Docking in Puerto Rico at 17:00?

[douglanglois]

On my summer cruise, the MSC Seaside is scheduled to dock at in San Juan at 5pm, then leaves at 1am the following day. I checked out other sailings, and they also seem to list 5pm as the dock time in SJ.

 

Anyone have experience of this? Do they really not dock until 5pm, or are they normally early? We were looking forward to seeing more of PR than just the SJ nightlife. They also have 5 hour excursions available - are they really starting these at 5pm and continuing until 10pm? 

[Kwaj girl]

You have accurate intel.  We sailed Seaside last week and the ship did dock around 5pm and departed at 1 am.  Can't speak for excursions as we normally don't do those offered by cruiselines.

[asctony]

Got off of the Seaside on Nov 17, 2018 and yes, they dock in SJ at 5PM and leave at 1AM. Not a very good time in port for people who have never been to SJ.

[DMH15]

5 minutes ago, asctony said:

Got off of the Seaside on Nov 17, 2018 and yes, they dock in SJ at 5PM and leave at 1AM. Not a very good time in port for people who have never been to SJ.

Some of us are going in to have dinner in Old San Juan.   We will have about 2 hours of daylight to walk around first.  I am just excited to go to a new port, get a taste of the culture and hopefully go back.  

 

Perfect?  No,   But better than another stop in Cozumel. 

[#1TravelMom]

Just a suggestion.  The biobay on the coast is incredible.  I haven't checked on it since the hurricane.  But, if it's still "glowing", it is a great trip.  Contact kayakingpr.

[douglanglois]

12 hours ago, #1TravelMom said:

Just a suggestion.  The biobay on the coast is incredible.  I haven't checked on it since the hurricane.  But, if it's still "glowing", it is a great trip.  Contact kayakingpr.

 

This is a wonderful suggestion for making the best of a less than ideal situation. Thank you!

[CruisinStitch]

We got in about a half hour early when we were on Seaside last month.  We did an excursion through MSC to Casa Bacardi which we really enjoyed.

 

One thing I will tell you is to make sure that you figure out dinner ahead of time.  We should have eaten off the ship because by the time we got back onboard the only options available were room service and a severely limited buffet - pizza, cold sandwiches and desserts.  

[Tapi]

I’m from Puerto Rico and these short, night time stop in San Juan leave me scratching my head. There’s SO much to do in Puerto Rico. You could take a 10 day land vacation and not have enough time to see it all. I don’t know why MSC, as well as other cruise lines, have itineraries with these awful hours in San Juan. There are ways to conduct a 7 night itinerary with much better daytime hours. When we sailed on the Divina, we had a full day, arriving at 9am and departing at 1am.

 

We did take another cruise (on Carnival) that had a similar 5pm to 12am port time and this is what we did. We started by walking around Old San Juan. We walked along Paseo La Princesa towards the fountain, and then along the path outside the city wall where we watched the sunset. We then re entered the city through La Puerta de San Juan (a large door on the wall near the Governor’s Mansion, La Fortaleza). We made a stop at Hotel El Convento, a former nun’s convent and historical landmark turned hotel, for a few drinks. From there, we walked to the SoFo area (South Fortaleza Street) where there are several restaurants. We ate at the now defunct Parrot Club which offered Puertorican Nuevo Latino cuisine in a trendy environment. After that, we walked back to the ship but stopped at one of the town squares where people were gathered to listen to a live band. Overall a wonderful time in San Juan even if the hours were less than ideal.

 

Whatever you do, don’t make a bee line for Señor Frogs and waste your time in San Juan at this tourist trap. I read so many reviews from people who don’t venture past this bar/rest and then complain that their night time stop in San Juan sucked and that there was nothing to do besides get drunk.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Tapi

[neo4897]

On 12/3/2018 at 8:21 PM, #1TravelMom said:

Just a suggestion.  The biobay on the coast is incredible.  I haven't checked on it since the hurricane.  But, if it's still "glowing", it is a great trip.  Contact kayakingpr.

@#1TravelMom

Did KayakingPR pick your group up from the Cruise Port?  This would be my preferred option. I don't mind the extra $$ for the convenience.

 

Some of the other biobay tours require traveling to a pick-up location to join this tour.

[#1TravelMom]

No, we are usually there for a few days and rent a car.  It looks like an Uber is about $70 one way for 4 people.  Although, I would book it ahead of time to ensure that you can arrange a late pick up. 

[mef_57]

If a full  moon, there won't be much to see of a bio bay excursion.  Check the moon phase - no moon is best.

I recall getting in sooner than 5pm on another line, but we headed to the fort and watched sunset from there. Really beautiful. I had a 'walking tour' of historic spots so we plotted that and did a diversionary walk to the fort.  Wandered around Old Town after that and picked up some local food at a little eatery meant for locals. We wanted X. They were sold out. Wanted Y. Sold Out.  Finally asked what they did have...and took that.  Not gourmet, but cheap, tasty and authentic.  But it was 10 years ago, so don't recall the name or location.  We departed at midnight, but were 'home' by 11 so sat on the balcony and watched life go by. One of the few times we could use the balcony without being soaked with sea spray. I think it was also the only night the ship had a midnight deck buffet meal.

[nautica34]

Have the same issue for upcoming itinerary.  Hopefully there will be places to see or perhaps a beach not far from the dock.