Getting to Ship on Time

[MichaelCMTX]

Please count me in the "Try to change that flight" crowd. I'm willing to do same-day travel if we're driving to the port-- and we're in full control of the luggage-- but as others have stated there's not much that needs to go wrong to completely screw your pooch.

[packercruising]

I would. In fact. I would not even risk such a short time frame. If at all possible always fly in the day before. How will you handle any delays, including baggage? Too risky for me. I would be looking to change flight time. Don't forget you have to on board usually around 2 hours prior to sailing.

 

I am with Grandma Dazzles on this one. You will be too wiped out from the flight to enjoy the first day or two of the cruise, even if you do make it in time. You are probably required to be on board by 6:30?

 

Enjoy the cruise! San Juan is a terrific place to sail out of.

 

Go Packers! :D

[BillOh]

I would book the RC transfer. Whether or not a delay would cause the ship to wait - I do not know. But at least you would be on a bus with others in your same situation.

 

I guess we are assuming Royal offers a transfer that late? The OP hasn't booked it yet, I don't think too many other people would make this decision flying to SJU in the first place. Royal may not even offer this? I stopped using Royal transfers back in 2008, so my knowledge is ancient. This is certainly a game and its house odds which always favors the house. If I absolutely had to fly in the day of the cruise, Iwouldn't book one that didn't arrive before about 1pm.

[Merion_Mom]

As someone who missed a ship with a lot more leeway than that I agree with the others try and change your flight. I was leaving from FLL first port Nassau so myself and others flew

down on the first flight in the morning and managed to talk Air Canada into paying but it was incredibly stressful and would prefer not to do it again.

 

Thanks for your story. I feel stressed just reading it! :eek:

 

Enjoy your next cruise MUCH more! :)

[PoppyandNana]

Devils advocate here. Let's say you land on time to make it to the ship. But, your bags don't make it? You have no time to shop for anything you might need. If you fly in the day before you have breathing room.

 

On our very first Disney cruise we were booked to fly in by the travel agent to Orlando the morning our cruise left. Any delay could have ruined it. We changed to a flight the night before getting into Orlando after midnight.

 

While sitting in the airport they shut down Chicago. If we would have stayed with the original flights we would have missed our cruise. We always fly in early.

 

Our first cruise out of San Juan is in Feb 17. We are flying in a day early.

 

Enjoy your Cruise!

 

 

JoeRum

 

 

 

We are experienced cruisers. We always fly in the day before. Except.....last Janaury I made the boneheaded decision to fly into FLL the morning of the cruise. What's to worry? First flight out, many more after. Only 3 hours from EWR. Guess what? Exactly. 16" of snow predicted the morning of our flight. Cost me hundreds to reschedule flights, book a hotel. Major hassle.

 

As I said we are experienced cruisers and know the score.

[packercruising]

We are experienced cruisers. We always fly in the day before. Except.....last Janaury I made the boneheaded decision to fly into FLL the morning of the cruise. What's to worry? First flight out, many more after. Only 3 hours from EWR. Guess what? Exactly. 16" of snow predicted the morning of our flight. Cost me hundreds to reschedule flights, book a hotel. Major hassle.

 

As I said we are experienced cruisers and know the score.

 

When we cruise in Feb/Mar, we always fly down a couple days before. Flights are tiring.:rolleyes:

[LMaxwell]

No way I would take that flight time. You are not setting yourself up for success....

[emeraldcity]

I booked my flights to San Juan this week for my February cruise and virtually every search I checked came back with Cleveland to San Juan combos either stretching into a red eye segment or involving early morning out of Cleveland and an arrival at SJU after 4 p.m.

 

So I chose to come in two days early. Air travel is stressful enough without worrying about trying to add a segment at the end to catch up with the ship at the next port. And February San Juan weather is a delightful alternative to Cleveland weather. :)

 

The recent problems Delta had are a reminder of last year in July when we boarded our United flight in Cleveland to head for our cruise out of Vancouver ... only to be told they couldn't push away from the gate because the United computers had gone down. It was a long travel day, which included meeting folks on the Chicago to Vancouver segment who were expecting to miss their Princess cruise because they had booked day-of arrival.

 

Additionally, I can see where RCI will likely shut down check-in well ahead of that 90-minute window since I believe they would have some challenges staffing the whole check-in operation until 7 p.m.

 

I wish you well if you choose to chance it, but you might also check to see if the insurance policy you have likely purchased is going to pay for any sort of trip interruption expenses.

[seabeew]

I am going on the Adventure on August 20. My set sail pass states check is from 12:30 to 7:00 PM. This is my third cruise on Adventure this year. All the passes state the same thing. I know the compass has some confusing language that seems like check in is earlier, but that is not the case. The Adventure seems to constantly hold one muster drill around 4:30 and another drill around 8:00 PM for later arrivals.

 

OP, call Royal to confirm.

 

 

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Edited August 14, 2016 by seabeew