Golden Debarkation Question

[llarosa]

We are on the 3/27 sailing of the Golden. Since we are on the Lido deck, I assume we will be one of the first groups off the ship (since we are near the top). Our flight is at 12:50. Is there any chance we'll be able to fit in any shopping? It is a Sunday - so I'm not sure if anything will be open. Your thoughts would be appreciated!

[cherylandtk]

Last summer our debark was done much like previous Princess debarkations. The early flights with Princess transfers got the Brown and Red 1 tags. If you have an early flight and don't get that color go to the Purser's office to switch the night before. Did not seem to go by deck, but by flight times. Waited in the lounges until color and number were called. Went very quickly, but took us forever to find the 3rd bag in the warehouse for customs. Board the bus to the airport.

 

Golden docked on far side of the Old Town San Juan area, across the inlet or bay or whatever it is. You need a taxi to get to the other side. Was easier for most to shop before the cruise, due to late departure of 11 pm, rather than try to do much on return.

 

Incidentally, when you get to the airport there are two security gates, each marked with the supposed flight gates that it serves ( a1 thru b12 and b13 to c40 or whatever) Ignore those signs and go through whichever security screening gate has the shortest line. On the other side there is a connecting hall that allows you to access ALL flight gates. We saved about 45 minutes to 1 hour that way, AND got seats to wait for our flight.

[amapola]

Stores in Old San Juan open between 11 am and noon on Sundays, and the airport is a zoo on Sundays, so you should plan to be there at 11 am anyway. Sorry! :(

[oldmancurtis]

we just got off the golden sunday 3/6. tis was the disembarkment schedule 1.red 1 flights before 10am 2.red 2 flights before 11:30 3. pink 6 uk charter 4. green 34&7 tours 5. aqua 5 a group from wisconson 6. another ukcharter 7 red 3 flights before noon 8 red 4 & 6 flights between 12 & 1:30 9 the rest of the wisconsin tour group. then lido as white 4 and down to plaza the last 2 were post cruise packages and transit passengers. as stated in previos post the air port is one longgggg line after another. we were in line to check in for 45 minutes then moved to the gate check-in the line to get to the scaners must have been 300 ft long with one person checking ids and boarding passes. we had a 1:47 flight to boston by the time we found a space on the floorwe had only 45 minutes to board

[schmoopie17]

the air port is one longgggg line after another. we were in line to check in for 45 minutes then moved to the gate check-in the line to get to the scaners must have been 300 ft long with one person checking ids and boarding passes. we had a 1:47 flight to boston by the time we found a space on the floorwe had only 45 minutes to board

 

I think it depends which airline you're on. We disembarked from the Golden in San Juan on March 6th somewhere close to noon. We used a Princess transfer to the airport and got there around 12:30-ish. We strolled right to the American airlines self-service check in...took about five minutes, tops...then walked right up to the security scanner with almost no line. We ended up getting to the gate area about an hour and a half before our departure time of 2:15.

[spaceguy]

We were on the Golden in Oct. I would suggest as the other poster says and try to shop on the Sunday you depart for your cruise, as you have so much time in the afternoon. We checked into the ship, ate, took a taxi around the water to old SJ and walked/shopped for 2 hours or so. Not crowded in Old SJ then. A few shops aren't open or close perhaps at 3. We got to the butterfly shop that was closing, but they let us in. We had a late flight aroudn 5 PM, so did a Princes tour and they let us off in Old SJ again for an hour on the Sunday we returned, but we were watching shops open when we walked around. The airport wasn't crowded at all when we got there perhaps 3 PM, I don't remember now, and got right in.

[llarosa]

Spaceguy - I'd rather shop the Sunday before... but since it's Easter, I'm guessing most of the shops will be closed. I guess we'll know soon enough!