Advise about travel to Miami/San Juan re Summit cruise

[welshfamily]

We are thinking of booking the Summit on the 3rd of November.

My husband will already be in the States and can start his holiday on Thursday the 1st. Thursday will be taken up by traveling from Austin TX to .........We would both like to spend the Thursday night/Friday in Miami and travel to San Juan early on Saturday morning. The Summit sails at 8pm.

There are flights which are suitable they arrive in San Juan between 11am and 12.30 am.

Please will you all chip in and advise? How many people travel to San Juan on the day of the cruise.?

Are we being foolish? Should we just make our way to San Juan to be on the safe side?

 

Recommendations for hotels would also be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Sheffie]

I think that most people fly in the day of the cruise. We don't because we like to enjoy the day in San Juan, and flying in from Indiana in March can be a crap shoot due to weather.

 

I don't think that flying from Miami to SJU on the morning of the day of departure would be a problem, unless something VERY unusual happened. I would do it from Miami with no trepidation. I would then check in at the ship and explore Old San Juan.

 

Enjoy!

[Lois R]

I think that most people fly in the day of the cruise. We don't because we like to enjoy the day in San Juan, and flying in from Indiana in March can be a crap shoot due to weather.

 

I don't think that flying from Miami to SJU on the morning of the day of departure would be a problem, unless something VERY unusual happened. I would do it from Miami with no trepidation. I would then check in at the ship and explore Old San Juan.

 

Enjoy!

 

Hi Michelle,:) I have to disagree...I think most people fly into San

Juan a day before the cruise. Much better to be safe than sorry.

[Lois R]

We are thinking of booking the Summit on the 3rd of November.

My husband will already be in the States and can start his holiday on Thursday the 1st. Thursday will be taken up by traveling from Austin TX to .........We would both like to spend the Thursday night/Friday in Miami and travel to San Juan early on Saturday morning. The Summit sails at 8pm.

There are flights which are suitable they arrive in San Juan between 11am and 12.30 am.

Please will you all chip in and advise? How many people travel to San Juan on the day of the cruise.?

Are we being foolish? Should we just make our way to San Juan to be on the safe side?

 

Recommendations for hotels would also be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Hi:) I always recommend arriving into the port you are sailing from

a day early. (just my opinion) but I much prefer to be there with

a day to spare....start the vacation early and of course depending

on where you coming from, weather can be a major factor..especially

in the winter time.

Just less stress all the way around:)

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

Hi:) I always recommend arriving into the port you are sailing from

a day early. (just my opinion) but I much prefer to be there with

a day to spare....start the vacation early and of course depending

on where you coming from, weather can be a major factor..especially

in the winter time.

Just less stress all the way around:)

There is no way this OCD girl could fly in the day of a cruise! I would much rather arrive a day or two early and spend the night in San Juan because of its historic charm! We stayed in a B&B in Old San Juan for much less than we would have paid to stay in Miami, and it was so much fun to roam the cobblestone streets, see the sights, and eat dinner there. The next morning, there was an outdoor concert going on and a street festival with a crafts fair. There's also the beautiful fort with a very nice promenade you can walk on beside the water.

[sailawayjack]

We are thinking of booking the Summit on the 3rd of November.

My husband will already be in the States and can start his holiday on Thursday the 1st. Thursday will be taken up by traveling from Austin TX to .........We would both like to spend the Thursday night/Friday in Miami and travel to San Juan early on Saturday morning. The Summit sails at 8pm.

There are flights which are suitable they arrive in San Juan between 11am and 12.30 am.

Please will you all chip in and advise? How many people travel to San Juan on the day of the cruise.?

Are we being foolish? Should we just make our way to San Juan to be on the safe side?

 

Recommendations for hotels would also be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

:cool:How about spending one night in Miami (Clevelander or Essex in South Beach) and either Hotel Milano (Old San Juan or El San Juan hotel and casino) in San Juan. You need a day at South Beach and a day in Old San Juan. Problem solved:cool:

[msakmom]

I have done it both ways and have never had a problem flying in the same day. I now tend to go in a day early just because I love spending time in San Juan.

