San Juan B2B

[ksy8384]

We are sailing on the Journey cruise Port Canaveral to San Juan and then coming back from San Juan to Port Canaveral. We get into SJ at 7am but the cruise doesn't depart until 10PM. Normally on a B2B you would stay on-board and enjoy the ship etc. I would like to explore San Juan so would we be able to disembark at some point and then when would we be able to embark? With the other passengers or earlier? Will there be food etc available during the day if we chose to stay on board?

Has anyone done a B2B involving SJ?

[k2excursion]

I haven't done a B2B, but I did sail out of San Juan. They will start letting the new people on board early, around noon or earlier. San Juan departures are usually late in the evening, but embarkation still begins pretty close to what other ports do. So there will definitely be lunch served (as well as breakfast, obviously). The dinner for that day will be open seating, so nobody will be going to their assigned table, if they have one. So it's basically anytime dining for everyone. This is all so that people have plenty of opportunity to explore San Juan. Muster drill will be around 9:30pm.

 

Many people will be checking in, getting on the ship to drop off luggage & eat lunch, then they will get off the ship to explore San Juan (without the luggage). You will be free to do the same. Since you are B2B, you can leave the ship to explore whenever you want, after they have taken you through the quick process of checking out & checking right back in. If I were on that cruise, I would probably take advantage of the empty ship for a few hours, ride the waterslides a couple hundred times, eat lunch right when it's served, then get off & explore.

 

I have plenty of pics of the forts in Old San Juan in my Splendor review, if you're interested. Enjoy your cruises!

Edited September 4, 2015 by k2excursion

[bizeemom4]

I did a b2b in San juan in june. You can get off with the self assist if you want to and come back after boarding begins (after 12 usually). You will not be allowed back on until then so don't get off for supplies and expect to come right back on.

[sternfanla]

Wife and I did a B2B a couple years ago in San Juan. They told us we could not get right back on that we had to wait until they started to take on more passengers. we took an excursion that went to some rain forest I think and I did not enjoy it. On the way back they stopped at a castle that was only a couple blocks away from the pier.

If i were you I would walk to the castle to just explore that.

[Number12]

We did a B2B through San Juan. We got our new S&S cards the night before and an in transit sticker. We just walked off with our first leg card (with a quick stop at customs), explored the city and walked back on with our second leg card.

[sassy~one]

DH and i are on the same cruise. We will be staying on the ship.

[maryann2]

I did a B2B on the Triumph in Feb this year.

Even if you decide to stay on the ship you will have to disembark and then come back on. The ship has to be cleared with all passengers off before you will be allowed back on. We had quite a wait in the terminal before being allowed back on so I would suggest you go out for a few hours at least. At least a couple of hundred did the B2B.

[ksy8384]

So when you got off and went through customs did you take your passport and fill out one of the customs forms? How did that work?

[Paddy41]

Did a B2B out of San Juan end of July. It was Royal Caribbean but from what a few others have said it sounds similar.

We were told when and where to meet the day before the first cruise ended and at the meeting they explained the whole proceedure. We were given our new setsail passes and an in transit card. We were told we could get off the ship in the morning but would not be able to get back on until the gates opened for all passengers. We were also told that if we wanted to go to our cabin before the announcement that they were ready to just open the hall door and go in but be careful because they put a lot of stuff out into the hallways from each cabin as they clean.

If we were not going to get off the ship then we were to meet around 11 in a specific place because customs would come on the ship to meet with us. Take passport, seapasses and in transit card.

In either case there was no need to fill out the customs card because your in transit card was all that would be needed.

We did go off ship around 9 a.m. using our old sea pass, still had to wait in a short line to show customs our in transit card and off we went to explore San Juan. We came back about 12:15 and people were boarding so we used our new sea pass and went right on.

Almost forgot....another bonus was that they opened one of the dining rooms for us for lunch and there was a special menu for the lunch. It was only open to B2Bers.

Everything was very smooth and easy and well thought out.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Paddy41

[Momis2]

I did a B2B on the Triumph in Feb this year.

Even if you decide to stay on the ship you will have to disembark and then come back on. The ship has to be cleared with all passengers off before you will be allowed back on. We had quite a wait in the terminal before being allowed back on so I would suggest you go out for a few hours at least. At least a couple of hundred did the B2B.

We were on this same cruise and got off the ship. We enjoyed our day in San Juan very much. We took a walking food tour through old San Juan that lasted a good part of the day and we still had time to visit the Cathedral, both forts and the cemetery on our own. The walking tour included 5 stops for local food and drinks( price included in the tour)

People who got off the ship and tried to get right back on had long waits as the port officials did not seem to know what they were doing. We avoided all that by seeing beautiful old San Juan. I suggest getting off the ship and spending some time in the city or going to El Yunque, the rainforest.

[ksy8384]

Thank you all. Your replies have been very helpful. Can't wait for our first B2B.