Just how bad is the San Juan airport?

[Lerxst]

We had a American flight on Sunday at 6:15 p.m.

I had read the horror stories on this board about long lines so we got there at 3:15 p.m. We were checked in, through security, and at the gate by 4:00 p.m. This was on the 3/14 sailing of AOS.

 

01/96 Oceanic

03/04 Adventure

[happysinglemom]

I've been thru the Tokyo airport many times, though not recently. Always went very smoothly - I guess 911 affected them as well.

 

Adventure of the Seas will be our maiden cruise!

[Rubicon Rick]

I'm glad some of you have had good experiences at SJU, mine was terrible. We flew out Monday and the lines were unbearably long, it was unbearably hot, people were extremely rude and the body odor was unbelievable. Don't think I'll ever fly to SJU again if I can help it.

[jnwilson]

We arrived at San Juan airport by cab about 8am to depart back to Kansas City (10:45 am) with Delta. We had gotten off Serenade on Saturday so we had four huge suitcases and three carry-on pieces. A porter came to us to help and it was the best thing that could of happened to us. He loaded up the bags asked for our tickets and proceeded to take us to the "front" of each line, check us through each procedure then delivered the bags to the agent for check-in. We were in total shock to be completely finished in less that ten minutes. He was a total gentleman, very clean and polite as he made his way through the airport. Needless to say we gave him a very good tip and will be using the airport porters from now on when in San Juan.

[xpcdoojk]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rubicon Rick:

I'm glad some of you have had good experiences at SJU, mine was terrible. We flew out Monday and the lines were unbearably long, it was unbearably hot, people were extremely rude and the body odor was unbelievable. Don't think I'll ever fly to SJU again if I can help it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Umm, you do realize it is the tropics, and it is warm in the tropics, right? I am not suppossed to say the word I am thinking right now. But I would say this post would qualify!

 

jc

[commish55]

so do you think it's possible to make a 10:25am flight leaving sunday out of sju. i'm holding it because it's a great fare. continental says i can go standby if i miss it, but we're 4 people. not sure if i should take a chance with it

[xpcdoojk]

I would guess that your odds are about 3 out of 4. Yes, you can probably make it, but you have a significant probability of having a long day in airports if you don't. It is a matter of personal choice.

 

jc

[Rubicon Rick]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by xpcdoojk:

 

Umm, you do realize it is the tropics, and it is warm in the tropics, right? I am not suppossed to say the word I am thinking right now. But I would say this post would qualify!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

You'll have to explain what is meant by your post, as I have no idea.

[London, Canada]

When we were there on February 15 (Sunday) I asked the agent at the desk if Sunday was their busiest day. She indicated that no Saturday was...maybe some encouragement if you are leaving on a Sunday.

[DaveC2]

You can check for on time arrivals before going. Many of SJU's are not so good. We cruised Galaxy recently and the return trip was poor.

 

They were charging for overweight luggage and warning folks. Many tore open the luggage to move bottles from one bag to another to save the $25.00. The lines at US Air were slow. The service was not great. The attitude of the US Air folks was poor. They were doing a difficult job under difficult circumstances and weren't happy.

 

We were very ealy because the concierge on the ship warned us that the airport was a problem. While there I tried to get an earlier flight from US Air and was told that flight was overbooked and some would be bumped. same with our flight.

 

Our flight was late, as it often is. It was a wide body but with very tightly packed seats. A normal person could not cross legs. Not comfortable and sold out. We arrived late but found our connecting flight was over an hour late also, so we got aboard. Unfortunately our luggage did not get onboard. We got home late and tired on Friday and didn't see our luggage till Sunday.

 

Coming home losing your luggage is a hassle. Imagine this if you were going on the cruise and luggage was a few days late. Ouch!

 

We got the special arrangements from Celebrity with "reduced air." It was a poor bargain. I would book my own and get better service.

 

The problems in San Juan are often related to the airport stateside but in general it is a tough airport to fly. Service is spotty and when you arrive with 2,000 others from a cruise ship look out.

 

Pick a reputable airline and allow a day to spare, if you can.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Dave

[gailc]

Our friends were on AOS & said it wasn't too bad checking in. It was on a Sunday. Flight left at 4:10p.m. (before Daylight Savings). They did say that they had to put their credit card thru a machine, but they didn't know why they had to since they booked thru a TA & everything was paid for already.

