? Added cost of sailing from San Juan

Hi, all!

I'm just starting to consider our family vacation plans for May 2019 and found this amazing Southern Caribbean itinerary on Freedom! The biggest concern is the cost of flying and staying over a night or two in San Juan. For 4 of us, this will add a considerable amount to our vacation total. Our other option is a 9 day sailing out of Bayonne (no flights) that stops in Bermuda and I think does the Eastern Caribbean and Nassau, not nearly as exciting an itinerary to us, but still good, and at considerable savings for a longer cruise.

Budget-aware folks, what is your experience in the cost of airfare from New York and 1-2 nights hotel in San Juan? Thanks! :D:D

Funny you should post this as I just cancelled our family cruise out of San Juan on the Freedom for June of 2018 because of the cost of airfare. I love the Freedom, and the Southern Itinerary sounded so cool, but I just could not justify the cost of the air/hotel combo. Plus, we had 8 ppl going so finding hotel rooms at all was challenging. I had originally planned to use AirBnB but the hurricane put a kabosh on that.

We've sailed out of San Juan three times on a southern Caribbean route (Adventure of the Seas, which Freedom is replacing). Twice we flew in on the day of, which we would never too again--too stressful. The third time we stayed at a less expensive hotel that was not on the beach, but did have a small pool. It was sufficient for one night. It is true that the flight may be more expensive (for us it was from Philadelphia or Baltimore to San Juan, versus to Florida), and we usually have a hotel night before the cruise anyway, but it has been well worth it to get to those southern destinations! The other option for us recently have been the longer cruises out of Florida that go out for 10 to 11 nights and head south, or otherwise to more interesting locations, but that's not always possible for everyone to schedule.

The upshot is, you may or may not be able to find reasonable flights and keep your hotel costs down, but the itinerary will be worth it.

Funny you should post this as I just cancelled our family cruise out of San Juan on the Freedom for June of 2018 because of the cost of airfare. I love the Freedom, and the Southern Itinerary sounded so cool, but I just could not justify the cost of the air/hotel combo. Plus, we had 8 ppl going so finding hotel rooms at all was challenging. I had originally planned to use AirBnB but the hurricane put a kabosh on that.

Yeah, that is my worry. We are only 4, but I know we can get great fares to Fort Lauderdale or Miami and find a cheap hotel for a night as long as we plan early...but IDK anything about San Juan. Sorry you had to cancel your cruise! I hope you have a nice Plan B?

Although we live further south than some of you (Dallas TX) we have found the price of flights combined with the lower cruise fare from San Juan general equals out to the cost of a Florida departure for us.

We love the southern itineraries (have been 4 times) and always found reasonably priced hotels for an overnight stay.

We have not however cruised since the last hurricane, so my information may not be as accurate as it used to be

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We've sailed out of San Juan three times on a southern Caribbean route (Adventure of the Seas, which Freedom is replacing). Twice we flew in on the day of, which we would never too again--too stressful. The third time we stayed at a less expensive hotel that was not on the beach, but did have a small pool. It was sufficient for one night. It is true that the flight may be more expensive (for us it was from Philadelphia or Baltimore to San Juan, versus to Florida), and we usually have a hotel night before the cruise anyway, but it has been well worth it to get to those southern destinations! The other option for us recently have been the longer cruises out of Florida that go out for 10 to 11 nights and head south, or otherwise to more interesting locations, but that's not always possible for everyone to schedule.

 

The upshot is, you may or may not be able to find reasonable flights and keep your hotel costs down, but the itinerary will be worth it.

Yes that itinerary looks soooo amazing. I could even do a 9 or 10 day out of Florida, but I'm not finding anything?

Do you remember what the airfare was to San Juan pp and approximately how much you paid for the hotel?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Does it have to be in May?

We've done several cruises out of San Juan in the winter. The hotels and air are pricey for us. We normally arrive one day before the cruise and stay one night on Marriott points, so that covers the hotel. Ther's just something special about starting the cruise already in the Caribbean and that is worth the higher price for flights for us.

Although we live further south than some of you (Dallas TX) we have found the price of flights combined with the lower cruise fare from San Juan general equals out to the cost of a Florida departure for us.

We love the southern itineraries (have been 4 times) and always found reasonably priced hotels for an overnight stay.

