Pan American Pier San Juan

[70TravelBug]

Hi All...newbie to this forum (but not to cruising) and looking for some insight please.  We are departing Feb. 11th from the Pan American pier in San Juan. We haven't checked in yet (will be doing so this weekend at the 21 day mark), so I don't have our time slot yet.  However, we were hoping to get an early time....then get back off the ship and explore San Juan for the afternoon, since we don't sail until 7pm (I do understand we still need to be onboard 2 hours before that). I'm hearing lots of stories of folks standing in line for hours to board...and the whole process taking much longer than they thought.  If this is the case...it wouldn't allow for much (if any) time to explore. Can anyone speak from experience on this please?

[jules181]

I'm on the Epic Jan 29.

 

From reading posts on here, if you have an early time, you're getting on the ship in the afternoon. 

 

And even if you have a late time, you'll be getting on the ship in the afternoon. 

 

I will say, having been on this exact cruise in 2019 and 2022, and flying in same day on flights that arrived around 2pm (NCL air booked).  Getting to the pier at 3 involved no lines and just walking on the ship.  But it's your choice, whether or not you want to chance that.  I felt comfortable because it's NCLs responsibility to get me there. 

 

For embarkation, I like to get on the ship at the first opportunity, and stay there.  

Edited January 17, 2023 by jules181

[gaddgie]

We had this exact dilemma a few years ago. In the end we elected to drop our luggage with the porters and then caught a taxi to the local shopping mall (Americas I think). We returned to checkin at about 4pm. No queues and bonus, cabins were ready with luggage waiting outside.

[G-DawgMN]

21 hours ago, 70TravelBug said:

Hi All...newbie to this forum (but not to cruising) and looking for some insight please.  We are departing Feb. 11th from the Pan American pier in San Juan. We haven't checked in yet (will be doing so this weekend at the 21 day mark), so I don't have our time slot yet.  However, we were hoping to get an early time....then get back off the ship and explore San Juan for the afternoon, since we don't sail until 7pm (I do understand we still need to be onboard 2 hours before that). I'm hearing lots of stories of folks standing in line for hours to board...and the whole process taking much longer than they thought.  If this is the case...it wouldn't allow for much (if any) time to explore. Can anyone speak from experience on this please?

 

 Remember that Pan American Pier is across the bay from downtown. The first check-ins aren't going to be until 11AM.

  Traffic to and from the port looks to be atrocious, people are saying that they're waiting 30-60+ minutes to get to the port.

  I suggest watching the NCL Epic webcam when it's in port this weekend and see what you think.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by KSSS2013

[disneydave]

A possible option for you if you wanted to spend time is OSJ is to check your luggage for a small fee at Barrachina.  Have done that many times post cruise and never had an issue.  Also, a great place for Mofongo and a Pina Colada.   

[70TravelBug]

Thanks for this....did not know that was an option.  Will definitely look into it.

[CILCIANRQTS]

On 1/17/2023 at 2:24 PM, jules181 said:

I'm on the Epic Jan 29.

 

From reading posts on here, if you have an early time, you're getting on the ship in the afternoon. 

 

And even if you have a late time, you'll be getting on the ship in the afternoon. 

 

I will say, having been on this exact cruise in 2019 and 2022, and flying in same day on flights that arrived around 2pm (NCL air booked).  Getting to the pier at 3 involved no lines and just walking on the ship.  But it's your choice, whether or not you want to chance that.  I felt comfortable because it's NCLs responsibility to get me there. 

 

For embarkation, I like to get on the ship at the first opportunity, and stay there.  

I don’t think it’s NCL’s obligation to get you there.

They act as an agent in selling you an air ticket. If your flight arrives late, for whatever the reason, it’s on your dime to get to the next port.

Does your travel agent guarantee you an on-time arrival??
That’s why everyone advises to buy travel insurance.

[eileeshb]

13 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

I don’t think it’s NCL’s obligation to get you there.

They act as an agent in selling you an air ticket. If your flight arrives late, for whatever the reason, it’s on your dime to get to the next port.

Does your travel agent guarantee you an on-time arrival??
That’s why everyone advises to buy travel insurance.

I sailed on Epic early last year when a big storm caused flight delays across the northern US. They held the ship for one flight load so we departed a couple of hours late and another group were flown to our second port of call as they couldn't get flights to the first port. The passengers flown to the port of call were put up in a hotel for the couple of days they had to wait for the ship to arrive.  I don't know how normal that was or if those passengers also had insurance from NCL but they have delayed departures and flown guests out to meet the ship if they couldn't hold the departure. 

