Wow dis-embakation in San Juan a nightmare

[Justmekaren918]

Wow getting off Adventure was a nightmare. Wow was it hot in that building. 1 1/2 hours, and I really thought I was going to pass out. Only 3 agents processing all of us! Just nuts. I wished I knew only line for gold cards leaving; thanks Royal.

 

Thankfully just made flight and power at airport out for 30 minutes.

 

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[crspr]

Puerto Rico had massive power issues this week. Power went off to all of the island on Wednesday and was mostly restored over Thursday and Friday, although I don't know that it was restored everywhere. There have been reports that power could continue to be an issue while the problem is actually fixed (the outage was caused by a fire at a major power plant). A lot of places have generators (including the airport and I would imagine the cruise ship terminal) so they were able to continue operations, but that may be part of what was throwing off the process at both places.

 

That said, I remember it being hot in the terminal when we returned from our cruise so I am not sure there is AC in there.

[Lionesss]

I love cruising and traveling, and every time we go to this island, something happens and we say we will never go back..

 

It must be us, because we have had many great vacations, and hope to in the future.

 

Oh well, safe travels to all.

[Justmekaren918]

Puerto Rico had massive power issues this week. Power went off to all of the island on Wednesday and was mostly restored over Thursday and Friday, although I don't know that it was restored everywhere. There have been reports that power could continue to be an issue while the problem is actually fixed (the outage was caused by a fire at a major power plant). A lot of places have generators (including the airport and I would imagine the cruise ship terminal) so they were able to continue operations, but that may be part of what was throwing off the process at both places.

 

That said, I remember it being hot in the terminal when we returned from our cruise so I am not sure there is AC in there.

Thank you for the reason why; since my driver to the airport really didn't know. Yes I was aware of it.

 

No there is no AC. I doubt at the cruise terminal on checkout no agent was using anything electronic. Only ship and tracking us, to make sure we were gone.

 

This is heads up for people to get earlier tickets off. Since those numbers may dictate when your luggage is put out. They got backed up by over an hour on the end.

 

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[LXA350]

San Juan is the worst port for disembarkation. It's completely unorganized and it takes until almost noon for all passngers to disembark and probably until after noon until they cleared for imigration. Supposdly this is the reason that RCL has the longest turnaround from approx 6AM until 8PM for it's ships there. I am wondering if the other terminal in the center used by Carnival for instance is better.

 

I am not blaming RCL on this one, this really seems to be due to the local authorities having a rather lazy attitude ;)

Edited September 25, 2016 by LXA350

[Desert Cruizers]

Reading this makes me glad I switched our cruises out of SJ over to FLL. For us, easier flights over & back and and with the b2b we still will visit SJ for the day as well as several new ports we haven't seen.

[LXA350]

And when you arrive for the day the port the ship uses is directly in old town San Juan all in walking distance

[Justmekaren918]

Reading this makes me glad I switched our cruises out of SJ over to FLL. For us, easier flights over & back and and with the b2b we still will visit SJ for the day as well as several new ports we haven't seen.

I am chaulking this up that I have done it and never again. The only thing that saved me was I was Platinum and above. I went right through quickly. No sitting in 90 degree heat 150% humidity. Again building hot. Nuts. I am just trying to provide 1st hand knowledge. Get their early and leave early. Couple on flighy home left early and got through quick.

 

Adventure was a great ship. I hope to maybe try her other 2 sis.

 

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[island lady]

I have had really bad disembarkation experiences at Ft. Lauderdale the

last couple of times with horrible long lines, and very short tempers

also. Only 2-3 customs agents working. :(

[Justmekaren918]

I have had really bad disembarkation experiences at Ft. Lauderdale the

last couple of times with horrible long lines, and very short tempers

also. Only 2-3 customs agents working. :(

Welcome to the budget cuts 2 December's ago! Same way with the TSA!

 

San Juan wasn't doing Pre Check, so I had to dig stuff out my bag, take my shoes off and more. I got screened and recheck, because my jeans were hanging wrong[emoji49] . Where as Boston through without an issue in under a minute! Best $80 dollars spent.

 

 

 

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[island lady]

Welcome to the budget cuts 2 December's ago! Same way with the TSA!

