboard, even with a late departure was 530 pm. Better look into that.

[daveky]

Barring any flight delays coming into San Juan, should be ok. As early posts mentioned, the earlier the flight the better. Was on the Serenade in May and on the day of debarkation was flying back home on Delta. Well, when we got to the airport one of the of Delta flights coming into San Juan to drop off passengers had mechanical problems and land in the states, Delta was bringing in another plan for them but they would be in San Juan late but was told RCCL was going to hold the ship for them. Unfortunately, the folks flying back from my cruise booked on that plane wasn't able to get on another flight till the next day and got vouchers and had to stay in a hotel in San Juan and fly home the next day. Delta apparantly does not have a high profile in San Juan these days as there were only 3 Delta gates at the terminal.

 

Dave

[cruiseguy1016]

Wanted to go on saturday 3/17/11 Serenade of the Seas for a relaxing Southern caribbean cruise, but there is no way I can fly to San Juan a day earlier due to work. Would have to leave on Saturday. Leaving from NC, taking the earlier flight we can get there by 12pm. There are other flights from charlotte going there too throughout the day. The ship leaves at 8.30pm, so we need to be on by 7 or 7.30pm?

 

Is this doable? Seems like people do it all the time. Have been on over 5 cruises but we always fly in a day earlier, so thought I would ask.

 

Really want to do this particular cruise!

 

We'll be on the 3/17/12 sailing of the Serenade. This will be our third cruise out of San Juan. If your flight is scheduled to land at 12:00 (and it lands on time) you'll have no problems. There is a taxi stand right outside of the baggage claim area. The taxis in San Juan all have fixed rates. A taxi from the airport to the cruise terminal is $20 plus $1 per bag.

[Sequim88]

If flying from "Snow Country" March can still be pretty iffy for winter storms. Also down towards Charlotte it is start of spring thunderstorm time. All it would take is one big low pressure system up north dropping heavy spring snow and a trailing cold front across the SE making thunderstorms to really mess up airline schedules. It's an odds play so trip insurance might be a pretty good idea to reduce worry. Of course flying from West Coast would be less risky than from Minnesota over to New England.

[Mark_K]

For an 8:30 sailing, you must be onboard the ship no later than 7pm. That is a DHS requirement.

If 90 minutes is a DHS requirement, why does Royal Caribbean have this posted on their web page:

 

Monarch of the Seas is scheduled to sail out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday, July 8. The final space shuttle launch is also scheduled for Friday, July 8. Port Canaveral historically experiences heavy traffic volume before and after the shuttle launch. Since the shuttle launch on July 8 is the last launch, the Port is expecting extremely heavy traffic in the area.

 

We ask that guests who are scheduled to sail on Monarch of the Seas on July 8, provide ample time to arrive at the port for boarding. The ship's 4:30 p.m. departure will not be delayed due to the launch traffic. As a reminder, all guests must be checked in and onboard the ship 60 minutes prior to sail time.

[Saysell64]

The early flight will be fine. We sailed on the Serenade this past December and had our original flight for the day before cancelled due to weather. We ended up flying from JFK early morning on the day of and landed in San Juan around 11:00am. We got to the ship before they even started boarding so an early flight the day of shouldn't be a problem.

[Scottee25]

If 90 minutes is a DHS requirement, why does Royal Caribbean have this posted on their web page:

 

We ask that guests who are scheduled to sail on Monarch of the Seas on July 8, provide ample time to arrive at the port for boarding. The ship's 4:30 p.m. departure will not be delayed due to the launch traffic. As a reminder, all guests must be checked in and onboard the ship 60 minutes prior to sail time.

 

They didn't say it was a 90 minute requirement. They said that the 7pm time was because it was an 8:30pm departure. The Monarch is a 4:30pm departure. I am not saying they are right that it is a DHS requirement, but simply, you are not comparing apples to apples. If the Monarch sailing was am 8:30pm departure, then your argument may hold more weight.

[spazzy]

We just got back from the Serenade on the 12th. We were to fly out of Charleston, WV, which is a small airport, at 6am the day of sailing. Our flight was canceled due to a flight attendant not showing up for work. All flights were booked and the airline was not much help. Our travel agent was able to seperate the 10 of us and ending up in Miami 17 hrs later spending the night, then getting up early and flying to Barbados, spending the night, then boarding the ship the next day. 2 days missed on the ship and horrible 2 days of stress. Will always fly a day ahead from now on.

[Eng23]

If 90 minutes is a DHS requirement, why does Royal Caribbean have this posted on their web page:

 

Monarch of the Seas is scheduled to sail out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday, July 8. The final space shuttle launch is also scheduled for Friday, July 8. Port Canaveral historically experiences heavy traffic volume before and after the shuttle launch. Since the shuttle launch on July 8 is the last launch, the Port is expecting extremely heavy traffic in the area.

 

We ask that guests who are scheduled to sail on Monarch of the Seas on July 8, provide ample time to arrive at the port for boarding. The ship's 4:30 p.m. departure will not be delayed due to the launch traffic. As a reminder, all guests must be checked in and onboard the ship 60 minutes prior to sail time.

The reason this is posted on Royal's website is because July 8th is the launch date for the final Space Shuttle mission. What they have posted is self explanatory, the traffic between Orlando and Port Canaveral is going to be horrendous as up to 1 million people are expected to be in central Florida for the launch. Almost all of the hotels in the Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area are sold out. Trying to get to the ship that day is going to be a headache. Beacause of these circumstances anyone leaving on the Monarch is getting an extra 30 minutes to get there to make the ship.