Departing from San Juan

[abschnick]

We booked a cruise out of San Juan on AOS for Oct. 08'. I have read reviews on here that if RCCL does not sell all rooms that they drop the prices for the residents of Peurto Rico. Some of these reviews have said that this has caused some issues on the cruise. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Thanks

[CarolinaGirl]

Sailed on the Adventure out of PR a few years ago. Yes, there were a lot of Puerto Ricans onboard. But no they weren't a problem. The rudest guests we encountered were from the mainland US!

[crisp1]

Just like cruises that originate from NOLA- alot of southerners. I wonder if the new itineraries originating from DR and Panama wil be full of 'locals'. This is one reason I love to cruise- to meet new people, get exposed to different cultures. One thing is for sure- they don't seem to discount many of the cruises from NY/NJ and the ships are full of 'locals' :D

[bplazo]

We have sailed out of San Juan twice and have never had any issues.

[Old Cars]

We sail from San Juan every year, usually in January for past 7-8 years. In fact, we'll be on Serenade on the January 26th sailing. There have been at times several Puerto Ricans aboard, but I can agree with what Carolina Girl stated. The rudest guests encountered were from mainland US. Besides, having the Puerto Ricans aboard, helps with me with my Spanish.

[Miss Vickie]

San Juan is our preferred port of departure port (8 times so far, one coming up January 2008 and one booked for January 09). We've never had problems with the mix of passengers on board our cruises.

[vjmatty]

I have cruised out of San Juan and had no problems with "locals", in fact I highly recommend doing the Tour with airport transfer after the cruise is over. San Juan is a beautiful city and it is worth seeing as much as you can.

[robtulipe]

We booked a cruise out of San Juan on AOS for Oct. 08'. I have read reviews on here that if RCCL does not sell all rooms that they drop the prices for the residents of Peurto Rico. Some of these reviews have said that this has caused some issues on the cruise. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Thanks

Actually RC does this for any cruises that are not selling well where ever they sail from in order to fill the ship. We bought a great sell off 6 weeks ago for the Legend's Greece & East Med cruise for next week. What happens is that local residents who can get to the embarkation port easily will snap up these deals. We took three cruises last fall and winter out of SJ (all sell offs even though we live in Canada) and I wouldn't say any of them were packed with Peurto Ricans. In fact the Spanish speaking people we met were from Mexico and South America and very nice folks.

They can't sell drinks, tours and other onboard products and services to empty cabins nor do they send staff home if one cruise is a poor seller. Remember the passengers' gratuities pays most of the earnings of the service staff.

[romnan]

We booked a cruise out of San Juan on AOS for Oct. 08'. I have read reviews on here that if RCCL does not sell all rooms that they drop the prices for the residents of Peurto Rico. Some of these reviews have said that this has caused some issues on the cruise. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Thanks

We sailed on the AOS 01/07 sspent three days on the island before boarding Loved every minute. I am so tired of listening to "issues" about The American way of life. If you look real close we are not doing so well. Best advise I can give you go on the ship and enjoy it

[KillaFee]

We sailed on the AOS 01/07 sspent three days on the island before boarding Loved every minute. I am so tired of listening to "issues" about The American way of life. If you look real close we are not doing so well. Best advise I can give you go on the ship and enjoy it

 

My thoughts exactly!! :D I'm going on the Adventure in January 2008 and I can't wait. :D

Laura

[curlyd]

Our first two cruised were out of San Juan, and we loved it. We went two days early and stayed a day after.

 

Next year we cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. Nothing against Ft. L, but I will miss not leaving from SJ.

That waw a little off topic,

 

Our Empress cruises had a large mix of passengers, but being a smaller ship with a popular itinerary it didn't have room to have a "sell off" so not many locals. But it wouldn't have stopped us - I like to cruise to see places and meet people, from everywhere and from all walks of life.

[BuyReallyLow]

Never had any issues. This San Juan issue has been covered in great detail by many others - do a search by "San Juan" or "Adventure of the Seas" and you will find many comments.

[Kevin's girl]

We really enjoy leaving from Puerto Rico. We usually stay a couple of days before the cruise in Old San Juan. We have never had a problem. Have a great time.

[Tex_Jen]

BRL is right. The "issue" has been covered a lot. The Fall prices on cruises in the Caribbean are always lower due to hurricane season so yes, you may have more locals. They don't have to fly to the port and can be more last minute in their choice. I found the Puerto Ricans on board on all my cruises out of San Juan to be perfectly fine and the couple at my dinner table were teaching me to salsa. Maybe that's what is causing consternation. People saw me trying to dance. :D I have been on AOS twice and will be cruising on AOS again next year.

 

Do I cruise in October? No. I live in a zone that can be prone to hurricanes and choose not to vacation during the more hurricane prone times so I can evacuate if necessary. So you have to weigh my experiences in other months against those that do cruise in October. It's kind of looking at reviews at Spring Break and reviews in other months. You see very different views.

 

JMHO

 

Jen

[emdia43]

I think San Juan is one of the loveliest places in the CAribbean and I can't wait to sail from there so we can spend some extra time in town.

I don't really understand why people want to travel but not be around 'foreigners'- it would seem simpler just to stay at home- I have seen numerous comments on this board about Puerto Ricans on cruises from San Juan being in the majority- that would seem appropriate- if you sail from Southampton you'll find lots of Brits on board....

[puertorican]

We booked a cruise out of San Juan on AOS for Oct. 08'. I have read reviews on here that if RCCL does not sell all rooms that they drop the prices for the residents of Peurto Rico. Some of these reviews have said that this has caused some issues on the cruise. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Thanks

 

Go for it, you will not found any problem at all, just go there and enjoy!!!

