Advice on arriving into San Juan (12/2 Summit Sailing)

[wspano]

Hi everyone, I am booked on the 12/2 Summit Sailing out of SJ. As of now I am arriving day prior to cruise however my two hotels (booked a backup) are "opening" on 11/1. We have already passed one opening date. I am reading a number of posts where people are flying into Fort Lauderdale or Orlando instead the day before and then flying to SJ day of cruise. We fly out of JFK so this is totally doable. This is all to avoid this hotel mess. While I have more time, airfare will be a problem the longer I wait. What do you think?

[ECCruise]

We are arriving in SJ on 19 November on the Jewel OTS from Europe, so earlier than you and doing fine with our hotels. One was booked over a year ago and is open now and the back-up we booked for peace-of-mind has been open since a week after Maria.

 

I would think there would be a good many hotels open nearly 2 months from now. Check other options.

[davekathy]

Hi everyone, I am booked on the 12/2 Summit Sailing out of SJ. As of now I am arriving day prior to cruise however my two hotels (booked a backup) are "opening" on 11/1. We have already passed one opening date. I am reading a number of posts where people are flying into Fort Lauderdale or Orlando instead the day before and then flying to SJ day of cruise. We fly out of JFK so this is totally doable. This is all to avoid this hotel mess. While I have more time, airfare will be a problem the longer I wait. What do you think?

 

You may also find additional info/answer's on this San Juan thread. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=131

[donr]

We are on the same cruise as you, also arriving in SJ on the 1st. We are booked into the Fortaleza Suites in downtown Old San Juan, I e-mailed them and asked if they will be open. I got an e-mail reponse from them yesterday, everything is looking good, text of their e-mail is included below. They are a small hotel, so if you're booked into the Marriott or the Caribe Hilton or any of the Condado places, you should be fine.

Good Evening, yes our building didn't suffer mayor damages, we are finishing installing a power plant generator and should be up and running in aprox. two daysThank You for keeping your Travel Plans will love to welcome you in

Edited October 10, 2017 by donr
added quoted message

[amunhbuu]

I think the bigger hotels are having more issues because they have a much larger property to worry about. I think also the FEMA personnel have booked up the big names.

 

Our boutique hotel posted on Facebook the other day that they are back to normal (as normal as can be).

[2NHcruisers]

Yesterday I got notified my sheraton reservation for 12/11 was cancelled, since apparently neither sheraton in PR will open before 2018; However there are number of hotels that are open on the list referenced above. I opted or the Miramar since it was somewhat closer to the celeb cruise terminal.

Good luck

[DanceMom0911]

Forget Caribe Hilton. they have changed their reopening date to Jan, 2018. Fortunately, we had booked two other hotels as back-up for our Dec. 3 cruise.

[dateacher]

I'm beginning to think I better make a reservation in FLL, just in case.

[phoenix_dream]

If it were me I would only book with a hotel that is currently open - not one with a target date in the future. If you can't find one of those, I would go the FLL route - if you can find flights as the longer you wait the worse that potential option becomes.

[cruiser1492]

We are arriving on 1 December and staying (hopefully) at the soon to be re-opened Holiday Inn Express. We are doing the cruise on Summit B2B until Jan 6th so hopefully it's smooth sailing by December; otherwise, I guess we will have a good story. After all, life's an adventure right(?) :cool:

[J&L~SetSail]

I'm beginning to think I better make a reservation in FLL, just in case.

 

This is what we did. Originally had two days pre-cruise in San Juan, but no guarantee the Hilton will be open, so changed plans. Staying the night prior in FLL, SWA has a great price on a morning flight $94. I think the sale ends today though.

[Baron Barracuda]

Just a heads-up - there's a thread on the Royal board warning of Delta cancelling flights to and from PR and failing to notify passengers. Some cancelled flights were several months out. Jet Blue also mentioned as cancelling flights, but providing better notification. Power outages apparently affecting air traffic control and restricting flight operations to daytime only.

 

Also came across this link from PR bureau of tourism on status of various hotels

 

http://puertoriconow.seepuertorico.com/hotels/

[Siora7777]

Yesterday I got notified my sheraton reservation for 12/11 was cancelled, since apparently neither sheraton in PR will open before 2018; However there are number of hotels that are open on the list referenced above. I opted or the Miramar since it was somewhat closer to the celeb cruise terminal.

Good luck

 

How do you know both are closed? Sheraton convention center not taking or honoring reservations? What if you haven't been notified and have a reservation at Sheraton convention center & casino? I tried calling and the rep said if you have a confirmation number, the reservation is active.

[Jade13]

Yesterday I got notified my sheraton reservation for 12/11 was cancelled, since apparently neither sheraton in PR will open before 2018; However there are number of hotels that are open on the list referenced above. I opted or the Miramar since it was somewhat closer to the celeb cruise terminal.

Good luck

 

 

 

We are booked at the Sheraton convention center. Where did you see that they were closed? I will contact them because I thought they were open. We are booked right after Thanksgiving.

