Princess Pulling Out of San Juan No Winter 2013

[StillPooh]

For those of you getting ready to cruise out of San Juan, let me give you a more positive outlook. I loved the Southern Caribbean itinerary. I loved sailing out of San Juan and I loved staying there for a few days after our cruise. I found the people warm and friendly. Yes, the flights to get there are expensive and the hotels are expensive, but it's worth it. I would sail out of San Juan again in a heartbeat. This was one of my favorite cruises.

Thank you!

[cindep]

To back up some of the people who have had BAD experiences, we cruised the last time out of San Juan the first week of December. I honestly think the experience depends on when you cruise. If it is low season and the ship doesn't fill up, then you will experience a ship full of locals. In our case, they literally took over the ship. We were one of the poor people who were sat with a non-English speaking couple. It was a LONG 7 days at dinner! It happens. I totally understand Princess pulling out. Maybe there will be some more interesting itineraries from the East coast. Hopefully the Princess return to Galveston will be successful. There is also potential from Charleston, SC and Baltimore. It should prove interesting.

[rockymo]

Thank you!

 

I totally agree! We have been to San Juan a few times, sailed in and out of her a few times and will again in Feb. Absolutely love the people, culture, food and scenery. We have never had a problem with "locals" onboard the ship ( but we always cruise there in Feb.) although I do think that could be a problem off season. I am sorry to hear princess is changing things. Will they continue to have San Juan as a port stop or is it eliminating it altogether?

[Razman69]

I also have never had a problem saioling out of SJ, and will be back on 12/17/11 for a Christmas cruise for our third time (twice with Princess once with Carnival). As for airfares, for us flying out of Canada, the prices are pretty much the same whether you fly to SJ or to Miami - Ft Lauderdale so for us, that becomes a wash. It probably also depends on when you sail, as we always sail on or around a holiday so we have never seen the problems described on this thread... lucky us I guess.

[panamatiger]

We are on the "last" sailing - April 2012- of the CP out of San Juan. We've been to San Juan 3x and enjoyed it all and are looking forward to our island excursions.

It's April school vacation week so we expect the ship to be full-locals or not.

It will be interesting to compare Princess to RCL and Carnival.

[commodoredave]

I did a Panamex cruise with Princess from Acapulco to San Juan many years ago. When we got off the ship in San Juan, the local taxi drivers had blockaded the buses that were supposed to be taking passengers to the airport. The taxi drivers were protesting because they claimed the cruise line was not charging enough for the airport bus, and therefore they were not getting enough taxi trips to the airport. We and many others missed our air departures as a result. We love San Juan -- the culture, history, scenary, food, etc. But as a result of this experience, we have not cruised out of SJ since.

[momK]

Total buzzkill, right? :(

 

We got nonstop flights from Baltimore to San Juan for ~$400/pp. Window Suite for $999/pp. We've never done a Southern Caribbean cruise, and haven't been to any of the islands except San Juan. I'm glad we're getting in "under the wire" before Princess cancels this route. :(

 

We, too, are doing this btb in Jan. We got flights from Michigan for less than $400 rt. (which is less than we have to spend to go to Florida), window suites for $999, and the opportunity to see lots of islands. Since Princess is ending the Grand's 14-day cruise, we thought this trip on the Caribbean Princess would be next best. FL trips take so long to get to the ABC islands that you spend most of the week at sea going there and returning. I do hope that Princess comes up with a new itinerary that will give passengers the chance to go on a 14-day cruise and spend more time on shore in the southern islands than sea days on the ship.

 

I am still committed to enjoying my cruise, and I know we will! :)

[The Big Booper]

It is a part of the USA where Spanish is the main language. It is not a country.

 

 

Piffle. You know what I meant.

[hughdm]

That's a shame. We've cruised out of San Juan twice and loved it both times. Came in and spent nights pre-cruise both times. We did not experience the problems others have, but we weren't scheduled at "shoulder" date times.

