Actual boarding time Valor San Juan?

[needabreakcanada]

We have paid for the FTTF for this trip. I am wondering what time people have gone to embarkation at? I know it says 2:30 - but what time do people usually arrive?

 

Thanks,

[Underdsun]

I booked this cruise for about a year from now. I've been pouring over other people's reviews, and most are saying they've gotten on as early as 12-12:3pm, eaten lunch, and headed back out to Old San Juan before debarkation. I'm sure there will be many more replies from others who have gone.

[Underdsun]

Sorry, I should have said set sail, not debarkation. Lol.

[NS-Cruiser]

We did this itinerary two years ago on the Victory... Our flight landed at 2:00. We went straight to the ship and boarded (took about 45 minutes to get on board). It was a zoo out front with everyone trying to get their bags to the porters and get themselves on board, but it went very smoothly.

 

We are going to be on the Valor on March 30, 2014 (we really liked the itinerary). We are flying in a day early and are planning to get to the port around 10:30 or 11:00. Then check our bags, throw our carry on bags into the room and then get back off and go exploring in Old San Juan..

 

 

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[welldone60]

We were on board and having lunch on the Victory a couple of years ago at noon.

[seannyice81]

We boarded 12:30-ish back in December.

 

Everyone needed to be (back) on by 8.

[NW Native1]

We have paid for the FTTF for this trip. I am wondering what time people have gone to embarkation at? I know it says 2:30 - but what time do people usually arrive?

 

Thanks,

 

I did this cruise last September - I too had booked FTTF. I checked out of my hotel at 11:30 am and walked the four blocks to the pier. I dropped by bags at the FTTF drop off, then went into the terminal and pickup my Sign and Sail card from the desk. I was on the ship having lunch by 12:30 pm.

 

Without FTTF I am sure it would have been at least another hour or two as the line at the check-in desk was very, very long.

 

I had a great time in San Juan, and on the cruise. With the number of ports it is very tiring, but was a ton of fun.

[needabreakcanada]

We are planning on pacing ourselves better than our first cruise.

 

I tried to find out all the shows so we can balance our time better than before. We had your time dining and kept going to dinner at sll the wrong times and then found ourselves running to the shows!

 

Live and learn.

 

Txs all for the info

[cbell21219]

FttF seems pretty pointless on this ship considering it does not leave until late at night. Most people spend the day in Old San Juan while just dropping the luggage off at the port.

[mainescout]

Last February we took a taxi from the hotel at 11am to the port. Got our S&S cards and were on board before noon. We were in zone 9, but there were very few people at that time in each zone.

[NW Native1]

FttF seems pretty pointless on this ship considering it does not leave until late at night. Most people spend the day in Old San Juan while just dropping the luggage off at the port.

 

Normally I would agree - but not having to stand one to two hours waiting in line in a terminal that is not airconditioned was really worth the extra money.

[sapperone40]

We did this cruise in Oct 2013 for our 30th Anniversary. We started boarding at 11 - 11:30. They took the Platinum and FTTF on first. No sooner did they have them in line to board through security, they started calling the boarding sequence numbers. Basically if you paid for the FTTF you were on the ship about 30 minutes to an hour before everyone else that was waiting to get on the Valor depending on what boarding number they had. We went to our room after we got on and dropped our bags off with no problem and then got something to eat and explored the ship.

[Underdsun]

We are planning on pacing ourselves better than our first cruise.

 

I tried to find out all the shows so we can balance our time better than before. We had your time dining and kept going to dinner at sll the wrong times and then found ourselves running to the shows!

 

Live and learn.

 

Txs all for the info

 

I love to go to the shows too. We scheduled our time dining too ( a year away) This itinerary is so port heavy, I was worried about dinner timing and shows too! Please update after your cruise about how you worked it all out! Thanks!! :)

[needabreakcanada]

CBell....First time I cruised I landed in a wheelchair for embarkation. My fibro is unpredictable so FTTF makes a lot of sense for us and is actually a big relief. Even if I don't need a wheelchair this time - waiting for lengths of time is very uncomfortable for me.