[Grumpella]

I was on the Epic last week.  It took 30 minutes to just reach the parking lot when we turned down the road to the terminal and that was beginning at 10:15.  So bag drop off with the porters is not an option.

 

If you are flying in the day before, ask your hotel to hold your bags and explore the city, before heading to the port around 3, with no lines.  If you expect to arrive early and then leave again, you will be waiting in line for 2 hours and then the traffic is backed up leaving the port also, people waiting for taxis.  I think that is a bad idea.

[eamc01]

We arrived at 3 PM for our 12/23 sailing and didn't board until 6. It was a disaster

[70TravelBug]

4 hours ago, Grumpella said:

I was on the Epic last week.  It took 30 minutes to just reach the parking lot when we turned down the road to the terminal and that was beginning at 10:15.  So bag drop off with the porters is not an option.

 

If you are flying in the day before, ask your hotel to hold your bags and explore the city, before heading to the port around 3, with no lines.  If you expect to arrive early and then leave again, you will be waiting in line for 2 hours and then the traffic is backed up leaving the port also, people waiting for taxis.  I think that is a bad idea.

Appreciate your feedback...having been there yourself.  I think we're leaning towards the later afternoon check in at the port.

[70TravelBug]

2 hours ago, eamc01 said:

We arrived at 3 PM for our 12/23 sailing and didn't board until 6. It was a disaster

Yikes....that's awful.  

[70TravelBug]

On 1/18/2023 at 2:42 PM, disneydave said:

A possible option for you if you wanted to spend time is OSJ is to check your luggage for a small fee at Barrachina.  Have done that many times post cruise and never had an issue.  Also, a great place for Mofongo and a Pina Colada.   

I saw this mentioned in some older posts from a couple years ago on trip advisor...but didn't know if was still offered. I'm seriously considering this if it is. Wonder how quickly space fills up...do you know if it's limited??

[quercus alba]

If you look at a map, you can see why it's such a problem. Old San Juan is essentially on an island, separated from the Pan American Pier by a bridge that also is its main connection to the rest of the island (and also connects to another bridge bottleneck that connects to the Condado region, where a lot of luxury hotels and beaches are.) It's a traffic jam waiting to happen at anytime of day, any week--and none of it is NCL's fault. We got stuck in traffic there for over an hour just trying to get to dinner in OSJ the night before a cruise.

There's also only one road (NOT a good one!) in or out of the pier terminal, which is pinned up against the bay by the small local airport.

It's a mess...plan accordingly. 

(Other than that--we love San Juan!)

Edited January 20, 2023 by quercus alba

[70TravelBug]

7 minutes ago, quercus alba said:

If you look at a map, you can see why it's such a problem. Old San Juan is essentially on an island, separated from the Pan American Pier by a bridge that also is its main connection to the rest of the island (and also connects to another bridge bottleneck that connects to the Condado region, where a lot of luxury hotels and beaches are.) It's a traffic jam waiting to happen at anytime of day, any week--and none of it is NCL's fault. We got stuck in traffic there for over an hour just trying to get to dinner in OSJ the night before a cruise.

There's also only one road (NOT a good one!) in or out of the pier terminal, which is pinned up against the bay by the small local airport.

It's a mess...plan accordingly. 

I completely understand what you're saying.  Definitely not ideal for the influx of "cruisers" in town with some time to kill before boarding...It's a shame really. OSJ is so beautiful....it was one of our ports of call on a cruise a few years back.  Docking at OSJ makes the world of difference.

 

Thanks for your feedback 

[TSUmom]

9 hours ago, quercus alba said:

If you look at a map, you can see why it's such a problem. Old San Juan is essentially on an island, separated from the Pan American Pier by a bridge that also is its main connection to the rest of the island (and also connects to another bridge bottleneck that connects to the Condado region, where a lot of luxury hotels and beaches are.) It's a traffic jam waiting to happen at anytime of day, any week--and none of it is NCL's fault. We got stuck in traffic there for over an hour just trying to get to dinner in OSJ the night before a cruise.

There's also only one road (NOT a good one!) in or out of the pier terminal, which is pinned up against the bay by the small local airport.

It's a mess...plan accordingly. 

(Other than that--we love San Juan!)

We have stopped in San Juan as a port stop and enjoyed our time there.  That being said with our cruise beginning in SJ we are looking at flying in a day early and just booking a hotel either in Condado or Isla Grande.  Any thoughts on which would be better and a preferred hotel are appreciated.

[70TravelBug]

7 minutes ago, TSUmom said:

We have stopped in San Juan as a port stop and enjoyed our time there.  That being said with our cruise beginning in SJ we are looking at flying in a day early and just booking a hotel either in Condado or Isla Grande.  Any thoughts on which would be better and a preferred hotel are appreciated.

We are actually doing the same thing in a couple of weeks.  In looking around at different hotels, we discovered Airbnb was actually more reasonable...plus you quite often get an entire house/condo to yourself, as opposed to your standard hotel room. 

[quercus alba]

23 minutes ago, TSUmom said:

We have stopped in San Juan as a port stop and enjoyed our time there.  That being said with our cruise beginning in SJ we are looking at flying in a day early and just booking a hotel either in Condado or Isla Grande.  Any thoughts on which would be better and a preferred hotel are appreciated.

We've enjoyed Isla Verde, closer to the airport, on both of our visits to San Juan--really nice beach.
But if your main objective is to be able to go to OSJ on your pre-cruise day, I'd probably pick something (hotel or Airbnb) in Condado just because of our experience with the traffic jam last time. 

[TSUmom]

26 minutes ago, quercus alba said:

We've enjoyed Isla Verde, closer to the airport, on both of our visits to San Juan--really nice beach.
But if your main objective is to be able to go to OSJ on your pre-cruise day, I'd probably pick something (hotel or Airbnb) in Condado just because of our experience with the traffic jam last time. 

We are actually thinking of a relaxing beach day pre-cruise so a hotel near a beach would be fantastic.  

[quercus alba]

32 minutes ago, TSUmom said:

We are actually thinking of a relaxing beach day pre-cruise so a hotel near a beach would be fantastic.  

If you look at my review in my signature from last December, there's some suggestions for Isla Verde.

[Grumpella]

We stayed at the Best Western Condado Palm Inn 2 weeks ago, which we were very happy with.  55 Condado Avenue.  Walgreens and CVS across the street and restaurants and Starbucks within 1 block.

[vacation44]

1 hour ago, TSUmom said:

We are actually thinking of a relaxing beach day pre-cruise so a hotel near a beach would be fantastic.  

We are staying at the Hyatt Place which is minutes away from the pier.   However, not a beach hotel which works for us as we will be spending the day before at the Barcardi factory.

[Sailing12Away]

Is there a reason you want to get all the way onto the ship before getting right off, as opposed to just dropping bags off, checking in and then going?

 

When we sailed out of San Juan we took a shared van with about 10 other people (we got very cozy on that drive...) over to the port. We were sailing on the first day of San Sebastian festival so lots of traffic, but we got from the hotel to the port in about 45 mins. The couple that was sitting on each others laps to make room in the van dropped off their bags then took the van back into town to party it up before actually getting onto the ship.

 

We bumped into them at Cagneys during the trip, fun guys. So yes, it is possible - but depending on what you want to see/do consider just dropping the bags and going rather than getting all the way onto the ship. 

[70TravelBug]

13 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Is there a reason you want to get all the way onto the ship before getting right off, as opposed to just dropping bags off, checking in and then going?

 

When we sailed out of San Juan we took a shared van with about 10 other people (we got very cozy on that drive...) over to the port. We were sailing on the first day of San Sebastian festival so lots of traffic, but we got from the hotel to the port in about 45 mins. The couple that was sitting on each others laps to make room in the van dropped off their bags then took the van back into town to party it up before actually getting onto the ship.

 

We bumped into them at Cagneys during the trip, fun guys. So yes, it is possible - but depending on what you want to see/do consider just dropping the bags and going rather than getting all the way onto the ship. 

We were actually hoping to just drop our bags and leave. No reason to get on the ship at all at that point. But have heard so many stories about people waiting for hours even just to do that. We didn’t want to waste all that time. If its feasible to do so….that would be our first choice for sure. We are debating dropping luggage at Barrachina…have heard this is a good option too??  Ideally….leaving bags at the port is the best choice….just don’t want to get stuck there for hours trying to do it. 

[Brian V]

On 1/19/2023 at 1:40 PM, Grumpella said:

I was on the Epic last week.  It took 30 minutes to just reach the parking lot when we turned down the road to the terminal and that was beginning at 10:15.  So bag drop off with the porters is not an option.

 

We were on the same cruise 🙂

We picked 11:30 - 12:00 for our time, got to the port just before 12 (maybe 5 minutes in line to get into the port itself?), onboard with muster drill done and pina colada in hand well before 1:00. 🍹

 

3 hours ago, 70TravelBug said:

We were actually hoping to just drop our bags and leave. No reason to get on the ship at all at that point.

 

Arrange to leave your bags at your hotel or in Old San Juan, as others have pointed out you will just waste so much time in lines - not to mention an extra $60 on taxis getting to the port and back! Check in and boarding should be a piece of cake later in the afternoon 🙂