 

 

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[WrenB]

We are on summit 10/28- arriving in San Juan 10/25. We have 3 nights reserved at Casablanca. I called today and they are open. They are repairing their air conditioning and were happy to hear we are still coming. Our original hotel cancelled our reservation shortly after the hurricane

 

 

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[2NHcruisers]

We are booked at the Sheraton convention center. Where did you see that they were closed? I will contact them because I thought they were open. We are booked right after Thanksgiving.

 

 

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I was booked at the sheraton in old san juan, and was told they werent reopening til 2018; I looked on http://puertoriconow.seepuertorico.com/hotels/ and saw the hotel & casino also werenot opening til 2018..

However I just checked that page and now see the old san juan one is opening in Dec... figures just after my reservation was cancelled (I had reserved for 12/11)

 

Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel (01-Dec-17)

Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino (09-Jan-18)

[Bobal]

I was booked at the sheraton in old san juan, and was told they werent reopening til 2018; I looked on http://puertoriconow.seepuertorico.com/hotels/ and saw the hotel & casino also werenot opening til 2018..

However I just checked that page and now see the old san juan one is opening in Dec... figures just after my reservation was cancelled (I had reserved for 12/11)

 

Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel (01-Dec-17)

Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino (09-Jan-18)

 

Be wary of that website - some of the information regarding hotels is inaccurate.

 

Someone posted on the Celebrity boards that Sheraton Old San Juan had cancelled their booking. They didn't mention the date but quoted the text of the email which appears to have a direct line to the hotel. It may be worth calling them just to double check that they will actually be open https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2553205

[bryanjaync]

We are sailing no the Summit out of SJ on 11/11. In our situation a) the ship does not sail until 8pm, so we can board as late of 7pm, and b) we have a direct flight from Charlotte NC, so no connections. I booked a direct flight (arriving SJ at 2:45 pm), on the day of sailing (so no hotel hassles). Usually fly down a day early, so taking a chance this time.

[dateacher]

We are arriving on 1 December and staying (hopefully) at the soon to be re-opened Holiday Inn Express. We are doing the cruise on Summit B2B until Jan 6th so hopefully it's smooth sailing by December; otherwise, I guess we will have a good story. After all, life's an adventure right(?) :cool:

 

That's the cruise we are on. I guess we are all in for an adventure.

[DebbieActon]

Just a heads-up - there's a thread on the Royal board warning of Delta cancelling flights to and from PR and failing to notify passengers. Some cancelled flights were several months out. Jet Blue also mentioned as cancelling flights, but providing better notification. Power outages apparently affecting air traffic control and restricting flight operations to daytime only.

 

Also came across this link from PR bureau of tourism on status of various hotels

 

http://puertoriconow.seepuertorico.com/hotels/

 

 

WestJet (Canadian airline) has cancelled all flights in and out of San Juan before January 13th/18. They have yet to inform passengers but I stumbled upon it myself and confirmed with them on the phone. We were able to rebook on Air Canada and have our fingers crossed.

[Atwell]

Just a heads-up - there's a thread on the Royal board warning of Delta cancelling flights to and from PR and failing to notify passengers. Some cancelled flights were several months out. Jet Blue also mentioned as cancelling flights, but providing better notification. Power outages apparently affecting air traffic control and restricting flight operations to daytime only.

 

 

I called the Delta special member services line several days ago to get details on their cancellation policy as we have reservations in early January and are approaching our final payment date with Celebrity and have not yet decided what to do.

 

Delta mentioned to me that they have cancelled flights (from Atlanta) that would require the crew to stay overnight in San Juan as there is no hotel space available.

 

I tried the Delta web site today just to see if they were booking flights (from Atlanta) with evening arrival into San Juan and they were not allowing bookings of any kind to San Juan on any dates in the foreseeable future. One particular booking I tried generated a message to call a special customer service number for assistance; the other date combinations did not allow me to even get that far in the process. Hard to figure out what is really happening. I would guess they will continue to cancel flights with evening arrivals into San Juan until the hotel situation gets straightened out.

[purple small flower]

We have booked Casablanca hotel in San Juan for 2 nights on Nov 2nd to Nov 4th, does anyone has any updates on the condition of the hotel and the surrounding. Can we still be able to tour the Old Town attractions?

[wspano12]

I have tried contacting another hotel I know to be open and have not been able to get through for a week over the phone. Very frustrating.

[ECCruise]

We have booked Casablanca hotel in San Juan for 2 nights on Nov 2nd to Nov 4th, does anyone has any updates on the condition of the hotel and the surrounding. Can we still be able to tour the Old Town attractions?

You can call the hotel. Phone is on website and they will give info.

 

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[WrenB]

We have booked Casablanca hotel in San Juan for 2 nights on Nov 2nd to Nov 4th, does anyone has any updates on the condition of the hotel and the surrounding. Can we still be able to tour the Old Town attractions?

 

 

 

We have reservations 10/25-10/28 at the Casablanca- I called a few days ago and they are open. They said they’re fixing the air conditioning and will be ready for our arrival. She said there are restaurants open- not all, but a variety are open. If you get any more info on the conditions in old town, I would love to hear.

 

 

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