Princess and San Juan Port Issues

[Sailor Gal]

We've taken 3 cruises from SJ and left from both the pier in Old San Juan and the pier that is further away. Both piers were a mad house at embarkation and disembarkation. It was hard to figure out where to go, what line to get in, what to do with luggage, etc. Many people were confused and agitated. SJ is the only port we've experienced such disorganization. This was a stressful way to begin vacation. We are cruising with two other couples who are first time cruisers and hate for them to experience this chaos. Does anyone have any suggestions (other than arriving later in the day which will be logistically difficult for us) for making this a more pleasant experience? Would really appreciate some suggestions from the veterans. Thanks

[Nana G]

We have left out of both Old San Juan and Pam Am pier. Pan Am was a breeze both on and off. OSJ was always a bit longer but well organized from princess point of reference. Security seemed to be the problem, late opening up, both times there which made for long lines both outside and inside. But, I really think it depends on the time you arrive and how quickly security opens up. It was not at all longer than an hour and we were on-board.

[karmacruiser]

We left from the Pan Am pier in December and did not have any trouble at all. We actually arrived before noon and were in our cabin in about 15-20 minutes after they opened the doors at 12 sharp. We had our taxi driver drop us close to the porters stand so we could drop our luggage. The area outside had roped off lanes.

 

We were in the second group off the ship since we had an early flight and also found this easy. Our luggage was grouped by the color of our tags. We grabbed a taxi and were at the airport about a half hour after leaving the ship. No problems, customs was fast, just had our passports out and customs form ready to go.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[MarkMichaels]

We have cruised from San Juan several times (5 times, both piers, OSJ and Pan Am) and fortunately, we've never had the problems you have. We always go to the pier early, usually around 11am, knowing that we may wait for a while to board. We've almost always boarded shortly after noon, with one cruise taking till closer to 1pm.

 

I would guess that you either go early or late, but avoid the 1-3pm rush when most folks show up and you'll be fine.

 

Mark