San Juan Flight Advice

[jaybird from SC]

:confused: We have never ever flown to a port on the same day as the sailing-always gone a day earlier but, since our cruise doesn't leave until late (8:30 PM), should we chance departing Charlotte NC (9:45 AM-direct,non- stop) scheduled to arrive in San Juan at 2:16 PM the day of the cruise? We would have six hours transfer time IF..everything goes according to schedule. Anyone ever done this particular route? Are we crazy to risk it?

[LiveToCruise99]

Personally, I would risk it if that worked out best for my travel plans. I would suspect there will be several fellow passengers on that flight as I believe it is a hub for travel to San Juan. Hope you have a great cruise.

[jaybird from SC]

Personally, I would risk it if that worked out best for my travel plans. I would suspect there will be several fellow passengers on that flight as I believe it is a hub for travel to San Juan. Hope you have a great cruise.

Thanks...We were thinking of taking a chance to save a little money.

[Denny01]

The only concern isn't just how early your flight gets in the same day as you sail, but is there another flight into San Juan after yours, just in case? You are in a pretty how-risk situation being a non-stop to San Juan and getting in 6hrs before sailing. But as you said, 'IF....'. That's the catch, if all goes as planned.

 

Whenever I think about same-day arrivals, I look at backups, what-ifs and so on. And I also think about how much stress I put on us that we will inevitably feel start creeping in a few days before departure. I start watching the weather, start thinking 'if only I had...'. And for me, the stress stays until we get to the pier. Sorry, but just something to think through. You've gone the day before, so think about how you'll handle same-day travel.

 

Signed,

Chicken Little Denny

[DebandTom]

We are doing the same, flying non-stop the same day to San Juan. We leave from Atlanta and arrive at 1:50 pm. There happens to be another flight leaving later that day that will arrive around 3:30pm. I was thinking we would be OK since the ship departs at 8:30pm.

[Longboysfan]

Yes. You should have no problem with the time.

[vickykay]

does anyone know the approximate taxi cost from the airport in SJ to the port? Thanks. Vicky

[bikker59]

We have cruised out of San Juan every year, in Feb since 2000. 6 hours is plenty of time to get from the airport to the ship, about a 15 minute cab ride, somewhere around 20.00 for the cab..not very expensive, and controlled at the airport, so you know the fare before, and you get a voucher with the fare.

We always go in the day earlier, just more relaxing, but because of us going in Feb, there is a bigger concern with weather. Since you are on a non stop, you should be fine, I don't know if you mentioned when you are going, so I don't know if weather would be a factor..

Enjoy the cruise...:);)

[Can'tstopcruising]

You can find a very inexpensive hotel on Priceline. Or check out Hotwire. I think it is worth it.

 

What if? What if there is any unforseen problem? The aircraft may have a problem. The weather may decide to be crazy. I have seen too many delays in my time. If you can get a hotel for under $100, You can justify it by not spending on something else.

 

Good luck and have fun!

[DMaugle]

Too much risk for most of us. Things break, weather is always an unknown. Go early, stay a night at the Fajardo Inn, and do the bioluminescent tour there. Good luck and have a great time! DMaugle

[woodofpine]

Tampa to SJU direct, a little earlier dep 7 or so AM. Generally, the earlier in the day the less concerned I am. 9:45 AM may not be this plane's first flight of the day (probably second); I generally feel more confident of planes that have over nighted coming off nightly maintenance or haven't had many 'cycles' that day. Ditto early departures where route delays haven't accumulated over the course of the day. In my experience, bad delays and mechanical breakdowns are almost always afternoon/evening flights.

 

The cruise port is only about 10-15 minutes by cab from the airport.

 

Old San Juan is a nice place for a night over though, and there are some reasonably priced hotels.

[Cruising Bill]

We have always flown in to San Juan the same day, and I had booked flights for the day of our upcoming January cruise. Seeing this thread earlier today made me look at later nonstop options--not much, so it is a little risky. We have a good friend that lives in San Juan, so I changed our flight to the day before, and now we will have a short visit with our friend. Since it was frequent flier ticket, there was no charge to change it. Now we get an extra day in sunny paradise without any cost!

