ship leaves at 11pm??

[singwithjoy]

I was looking at a cruise out of San Juan. The ship leaves at 11pm

Why so late? How does leaving that late work out?

For muster drills? Restaurants open? Dinner shows?

What if your flight gets there at 4pm? When can you go onboard?

Anyone have any first hand experiance with this?

Thanks

[wrp96]

The ship's leave late from San Juan for two reasons - 1) gives people more opportunities to arrive day of cruise. It takes a few more hours to get to San Juan than South Florida from the mainland US. Withhout the later departure, very few people would be able to fly in day of and make the cruise (not that it is recommended but...) 2) it takes less time to get to the next port from San Juan than South Florida, so even departing late they don't have to make a speed run to reach the first port, especially if it is St. Thomas which I believe (don't quote me) is only 75 miles away.

 

Boarding usually starts between 11am and noon, just like in cruises from the mainland. Muster drill is usually fitted between the two main seating times.

[Keith1010]

You can still board if your flight gets in at 4:00 PM. You need to board 90 minutes prior to the cruise. I would still recommend trying to fly in the day before the cruise if possible just because an flight cancellation or significant flight delay could cause you to miss the ship.

 

Keith

[ibcnusoon]

You can still board if your flight gets in at 4:00 PM. You need to board 90 minutes prior to the cruise. I would still recommend trying to fly in the day before the cruise if possible just because an flight cancellation or significant flight delay could cause you to miss the ship.

 

Keith

 

If that were the case, out of true emergency, the next port is St. Thomas, only 75 miles away with an arrival time of 7am. I don't think it's a RUSH to get to San Juan, but if your flight is cancelled I'm sure they could rebook you to St. Thomas. A day before would be ideal, but under circumstances, it's not like you have to travel far to meet up with the ship, or miss any precious ship time.

 

My Carnival rep told me that I can board in San Juan anytime up to 8:30pm, ideally, boarding anytime between 2:30pm and 8:30pm. I guess some have boarded as early as 11am.

[erby2283]

Just got off the Victory on Sun. Cruise leaves at 10 pm. You must be on board by 9 PM and muster is at 9:30. Many parents were lugging their kids around in PJ's for muster. We checked in at noon and then instead of waiting to board, toured Old San Juan. We ate dinner in the dining room around 6. It was probably the only day I was up this late because with so many ports, I was exhausted.:)