Princess Pulling Out of San Juan No Winter 2013

[flamingo6363]

Does Anyone know why Princess will no longer be sailing out San Juan Puerto Rico after April of this Year? I have contacted Princess and was

told that it was a buisness decision. But was not given a reason why.

[BobT172]

I have contacted Princess and was

told that it was a buisness decision. But was not given a reason why.

 

That is the reason right there...

 

"business decision" = $$$$... they can make more money sailing elsewhere

[Carolyn R]

I loved sailing out of San Juan but the airfare has more than doubled over the last few years to over $600 for me. The CB will be sailing to Europe in the spring and sailing from FLL in the winter of 2012/2013.

 

I wish that Princess would package cruises with a competitive airfare for all their cruises. It does appear that the Princess eZAir is becoming more flexible and more affordable, at least with their oneway or open-jaw fares.

[sirwired]

I remember many stories here of the CB cruises out of San Juan with a large number of locals that got killer last minute deals. That should be your answer right there... just no way to get sufficient non-mega-discount people in berths.

 

I looked at the San Juan cruises myself, but ended up selecting a 10-day on the Emerald instead, because it turned out to be the same price as a CB 7-day once additional airfare was factored in.

[BruceMuzz]

Why no more San Juan departures?

 

1. Massive corruption with police and government officials required major payola to get anything done on time.

 

2. Local Immigration officials who tried desperately to sabotage the cruise lines.

 

3. Useless port agents who actually worked with the corrupt officials, against the crusie line.

 

4. Ridiculous airfares.

 

5. Princess forced to give away cabins to the locals at the start and end of the season.

 

6. Shortage of reasonably priced hotel rooms for pre and post cruise.

 

7. Shortage of flights into and out of San Juan.

 

8. Rapidly escalating crime rate.

 

9. Port fees and taxes much higher than ports that are much better.

 

10. It's a US Port. Foreign flag ships face many hassles in a US port that they do not face in non-US ports.

[whatcruiseisnext]

They were filling those spaces with locals for $199pp.We were on a couple out of San Juan and heard this story over and over. They sure can't make any money that way!

[TorontoTL]

I'm glad we did our back to back cruises on the CB out of San Juan last year then. It doesn't surprise me that they're pulling out, the fairs were often rock bottom and that has got to be hard on the bottom line for Princess.

[beauty1492]

I'm so glad to here this! Our CB was a bad trip. Yes it was filled with locals. They could not find another couple that spoke English to sit with us at dinner. the locals cell phone all worked on the ship. And I speak enough Spanish that I know they bragged about the killer deals they got. If we never go to San Juan again it will be too soon!

[The Big Booper]

Royal has the same problem with their San Juan based ships especially on the AOS. Too many give-aways to locals for next to nothing. Meanwhile we pay high airfare and higher cruise prices. Plus have to come in a day early and stay in a hotel.

 

We couldn't get anybody to play trivia so frequently the two of us were the only participants. Lots of Spanish speaking people who spoke little or no English. Yes, I know it's a Spansh speaking country but the number of bilingual locals were down considerably from years ago.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Our CB cruise in Dec. 2009 was probably our very favorite out of all of them! We didn't have tons of locals like we had previously, the crew were fantastic, the flights on time (although at $775pp, they were more than the balcony cabins during Christmas week!) and taxis were plentiful and reasonably priced.

 

I think it's a shame they've pulled out of SJU. It was the best option on 7 day cruises to start with warm weather right away. :(

[caribill]

Yes, I know it's a Spansh speaking country.

 

It is a part of the USA where Spanish is the main language. It is not a country.

[jeaniem]

My husband and love do love spending a few days in san juan and then doing a cruise. This year we found the air fair too too expensive , so opted out of a cruise from san juan. Such a shame that locals can pay 199 per person for a 7 day cruise, but those of us from the states pay 1500. Pp no wonder princess is losing money on this cruise.. There are not enough of the 15oo pp to fill the ship.

[bigguy1]

Why no more San Juan departures?

 

1. Massive corruption with police and government officials required major payola to get anything done on time.

 

2. Local Immigration officials who tried desperately to sabotage the cruise lines.

 

3. Useless port agents who actually worked with the corrupt officials, against the crusie line.

 

4. Ridiculous airfares.

 

5. Princess forced to give away cabins to the locals at the start and end of the season.

 

6. Shortage of reasonably priced hotel rooms for pre and post cruise.

 

7. Shortage of flights into and out of San Juan.

 

8. Rapidly escalating crime rate.

 

9. Port fees and taxes much higher than ports that are much better.

 

10. It's a US Port. Foreign flag ships face many hassles in a US port that they do not face in non-US ports.

 

That says it all!!! It was a good business decision for Princess. They probably should have pulled the trigger sooner.

