Flight Time San Diego

[Ski-Lady]

Does anyone have recent experience at the Port of San Diego for disembarking? I have read posts about how late disembarking can be.

 

We will be disembarking on Tuesday, April 1st. The latest flight we can get home leaves at 12:30pm. Do we have a chance to make this flight?

[candydane]

I'd like to know too for our May 3rd debarkation.

[waASPCrusier]

Our cruise ended Dec 28th, we were in the 2nd to last group, left ship just past 9am, there was only a handful luggage left in customs area...waited maybe 2 minutes to be waived thru by customs and out by 9:15am. So with that being said 12:30 is very doable(airport is 5 minutes by cab), but SD is notorious for slow clearance by customs and until that is done they don't start the disembarkation process.

[RJ2002]

I will be on an upcoming Zuiderdam cruise, and will be disembarking in San Diego. The ship is scheduled to arrive at 7am. What is the earliest time that we should book a flight?

[Splinter]

I would recommend the earliest be 1130 or 1200. Customs & Immigration can slow you up quite a bit in San Diego, and TSA lines at the airport are also notoriously long (they don't have enough).

[jkrislc]

I agree that getting off the ship in San Diego can be slow. I've done it twice and live locally. Fortunately, the airport is only a couple of miles away, so it doesn't take long to get there. I agree with the 11:30-12 recommendation. You might be able to do earlier, but it would depend on your airline and terminal that you're flying out of.

[RJ2002]

I would recommend the earliest be 1130 or 1200. Customs & Immigration can slow you up quite a bit in San Diego, and TSA lines at the airport are also notoriously long (they don't have enough).

 

I agree that getting off the ship in San Diego can be slow. I've done it twice and live locally. Fortunately, the airport is only a couple of miles away, so it doesn't take long to get there. I agree with the 11:30-12 recommendation. You might be able to do earlier, but it would depend on your airline and terminal that you're flying out of.

 

Thank you both for your input. I realize that anything may happen which could cause delays, but what time would you generally expect disembarkation to begin for a ship that is due to arrive in port at 7am? We do have Pre-Check, so that would presumably help us once we get to the airport.

 

We are also toying with the idea of simply getting a one way car rental and driving to Las Vegas from San Diego. Does anyone know if the major car rental agencies will send a shuttle to the pier?

[SadieN]

Thank you both for your input. I realize that anything may happen which could cause delays, but what time would you generally expect disembarkation to begin for a ship that is due to arrive in port at 7am? We do have Pre-Check, so that would presumably help us once we get to the airport.

 

We are also toying with the idea of simply getting a one way car rental and driving to Las Vegas from San Diego. Does anyone know if the major car rental agencies will send a shuttle to the pier?

 

The major car rental agencies at the airport have shuttles. Hertz and Budget are two that come to mind. We've used the Hertz shuttle when doing a oneway rental and the Budget shuttle also stops at a parking lot.

Edited February 7, 2014 by SadieN

[kenish]

The issue at San Diego is nobody is allowed ashore until everyone is cleared aboard ship. There always seems to be one or two parties who somehow miss the special notice printed the night before, the disembarkation briefings, and the numerous shipwide pages asking them to report for immigration clearance.

 

The delays seem to be worse when 2 ships arrive...that's not common in SD nowadays but check the port schedule.

 

I live locally...on one cruise I was on the street at 1030am but some British citizens in our group weren't off until noon (they cleared immigration hours before but non-citizens weren't allowed to disembark until all were cleared). On the other cruise everyone was allowed to disembark at 11 or 1130...there was a second ship, and several non-citizens on our ship who hadn't reported to immigration. My friend missed her noon flight.

 

That said, maybe I've just been unlucky !

[RJ2002]

The issue at San Diego is nobody is allowed ashore until everyone is cleared aboard ship. There always seems to be one or two parties who somehow miss the special notice printed the night before, the disembarkation briefings, and the numerous shipwide pages asking them to report for immigration clearance.

 

The delays seem to be worse when 2 ships arrive...that's not common in SD nowadays but check the port schedule.

 

I live locally...on one cruise I was on the street at 1030am but some British citizens in our group weren't off until noon (they cleared immigration hours before but non-citizens weren't allowed to disembark until all were cleared). On the other cruise everyone was allowed to disembark at 11 or 1130...there was a second ship, and several non-citizens on our ship who hadn't reported to immigration. My friend missed her noon flight.

 

That said, maybe I've just been unlucky !

 

Thanks.

 

I am on the Zuiderdam, which will be continuing on to Vancouver. Our roll call is overwhelming Canadians, who will be staying on to Vancouver. However, I guess immigration will need to clear the entire ship anyway for folks just getting off for a day tour of San Diego.

 

According to cruisetimetables.com, we are the only ship in port on May 6, so at least that is a good thing.

[kenish]

RJ2002- The previous port is Puerto Vallarta, and the cruise ends in SD. You're doing a back-to-back and continuing to Vancouver. Many will be ending or starting in SD so the US immigration and customs formalities will apply. I could stand corrected but even those not going ashore in SD have to be cleared...the US doesn't recognize the concept of international transit passengers on planes or ships.

[jkrislc]

San Diego seems to be the least efficient of many ports. In 2001, we were off early; however, more recently it was closer to 10 mainly because of guest failing to report to immigration onboard as required. There were several people who were paged for an hour to report as instructed.

 

In reality, you could probably make an 11 am flight assuming there are no hiccups. I don't like to take risks, so my flights from other ports that handle more ships have always been after 11:30.

[RJ2002]

OK, thanks everyone. Sounds like the 9:35am Southwest flight is out. LOL. The next flight is 10:55am. Maybe I'll shoot for that and hope for the best. Or just rent a car and drive. :)