San Juan 2016 Cruise

[SheehanDJ]

We are cruising out of San Juan October of next year. It's early, but I have to submit 50% of my vacation time in January so with holidays coming its about that time to get a schedule in mind.

 

The cruise leaves Saturday at 8 pm, so the question is:

 

Fly in Thursday and enjoy San Juan before hand and fly home the following Saturday on disembarkation day.

 

- or -

 

Fly in Friday and enjoy two half days in San Juan, disembark the following Saturday and enjoy San Juan the rest of the day and fly home Sunday.

[Clarea]

I'd go for option #2, where you fly home the day after disembarkation. Less stress on disembarkation day.

[bouhunter]

I always try to avoid stress on disembakation day, however in this case I'd vote for going down Thursday to have a full day to relax and enjoy San Juan.

[harlekuin]

I voted for the 1 and 1, but in reality, we would do 1 and 3. After traveling all the way from California, need to make it worth our while. :)

[ValerieJo]

I say 2 days before only because I'm always too excited to get my vacation started. Once I'm off the ship the trip is basically over for me.

[71Corvette]

I believe that one of the best things about cruises that start/end on a Saturday is that, if you travel home on embarkation day, you have Sunday to unpack and relax. I've never liked getting home late on Sunday, rushing to do some basic unpacking, and then turning in so you can get up early on Monday.

 

Also, staying in SJ for two days in a row would be a more immersive experience - you can better experience the culture and "vibe". Doing two separate days makes the experience more choppy and, in my opinion, lessens the overall experience.

[dottiesmom]

We have done three cruises out of SJ this past year. Two of those we flew in/out on Sat. The last one we flew in on Friday & out on Sat. Next time we will fly in on Thursday prior. SJ has so much to offer & some things take a full day (rainforest etc). It was also nice to get to SJ & relax prior with no worries of missing boat due to plane delays. Flying out on Sat is fine because you get Sunday to relax before vaca is over. On disembark day, we scheduled a late afternoon flight & had an independent tour operator pick us up at pier & give us a pvt 4 hour tour of Old SJ & "new" SJ. Our luggage stayed with us as we toured. Booking the excursion from ship did not appeal to me because luggage would go to airport & sit in an unsupervised area until you get there. Your was from 10-2. Dropped off at airport for 4:00 flight but they work with whatever schedule you want.

[grouchomarx]

I think the latter choice makes the most sense. San Juan is beautiful and lots to do. We flew in only one day before a cruise and felt badly we didn't have enough time to see and do more. I'm always anxious to get home and settle back in after a cruise is over, feels like vacation is just done, so I'd rather explore before the cruise. Bacardi factory was a lot of fun. Old town is lovely. Have a great cruise.

[CAT GIRL]

I would stay a day after the cruise. Check out what your flight options

are coming home. Flights home on the day of debarkation are usually in

the late afternoon. (I live in Chicago and my flight home is at 2:45 pm) I think I would rather spend that day enjoying San

Juan than sitting around in the airport. Then see about a flight home on

Sunday. So before you decide look into your flights. That may help

your decision.

[ltjn]

voted for #1. We are actually flying 3 days before our cruise on the Adventure, but are flying out of San Juan the day we depart. Flight is at 1155. Staying in a suite hoping to use the suite benefit for early disembarkment. What will help is we qualify for TSA PreCheck.

[Let'sGo!]

Personally we love San Juan, so we always try to include some extra time.

Our last cruise, we flew in the day before and spent the day in Old San Juan. On our return, we also stayed an extra day, but this time in the Condado area. Two totally different views of San Juan.

 

Might be something to think about!

 

Ann

[hollon]

I vote for #1 because after a cruise I am always so tired and I feel like once I leave the ship vacation is over and time to hop on the road.

[Susie51]

I say 2 days before only because I'm always too excited to get my vacation started. Once I'm off the ship the trip is basically over for me.

 

I agree with you. In SJ in Jan. I'm doing 2 days before and then leaving on disembarkation day, but I voted the other way accidently.

[Susie51]

Personally we love San Juan, so we always try to include some extra time.

Our last cruise, we flew in the day before and spent the day in Old San Juan. On our return, we also stayed an extra day, but this time in the Condado area. Two totally different views of San Juan.

 

Might be something to think about!

 

Ann

 

This is a great idea. Next time I sail out of San Juan I'm going to try it.

[NOSaints1]

Were leaving the 8th in October, my DW wants to fly the day of, in Westjet direct flight there and back.

[OCruisers]

2 Days before would work best for us. We are always ready to fly directly home after a cruise. :)

[Seaside2358]

We're doing 2 days before cruise and 1 day after. Day after basically relaxing on beach and days before getting vacation started and exploring San Juan.

[Luv my furbaby]

In January I did 2 days before. Gave me a chance to see a little of San Juan. Hopefully am planning on doing the same thing November 2016!!

[SheehanDJ]

We're doing 2 days before cruise and 1 day after. Day after basically relaxing on beach and days before getting vacation started and exploring San Juan.

 

 

This would be the ideal, except I'm using Marriott points for the hotel and only have enough for 2 nights.

 

 

Personally we love San Juan, so we always try to include some extra time.

Our last cruise, we flew in the day before and spent the day in Old San Juan. On our return, we also stayed an extra day, but this time in the Condado area. Two totally different views of San Juan.

 

Might be something to think about!

 

Ann

 

 

I didn't consider that, just assumed we would hang out in the same area no matter which days we stayed. Thanks.

 

 

I say 2 days before only because I'm always too excited to get my vacation started. Once I'm off the ship the trip is basically over for me.

 

 

I have this same attitude, kind of a "time to get back to reality" thing, disembarkation day I start thinking about projects I need to get done around the house, what's going on at work, etc.

 

I assume that would be delayed if we had an extra day, but if we did stay a day after if would be the first time ever extending a vacation afterwards. Be interesting to find out how I reacted :confused:

 

Thanks for the feed back everyone, looking at the poll numbers it is pretty evenly split with a slight edge to staying two days before.

[Ashland]

2 Days before would work best for us. We are always ready to fly directly home after a cruise. :)

 

Absolutely agree....I'm ready to go home directly after my cruise.

[NOSaints1]

Last year we cruised on Carnival out of SJ, we booked with United the day before out of Buffalo and our plane went mechanical, so they booked us on Delta and on the way back we flew to Newark and again our plane went mechanical and got back to Buffalo at around 1am, and our hotel forgot to pick us up. So we drove home through a snow storm, took us about 3 hrs which is normally an hour drive back to Ontario and the next day Buffalo got hit with a huge snow storm, that was November of 2014.

[cyntil8ing]

I voted for two days before. If my cruise was a Sunday turnaround, I might be tempted to wait until Monday, but I would not want to deal with the airport on a Sunday with everyone who got off a ship on Sunday plus everyone who got off a ship on Saturday and wanted to stay an extra day.

 

And for those with more extra days, I highly recommend getting out of San Juan and exploring the rest of Puerto Rico. In August, we flew down on a Tuesday and spent four nights in Fajardo at El Conquistador Resort. More details and photos in my review.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2256548