 

Win, win, win!

[Can'tstopcruising]

Tampa to SJU direct, a little earlier dep 7 or so AM. Generally, the earlier in the day the less concerned I am. 9:45 AM may not be this plane's first flight of the day (probably second); I generally feel more confident of planes that have over nighted coming off nightly maintenance or haven't had many 'cycles' that day. Ditto early departures where route delays haven't accumulated over the course of the day. In my experience, bad delays and mechanical breakdowns are almost always afternoon/evening flights.

 

The cruise port is only about 10-15 minutes by cab from the airport.

 

Old San Juan is a nice place for a night over though, and there are some reasonably priced hotels.

 

We once had an early morning flight (6am), that never took off. As it got close to boarding time, we noticed that the plane was still dark. Although they tried to string us along, we insisted they put us on another airline that was leaving around the same time. Luckily, it was a partner airline, so they did it. We may still be sitting and waiting!

[Lsimon]

The only thing I'll add is that we really enjoy short stays in San Juan before our last couple cruises from there. Old San Juan is very nice in its own way. There are lots of great restuarants there and nice places to walk around. An evening there and a bit of a walk that afternoon, and the next morning before the cruise, really gets us wound down and into vacation mode fast - as opposed to a long day of travel and then the embarkation day activities.

 

And you never know what will go wrong with travel plans - especially if you're cruising in the winter! Even if Charlotte doesn't usually have wintery problems you need to be concerned with national air traffic tie ups in the winter.

[bikinibottom]

The only cruise I have ever flown in day of is into San Juan from Orlando. We had plenty of time (less than you have) and it was probably a total of 55 mins to get our bags, get in line for a cab, and get down to the port.

Now I was very nervous about doing this but we had no choice so we went for it and it worked out fine.

Now that I have said that I will also add that I really try not to fly in the day of. Even if it means taking a red eye just to add some padding in the equation. I have read too many stories about folks missing their cruises due to freak things beyond their control, and airlines not getting them there on the day of departure. I don't need any extra reasons to worry.

[MartinsCruise]

In March we flew into the San Juan the day before. Our plane was to take off at 8 AM but sat on the tarmac for 5 hours before taking off due to the windshield wipers not working. There weren't any more flights out and the flights the next day were being cancelled due to a snowstorm. If we were sailing that day, we would have had trouble making it to the ship on time. For us it's worth booking a room and getting there a day early especially to walk around Old San Juan.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[A Sixth?]

:confused: We have never ever flown to a port on the same day as the sailing-always gone a day earlier but, since our cruise doesn't leave until late (8:30 PM), should we chance departing Charlotte NC (9:45 AM-direct,non- stop) scheduled to arrive in San Juan at 2:16 PM the day of the cruise? We would have six hours transfer time IF..everything goes according to schedule. Anyone ever done this particular route? Are we crazy to risk it?

 

I also will be flying to SJU from Charlotte (USAIR) via a connection, BUT am flying in two days early: 1) because I can 2) because I love Old San Juan and 3) because I have almost missed cruises before by cutting it too close.

 

My story is of a Princess cruise out of San Juan I was on a number of years back. We were on USAIR through Philadelphia flying in a day before our cruise and on our flight were a number of Celebrity passengers on a cruise leaving at 10:00 that same evening.

 

A beautiful, clear calm January day all up and down the east coast. What could go wrong.

 

The aircraft was broken. There was no room for any of us on the next flight to San Juan as it was fully booked so we waited for a replacement aircraft.

 

We waited from 10am until 8pm before we actually got under way.

 

Every single person expecting to sailaway that same night were hoteled by USAIR in San Juan and flown to St Thomas the next day to catch up with their ship. Not a total disaster but let me tell you there were a lot of stressed out people on that airplane as the they collectively realized the ship was sailing without them.

 

If you can, fly in at least a day before... San Juan is a destination in itself and you will not regret it.

 

[cruznjan]

We've taken that flight and had no problems.

[A Sixth?]