 

Undersun.....I already scoped out the Fun Times and recorded the show/comedy club and movies. We will write up our port excursions, figure out roughly when we get back to the ship and work from there.

 

Sounds a little over organized, but with a port intensive cruise I think it is best. There is always the option to change plans or just do nothing if we choose;)

[caribnsnrklr]

Hello..I've done this cruise 4 times. The last being this past May and every time we were on board by 12. We always arrived sometime around 11:30 to drop our luggage and pretty much went right on ship with no lines. Now I don't know if we just got lucky all those times but did notice that it seemed after 2 is when we noticed large lines forming as we were on and off the ship here and there.

[robear14]

We just got back from the 1/12 sailing; we got to the port around noon and our bags were at our room around 1:30 - we didn't have FTTF. In fact, the room next to us had FTTF and their bags were probably at their room only a half hour before ours.

 

The check-in line wasn't too long when we got there, we probably waited 20 minutes until we got our cards and were on our way to the ship.

 

Someone mentioned that the facility wasn't air-conditioned - I'm pretty sure it was. It was a hot day outside and the building was very comfortable. They also have some "Big Ass Fans" in the building. (If you look up, they actually have a "Big Ass Fan" logo on them)

 

If you're uncomfortable with the lines, then yes, I can understand that FTTF is very much worth it. I've just never seen any benefit other than that from my past cruises, and I've never gotten a "zone number" thing on any of the cruises I've been on.

 

As for San Juan, I highly recommend getting there a day or two earlier and staying in Old San Juan. The port is within walking distance to a bunch of small hotels and the food there is fantastic!

[valentinebaby1]

In October, I believe we dropped off our luggage at around 12:30. We were not given a zone number (I didn't even know they did that, as this was our 1st cruise). We got checked in, and probably had to wait in line for 20-30 min or so. We were on the ship I think around 1, went straight to our cabin and met our room steward who said we could put our carry on luggage in our room (we put it in the closet since he still needed to vac the room, but we emptied out one of the carry on rolling suitcases and took it with us.) We had a quick lunch on the ship, then headed back out and ran to CVS just down the street. The empty carry on suitcase made it easier to bring back our purchases from CVS, especially since it was pouring down rain. CVS was probably more of a madhouse than it was boarding the ship! We picked up a couple bottles of wine and some last minute things and stopped in at Senor Frogs before heading back to the ship. By this point it was probably 3:30 or 4 and there was no line for anyone to check in or to get through security. We basically walked back on to the ship without any wait at that time. It had been pouring down rain but stopped by this point. We had dinner in the MDR around 6 or 6:30, which was casual for the first night. After dinner we wandered around a bit and headed to the muster drill around 9:15 or so, which I think was at 9:30. Sailaway was at 10.

[sparky1964]

I purchased FTTF for my last cruise on June of last year. Purchased it again for my cruise on 2-9-14. I was the third person on the ship around noon. We had lunch, unpacked, and were off the ship at 1:30. For us , it was worth every penny. I like to spend my time enjoying my vacation , not standing in lines.

[travelingdiva2]

CBell....First time I cruised I landed in a wheelchair for embarkation. My fibro is unpredictable so FTTF makes a lot of sense for us and is actually a big relief. Even if I don't need a wheelchair this time - waiting for lengths of time is very uncomfortable for me.

 

Undersun.....I already scoped out the Fun Times and recorded the show/comedy club and movies. We will write up our port excursions, figure out roughly when we get back to the ship and work from there.

 

Sounds a little over organized, but with a port intensive cruise I think it is best. There is always the option to change plans or just do nothing if we choose;)

 

You're not overly organized by yourself. I did the same thing, planned out my days using the funtimes. Well, at least we will know what we are going to do...lol