Flying in to SJ port day OF embarking

Since the ship does not leave until 8:30 p.m. from San Juan, are there many of you out there who have chosen to fly in the day of embarkation? I can get a flight that would arrive in San Juan mid-afternoon, and it doesn't seem that there would be many delays the end of July. Apart from dreaded hurricane-force winds, of course!:eek::confused::eek: I would pay for transfers from airport to Pier. This would not only save money, but also the search for a hotel that is functioning at close to 100%! We only go there to eat dinner, and sleep. I know we get on the ship slightly later, but that isn't a big deal to me. Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

How many more flights to SJ are there from your airport after yours each day? If your flight is delayed/canceled, will you still have a chance to get there in time?

I would favor arriving at the port the day before. If you cannot do that, then I'd next favor a non-stop flight to the port city as early as possible.

Im. A retired gate. Agent with Delta! Go the. Day before!! I have seen. Too. Many people miss. Cruises!! always go. The. Day before!

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I would never fly in the same day. I travel a lot for my work and have had many flights delayed or canceled due to weather or mechanical problems. Not a big deal in the case of work but a major deal for a missed cruise! No insurance for that!

Have done it three times the day of but out of Baltimore where there is always a non stop flight that arrives about 11 am in San Juan. And it's always been in the spring when there are no snowstorms or hurricanes so the stars have always aligned for us. During winter I would go a day early from Northeast and mid atlantic.

Because of the wacky weather I would go a day early. If there are delays you will be out a cruise. YOur travel insurance may not cover you. If you can try an early flight the day, not mid afternoon.

Since the ship does not leave until 8:30 p.m. from San Juan, are there many of you out there who have chosen to fly in the day of embarkation? I can get a flight that would arrive in San Juan mid-afternoon, and it doesn't seem that there would be many delays the end of July. Apart from dreaded hurricane-force winds, of course!:eek::confused::eek: I would pay for transfers from airport to Pier. This would not only save money, but also the search for a hotel that is functioning at close to 100%! We only go there to eat dinner, and sleep. I know we get on the ship slightly later, but that isn't a big deal to me. Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

We have done it many times. With that being said, we try our best go the day before. If for some reason we can’t go the day before, our “rules” for flying in day of are:

1. Must be on the first flight of the day

2. Must have at least 2 flights after that that would still get us to the ship by 6:15.

I don’t know about your specific dates, but for multiple dates I have checked.....There are plenty of hotels now open and operating at 100% functionality. The restaurants, taxis, bellmen, etc are all very appreciative of your extra time and $ spent. They need the tourism!

Since the ship does not leave until 8:30 p.m. from San Juan, are there many of you out there who have chosen to fly in the day of embarkation? I can get a flight that would arrive in San Juan mid-afternoon, and it doesn't seem that there would be many delays the end of July. Apart from dreaded hurricane-force winds, of course!:eek::confused::eek: I would pay for transfers from airport to Pier. This would not only save money, but also the search for a hotel that is functioning at close to 100%! We only go there to eat dinner, and sleep. I know we get on the ship slightly later, but that isn't a big deal to me. Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

It doesn't matter if 99.9999% of flights are on-time or early...if you're on the .0001% of flights that are late, you're in trouble.

I've always flown in the day before and am able to relax and enjoy the day. Our last cruise we flew JFK to FLL and the flight got delayed. No big deal for me because I wasn't cruising until the next day. Not so much for a group of about 10 people sailing out of Miami. It was a terrible feeling for me watching them beg for a different flight, then pace around the terminal hoping we could get out of there. Just reinforced my "Ill never fly the day of my cruise" policy. If I can't manage to fly out early, I will not book the cruise.

A big part of it is where you are flying in from. We live just 40 minutes from Orlando, and enjoy Jet Blue's quick non stop service to San Juan. Those planes leave multiple times during the day...like buses.

Have always flown in the day of, usually getting in around noon-1:00, then taking a taxi direct to the ship. Sail away not until 8:30.

Have never had a problem with that, but of course...that is just our situation and does not work for everyone.

Don't buy transfers. Cab will be cheaper and faster.

By far, the biggest flight risk is leaving your location vs. arriving in San Juan. If there is a hurricane delay in San Juan- the ship will face some issues, too.

So what you kind of need to do is know about all of your flights- in July, which one would have a weather risk. Like for us- in late July, there are no direct flights to SJU, so we would have to fly to Atlanta or New York. Both of which- the flight leaves early enough from either that our first flight out of DTW is first of the day- and generally, those flights are rarely late. For the next leg- on previous trips, the JFK flight has been there before we arrive- so that seems highly likely to go. Atlanta- it has arrived from another place (once even from DTW, so we got off and got back on).

Anyway, it's a risk.

We did is a few times to SJU- once we has a mechanical delay, but some quick calls got us on a far better flight to San Juan anyway. But the stress was so much that we didn't do that again. Seems to me if one really HAS to fly on the same day, I'd use RCI's service so that you have some method to work with going to the first port of call to get on. Or they may wait for a little while.

Besides, San Juan is a great town to spend a night in.