[itzmered]

We are doing the B2B leaving Dec 4th also. We were originally booked on the Emerald and were going to spend several days in Orlando prior to heading to FLL. After looking at the costs for Disney and hotels there plus other things we wanted to do I started comparing the costs of this B2B. With the added airfare and additional cruise cost we are coming out less than it would have cost us to fly into Orlando and spend several days at disney. No brainer for us since I had heard they were canceling this route. We both wanted to snorkel in Bonaire and there are very few itineraries that go there. I have been to San Juan before and loved it and I am sure I will this time also!

[iancal]

Too bad. We cruised from PR last December and stayed over for Christmas. We preferred it to FLL/MIA and would like to do it again.

 

We did not encounter any issues-fact is we really enjoyed it and want to do it again.

 

The air fare for us was the same, as were the accomodation costs.

[Luv2GoGrl]

maybe it is all the money lost because the port authority encourage you to buy your alcohol and carry it on. They tell you to buy and carry on all that you can as long as you put it in a bag.

[kraken]

SJ is the only port I like to cruise out of. Never had any problems after sailing out of there 5 times. Yes, the hotels are expensive, but it never bothered me much since I liked the feeling of being in a real tropical setting. You don't get that in Florida. I also like waking up in a different port every morning on those cruises.

 

I'm going again in January and sadly, this will probably be my last cruise for awhile since I only sail on Princess and don't really like the cruises out of Florida.

[Loonbeam]

While I doubt this was the reason, it is actually a factor. It's important to note that Princess looks at the total revenue package on an itinerary, not just fares.

 

This includes alcohol, shopping, excursions booked via ship, soda cards , coffee cards, spa usage, even the amount of specialty dining used.

 

There may very well be less price pressure on a San Juan departure but its entirely possible the ancilliary revenue wasn't there as well. One of the reasons many ships flocked to the med was that the lines stood to make a lot of money not only off fares, but also shore excursions, which are much more expensive in the Med as well as more booked via ship (often because novice cruisers have language concerns). Also, anecdotally, apparently duty free sales go through the roof on some of those runs..

 

 

 

maybe it is all the money lost because the port authority encourage you to buy your alcohol and carry it on. They tell you to buy and carry on all that you can as long as you put it in a bag.

[Sincity]

Why no more San Juan departures?

 

 

 

1. Massive corruption with police and government officials required major payola to get anything done on time.

 

 

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

8. Rapidly escalating crime rate.

 

 

Ah jeez...makes me afraid to get out of the ship when we dock at 4:30 in our upcoming Grand cruise.

[romeyvanb]

So bummed to hear this. We sailed out of San Juan twice; once on CB and the other on AOS. We have our 3rd planned out of there for NYE. I have to admit coming from Los Angeles we have limited flights (they cancelled the direct red eye this year on us and rescheduled) and they are not cheap....but we love the Southern Caribbean and San Juan. My favorite islands are accessible from SJU for 7 day cruise.

[jouset_1345]

It's so funny to see a lot of people talking and making assumptions of how “locals” as you call us get onboard a ship.

It’s funny how you guys generalize and think every Puerto Rican sailing out of San Juan grabbed a whooping deal and got onboard just because of that. It’s funny you don’t understand a lot of those Puerto Ricans cruising on the same boat might have pay more than what you did…

I’m a loyal princess customer and have been on the Caribbean Princess 3 times my 4th coming this upcoming December. And I speak for myself a professional Industrial Engineer, Black Belt certified and proud of being Puerto Rican, that have never book a cruise for $199.00 p/p … not even close to that I never use local travel agencies to book my trips. I have seen great deals close to this yes … $ 199.00 but + Local taxes (223.23p/p for the CB) = something close to any last minute deal you will get on the states.

And yes about someone comment … my cell phone does work on the ship, as your ATT phone would work if you accept roaming charges.