We have not however cruised since the last hurricane, so my information may not be as accurate as it used to be

 

 

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This was what I was wondering. We are looking too far in advance to fairly estimate the cost of the airfare, as the fares for May 2019 are not released yet, but I'm thinking San Juan from NYC doesn't look too bad right now...but IDK if this is temporary due to the hurricane?

Freedom was my favorite ship/class until I sailed on Anthem last year. Did the 9-night itinerary to Bermuda and eastern islands and had an amazing time. Personally I would save the money and go with Anthem. Gorgeous ship, and 9 nights is great, gives you enough time to enjoy all the bells and whistles onboard.

That's always by biggest gripe about cruising out of San Juan. I've done it twice in the past. Once on the Adventure, flew in day off, in February and made it! Stayed a day after due to airfare constraints and found an affordable hotel. Last year, flew in a day before, in February, made it no problems and also found a good hotel (Hyatt) AND I was able to walk to the Jewel! I love the itineraries, just can't justify the cost of the airfare from Pittsburgh/northeast.

I'm trying to decide between Freedom 7-night Aruba route and Navigator 9-night Aruba (out of Miami).

To answer your question, you *may* have a better chance of getting airfare since you're flying from NY and have several options for airports. While this is certainly no predictor, I would see what flights are running this May 2018 as a guestimate. Depending on your budget, you can definitely get a hotel for an affordable price since it doesn't have to be a fancy resort.

Does it have to be in May?

My daughter has very limited weeks that she can take a vacation. It has to be Memorial Day week or 4th of July week or the week after....why? I thought that might be a little off-season in the Caribbean?

We've done several cruises out of San Juan in the winter. The hotels and air are pricey for us. We normally arrive one day before the cruise and stay one night on Marriott points, so that covers the hotel. Ther's just something special about starting the cruise already in the Caribbean and that is worth the higher price for flights for us.

Yes I was even thinking of adding a few days, not just one, to explore San Juan a bit. Added bonus, a destination port from which to embark!:D

Just did a quick check of prices on delta from JFK to SJU vs JFK to FLL and it was only $40/ea more to fly to SJU this May. I've never found that flying to San Juan is considerably more than Florida from New York or Boston. Hotels in San Juan tend to be a little bit more, but there are cheaper alternatives or deals to be found.

Freedom was my favorite ship/class until I sailed on Anthem last year. Did the 9-night itinerary to Bermuda and eastern islands and had an amazing time. Personally I would save the money and go with Anthem. Gorgeous ship, and 9 nights is great, gives you enough time to enjoy all the bells and whistles onboard.

We sailed on Anthem's 5-night itinerary to Bermuda last year...LOVED it!!! Wouldn't hesitate one moment to sail on her again!! But I thought 9 days might be a little too long, and it might be great to try a different ship with a really amazing itinerary, but yeah, I'm pricing out both to see the difference and tacking on some for the San Juan factor...but IDK how much to tag on, that's why I'm looking here for some guidance.

That's always by biggest gripe about cruising out of San Juan. I've done it twice in the past. Once on the Adventure, flew in day off, in February and made it! Stayed a day after due to airfare constraints and found an affordable hotel. Last year, flew in a day before, in February, made it no problems and also found a good hotel (Hyatt) AND I was able to walk to the Jewel! I love the itineraries, just can't justify the cost of the airfare from Pittsburgh/northeast.

 

I'm trying to decide between Freedom 7-night Aruba route and Navigator 9-night Aruba (out of Miami).

 

To answer your question, you *may* have a better chance of getting airfare since you're flying from NY and have several options for airports. While this is certainly no predictor, I would see what flights are running this May 2018 as a guestimate. Depending on your budget, you can definitely get a hotel for an affordable price since it doesn't have to be a fancy resort.

Yeah the fares this year are around the $300 pp mark, not TOO bad considering it's only about 3 months away and around a holiday, but will next year be much more once PR is more recovered? And I can sail on Anthem with NO airfare! The other thing is that Caribbean itineraries are very limited for the times I'm searching. I'm limited due to school and work schedules.

Just did a quick check of prices on delta from JFK to SJU vs JFK to FLL and it was only $40/ea more to fly to SJU this May. I've never found that flying to San Juan is considerably more than Florida from New York or Boston. Hotels in San Juan tend to be a little bit more, but there are cheaper alternatives or deals to be found.

