First Time to cruise out of San Juan

I got a wild... Wild hair the other day and booked our summer cruise out of San Juan. We mainly cruise out of Galveston, but have ventured once to Miami and New Orleans.

I am just starting my research and already it seems like this will be a very different cruise experience than we are used too... Eek! I am scared and excited all at the same time!

Are there any "Oh, you should definitely know this" before going tips? :)

Book your flights early. Flights to SJU can be expensive! Ours cost more than the cruise last time.

We love cruising from SJU. The only noticeable difference to us was the disco played more music with a decidedly Latin flare.

I got a wild... Wild hair the other day and booked our summer cruise out of San Juan. We mainly cruise out of Galveston, but have ventured once to Miami and New Orleans.

 

I am just starting my research and already it seems like this will be a very different cruise experience than we are used too... Eek! I am scared and excited all at the same time!

 

Are there any "Oh, you should definitely know this" before going tips? :)

You should definitely know that it won't be that different, except for being a lot closer to some excellent destinations. Also, Puerto Rico is a destination in itself, so I would strongly consider flying in at least a day early (in case of delays) and see some of the island.

We flew in on a Wednesday for a Saturday cruise and we were glad we did! There is so much to do in the San Juan area. We're looking at going back for a few days in the future.

There are some pictures in my Celebrity Summit review linked in my signature and also in my sets on Flickr. Here is the one for our three days in San Juan.

I got a wild... Wild hair the other day and booked our summer cruise out of San Juan. We mainly cruise out of Galveston, but have ventured once to Miami and New Orleans.

 

I am just starting my research and already it seems like this will be a very different cruise experience than we are used too... Eek! I am scared and excited all at the same time!

 

Are there any "Oh, you should definitely know this" before going tips? :)

Fly in a couple of days early and stay in a hotel in Old San Juan or Condado. It add so much to the vacation!

Flights are more expensive, we pay more for flights than the cruise, and have cruised out of San Juan 4 times. Early morning flights are cheaper so sometimes you can save money by flying out the morning after a cruise, even with the extra hotel night etc, it can still be cheaper. I would not book a flight out of SJ before noon on the day you get back. Too many things can go wrong to make you miss your flight.

We love the southern Caribbean experience!

Just a tiny detail and no big deal (unless you don't do it), you need to take your luggage to the agricultural inspection and get a sticker before going to check in with your airline. This is when you leave to come home.

I found this little guide for the San Juan Cruise traveler, Old San Juan Cruise Ship and Port Information they also have a small inexpensive hotel that offer free continental breakfast with your stay and many other amenities. Good luck!

We have cruised out San Juan 5 times if you think this may your one and only there is two ways to go. Come in at least for 2 nights Book Condado area beach hotel and enjoy the beach area . Catch a taxi or the bus or the shuttle and go down and explore OSJ its a must. Or spend the a few extra bucks and book the Sheraton OSJ a bit pricey but well worth it IMHO have stayed there 3 times. You can walk anywhere walk to the ship on embarkation day is the priceless . To get up walk out of your hotel go across the street and you are there. OSJ has so much to offer for a day and half 2 forts all of the sites. Great places to eat. Love cruising from here. Have fun.

Flights home can be a bit challenging as mentioned but don't worry just allow some time or stay a day a fly home on Monday.

great tips

I found this little guide for the San Juan Cruise traveler, Old San Juan Cruise Ship and Port Information they also have a small inexpensive hotel that offer free continental breakfast with your stay and many other amenities. Good luck!

PapaEdwin,

Did you stay at the little hotel that this link takes me to? Would you recommend it? Was it far from the cruise port and other attractions?

Keep the tips coming. I have only cruised from Galveston & am excited about this cruise!

Flights are booked! Yea!! We will be flying in Friday for the cruise leaving on Sunday.

Our return flight is 11:55am. It was the best option we could get . Fingers crossed. :)

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I got a wild... Wild hair the other day and booked our summer cruise out of San Juan. We mainly cruise out of Galveston, but have ventured once to Miami and New Orleans.

 

I am just starting my research and already it seems like this will be a very different cruise experience than we are used too... Eek! I am scared and excited all at the same time!

 

Are there any "Oh, you should definitely know this" before going tips? :)

We did this cruise on 2/23 and it was different.

