Flight arrives in San Juan at 5:30am

[rfurman18]

My flight arrives in San Juan, PR at 5:30am and my cruise is not set to depart until 10pm that same evening. Any ideas on what we can do or where we can go that early in the morning and wait for cruise boarding. Wait in airport? Don't want to haul my luggage around San Juan. Also anyone know what is the earliest we can get on the ship for a 10pm departure? Thanks

[deladane]

My flight arrives in San Juan, PR at 5:30am and my cruise is not set to depart until 10pm that same evening. Any ideas on what we can do or where we can go that early in the morning and wait for cruise boarding. Wait in airport? Don't want to haul my luggage around San Juan. Also anyone know what is the earliest we can get on the ship for a 10pm departure? Thanks

 

 

I had a similar experience on my 2010 cruise. My flight landed at like 4:30am, and the cruise didn't leave until 8:30pm that evening. I took my time getting off the plane and getting my luggage from baggage claim, then I went into the restroom to change clothes (I was flying in from NY in mid-November, so I definitely wanted to change out of my warm winter clothes and into a sun dress and flip flops! I planned ahead for this and left the change of clothes in an outter zippered pocket in my suitcase so I didn't have to totally unpack in the restroom.) Once the sun came up, I took a taxi into Old San Juan and went to one of the local supermarkets to pick up some wine and soda to bring on the ship with me. Next, I went to one of the local restaurants for breakfast. The place I went to has since closed, but I'm sure there are plenty of other options for an early breakfast at around 7am.

 

The restaurant Barrachina opens around 8am. I don't think they serve breakfast, but they have a storage room where they will hold your suitcases for a small fee (I think it was around $5), so I dropped off my luggage and spent the rest of the morning walking around Old San Juan. I went to the El Morro Fort, wondered up and down the streets and along the water, saw the original city gates, and did a little shopping. At around 11am, I went back to Barrachina, picked up my suitcase, and took a taxi to the port.

 

Which ship are you sailing on? I was on the Celebrity Summit for that cruise and I sailed out of San Juan on the Carnival Victory in 2012. Both ships allow you to board at around 11:30am, so there is no need to wait until late at night to board. Once on board, I chose to stay and explore the ship and eat lunch on Lido deck, and start my cruise early. Other people choose to drop off their luggage, grab a quick lunch, and then head back off the ship to explore the port a little more before they have to be back for the muster drill.

 

Sorry for the long reply, but I hope that was helpful! :)

[rfurman18]

I had a similar experience on my 2010 cruise. My flight landed at like 4:30am, and the cruise didn't leave until 8:30pm that evening. I took my time getting off the plane and getting my luggage from baggage claim, then I went into the restroom to change clothes (I was flying in from NY in mid-November, so I definitely wanted to change out of my warm winter clothes and into a sun dress and flip flops! I planned ahead for this and left the change of clothes in an outter zippered pocket in my suitcase so I didn't have to totally unpack in the restroom.) Once the sun came up, I took a taxi into Old San Juan and went to one of the local supermarkets to pick up some wine and soda to bring on the ship with me. Next, I went to one of the local restaurants for breakfast. The place I went to has since closed, but I'm sure there are plenty of other options for an early breakfast at around 7am.

 

The restaurant Barrachina opens around 8am. I don't think they serve breakfast, but they have a storage room where they will hold your suitcases for a small fee (I think it was around $5), so I dropped off my luggage and spent the rest of the morning walking around Old San Juan. I went to the El Morro Fort, wondered up and down the streets and along the water, saw the original city gates, and did a little shopping. At around 11am, I went back to Barrachina, picked up my suitcase, and took a taxi to the port.

 

Which ship are you sailing on? I was on the Celebrity Summit for that cruise and I sailed out of San Juan on the Carnival Victory in 2012. Both ships allow you to board at around 11:30am, so there is no need to wait until late at night to board. Once on board, I chose to stay and explore the ship and eat lunch on Lido deck, and start my cruise early. Other people choose to drop off their luggage, grab a quick lunch, and then head back off the ship to explore the port a little more before they have to be back for the muster drill.

 

Sorry for the long reply, but I hope that was helpful! :)

Thank you sooo much for your long and detailed response. It did ease my worries. I am cruising on the Carnival Valor in June. Did you drag your luggage around with you when you went to the supermarket? How was that? I don't pack light! Lol!

[deladane]

Thank you sooo much for your long and detailed response. It did ease my worries. I am cruising on the Carnival Valor in June. Did you drag your luggage around with you when you went to the supermarket? How was that? I don't pack light! Lol!

 

Haha sadly, yes I did take my suitcase to the supermarket... I didn't really have any other option considering nowhere else was opened yet to leave the suitcase behind. It wasn't ideal, but it was worth it to have my two bottles of wine and my soda on board :)

 

since you are on the valor, there is another option that might work better for you. Instead of going to the supermarket early in the morning, you can wait until later in the day after you have checked your suitcases with the porters at the ship. There is a large CVS across the street from the port, and they sell sodas and wine there. You can drop off your suitcases and then go back across the street to CVS without your luggage, either before or after you have checked in on the ship.

[Travel Girl TX]

On our past 2 cruises on the Summit our flight arrived in San Juan at 6:00 am and we had a plan pretty similar to deladane's with one change. After taking our time getting our luggage, we take the elevator upstairs and go to McDonald's for breakfast and free wifi. We hang out there until around 8:10 and then take a taxi to Barrachinas to drop off our luggage. We've been to San Juan many times and still enjoy wandering around Old Town.

[penguinscott]

Find out when your ship arrives that day. Take your time in the airport, have breakfast and by the time you get the pier, it should be close to 8, where you can check in your bags, check in and then go explore before boarding the ship.

[rfurman18]

Haha sadly, yes I did take my suitcase to the supermarket... I didn't really have any other option considering nowhere else was opened yet to leave the suitcase behind. It wasn't ideal, but it was worth it to have my two bottles of wine and my soda on board :)

 

since you are on the valor, there is another option that might work better for you. Instead of going to the supermarket early in the morning, you can wait until later in the day after you have checked your suitcases with the porters at the ship. There is a large CVS across the street from the port, and they sell sodas and wine there. You can drop off your suitcases and then go back across the street to CVS without your luggage, either before or after you have checked in on the ship.

Thanks for the tip about CVS. We will probably do that! Good to know I am not the only crazy one who flies in soooo early! :)

[rfurman18]

Thanks so much for the tip about McDonald's. I am sure that will help us kill some time! :)

[deladane]

Thanks for the tip about CVS. We will probably do that! Good to know I am not the only crazy one who flies in soooo early! :)

 

Haha yea, my flight for that cruise left NY around midnight and landed super early in the morning in PR. Taking that flight saved me the cost of a hotel room in PR, but still gave me the reassurance that I was landing early enough on the day of sailing that an airport delay wouldn't risk missing the ship. It's a big help for you that you are sailing on carnival and they leave from the pier in Old San Juan. It was way less convenient to leave on the celebrity ship from the pan-American pier bc it's so far from the CVS and food stores. I hope you have a great trip! :)