We've taken that flight and had no problems.

 

That's good to hear. Does that mean there are never problems/delays flying out of Charlotte :rolleyes:. Great!:D Or are you referring to that industry example of efficiency, Philadelphia? :rolleyes:

 

I'm still hedging my bets because I can. I know many haven't the luxury of flying in early.

[dzcruisers]

:confused: We have never ever flown to a port on the same day as the sailing-always gone a day earlier but, since our cruise doesn't leave until late (8:30 PM), should we chance departing Charlotte NC (9:45 AM-direct,non- stop) scheduled to arrive in San Juan at 2:16 PM the day of the cruise? We would have six hours transfer time IF..everything goes according to schedule. Anyone ever done this particular route? Are we crazy to risk it?

 

We have friends who were stranded in Charlotte for 7 hours recently on their way to NYC from Sav. It's a good thing they were not going on a cruise.

 

We've gotten great, reasonable hotels on hotwire & Priceline.

[blong2200]

No way! Go a day early. Anything can happen with the weather!

[scott in maine]

We've taken that flight and had no problems.

 

That's nice and you were fortunate. However, it doesn't really answer the OP's question. I would encourage the OP to check with USAirways to see if there is a 7am flight as an earlier option.

 

Myriad things CAN happen on day of travel that are completely unforseeable:

 

- low cloud cover/thunderstorms/snow

- maintenance issues with the aircraft

- late arriving flight crew / crew shortage

 

 

I travel for work every week and the number of cancelled flights I've had to deal with in the past year is more than the CUMULATIVE cancelled flights in my ten years prior.

 

 

Chances are pretty good that the OP could take the 9:45am flight and be perfectly fine. But, there's the 4% chance that things could go really wrong and royally screw up a perfectly planned vacation.

 

To me, it's not worth the STRESS of worrying about it. Go ahead and shell out a few extra $$$ and plan a fun night in Old San Juan the night before you sail. You'll be so much more relaxed when you actually step on the ship.

 

Just my $00.02/

[woodofpine]

This is a really simple inquiry and it asks for opinions...

 

It is amazing how stident, "I'm right! You're WRONG!!" the quote on quotes of this thread are...

 

I suppose I should come on with stories of travelors that were stranded MORE than 24 hours to insist one should arrive 2 days before sailing... :rolleyes:

 

I'm planning on flying into a European port the day of sailing next spring... I'll let you know how it goes. Could this cause a problem. IMPOSSIBLE>>>ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! No! NO!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yawn)

[atonal1]

Here's another cruiser that has flown in to San Juan day of cruise. I have done it 5 times--4 out of BWI and once out of PHL. My only suggestion is try to be on the first flight out so that you have options in case there is a problem.

 

What ever you decide, have a great cruise!

[A Sixth?]

This is a really simple inquiry and it asks for opinions...

 

It is amazing how stident, "I'm right! You're WRONG!!" the quote on quotes of this thread are...

 

I suppose I should come on with stories of travelors that were stranded MORE than 24 hours to insist one should arrive 2 days before sailing... :rolleyes:

 

I'm planning on flying into a European port the day of sailing next spring... I'll let you know how it goes. Could this cause a problem. IMPOSSIBLE>>>ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! No! NO!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yawn)

 

The OP asked for advise, and is getting it. jaybird opens by saying that "they have never ever flown to a port on the same day as the sailing."

 

No one saying you can't fly in the day of a cruise, some of us are simply pointing out that as San Juan is a great place to visit AND hedging your bets if you can by flying in a day or two early is a good thing, this is a great time to arrive early and explore.

 

We all have flown in the exact day of a cruise, but I enjoy the luxury of arriving as day early when I can.

 

So it is "IMPOSSIBLE>>>ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! No! NO!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yawn)" to have any problems on you upcoming flight to Europe. You are likely right, 95% of flights will have no real problems that will make you miss your cruise.

 

Here's the best way and the only way I could think of to eliminate having any real delays? :rolleyes: Own a share in a fleet of private jets! :cool: Than only weather could be an issue but would it dare!:p