Is 10:40 am flight out of San Juan after the cruise too early?

[svetas74]

Please tell me what your thoughts are...

[steveaaaa]

Please tell me what your thoughts are...

 

My thoughts are you are going to be waving at your plane as it takes off without you.

Last year even though we were one of the 1st off (8.55am), the cab ride and the security were the killer.Even though we had tags from the ship,they still needed to xray the bags at the airport and put a special tag on them,security and boarding pass lines.We had an 11.15 flight and we might have missed it,if it was not late coming in. If you are flying an oddball airline,you might have better luck with lines.

Steve

[steve20832]

You WILL miss your plane if you book it that early. I would go for a plane that leaves after 12:30pm

[hess2201]

I agree.. i personally will not fly out before noon...... especially in PR.

[FunCruiser56]

Considering you would have to be at the airport 2 hrs ahead of time and getting off the ship is very time consuming, this flight it too early. The SJ airport is usually very crowded and unorganized. Make your flight for after 12, unless you want to spend an extra night in SJ.

Bev

[DEL67]

Yes, it is possible that you could make it, but there's a good chance that you could miss it. Do you want to take that chance?

[cruzfiend]

I agree with everyone, you might make it, but, quite the stress :(

[wittichk]

That is too early for a flight. Book a flight that is after 12:30. San Juan pier & airport is a zoo. From some of the reviews that I have read on the boards about the Adventure embarkation & disembarkation, sometimes they don't start disembarkation until after 9AM and as a result, some people cannot get on until after 2PM!!

[texancruzer]

We booked our cruise (Nov 26) along w/custom air though RCI. They booked us on a return flight out at 10:45 and we were told that they would schedule us as first off and get us to airport in time for flight or they would get us on another one..... However, even if they get you to the airport on time, you must still go through security etc. etc. If you miss your plane, they will help put you on another OR ON STANDBY as most flights are usually full. Then I asked if we cant get on another that day (Sat) would they pay for hotel and get us out Sun? Too many "ifs" for me as this is NOT the way I wanted to end a great trip that is to celebrate 25 yrs of wedded bliss !!!!! Ended up cancelling air thru RCI ($200.00 later in non-refundable fees) and booked our own with 3:09 flight that still puts us home before the other flight would have.....too many posts said "dont do it..... so my advice is "don't do it. :)

[svetas74]

Thanks for your answers, everyone. I am conisdering if I should book it... Did not yet... and will not now...

[cruzntori]

My husband and i did the 12 day cruise on empress in Feb and our flight was at 10:40 and we made it there and had an hour to wait.

Before i booked it i was wondering if i should and did what you are doing now. I am getting ready to book another cruise out of san juan and we will fly out at 10:40 again.

The trick to making it work: We got up at 6a and already had luggage packed night before (we did not set it out for pick up). We wheeled luggage into line to get off the boat (We were 5th or 6th in line). When we got off the boat we wheeled ourselves and luggage into the slowest customs line. Once we got thru we didnt have to look for our luggage and just went to get a taxi. We held up a $20 to the taxi driver and said "can you get us to the airport as fast as possibly". We were at the airport and sitting at the terminal gate in 30 min. We had to wait just over an hour for the plane to start boarding.

 

I was concerned that the boat would come into port late and/or not clear customs in time to disembark, but american said that if we called them they would just let us fly stand by for no charge.

 

In a nut shell be up early and in line. It can be done easily if you dont delay and dilly dally on the things you can control.

[xpcdoojk]

I think it is a bad idea. You might make it, but I would not plan on making it.

 

jc

[juliew]

Oddly enough, I did custom air through RCCL for San Juan in November and the flight they offered me on the return was a 10:15am on American. I questioned it and asked if that was too early and the custom air rep said their earliest they can book is 10am - so I took it because it gets us back home much earlier. I just wanted to be sure I had something around 12:00pm - the last time we hung out at the airport 5 hours before we left.

 

Sooooo, I am relying on RCCL otherwise we'll be flying standby too....

[wrp96]

We booked our cruise (Nov 26) along w/custom air though RCI. They booked us on a return flight out at 10:45 and we were told that they would schedule us as first off and get us to airport in time for flight or they would get us on another one..... However, even if they get you to the airport on time, you must still go through security etc. etc. If you miss your plane, they will help put you on another OR ON STANDBY as most flights are usually full. Then I asked if we cant get on another that day (Sat) would they pay for hotel and get us out Sun? Too many "ifs" for me as this is NOT the way I wanted to end a great trip that is to celebrate 25 yrs of wedded bliss !!!!! Ended up cancelling air thru RCI ($200.00 later in non-refundable fees) and booked our own with 3:09 flight that still puts us home before the other flight would have.....too many posts said "dont do it..... so my advice is "don't do it. :)

 

Good choice!

 

Even though RCI says they will help you rebook your flight if you miss yours, this doesn't always happen, and you might be left relying on your airline to help you, even if you booked your air through RCI. I missed my flight in January out of Miami due to multiple problems at the pier. I repeatedly asked at the pier what to do since I had already missed my flight and was told the RCI rep at the airport would help me. When I found the RCI rep at the airport, I was told they were too busy to help me and I should just go see if my airline could help me (there was only 1 other person at the desk, and 3 RCI employees behind the counter). Lucky for me, I found a nice airline rep to help me and he put me on the ONLY seat available to get me home that day. After the response I had already gotten from the RCI rep that was supposed to help me, I wonder what would've happened to me if my airline hadn't found me a seat that day.

[CruzinSuz]

Last time we flew out of SJU we were at the airport at 9.00am for a 2.00pm flight. It had never been easier disembarking. Continental has now changed the SJU/IAH departure to 10.40 which is fine with me. I didn't like sitting at the airport for 5 hours. We were on the Serenade.

[Fury1995]

You never know what's goinT to happen. the first time, we waited 3 hours for a 2PM flight. The second time, the port lost power and held everyone on the ship, no security working or customs (scans and computers), we were dealyed in the terminal 2 extra hours and almost missed the flight. Better be safe than sorry, book the later flight and find something to do.