I have always said I would never fly in same day....however....I'm in the same cruise and am taking the risk w plans. I will be arriving in SJU at 2:30. Way later than I would ever want to be there. In the event we don't make it, we enjoy FLL (layover) In the event we are late into SJU, a flight to the next island is $120. Today, the reward is greater than the risk. But again, would never, ever normally do this!!

Since the ship does not leave until 8:30 p.m. from San Juan, are there many of you out there who have chosen to fly in the day of embarkation? I can get a flight that would arrive in San Juan mid-afternoon, and it doesn't seem that there would be many delays the end of July. Apart from dreaded hurricane-force winds, of course!:eek::confused::eek: I would pay for transfers from airport to Pier. This would not only save money, but also the search for a hotel that is functioning at close to 100%! We only go there to eat dinner, and sleep. I know we get on the ship slightly later, but that isn't a big deal to me. Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

Thunderstorms and fog can wreck havoc with airline schedules and happen all the time.

Purchasing transfers is almost never money saving unless you are alone

It's a risk. I wouldn't do it unless absolutely necessary and I had insurance.

Since the ship does not leave until 8:30 p.m. from San Juan, are there many of you out there who have chosen to fly in the day of embarkation? I can get a flight that would arrive in San Juan mid-afternoon, and it doesn't seem that there would be many delays the end of July. Apart from dreaded hurricane-force winds, of course!:eek::confused::eek: I would pay for transfers from airport to Pier. This would not only save money, but also the search for a hotel that is functioning at close to 100%! We only go there to eat dinner, and sleep. I know we get on the ship slightly later, but that isn't a big deal to me. Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

Summer is thunderstorm season in SJU - daily occurrences. Also, keep in mind that system delays are caused by many factors that may have nothing to do with weather/operations at your local and destination airports. Hotels in SJU are doing just fine, the interior of the island is what is suffering. If you are arriving, any delay beyond 2 or 3 hours is going to risk missing your cruise. Weigh your costs accordingly and decide from there.

By far, the biggest flight risk is leaving your location vs. arriving in San Juan. If there is a hurricane delay in San Juan- the ship will face some issues, too.

 

It was many years ago, but we actually did have a hurricane issue in early July on a run out of SJU. The ship actually left port earlier than anticipated and we had to go the the "opposite" way around the island than normal to head to the first port. (We didn't leave anyone behind that was flying in that day because the airport cancelled the remainder of the flights. So we departed something like 2 hours after the last flight arrived into SJU....then we boogied out of port early.)

I have always said I would never fly in same day....however....I'm in the same cruise and am taking the risk w plans. I will be arriving in SJU at 2:30. Way later than I would ever want to be there. In the event we don't make it, we enjoy FLL (layover) In the event we are late into SJU, a flight to the next island is $120. Today, the reward is greater than the risk. But again, would never, ever normally do this!!

Make absolutely sure you will be allowed to embark at the next island.

Don't buy transfers. Cab will be cheaper and faster.

I agree.

There are just not many daily flights to SJU. I originally booked as I thought that we could fly in that day, but I've decided that it simply isn't worth the stress. We non-rev and there will be five of us. It may happen, but then again, it might not. I booked an AirBNB.

Thanks everyone for the sage advice. Upon investigating, I was able to discover that that flying in the day before was about $90 cheaper pp and this covered the hotel cost for the night. Now, add that to the peace of mind we will have being in the port city day of departure...priceless!!!

1. Must be on the first flight of the day

2. Must have at least 2 flights after that that would still get us to the ship by 6:15.

....

 

They need the tourism!

Agreed! Would add one more rule: How easy is it to get to the next port in case you miss embarkation?

I've gone out of SJ once and we flew in the same day with no issues. We were with my 88 year old mother-in-law. She is mobility challenged, so getting in and out of cabs and hotels is challenging. Flew in, one cab from the airport and we are on the ship, no worries.

DW & I are going out of SJ next month and flying in the day before. We wanted to drop a little more money in SJ since they are having recovery issues.

Can it be done, yes, but it's a roll of the dice and it depends on the situation. Good Luck!

Thanks everyone for the sage advice. Upon investigating, I was able to discover that that flying in the day before was about $90 cheaper pp and this covered the hotel cost for the night. Now, add that to the peace of mind we will have being in the port city day of departure...priceless!!!

Excellent outcome!

Back when I was young(er) and stupid, we flew the day of and made it but not without some angst. Our flight had a change of planes in Charlotte with about an hour between flights. Weather that day was fine so we expected no problems. As we were leaving the gate on time from our originating city, the plane stops and rolls back into the gate and the pilot announces there is a maintenance issue. If that maintenance issue had taken more than a few minutes, we would have missed the flight in Charlotte. I learned my lesson that day.

We flew in day of with no problems. But I would suggest to fly in earlier than mid afternoon. Just to cover you in case of delays anywhere in your journey.

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My very first cruise (over 25 years ago) was out of SJ. Pretty sure we used a TA who put us on a same day flight which I think got in late afternoon. Everything went fine but we were clueless about possible glitches. I know so much more now and would never do it again.