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San Juan airport question


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We plan to fly into San Juan Airport the end of March. We will have transportation picking us up. If you have done this, how long does it take from the airport to the (Fascination) ship?

 

Hope you aren't paying too much for "transportation". It's a quick taxi ride around a bay for under $25. It takes about 30 minutes but only because you have to drive out of the airport area, and into the port area, which takes time, but not miles.

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And on your return to the airport, get your luggage inspected and stamped by the agricultural scanning prior to getting on line for tickets, luggage drop off, security, etc. Just a heads up, enjoy your cruise.

Not up on this - When and where do you get luggage inspected and stamped by agricultural scanning before heading to the airport, if this is what is meant?

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Not up on this - When and where do you get luggage inspected and stamped by agricultural scanning before heading to the airport, if this is what is meant?

 

At the airport, make sure you get your bags inspected by agriculture, because if you don't, you will be sent back to do it. It's something special you need to do in SJ airport

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At the airport, make sure you get your bags inspected by agriculture, because if you don't, you will be sent back to do it. It's something special you need to do in SJ airport

 

Not only San Juan, but New Zealand, possibly Tahiti and a few other ecologically minded communities are doing this to prevent the spread of invasive pests. Hawaii was considering it last I heard.

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Not only San Juan, but New Zealand, possibly Tahiti and a few other ecologically minded communities are doing this to prevent the spread of invasive pests. Hawaii was considering it last I heard.

 

Hawaii has been doing it for decades. They do the same as PR which in my opinion is backwards.

USDA scans all bags leaving the islands to prevent things from entering the continental US, but does nothing to scan bags and stop things from entering the islands.

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San Juan Airport may be one of the worst airports we have ever flown out of. More like a huge hanger. We were there last year and couldn't even find an outlet to charge a tablet. Couldn't pick up WiFi even though they say it is available.

Taxi's from the terminal to the airport are about $25,a nd probably the same the other way. If you are going to the terminal, traffic is a nightmare trying to get to the point where you can drop off your luggage.

 

Cheers

Len

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I appreciate ALL of your replies. My TA has booked our transportation (just a tad less than what everyone has quoted) from the San Juan Airport, and I knew the Fascination was leaving at 9:00PM. I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time to get from the airport to the ship before it set sail to cruise at that time.:)

 

 

We're not worried about checking out SJ, as we have been there a little over a year ago, and was able to do it then.:)

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...the agricultural check is a medium size room that is not that well marked.

 

 

By “not well marked”, do you mean the huge floor to ceiling USDA letters on the outside windows and the signs with arrows pointing to it? [emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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By “not well marked”, do you mean the huge floor to ceiling USDA letters on the outside windows and the signs with arrows pointing to it? [emoji6]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Well when we were there (I don't remember how many years ago), there was a sign over the door. Not floor to ceiling. But hey, I'm glad it's marked better now.

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Well when we were there (I don't remember how many years ago), there was a sign over the door. Not floor to ceiling. But hey, I'm glad it's marked better now.

 

 

The San Juan Airport is a constant “work in progress”. I’m from there and over the decades I’ve seen that airport transform itself several times. In the 80’s-90’s, there were two hubs, one for American (in the now abandoned concourse D), and one for Eastern (which is where Concourse B is now).That time was probably when that airport was at its peak, both for functionality and aesthetics.

 

After the demise of Eastern, and American’s decision to reduce their presence in San Juan, the airport has gone through massive changes, with the most recent construction of Terminal A for Jetblue which is also the nicest and most modern terminal in the entire airport. Concourse B And C have gone through several upgrades and modernization projects including the consolidation of ticket counters to one common area for these two concourses and which houses most airlines at the airport. Concourse D and its ticket counter area sadly remains mostly an abandoned ghost town, and walking through it is a reminder of what this airport once looked like. Today, only some of the smaller prop plane airlines are using 2-3 gates in concourse D.

 

Airlines like Delta have moved several times, from Concourse B to Concourse D, then back to B after the modernization of that concourse was complete, then over to C after hurricane Maria, and then back to B. Needless to say, it can get confusing even for travelers who use this airport frequently.

 

But to summarize, as part of the modernization projects, the airport flow has greatly improved, and new signage makes it much easier to find the USDA checkpoints, airline ticket counters, and gates. It seems like they’ve finally figured out a master plan and where to place each airline permanently.

 

 

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I thought the airport was okay.we stayed 3 nights at fort Buchanan.only issue we had was the taxi driver apparently never went on post so it took almost an hour getting to the hotel.i felt bad for him and gave him a fifty.it was tricky finding the main entrance and then he drove all over the post looking for the hotel..the cab to the port was much better.

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Just returned last Sunday. Arrived on Friday no cruise traffic about 25 min. Departure back to the ship on Sunday may be 15 mins. But debarkation we didn't get off Fascination until last call and got a porter who have their own line through custom's. In our section at this time only 10 bags easy to find ours.Cost of taxi to Sheraton at Old San Juan - same as to the ship: $21 + $3 airport tax + 4 bags at $1 each = $28. Return trip $25 - no airport tax. All taxis have a set fee. You will get a slip with cost from an taxi official before you enter your taxi with exact cost. We decided not to get Carnival transfer. Didn't want to what for a bus to fill up. This way just the 2 of us. Hopes this helps.

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