San Juan Return Flight

[mgh-pa]

I know that Carnival suggests not booking flights out of San Juan any earlier than 12 noon, but I'm trying to decide between a 12:45 flight and 2:45 flight. I'm going into Philadelphia and will have to drive about 3.5 hours home. The two hours would definitely be beneficial in getting me home before midnight, but I also don't want to risk missing my flight in San Juan :D

 

So, a two part question I suppose.

 

One, should I be even considering the 12:45 or is that too early?

 

Secondly, what things can I do to speed things up during disembarkation (taxi vs bus, porter or no porter, FTTF or no, etc) to ensure I could make my 12:45 flight?

Edited March 9, 2015 by mgh-pa

[nwcruiselover]

Making the 12:45 flight is do-able. Being conservative, I'd probably do the 2:45, but you could make the 12:45. You'll want to be off the ship as early as possible. Get FTTF if you can, and do self-debark, then take a taxi to the airport. The airport gets very busy on cruise days, so the earlier you get there the shorter the lines will be. You'll have to go through an agricultural check line, then the airline check-in, and of course security. Good luck!

[camarowesley]

You should be fine. Do self assist (you don't need FTTF), take a taxi, and be sure to go to the agricultural check before trying to check your bag. We didnt know to do this the first time and it slowed us down.

We have cruised out of San Juan multiple times and security seems to go fairly fast, but we're one of the first ones off the ship and get ahead of the crowds.

[Leo's Rule]

I know that Carnival suggests not booking flights out of San Juan any earlier than 12 noon, but I'm trying to decide between a 12:45 flight and 2:45 flight. I'm going into Philadelphia and will have to drive about 3.5 hours home. The two hours would definitely be beneficial in getting me home before midnight, but I also don't want to risk missing my flight in San Juan :D

 

So, a two part question I suppose.

 

One, should I be even considering the 12:45 or is that too early?

 

Secondly, what things can I do to speed things up during disembarkation (taxi vs bus, porter or no porter, FTTF or no, etc) to ensure I could make my 12:45 flight?

 

12:45 is doable. You don't need FTTF period...but if you had it, it's only good while on the cruise; not when it's over.

 

If it's offered on your ship, pay to have your luggage sent to the airport; otherwise, take your luggage off the ship yourself instead of leaving outside of the cabin.

 

Hail your own taxi and don't forget to stop at the agriculture section 1st (once in the airport).

 

Have a great cruise!

[figdu]

Take the earlier flight. If you book the later flight you will not even be able to check in until 12:45. There is not enough seating in the pre security area for the number of people going through the airport.

[jiggs]

what airline are you flying? I ask because Jet Blue in the new terminal is like a different world from the rest of SJU and there is less congestion.

 

I would book 12:45 if offered, assuming you can do self assist and don't need help with your luggage. Last year I watched the ship come in the day of my departure and taxis were already starting to line up. Jump in an go, you'll be fine.

[JulieMcCoy]

I had a 2:45 flight out of San Juan on March 1 after cruising the Valor. I enjoyed the leisurely debarkation but could easily have made a 12:45. I agree with previous posters...do self-debarkation, hail a taxi from the line right outside the pier. No need for FTTF.

 

I didn't leave my stateroom until 8 a.m., ate breakfast and then sat on deck reading for a while, had zone 16 to get off the ship, took Carnival transportation which meant maybe 10 minutes wait instead of immediate taxi...and still had about 2 hours to kill at the airport.

[kingston13]

I had a 2:45 flight out of San Juan on March 1 after cruising the Valor. I enjoyed the leisurely debarkation but could easily have made a 12:45. I agree with previous posters...do self-debarkation, hail a taxi from the line right outside the pier. No need for FTTF.

 

I didn't leave my stateroom until 8 a.m., ate breakfast and then sat on deck reading for a while, had zone 16 to get off the ship, took Carnival transportation which meant maybe 10 minutes wait instead of immediate taxi...and still had about 2 hours to kill at the airport.

 

I feel better for sure - I booked a 12:36 so you made my day!

[jcool]

you will definitely be able to get the 2:45 fight. Get the porter it will help. In Feb I saw the porter getting people through faster. And take a cab. It is about $20 for a cab

[familyfuncruise]

I have a flight booked at 11:00 am. I also purchased FTTF. This is for our July trip. Should I change flights? Ship should be in port by 7:00 am. Thanks for any suggestions.

[jcool]

Family

If I was you I would change the fight

[figdu]

Taxi's are cheaper than Carnival transportation. With FTTF you will be towards the front of the line getting off, probably group 1 or 2. Unless they are late starting debarkation you will have no problem making that flight.

 

However anything can go wrong.

[nwcruiselover]

I have a flight booked at 11:00 am. I also purchased FTTF. This is for our July trip. Should I change flights? Ship should be in port by 7:00 am. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

I would definitely change to a later flight.

Edited March 10, 2015 by nwcruiselover

[jenng1976]

We did the zones and it took a LONG time to get off. We had around zone 20 give or take a few, and by 11 they were still only at 15. We had to ask to get off with an earlier number to catch our flight. I would have done self assist if I had known it would take so long (our flight was 1:15). We made it, but it was a stressful morning.