 

Anyone else have to do the same thing? We have flown out of S.J. before & never had to do that. We will be at the airport in May for our AOS cruise.

 

Gail

[the_psycho]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by gailc:

Our friends were on AOS & said it wasn't too bad checking in. It was on a Sunday. Flight left at 4:10p.m. (before Daylight Savings). They did say that they had to put their credit card thru a machine, but they didn't know why they had to since they booked thru a TA & everything was paid for already.

 

Anyone else have to do the same thing? We have flown out of S.J. before & never had to do that. We will be at the airport in May for our AOS cruise.

 

Gail<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

When you use the automatic kiosks to check in for your flight, American makes you use a real credit card in order to confirm your identity. As your full name is encoded in the magnetic stripe on the card, the machine reads that information, and then calls up your reservation information.

 

This is not limited to San Juan, this is the procedure used for American, Delta, and Northwest. I don't know about anyone else, those are the only three I ever fly.

 

If you want a real time saving secret, I suggest that you check in for your flight online. Then, all you have to do when you get to the airport is give the gate agents your bags. I do this every time I fly, as I find that it shaves all kinds of time and hassles out of the process.

 

By the way, you have no idea what clearing airport security is like until you have flown through Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel.

 

<color=#8b0000>until Serenade of the Seas Spring Break 2004!!

 

[pjbrock]

We were there in February/March and didn't really find it that bad. We breezed through. No lines for bagage check and security was about the same as any other airport. Just remember if you want something to eat, get it before you go through security.

 

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'Til we sail away!

 

 

Fascination 4/98

Majesty of the Seas 4/00

Destiny 4/02

Navigator of the Seas 4/03

Seranade of the Seas 2/04

Splendor of the Seas 4/05

[The Moyers]

I felt like there were two different worlds at the SJ airport. We had afternoon flights and couldn't check in until around noon so we just had to sit on the floor waiting until check in time. That part of the airport was dirty, there were not benches or seat etc. We were lucky, we at least got there early enough to get wall space to lean on. Once we went through the check points, that part of the air port was quite nice we thought.

 

The Moyers

Dennis & Debbie

Navigator of the Seas 9/18

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[burwick]

We were leaving San Juan on 2/28. We had a city tour after disembarking from the ship, and were dropped right off at the airport. While we did walk quite a distance from the parking garage to the terminals, I really don't have any complaints about how quick we got through the lines. We thought everything moved pretty good considering it was about one hour prior to our flight.

 

We wouldn't mind going in and out of San Juan again. We loved the city tour, too!

 

Marianne

 

 

Alaska -- hopefully -- 2/06!

Serenade of the Seas - Southern Caribbean 2/04

Voyager of the Seas - Western Caribbean 2/03

 

[smoke&mirror]

We flew in and out of San Juan for a Saturday to Saturday cruise in March on Serenade of the Seas. Arrival in San Juan went smoothly. We had placed our RCCL cabin tags on our checked luggage prior to leaving home so that we didn't even have to go to the baggage claim upon arrival (we did have RCCL transfers to the ship). RCCL staff retreived our luggage and brought it to the ship. It was waiting in our cabin when we arrived. Others in our party had to wait a couple hours for their luggage to get delivered to their cabins. One down side to this approach would be if the airline were to lose your luggage, by not claiming it yourself, you would not know that it was lost possibily until after the ship had sailed.

Upon returning from the cruise, leaving San Juan was quite a different story. The lines are long and the wait will vary depending somewhat on which airline you are flying. We were on US Air and it had to be the worst. We arrived at the airport early and it took over 1-1/2 hours to check in and get through security. By the time we got through the check in line (it took about an hour), the line was at least four times longer than when we got in it!! Some of the members of our group went on a tour prior to coming to the airport and just barely made the flight as it took them over 3-1/2 hours to check in and get through security!!! They took turns holding their place in line during the wait, but there is nowhere to sit and only one place to get anything to eat until you get past security to the gate area. I thought Ft Lauderdale was bad on cruise ship days, but San Juan takes the prize. Staying an extra day is probably a good idea, but if you are on a Saturday to Saturday cruise, staying an extra day will put you right smack in the middle of the Sunday to Sunday crowd!

Enchantment of the Seas 4/03
Serenade of the Seas 3/04