Am I the only one who thinks night dock in San Juan is a waste?

[mja2573]

Am I the only one who thinks night dock in San Juan is a waste?

What are we supposed to do at night?  Not drinkers.  Seems like a waste of a port.

 

[bkrickles1]

No you are not. Lmao

We'll be on the Encore next January and have already decided we won't be getting off the ship.

We'll probably do a Specialty restaurant and the race track.

 

[mja2573]

What is the point of being there from 5:30 - 12:00.  Seems pointless to me. In actuality it turns my 7 day cruise into only a 2 port stop.  

frustrating

 

[Turtles06]

10 minutes ago, mja2573 said:

What is the point of being there from 5:30 - 12:00.  Seems pointless to me. In actuality it turns my 7 day cruise into only a 2 port stop.  

frustrating

 

 

Is that 5:30pm-midnight?  If so, I agree with you, that's a terrible schedule.  Old San Juan is wonderful, but you want to be there during the day and visit the Forts, walk around, have a great lunch...

[mja2573]

Just now, Turtles06 said:

 

Is that 5:30pm-midnight?  If so, I agree with you, that's a terrible schedule.  Old San Juan is wonderful, but you want to be there during the day and visit the Forts, walk around, have a great lunch...

Yes 5:30 PM - 11:59 PM

 

[Turtles06]

Just now, mja2573 said:

Yes 5:30 PM - 11:59 PM

 

 

Wow, sorry, I agree that's really not appealing at all.  It would be one thing if you arrived in the morning and stayed past dinner, but you are not getting a day in the port.   No chance to see this, for example:

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

[mja2573]

Just now, Turtles06 said:

 

Wow, sorry, I agree that's really not appealing at all.  It would be one thing if you arrived in the morning and stayed past dinner, but you are not getting a day in the port.   No chance to see this, for example:

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

agreed.  I can not for the life of me figure out why this is a thing. 

 

[Nola26]

My post didn't make sense for a 5:30 to midnight stop, not actually overnight. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by Nola26

[mja2573]

4 minutes ago, Nola26 said:

Ferry to Vieques is worthwhile, having an overnight makes it easy without risk of missing ship. Amazing beaches there. Had the best salsa and chips at a little English B&B there. 

 

Great oceanside golf course at the Wyndham Rio Mar. Have dinner there enjoy casino and return to ship. Highly recommend the Italian place. We strolled that beach at night, romantic. Spa there was pretty awesome and may be less expensive than ship, both are Mandara.

 

The rain forest is out in that area, Rio Grand and is a US National Park.

 

San Juan nightlife used be great.

 

I'd love to use the bike trail along the ocean. Doing that early morning could be fun.

 

I spend money in everyone else's Caribbean why not in my own US stop? 

We arrive at 5:30 PM and leave at Midnight.  

 

[dexddd]

So NCL is doing night there now? Our MSC has night there too leaving 1 am. Just a waste.

 

We did leave there once on DCL at 9 pm and it was a nice sailaway.

[mja2573]

The question is how do we get the info to NCL that people think this is a waste?  And,   do they even care?

[ColinIllinois]

22 minutes ago, mja2573 said:

The question is how do we get the info to NCL that people think this is a waste?  And,   do they even care?

 

I'm sure that not everyone thinks it's a waste.   Different people like/dislike the various ports.  Personally I think Nassau is a waste of time but I pick that itinerary anyway knowing that I won't even get off the ship.

 

Roll with the punches, as they say.

[armwinder]

We sailed on the Dawn out of the Pan Am pier last month. We stayed 4 days in old San Juan before the cruises and had a great time. We visited the Bacardi factory and took other tours. We also walked around Old San Juan during the day and at night and felt very safe. We are staying a week next time before sailing on the Epic out of San Juan. Not sure about the night stop though, they do the same in Victoria BC on the one of the Alaska cruise itineraries.  

[timf2001]

Eastern Caribbean 7 day itineraries are always a challenge to schedule because it takes 2 full days to sail from Florida to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  The only way to fit in the third port day is to squeeze it in at the end of a sea day, like they do with San Juan, or find an intermediate port to break up the 2 sea days such as Nassau.  Other cruise lines are able to stop in Haiti or the Dominican Republic since they have developed their own ports in these locations, but until now Norwegian has been shut out.  This will change in late 2020 with the opening of the new docks in Puerto Plata, DR.

[zqvol]

Try a bioluminescence tour. Wonderful way to spend an evening.

