Who do I believe???

[sunnywa]

I made our reservations for our cruise directly with Royal Caribbean, I figured that way any questions I would have they could answer directly and I would assume they would have the most accurate up to date information if I has any specific questions..... :rolleyes: Well, I had two, one was - could we make a 9 am flight off the Serenade in San Juan, and the very nice lady said, "no problem as long as you carry your own luggage off.". no problem I said and I book our air fare..... Question number 2 - if we book connecting rooms, can we open the divider on our balcony between us and our friends? Her answer, "of course, no problem."...... So we book the connecting rooms...... Now, in my research here (maybe I am doing to much, we don't even cruise until January....) I find that some people were stressed out about missing a 11 am flight, should we be worried??? We are flying first class, is there priority boarding in San Juan???? and what about the divider issue, do they open or not????

 

Thanks so much for yoru help...... That is pretty good if the CC people know more about Royal Caribbean than the employees..... :D

 

Thanks again.....

[Jimbo]

I made our reservations for our cruise directly with Royal Caribbean, I figured that way any questions I would have they could answer directly and I would assume they would have the most accurate up to date information if I has any specific questions..... :rolleyes: Well, I had two, one was - could we make a 9 am flight off the Serenade in San Juan, and the very nice lady said, "no problem as long as you carry your own luggage off.". no problem I said and I book our air fare..... Question number 2 - if we book connecting rooms, can we open the divider on our balcony between us and our friends? Her answer, "of course, no problem."...... So we book the connecting rooms...... Now, in my research here (maybe I am doing to much, we don't even cruise until January....) I find that some people were stressed out about missing a 11 am flight, should we be worried??? We are flying first class, is there priority boarding in San Juan???? and what about the divider issue, do they open or not????

 

Thanks so much for yoru help...... That is pretty good if the CC people know more about Royal Caribbean than the employees..... :D

 

Thanks again.....

 

I don't think I would inless there were later flights they could put you on if you missed your early flight or if you didn't mind flying out the next day.

 

If everything goes right and the ship clears immigration ontime you should make it, when flying out of San Juan it is great for early flights because the airport is less crowded but once midmorning sets in it seems everything gets backed up.

 

Their security lines are so slow, not organized at all, it's like they are doing this for the first time.

Sundays are really bad.

 

As far as the balconies, it's a hit or a miss.Sometimes if even depends on the cabin steward.

 

Jimbo:)

[cruisenfever]

I made our reservations for our cruise directly with Royal Caribbean, I figured that way any questions I would have they could answer directly and I would assume they would have the most accurate up to date information if I has any specific questions..... :rolleyes: Well, I had two, one was - could we make a 9 am flight off the Serenade in San Juan, and the very nice lady said, "no problem as long as you carry your own luggage off.". no problem I said and I book our air fare..... Question number 2 - if we book connecting rooms, can we open the divider on our balcony between us and our friends? Her answer, "of course, no problem."...... So we book the connecting rooms...... Now, in my research here (maybe I am doing to much, we don't even cruise until January....) I find that some people were stressed out about missing a 11 am flight, should we be worried??? We are flying first class, is there priority boarding in San Juan???? and what about the divider issue, do they open or not????

 

Thanks so much for yoru help...... That is pretty good if the CC people know more about Royal Caribbean than the employees..... :D

 

Thanks again.....

The balcony dividers do not open up on any Radiance class ship.

 

Having flown out of SJU after our Serenade cruise I can honestly tell you that you may not even be off the ship at 9AM. :eek: Debarkation does not begin until the ship has been cleared by Customs & Immigration and all bill have been settled.

 

Once you get to the airport, you must have all your luggage scanned by the USDA before you can even check in with your airline and then go through TSA.

 

This is from the RCI website What is the latest arrival time to reserve a flight before the cruise, or the earliest departure time to reserve a flight after the cruise in order to make port/airport connections on time?

[Merion_Mom]

And the two answers should have been "NO" and "NO".

 

Sorry about their ignorance.

 

 

9 a.m. is way too early.

 

Balcony dividers cannot be opened on Radiance class ships.

[cruisenfever]

And the two answers should have been "NO" and "NO".

 

Sorry about their ignorance.

 

 

9 a.m. is way too early.

 

Balcony dividers cannot be opened on Radiance class ships.

The person she talked with has probably never been on a cruise let alone flown out of SJU!!:(

[Merion_Mom]

The person she talked with has probably never been on a cruise let alone flown out of SJU!!:(

 

Yeah.

 

And in my life, when I don't know the answer, I don't make one up. I either tell the questioner that I don't know, or tell him/her that I will look it up and get back to them.

 

VERY unfortunate situation for the OP. :(

[kc320]

We were on the Serenade last Oct...I am D+ and we were in a Suite which meant we were one of the 1st ones off after the ship cleared about 8:10 ...we had no problems finding our luggage or grabbing a cab...but it was still 9:15 when we got to the Jet Blue check in counter after having our luggage scanned...No WAY would we have made a 9:00 am flight...

 

You "might" get lucky since you are quite a ways out...and the airline will change your flight time ...also keep watch..if they change to even earlier you should be able to change to a later flight at no charge..

[cb at sea]

The reservationists at RCI have a booklet to look up answers to common questions, but they are GENERAL question/answer format....

I'd bet none of those employees have ever been on a cruise, let alone on all of the different ships.

They can give general answers to most questions, but never expect a realistic answer to a ship-specific guestion!!!!

