Arrive a day early for southern Carib.

[lovetovak]

I have two questions: is it worth arriving a day early if the ship departs at 10:00 pm? and second anyone have a recommendation on a hotel near the pier?

 

Margaret

[D4]

IMO it's always worth arriving a day early. Personally, I like to allow even more time for anything that goes wrong, so we always fly in 2 days in advance.

 

We were just on the 7/11 Legend and flew in on 7/9. We had one flight from Central Illinois to Chicago O'Hare and another to San Diego. O'Hare had bad storms most of the day so not many flights were going in or out of there. We planned to be in San Diego with the whole evening available. We finally got there about 11pm. And of course, the weather in Chicago affected every plane that was supposed to pass through there. So the weather in some other part of the country could affect your flight if the plane is coming from there.

 

Most of 7/9 we had doubts that we'd even get to Chicago that day because of the delays. I would have been worried if we would have had a cruise the next day, but I wasn't worried at all since we were cruising 2 days later.

[kc320]

Well it depends on a number of things.

 

1. When are you sailing & where are you flying from?

2. Do you have a direct or connecting flight?

3. What is your stress tolerance level?

 

We are on the Serenade in Oct. We live in Florida & have a direct flight, but we are still going down the day before. Why? Because we have no control over weather (hurricanes) or mechanical problems with the plane or our car on the way to the airport. We figure this way if we have a problem getting out Friday, we still have all day Saturday to get there.

 

I don't believe there are any hotels "near" the pier, they all require a cab ride. We are booked at the Wyndham Old San Juan, lots of people do well thru priceline. I am a control freak though and since this trip is for our 32nd Wedding anniversary we booked a better than normal room for us. Looking forward to getting our vacation off to an early & relaxing start!

[bug18]

I just took this route last week and enjoyed arriving a day early. It gave us some time in San Juan and it was just more relaxing.

[DHADEN]

Another "Main" reason for going a day early is to be able to board as early as possible. One of our first cruises, we let RCI arrange the air because it cost a lot less than what we could find. We got into San Juan just in time to make the ship before sailing. We missed dinner and any fun that night because we were exhausted from 11 hours of travel and stress. The flight out the on disembarkment was one of the earliest out, too. We felt like we actually missed two days of our vacation.

Now we leave the hotel around 10:30, make a liesurely trip to the docks and board by 12:00 or 12:30 just in time for lunch in the Windjammer!!!

[trish1c]

Getting the time off is always the tough part for us. Going a day early is rarely possible. If it is possible, it's a better idea. If not you should be OK, but book the earliest flight to can get. It also depends on the time of year. Snow / storms can wreak havoc.

[elaineb]

If you are going to PR, I'd say a definite yes to arriving the day before. We have done S. Carrib 2x, once arriving the day of departure, and this last time (7/4 AOS) arriving the day before. Travelling to SJ, especially from Boston, was very tiring! We had an early flight, so we were up at 3am! We got to SJ around noon, left our bags at the hotel and went exploring (up to El Morro). We had a nice leisurely dinner and got to bed early. The next day we wook up refreshed and were among the first people on the ship around 11:45! It was great to explore the ship while it was still empty. We were already recovered from travel and ready to have fun! Half of our group arrived that day around 4ish. They were tired and didn't get to enjoy their first day on the ship.

[Got2Cruise]

There is no guarantee that you will be able to board the ship at 11:30 am. On the AOS 7/11 sailing, there was a problem with U.S. immigration, therefore no one was allowed to board until close to 2:00 p.m.

[Cruisin MarcnFran]

If you go in early, don't forget to say hi to the Troops (army) that they brought into the city to patrol because of the high crime.

[gene624]

I wish I had done this because we will have to get up at 4:30 AM to make the flights needed to get to San Juan same day. I would have done so, except that I am paying for 10 people, not all of whom are coming from Alabama. That makes it quite expensive.

Gene in Birmingham

[gkrebs]

the Wyndham is good. I just dont chance flying in on same day very often to SJ. did it both ways. Both worked out fine, but would prefer getting in a day early for this one

[chayil75]

Hello all,

 

My husband & I will be leaving out of SJ on Sept 12, but will be arriving that Saturday the 11th. Since we're leaving from Atlanta, I figured it would be best to arrive a day earlier. I always hate to feel rushed. This gives us time to see SJ, since will be leaving the same day the ship returns. I heard it was also better to take a later flight out of SJ to avoid so many crowds and confusion that takes place at the airport. I've read many reviews that stated that leaving out of SJ is horrible. Are flight leaves at 4:30 to return to Atl(miami layover).

 

Happy Cruising!!

 

9/04 AOS

9/03 NOS (Western Carrib)

[Tex_Jen]

Having gone last April on the Serenade, I will tell you I wish my sis and I had come a day earlier. We got to the ship in plenty of time before sailaway, but we didn't have any time to do any sightseeing in Old San Juan, which we would have liked to do.

 

We are going on the Jewel next year and San Juan is on the itinerary, so I guess you know what we will be doing. We also plan to fly in a day ahead to Fort Lauderdale just to be on the safe side.

 

Jen