San Juan Embarkation

[Swells1]

2 hours ago, Beachy_keen said:

I have a 3pm board time which seems so late.  
Does the signal to try to get reservations for shows etc only work once inside their terminal?   And you cannot get into the terminal until your embarkation time?

 That wasn't our experience. No one asked for or checked our scheduled arrival time.

[cantgetin]

2 hours ago, Beachy_keen said:

I have a 3pm board time which seems so late.  
Does the signal to try to get reservations for shows etc only work once inside their terminal?   And you cannot get into the terminal until your embarkation time?

My experience is Miami and Barcelona.  At each location, we were allowed into the terminal 30 minutes before our assigned time....but in fairness, since we had priority boarding, our assigned time was the earliest available.

 

Compared to other lines, 3pm seems late, but remember that VV boarding doesn't start till 1:30 normally, sometimes a bit later. If you show up too early, you get to stand outside in the crowds, lined up by time.  Boarding goes quickly when it starts.  Have all your info completed on the app before you show up.  If I were in your position, I'd show up about 2:15.  That way, you'll have a short outside wait (if any) and be moving on quickly.

[Beachy_keen]

Good to know!  The sooner I can book the shows the less stressed I’ll be.  Thanks! 

[sfspider]

Did anyone on this thread try to drop off bags early in San Juan? I know you can drop off early in Miami and I was hoping to do so around 10 a.m. in San Juan, but after reading some descriptions of mild chaos at the San Juan pier, I was wondering if anyone could speak from experience.

[MeganGC1983]

Another Valiant, San Juan question: anyone remember what night the Galley offered butter chicken? 

[tbmrt]

27 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Another Valiant, San Juan question: anyone remember what night the Galley offered butter chicken? 

Can you tell me what is on this?  Tx

[MeganGC1983]

58 minutes ago, tbmrt said:

Can you tell me what is on this?  Tx

Curry, rice, chicken, butter sauce, naan. Kind of like chicken tiki Marsala. 

[Mademypoint]

You CAN drop your bags off early. I believe it's anytime after 10AM but keep in mind there are still hundreds of people waiting to leave the ship who will be queueing up to get a taxi. 

There is NO PLACE to sit inside the terminal. You literally queue up in three different lines and then when you get in to the terminal you go upstairs to be processed. 

If you have "Deep blue extras" you get a blue colored band and can board before general boarding begins. 

If you need assistance, security will let you skip to the front of the line but you will not have anyone from virgin waiting outside for you. If you need wheelchair assistance you must wait until after you get your wrist band.

The ship didn't sail for us until 8:30 so getting their early was okay but it really didn't matter. There were a lot of people throwing tantrums that they had to stand in line and a lot of them were the people we saw at the various ports who were rude to people who needed assistance getting back onto the ship. 

 

[MisterBill99]

18 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Another Valiant, San Juan question: anyone remember what night the Galley offered butter chicken? 

 

Why would you ask this in a thread about embarkation questions where most of the posters haven't even been on the ship yet? You should create a separate thread, or find one that is talking about the food.

[MisterBill99]

15 hours ago, Mademypoint said:

You CAN drop your bags off early. I believe it's anytime after 10AM but keep in mind there are still hundreds of people waiting to leave the ship who will be queueing up to get a taxi. 

 

There's lots to do that is walking distance from the pier. Not like if you were at the Pan American pier.

[Gretchendz]

On 1/26/2024 at 11:04 AM, Beachy_keen said:

I have a 3pm board time which seems so late.  
Does the signal to try to get reservations for shows etc only work once inside their terminal?   And you cannot get into the terminal until your embarkation time?

For us it only worked inside the terminal. Four phones for different signal strengths. My sisters iPhone was the worst.  My Google Fi Samsung s21 was the best. Obviously phones will vary!

 

They will line you up by embarkation time but  might get in earlier if the line before yours clears. 

 

[Mademypoint]

The butter chicken was there most nights in the galley! It is not on the menu so you have to know to ask for it. The Naan bread was really good, too.

 

In terms of things in walking distance, my friend has a walker so that wasn't an option. We did go to Senor Frogs for lunch because we'd be boarding before 2PM.

[sfspider]

Thanks for the help on checking bags early - we won't stay. Planning on doing an 11 am walking tour and will come back after that. Hopefully getting back around 1:00 won't be too late to take advantage of our earlier boarding time. Saw someone post that they were in the terminal and booking before 1 pm.

[MisterBill99]

7 hours ago, Gretchendz said:

They will line you up by embarkation time but  might get in earlier if the line before yours clears. 

 

That's interesting, since others said that they did not check the times.

[Gretchendz]

10 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

That's interesting, since others said that they did not check the times.

 

Yes. We had DBE early boarding so I can't say what happened with those lines 🙂  Just heard what people onboard later were saying.  There was a lot of confusion, for sure.  I'm sure it will get better as Virgin and San Juan terminal get used to one another 🙂

[Gretchendz]

One more note about San Juan.  The airport Saturday was crazy busy and a bit confusing.

If returning to mainland U.S. you must put your luggage through an agricultural inspection and get a green tag on it.  If you go to the airline counter to check your bag without it, they will send you back to get one.

 

When we arrived around 11, the main line was ridiculously long. Very little signage or communication from airport staff.

However, if you walk a bit toward terminal A, there was another agrultural inspection  line which was MUCH shorter to get the green tags.

 

 

Edited January 28 by Gretchendz

[MeganGC1983]

On 1/27/2024 at 9:31 AM, MisterBill99 said:

 

Why would you ask this in a thread about embarkation questions where most of the posters haven't even been on the ship yet? You should create a separate thread, or find one that is talking about the food.

🙄Crazy, right? Asking a question about the ship and the sailing in a thread about that ship and sailing…with answers from people that sailed previously. 

Edited January 28 by MeganGC1983

[MeganGC1983]

On 1/27/2024 at 12:00 PM, Mademypoint said:

The butter chicken was there most nights in the galley! It is not on the menu so you have to know to ask for it. The Naan bread was really good, too.

 

In terms of things in walking distance, my friend has a walker so that wasn't an option. We did go to Senor Frogs for lunch because we'd be boarding before 2PM.

Thanks so much. I appreciate it. 

[goodvino808]

We boarded in San Juan on Valliant Lady at 345p.   Showed up at 3:30 and stood in line for about 15 mins. Then went to the checkin area followed by security.   Total time was about 25 mins to get on the ship.. 90 mins to receive luggage at our room. I actually thought this boarding was better than Miami in the sense that it wasn’t as loud etc.  so our experience later in the day was pretty good no major surprise or dissatisfaction.

 

we had exactly two pre booked dinners and once onboard was able to secure the remaining five nights with reasonable dinner times.  Was a solid start to the cruise 

[Swells1]

On 1/28/2024 at 6:52 AM, Gretchendz said:

One more note about San Juan.  The airport Saturday was crazy busy and a bit confusing.

If returning to mainland U.S. you must put your luggage through an agricultural inspection and get a green tag on it.  If you go to the airline counter to check your bag without it, they will send you back to get one.

 

When we arrived around 11, the main line was ridiculously long. Very little signage or communication from airport staff.

However, if you walk a bit toward terminal A, there was another agrultural inspection  line which was MUCH shorter to get the green tags.

 

 

Not that it's all that important, but I think the USDA tags change color everyday to prevent any reuse.