[lido deck larry]

I'd shoot for the earlier flight. The airport isn't far from the cruise terminal.

[jwalk03]

I would definitely change to a later flight.

 

You can make an 1100am flight if you do self assist. We had a 1245pm flight after our Valor cruise, and based on what I had read on here (SJU being a madhouse on cruise days, and a congested mess, and take forever, etc.) we were nervous. So we did self assist, got off the ship as quick as we could and grabbed a cab to the airport. We were there at 830am and had FOUR HOURS to kill at the airport. There is no free wifi, we didnt have cell service (other than international roaming of course), and most of the stuff in the airport was not even open yet. It was a VERY LONG 4 hours.

 

I don't think I would do anything earlier than 1100est, simply because if something went wrong you would have no wiggle room, but 1100 is totally make able. I would def do self assist though to ensure you can et off quick and not wait for a high boarding zone.

 

Also on FTTF, DONT waste your money on this trip. There are ZERO tender ports on this ship, and since the ship does not depart till 1000pm there is no reason to want to rush and be one of the first ones on the ship since you can come and go as you please. We boarded around 230PM andd there was no line at all.

[Leo's Rule]

You can make an 1100am flight if you do self assist. We had a 1245pm flight after our Valor cruise, and based on what I had read on here (SJU being a madhouse on cruise days, and a congested mess, and take forever, etc.) we were nervous. So we did self assist, got off the ship as quick as we could and grabbed a cab to the airport. We were there at 830am and had FOUR HOURS to kill at the airport. There is no free wifi, we didnt have cell service (other than international roaming of course), and most of the stuff in the airport was not even open yet. It was a VERY LONG 4 hours.

 

I don't think I would do anything earlier than 1100est, simply because if something went wrong you would have no wiggle room, but 1100 is totally make able. I would def do self assist though to ensure you can et off quick and not wait for a high boarding zone.

 

Also on FTTF, DONT waste your money on this trip. There are ZERO tender ports on this ship, and since the ship does not depart till 1000pm there is no reason to want to rush and be one of the first ones on the ship since you can come and go as you please. We boarded around 230PM andd there was no line at all.

 

You had no free wifi in the airport? Did something change? Maybe I wasn't connected via wifi and was using my data, but San Juan is free for me.

 

And I couldn't agree more on FTTF; total waste of money in San Juan (and any other port, but that's my personal opinion).

[Buffettfan 225]

I feel better for sure - I booked a 12:36 so you made my day!

1.)luggage express service is no longer available in San Juan.

Only option is putting it out at midnight, and go to guest services to request early flight tag requests.

OR do self assist and carry all luggage off in morning, do not put in hall at night.

2.) even if you do self assist, if there is a long line for customs declaration - get a luggage porter- he will put all luggage on a cart and they must give a porter dedicated line. Every time whisked to a really short line. They then hail a taxi to. We have been at airport at 9:15, and no later than 10:30 in part.

3.)there are two agricultural check stations - if a line, see if other one open & not busy. Here they are putting bag thru scanner & looking for any plant,fruit, vegetables. They put a small sticker on each bag. Then proceed to airline checkin line.

I personally thought you could check in four hours prior to a flight. Hope someone can verify this.

[SadieN]

You had no free wifi in the airport? Did something change? Maybe I wasn't connected via wifi and was using my data' date=' but San Juan is free for me.

 

 

 

And I couldn't agree more on FTTF; total waste of money in San Juan (and any other port, but that's my personal opinion).[/quote']

 

 

Att includes Puerto Rico. Verizon does not.

No idea about other carriers.

 

OP--how many ships are in port with you? At SJU you also have to go thru an Ag check.

[JulieMcCoy]

Confirming that, on March 1, there was no free wifi at SJU. I had planned to catch up on Walking Dead while waiting for my flight but no such luck! (And I did walk around inside the terminal trying to find a hotspot.) I have Verizon and had no cell service in San Juan (with roaming turned off).

 

I did not have FTTF, and it would not have benefitted me at all on this trip. I never needed to go to guest services; if I did, it would have given me a shorter line.

 

You could definitely make an 11 a.m. flight with self-assist and the other tips posted here. It's a matter of how comfortable you are with the possibility of the ship being late getting into port or of any other kind of delay. Of course, that's a potential problem with ALL flights, but 11 a.m. gives you less wiggle room.

 

Agree that cab is a better deal than Carnival transportation if you have more than one person; I was traveling alone, so Carnival was the better deal for me.

[mgh-pa]

Thanks, everyone! Huge help. I booked the 12:45 return flight. We have only ever done self-assist disembarkation on our cruises, and it's WAY faster. I wasn't planning to have the ship take our bags. We will try to get a porter and a cab.

 

I know when we arrived in Miami two years ago, we were off the boat and in the airport 6 hours early, lol.

[Honolulu Blue]

On the original topic, I have little to add, but I'll humor both of those reading anyway. Both times I've disembarked in San Juan, we had docked by 7 AM and I was at the airport by 8:30. This is with the self-assist option and Carnival's shuttle. So a 12:45 flight would be very doable, IMHO.

 

On a side topic...

 

Att includes Puerto Rico. Verizon does not.

No idea about other carriers.

 

Sprint covers Puerto Rico - and St. Thomas, and St. Croix.