Buying Wine Before Embarking in San Juan?

[DreeminAgain]

We're flying into San Juan & grabbing a taxi to the Carnival Liberty on May 17. Where is the most convenient place to buy 2 bottles of wine before embarking?

[Love Cruising With My Hon]

CVS, down two or so blocks from the pier. Walk left from the pier and you will see the sign. Have fun....:)

[Lurkyloo]

When we cruised out of San Juan we were told there was a liquor store after you checked in and before you got on the boat. We hardly could believe it - but it was true! Right there in the cruise terminal between check in and going to the boat. Naturally we loaded up on Jack Daniels and Rum and all kinds of things and carried them right onto the boat - there was a huge line (obviously) but we were very well stocked for the cruise. Might want to check with others who have cruised out of there and see if that is still going on... It was a Princess Ship, but I think all the cruise ships use the same terminal...

Edited April 22, 2015 by Lurkyloo

[Rock_ON!!]

Lurkyloo is correct. San Juan was very relaxed port. There are many places to buy liquor in the carnival cruise terminal. You can get thru the security scanners without a problem. After the scanners , before you walk up the ramp to get on the ship, just throw it in a back pack and walk in the ship. There is a desk to drop off your beverages, but if they are unseen, they do not check your backpacks again when you get on the ship. The CVS had wine, but it's not the greatest of wines.

[Love Cruising With My Hon]

When we cruised out of San Juan we were told there was a liquor store after you checked in and before you got on the boat. We hardly could believe it - but it was true! Right there in the cruise terminal between check in and going to the boat. Naturally we loaded up on Jack Daniels and Rum and all kinds of things and carried them right onto the boat - there was a huge line (obviously) but we were very well stocked for the cruise. Might want to check with others who have cruised out of there and see if that is still going on... It was a Princess Ship, but I think all the cruise ships use the same terminal...

 

There are 2 different piers in SJ. I know the Carnival port has the same liquor store as you walk into the terminal on the right. Another up the escalator/elevator also on the right. RC docks at the pier across the Bay. Not sure what they have there.

[DreeminAgain]

Thank you for such quick replies! It sounds like we can go straight from the airport to the pier without stopping in-between.

[peanutzmom]

We liked the prices and selection at CVS better than at the cruise terminal liquor stores. We checked out the liquor store prices when we checked in, boarded the ship and dropped off our luggage, then headed back out to the CVS. It's personal preference - just wanted you to know if you're there early enough, you'll have plenty of time to comparison shop! :)

[Constipated Cruiser]

Yep, you can pretty much carry any alcohol on in San Juan without even getting a blink from port employes. I'm sure it surprises some cruiser that have had the pleasuring of embarking out of other ports where port employees take out and shake every bottle.

 

Sometimes they orange tag the bag your alcohol is in, sometimes they don't, but easy to remove the tag between security and boarding the ship. No idea of why enforcement is so lax here - but no complaints either.