fly to San Juan day of departure?

[Umbarger]

Always go in a day early if at all possible. You always think it wont happen to you.

 

We flew thru ORD and found our flight had been cancelled. We had to wait there for 8 1/2 hours for another flight. American couldnt have cared less that we were on a cruise. We finally arrived at 1:30am instead of 2:30pm. The cruise left at 5:00pm. :eek:

 

Thankfully, I flew in the day before and we MADE the cruise. :D

 

I will always go in a day early for evermore. :)

[cynbar]

We also always fly in a day early-- we never missed a ship when we flew on the day of sailing but we did have one very close call, and the anxiety set us back for the first couple days of our trip. Plus, it's a tremendous feeling to start off Day 1 of your cruise in a totally relaxed way -- sleep late, a leisurely breakfast, no worries, and an early arrival at the pier. You'll look around on embarkation day at some of the totally flustered and frazzled passengers, and you'll definiely say "Thank goodness that's not us!". Once you've tried it, it's hard to go back. Plus, San Juan is a great place to spend an overnight -- a lot of Latin flavor, beaches, sightseeing, great restaurants--- I wish I were there right now.

[fdwt994]

Definitely the day before. You're going too far for something to not go wrong. I also live in the midwest; and if the weather's not a factor here, it is at one of the hubs which usually means we're delayed anyway. Even if everything eventually works out, you'll probably stress about it the days leading up to the trip wishing you just arranged to fly in early. Why make yourself miserable?

 

If CVG is too expensive, try IND. It's only about 1 1/2 hrs up I-74.

 

Good luck!

[cacruiserjen]

We flew to San Juan from California two weeks ago. Our flight landed early enough, but our entire party's luggage had been sent to Los Angeles so getting that squared away with 22 people who each had to submit separate claims we arrived at the ship at about 5:30 - just in time to head to dinner in our sweats/travel clothes! YUCK! We left SF at 10:30 pm on Sunday night and had a layover in Atlanta. We didn't get our clothes until Tuesday - just before dinner!!!!

 

I would have traveled earlier if I had been the one to make the travel arrangements. However, we booked through an agent who was offering a special deal that included the air through RCI.

[Quadsd]

We are cruising out of San Juan on January 27. We are flying from Boston to Orlando 2 days early and staying on our Disney Vacation Club points. Flying to San Juan the morning of our cruise.

[flarad]

We are doing the same thing. Except we live in Naples, and for about $200 a ticket less we are driving to Orlando, staying the night at a park and fly hotel, parking for free for the week and flying to San Juan at 7:30am. The only bad thing is up so early, and what to do in San Juan until we board.

[sailrnav]

We also live in Ohio. The last two years we have cruised out of San Juan and have flown down the day of the cruise. Flew non-stop out of Detroit last year and non-stop out of Cincinnati this year. Booked our own flights at much less then cruise line rates. Were on ship by about 1300 both times, with nice departure times (around 0830).

[mek]

I've taken several cruises out of San Juan - one as recently as this past August when we flew in the day before. In the past, we used to fly in the same day, but if you have a connection, you have to worry about lost bags. Just how high are the airfares out of CVG right now? Last summer we got RT air on American with connections in Chicago for $225 pp. One of the reasons we decided to fly there was it was actually cheaper than going to Florida and we didn't have to use a regional airport.

[Smart Freak]

We are flying from Cancun to San Juan at 7 am and have a connection at Houston with a 55 minute window, but as we are Mexicans we need to claim our baggage, clear customs, and then re-check our baggage and take the Houston-San Juan flight, all at Houston Bush Intercotinental...a little nervous but we have no other option, besides our cancun-houston flight arrives at the very same terminal than our houston-san juan flight, so we are going to be running in the same terminal in order to catch the connection flight, wish us luck!

 

And...we are flying to San Juan the day of our cruise!!!

[scooter123]

I was just debating whether to go to SJ the day of the cruise or the day before. I found this thread and you have all convinced me to go a day early. I can get my elderly parents settled more easily and I don't have to be in the office on Friday. Wonderful! Thanks.:)

[scooter123]

Dear SmartFreak:

 

Since you are leaving in only 3 days, have a great cruise. I am so jealous. The weather just turned cold here in Maryland and you will be soaking up the sun. Good luck getting to the ship.

[Smart Freak]

Dear SmartFreak:

 

Since you are leaving in only 3 days, have a great cruise. I am so jealous. The weather just turned cold here in Maryland and you will be soaking up the sun. Good luck getting to the ship.

JEJE! Thank you so much!! I'll be posting our experience, hopefully a good one!!! VIVA LAS CRUISES!!!

[camNaud]

We are flying into San Juan in January on the day we sailaway. Long day ahead for us as the flight is from London Gatwick - I believe it leaves at 9am (GMT) which is equivalent to 5am (4 times zones to shift). I think its a 9.5 hour flight so we arrive at 2.30pm. The flight is a Princess Charter flight flight which means any delay induced changes will be sorted out by Princess, should they occur.

 

Sailaway at 11pm will be like 3am - tiring but at least we can sleep on the long flight in. Luckily our flight from Scotland to London is the day before, which means we dont have the stress of 2 connecting flights in one day. The only real stress is the threat of heavy snow affecting our 2 hour drive to Glasgow airport from our home.