HELP! San Juan Flight Time After Disembarkation

[slipslopslap]

American Airlines have resceduled our flight from San Juan to LAX and we will no longer be able to make our forwarding flight to Australia. They have offered to change us to the 11.05am flight from San Juan (which would work) but we need advice as to whether the 11.05am flight is too early, after disembarkation from Millenium when she docks at 6am on the 8th April. It looks like she is the only cruise ship docking on that day so we are hoping we would make it. Our only alternative is to change our flight from LAX to AUS to the next day but we will have to pay $500AUD and pay for a hotel for the night in LA.

 

Can Anyone Please Advise?

[kitty9]

Do self disembarking, and you should be OK.

[spny84]

You should be able to make 11 am but it will be really close. Being the only ship might make a difference but we kept running into the bus loads from our own ship. Self Disembarking started late but they were getting off around 8:45 am. We got off around 10:30 am and were at the airport by noon. But all the lines were very long, customs took about an hour, the taxi line is much better than it use to be and that took about 15 minutes, we had a crappy driver she dropped us off at the wrong spot. So we had to go searching for the Agricultural Inspection (do this before you enter the airport). Then the lines at AA were super long, we got to bypass because DH is Gold Member so we only waited about 15 minutes. The regular line had to have taken at least 45 minutes. Security was pretty quick, again maybe 10-15 minutes.

Just remember anything can go wrong and take much longer or even go quicker.

 

Just an aside, if American Airlines changed your flight times (which happens to us all the time especially when I book free mile flights because we book them so far in advance), they will move you at no cost to a better timed flight (may even be a different day). As long as you don't change the originating airport and ending airport. The usual thing I do, if I don't like the response of the first customer service person, I will call again. Service varies according to if the Service Rep is in a good mood and how skilled they are. It does help if you do a little research and find a flight you prefer before you call. If you have to have an overnight, I would choose San Juan as the overnight (IMO); stay one more day in San Juan and then go to the airport early the next day.

 

Good Luck

[Angiet2]

We did that same flight, San Juan to LAX, in December. AA was 90 minutes late taking off and the gate agent idicated that this is pretty standard operating procedure for this particular flight. All of that being said, we were off the boat and at the airport by 9:30 AM. Do NOT buy the ship's transportation services...just grab your own taxi and go. :D

[slipslopslap]

We did that same flight, San Juan to LAX, in December. AA was 90 minutes late taking off and the gate agent idicated that this is pretty standard operating procedure for this particular flight. All of that being said, we were off the boat and at the airport by 9:30 AM. Do NOT buy the ship's transportation services...just grab your own taxi and go. :D

 

Thanks for the onfo, have changed our AA flight to 11.05am, we only faced this problem cos we booked a different airline from LAX to AUS :rolleyes:

[Atwell]

Thanks for the onfo, have changed our AA flight to 11.05am, we only faced this problem cos we booked a different airline from LAX to AUS :rolleyes:

 

One tip if you are in a hurry to get through Customs and Passport Control in the cruise terminal: we always hire a porter when we get our luggage and are able to bypass the lines. Not sure, though, if the same will apply for non-US citizens as I think there is a separate line but I would try. You can ask the porter if they can bypass the line. If yes, it will be worth the money.

[phoenix_dream]

In my opinion you stand a good chance of making that flight if you walk off the ship and grab a taxi as soon as you can. If I had to tag a number to it I would give you an 80% chance of making it. Why not 100%? If there are any delays in the ship being cleared, or during your disembarkation through Customs or the like, you could be in trouble. San Juan is not a port we have ever had disembarkation issues in (unlike some others) and we have sailed out of there many times, but this time is cutting it a bit close for comfort.

[Lsimon]

I agree this will likely be OK, but not 100% certain. Do you have a backup plan?

 

Question that might be relevent to the original poster: Would travel insurance cover incremental costs if the couple was late getting off the ship due to an unusual delay and missed their flight and connection?

[mudlark]

All of the above very interesting as we have the same problem 10 days later with an 11am AA flight out of San Juan.

 

Good luck

[slipslopslap]

I agree this will likely be OK, but not 100% certain. Do you have a backup plan?

 

Question that might be relevent to the original poster: Would travel insurance cover incremental costs if the couple was late getting off the ship due to an unusual delay and missed their flight and connection?

 

Spoke to our insurance and was told we are not covered for AA changing their schedule, however, if we needed to change our flights because of a delay such as the ship arriving in port late owing to weather etc. we are covered so we decided to chance it.

 

Thanks to all for the advice we will get a porter as suggested.

[chessbriar]

San Juan it a little different than sailing from Florida. X requests no flights before 10am at this port. We took their advice and did a 10:15am flight. We had not problem making our flight and still had a fair amount of time to kill before our flight.

[mrshark]

you should make it to an 11AM flight generally from San Juan you can get off the ship by 8 or so if you do self check out. Like other posters said get your own taxi don't wait for ship transportation as they will wait till the bus is full before they leave. Tons of taxis to the airport, about $20-25 or so.