[biker1972]

While flying in from Miami the day of your cruise shouldn't be a problem, I am in agreement with the others that San Juan is so interesting that I would rather spend time there than Miami or South Beach.

[Lsimon]

I would head to San Juan earlier myself. Both because I find San Juan more interesting and with nicer weather and because I don't like leaving flights to the day of the cruise if you can avoid it.

 

Personally, if your flight schedule allows it, I'd head to San Juan ASAP and enjoy two nights there so you'll have a full day of no flights to rest up and relax along with some touring time. But if that didn't work out I'd head there on Friday and do a night in each place as SailawayJack recommend above.

 

If you've never been to San Juan before then consider a hotel in Old San Juan (the historic old city center). It is a totally unique place and it is nice to be staying there. One of the beach resorts might be pretty nice too but while you'll be at nicer beaches during your cruise you won't be at any place like Old San Juan.

[fxcarden]

We always fly in the day of. We try to catch one of the earliest flights, so that we have time to react to unforeseen circumstances (delays, cancelled flights). Never had a problem, regardless of the season. Also, by arriving early, you don't have to "rush" to the ship. The Summit sails at 8 pm, but you really need to be on board by 6:30 pm. This means arrival at SJU no later than 3:00 pm.

 

You didn't say with airline, but I will assume AA. If that is the case, the 9:50 am flight should be your best bet, getting you there around 1:00 pm.

 

Also remember that SJU is one hour ahead of Miami, so you do lose that hour.

[Ontario Cruiser]

We are on the same cruise and for the first time we are flying in the day of the cruise from Toronto on Westjet arriving around 1pm. The reason we are doing this is because Westjet only has direct flights on Saturday & Sundays but we do usually leave a day or two early and especially in the winter months. Hopefully Nov 3rd will be a good flying day and no snow.

See you on the ship. You might want to check out the rollcall for this sailing.

Ontario Cruiser

[RNCheryl]

We, too are on this cruise. We are flying to SJ Friday and staying in Old San Juan. Less stress and anxiety.

 

The people we have " met" who will be cruising with us are a fun bunch; would love to have you join us!

[vickykay]

We live in upstate NY and always worry about the weather. We usually fly in a day early for our cruise whe leaving from Fort Laudedale (we usually cruise early March), but we did this cruise from San Juan two years ago and drove to Newark, where we could get a direct flight, the day before. we flew to San Juan early on the morning of the cruise and were on the shop by 1:00.

 

Enjoy your cruise. We were on the Summit this past June and had a wonderful time!

[phoenix_dream]

From Miami, you are probably ok to fly in the day of. But as a general rule, I would always suggest someone fly in the day before. On my very first cruise ever (which happened to be our honeymoon!) our flight out was cancelled due to bad weather. We were able to book a different flight (as the bad weather was at our one stop) so we were lucky, but you just never know. There is also something to be said for getting the stressful flying part of your vacation done with, with a day to chill before the cruise. That way the morning of you can sleep in, have a nice breakfast, and take your time in getting onboard. That gives you another whole day to relax and have fun. You are paying for seven days - why spend 2/3 of one of them in transit if you have the option?? I know sometimes schedules or $$ requires people to fly in the day of, but I wouldn't do it if I could avoid it.

[Bobocasey]

We have done this twice but we took the first flight out of MIA so if there are any problems you will have other options. Plus going at this time of the year weather hopefully won't be a problem . However, usually during the winter we always fly in a day early to Florida ports.

[dodger1964]

We've sailed from San Juan twice (doing third this nov 17th). Once arrived same day, once arrived day before(actually, technically arrived same day since got to sju at 1220am)

 

I think our entire "same day flight" passengers were cruising. Had no problems.

 

Our only concern was if missed ship the first day was at sea, so would have missed two days of cruise before catching up to ship.

 

We had a direct flight from Minneapolis so even though it was a winter trip, thought chances of that flight being cancelled (vs just late) were small and we got into sju at noon.

 

This next trip we are going two days early to have time to explore.

 

Have a great trip.

