Summit out of Puerto Rico questions

[20165]

We are sailing Summit out of Puerto Rico in November and thats not a port we are very familiar with. We only sailed once from there a loooong time ago.  

Any advise on how that boarding process is compared to the FL ports in regards to arrival time and if there is a separate boarding process for reserve suites?  We are flying in the night before and are trying to get an idea of when to get to the port and what to expect. It doesnt look as big as a miami or ft lauderdale port so hopefully not as chaotic?

thanks

[celebrity cruiser]

Last time we embarked from PR was prior to pandemic. You board at the Pan American pier which is NOT in downtown old San Juan with the in transit piers. I remember the boarding process as easy as FLL especially with Suite priority, Although it went smoothly, the facilities are older there, In fact recently funds were appropriated to modernize the various piers. First arrival time was approx. 11 am.

 

We used to stay at El Convento in old San Juan. An old convent, it was multiple levels around a courtyard. Very pleasant to stay and convenient if you look to explore OSJU. There is a restaurant in the courtyard and and another on the side, From here you are about a 5 minute taxi to the ship and 15-20 minutes from the airport.

 

Have fun

[BeachTunes]

My husband and I sailed out of San Juan back in 2015 on the Summit and on the Millennium in March, 2023. We were amazed by how quick the embarkation process was! Last year we stayed in Old San Juan for two nights pre-cruise and taxied to the pier. We dropped our luggage off with the porters, went through security, had our boarding passes scanned and were on the ship around 15 minutes after arriving! 

 

If I recall correctly, our boarding time was 11am and we arrived at 10:45am. We were in Aqua Class but I do remember seeing a separate area for suites.

 

We really like San Juan. In addition to Old San Juan we have also pre-cruised in the Condado Beach area. Both are nice with loads of amazing restaurants, nightlife and shopping. Old San Juan obviously has a more historic feeling while Condado has more of a Fort Lauderdale/Miami vibe on the water. 

 

For Old San Juan we also recommend El Convento. In Condado, we stayed at the Condado Vanderbilt when it first opened in 2015. Service at the Vanderbilt was incredible and they have a gorgeous infinity pool that overlooks the ocean. Both neighbourhoods are relatively close to each other via a 10 minute or less cab ride. 

 

Happy planning! 

 

 

Edited July 17 by BeachTunes

[20165]

20 hours ago, BeachTunes said:

My husband and I sailed out of San Juan back in 2015 on the Summit and on the Millennium in March, 2023. We were amazed by how quick the embarkation process was! Last year we stayed in Old San Juan for two nights pre-cruise and taxied to the pier. We dropped our luggage off with the porters, went through security, had our boarding passes scanned and were on the ship around 15 minutes after arriving! 

 

If I recall correctly, our boarding time was 11am and we arrived at 10:45am. We were in Aqua Class but I do remember seeing a separate area for suites.

 

We really like San Juan. In addition to Old San Juan we have also pre-cruised in the Condado Beach area. Both are nice with loads of amazing restaurants, nightlife and shopping. Old San Juan obviously has a more historic feeling while Condado has more of a Fort Lauderdale/Miami vibe on the water. 

 

For Old San Juan we also recommend El Convento. In Condado, we stayed at the Condado Vanderbilt when it first opened in 2015. Service at the Vanderbilt was incredible and they have a gorgeous infinity pool that overlooks the ocean. Both neighbourhoods are relatively close to each other via a 10 minute or less cab ride. 

 

Happy planning! 

 

 

Thank you and it sounds like a pretty easy embarkation process.  Looks like the area around the pier is relatively new, or at least i dont remember those hotels and restaurants when we were there years ago.  

Thanks again and looking forward to a southern carrib cruise on a smaller ship.

[Iamcruzin]

I have sailed several times out of San Juan on both Celebrity and Princess. Just like any other port if you arrive super early you are going to wait and it will be congested. They did have separate lines for each category like Concierge, Aqua, Suite and general. There will be a line if you are one of the first to arrive. Eventually we learned to just enjoy the morning in Old San Juan or we stayed at the hotel pool after check out time. It was a much better experience. I no longer get there early and wait with my nose pressed against the door trying to be the first to board.

[NutsAboutGolf]

One pro tip, and disclaimer, you should reach out on social media about a month before to confirm the following is still the case.  PR railways are at 830pm with the all aboard being 7 pm.  If you were planning on dropping off your checked luggage to porters which doesn't require checking in, consider checking in at the same time and boarding the ship.  You can drop off your carry-on bag in your stateroom, brush your teeth, shower if you want to, complete your e-muster, etc.  Then you can WALK OFF the ship and re-board again later.  You will need to go through the terminal X-Ray security again but don't need to do anything else such as check in again

[20165]

Wow, thats something i didnt catch.  The ship doesnt leave until 8:30pm. I just assumed it was the normal 5ish pm like the FL ports.  Definitely going to take our time getting on and explore san juan a bit. 

Thanks

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, 20165 said:

...The ship doesnt leave until 8:30pm. I just assumed it was the normal 5ish pm like the FL ports.  Definitely going to take our time getting on and explore san juan a bit. 

You can board the ship at the standard early boarding times and then leave to go to OSJ for the day.  You just need to be back on board at least 90 minutes prior to sailing and have completed the muster drill.  Have done this several times to include having lunch in OSJ, returning for dinner.  BTW we use Uber for our transportation and on our last visit, when he dropped us off in town we arranged a pick up time to go back to the ship, which made our return easy.