You should "definitely know" that:

1. this cruise does not leave PR until after 10:00 pm. So, you can process in and then get back off the ship and explore San Juan for hours. We toured both forts and then had dinner in a local bistro, plenty of time for the ship food on the other nights!

2. this is a very port intensive cruise and based upon your age you will find you are in bed earlier so that you can get up and going.

3. there is only one "at sea" day and it is the second cruise day.

4. there are several excursions to use when you return from the cruise and get your bags taken to the airport. We did the Rain Forest cruise. Our flight back to Baltimore didn't leave until 6:00pm.

5. the crew of the Valor is very proud that they get high ratings and go out of their way to keep getting them.

Flights are booked! Yea!! We will be flying in Friday for the cruise leaving on Sunday.

 

Our return flight is 11:55am. It was the best option we could get . Fingers crossed. :)

You will be fine. Just don't dawdle.

We are in the same boat (pun intended), I managed to get a summer class to teach this summer, so I get a month off next winter. We where on a eastern Caribbean cruise this year, and so far San Juan is at the top our most favourite ports. So next winter we will head back to San Juan for three weeks and a cruise or two from there. Which cruise are you planning, and has any one taken an less common cruise from there. Enjoy your trip.

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I prefer Isla Verde Beach over Condado. Everyone will have their own preference. If you would like a fairly nice place to stay on the beach on not that expensive let me know. I will admit that I used to live in Texas and cruised out of Galveston once. I will never cruise out of Galveston again. A teacher arrived late back from spring break today because of cruise problems in Galveston Bay.

You may find many Puerto Rican families on board celebrating an event. This may cause the lines in the lunch buffet to be longer than usual at times. I was surprised at the number of families who stayed on the ship in the various ports.

As other have mentioned in previous posts, it is wise to arrive in San Juan early.

We also got a wild, wild hair and booked Carnival out of SJU this summer. Excited to find these posts since everything is new this time. Still looking for hotel and sightseeing info for the extra day or so we plan to stay in San Juan. We have a family group -- from teens to seniors. Will definitely look at the info you guys have posted. Thanks!!

Decide if you want to explore the city and its history or the beaches. If you want culture and history... then everything is close by in Old San Juan.... if you picture perfect postcard beaches you will need to get a rental car and drive about 40 minutes to Luquillo beach.

I have been to PR about 25 times and I cannot get enough of this beach and area around it... FYI... it is right down the road from El Yunque rainforest which can be lots of fun.

Cheers.

Love the itineraries out of San Juan. We have done 2 on Celebrity and 2 on Carnival (see reviews in signature from the Victory, the Valor now does that route) We always come in a couple of days early and explore this beautiful place. We love the Forts, El Yunque, Bio Bay, the Charm of Old San Juan and just the overall history of the Island. You can immerse yourself in almost any kind of activity you want. Puerto Rican people are such a fun loving people also. They are great to be around. Enjoy your time there.

You'll love sailing out of San Juan- lots of extra time in ports!

When you arrive- just grab a cab to your hotel. Cabs are well regulated and prices are by the zone. You pay per cab, not per person. You'll also pay $1 dollar per bag on top of the fare. The fare from the airport to Old San Juan is $19 plus $1 per bag.

Once you are at your hotel, it is simple to grab a cab anywhere. The buses are very clean and reliable as well and you can save a considerable amount if you use the bus. We paid $1.50 to take a cab from our Condado hotel to downtown San Juan.

Old San Juan is great for history, architecture, restaurants, shopping, and really cool forts that surround the city. You can easily walk just about anywhere in OSJ. Just don't go into LaPerla- by the cemetery. Otherwise, my sister and I have always felt very safe walking the city both day and evening.

If you want to stay on the beach, you'll need to stay in Isla Verde or Condado. Isla Verde has nicer beaches and is closest to the airport. Condado is closest to Old San Juan.

Enjoy your cruise! If you want to see more pictures of Old San Juan and Condado, click on my Caribbbean Princess review located in my signature. Next week, I'll be doing a live review from the Jewel of the Seas and it will include a few days in San Juan and a trip to the rainforest.