[phoenix_dream]

dodger - your points are well taken. One thing to think of in flying in the day of is - what happens if you do miss the ship? Getting to the next port may require losing a day or more of the cruise. And you may not even be able to get to that next port. We checked out various options from Chicago for our upcoming Nov cruise and one was a flight the day of. When I looked at the 'what if's' I found I could not even make a flight that got me to the first port of call on time, so I would have missed several days of the cruise (and incurred a large cost). From many cities (and Chicago is one of them) there are actually a limited number of flights to SJU (particularly direct). If one gets canceled, changes of getting onto another that arrives on time are not great. With the way most planes are virtually 100% full these days (or overbooked) even if there are flights, there may not be flights with any open seating (especially if you are competing with all the other people on your cancelled flight!). Too stressful for me. Don't wanna miss that cruise for anything:)

[fleckle]

I would also rather spend my time in Old San Juan than in Miami, but even if I didn't, I would fly in at least a day before the cruise just for peace of mind.

 

It is pointless for any of us to tell you whether or not we had a problem with our flights because our experiences will have nothing to do with your flight.

 

If your flight gets canceled or the airport shuts down, it will not be the slightest comfort to you even if a thousand other people post here saying they had no problem.

 

The odds are in your favor that you would make it with no problem flying in the same day, but it is up to you whether or not to take that risk when it is not necessary.

Some people enjoy the adrenaline rush of cutting it close.

 

Other things to take into consideration are space availability on backup flights the same day and if flights are running full, your own priority status for getting whatever remaining seats are available.

 

Also, as phoenix_dream has pointed out, know your backup options for catching up with the ship -- just in case.

 

 

[phoenix_dream]

It is pointless for any of us to tell you whether or not we had a problem with our flights because our experiences will have nothing to do with your flight.

 

Exactly! One of my pet peeves on these boards is when people say they made such and such a flight on disembarkation day, or got to the cruise on time so don't worry about it. Or my personal favorite - the seas were calm on my cruise and I didn't get seasick so you won't either. Yikes! Such bad advice. All we can convey is our experience, but a wise person looks at the big picture and considers the risks/benefits overall.

[welshfamily]

Thank you all,

Looking at the available flights and listening to all your advice I think we will fly straight to San Juan hopefully my husband can meet me in Miami and we can fly on together as he will be coming from Austin TX. We may then fly back to miami and spend a night there as Delta doesn't fly to Manchester UK from Atlanta on a Sunday and all American Airline flights are via Heathrow with a 3 to 4 hour lay over which we won't like having flown overnight.

He is in Louisville at the moment so we can't finalise plans until the weekend.

[reedprincess]

We always fly in the day of. We try to catch one of the earliest flights, so that we have time to react to unforeseen circumstances (delays, cancelled flights). Never had a problem, regardless of the season. Also, by arriving early, you don't have to "rush" to the ship. The Summit sails at 8 pm, but you really need to be on board by 6:30 pm. This means arrival at SJU no later than 3:00 pm.

 

You didn't say with airline, but I will assume AA. If that is the case, the 9:50 am flight should be your best bet, getting you there around 1:00 pm.

 

Also remember that SJU is one hour ahead of Miami, so you do lose that hour.

Actually, On Nov. 3, 2012, SJU and Miami are still the same time - there is no time difference until the US "falls back", which happens Nov. 4 this year (or the night of Nov. 3, depending on when you change your clocks, but technically, 2 am Nov.4) . True, San Juan, and most of the Caribbean, is on Atlantic Time Zone, which is 1 hour ahead of Eastern Time Zone, but they (and the Caribbean as a whole) don't do Daylight Saving Time, so we are the same time during USA DST and are 1 hour ahead during the winter months. Just a note for travel times.

I too would highly recommend arriving at least the day before your cruise - that way you are there, can relax, see the ship sail in (if in Old Town), have a relaxing dinner, sleep in, sightsee, etc before the cruise, without worrying about more travel, possible delays, etc.

While there shouldn't be any problem getting from MIA to SJU same day - why take the chance, if you can avoid it?

Enjoy your cruise!