San Juan Departure - Jewel .. 2 Questions!

[Russ Lomas]

This is exactly what I wanted to hear! We have a cruise planned on Jewel in March 2017, and we would love to treat embarkation day like an extra port day and spend more time exploring San Juan before getting on the ship.

We kind of did the opposite and boarded the ship as soon as we could, around 11 am, even though we had been at a San Juan hotel for a couple of days. We were on the ship in about 20 minutes, had dropped all our luggage with the porters so we did not have to worry about it that day, did a quick lunch on the ship (it was paid for, so why pay again for food in San Juan), head into old San Juan for enjoy it for 5 or 6 hours (treating it as a port day), back on the ship for dinner in the MDR, before the late muster and sail away.

 

Sailing out of San Juan was our favourite departure city we have ever done since we loved old San Juan. Just be prepared for some chaos at the airport on your flight home due to the agricultural inspection first. The airport looked like absolute chaos but we actually got through everything in about the same time it would take at FLL or MIA even though there appeared to be 5 times as many people in a small congested area. Have a great cruise.

[cot427]

Just off a Jewel a few weeks ago. EASIEST on and off of any ship in years. Had a hotel close to port (Hyatt) so you know what, decided to walk. While the sidewalk ends toward the beginning, it was only about a 15 minute walk. Arrived to the port just before 11:30, used priority line for luggage drop off, no line for security, no line for checkin and no extra waiting after you get seapass cards. Was on the ship with a drink in hand before 11:45.

[LucyBugTravels]

We kind of did the opposite and boarded the ship as soon as we could, around 11 am, even though we had been at a San Juan hotel for a couple of days. We were on the ship in about 20 minutes, had dropped all our luggage with the porters so we did not have to worry about it that day, did a quick lunch on the ship (it was paid for, so why pay again for food in San Juan), head into old San Juan for enjoy it for 5 or 6 hours (treating it as a port day), back on the ship for dinner in the MDR, before the late muster and sail away.

 

Sailing out of San Juan was our favourite departure city we have ever done since we loved old San Juan. Just be prepared for some chaos at the airport on your flight home due to the agricultural inspection first. The airport looked like absolute chaos but we actually got through everything in about the same time it would take at FLL or MIA even though there appeared to be 5 times as many people in a small congested area. Have a great cruise.

 

 

That's a great idea. Thanks for the tip!