 

About the prices, the only difference that we could find is that we don't have to pay for air fares since we are here already, but that so mentioned as "Low Prices for local" dont exist, sometimes people from the board seen our local papers on Sunday and see prices advertise there but don't read the small letters, in spanish, off course, that says that the published price do not include "Pier taxes of 167.50 per person" that put that super price at the same everyone pays for it.

 

But for the main reason of your concern, Don't worry go and enjoy your cruise and dont let anyone inyect you with its personal misconceptions.

 

one word only - "ENJOY"

[karena1]

Totally agree - San Juan is our favorite port to sail from. We love going a day early and enjoying OSJ and we love the long port days you get and the great itineraries by going from San Juan. We have never experienced any issues with PR's. In fact on our B2B this year, I think we had more European/British on our ship than anyone else. Just always a great mix of different countries and nationalties. Enjoy and don't worry about it at all.

[paggerscorvette]

We were on the Adventure out of San Juan. Loved every minute of it. The PR's are not and should not be an issue. As a matter of fact, our newest friends, which we met on the AOS are from San Juan. Go enjoy and make the most of your wonderful trip. As a matter of fact, the rudest people were from Utah and Colorado, go figure.

[mic328]

We were just on the AOS 10/7/2007, the ship was probably 1/3 Puerto Ricans, they didn't bother me at all, the only thing that got annoying was the announcements first in English and then in Spanish, No way around that:D , the cruise was one of the best and I would recommend it to anyone. We flew in a day early. I wish I was back on the ship:p

[abschnick]

bump...

[Ektor]

We were just on the AOS 10/7/2007, the ship was probably 1/3 Puerto Ricans, they didn't bother me at all, the only thing that got annoying was the announcements first in English and then in Spanish, No way around that:D , the cruise was one of the best and I would recommend it to anyone. We flew in a day early. I wish I was back on the ship:p

 

I was on that very same week! Loved every minute of it...and I concur, don't pay mind to the comments on this board and just enjoy it!

[golfer1966]

Sailed on the Adventure out of PR a few years ago. Yes, there were a lot of Puerto Ricans onboard. But no they weren't a problem. The rudest guests we encountered were from the mainland US!

 

 

Ive read this before too, as other people questioned the local Puerto Ricans. Ive been to PR a few times for cruises and land based vacations and to be honest, the ones to fear or question were the ones from the cities on the mainland. ( NY , Philly ..etc ) We found that most of the people in Puerto Rico were very nice and friendly. We too like to meet new people and cultures. To answer the other question about selling the cabins cheaper, I heard this before our Adventure cruise and asked this too. RCI said they no longer do this becuase it caused too many problems. Who really knows for sure if they do it or not. It doesnt seem fair that I pay lets say 899 for a D1 and if they dont sell out that someone can get a room right next to me for 599 lets say.

 

Just my opinion..... :rolleyes:

[nrdsb4]

Ive read this before too, as other people questioned the local Puerto Ricans. Ive been to PR a few times for cruises and land based vacations and to be honest, the ones to fear or question were the ones from the cities on the mainland. ( NY , Philly ..etc ) We found that most of the people in Puerto Rico were very nice and friendly. We too like to meet new people and cultures. To answer the other question about selling the cabins cheaper, I heard this before our Adventure cruise and asked this too. RCI said they no longer do this becuase it caused too many problems. Who really knows for sure if they do it or not. It doesnt seem fair that I pay lets say 899 for a D1 and if they dont sell out that someone can get a room right next to me for 599 lets say.

 

Just my opinion..... :rolleyes:

 

Would you be upset if you paid $899 and the guy next door paid $1099?:D

 

Seriously, this happens all the time on airlines. You've probably paid more than your neighbor many times without knowing it, and just as many times you've probably paid less. Same could be said for hotel rooms or any situation in which supply/demand plays a part.

[KillaFee]

Go for it, you will not found any problem at all, just go there and enjoy!!!

 

About the prices, the only difference that we could find is that we don't have to pay for air fares since we are here already, but that so mentioned as "Low Prices for local" dont exist, sometimes people from the board seen our local papers on Sunday and see prices advertise there but don't read the small letters, in spanish, off course, that says that the published price do not include "Pier taxes of 167.50 per person" that put that super price at the same everyone pays for it.

 

But for the main reason of your concern, Don't worry go and enjoy your cruise and dont let anyone inyect you with its personal misconceptions.

 

one word only - "ENJOY"

 

Hi! I've got a quick question for ya, if you don't mind. We'll be on the Adventure on January 20th, 2008 but we're flying in on the 18th, which is the weekend of the San Sebastian Street Festival. Have you ever been to that? Is it fun and crazy or what? Do you think we'll still be able to have a nice dinner or should we just go out and party in the street? :p

Thanks!

Laura

[golfer1966]

Would you be upset if you paid $899 and the guy next door paid $1099?:D

 

Seriously, this happens all the time on airlines. You've probably paid more than your neighbor many times without knowing it, and just as many times you've probably paid less. Same could be said for hotel rooms or any situation in which supply/demand plays a part.

 

 

Understood, however, could the price go up if they booked later...like an airline ticket, or hotel room per se' Ive heard and read on hear someplace that the discounts were quite significant and not just a 100 dollar difference. I know what your talking about though because I currently have a JS booked for a Jan cruise and a Balcony Cabin is now more expensive than what I paid for my JS, now that I dont understand. :rolleyes: