Taxi/Uber Availability

[FraudBroad]

We are disembarking the Vision of the Seas at the Pan American Pier on Saturday 2/29.  Celebrity Summit will also be in port.  

 

How difficult will it be to get a Taxi or Uber to take us to Old San Juan for a few hours.  Our flights aren't until after 3:00.  There are three of us.  We'd like to store our luggage at Barrachina and tour Old San Juan for a bit.

 

Thank you!

[brookie848]

I've only disembarked on a Sunday, but when we have, the taxis were lined up waiting for people. You shouldn't have an issue.

[hal2008]

 

If you do a self disembark and get off the ship early taxi line should not be a problem. As more people get off the ship, the line ca get PRETTY long.

 

Uber is an option. But since trip to OSJ is not as lucrative as trip to Aiport, the driver may cancel upon arriving.

Also, some Uber are so small that they cant even fit two pax with luggage (althought most will be handle). So better to order UberXL.

 

There is a taxi dispatcher and that makes taxi alternative bit easier than trying to connect with Uber driver.

[PhoenixCruiser]

There will be a mile long line of taxis available, Uber might take longer.

We just take a taxi.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[soonernstlouis]

@hal2008 and @PhoenixCruiser

 

On my Carnival cruise last September I used Uber exclusively after using a taxi at the airport. Never waited more than 10 minutes & never paid more than $5 for the short trips.  Obviously Carnival ports in OSJ & not Pan Am but the online app works great there showing your driver location & they will call you if uncertain about where you need to be picked up.  I asked my driver who dropped me off at Barrachinas to pick us up a couple of hours later for the airport trip.  She did no problem.  She said pay her whatever you feel since the trip wasn’t logged so I gave her $20.

Edited January 19, 2020 by soonernstlouis

[hal2008]

 

OSJ and Pan Am Pier are poles apart (not distancewise but from a uber pickup point)

 

OSJ pier is in the heart of tourist area with hotels, restaurants, shops. uber and taxis are coming and going throughout the day irrespective of cruise ships.

 

There is no reason for any car or anyone to go to Pan Am pier other than embrakation/disembarkation purpose.

 

OP's question was SPECIFIC about Pan Am pier and three different users have advised them correctly with reasoning.

 

Uber is lot better than taxi in San Juan for short intra town trips as well as from airport (where they have created a well designated pickup place).

 

Uber is ok for drop off at Pan AM pier too.  It is the pickup that can be issue (as explained previously) 

 

 

 

 

[soonernstlouis]

@hal2008

 

Unless you’ve actually tried & failed to use Uber to pick up from Pan Am then I’m not sure why you bothered eleborating your point.  I’ve Ubered  FROM less popular places than Pan Am in San Juan & have no doubt it would work there too.  All it takes is a few minutes on the Uber app while there to test.

 

As for reasoning skills.....your 1 bad experience at the Boatyard led you to posting basically daily diatribes to avoid it.  So I don’t put much stock into your criticism.

 

[hal2008]

@soonernstloius,

 

wow. Talk about kettle calling....

 

OP asked specifically about Pam American and three different users responded.

You jumped in with totally different location that does not have issues of Pam Am location.

 

Yes, my post was based on multiple experiences (including one very recent)

 

To summarize for others:

"Uber is lot better than taxi in San Juan for short intra town trips as well as from airport (where they have created a well designated pickup place). Uber is ok for drop off at Pan AM pier too.  It is the pickup that can be issue (because of reasons mentioned earlier). OSJ pier is in midst of downtown-type area. Uber should be relatively easy"

 

Over the years, community/culture at CC obviously seem to have changed.

Original idea was to get information and then "pay forward" by posting good/bad experiences.

 

(Boatyard doesnt belong in this thread. BTW, Barbados Govt  ministry following up with the owner/representative as apparently ours was not a singular experience)

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by hal2008

[soonernstlouis]

33 minutes ago, hal2008 said:

Yes, my post was based on multiple experiences (including one very recent)

You did not say you tried Uber at Pan Am only that Uber may cancel (never had that problem myself anywhere).  I’ll assume you tried & failed to get an Uber there & leave it at that.  My apologies for potentially proving bad advice.
 

I too like paying it forward thru reviews/suggestions but would never reopen 6+ threads to say avoid it.  Maybe let the 86% 4 & 5 star reviews out of 1,400+ total on a popular travel site carry as much weight as your 1 bad one?

Edited January 20, 2020 by soonernstlouis

[Stinger-pr]

On 1/19/2020 at 11:22 AM, soonernstlouis said:

@hal2008 and @PhoenixCruiser

 

On my Carnival cruise last September I used Uber exclusively after using a taxi at the airport. Never waited more than 10 minutes & never paid more than $5 for the short trips.  Obviously Carnival ports in OSJ & not Pan Am but the online app works great there showing your driver location & they will call you if uncertain about where you need to be picked up.  I asked my driver who dropped me off at Barrachinas to pick us up a couple of hours later for the airport trip.  She did no problem.  She said pay her whatever you feel since the trip wasn’t logged so I gave her $20.

Please, I'd suggest everyone refrain from doing this. It might seem like a good gesture but an "off the record" Uber trip leaves you completely unprotected by Uber should anything happen along the way. For example, insurance doesn't apply to you since you'd be a private, non-comercial passenger in the vehicle and you will not be able to make ANY claim to Uber. You'd have to privately sue for damages, if any. Stick to an app-initiated trip or a taxi. Just my personal suggestion.

[soonernstlouis]

3 minutes ago, Stinger-pr said:

Please, I'd suggest everyone refrain from doing this. It might seem like a good gesture but an "off the record" Uber trip leaves you completely unprotected by Uber should anything happen along the way. For example, insurance doesn't apply to you since you'd be a private, non-comercial passenger in the vehicle and you will not be able to make ANY claim to Uber. You'd have to privately sue for damages, if any. Stick to an app-initiated trip or a taxi. Just my personal suggestion.

I’ll take your advice going forward.  She was such a nice driver with great conversation about PR and I wanted to give her a longer trip and 2nd tip.  I did the same thing (pre-arranged a 2nd trip) with taxi drivers in St Maarten and St Kitts to not only give them business but make sure we didn’t get stuck or have to wait long time for pickup.  But I see what you mean.

[bonsai3s]

On 1/15/2020 at 5:51 AM, FraudBroad said:

We are disembarking the Vision of the Seas at the Pan American Pier on Saturday 2/29.  Celebrity Summit will also be in port.  

 

How difficult will it be to get a Taxi or Uber to take us to Old San Juan for a few hours.  Our flights aren't until after 3:00.  There are three of us.  We'd like to store our luggage at Barrachina and tour Old San Juan for a bit.

 

Thank you!

 

We used Uber from the Pan American Pier.  There is no designated pick up location but we simply walked across the street, waited in the parking lot, and watched for our Uber car/driver coming into the parking lot.  Our cost to go to Old San Juan from the Pan American Pier was $5 each way.

 

Disclosure: We also used Uber going back to the airport.  We waited a bit longer than usual for the driver to make it to the parking lot at the Pan American Pier because of traffic and because there were 2 ships docked that day.  Our cost was about $10.  The line for the taxi was long.  We found all the Uber drivers in San Juan to be polite, friendly, and helpful.  Happy Sailing!.

[VTcruisenut]

is there a UBER app for San Juan?

[jean87510]

6 hours ago, VTcruisenut said:

is there a UBER app for San Juan?

Your regular uber app will work in san Juan. We just used it last Saturday.

When you disembark at pan American, go to the right of all the taxis. Uber pickup is there. We got 2 large suitcases and a carryon in the trunk. It was $10. 

[hal2008]

22 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

 

We used Uber from the Pan American Pier.  There is no designated pick up location but we simply walked across the street, waited in the parking lot, and watched for our Uber car/driver coming into the parking lot.  Our cost to go to Old San Juan from the Pan American Pier was $5 each way.

 

Disclosure: We also used Uber going back to the airport.  We waited a bit longer than usual for the driver to make it to the parking lot at the Pan American Pier because of traffic and because there were 2 ships docked that day.  Our cost was about $10.  The line for the taxi was long.  We found all the Uber drivers in San Juan to be polite, friendly, and helpful.  Happy Sailing!.

 

Glad that it worked out for you.

 

We found Uber perfect all around PR, to-from airport as well as for drop off to Pan Am.

Only problem was pickup at Pan Am to a hotel nearby.

 

UberXL were not available.

One uberX was too small to fit pax and luggage. 

Second one was perfect but he cancelled as soon as he found out that destination was too close.

 

Having only 2 people in a party (instead of family of 4) certainly helps and so does getting off relatively early when two large ships are disembarking.