Freedom San Juan, What time boarding?

[leisuretraveler223]

Sailing Freedom in August out of San Juan. It doesn’t depart until 8:30pm. I’ve only done cruises that sail around 4 or 5pm.  Does the later departure time mean a later check-in and embarkation time as well?  Anyone have any feedback on this experience in San Juan?  Just trying to plan our day.

[THE "CRUISE"ADERS]

Just back 2 weeks ago from a back to back on Freedom out of San Juan.

Check-in and first boarding is from around 11.00am, much the same as cruises departing at 4.30 to 5.00pm. Muster drill around 5.45pm.

We boarded at 1.00 and straight to the room. 4 hours at the pool before muster, then to dinner. Out on deck in time for sail away !! Perfect !!

 

 

[davekathy]

24 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Sailing Freedom in August out of San Juan. It doesn’t depart until 8:30pm. I’ve only done cruises that sail around 4 or 5pm.  Does the later departure time mean a later check-in and embarkation time as well?  Anyone have any feedback on this experience in San Juan?  Just trying to plan our day.

We did a B2B cruise on the Freedom (March 2019) out of San Juan and were on the ship by 11:00 AM. All dining times on the first day start at 6:30 due to the 5:45 muster drill. 

Edited June 16, 2019 by davekathy

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Sailing Freedom in August out of San Juan. It doesn’t depart until 8:30pm. I’ve only done cruises that sail around 4 or 5pm.  Does the later departure time mean a later check-in and embarkation time as well?  Anyone have any feedback on this experience in San Juan?  Just trying to plan our day.

 

Our experience sailing out of San Juan has been that things run a bit slower there.  Many times they did not start to take baggage until 10:30am.  Boarding started somewhere between 11am and noon, with the average being around 11:30am.

[cruiseguy1016]

The later departure time is due to the fact that many cruise passengers fly into San Juan on the day of departure. A lot of those flights don't get into San Juan until later in the afternoon. We have cruised out of San Juan many times. We always arrive at the pier around 11:00 and are usually on board before 12:00.

[adelros]

4 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

The later departure time is due to the fact that many cruise passengers fly into San Juan on the day of departure. A lot of those flights don't get into San Juan until later in the afternoon. We have cruised out of San Juan many times. We always arrive at the pier around 11:00 and are usually on board before 12:00.

Very interesting reason. I always thought ships leave later just because it's much closer to the ports in the Caribbean.