Questions regarding Constellation and Puerto Rico

[Katy1011]

we are probably booking on the constellation for february of next year and have some questions:

 

1)since the ship doesn't leave until 11 p.m. in puerto rico, what time is boarding? do they serve dinner on the ship that first night?

 

2)would you arrive a day before or stay a day after instead?

 

3) would you book your own flight? or go with some kind of air derivative through celebrity since departure time is so late?

 

thanks so much for any insight.

 

kathryn

[Offtune Angel]

Hi Kathryn

 

Our experience was last April for the Eastbound Transatlantic out of San Juan:

1) Departure time 11:00 p.m. Boarding after 11:30 a.m. Open Sitting for dinner. Poolside BBQ buffet most of the afternoon. Compulsory Safety/Lifeboat drill @ 10:00 p.m.

 

2) Definitely at least one day before, simply to ease stress level. (am I going to get there on time? will the ship sail w/o me? what if there is a major traffic jam from the airport to the ship? oh where oh where has my luggage gone?)

 

3) Our T/A had a better rate than Celebrity for the trip last year, suprisingly because it was not round trip. This time (October/November), we are using Celebrity air.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Terry

 

P.S. We loved the Constellation, Service (Cabin and Dining) and Food were excellent

 

Until our Millenium Month (10/24 & 11/07)<BR

Constellation-Transatlantic-Eastbound-26/04/03;

Norwegian Star-Hawaii & Fanning Island-11/24/02;

Bolero-Transatlantic W to E-04/99;

Triton-Greek Isles & Turkey-07/97;

Triton-Transatlantic W to E-03/94;

Atlas-Transatlantic W to E-04/87;

Lord Selkirk II-Lake Winnipeg-06/75 (Honeymoon)

[nywritestuff]

Hi Katy!

Here's what we did:

We arrived a day earlier in San Juan just because it relieved so much stress. That way, we also had time to explore Old San Juan as well. Boarding time is officially 2 p.m. but we actually arrived at the port at 11:30 a.m. and were on the ship before noon. You can get lunch on board as well as dinner, which is open seating. Note: we couldn't get into our room until 2 p.m., though. Also, we were in CC, but several other cruisers came on board at the same time without any problems. It was a nice way to become acclimated to the ship and we didn't have to wait in line. The ship left a bit later because so many people had late-arriving flights.

 

We booked our own flight because it was so much cheaper, but that's because we arrived a day early. Also, we stayed an extra day at the end of the cruise just because, again, we wanted to relieve any stress. Some people, though, had early flights leaving San Juan, and I can tell you they were panicked. One word of caution: Make sure you don't book your flight too early on the way home.

 

We also had a chance to do more exploring in Old San Juan, ate at a great Latin restaurant, etc.

So, we arrived on Friday before the cruise and left Sunday, a day after the cruise

[Katy1011]

thanks to both of you for your replies!

 

i have cruised with celebrity before and am a CC member and it's nice to know that things remain relatively the same as to times of boarding, etc. we have been to san juan twice before, but have yet to sail out of that port.

 

more questions: what can you tell me about the airport? is it really crowded? are there long lines because of security? how did you get to the port? did anyone use priceline to book a room there? i've done it in ft. lauderdale, but not san juan.

 

again, thanks for all the help. i love these boards.

[espmass]

Katy- I just got back from the Constellation out of San Juan last weekend. Our cruise left at 11PM but we boarded at noon. They say boarding is 1PM but they usually let passengers on earlier. There is food and the pool is open and they have tours going on. It's actually very relaxing.

 

We arranged our own flights as the price was better. Depending on where you are flying from, it's a good idea to go a day or two earlier. That gives you extra time in case of a February snow storm and flight cancellations.

 

We flew down early the Thursday morning before the cruise and had a nice mini vacation first. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Isle Verde. I prefer going early to staying late as when the cruise is over, I'm ready to get home and have a suitcase filled with dirty clothes!

 

Have fun. The Constellation is just fantastic.

[cruzrus2]

I would recommend arriving a day early, especially if you are travelling from a cold climate. We arrived at the ship in the early afternoon and enjoyed the ship before it got crowded. Dinner was open seating and casual on the first night.

 

The airport can be crowded but we got through quickly. We did not pay for our transfers through Celebrity but got a taxi on our own. There are always plenty waiting at the curb. We booked our own flights. We did not want to be at the mercy of the cruise line as to our departure and arrival times.

 

We have stayed at the Caribe Hilton twice and highly recommend it. It is on the water, has a beautiful pool area and small beach and is close to the pier. When you call for reservations ask for the Executive Level. We got a very good room rate and could utilize the Executive Lounge which provided a continental breakfast, snacks in the afternoon, and desserts, coffee, and cordials in the evening.

 

Enjoy your cruise, we are dying to go on another!