Thank you for making this effort! I appreciate your input.

I'm kind of down to the alternatives of Anthem from Bayonne (NO airfare, no hotel, 2 bonus nights but not as exciting an itinerary) or Freedom from San Juan (+airfare, + hotel...but better itinerary IMO).

Yeah, that is my worry. We are only 4, but I know we can get great fares to Fort Lauderdale or Miami and find a cheap hotel for a night as long as we plan early...but IDK anything about San Juan. Sorry you had to cancel your cruise! I hope you have a nice Plan B?

Fortunately we landed on a great Plan B. We are now sailing out of Port Canaveral, but a longer cruise for less money. We are sailing right after 4th of July so it will be HOT!!!! But still, two of the stops are San Juan and St. Kitts, so some different ports. Unfortunately not with Royal (don't kill me, I still love them!) but we did use those future cruise credits to book two new cruises on the Mariner when she gets back to Florida. Can't wait to see her upgrades!!

We are doing the Jewel the end of April and the airfare and 2 nights hotel and 1 night after the cruise came to over $1,000 and then add the cruise on top. We were going in November on Freedom for the ABC islands but changed to the Navigator out of Miami 9 night and 2 days before and much less than San Juan.

Yes I was even thinking of adding a few days, not just one, to explore San Juan a bit. Added bonus, a destination port from which to embark!:D

We're doing the Freedom to Aruba in June, and flying in a day early (well, actually 2 days before cruise),

so we can see Old San Juan. We've cruised out of San Juan twice before, but never did see anything.

The flights are more, but the cruise price was good.

If you can get to PHL with reasonable effort, Frontier flies to San Juan. I saw a very low cruise fare out of San Juan to Bayonne, I think it was 5 nights for $215, inside cabin. I thought, yeah but the flight would be prohibitive. Only $105 on Frontier. Unfortunately can't make the date work for me.

If you can get to PHL with reasonable effort, Frontier flies to San Juan. I saw a very low cruise fare out of San Juan to Bayonne, I think it was 5 nights for $215, inside cabin. I thought, yeah but the flight would be prohibitive. Only $105 on Frontier. Unfortunately can't make the date work for me.

I'm booked on that one. Not a big fan of 5-night cruises but it was so cheap I couldn't pass it up! Will be spending a couple days pre cruise in San Juan.

........

I don't understand why this cruise is not showing up on the RCCL website:

https://book.directlinecruises.com/web/cruises/details.aspx?referrer=CruiseCriticCheckFares&pid=1004484&utm_source=CruiseCriticMetaSearch&utm_medium=CruiseCriticMetaSearch&utm_content=CruiseCriticMetaSearch&brn=0.09236584049294046614a4ab47c34cf39b5c0493d56aee46104375

OP......I think this is the destination you want. You would have to all fly to Ft. Lauderdale, but the ship returns to NJ. It is also 12 days and maybe too long for you.

We are doing the Jewel the end of April and the airfare and 2 nights hotel and 1 night after the cruise came to over $1,000 and then add the cruise on top. We were going in November on Freedom for the ABC islands but changed to the Navigator out of Miami 9 night and 2 days before and much less than San Juan.

Thanks for this input. I think we might be looking at budgeting at least $1500 for San Juan. Can't decide if it's worth it for the itinerary. I must search for that 9-night one from Miami. Wonder if it's around for my dates? I think no because I did a pretty extensive search.

Thanks for this input. I think we might be looking at budgeting at least $1500 for San Juan. Can't decide if it's worth it for the itinerary. I must search for that 9-night one from Miami. Wonder if it's around for my dates? I think no because I did a pretty extensive search.

I believe Serenade is also doing Southern Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades.

Fortunately we landed on a great Plan B. We are now sailing out of Port Canaveral, but a longer cruise for less money. We are sailing right after 4th of July so it will be HOT!!!! But still, two of the stops are San Juan and St. Kitts, so some different ports. Unfortunately not with Royal (don't kill me, I still love them!) but we did use those future cruise credits to book two new cruises on the Mariner when she gets back to Florida. Can't wait to see her upgrades!!

Good for you! I have no personal ties to Royal and personally I'm gonna search for the cruise you're talking about because that week works for us also! Our May 2018 cruise to Alaska is not on Royal either. We choose by price, itinerary and when the dates work for us :)!