Sailing out of San Juan

[tammi67]

Should I be concerned with an itinerary that sails out of San Juan? I've read some unpleasant reviews of a considerable amount of locals on the ship, being loud and rude (attributable to cultural differences).

[ontheweb]

Should I be concerned with an itinerary that sails out of San Juan? I've read some unpleasant reviews of a considerable amount of locals on the ship, being loud and rude (attributable to cultural differences).

 

We did not experience anything like that when we sailed out of San Juan in the summer of 2016.

[Pudgesmom]

Just making sure you are aware that Puerto Rico is part of the USA...

[paul929207]

We sailed out of San Juan years ago and had no problems

[NW Native1]

I've sailed out of San Juan several times, as recent as last September, and have not experienced any issues with locals on the ships.

 

Sent from my LGLS991 using Forums mobile app

[tammi67]

That’s good to hear. Thank you all.

[navybankerteacher]

Should I be concerned with an itinerary that sails out of San Juan? I've read some unpleasant reviews of a considerable amount of locals on the ship, being loud and rude (attributable to cultural differences).

 

WOW!!!

 

Reminds me of the time we sailed out of Bayonne, NJ; there was a group of loudmouth drunks. I guess you need to consider port of embarkation as well as line, ship, cost and itinerary. Can't be too careful these days.

[tammi67]

Just making sure you are aware that Puerto Rico is part of the USA...

What does that have to do with anything? So is Hawaii, but there are still differences.

[Keith1010]

I would not be concerned at all.

 

Keith

[new_cruiser]

I like sailing out of Puerto Rico - the sailings often have better port times and visit the ports on less crowded days than the 7-day cruises that leave the mainland on the weekend to crowd the ports on mid-week days.

[cmdchiefthom]

Should I be concerned with an itinerary that sails out of San Juan? I've read some unpleasant reviews of a considerable amount of locals on the ship, being loud and rude (attributable to cultural differences).

 

Seriously?:o

[Cruseforme]

There is one review from 2012 from a gentleman (take as you will), that complained about “locals”. Not sure he understood what locals are. This is on RCCL “ Adventure of the Sea”. I googled and found it.

[ontheweb]

We did not experience anything like that when we sailed out of San Juan in the summer of 2016.

 

Let me add one thing to my original reply. DW and I spent a lot of time at night at the Latin dancing, and the locals were very encouraging and supportive.

[mom says]

Should I be concerned with an itinerary that sails out of San Juan? I've read some unpleasant reviews of a considerable amount of locals on the ship, being loud and rude (attributable to cultural differences).

 

Strangely enough (?), on our sailing out of SJ, the only loudness, rudeness, and otherwise unpleasant behavior that we encountered came from cruisers with pronounced American accents. How do you attribute that to "cultural differences"? Hmm?

[pghsteelerfan]

We've sailed out of San Juan, twice, fairly recently and haven't had any issues. I know that some cruises have the reputation of being "loud and rude", but I've really only heard that about the 3 - 4 night cruises out of FL to the Bahamas & the comparison of those cruises to "spring break" atmosphere. We've only taken 7 day cruises but our FAVORITES are the ones we've sailed out of San Juan. We LOVE the ports, very scenic. It's also a great experience sailing out at night past the forts.

[6rugrats]

I have never sailed out of San Juan, but have encountered loud and rude people on every cruise. This has been on AMA, Windstar, Paul Gauguin and HAL. Some involving just a couple of people, others larger groups. They usually involve too much drinking or a sense of over entitlement.

[davekathy]

Seriously?:o

Agree!

[geoherb]

Our two cruises from San Juan were both in December. One was on Royal Caribbean and the other on Celebrity. I don't remember any obnoxious behavior from groups of people on either cruise.

[B&J_Pgh]

we flew out of there on Sunday. Please see this post of mine.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=55660087#post55660087

[B&J_Pgh]

We've sailed out of San Juan, twice, fairly recently and haven't had any issues. I know that some cruises have the reputation of being "loud and rude", but I've really only heard that about the 3 - 4 night cruises out of FL to the Bahamas & the comparison of those cruises to "spring break" atmosphere. We've only taken 7 day cruises but our FAVORITES are the ones we've sailed out of San Juan. We LOVE the ports, very scenic. It's also a great experience sailing out at night past the forts.

 

I wanted to get back to you about our previous discussions. First learning from you that Shipwreck was closed saved another couple we ate dinner with from a disappointing experience.

 

Second I told you I'd get back to you about Nevis. We spent an hour after our snorkeling and catamaran trip and an hour was plenty. The beach was Meh. It was called Peonies. There were waves and it pulled, etc and the beach wasn't the really pretty sand nor all that clean. I would never plan a whole beach break there unless there's a Bay with a day pass.

[RadioPeri]

I don't think you should be "concerned," but yes, you may notice some differences leaving from San Juan. There is a good likelihood you'll hear more announcements in both Spanish and English, and if you're a karaoke fan, you may hear some tunes you're not familiar with. A percentage of your fellow cruisers will probably be from Puerto Rico -- no surprise!

 

We happen to love the itineraries that start in San Juan, our Celebrity Summit cruise this past December being the latest. As others have pointed out, "loud and rude" can happen on a cruise from any departure point.

[PROCRUISE]

Sailed out of, and returned to San Juan this past January 2018 aboard the Viking Sea. No problems arriving or departing from the ship and/or the San Juan Airport.

[JTBCruiser]

DW and I have sailed out of this port 3 times, one of our favorites and if it wasn't because of high air fare at the times we like to sail, we'd sail out of here more often.

[pghsteelerfan]

I wanted to get back to you about our previous discussions. First learning from you that Shipwreck was closed saved another couple we ate dinner with from a disappointing experience.

 

Second I told you I'd get back to you about Nevis. We spent an hour after our snorkeling and catamaran trip and an hour was plenty. The beach was Meh. It was called Peonies. There were waves and it pulled, etc and the beach wasn't the really pretty sand nor all that clean. I would never plan a whole beach break there unless there's a Bay with a day pass.

 

Thanks for getting back! Great to hear your thoughts on Nevis. I know Carnival also offers an excursion that is a catamaran/snorkel/beach break combo and the beach break is on Nevis for about an hour. It gets fairly decent ratings, so that's probably what we'd do. The catamaran you were on, was it a large, yellow one (Blue Water Safaris)? Since we like to snorkel, something like that may be our best option. Is that the beach on Nevis that faces St. Kitts? I'd like it more for the views. Do you remember if there were any little shops/shacks near the beach on Nevis that sells small souvenir type stuff like fridge magnets? But yeah, an hour there does sound like enough time. Thanks!

 

 

Now that you mentioned the beach at Nevis, it sounds very much like the beaches in St. Kitts. Cockleshell's sand was kind of "meh" too. We've never been to Frigate Bay in St. Kitts, but I've heard the same thing about the beach then. I loved Shipwreck's black sand. So glad you were able to inform the other couple you met at dinner...that would have been disappointing. I know only a fraction of cruise ship passengers get on CC, so I'm sure that a lot of people weren't aware of the South Friar's Bay beach bars (Shipwreck, a couple others) were forced to close.