Question about cruising out of Puerto Rico

[akcruiser23]

Looking to cruise out of San Juan PR in December...based on the itenerary the ships do not leave till 8:30pm....I am wondering if you are able to board in the afternoon and then leave the ship and spend the day in the city?

 

I called RCL twice and recieved confliciting aswers....curious if anyone who has done one of these would know from experience?

[lgt]

We have cruised out of PR many times. Yes, you can get checked in & go to your cabin & get off the ship to return later. You will need a cab to go to downtown San Juan. Just make sure you are back onboard at least 1 hr. before sailing. I think they have a special lifeboat drill the following morning for those that didn't attend the first.

[bigedwin]

Hello

The ships in San Juan start loading around noon to 1pm.

There would be plenty of time to go in check in drop stuff in cabin eat lunch then go out take a taxi to old San Juan !

Just make sure you head back to the ship at least 1 hour prior to sail time!

You never ever want to be late for the ships departure!!!!

 

The pier RCI uses is not in the old San Juan area but sits across in the entrance of Old San Juan Harbor but is only a 5-10 minute Taxy ride away from old San Juan!

[cruisenfever]

Serenade is berthed at the PanAm Pier with is completely gated with a security check point. You can not walk from the ship to anywhere.

 

Taxi's are readily available when you disembark the ship. It will cost you approx. $19 for a taxi to Old San Juan. There you can get on the Hop On Hop Off trolley which is free and it will take you all around Old San Juan with specific drop off points...........two of which are the forts El Morro and Castillo de San Cristóbal.

[PattyG12]

Sorry to hijack your thread. We were in San Juan on the Explorer last month. We docked across the street from the CVS and several stores. Does the Serenade leave from that same port? I stood on my balcony and watched the little planes at the small airport if that helps. We hopped off and walked over to CVS and to get a beer.

[akcruiser23]

thanks guys, very helpfull

[cruisenfever]

Sorry to hijack your thread. We were in San Juan on the Explorer last month. We docked across the street from the CVS and several stores. Does the Serenade leave from that same port? I stood on my balcony and watched the little planes at the small airport if that helps. We hopped off and walked over to CVS and to get a beer.

If the Explorer docked at The Pan Am Pier then yes Isla Grande is the small airport...........but there were no stores close to where the Serenade was berthed for embarkation.

 

Here is an areal view of the ports in San Juan http://www.langland.org/cruises/sanjuan.asp

[Piepkorn]

Sorry to hijack your thread. We were in San Juan on the Explorer last month. We docked across the street from the CVS and several stores. Does the Serenade leave from that same port? I stood on my balcony and watched the little planes at the small airport if that helps. We hopped off and walked over to CVS and to get a beer.

 

We leave from the other pier - Pan Am Pier. Explorer stopped at the 'old pier', as it was 'passing through'.

 

Dave

[ecmcm]

When we did a B2B on Adventure out of San Juan we left the ship on turnaround day while the new passengers were boarding. However we were told quite definitely by several crew personnel that we had to be back onboard 30 minutes before muster drill which I believe was at 4:30. This in spite of the fact that we had done the muster drill just 7 days before. But if you get onboard very first thing, you will have time to get a taxi into Old San Juan for a few hours.

[wolv4life]

When we did a B2B on Adventure out of San Juan we left the ship on turnaround day while the new passengers were boarding. However we were told quite definitely by several crew personnel that we had to be back onboard 30 minutes before muster drill which I believe was at 4:30. This in spite of the fact that we had done the muster drill just 7 days before. But if you get onboard very first thing, you will have time to get a taxi into Old San Juan for a few hours.

 

On the Serenade at least, the muster drill wasn't until 8:00 pm, so that shouldn't be a problem.