Flight out of SJU

[PROCRUISE]

On 9/18/2019 at 9:55 AM, sunnut said:

 

We've only used Florida ports for cruising in the past. Is San Juan a good alternative for airfare, lodging, port transfers, etc.? (We live in Ohio.) Thanks!

 

 

Have flown from Columbus to San Juan to board with Viking Ocean. I actually took a very early morning flight out of Columbus to Atlanta, changed planes to get to San Juan day before the cruise. Flight, hotel and transportation all booked through Viking and it was a very pleasant experience.

Edited October 17, 2019 by PROCRUISE

[chrismakris]

Have flown out of SJU 4 times and for 3 of them they were before noon(once before 11)We were through security real fast and actually had too much time to kill.  
 

Two suggestions to save time is if you are in port the day before you disembark or have internet on the boat, check in for your flight online and then all you have to do is drop off your luggage at the airport. If there is a long wait too check in at the airport this will save you time. 
 

Second is to use the porter service they have after you disembark. Unless something has changed since last year they have their own dedicated line through customs that tends to be shorter and faster.   It’ll cost you a few bucks in a tip but worth it to save up to 20-30 minutes at customs.  

[LibrarianBecky]

On 9/17/2019 at 8:45 PM, garyl62 said:

We have only gone directly from the ship to SJU one time, that trip we had a suite so we were escorted off the ship, straight to customs, no wait there, directly outside and told the staff we wanted a taxi to the airport, no wait for a taxi, we got to SJU and went through the Agricultural check point and were in the terminal by 9:00AM.  Unfortunately our flight was a 3:00PM departure and they will not let you past security until 3 hours prior to departure.  There are very few seats on the public side of TSA so we spent 3 hours sitting on the floor.  After that trip we learned to just go to go Old San Juan and spend a few hours in town before heading to SJU.  There are limited AA non-stop flights to ORD so not really any earlier flight options.  If you are in a suite and get an early escort off, I'd be willing to try a 10:00, 11:00 very doable.  Then again, I'm a risk taker and enjoy the rush of anxiety!

 

Our flight out of San Juan does not depart until 3:45.  I would love to explore Old San Juan, instead of sitting at the airport.  What do you do with your luggage while touring, though?

[CruisinCons]

4 hours ago, LibrarianBecky said:

 

Our flight out of San Juan does not depart until 3:45.  I would love to explore Old San Juan, instead of sitting at the airport.  What do you do with your luggage while touring, though?

 

We're going to give this a try:  http://www.barrachina.com/#servicios

 

They will store your luggage from 9am on, so we expect to take our time getting off them ship, mosey on over to OSJ, then stop off at the restaurant to leave our bags.  We'll wander the area a bit, return back and have 2nd breakfast/early lunch, collect the bags and taxi to the airport for our 2:15pm flight.  Since we need to be there a minimum of 2 hours for the ag screening, we'll catch a cab around 11:30-45am.  

[fleckle]

7 hours ago, LibrarianBecky said:

 

Our flight out of San Juan does not depart until 3:45.  I would love to explore Old San Juan, instead of sitting at the airport.  What do you do with your luggage while touring, though?

 

If you take a commercial tour on the disembarkation day (either ship sponsored or private) the tour operator will take your luggage and transport it to the airport for you, either in the same vehicle with you,  or in a separate vehicle.

 

AFAIK Celebrity offers a tour of San Juan and a tour of the rain forest that day, as do some private tour vendors.

 

When they took our luggage to the airport in a separate truck, they gave us a claim check for each piece that we needed to show to retrieve the luggage when we arrived at the airport.

Our bus dropped us off at the airport right by the place where our luggage was stored.

    

 

Edited October 19, 2019 by fleckle

[fstuff1]

On 9/17/2019 at 8:45 PM, garyl62 said:

We have only gone directly from the ship to SJU one time, that trip we had a suite so we were escorted off the ship, straight to customs, no wait there, directly outside and told the staff we wanted a taxi to the airport, no wait for a taxi, we got to SJU and went through the Agricultural check point and were in the terminal by 9:00AM.  Unfortunately our flight was a 3:00PM departure and they will not let you past security until 3 hours prior to departure.  There are very few seats on the public side of TSA so we spent 3 hours sitting on the floor.  After that trip we learned to just go to go Old San Juan and spend a few hours in town before heading to SJU.  There are limited AA non-stop flights to ORD so not really any earlier flight options.  If you are in a suite and get an early escort off, I'd be willing to try a 10:00, 11:00 very doable.  Then again, I'm a risk taker and enjoy the rush of anxiety!