[DGNY]

RCI is also pulling the Serenade out of PR after April '12. This ship previously sailed out of PR year round. So, I think that cuts total supply in half. Sucks for Princess, but I'm sure it will help out RCI (Adventure) and Carnival (Victory).

[mph045]

Sorry to see Princess leave San Juan-she is a beautiful City-great people and food. Unfortuneately I was on the Caribbean last December for 2 weeks and 12-1400 were locals-they failed to auto tip, created problems with entertainment, left big messes in Cabins and elevators, flew PR Flag in there balconies, Art work ruined, unsupervised teenagers roaming halls during the night trying break into cabins, etc. I saw it all and many instances were reported.

I know for a fact the Crew was very upset as well as her Officers about the situations and tried to correct situations as they arose. There were alot of Elite and Platinum members who complained during the trip as well as to Corporate-most stated they would not go out of PR anymore because of the huge discounts[some received $199-300 total for the week for cabins]certain individuals did not know how to conduct themselves. I personally spoke to Corporate about it all.

I recently came back from San Juan and was shocked to see soo many shops and restaurants closed downtown due to the economy as well as reduced Cruises coming to Port.

Yes its a shame this has happened-that a few hundred locals ruined it for so many-I know for a fact how embarras many of San Juan people were of how the outlining locals acted! I have been on Cruises numerous times out of San Juan and instances above only happened late November to early December when the prices were dramatically reduced to fill the ship-I told Princess incentives should be offered well in advance to fill the ship vs offerings well below the average and personnel getting on board and acting like animals.

[generichandle]

We are departing in two weeks, 12-4, on the Carribean P, b2b, and I want to thank you all for the encouragement. :rolleyes:

 

We fly out of Indianapolis for about $400 rt. Got an excellent deal for cabin, and having never been to the Carribean, wanted this incredibly port intense trip; two sea days in two weeks.

 

The ship has been sold out, I think since September. We got an e-mail with a nice deal. I am surprised to hear you say it is a bad deal economically, since you could hardly get any trip with 12 ports in 14 days for less than $100/day includiing airfare, and even with excursions just about that.

 

Perhaps it is just that causing Princess to leave San Juan? But I am glad [so far] to have this chance. I love mountains far more than beaches, but one good solid trip to most of the Carribean should be a keeper.

 

Funnily, on the Roll Call I hear nothing of all the evils given in this thread. Guess I had better connect them to this, so they see their doom coming.

 

Kill joys! :D

 

Doug

[sun&sea]

I have sailed the southern Caribbean route on the CB, the Crown, and the Golden more times than I can count!!! We usually sail in mid to late January. I have yet to witness this sell-out crowd of Puerto Ricans. :confused:

 

I do say the hotels are on the expensive side in San Juan, and they seem to want to tax the heck out of the tourists. Yet, I will miss our annual get-away to San Juan. We always enjoy several days pre-cruise as well as post-cruise, mostly because of the weather. As for itinerary, I love the diversity of the islands in the southern Caribbean. I much prefer to wake up in a new place than to stay at a resort.

 

One thing I have to disagree with is that the port fees are much higher on this itinerary. I have to say they are very reasonable compared to the Bahamas and other cruises I have taken. Also, the ridiculous airfares are not just to San Juan. We live in the midwest and since Airtran pulled out of our area, airfares to Florida are nuts!!! Flying to fll from here is costing $550 -$600. No thanks.

 

I will be sorry to see Princess leave San Juan, but such is life. Time to move on and find another kind of vacation I guess. I am just thankful I have an opportunity to go ANYWHERE. It was great while it lasted....

 

Janet

[StillPooh]

We are departing in two weeks, 12-4, on the Carribean P, b2b, and I want to thank you all for the encouragement. :rolleyes:

 

We fly out of Indianapolis for about $400 rt. Got an excellent deal for cabin, and having never been to the Carribean, wanted this incredibly port intense trip; two sea days in two weeks.

 

The ship has been sold out, I think since September. We got an e-mail with a nice deal. I am surprised to hear you say it is a bad deal economically, since you could hardly get any trip with 12 ports in 14 days for less than $100/day includiing airfare, and even with excursions just about that.

