How early should or can i safely book a flight after a 7 am cruise arrival in San Diego?

[tgetz]

How early should or can i safely book a flight after a 7 am cruise arrival in San Diego on the Koningsdam.  Is 10:15 possible? We are in a suite so we can get off early but not sure how early the ship will clear since we will have been in Ensenada the day before. 

Thanks for any input.

[boatmad]

Always important to remember trouble can happen.  Ships do not always dock by 7 am.  Customs officials may show up late or not enough of them.  Medical debarkations take place sometimes before passengers.  Fog, storms, etc.  We never schedule a flight at any port before noon.

[CruiserBruce]

This is discussed on the West Coast Departures board frequently.

 

We made a 10:40 flight out of SAN last April pretty easily, but we were literally the first people off, starting at about 7:20, and carried our bags. The ship will be docked before 7am, probably closer to 6:30. Suites get to go after the carry off people. They have the biometric screening now...literally Immigration took 15 seconds, no Customs at all.

 

That being said, San Diego port has a very inconsistent history. Have been at the airport before 8am a couple of times, and had disembarking not start until 9am one time.

 

They seem to have cleaned up those issues.

[Shmoo here]

9 minutes ago, boatmad said:

Always important to remember trouble can happen.  Ships do not always dock by 7 am.  Customs officials may show up late or not enough of them.  Medical debarkations take place sometimes before passengers.  Fog, storms, etc.  We never schedule a flight at any port before noon.

This.  On our Panama Canal cruise several years ago, we didn't get into port until 8:00.  And all non-US passengers were to present themselves onboard to the immigration/customs people before they would let anyone else debark.  You guessed it - they were still waking up some of those people at 10:00.  Lots of people missed flights out that morning.  

 

 

[sunviking90]

This is one of those things where 95% of the time, you’d be fine. Carry off your own bags, airport is close, etc, but then 5% of the time there’s a hiccup and you’re in trouble. We always get the afternoon flight out of SAN and we are always there way early, but it’s insurance.

[tgetz]

thanks for all the input. I normally don't book a flight before noon even in Fort Lauderdale another port the airport is close,  but we would like to fly to San Francisco to see a sister and if we don't catch the 1015 there is not another one until 4:20 So we may check another airline.

[FlorenceItaly]

18 minutes ago, tgetz said:

thanks for all the input. I normally don't book a flight before noon even in Fort Lauderdale another port the airport is close,  but we would like to fly to San Francisco to see a sister and if we don't catch the 1015 there is not another one until 4:20 So we may check another airline.

Or perhaps stay one night post cruise in San Diego, and fly out the next morning.  We have done this and it's nice not to have the worry.

[tgetz]

we are only going to stay one night in SF to go to a baby shower. 

[IAcruising]

Always a tough call. You'll make it if all goes well. And if not, is 4:20 a deal breaker?  It's what, and hour and a half flight from SAN to SFO?

 

[dobiemom]

2 hours ago, tgetz said:

How early should or can i safely book a flight after a 7 am cruise arrival in San Diego on the Koningsdam.  Is 10:15 possible? We are in a suite so we can get off early but not sure how early the ship will clear since we will have been in Ensenada the day before. 

Thanks for any input.

 

1 hour ago, tgetz said:

thanks for all the input. I normally don't book a flight before noon even in Fort Lauderdale another port the airport is close,  but we would like to fly to San Francisco to see a sister and if we don't catch the 1015 there is not another one until 4:20 So we may check another airline.

I just did a mock booking on Southwest Airlines (not sure of your date so I put Nov 9). One-way flight SAN-SFO non-stop leaves at 11:20am. 

Edited September 14 by dobiemom

[VibeGuy]

Is this a closed-loop cruise, departing San Diego and returning to San Diego?  
 

Are ALL port calls either the U.S. or Mexico?

 

if the answer to both is “yes”, you’re almost assuredly stepping into the airport by 9:00

 

If the answer to either is “no”? Clearance issues can delay your getting off the ship, especially if there is a sizable contingent of people needing I-94 processing. 