Edited July 20 by leaveitallbehind

[20165]

8 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

You can board the ship at the standard early boarding times and then leave to go to OSJ for the day.  You just need to be back on board at least 90 minutes prior to sailing and have completed the muster drill.  Have done this several times to include having lunch in OSJ, returning for dinner.  BTW we use Uber for our transportation and on our last visit, when he dropped us off in town we arranged a pick up time to go back to the ship, which made our return easy.

Great, thank you. We were hoping we could use Uber in PR.  We just got back from Cancun and it definitely wasnt very prevalent down there.  Or least not without the possibly of a run in with a taxi driver...

 

[daydreamer16]

53 minutes ago, 20165 said:

Great, thank you. We were hoping we could use Uber in PR.  We just got back from Cancun and it definitely wasnt very prevalent down there.  Or least not without the possibly of a run in with a taxi driver...

 

FYI, Uber is great in San Juan, but not available around the rest of the island.

[sofietucker]

Love San Juan! WE always go a few days early as there is so much to do and see: El Morro! Snorkel on Culebra (boat from Fajardo, or take a plane). Rain forest, bioluminescent bay, museums, drag shows (PR has world-class queens), fooood...

 

At the base of the Banco Popular, corner of Recinto and San Juste, a few blocks across from the downtown piers, is a fabulous restaurant, Carli's. If you like escargot, theirs is amazing and nothing like you've had before. Great folks--Carli played keys with the Beach Boys and is a master jazz pianist who plays most nights. Also up the top of San Justo on the corner is an amazing art-filled hotel, like nothing you've seen, The Gallery Inn. They like you to wander through. Go to their rooftop bar--connected to the Cannon Club, a piano bar a block down on the corner of San Sebastian. 

 

Do NOT go between now and Dec. 1. Hurricane season, and they get hit a lot, as do all the islands in the region. 

 

I will add one reminder, assuming you will also be flying OUT of PR after your cruise: there is an extra step in checking your luggage before you get to the counter/kiosk. It must go through agricultural scanners (USDA) which are in a separate area in the front of the airport. Then the bags get a sticker before they are allowed to go through TSA and be put on the plane. BTW, no handicrafts made of palm leaves are allowed...

 

Plan for this time! We once thought we'd drop our bags and go to the nearby resort's beach for a few hours before flying home. Instead, it was a madhouse and the lines for every step in the process seemed to have 100s of people. It literally ate up most of our "extra" time just to check our bags--and then due to the lines for making our own way through TSA, it was clear we'd be lucky to get to the gate by time to board.

[doghog]

Great place to do B2Bs from. Also great for port intensive itineraries. 

[cruise_lover_2309]

• I'm on the 11/9 Summit cruise and someone on the 11/9 Facebook group said they called Celebrity and the earliest boarding time was 3:00.  That made no sense compared to previous cruises that board at 11:00.  I'm hoping she misunderstood them but we'll see when we able to check in.

[leaveitallbehind]

14 minutes ago, cruise_lover_2309 said:

• I'm on the 11/9 Summit cruise and someone on the 11/9 Facebook group said they called Celebrity and the earliest boarding time was 3:00.  That made no sense compared to previous cruises that board at 11:00.  I'm hoping she misunderstood them but we'll see when we able to check in.

Well that would certainly be different.  I will first say that it has been several years since we sailed out of PR, but we have also done it several times and every time we were able to board around 11:00 as you say. Of course things can change but that wouldn't make sense as everyone is off the ship typically by 10 with that itinerary. New boarding would start around 11.  And that is with any cruise, not just this one.  Why would anyone have to wait until 3 to board just because it is a late departure?

 

Let us know the outcome.

Edited July 23 by leaveitallbehind

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, cruise_lover_2309 said:

I'm on the 11/9 Summit cruise and someone on the 11/9 Facebook group said they called Celebrity and the earliest boarding time was 3:00.

IME, that's nonsense.

[20165]

11 hours ago, cruise_lover_2309 said:

• I'm on the 11/9 Summit cruise and someone on the 11/9 Facebook group said they called Celebrity and the earliest boarding time was 3:00.  That made no sense compared to previous cruises that board at 11:00.  I'm hoping she misunderstood them but we'll see when we able to check in.

Well, we are the week before you, 11/2 so ill let you know... Our arrival time on the 9th says 6am which i believe is the same as the FL port arrival times so i dont know why their boarding times would be any different. Ill poke around our Facebook group and see if anyone has heard a 3pm boarding time.  thx

[leaveitallbehind]

1 minute ago, 20165 said:

Ill poke around our Facebook group and see if anyone has heard a 3pm boarding time. 

I would want to hear from those who actually have recently been on that itinerary to confirm.  Lots of things are said and heard on FB.  

 

But that has not been the case with any of our SJ sailings.

[sofietucker]

I've done this itinerary on HAL too. And they had several cruises when they had to disinfect the ship, either upon disembarkation or before we boarded, due to having noro on the ship. They delayed embarkation and departure by hours once. But that was a case-by-case situation in the moment, not months in advance! (And pre covid) We also used to depart the port at 10pm, as a standard departure time...

[CelticEyes]

FWIW I just checked in for the 10/26 sailing and the earliest time was 12-12:30.