 

wait.. what?

u left the ship at 6am and got to the airport at 9am?!

 

um.. my flight is at 9:45am. (ship docks at 6am)

should i change it???

(im doing walk off and 1carry-on  luggage)

 

Edited October 19, 2019 by fstuff1

[fleckle]

1 hour ago, fstuff1 said:

 

wait.. what?

u left the ship at 6am and got to the airport at 9am?!

 

um.. my flight is at 9:45am. (ship docks at 6am)

should i change it???

(im doing walk off and 1carry-on  luggage)

 

 

Under normal circumstances, you should be fine.

Even if the ship arrives at 6 am, they won't start letting passengers off until the ship has been cleared.

 

Do online check-in and get your boarding pass the day before .

That way when you arrive at the airport you can put your bag through the agricultural scan, then go directly through security and out to your gate, without needing to stand in a check-in line.

 

If you have pre-check, that helps to speed things up going through security as they do have a pre-check line at SJU.

 

Many passengers who self-disembark have reported being seated at their departure gates by 8 or 8:30.

But remember Murphy's Law, so do know your backup options, just in case......

 

 

Edited October 19, 2019 by fleckle

[garyl62]

18 hours ago, LibrarianBecky said:

 

Our flight out of San Juan does not depart until 3:45.  I would love to explore Old San Juan, instead of sitting at the airport.  What do you do with your luggage while touring, though?

Barrachina is a restaurant in Old San Juan that has an area where they store luggage.  I don't recall if they collect a small fee, or if it is a tip only suggestion.  I do know they politely ask you to come back for lunch (which we did and enjoyed it).  We took a taxi there from the pier, then arranged for our driver to return and pick us up at an agreed upon time to take us to the airport.  He provided his cell number also in case our plans changed.  There is a cab stand close by also I believe.  You can search Cruise Critic or google to find out more about Barrachina.

[garyl62]

11 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

wait.. what?

u left the ship at 6am and got to the airport at 9am?!

 

um.. my flight is at 9:45am. (ship docks at 6am)

should i change it???

(im doing walk off and 1carry-on  luggage)

 

Sorry I didn't include the time we started our debarkation process.  We didn't dock until 7:00, we left our cabin at 8:00 and probably only stayed in Michael's for maybe10 minutes.  We hit customs by about 8:20 I'd guess, then from there no custom line, there was a cab waiting outside, no traffic to SJU, no line at Ag check, in the terminal by 9:00.  One hour total time.  Pretty lucky though, could have easily waited a little at each point and hit some traffic so a 1 hour trip could turn into 2 easily.  

[Ontario Cruiser]

You can also get a day pass at the Marriott. They will store your luggage or check out other hotels. No room to sit at the airport before checking in. We are going via Air Canada Jan 12th returning Jan 25th. We have left many times from SJU

Ontario Cruiser

[fstuff1]

How easy is it to get an Uber from the Pan Am pier to the airport when the ship docks at 6am?

i'd rather pay $5 than $25 for a taxi but my flight is at 9:45am. (solo with 1 carry on)

 

Edited October 19, 2019 by fstuff1

[garyl62]

59 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

How easy is it to get an Uber from the Pan Am pier to the airport when the ship docks at 6am?

i'd rather pay $5 than $25 for a taxi but my flight is at 9:45am. (solo with 1 carry on)

 

I've never done the Uber there, taxis are always lined up and there are flat rates by zone so very structured.  I just did a quick comparison as your numbers seemed to far apart and the taxi rate is posted at $19 and the Uber-X was $11.41.  Maybe my data is wrong, but based on my search, the extra $8.50 the taxi convenience at that time of the day would be worth it in my mind.

[volk904]

On 9/17/2019 at 2:59 PM, lamondys said:

Hi All,

 

I just booked a cruise on the Summit out of San Juan. What's the earliest you think I could make a flight out of SJU? I'm not sure how far the cruise port is from SJU airport. The ship docks at 6am, then to clear customs and all that stuff, etc.

 

Thanks

We took a 10 15 flight out of SJU. 