[Offtune Angel]

Hi, again

 

When flew into SJU from Toronto (via Detroit) the day before the cruise. We arrived SJU @ 1322hrs, our luggage was on the conveyor five minutes after we walked for 15 minutes from our arrival gate to the luggage control. We immediately went to the ground transportation kiosk and they did all the paperwork (price setting, etc) for the taxi. Out the doors, across the courtyard and down two steps and there were a line of taxi's waiting. The driver, (Jose)was very pleasant, very well spoken and very proud of San Juan. His taxi was meticulously clean. He volunteered to give us a scenic tour enroute to the hotel. This was particularly appreciated by Doug who had never been to San Juan before (I was last there in 1987). Jose pointed out that traffic was increased where we were headed because of a "movie shoot" -- apparently San Juan was the closest the movie people could find to Havana Cuba. Even so, Jose had us to the hotel within 25 minutes of leaving SJU.

 

As far accommodations: We stayed at the Wyndham Old San Juan Hotel & Casino across the road and up one block from the pier for the Cruise ships. Check in at the hotel was not very efficient. We arrived at 1415hrs, lined up, and waited, and waited longer. We arrived at the check-in counter and were informed that check-in was not until 1500hrs. (it was now five minutes before three). We were given a "Pre-check-in Card", advised to wait in the coffee shop or to visit the casino. We headed for the Coffee shop (which had just closed for some reason), found an empty seat near the check-in counter and watched the line-up grow even longer. When we realized that people were now being assigned rooms, we re-joined the line, making it back to the counter by 1615hrs. They apologized, "but your room is not ready yet". After convincing the attendants that the room was really a necessity now (Doug had a violent headache from the flight -- I needed some medication) they were able to have a room prepared for us in twenty minutes.

 

From that point, everything was great. It was a delightful room. The window with its little balconette overlooked the street AND the harbour. By turning left we could see the Pier used by X ships. The next morning we woke up, looked out the window and there was the Constellation -- one of the most beautiful sights on earth (because she was waiting for us).

 

We arranged for the Hotel porter to ship our luggage to the pier (a big relief, BTW) and we strolled down on our own, arriving at 1145hrs. Boarding started at noon. Passengers were admitted to Pre-Boarding in groups of about 150. We were in the second group. We were wondering how long the actual check-in would take us, because we were from Canada and had to travel from the airport in Toronto -- the week after SARS broke out. The actual check in was faster than any of my previous cruises. We were on board the Constellation in no time, being greeted with a glass of champagne as soon as we set foot on ship. From that point on, we were pampered (and we weren't even in a suite).

 

As for security leaving from SJU -- I can't say, since we went home from London. However, Jose did say that the SJU was always extremely busy on the days when ships were in port. (Makes sense, 2200 pax leaving the ship, probably 1500 pax arriving for the ship on top of all the usual travellers. Arriving a day early made our ship boarding day a lot less hectic.

 

The hotel was booked through our T/A, but he matched the rate I found on Wyndham's web site (which was less than priceline or expedia).

 

Would I repeat the scenario. Definitely, even to staying at the Wyndham Old San Juan Hotel & Casino. (And we don't frequent casinos)

 

Again, Have a great cruise

 

Terry

 

Until our Millenium Month (10/24 & 11/07)<BR

Constellation-Transatlantic-Eastbound-26/04/03;

Norwegian Star-Hawaii & Fanning Island-11/24/02;

Bolero-Transatlantic W to E-04/99;

Triton-Greek Isles & Turkey-07/97;

Triton-Transatlantic W to E-03/94;

Atlas-Transatlantic W to E-04/87;

Lord Selkirk II-Lake Winnipeg-06/75 (Honeymoon)

[Katy1011]

thanks for your replies, everyone. all of this information has really been helpful for my planning and decision making.

 

i may think of more questions, so i'll probably be back.

 

thanks again!

[Joanandjoe]

I'm also thinking about a cruise from San Juan. My question is as follows: if I board the ship at noon, can I eat lunch onboard, and then go back to old San Juan for the afternoon (returning to the ship for supper)? Or is the policy: once on board, stay on board? If we choose this itinerary we'll arive several days early; but there are always more great things to do in San Juan.

[sparky3229]

Yes, you can have lunch and then go back to town. You may just find, though, that after lunch, the ship is still fairly empty and so nice to stay on board!

[nywritestuff]

One side note about the San Juan Airport: Make sure you eat something BEFORE heading out to the airport. Our flight was delayed for three hours and there was NOTHING, I mean, NOTHING in the airport. It's a horrible place to get stranded -- since we arrived two hours early, that meant we were stuck there for five hours.

 

We couldn't even get a decent cup of coffee. The line was so long for the tiny coffee shop and they served it in this little cups. There was nothing to eat, either, unless you went back through security to the Subway. That's what we ended up doing. Plus, there was a lack of seating, so many people had to sit on the floor. UGH

 

So eat a nice meal before going to the airport because you won't find much once you get there.