 

Perhaps it is just that causing Princess to leave San Juan? But I am glad [so far] to have this chance. I love mountains far more than beaches, but one good solid trip to most of the Carribean should be a keeper.

 

Funnily, on the Roll Call I hear nothing of all the evils given in this thread. Guess I had better connect them to this, so they see their doom coming.

Total buzzkill, right? :(

 

We got nonstop flights from Baltimore to San Juan for ~$400/pp. Window Suite for $999/pp. We've never done a Southern Caribbean cruise, and haven't been to any of the islands except San Juan. I'm glad we're getting in "under the wire" before Princess cancels this route. :(

[George C]

as in a Jimmy Buffet song "don't want to land in San Juan Airprot", I dislike the city and normaly just stay on the ship if its a stop.

[geoherb]

We've sailed twice from San Juan, but neither time on Princess. The first was on Celebrity and the second on HAL. Neither cruise had a large number of people from Puerto Rico on it. The reason I don't like to sail from San Juan, though, is that I've decided I like days at sea. The southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan all seem to go to a port a day, with maybe one day at sea out of seven.

[jpg1747]

I like San Juan as a port stop, but I won't sail from there anymore. I'd rather spend the airfare difference and take a longer cruise from Florida. I've done 2 Southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan recently (one on Princess and one on Carnival) and while I love the ports we can reach, I wasn't as happy with the passenger mix either time.

[mph045]

As I stated earlier there were problems we encountered last December 2011. We still love San Juan as well as the itenerary they had with the Caribbean Princess. Yes ,airfare is expensive-we paid $719 for the 2 of us plus we always travel 1 or 2 days before.

 

Old San Juan and Condado areas are very beautifull-people very friendly-great restaurants\[barachinna/Carlie's Cafe/Parott Club/Bombonera/Miros/ as well as Hotels-El Convento/Mariott Stellaris/etc.

 

I believe it was a business decision as well as issues I am sure with Politics and leverageing.

 

I hope Princess reconsiders to go back to San Juan in the near future-we would consider taking another trip out of San Juan

[teegee16]

I have sailed a few of times out of san juan in the past and am scheduled for b to b in january on CB. In the past my husband and I have really enjoyed the precruise experience on the island and have been all over it, including into the mountains, west coast and south. Hearing that there will not be departures from sju anymore may mean that this will be my last trip down there. I am sad about that and can only imagine the economic impact to the residents of PR with cruise ships pulling out.

 

I have never experienced a glut of pr passengers on any of my cruises, but i always cruise in peak season so that may explain why.

 

I do agree with many previous posters about high hotel rates, and this year it is like pulling teeth trying to find a reasonable airfare from boston. But there is something to say about starting your vacation in warm tropical weather as soon as you get off the plane. PR beaches especially those outside the tourist areas are certainly competitive with any others you will find in the southern Caribbean. Since i have not booked my airfare out there yet my arrival can be adjusted to arrive sooner, so maybe i'll try to do that since i may never return.

[anthonyf12]

We are departing in two weeks, 12-4, on the Carribean P, b2b, and I want to thank you all for the encouragement. :rolleyes:

 

We fly out of Indianapolis for about $400 rt. Got an excellent deal for cabin, and having never been to the Carribean, wanted this incredibly port intense trip; two sea days in two weeks.

 

The ship has been sold out, I think since September. We got an e-mail with a nice deal. I am surprised to hear you say it is a bad deal economically, since you could hardly get any trip with 12 ports in 14 days for less than $100/day includiing airfare, and even with excursions just about that.

 

Perhaps it is just that causing Princess to leave San Juan? But I am glad [so far] to have this chance. I love mountains far more than beaches, but one good solid trip to most of the Carribean should be a keeper.

 

Funnily, on the Roll Call I hear nothing of all the evils given in this thread. Guess I had better connect them to this, so they see their doom coming.

 

Kill joys! :D

 

Doug

I am also on the B2B - I find these post odd as I never herd this before, Maybe it was just 1 bad trip. Never had a probelm B4

[CruisingJs]

For those of you getting ready to cruise out of San Juan, let me give you a more positive outlook. I loved the Southern Caribbean itinerary. I loved sailing out of San Juan and I loved staying there for a few days after our cruise. I found the people warm and friendly. Yes, the flights to get there are expensive and the hotels are expensive, but it's worth it. I would sail out of San Juan again in a heartbeat. This was one of my favorite cruises.