 

San Juan wasn't doing Pre Check, so I had to dig stuff out my bag, take my shoes off and more. I got screened and recheck, because my jeans were hanging wrong[emoji49] . Where as Boston through without an issue in under a minute! Best $80 dollars spent.

 

 

 

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Here in Port Canaveral, disembarkation is a breeze...very easy. :)

[cruisinfanatic]

San Juan is the worst port for disembarkation. It's completely unorganized and it takes until almost noon for all passngers to disembark and probably until after noon until they cleared for imigration. Supposdly this is the reason that RCL has the longest turnaround from approx 6AM until 8PM for it's ships there. I am wondering if the other terminal in the center used by Carnival for instance is better.

 

I am not blaming RCL on this one, this really seems to be due to the local authorities having a rather lazy attitude ;)

That is not the reason at all. Most all ships out of San Juan leave between 8 and 10 PM. A couple reasons would be that the late departure gives cruisers more time to get aboard after long flights. Second is because the next stop is usually only a few hours away.

Edited September 25, 2016 by cruisinfanatic

[Desert Cruizers]

In regards to flights for us in So Calif, I was looking at two connections with long layovers and higher cost. Coming home didn't offer good connections getting us home around 11 PM. In comparing the ports against our b2b, we only had 2 ports we hadn't seen vs 8 out of FLL. We will be doing the 6 day & 8 Day on the Freedom in April 2018

Edited September 25, 2016 by Desert Cruizers

[Justmekaren918]

In regards to flights for us in So Calif, I was looking at two connections with long layovers and higher cost. Coming home didn't offer good connections getting us home around 11 PM. In comparing the ports against our b2b, we only had 2 ports we hadn't seen vs 8 out of FLL. We will be doing the 6 day & 8 Day on the Freedom in April 2018

Frist hand acount from yesterday. I started getting massively panicked about making my 2:30pm flight. Thank the heavens I wasn't on the 11am. I started getting really panicked on I have to call the kennel and I couldn't get through probably no 1 in front of the number situation. Another instance of the PR is the US, but not really!

 

Again for anyone looking on this thread! The plot is you really have to at least get an early departure number! Whether you exercise it or not. I know all the bags were lined up! Maybe someone could expand who has either self or very early number noticed were all the bags to 30 were there at the beginning?

 

Nothing more annoying than putting us down at deck 3 when leaving at deck 4! I had to get an elevator for a deck more lost time.

 

Just didn't seemed like stuff was written out well. It was written someone was coming to the lounge to get you! They inferenced as a new custom issue. If I knew that I could just started to the line when a number called from a deck 4 floor area would saved me a ton of headaches.

 

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[Justmekaren918]

I have felt your pain. Royal count make money by having a system in PR to allow people to pay in order to get off first and I do not mean by booking a suite. :)

I thought it very interesting that they were more than happy to help their loyal to Royal on the way in, but you were a no one when leaving unless you had a gold card, yet the chicks were very inconsistent about who they were leting into that line. It got me steamed. I mean I love taking a sweat bath with 2500 of my non close friends!

 

 

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[steveru621]

4 times out of San Juan and I have never had a problem. Arriving or departing. 3 agents is problem that we have had many times in FL.

 

They leave at 8PM because San Juan is much closer to the next island than FL. The ship is clear by 11AM just like every other ship.

[Az's Cruising Nana]

Using a skycap helps also, best money spent . They get you to the front of the line in no time. Since we have started doing this it has shortened our time in line. Also having prearranged transportation is another plus.

 

Sue

[frenchcanrican]

I am from PR have taken several cruises out of San Juan. I now live in Boston.

 

The problem at the port is US Customs. It has been like this for several years. The same thing happens in Boston 1-2 hours wait until customs gets their act together. Vancouver is even worse!

Again it is all US Customs problem. Not RC or lazy workers.

 

 

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[Justmekaren918]

I am from PR have taken several cruises out of San Juan. I now live in Boston.

 

The problem at the port is US Customs. It has been like this for several years. The same thing happens in Boston 1-2 hours wait until customs gets their act together. Vancouver is even worse!

Again it is all US Customs problem. Not RC or lazy workers.

