Sailing from San Juan

[DustFSU]

I will be going on the AOS next March and this is my first time doing the Southern Caribbean. So leaving at 8:30 will be a little different for me, which seems pretty cool. Being that, what time do they let you start embarkation? We are arriving the day before so just wondering how much time we have that morning to walk around before.

[Cruising89143]

We arrived at the port around 10:30 and they starting the check in process at approx 11:00 for our sailing last year. Bascially no different than any other cruise.

[DustFSU]

Yeah I figured, thanks for your help.

[voyager70]

We arrived at the port around 10:30 and they starting the check in process at approx 11:00 for our sailing last year. Bascially no different than any other cruise.

 

Agree - I've sailed out of San Juan twice & boarding times were no different than other ports.

[Ocean Boy]

But if you want to take more time in San Juan you don't have to rush over to the pier either. You could hang out until late afternoon if you want to.

[DustFSU]

Can anyone tell me the most popular hotel people stay at if they get in a day early too?? Also how far is the airport from the cruise port? Thanks

[Cruzin-K]

Can anyone tell me the most popular hotel people stay at if they get in a day early too?? Also how far is the airport from the cruise port? Thanks

 

:confused: I don't think there's one particular hotel. A lot of people bid on Priceline to get a good deal on a "resort" hotel like the Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino, or the Hilton Caribe. It depends on your budget - there are several cheaper hotels. I paid $115 per night for two nights at the Marriott. It was a nice hotel, about a $20 cab ride from the airport (with tip) and another $20 to the pier from the hotel (again, with a nice tip).

[willow0325]

We stayed at the Sheraton one night pre-cruise and at the Marriott Stellaris one night post-cruise. Both were excellent. We liked the Sheraton very much pre-cruise because Old San Juan is such a wonderful city to walk around. Marriott was gorgeous and was perfect for relaxing the day we came into port. We all fell asleep on lounge chairs on the gorgeous beach, it was so relaxing. Both hotels were busy, mostly with cruise folks. We would love to sail out of San Juan again and would likely chose the same hotels again.

 

Cab right is about $20 to and from for both hotels.

[izzyvet]

I've always used Hotwire to book a hotel in San Juan. I just make sure it is right by the beach (look for the beach icon when selecting your hotel) We've gotten some great hotels and even greater deals that way. In the morning we'll have a relaxing time at the beach, then head over to ship around 1 in the afternoon. We've cruised out of San Juan 3 times now, and the last time went down 2 days early, and had a really good time there. It's a beautiful city and has some really wonderful beaches too.

[granddutchess]

We have sailed out of San Juan a few times and we usually leave the hotel around 10:00 or 10:30 to be at the port by 11:00am.

[cottagemama]

We are flying into San Juan from Miami the day of the cruise. Can someone tell me the appx cost of taxi from airport to ship and how long it takes? Thanks. We have sailed out of San Juan once before but we stayed at resort for 3 days pre cruise

[Ocean Boy]

We are flying into San Juan from Miami the day of the cruise. Can someone tell me the appx cost of taxi from airport to ship and how long it takes? Thanks. We have sailed out of San Juan once before but we stayed at resort for 3 days pre cruise

 

I taxi will be approx. $20.00 plus $1.00 per piece of luggage. It will take about 20-25 minutes to get from OSJ to the Pan American pier depending on traffic.

[Peter Of The Seas]

We are flying into San Juan from Miami the day of the cruise. Can someone tell me the appx cost of taxi from airport to ship and how long it takes? Thanks. We have sailed out of San Juan once before but we stayed at resort for 3 days pre cruise

$18 plus $1 for each bag

[KITKAT0229]

What do they do about dinner on embarkation? When is the muster drill?

[willow0325]

Dinner times were 1/2 hour later than normal. If I remember correctly, the muster drill was approx 5:00 pm.

[NYCRUISR]

Agree - I've sailed out of San Juan twice & boarding times were no different than other ports.

 

 

Twice for us out of San Juan also and basically was the same as others as you said.

[KITKAT0229]

Dinner times were 1/2 hour later than normal. If I remember correctly, the muster drill was approx 5:00 pm.

 

What time is all-aboard then if muster is at 5pm but the ship doesn't leave till 830?

[BillOh]

We arrived at the port around 10:30 and they starting the check in process at approx 11:00 for our sailing last year. Bascially no different than any other cruise.

 

 

Good to know, I'm guessing we will come in teh day before, so we will also try to get onboard asap. (recognizing the fact that rooms will probably not be ready till the normal 1pm?

[BillOh]

But if you want to take more time in San Juan you don't have to rush over to the pier either. You could hang out until late afternoon if you want to.

 

Not a bad thought if the lines are long, you could drop off your bags and shop in nearby OSJ I would guess.

[JenAndDan]

I'll be leaving out of San Juan for the 3rd time in August. The first two times were different (we delayed sailing 1st time because there were a lot of flight delays - january sailing - so we didn't leave until like 10pm). Both times, though, I feel like our muster drill was later than 5pm but can't be sure (I feel like we had to rush back to the room to drop off our lifevests to go to dinner and we had late seatings both times).

 

Also, as to what time to board. The first time we flew in day of and boarded right away around 2pm. The second time we flew in a few days early and boarded around 12. Both times, we boarded, ate and then left the ship again - so that is an option as well if you want to tour more of OSJ.

[M&M Hayden]

Not a bad thought if the lines are long, you could drop off your bags and shop in nearby OSJ I would guess.

 

When you sail out of SJ you aren't by OSJ. You're at the Pan Am Pier which is across the bay.

[tkjohn25]

I will be going on the AOS next March and this is my first time doing the Southern Caribbean. So leaving at 8:30 will be a little different for me, which seems pretty cool. Being that, what time do they let you start embarkation? We are arriving the day before so just wondering how much time we have that morning to walk around before.

 

We just got back from the Serenade out of San Juan on Saturday. We got to the pier at 11:00 on Saturday and we were at the pool at 11:20.

[NordicPrince]

What time is all-aboard then if muster is at 5pm but the ship doesn't leave till 830?

 

All aboard is 90 minutes before sailing.

 

DW and I sailed in January 2010. Sailing time was 8:30 pm

 

On our sailing we had to be at Muster stations at 8:00 PM which makes sense because everyone is on board at that point and the early seating dinner people have just finished.

 

I think it is cool watching the Coast Guard patrol boat skim by inspecting that the muster drill is taking place especially at night. What I don't think is cool is that some people treat the whole thing as a joke and continue to carry on while the crew members are going over safety precautions. IMHO

[MIcruiser99]

But if you want to take more time in San Juan you don't have to rush over to the pier either. You could hang out until late afternoon if you want to.

 

We thought waiting til 4 pm to board would help us avoid long lines but we were wrong. The next time, we arrived at 11 am and had very short lines and they moved along quickly.

 

Not sure from 11 til 4 when the lines starting getting long but we won't go later in the afternoon on our next cruise!

[KITKAT0229]

Thanks everyone for the info :-)