I know many of the locals can be loud and not very friendly but it’s cultural …. Just don’t generalize as the Puerto Rican next to you onboard the ship could pay your next cruise…

If princess leaves San Juan I will still fly and cruise, then when I board a ship on any of your home port … I will say to myself poor locals they just grab a deal and came onboard with no money. Good for them they are able to cruise in their poor economic status… Get it?

[iancal]

jouset...interesting comment. I am certain that residents take advantage of great fares, just as some of the retired folks in FLL/MIA do when the cruise lines 'cruise' the senior' residences offering great last minute deals.

[richsea]

Why no more San Juan departures?

 

1. Massive corruption with police and government officials required major payola to get anything done on time.

 

2. Local Immigration officials who tried desperately to sabotage the cruise lines.

 

3. Useless port agents who actually worked with the corrupt officials, against the crusie line.

 

4. Ridiculous airfares.

 

5. Princess forced to give away cabins to the locals at the start and end of the season.

 

6. Shortage of reasonably priced hotel rooms for pre and post cruise.

 

7. Shortage of flights into and out of San Juan.

 

8. Rapidly escalating crime rate.

 

9. Port fees and taxes much higher than ports that are much better.

 

10. It's a US Port. Foreign flag ships face many hassles in a US port that they do not face in non-US ports.

 

Exactly where do you get your "facts" from?????:eek:

[richsea]

What's all this about Puerto Rican "locals" getting great deals to fill the ships? After numerous cruises out of San Juan, I've never seen it. In fact, I see more "locals" who got deals when sailing out of Florida. And after seeing how some of them act, with their "I want, I want" attitude, I'd rather sail with "locals" from San Juan.

[BruceMuzz]

Exactly where do you get your "facts" from?????:eek:

 

I managed Princess ships sailing from San Juan for many years.

[mph045]

To Richsea

 

Princess Cruises has for the last 3 years giving out last minute cruise special fares approx 1-2 weeks prior to sailing-its published in the local paper. I saw the advertisements and most were around $199/week for a cabin. We had over 1600 people from outlineing areas outside of San Juan come on board-most paid with cash-most took off auto tips-they took over the Atrium-Horizon and Lido decks from 6am to 6pm-food was left over in elevators-entertainment was interrupted numerous times-art work was destroyed-cabins were broken into by climbing outside rails and getting into unlocked patio deck doors- PR flags flown on balconies, teenagers roaming the halls all hours, etc-I know -I was on Board-I met with the Captain-his staff Officers-Chef and Matre D-they tried to control those that helped destroy the ship during the 2 weeks-alot of frequent cruisers were very upset on it all.

 

This May have contributed to Princess's decision to not offer the fares and could not book the ship 100% prior to sailings after Thanksgiving thru mid December. I spoke to Corporate personally and rest assured they recieved an awful lot of complaints for the trip during that time.

 

In the trips I have taken out of San Juan this was the first time I had experienced this situation.

 

Once again a few individuals ruined it for the many.

[apech782]

It's so funny to see a lot of people talking and making assumptions of how “locals” as you call us get onboard a ship.

 

It’s funny how you guys generalize and think every Puerto Rican sailing out of San Juan grabbed a whooping deal and got onboard just because of that. It’s funny you don’t understand a lot of those Puerto Ricans cruising on the same boat might have pay more than what you did…

 

I’m a loyal princess customer and have been on the Caribbean Princess 3 times my 4th coming this upcoming December. And I speak for myself a professional Industrial Engineer, Black Belt certified and proud of being Puerto Rican, that have never book a cruise for $199.00 p/p … not even close to that I never use local travel agencies to book my trips. I have seen great deals close to this yes … $ 199.00 but + Local taxes (223.23p/p for the CB) = something close to any last minute deal you will get on the states.

 

And yes about someone comment … my cell phone does work on the ship, as your ATT phone would work if you accept roaming charges.