Has anyone stayed during San Sebastian festival? We recently booked a cruise out of San Juan in January and later found out we will most likely be there during this festival. Either hotels are incredibly expensive in SJ or the festival has jacked prices up but I'm having a hard time finding a place for a little less then $200 that doesn't seem to be bed bug infested. We were looking at Tres Palmas, but I am starting to have second thoughts about the location. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

Has anyone stayed during San Sebastian festival? We recently booked a cruise out of San Juan in January and later found out we will most likely be there during this festival. Either hotels are incredibly expensive in SJ or the festival has jacked prices up but I'm having a hard time finding a place for a little less then $200 that doesn't seem to be bed bug infested. We were looking at Tres Palmas, but I am starting to have second thoughts about the location. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

We stayed at the Condado Hilton Plaza which is right across a bridge from Old San Juan during the San Sebastian Festival. The prices there are typically in the $200 range, but I've read about people getting good deals there on Priceline. I suspect it will be very difficult to find any place inside of OSJ during the festival.

The crowds and craziness are only inside of OSJ, so you should have no problems finding a place outside there, either in Condado or Isla Verde.

I can't remember which ship you are sailing on, but most ships other than Carnival depart from the Pan Am pier which is a few miles away from all the action and very close to Condado. You can see the ships from the balconies of certain rooms at the Condado Hilton (formerly Conrad Condado Plaza).

Traffic is crazy busy trying to get into OSJ, but it's doable. Depending upon where you stay, you could easily hop on a bus to get there.

Enjoy.

Has anyone stayed during San Sebastian festival? We recently booked a cruise out of San Juan in January and later found out we will most likely be there during this festival. Either hotels are incredibly expensive in SJ or the festival has jacked prices up but I'm having a hard time finding a place for a little less then $200 that doesn't seem to be bed bug infested. We were looking at Tres Palmas, but I am starting to have second thoughts about the location. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

We are booked on the same cruise. Yes the San Sebastian Street festival is that weekend. Which is why we booked this date... it is an awesome party. We were there for it once before on accident and our kids had so much fun they want to take their spouses to it and let them experience it. We have found that there are deals to be had but you might have to stay farther away from Old San Juan. We are planning to do the Bio bay on Friday night so we are staying down in the Fajardo area. Have you been do the roll call for our cruise?

Thanks for the replies to my questions - we actually booked our tickets to SJ before we booked the cruise because the price was right. So we are flying in on Saturday. We probably would have left on Friday had we known about the festival, but we have Saturday night and Sunday before we leave. We found a no frills hotel in Condado and I'm hoping it is the right decision for us. We come in around 6pm so I wanted something with places to walk to on Saturday night and we'll check out OSJ on Sunday. We are hoping to check into the ship early and get out and about until dinner time-ish.

Dirkgun - I did see our roll call - I'm looking forward to a few more people getting involved with it - I like to hear what others are thinking about doing while in port. As new cruisers, we like to take it all in when we are making our choices. And I am so excited I'm already planning!!

Has anyone stayed during San Sebastian festival? We recently booked a cruise out of San Juan in January and later found out we will most likely be there during this festival. Either hotels are incredibly expensive in SJ or the festival has jacked prices up but I'm having a hard time finding a place for a little less then $200 that doesn't seem to be bed bug infested. We were looking at Tres Palmas, but I am starting to have second thoughts about the location. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

I ended up coming off the ship on our 2013 trip, but luckily had heard it was San Sebastian and booked a hotel for the night after the cruise, again luckily it was within walking distance because taxi's were not going into town at all and very, very backed up to get out to the airport.

On the other hand it was kind of fun. We walked (asking police who were on every corner for directions) Pricing for hotels does jack up during this time.

We stayed at the Hotel Milano (it was about 3 blocks up from pier if I remember right) not too much trouble even pulling luggage and the cheapest price I could find, can't remember exactly but seems it was around 150-160; basic but clean and nice. And they let us drop our luggage off until check in.

We made it to the hotel, dropped the luggage in the lobby and went out into the crowds for a bit. Picked up some good street food from the venders and watched the set up progressing for the entertainment. Cheerful packed streets, didn't stay out late when the biggest entertainment started but picked a room high up and leaned out to see masses of people going up and down our street at the hotel as it got darker. Don't plan on sleeping much:)

It is a experience. If you don't mind crowds could be alot of fun if you aren't fighting traffic one way or another.