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Is 8:15 too early a flight out of San Juan following a cruise?

OnTheJourney

By OnTheJourney,
in Royal Caribbean International

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skiiergirl

skiiergirl

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We're scheduled to arrive back at San Juan at 6 a.m. I don't recall my transportation arrangements the last time I did this. We're diamond members booked in a GS for the cruise, and so I anticipate a smooth (hopefully express) departure arranged through the concierge. The next flight time back to PHL for us would be 1:10 p.m. Hate to wait around the airport extra hours if not really necessary. Any ideas from anyone who has flown back to PHL after a criuise ending in San Juan would be much appreciated....

 

Not PHL but....

We made a 9:30 flight last year but I was in tears begging to get off of the ship. I didn't think we would make it. We had booked a 10:30 which we were fairly comfortable with when we booked it. Then airline changed to 9:30 so we thought we would give it a try. I found out the night before that my Mom was in the hospital. We alerted Concierge we needed to be in the first group off of the ship that wasn't walk off. (Too much luggage with golf clubs, etc to do walk off.) Authorities delayed the debarkation process so all groups were delayed. I was in tears and beginning to panic when they finally started letting groups off. We made the 9:30 but no time to spare and would not have made anything earlier. I would not recommend anything prior to 11:00 unless you want a stressful morning. We think 12:00-1:00 is the perfect flight departure time out of SJU. Remember that your bags must go through agricultural inspection at airport before they can be checked with the airline and then the TSA lines aren't especially fast.

 

(FYI....The good Lord above was looking out for me. I made the flight and the connection and made it home to be with my Mom. She died 10 days later.)

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OnTheJourney

OnTheJourney

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I would be surprised if you make it to the airport by 8:15

 

 

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Could very well be. As stated, I don't know where my mind was at when I even considered that early a flight!

 

Biggest decision now is whether or not to book a hotel the day or two before the cruise. If the morning flight out of PHL runs on schedule, I'll be there by around noon, which would be fine. My TA said Royal told her we can board at 12:30 already (despite my invoices saying embarkation starts at 3:00). IF the flights would get screwed up again like they did last time, then I'm looking at not getting to SJU until 2:20, and if THAT flight goes down OR if the early flight screws up and they decide to bump us even farther down the schedule, I'll miss the ship being that the third (and last) flight of the day arrives at 9:25.

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Shih-tzu

Shih-tzu

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I wouldn't......the lines to clear customs took us an hour alone.......thats not counting getting off the ship. Then there' the "agricultural " clearance at SOU before the normal things.....at least that' the way it was in 2016.

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Flatbush Flyer

Flatbush Flyer

Posted
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We're scheduled to arrive back at San Juan at 6 a.m. I don't recall my transportation arrangements the last time I did this. We're diamond members booked in a GS for the cruise, and so I anticipate a smooth (hopefully express) departure arranged through the concierge. The next flight time back to PHL for us would be 1:10 p.m. Hate to wait around the airport extra hours if not really necessary. Any ideas from anyone who has flown back to PHL after a criuise ending in San Juan would be much appreciated....

 

 

 

I'm betting you already know the answer.

Hint #1: "Arrival" at 6 AM is a guesstimate and has little to do with disembarkation, particularly in a hurricane damaged area far from recovery.

Hint #2: See hint #1.

 

 

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Giantfan13

Giantfan13

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I just do not understand the 'rush' to get home? I can see if you had a 6-8 hour wait, but why bother rushing yourself when you already have a decent enough flight back. Let them take your bags, sleep a bit later, go out and have breakfast and just chill out a bit on your last day. Take a taxi to the airport and by the time you get thru everything associated with leaving San Juan, you'll have about an hour to wait it out and relax,

'

Isn't that what vacationing is all about?

cheers

Len

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grandmarnnurse

grandmarnnurse

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Could very well be. As stated, I don't know where my mind was at when I even considered that early a flight!

 

Biggest decision now is whether or not to book a hotel the day or two before the cruise. If the morning flight out of PHL runs on schedule, I'll be there by around noon, which would be fine. My TA said Royal told her we can board at 12:30 already (despite my invoices saying embarkation starts at 3:00). IF the flights would get screwed up again like they did last time, then I'm looking at not getting to SJU until 2:20, and if THAT flight goes down OR if the early flight screws up and they decide to bump us even farther down the schedule, I'll miss the ship being that the third (and last) flight of the day arrives at 9:25.

Why on earth would you fly into SJU on day of cruise?? That is insane! Too many variables that could go wrong! Hell, I arrive at least one day ahead, even when traveling to my closest port of NYC, which is only a 5 hour car drive from me! Maybe it’s just me, and my plan ahead Type A behavior, but Inwould never risk flying in the day of.