 

I know many of the locals can be loud and not very friendly but it’s cultural …. Just don’t generalize as the Puerto Rican next to you onboard the ship could pay your next cruise…

 

If princess leaves San Juan I will still fly and cruise, then when I board a ship on any of your home port … I will say to myself poor locals they just grab a deal and came onboard with no money. Good for them they are able to cruise in their poor economic status… Get it?

 

 

 

 

 

I am planning to sail out of Puerto Rico in February, and have been warned about all of this as well. The way I see it, unless I am missing something, is that people that LIVE in FL end up getting a lot cheaper deal to sail out of FL than I do flying from WI to FL and staying the night prior to sailing in a hotel... I don't understand how it is SO different, other than the cultural differences... and that doesn't bother me as much as it seems to bother others. If I do have a bad experience sailing out of San Juan, I certainly wouldn't group all "locals" into the same category.

[Potstech]

"I know many of the locals can be loud and not very friendly but it’s cultural..."

 

And that seems to be the problem with the cruises from San Juan. People expect more than just doing their cultural thing. What would happen if all people just did their cultural thing on board instead of showing some restraint and a sense of decorum. Thank you for the reference that explains much of what is going on.

 

I sailed from San Juan in February and did not see any of these problems but did hear from other passengers on the cruise who had experienced them.

[donna5]

Exactly where do you get your "facts" from?????:eek:

 

What's all this about Puerto Rican "locals" getting great deals to fill the ships? After numerous cruises out of San Juan, I've never seen it. In fact, I see more "locals" who got deals when sailing out of Florida. And after seeing how some of them act, with their "I want, I want" attitude, I'd rather sail with "locals" from San Juan.

 

To Richsea

 

Princess Cruises has for the last 3 years giving out last minute cruise special fares approx 1-2 weeks prior to sailing-its published in the local paper. I saw the advertisements and most were around $199/week for a cabin. We had over 1600 people from outlineing areas outside of San Juan come on board-most paid with cash-most took off auto tips-they took over the Atrium-Horizon and Lido decks from 6am to 6pm-food was left over in elevators-entertainment was interrupted numerous times-art work was destroyed-cabins were broken into by climbing outside rails and getting into unlocked patio deck doors- PR flags flown on balconies, teenagers roaming the halls all hours, etc-I know -I was on Board-I met with the Captain-his staff Officers-Chef and Matre D-they tried to control those that helped destroy the ship during the 2 weeks-alot of frequent cruisers were very upset on it all.

 

This May have contributed to Princess's decision to not offer the fares and could not book the ship 100% prior to sailings after Thanksgiving thru mid December. I spoke to Corporate personally and rest assured they recieved an awful lot of complaints for the trip during that time.

 

In the trips I have taken out of San Juan this was the first time I had experienced this situation.

 

Once again a few individuals ruined it for the many.

 

We were cruise after they stormed the pursers desk. There were many posts and they were removed from CC because others complained it was like being racist.

 

On our deck there were cabins that had 4 to a cabin and they would leave the doors propped open and play loud music. The stewards were glad to see they had a few more U.S. mainlanders that would pay tips. The locals were not tipping. Damage had been done to diff areas of the ship. Our cruise wasn't as bad as the one before, but it still had the unruly locals loudly going down the halls deflating everyones celebration balloons. Overheard employees talking about theft. And there were more security people walking around the ship. We had walkie talkies and someone that spoke spanish kept getting on and tying up our band when we were using it. When I cussed them back in Spanish they stopped for a little while they apparently tried to figure out what to say next, so we got rid of the radios.

 

And even while we waited to board there were locals telling us about the good deals they got. (And when we got on the ship employees and other passengers were also telling us about the deals) Some actually got mini suites for $199. So unless you have been on one of those cruises you don't really have any idea of what went on. When Princess has unruly people they need to enforce the rules and put people off the ship if they are disturbing other passengers or causing damage.