[shof515]

I am doing a cruise on a different cruise line and we get to San Juan at around 3pm or so. I would love to have more time in port,  from what i read the forts close at around 5/6pm

[Newleno]

2 hours ago, mja2573 said:

Am I the only one who thinks night dock in San Juan is a waste?

What are we supposed to do at night?  Not drinkers.  Seems like a waste of a port.

 

absolutely a waste, if you cant walk around and see the forts you might as well stay on the ship.  Everything else will cost a lot of money, san juan very expensive city for tourists, no value in that city

[PatandStu]

The forts close at 6, but we arrived at about 5:00 and did a self guided walking tour of Old SAN Juan that took us to, but not inside, the forts. It’s a beautiful city. We walked until it started to get dark, about 7:45 then back on board for dinner. 

Because of the distance these ships have to travel, they can’t arrive any earlier. 

 

Walk around, enjoy the town. The forts are awesome to see from the outside. 

 

[Turtles06]

17 minutes ago, PatandStu said:

Because of the distance these ships have to travel, they can’t arrive any earlier. 

 

That's just not true.  It totally depends on where the ship is leaving from, and how the cruise line has set up the itinerary.  For example, three years ago, we sailed on NCL from NY to the Caribbean.  We had three sea days out of NY, and then a full day (8am to 5pm) in San Juan, our first port on that cruise.  

 

PS: Sunset today in San Juan is approximately 6:15pm.

Edited January 28, 2019 by Turtles06

[david_sobe]

Its the time, not the port that I dislike. I see no reason to stop for 5 hours in the dark.  I would rather over night in another port.  I would even take Nassau during the day.  I want to enjoy the ship in port while most get off.  I doubt that many will get off and this will lead to just a noisy night and hustle and bustle on the ship.

So IMHO, its more of a distraction than anything. I would prefer to skip it and have a full sea day. 

[mking8288]

Because, NCL can (try to convince and) sell more ship-based shorex for first time, unsuspecting cruise ship visitors to Old San Juan.  Quite a few years ago when we visited via the Gem out of NYC, didn't mind too much 2 to 10 pm stopover (might've been later than 3 pm) - managed to stop at CVS to restock toiletries & picked up canned soda on the way back to re-boarding the ship, etc.  (Find a good spot or one's private balcony, sit back & relax - have a cool beverage/drink, enjoy a beautiful sunset ... weather permitting, and, post a selfie to colleagues & co-workers back at the office)

 

Somewhat better than going to Nassau ... in the real "old" days, it was 6 hours only at Bahamas.  About a couple of sea days, chance to hit the concrete pavement, exercise those sea legs & for some, hunt for "free" WiFi at nearby Starbucks, etc.  Can't pleased everyone - but, still on vacation - another blast of cold air coming this week but no blizzard in the forecast in NYC.  The post-cruise blues already beginning to bug Mrs. M.  

Edited January 28, 2019 by mking8288

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, Battle Bots said:

 

 

Not as much as making the same post twice! 🙂 😄 🙂

LOL, I knew I had replied to this....I put this on the other thread

 

Old Town is pretty cool at night, some nice restaurants, etc....I am cruising in April on MSC and we arrive at San Juan at 5 PM and depart at 1 AM I believe...the Bride and I are looking forward to it.  Sail away should be nice too.

[Aesop081]

3 hours ago, mja2573 said:

What is the point of being there from 5:30 - 12:00.  Seems pointless to me. In actuality it turns my 7 day cruise into only a 2 port stop.  

frustrating

 

We have 3 to 8PM in March so not as bad but a bit short.  But a 2 port 7 day cruise sounds delightful to me.  I find port stops to be annoying.  One every few days would be great.  At sea and relaxed. That's cruising for me.  Hard to find though.

[newmexicoNita]

2 hours ago, mja2573 said:

The question is how do we get the info to NCL that people think this is a waste?  And,   do they even care?

well they are not going to change the itinerary now most likely but one thing to do is attend the M&G and pass your concerns onto the management that will be at the m&G. But do remember, handle it in a positive way. Just ask they why they do this and remind them there isn't that much to do when a port is only a night time arrival and departure. 

 

BTW, not that this will help but at least is will be light most likely until after 8pm so you can get off the ship and do some walking around, plus, when we had a similar situation many years ago in Mexico. We arrived late afternoon and the ship did have excursions. So check that out. 

[Gershep]

To me it's a waste of a port stop. I would not get off ship.