For those who have been there and done that, Golden San Juan

[twostacys]

Ship arrives in port 06:00. Plane leaves 10:44. Could you have made it safely.

[nreeder]

We are just off the Golden from last weeks cruise. I sure wouldn't try that flight though. The earliest passengers were off probably around 9am, and the latest were off by 10:30am. You have over a half hour taxi ride to the airport, and you are supposed to be at the airport 90 minutes before your flight. You have a long agricultural inspection line to go through before you get into the terminal, and another long line for regular TSA security inspection.

thanks

Norm

 

Norm and Maureen Reeder

NCL Sunward 1982,Eastern Carribbean, Sky Princess 1989, New England, Holland America Westerdam 1992, Panama Canal, Sun Princess 1996, Panama Canal, Rennaissance R-3 1999, Tahiti, Grand Princess, 2000 Mediterranean, Sea Princess 2001, Mexican Riviera, Grand Princess Oct 2002, Eastern and Western Carribbean, Tahitian Princess Sep, 2003, Golden Princess Southern Carribbean, May, 2004

[3SDcruisers]

We flew out of San Juan in April on American. We asked about the ag inspection line and were told we didn't have to do it.

 

Dawn Princess 5/04

Dawn Princess 4/04

Island Princess 8/03

Carnival Elation 6/02

[Laura61]

We're just off the Golden 5/16. Although we told them that we had a 12:30 flight, we were not called off until 10:45. It took us a total of 1 hour and 15 mins. total from the time we were called until we sat down on the plane. Considering the first group probably went off around 9:00AM - I would definitely consider a later flight than 10:45.

 

Good luck!

 

Festivale 1989

Majesty of the Seas 1997

Paradise 1999

Imagination 2000

Ocean Princess 2000

Grand Princess 2003

Golden Princess 2004

 

[MauiLuvr]

FYI, re the agricultural inspection, you will see signs in the San Juan airport saying ALL passengers MUST go through the agricultural inspection. However, when we presented ourselves for said inspection, the USDA officials told us that if we'd just come off a cruise, there was no need.

 

Further, our Spirit Air flight check-in person told us that if you keep your cruise ship tags on your luggage, you will not have to go through agricultural inspection.

 

So, even if you're like us and you don't use Princess transfers from the ship to the airport, don't take those tags off until you're home!

 

Golden Princess 5/2004 (Southern)

Golden Princess 3/2003(Eastern)

Grand Princess 5/2002 (Western)

Grand Princess 5/1999 (Eastern)

[PeabodyNVL]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MauiLuvr:

FYI, re the agricultural inspection, you will see signs in the San Juan airport saying ALL passengers MUST go through the agricultural inspection. However, when we presented ourselves for said inspection, the USDA officials told us that if we'd just come off a cruise, there was no need.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>We were very happy we didn't have to go through the insepction and had left our cruiseline luggage tags on. Just make sure you have them on every piece you are going to check. Since we had an excursion, this was no problem for us. But, if you had a carrier on that you carried off the ship and weren't taking an excursion, but you decide to check the bag for the flight back (you always do this on the way home), remember to tag the carry-on with your cruiseline tag.

 

Pea

 

5/9 Golden Princess  

[meyerhaus]

Were any of you on the Classic Southern Caribbean (SJ, At Sea, Barbados, etc.)? I would love to hear about it since I am going in July.

 

Also, if you saved your patters and/or menus, I would LOVE a copy for my site (see below)!

 

Thanks,

JON

 

www.geocities.com/pattersandmenus

 

Golden Princess 7/11/04

Big Red Boat-1993 (Amy)

Celebrity Zenith-1993 (Jon)

 

 

[gopher's girl]

Jon,

I did your itinerary on the Dawn *but went to Tortola instead of Antigua*... I will send you the patters as soon as I get near a scanner I promise! I wish I would have grabbed the menus, my sister is a chef and wanted to see them. They had a recipe for the asiago stuffed gnocchi on the Princess.com site but that will have to wait until I'm off South Beach (losing pre-cruise weight, not cruise weight anymore!).

 

I don't mind answering questions about the islands. In Barbados we just got off the ship and took a cab to Gun Hill Signal Station - our driver Shelly was a great guide and told us all about the island during the ride. We wanted to go to Mount Gay Rum but they were closed for renovation, so we went to Malibu where for $9 we got a tour, a free drink, and bracelets so we could use the beach chairs and umbrellas. It was lots of fun and we didn't stay there for too long but a nice dip in the ocean before our tour started was great. Did a little shopping in the town.

 

In St. Lucia we shopped on the other side of the harbor ($2 water taxi ride - round trip ticket) and that was fun but the regular taxi drivers were not fun and hassled us until we basically got back on the ship. I would probably recommend a ship tour so you don't have to worry about the taxi drivers (they wanted $140 from each of us to go see the sulphur pond! other people on our ship paid less than $50, we tried walking away and talking them down but they never came below $100 and by that time we were nervous about riding with any of them). It is a beautiful island from what I saw from the ship and the harbor.

 

St. Maarten was fabulous and I am so excited to be going back in August. I did the princess-organized kayak excursion which is great if you want to do something unique. Lots of work but it didn't bother me too much. After kayaking we actually went back to the ship, got cleaned up quickly (though this was really not necessary) and took a water taxi into the town to go shopping again. I did a lot more shopping on this trip than I anticipated, but it was nice to see all of the jewelry and clothing and seek out some deals. I think the shopping on St. Maarten was the best if you know exactly was looking for. St. Thomas was good too (I think it is a personal preference if someone likes one island over another). Everyone on the ship that night had a great time in St. Maarten, so this is definitely something to look forward to!

 

St. Thomas is beautiful. I was exhausted so we just did some time in the town and at the shops. We ate in a Mexican restaurant and had Blackbeard Ale which is good stuff. Not necessarily worth lugging home but good while you are there. When I go back I will go around the island and see Magen's Bay along with some other beaches, and maybe check out snorkeling in St. John's. Tons to do there.

 

Flying in and out of San Juan was fine. We used the Princess transfers which made life easy. I highly recommend taking a taxi into Old San Juan if you have time to explore before the muster drill on board. My flight was at 2:20 pm and we arrived at the airport in San Juan (on the last day) around 11 am, we were the last group off of the ship and the airport was packed. We were herded into a line for flights departing after 1 pm so that the early birds could get through, but even those lines were long. If I did that again I might go for an earlier flight or stay an extra day, but I lived so it wasn't that bad right? (Really can't complain about the vacation at all - the staff was wonderful and having the experience I can make the next one better - my advice it to try whatever sounds good to you and compromise with your cabinmate so that you both have the best possible trip!)

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Dawn Princess 04/11/2004 ~ Southern Caribbean

 

Caribbean Princess 08/14/2004 ~ Eastern Caribbean

[meyerhaus]

Thanks, gopher's girl!!!

 

I can't wait!

 

www.geocities.com/pattersandmenus

 

Golden Princess 7/11/04

Big Red Boat-1993 (Amy)

Celebrity Zenith-1993 (Jon)

 

 

[AbbyGirl]

Gopher's Girl,

Thanks for all the information on the islands...You just made the excitment level go even higher!!!

I can't wait...

 

Days until the Golden sails the Southern Seas