 

 

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It is the budget cuts to homeland security! It is also that these agents could be scheduled to do other duties, and 3 agents is unacceptable for that many people. They weren't even asking questions yesterday. Pure chaos of the people in the building managing the crowds. They didn't have enough line rope for the backup. TSA has been in the same situations.

 

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[meadowlander]

Welcome to the budget cuts 2 December's ago! Same way with the TSA!

 

San Juan wasn't doing Pre Check, so I had to dig stuff out my bag, take my shoes off and more. I got screened and recheck, because my jeans were hanging wrong[emoji49] . Where as Boston through without an issue in under a minute! Best $80 dollars spent.

 

 

 

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I did a b2b on Adventure a few weeks back. I saw how chaotic the disembarkation process was at the end of the first cruise. Consecutive cruisers reboarded the ship just after noon, immediately followed by the new cruisers. Because of that, I requested a disembarkation time, an hour earlier than I had intended. Luckily the following week, the process went smoother and I left the ship 10 minutes prior to scheduled leaving time. I did use a porter once inside the terminal and that did help in getting to the customs officer quicker.

 

I am surprised to read there was no precheck at the airport. I am not precheck approved yet I and many others were given that perk upon check in. I assumed it was done so as to have the lines move faster. The whole embark/disembark process at San Juan was negative overall and I have no plans as of now to ever cruise from San Juan again!

[Justmekaren918]

I did a b2b on Adventure a few weeks back. I saw how chaotic the disembarkation process was at the end of the first cruise. Consecutive cruisers reboarded the ship just after noon, immediately followed by the new cruisers. Because of that, I requested a disembarkation time, an hour earlier than I had intended. Luckily the following week, the process went smoother and I left the ship 10 minutes prior to scheduled leaving time. I did use a porter once inside the terminal and that did help in getting to the customs officer quicker.

 

I am surprised to read there was no precheck at the airport. I am not precheck approved yet I and many others were given that perk upon check in. I assumed it was done so as to have the lines move faster. The whole embark/disembark process at San Juan was negative overall and I have no plans as of now to ever cruise from San Juan again!

I assume you mean TSA PRE?

That was not available which sucked, because I had to pull stuff out shoes off and got extra scanning. Thankfully the lines weren't long. The other that suck was I had 2 bottles of water and if pre was running my guess I would've been able to keep them. Which I needed. Just criminal.

 

JB extra space actually you get that line as well.

 

Yeah I have no desire to go back. The power was out for half hour. Thankfully it sid not effect us leaving and I was glad to leave.

 

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[sr4mjc]

If you have Global Entry you can get in the shorter suite customs line in San Juan, but you must have your Global Entry card with you.

Edited September 26, 2016 by sr4mjc

[davekathy]

San Juan is the worst port for disembarkation. It's completely unorganized and it takes until almost noon for all passngers to disembark and probably until after noon until they cleared for imigration. Supposdly this is the reason that RCL has the longest turnaround from approx 6AM until 8PM for it's ships there. I am wondering if the other terminal in the center used by Carnival for instance is better.

 

I am not blaming RCL on this one, this really seems to be due to the local authorities having a rather lazy attitude ;)

 

That hasn't been our experience. We did a B2B Cruise on the Adventure out of San Juan March/April 2015 and we were on the ship just before 11:AM for the first leg and on turn around day all B2B Cruisers were cleared before 10:AM. B2B Cruisers are always last off and first back on.

[cruising_chow]

San Juan is the worst port for disembarkation. It's completely unorganized and it takes until almost noon for all passngers to disembark and probably until after noon until they cleared for imigration. Supposdly this is the reason that RCL has the longest turnaround from approx 6AM until 8PM for it's ships there. I am wondering if the other terminal in the center used by Carnival for instance is better.

 

I am not blaming RCL on this one, this really seems to be due to the local authorities having a rather lazy attitude ;)

All ships that leave out of San Juan leave in the evening. Celebrity, Carnival.

 

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[Kudos2Fly]

The last time we left from San Juan was on Carnival in 2006 and don't remember it being to bad and getting off the ship didn't seem bad either. The worst I think I have experience was from Miami.

 

We are leaving on the Jewel of the Seas in Dec. hope our 2:30 flight leaving from San Juan should be enough time to get off the ship and get to the airport.