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waterbug123

waterbug123

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Being diamond has no effect whatsoever on what time people will be cleared to start leaving the ship, how many customs agents there will be, or what the security lines would be like at the airport. .

 

And at SJU there is also an agricultural inspection that you have to go through.

 

I would be surprised if you make it to the airport by 8:15

 

If the flight is at 8:15, one would need to be at the airport earlier than that. Most airlines have a policy that you need to be in the gate area 30 (or sometimes 45) minutes prior to departure or your seat can be given away. That means you need to be at the gate by 7:45, so you have to be at the airport earlier than that for baggage check, agricultural inspection (at SJU), security, etc. And even if the flight isn't oversold (you likley wouldn't know that unless you're already at the airport) and there's no risk of losing your seat, the boarding door is usually closed 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure (8:05 in this case) so that the passenger manifest can be finalized. And if the boarding door is closed, good luck boarding, even if the aircraft is still there. I've seen many people turned away in that situation.

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starrcards

starrcards

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I wouldn't......the lines to clear customs took us an hour alone.......thats not counting getting off the ship. Then there' the "agricultural " clearance at SOU before the normal things.....at least that' the way it was in 2016.

 

San Juan hint: use a porter. Makes customs much, much easier.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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Why on earth would you fly into SJU on day of cruise?? That is insane! Too many variables that could go wrong! Hell, I arrive at least one day ahead, even when traveling to my closest port of NYC, which is only a 5 hour car drive from me! Maybe it’s just me, and my plan ahead Type A behavior, but Inwould never risk flying in the day of.

I've flown to San Juan the day of the cruise several times.

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skiiergirl

skiiergirl

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Why on earth would you fly into SJU on day of cruise?? That is insane! Too many variables that could go wrong! Hell, I arrive at least one day ahead, even when traveling to my closest port of NYC, which is only a 5 hour car drive from me! Maybe it’s just me, and my plan ahead Type A behavior, but Inwould never risk flying in the day of.

 

Many people have been forced to fly into SJU on day of departure due to hotel situation. It helps that ship doesn't depart until 8:30 so you actually have until 7:00 to check in. We prefer to fly in one day before but have been fortunate the few times that we have had to fly in day of. Always take the first flight out though in case of issues.

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sr4mjc

sr4mjc

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We never book a flight home from ANYWHERE post cruise until after 1pm. Less stressful, and more wiggle room for whatever happens. This January our flight home is not until 4:40pm out of FLL for our cruise out of POM.

 

That's usually my rule of thumb. I did book an 11:00 am out of Dublin, but we dock the day before and have an overnight, so I am comfortable that we'll be able to get off the ship pretty early.

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OnTheJourney

OnTheJourney

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Why on earth would you fly into SJU on day of cruise?? That is insane! Too many variables that could go wrong! Hell, I arrive at least one day ahead, even when traveling to my closest port of NYC, which is only a 5 hour car drive from me! Maybe it’s just me, and my plan ahead Type A behavior, but Inwould never risk flying in the day of.

 

Seriously? I don't consider it "insane" at all. Last year I did an Antarctica cruise and definitely wanted to add at least a day prior to departure. With going that far, I would not have wanted to take a chance on arriving the same day. But with just flying from Philly to San Juan, I'd have no problems with going the same day. I totally understand what you're saying though and can relate to the "Type A" planning.

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OnTheJourney

OnTheJourney

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I think we can put this thread to rest now. I've already stated a few times that I have no idea what I was thinking of when I even proposed the idea of flying out of San Juan so early. So really no further need for additional thoughts on it as far as I'm concerned. Thanks to all for taking the time to reply.

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OnTheJourney

OnTheJourney

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I just do not understand the 'rush' to get home? I can see if you had a 6-8 hour wait, but why bother rushing yourself when you already have a decent enough flight back. Let them take your bags, sleep a bit later, go out and have breakfast and just chill out a bit on your last day. Take a taxi to the airport and by the time you get thru everything associated with leaving San Juan, you'll have about an hour to wait it out and relax,

'

Isn't that what vacationing is all about?

cheers

Len

 

I'm always anxious to get home after any trip, especially since if we add a few pre-cruise days as I'm thinking of doing, it'll make for a bit over 2 weeks. That's about as long as I like being away. Still, your point is well taken. I don't feel very 'relaxed' anytime I know I have a flight coming up. Too many weird things can happen with the airlines. I'm sure we all have our airline horror stories that we could share. Once I'm on the plane, then I can relax!

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Desert Cruizers

Desert Cruizers

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Myself, coming in from Calif I would spend the night then take an early flight out. It would be after midnight before I got home with 2 connections. I would try and come in 2 days before. Arriving from the East Coast probably isn't a problem for them. I priced flights from Calif & back and the cost is very high, so reluctant to consider the cruise, but would like to.

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