Boarding in San Juan

[M&T]

When the ship sails at 830 pm, what is the earliest we may board? Thanks. Marlyne

[Lois R]

When the ship sails at 830 pm, what is the earliest we may board? Thanks. Marlyne

 

Hi,:) I have always boarded the ship in the noon hour (give or take

a few minutes;)). I have sailed from San Juan many times and even

though the ship sails late you can still board early:D...have a wonderful

cruise!!!

[Nanatravel]

I agree; plan to board around noon. Lunch will be ready, welcome activities will be occuring throughout the afternoon or you have time to explore Old San Juan on your own.

[M&T]

We are staying 3 days before our cruise. Our check out for our apt. is noon. So, that will work great. I love getting started enjoying the ship. M

[snackcracker675]

We boarded the Summit in San Juan last November for an 8:30 departure. I called Celebrity and they told us that the earliest was 2PM, if I remember correctly. We got there about 3 PM, and everything went smoothly getting on. I do remember that the taxi driver was telling us that we were getting on pretty early and we could go do more in San Juan if we wanted, but we had been in SJ for a few days and were pooped already.

 

Once on the ship, we met people who had flown in the day we were embarking on the cruise and they had requested early boarding. I believe some were actually on as early as noon. Call Celebrity and they will tell you a time.

[Lois R]

We boarded the Summit in San Juan last November for an 8:30 departure. I called Celebrity and they told us that the earliest was 2PM, if I remember correctly. We got there about 3 PM, and everything went smoothly getting on. I do remember that the taxi driver was telling us that we were getting on pretty early and we could go do more in San Juan if we wanted, but we had been in SJ for a few days and were pooped already.

 

Once on the ship, we met people who had flown in the day we were embarking on the cruise and they had requested early boarding. I believe some were actually on as early as noon. Call Celebrity and they will tell you a time.

 

Hi, yes, I have been on the ship as early as noon.:)....better that

the OP finds out from here;):D because many times the CSR's give

out incorrect information:eek:..such as you were told.

[M&T]

I think Celebrity will give out a later time than they really allow. Thanks again all. M

[dodger1964]

We did cruise there in April 11..came in the night b4 and stayed at airport hotel, got up and left hotel about 1030 or 11 ...took 10 minutes to get to port by taxi..once there went through security Xray, then sat in chairs until they opened up the checkin desks..probably waited 5 minutes for that. We were on board by 1130 or 12 noon

[ORV]

We did cruise there in April 11..came in the night b4 and stayed at airport hotel, got up and left hotel about 1030 or 11 ...took 10 minutes to get to port by taxi..once there went through security Xray, then sat in chairs until they opened up the checkin desks..probably waited 5 minutes for that. We were on board by 1130 or 12 noon

 

I had pretty much the same exact experience. FWIW my documents stated 3pm boarding time.

[Lsimon]

We've sailed from San Juan 3 times on Celebrity ships and every time we've boarded around noon and boarding has already been well under way.

 

In fact we've found that at every port we've been to in the USA and Europe, they start embarkation within an hour or so of the last disembarking person leaving the ship. This is usually around 11 AM irrespective of the published boarding time.

 

Occasionally we've gotten to the port in other cities early and have gotten on between a little before 11 and 11:30 but usually we just try to get to the port around noon. The one exception was a cruise from Barcelona where the preceding cruise had a norovirus problem and they delayed boarding until 3PM for extra cleaning and sanitizing of the ship and in that case they were still checking people in and then providing alternate arrangements before they could actually get on the ship. Occasionally you'll read of other boarding delays but these are unusual and in the vast majority of cruises boarding is well underway by noon.

 

If you do board early you'll likely find that the stateroom cabins will not be ready until about 1PM. They will direct you to the buffet for lunch but you'll have full access to all of the public areas of the ship. This is a great time to explore and make any specialty restaurant or spa reservations if you need them.

[slideshell]

we sailed out of san juan in january on the millennium and we were on board with drink in hand by noon - i would say that we were probably to the port around 11 and there were already people in line ahead of us

[alcpa1]

We've cruised out of San Juan more times than I can remember and the only time we boarded after noon was a same day flight but that cruise left at 11 pm. That was also over 20 years ago when it was still OK to fly in the day of embarkation. My how things have changed!!!

Have a great lunch onboard and enjoy your cruise.

[jt1120]

We've sailed out of SJ three times and every time we got on at about 12:30.

[We-R-Off]

We are considering staying a few days precruise. Any recommendations on where to visit?

[dodger1964]

A tip when you leave San Juan..All departing passengers MUST (before going to the check in counters!!) go through an Ag inspection station. You put your bags on conveyor, they go through the machine and then they are tagged. There are at least 3 different machines, so if there is a long line at one consider going to a different one...we noticed 50 people in line at one machine and no line at the other one just down the concourse.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[lojay]

We got there last year at 11:30 and the lines were all the way to end of the terminal (outside). There are times when they have problems unloading (usually by 10am) and we could not start checking in until after noon. People that came around 2 or later got on with no problem.

[iancal]

We arrived at 12:30 and were on board within 20 minutes.

[M&T]

What all are they looking for in the ag inspection. This is the first I have heard of it.

 

Sounds like getting on early will be easy.

 

ilanas, we like the old town forts and just old town. The Night Tales tour with Debbie is great. The company does other tours too. There are great beaches in the vacinity and the El Yunque rain forest. Check out the port board.

 

Thanks again everyone. Marlyne

[2theship]

What all are they looking for in the ag inspection. This is the first I have heard of it.

 

Thanks again everyone. Marlyne

 

The ag inspection referred to is at the airport for your flight home. You can't check your bags at the ticket counter until they've gone through the inspection.

[phoenix_dream]

We are considering staying a few days precruise. Any recommendations on where to visit?

The rain forest is nice to visit. It is also well worth spending a day in old San Juan - you can take in either or both of the forts as well as spend some time shopping. There is also a museum in OSJ but we have never been there so I don't know how good it is. The Condado area has quite a few nice hotels with casinos if that is your thing. There is some shopping in that area also, but it is pretty spread out from what I could see. There is a large shopping center, but it is mostly the same as those you will find in the US mainland. I know there is a cave you can tour but I have never been there - it is quite aways from the cruise ship area.

 

We have rented a car on Puerto Rico and it is fairly easy to find your way around. Drivers are no worse than they are in the Chicago area where I live (well, maybe not as bad as here in the suburbs but no worse than Chicago itself) , and main roads are generally ok. Traffic, however, can be horrendous. Driving is on the right side of the road and your drivers license and insurance from the mainland work fine.

[phoenix_dream]

We have usually been able to board around noon. On occasion we have had to wait an hour or more later than that - why that happens depends. It could be any number of reasons, from a delay in disembarkation due to customs issues to the need to do a deep clean of the ship because of illness on the previous I cruise (they don't always tell you that particular reason but word gets around quick).

 

The primary issue with boarding too soon as has been mentioned is that you can't go to your stateroom until 1:00 or later. This means you have to lug around your carry-on luggage. As we always prepare for late luggage delivery by keeping one change of clothes and our swim gear in our carry-on that can be quite a large amount to haul around. We have, on occasion, snuck into our cabin early and asked the room steward if we can leave our non-valuable carry-on stuff in the closet so we don't need to carry it around. I would never do this with valuables as they are in and out of the rooms alot and sometimes prop open the doors as they are cleaning.