Change in itinerary time

[garrahyd]

Sailing on FOS on April 20th. We were supposed to depart at 4pm from Miami and arrive in San Juan at 4pm. Now we are leaving at 6 pm from Miami and not arriving in San Juan till 5pm instead of 3pm. That doesn't leave much time to do much...and it happens to be my DH's birthday! I can't even do any of the excursions at that point because it will be dark by the time we get off the ship and get to the location. I thought that I was having a senior moment when I saw the arrival time in San Juan...but then I noticed our departure time. I feel like we are losing an entire day...even though it's only 2 hours. Has this happened to anyone else? I wonder why?!

[cb at sea]

Who knows? But you really won't be missing much in SJ! Plan on a birthday celebration on the ship!

[Antonia]

Do they follow daylight savings time in Puerto Rico? Maybe in won't be dark!!!!

[Yvie]

I'm not sure why, but I will offer an opinion on a possible reason. We are taking a cruise this summer from Southampton and my mom called to see if they had a 90 minute before sailing all onboard like they do here in the states. The C&A rep told her they have just been told it will be changing to two hours prior to sailing, fleetwide. If that is the case, then passengers would have to be onboard by 2 p.m. for your 4 p.m. departure which could be difficult if there are flight delays. Of course this "new policy" came from only one C&A rep.

[Yvie]

Sorry double post

[Sue L]

I'm not sure why, but I will offer an opinion on a possible reason. We are taking a cruise this summer from Southampton and my mom called to see if they had a 90 minute before sailing all onboard like they do here in the states. The C&A rep told her they have just been told it will be changing to two hours prior to sailing, fleetwide. If that is the case, then passengers would have to be onboard by 2 p.m. for your 4 p.m. departure which could be difficult if there are flight delays. Of course this "new policy" came from only one C&A rep.

 

 

 

the OP is talking about going there as a port, the 90 minute (possible 2 hours) applies to embarkation day only and not at the ports.

[wrp96]

the OP is talking about going there as a port, the 90 minute (possible 2 hours) applies to embarkation day only and not at the ports.

 

 

Sue, the delay into San Juan is caused by a 2 hour delay in leaving Miami. So it really does look like they are pushing back departure times from the embarkation ports so as to accommodate the 90 minute rule.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Sue, the delay into San Juan is caused by a 2 hour delay in leaving Miami. So it really does look like they are pushing back departure times from the embarkation ports so as to accommodate the 90 minute rule.

 

Interesting...I wonder if any of the other ships will be leaving later now?

 

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[wrp96]

Interesting...I wonder if any of the other ships will be leaving later now?

 

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My Rhapsody itinerary hasn't changed from 4 o'clock so I can't say that it's definite. They might be doing it on a cruise by cruise basis based on when they can get flights for the cruise air passengers. Just a thought.

[garrahyd]

Okay...I got the scoop. I just talked to the Mgr. of Guest Relations about something else and asked him if he knew. He said that it was due to homeland security requesting the 90 minute check in time prior to embarkation. Since this happened so close to sailing times and many people already have their flights booked, they would have effected too many customers if they didn't change the time. So...yes...the reason is because of the 90 minutes.

 

Since we are now leaving 2 hours later, we are also due to arrive in San Juan at 5 pm instead of 3 pm. Oh well...I guess we will just have an early dinner on board and then go out for a couple of drinks and a walk through town. It seems like a waste of a stop. I almost wish we just went directly to St. Thomas and just stayed there overnight!

[TwoTravelin]

...but rest assured that if everyone makes it on time or earlier, once the 90 minutes pass, the captain will set sail...

[shipty2]

I am sailing on FOS March 9. I have checked the Royal Caribbean site and it says no changes but of course it is not mentioning the op's change either. Anyone know if I'll be leaving late too?

 

I'll have to call I supposer to find out for sure.

[garrahyd]

...but rest assured that if everyone makes it on time or earlier, once the 90 minutes pass, the captain will set sail...

 

Really? I didn't think they would leave earlier. That would be nice. I am told that boarding now will not begin until 1 pm. I was hoping for 11 a.m. previously...oh well. It would be nice if they would have left boarding time the same so we could at least enjoy the ship.

[garrahyd]

I am sailing on FOS March 9. I have checked the Royal Caribbean site and it says no changes but of course it is not mentioning the op's change either. Anyone know if I'll be leaving late too?

 

I'll have to call I supposer to find out for sure.

 

Take a look at your reservation and look at your itinerary. That is how I found my change. When I called C & A, they were not aware of the change, but customer service was. They, however, did not explain. I heard that from Management.

[TwoTravelin]

Really? I didn't think they would leave earlier. That would be nice. I am told that boarding now will not begin until 1 pm. I was hoping for 11 a.m. previously...oh well. quote]

When the port cams are working, you can see ships leaving earlier than scheduled. Carnival seems to usually leave the earliest. I can only imagine that the captain will want to leave as early as possible. Also, RCI pays big dollars to the ports. So I imagine that they would want to get the most use for their dollar from the San Juan port. Let us know how it turns out!

[madforcruising]

...but rest assured that if everyone makes it on time or earlier, once the 90 minutes pass, the captain will set sail...

 

Not saying it couldn´t happen but I would not count on that. Once they changed the departure time I guess they will plan all the operational stuff around that departure time. I also guess they have to make arrangements with pilots etc. in advance and can´t just take off at their will.

 

And the same would apply for coming into SJU, so even if they depart early I wouldn´t count on being docked in SJU earlier.

[bubbadog]

it should still be light out at 5 o clock in april, not sure when d-savings time is,but should be around that time:)))

[alphakitty]

Sunset is 6:43 on April 20th and it wont' get dark until a half hour after that. You will have time to enjoy some of San Juan before it gets dark. We did a walking tour in February and enjoyed the sunset. You will have some time to enjoy the sights. I really enjoyed our tour and the old town feel of Old San Juan. :)

 

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=226&month=4&year=2008&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1

 

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/sanjuan/0323010008.html

[Ocean Boy]

Do they follow daylight savings time in Puerto Rico? Maybe in won't be dark!!!!

 

No daylight savings time in Puerto rico.

[uksimonusa]

This seems to be a one off, we are on the sailing before the OP, April 6th and out times havent changed, I also checked the sailing after, and that one leaves Miami at 4:30 and arrives at San Juan at 3:00pm

:confused:

[garrahyd]

Gee. I wonder why!:mad: I was told it was because the passengers couldn't change flights and too many people would be effected. Maybe it would only have a big impact on the flights on that particular time frame.

 

I just wish they wouldn't have changed the boarding time. I understand that they have to leave earlier to accommodate passengers arriving from flights, but those of us that arrive a day earlier because we wanted to be there early enough for the original departure time should be able to get on the ship and enjoy it a bit longer. What is the difference? We were supposed to be there at that time anyway. We just pull away from the port a bit later. For me, the cruise begins the minute I step foot on the ship. Not when we pull away from the port.:D