UK to san juan puerto rico cruise port

[gazzy2k]

Hi all

has any UK group members ever sailed from San Juan, we are considering a royal cruise from San Juan, and we live in manchester UK, so wondering what i would need & how i would get firstly from manchester uk to san juan, also what visa's are required ?

I usually sail from USA FL & Galveston , so fancy trying somewhere new..

 

Any advise greatly appreciated

 

gazz

[swoopy2110]

http://www.skyscanner.net

[JohninDC]

San Juan and all of Puerto Rico are part of the US, so the same passport/visa/… requirements will apply as for FL and Galveston.

[kernow]

We've cruised out of San Juan and ended a couple of transatlantics there too. We will be flying home from there in Nov.

 

I don't think anyone flies direct from the UK at the moment (at one time both Virgin and BA did) so you can either fly via mainland US with any of the US or British airlines or via Spain with Iberia. In Nov our flight home is with United via Newark. If you check out one of the airline comparison sites for your dates you will see all the options.

 

As mentioned it is counted as part of the US so you will need an ESTA. It's worth the connecting flight as there are some great islands on the itineraries sailing from there.

 

Julie

Edited October 6, 2018 by kernow
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[ronpes]

We are from the UK and sailing on Freedom this December. We are flying to San Juan via Miami with American Airlines out of London. We are flying back via Jet Blue to Orlando to visit friends and then with BA back to London.

 

As a previous poster said, the normal ESTA is suffice for entry etc.

[Redrobo]

Also sailed out of San Juan, last time we flew into Miami, stayed over night and flew to San Juan the following morning. Returned via Miami. Always a B2B to make the flight costs worth it.

 

Travelling late in the year they offered us flights through NY, declined, glad we did as NY was hit by snow delaying flights in and out.

 

The ESTA is valid for 2years and costs $14 for info.

[gazzy2k]

some great info there , thanks for the replies

[gazzy2k]

that i did not know !

 

"San Juan and all of Puerto Rico are part of the US, so the same passport/visa/… requirements will apply as for FL and Galveston"

[little britain]

We flew to Miami with BA and then down to SJU. On the way back SJU to Philadelphia and overnight there (highly recommended as a fab city) then BA back to LHR.

 

 

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[NorbertsNiece]

It's a shame there's no longer a direct flight...... I flew direct from LGW.

Highly recommend flying in early and staying a few days in San Juan or staying on after the cruise.

It's beautiful.

[FionaMG]

I don't think even Iberia have a direct flight to SJU at the moment; I was looking not all that long ago and couldn't find any. If that is the case, there's not much point in going via Spain; you might as well just go straight across the Atlantic from the UK.

 

Good advice from Redrobo about choosing a southerly route to safeguard against winter weather upsetting your travel plans if you are going at that time of year.

[GalwayGirl03]

My inlaws are flying in from dublin for our december freedom sailing. They are just doing the normal thing they have to do when they fly to see us in Philly. They are staying one night in Miami and then flying down to San Juan...so DUB to MIA, MIA to SJU, SJU-MIA, MIA to DUB.....no problem!

[heatherb1958]

We are from Manchester and have sailed from and to San Juan several times. We did travel agent packages and also DIY with our own hotels , flights etc.

 

Always do your own flights avoiding northern American airports in the Winter as gateways for reasons already mentioned . Don’t do a package if you can help it unless it is a steal deal , we once had to do Manchester-Amsterdam-Atlanta- San Juan. One of the reasons we stopped sailing from San Juan was because of the flights though the itineraries are worth it if you can cope with that.

[ronpes]

Good point. We too were offered flight via New York but declined for the same reason.

 

 

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[Norwich Cruiser]

We've done a couple of B2B's from San Juan.

Flew out via Miami both times and back once via Detroit and the other via Philadelphia.

[Lazirus65]

I have flown direct with Norwegian Air from Gatwick once not sure if they are still flying that route. All other times I have flown to Miami and then on to PR with American Airlines. As others have stated all you need is an Esta to enter the US.

[Manxerin]

We arrived back to UK two weeks ago after a B2B from San Juan. Flights were LHR to MIA then MIA to SJU, the reverse on the return. On way out you have to collect bags and do immigration at the Miami as it is your entry airport, bags then have to be handed in again.

Easier on way back as bags can be checked in at SJU through to LHR.

However journey was fine and all the connections worked. Airline was American.

[texmex.ferr]

We have done 2 TA's to and from San Juan, we did the Westbound TA in November 2017, not long after the hurricanes (Maria & Irma) had hit the island, and flights were limited into and out of the island at that time. We used United Airlines and flew from San Juan to Newark and Newark to Edinburgh, and that was mid November, and cases went straight on to Edinburgh.

 

On our trip to pick up the ship in San Juan in May of this year for the Eastbound TA, we used BA, and flew from Glasgow to Gatwick, Gatwick to Madrid, and Madrid to San Juan. I'm sure we never saw our cases until we reached San Juan

 

When we visited in May, the island was still having problems after the hurricane, and not every hotel or restaurant had reopened, there was still a lot of devastation around.

[gazzy2k]

thanks everyone