[sunnywa]

Hmmmm..... This is not making me happy..... I changed rooms from a mid-ship port side room to aft non port side so that our friends could be next to us, we were very excited about the balcony divider opening up.... Hhhhmmm... What to do now??? As far as the flight goes, I am going to have to check with the airline and see what we can change to, and it is going to make me really angry if I have to pay a $100 change fee............ GGGggrrrrrr.......

[Merion_Mom]

Hmmmm..... This is not making me happy..... I changed rooms from a mid-ship port side room to aft non port side so that our friends could be next to us, we were very excited about the balcony divider opening up.... Hhhhmmm... What to do now??? As far as the flight goes, I am going to have to check with the airline and see what we can change to, and it is going to make me really angry if I have to pay a $100 change fee............ GGGggrrrrrr.......

 

Look at the glass as half full: more privacy. Join the Balcony Club. ;) :D

[sunnywa]

Would LOVE that, but this is a "Girls Only" trip, husbands at home....... :cool:

[SeaBaby]

We cruised on Serenade in May. As D+, we were off the ship at 8 a.m. We were at the airport by 8:30. I would be nervous about a 9 a.m. departure.

 

On the other hand, we had heard that people with very early flights were led off the ship prior to us. It had to be arranged on board with Guest Relations a few days ahead. Not sure if this special early departure is always available.

 

Suzanne

[Mewissy]

Hmmmm..... This is not making me happy..... I changed rooms from a mid-ship port side room to aft non port side so that our friends could be next to us, we were very excited about the balcony divider opening up.

 

Well, it will still be nice to have your friends next to you. When we travel with a group, we get side-by-side rooms. When its dinner time its nice to just go down together. Also, you can still peek on their balcony to see if they're out there.

 

As for port or starboard side, the ships don't always dock where port side faces the port. Depending on the ports, this might not really be a negative. ;)

[MyHappyfingers]

Your flying first class and you are worried about $100 ?

[LovesCruising]

Am I crazy or don't the airlines want you there 2-3 hours prior to departure to check in and clear security? How would anyone make a 9 AM flight off a ship under those circumstances? Not trying to flame, its just strange to me why anyone would answer that question with a yes these days.

[Gonzo70]

Definitely bite the bullet and change flight times. I would personally want an early afternoon flight since SJU can have really long, slow moving lines and has the extra step of an agriculture check (in addition to baggage check and security - so three different lines to navigate). I think RCI officially has 11:00am as their recommended earliest recommended flight time.

 

If the phone rep really told you "no problem" for a 9:00am flight, you may want to speak with the resolutions department about possibly receiving On Board Credit equal to the amount of any change fees you are assessed. Not sure if they will oblige, but might be worth while to ask for - IMHO you would deserve that.

[Gonzo70]

Your flying first class and you are worried about $100 ?

 

I would be upset about it if I asked RCI if a 9:00am flight was fine, was told that it was fine and then later learned it was extremely risky. What does it matter if she is flying first class or not? :confused:

[mcangelwp]

Be careful - we spent about 6 hours waiting for our flight at SJU and watched them give folks seats away who had not checked in a good half hour before the flight. When they arrived at the gate, they told them boarding was closed and they could not board when the plane was still sitting at the gate. Of course the reason being because we had heard them give their seats away already. I would give yourself PLENTY of time before your flight.

[Venusleo1]

I totally agree with everyone elses posts re: making the 9:00 am flight.. I'm sorry to say but I just dont think this is possible, and if you do make it your nerves will be shot by the time you board and you'll end up spending that extra $100 on in flight cocktails anyways.

[MyHappyfingers]

I would be upset about it if I asked RCI if a 9:00am flight was fine, was told that it was fine and then later learned it was extremely risky. What does it matter if she is flying first class or not? :confused:

 

Generally people flying first class (an expensive way to fly) dont usually concern themselves with a mere $100 :p that would be like dropping a penny in the ocean and getting all upset about it :D

[Venusleo1]

They might have used some kind of rewards program or frequent flyer miles to get the 1st class seats.

[TWELVEOHONE]

I have sailed out of SJU several times and would suggest you change your flight time.

Since you said you are flying first class airline ticket is 100% refundable with no fees for changes.

A 9:00am flight is risky, never know if ship is delayed coming in, held up by ICE and/or long security lines at airport.

 

I am sure many have made it but the risk is too high and not worth it.

[vickiw0318]

I personally can not think of a single cruise port where it would be "no problem" to make a 9:00 a.m. flight. The rep must have been "out at sea" that day.

 

Even if I could easily afford it, it would tick me off to pay an additional $100 to change a reservation that I'd made based on good faith information directly from the cruise line. It's the principle of the thing....

[bouhunter]

WHY would you ask some phone representative in Miami or who knows where for advice on flight schedules in San Juan:rolleyes: I would never bother to ask their advice on something like that, let alone buy plane tickets on that advice:rolleyes:

[sunnywa]

Thanks everyone for the info..... Not that big of a deal to change the flight times, especially this far out.... Taken care of.... No change fee becuase they are first class (wsn't thinking of that when I was typing last time, I was a little :mad: at the time of the post).... For the record - regardless of what I paid for the airplane ticket it would make me angry if I would have had to pay another $100 becuase of someone elses mistake..... Also, why else would I go directly to Royal Caribbean if not for wanting ACCURATE information????? I would think they should be the ones with the most accurate and up to date information.....

 

As far as the connecting rooms go, it will be fine.... :D

 

I guess they are just like the weather man, no matter what they say, they still get to keep thier job...... :rolleyes: