Cab/transportation availability at the San Juan pier

[tdf799]

We are on the 12/17 Golden Princess cruise from San Juan. Our flight home at 10:40 am is 5 minutes earlier than the Princess cut off of 10:45 for their shuttle bus so they won’t sell us transfers. Will we have difficulty getting a cab or other shuttle transportation from the dock on the 24th? Our TA said that we may be able to purchase the transfers on the ship during the cruise. We’ve always had the transportation set in advance so I can’t remember whether Princess does that at the purser’s desk. Any advice/past experiences would be appreciated. Thanks

[dog]

I'm interested in taking a taxi from San Juan pier to airport as well.

 

I know when we were on the Grand out of Galveston in March...they were selling the transfers the last couple of days on board the ship.

 

Those with the earliest flights got off the ship first but it was a long, tedious experience and those going on bus transfers had to sit and wait for a full bus.

 

I am definately taking a taxi in San Juan.

[cherylandtk]

Cabs are plentiful at the dock, should be no problem. Price is fixed, around $16 as I recall from dock to Airport. Be sure to get "early off the ship" tags--the airport at San Juan can be long lines, although that early you might be lucky. You might also want to consider packing light and taking your bags off yourself, if they will allow that, so as to scoot right through the immigration hall.

[Toledosfinest]

There will be several Taxi's waiting when you get off the ship in San Juan. Since you have such an early flight, you will for sure be one of the 1st people off the ship. On your next to last day on the ship, make sure you go down to the pursers desk with a copy of your flight schedule, and they will make sure you get the earliest bag tags. It will cost about $16.00 for the taxi unless you have excess bags. San Juan's airport is crazy on weekends, so hopefully you will get there before the rest of the cruise passengers start to arive. Have Fun

[sammiedawg]

You should be fine, as mentioned earlier get the earliest luggage color. Make a beeline out of there when your color is called. Get your luggage, go outside and find the people hailing cabs. The airport is 10-15 minutes from the port. We had no problems at the airport.

[barriedavis]

Always, always always do your own transfers, both ways in San Juan. The official ones are a nightmare both for timing and delays waiting for others. Taxi is good, plentiful and often cheaper.

[stevel45]

Look for the taxi dispatcher as you must have a written dispatch order that

will have your destination and also the price. Without this taxi drivers will

not let you into their cabs.

San Juan airport can be pretty tense.

[MouseHunter]

tdf799

There is a roll call thread for your Golden sailing...Why not join us...

There is a link on my signature.

 

230 Days & Counting...

[billybob123]

Our experience:

 

We had an 11:15 am flight, sent our flight information to Princess (I can't remember if it was through the Personalizer, or through the pre-cruise documents, or at the pier). Once onboard, talked to the Purser's desk with our flight confirmations, they gave us "Red 1" which I suppose at the time was the best time-off-the-ship colours. We disembarked with the first group, got into the baggage hall (yes, it's a hall!) and found our bags quickly.

 

(Some advice here: it may seem silly, but if you happen to bring some duct tape or packing tape, put a GIANTIC letter "X" on your bags... you would be amazed at how easy it makes finding your bags in the baggage rooms!)

 

Passsed through customs, left the terminal, a dispacher was right outside, we got a cab after waiting about 15 seconds, got into the cab, 20 minutes to the airport (Sunday morning), pass the USDA inspection station on the way in (no one in line at that time in the morning), first in line at AA checkin, past security by 9:15. If you follow those steps, you shouldn't have any problems at all.

 

My favourite part of the experience was walking back past security to get food (not a lot of selection post-security in SJU, although that may have changed and you can go terminal-to-terminal past security) and seeing the huge checkin line for AA with someone grumbling: "we shouldn't have taken the transfer, should have taken a cab!"

 

Enjoy the cruise!

-bb123

[tdf799]

Thanks to those who provided the personal experiences with the transportation. Ordinarily we try to book the return air for noon or later, but choices for non-stop flights out of San Juan to Chicago are somewhat limited, and since the return is on Christmas eve, we wanted to be home early if possible. Air fares seem to change twice a day and we were luckly to book non-stops for what I thought was a pretty reasonable price. If we have cut it too close, I guess we can spend an extra day in the sun and still be money ahead. I have been frustrated in the past sitting in the shuttle bus for 30 minutes waiting for it to fill, so maybe Princess has done us a favor by not taking our money.

[GE Mom]

When we flew American out of San Juan in January, the line for USDA inspection was out the door down the sidewalk. After standing in it for about 20 minutes, I let my husband save our places and I went to investigate and found several important things:

1. you don't have to stand in USDA inspection line if you're coming off a cruise ship as they've already inspected your luggage;

2. there's a separate line for folks with flights in 3 hours or less.

 

If I hadn't gone exploring, we would have been stuck in that unnecessary line for hours and probably missed our flight.

 

I agree, definitely take a taxi. And be assertive!