Walked. Off the Summit at 7:15 and in the cab before 8 and at the airport before 8:20.  Customs and the produce check was not bad.  

I would thing anyflight after 10 can be made and for sure after 10:30.  

 

 

[fstuff1]

22 hours ago, volk904 said:

We took a 10 15 flight out of SJU. 

Walked. Off the Summit at 7:15 and in the cab before 8 and at the airport before 8:20.  Customs and the produce check was not bad.  

I would thing anyflight after 10 can be made and for sure after 10:30.  

 

thx! my flight is at 9:45am but doors close on the plane at like 9:30am.

 

just found out that even tho the ships docks at 6am, the earliest debarkation time is 7am. :o

it's because of the port authorities dont give clearance till 7am. 😞

[HS2BS]

This morning, 10/26/19, the Summit was cleared at 7:10 and walkoff started shortly after that. There was a very long line for self disembarkation on deck 4 and took about 20 - 25 minutes to empty out. Regular numbers were called then, and proceeded in an orderly manner. The obvious slowdown was the line after luggage pickup, very lengthy.

Self disembarkation is definitely the way to go if flights are early.

 

Hal

[fstuff1]

2 hours ago, HS2BS said:

This morning, 10/26/19, the Summit was cleared at 7:10 and walkoff started shortly after that. There was a very long line for self disembarkation on deck 4 and took about 20 - 25 minutes to empty out. Regular numbers were called then, and proceeded in an orderly manner. The obvious slowdown was the line after luggage pickup, very lengthy.

Self disembarkation is definitely the way to go if flights are early.

 

Hal

 

do you know the easiest way to get an Uber from Pam Am pier?
there's a long line of taxi's.

where do you wait for the Uber? (Uber app said $9 this morning from Pan Am pier to sju airport.)

[youwash]

9 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

do you know the easiest way to get an Uber from Pam Am pier?
there's a long line of taxi's.

where do you wait for the Uber? (Uber app said $9 this morning from Pan Am pier to sju airport.)

 

If I was anxious about getting to the airport I would forget the whole Uber thing and walk out the door and hop in the first taxi available. In my book I've just spent a lot of money on a cruise and spent money on the flight I'm trying not to miss and I'm worried about $10 extra for a cab?  In my opinion taxis were very reasonable in San Juan. 

[PhoenixCruiser]

10 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

 

do you know the easiest way to get an Uber from Pam Am pier?
there's a long line of taxi's.

where do you wait for the Uber? (Uber app said $9 this morning from Pan Am pier to sju airport.)

 

Yes, there will be a very long line of taxi's waiting, Uber would take longer. 

[CruisinCons]

Got off Summit yesterday - there were more taxis than passengers departing!  LOL  We took one into Old San Juan then another later to the airport.  Lots of taxis everywhere, at the port, in town, and at the airport. 

 

Worth the extra few bucks to not sit in the heat and wait.  By 8:30am the feels like temp was in the low 90s. 

[fstuff1]

my 9:30am flight:

(i didnt know we dont disembark till an hr after we dock 😞 )

 

shipped docked around 6am.

allowed to walk off ship @ 7:05a.

got in my uber at 7:25a.

(price increased from $8 at 6:45a to $10 when i went thru customs and exited the building. a few min later, someone behind me said his uber was $16 :o )

 

at  airport @ 7:40am.

through usda scanners @ 7:45am.

Edited November 2, 2019 by fstuff1

[Pushkin]

On 10/18/2019 at 7:52 PM, CruisinCons said:

 

We're going to give this a try:  http://www.barrachina.com/#servicios

 

They will store your luggage from 9am on, so we expect to take our time getting off them ship, mosey on over to OSJ, then stop off at the restaurant to leave our bags.  We'll wander the area a bit, return back and have 2nd breakfast/early lunch, collect the bags and taxi to the airport for our 2:15pm flight.  Since we need to be there a minimum of 2 hours for the ag screening, we'll catch a cab around 11:30-45am.  

We just disembarked from the Summit yesterday.  We left the room around 7:30 with our bags.  About a 2 minute wait to get off the ship, about a 5 minute wait at customs, 5 minute wait for Uber.

