3:30 port stop

[Guest moe46]

Possibly booking Celebrity Equinox June 11 with San Juan port stop 3:30-11. I've noticed Celebrity is scheduling that for many of the ships. Is that a wasted port stop?

[dblane]

I don't think so. The old city is safe to walk around in. You have time for tours and we usually try to have dinner at one of the restaurants. It is an uphill climb from the port, we usually take a taxi up and walk back, but we are not big walkers now. Enjoy!!

[jules815]

We'll be visiting San Juan in April on Reflection and also have the later port time.

 

Plenty of time to visit at least one of the forts there? Does anyone know how late they're open?

[Champagne Cruiser]

Since we are beach people we feel it is a wasted stop. The good news is that if you stay on board you will have a wide selection of loungers around the pool and no crowds at the bars or buffet.

[mandream]

We'll be visiting San Juan in April on Reflection and also have the later port time.

 

Plenty of time to visit at least one of the forts there? Does anyone know how late they're open?

 

6 PM.

https://www.nps.gov/saju/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

 

Mike

[dkjretired]

Possibly booking Celebrity Equinox June 11 with San Juan port stop 3:30-11. I've noticed Celebrity is scheduling that for many of the ships. Is that a wasted port stop?

 

Always wondered that myself, think it has to do with sailing time from previous destinations. Celebrity and many other cruise lines have been doing this for many, many years. You might be able to catch the fort and just walk around Old San Juan. A lot of people go to the hotels with the casinos.

[Ozzmund]

Possibly booking Celebrity Equinox June 11 with San Juan port stop 3:30-11. I've noticed Celebrity is scheduling that for many of the ships. Is that a wasted port stop?

 

Check out the free trolley that runs right from the cruise terminal. There are three different routes and two of them go to the fort. Easy way to see parts of the old city.

[GW248]

We have a 3:30 stop in San Juan in about two weeks. Is 3:30 local time? Does the ship stay on EST for an Eastern Caribbean itinerary (San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten) or switch to AST?

[Mr. Click]

Just be aware that the free trolley gets very very very crowded.....been there done that, ended up walking up to the fort.

[cb at sea]

Later in the day is fine! It's HOT as hell in San Juan....this timing should relieve you of some of the heat. No worries! Plenty to do there! Lots of restaurants and shopping.....

[2theship]

San Juan is a 500 year old city, very European. If you can make it to one of the forts, they're very interesting but you'll have to go right there when you arrive since they close early.

 

There are plenty of great restaurants around San Juan.

[Cruzin&Snuzin]

We have a 3:30 stop in San Juan in about two weeks. Is 3:30 local time? Does the ship stay on EST for an Eastern Caribbean itinerary (San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten) or switch to AST?

 

 

 

From my recent trip: The Ship time is always EST - for FL based cruises. The Dailies, CD and others will always use this frame of reference when stating a time. By Ship time, you arrive at 3:30, but it is 2:30 local time. This also means you leave at 10:30 local time, which is 11:30 Ship time. But definitely not 11:30 local time.

 

The CD urged people to keep their watches set for "ship time" because iPhones and other smartphones may auto-adjust to the new time zone.

 

Disclaimer: I've cruised exactly once, so others may have different experiences or be able to explain this with more detail.

 

 

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Edited January 31, 2017 by Cruzin&Snuzin

[Cruzin&Snuzin]

My math was off. 3:30 Ship time (EST) turns into 4:30 local time in San Juan. I have a hard enough time translating PST to EST, I should have just left this topic alone.

 

 

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[eddiethekub]

I can't recall a time in recent memory where ships time was different from local time. They usually have you move clocks forward or backward on the night before you arrive at the next port. I've got 30+ cruises under my belt.

[fielddreamer]

We'll be visiting San Juan in April on Reflection and also have the later port time.

 

Plenty of time to visit at least one of the forts there? Does anyone know how late they're open?

Old town is open til around 6:00 P.M. !

[donaldsc]

I think that it is a totally wasted port stop. Many of the cultural or historical sites close way before then. Also, it gets dark and in my opinion you want to see a city both in daylight and maybe at night.

 

You get these crazy times or crazy short times on lots of cruises because the ships cruise so slowly to save fuel. Part of their "the customer is always wrong" attitude.

 

DON

[Banjo]

For years Celebrity has done this and we usually occupied ourselves walking around Old San Juan or going out to the castle.

 

Then last week I was on the Reflection with a 330 arrival and I seen they added the Bacardi Rum Distiller tour. We did this and highly recommend it.

[north29]

Makes a big difference depending on what you want to do. We did the National park rain forest tour in December. It was dark before we got back to the bus after the hike through the forest, kinda unnerving LOL. But all is OK you will not be left on the trail, the park makes sure everyone is safe before closing.

[hancock]

3pm DaylightSavingsTime=3PM AtlanticStandardTime. There will be no difference in time.

[Baron Barracuda]

Asked many years ago why ships depart San Juan so late and was told it was due to an agreement between cruise lines and tourism bureau to support local restaurants and casinos. I know mdr was always half full when we stopped there.

[Cruzin&Snuzin]

Found this other thread that discusses 'ship' time versus 'local' time. Seems that my Reflection cruise that didn't change to local time was the exception and not the rule.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2448974

 

 

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Edited February 1, 2017 by Cruzin&Snuzin