 

We had a 1 pm flight, so we had Uber bring us to Barrachinas to store our luggage.  We thought we would have to wait around until 9 am, but the doors were open and they took our luggage (about 8:15 am).  It worked great!  They give you a ticket to claim your luggage and tell you the cost is $5 fee (not sure if per bag, or total - we gave them $5 for each bag).  

 

We ordered an Uber to the airport from the corner near Barrachinos at 10:30 am.  Car was there in 5 minutes.  Drive to airport, run through Agriculture luggage check, checking bags with Delta and going through TSA, took 40 min total.  We were told it would take 2 hours.  Turned out to be a great way to spend a few hours (Old San Juan vs airport).

 

 

[CruisinCons]

18 minutes ago, Pushkin said:

We just disembarked from the Summit yesterday.  We left the room around 7:30 with our bags.  About a 2 minute wait to get off the ship, about a 5 minute wait at customs, 5 minute wait for Uber.

 

We had a 1 pm flight, so we had Uber bring us to Barrachinas to store our luggage.  We thought we would have to wait around until 9 am, but the doors were open and they took our luggage (about 8:15 am).  It worked great!  They give you a ticket to claim your luggage and tell you the cost is $5 fee (not sure if per bag, or total - we gave them $5 for each bag).  

 

We ordered an Uber to the airport from the corner near Barrachinos at 10:30 am.  Car was there in 5 minutes.  Drive to airport, run through Agriculture luggage check, checking bags with Delta and going through TSA, took 40 min total.  We were told it would take 2 hours.  Turned out to be a great way to spend a few hours (Old San Juan vs airport).

 

 

 

Worked well for us!  We got off Summit the sailing before you.  Customs lines were super long - we grabbed a porter and that line was only about 10 minutes.  We  must've left at the most popular time.  We didn't rush, as we knew there was no hurry.  Our baggage number was 10, and when we got there I'd say there was 4-5 other bags waiting to be picked up.

At Barachine, we were not told it was a $5 fee, but that the guy "works for tips" and we gave him $5 for each bag.  They were doing construction on the restaurant and the bags were stored in the lower hallway.  I think we were there before 9am as well.  It was a feels like temp over 90 at 8:30 am, so we wandered OSJ for about half an hour, came back sweaty and went to the air conditioned upstairs breakfast area and enjoyed some pastellitos (I'm sure I got that spelled wrong) and they even made us pina coladas.  We grabbed a taxi from around the corner and were at the airport pretty quickly, within 25 minutes.  

There was no one in line at the ag scan for SW's terminal entrance, so we zipped thorough and had our luggage tagged, weighed and on the belt in about 15 minutes.  Our flight was 2:15, we got to airport around noon.  Since it was so hot, we didn't mind the airport a/c over wandering OSJ too much.  LOL  

[phoenix_dream]

On 10/24/2019 at 2:33 PM, volk904 said:

We took a 10 15 flight out of SJU. 

Walked. Off the Summit at 7:15 and in the cab before 8 and at the airport before 8:20.  Customs and the produce check was not bad.  

I would thing anyflight after 10 can be made and for sure after 10:30.  

 

 

I hate when people state that those early times can be made "for sure".  I feel obliged to put in my two cents.  We have had two cruises in the Caribbean on Celebrity where disembarkation did not even begin until after 9:00.  On one we actually had a 10:45 flight because the airline had bumped up the time of our original 11:30 flight,  and had to run through the airport to make the flight and we were literally the last ones to board the plane.  This was not at SJU, but at FLL where the airport is much closer to the port and there is no agricultural inspection to go through.  I would say in most cases, a 10:30 flight could be made.  

 

Keep in mind also that San Juan has a lot fewer flights available as compared to MIA or FLL.  You miss your SJU flight, you could end up being stuck in San Juan an extra day or two as most flights leaving there are 100% capacity, especially the afternoon ones.  Something to keep in mind when taking a chance.

[cruisin 07]

Off Summit in San Juan yesterday. Walked off ship at 7:25. Got a porter went right to our luggage which is under number assigned. Porters have there own customs line then to taxi and to airport. Put luggage through agriculture xray inspection, to airline ticket counter and final through TSA. We had TSA precheck. Done buy 8:05 and on way to our gate. Even though they have assigned times to disembark it seems you can leave when ever you want. Ours was 7:30.

 

Taxi: $19 flat rate + $2 gas surcharge + $1 per bag ($4) = Total $25 plus tip.

 

Hope this helps