[cbr663]

Last year we sailed on the Koningsdam from San Diego with Ensenada being the port prior to disembarking in San Diego the next morning.  We had to all present ourselves to US Customs in the World Stage in the morning for clearance prior to leaving the ship.  Even though we were provided a time to attend to the World Stage many, many, if not most, passengers ignored this and simply started a line up for the World Stage.  The line up was from the World Stage, down the hallway through the entire ship back to the Main Dining Room and then snaking around again up past the Club Orange dining room.  We said no way and went for breakfast in the CO dining room to allow the lineup to reduce.  When we finally joined the lineup it was still from the World Stage to half way down the ship.

[oakridger]

1 minute ago, cbr663 said:

Last year we sailed on the Koningsdam from San Diego with Ensenada being the port prior to disembarking in San Diego the next morning.  We had to all present ourselves to US Customs in the World Stage in the morning for clearance prior to leaving the ship.  Even though we were provided a time to attend to the World Stage many, many, if not most, passengers ignored this and simply started a line up for the World Stage.  The line up was from the World Stage, down the hallway through the entire ship back to the Main Dining Room and then snaking around again up past the Club Orange dining room.  We said no way and went for breakfast in the CO dining room to allow the lineup to reduce.  When we finally joined the lineup it was still from the World Stage to half way down the ship.

 

Thanks!  What time did you finally leave the ship?

 

~Nancy

[sciencewonk]

4 hours ago, tgetz said:

thanks for all the input. I normally don't book a flight before noon even in Fort Lauderdale another port the airport is close,  but we would like to fly to San Francisco to see a sister and if we don't catch the 1015 there is not another one until 4:20 So we may check another airline.

Check all the airlines.  I used to live in San Diego and took frequent business day trips to San Francisco.  There were almost hourly flights to choose from.  I don't know where your sister lives, but there are three airports in the Bay Area, SFO, San Jose, and Oakland.  Ask her which is most convenient to her.

[boze9999]

Whenever the ship arrives and gets permission to disembark @tgetz : do self assist (Carry your own baggage off the ship) / Line up early - even though they might tell you 7 something, go earlier. because the line starts forming and the elevators start getting crazy so plan to get in line early. Once off the ship - cabs are right there (don't mess with Uber/Lyft) and you're 10-15 minutes from your airport drop-off!

[BermudaBound2014]

Is there another ship in port? This will greatly slow things down as the Port of San Diego is just not set up to handle more than one ship at a time efficiently. The don't have the man power or the facilities.

 

Based on my experience disembarking the K'dam in San Diego last year I would not purchase a 10:15 flight. It was a cluster but there was a Disney ship in port with us.

 

Side note: If there are two ships in port, and you end up at the smaller pier, some luggage will sit in an uncovered area once it is removed from the ship. Not a problem when the weather cooperates. 

[tgetz]

only  one ship in port that day. i definitely checked that out first.

[cbr663]

On 9/14/2024 at 7:13 PM, oakridger said:

 

Thanks!  What time did you finally leave the ship?

 

~Nancy

 

We were later leaving the ship.  We were asked to not show up at the World Stage with any luggage (lots of people did, which slowed things down even more) so after we had breakfast in CO we went and got in line and then went back to our cabin to grab our things and leave.  If I remember it was after 9:30 when we left the ship.  We had an early afternoon flight so we had lots of time.  The clearance went a lot quicker once all the hurry up and wait passengers got through.  lol

[Gunther1]

The airport is wicked close to the cruise terminal (I’ve walked it a couple of times),so at least you can rule out the traffic variable:). 

[helby]

If you don't have a lot of luggage you can take the frequent city bus from a stop across the street.  It cost $1.25 for seniors last December.  It is really quick and easy and a very short ride.

[CruiserBruce]

16 minutes ago, helby said:

If you don't have a lot of luggage you can take the frequent city bus from a stop across the street.  It cost $1.25 for seniors last December.  It is really quick and easy and a very short ride.

But what is the bus schedule at 7:30 on a (likely) weekend day?

[helby]

You can check the bus schedules online and you can find the link for the schedule on the airport website or by searching for airport to downtown bus.  As well I've attached a link to the  992 schedule which hopefully will work.

 

https://www.sdmts.com/getting-around/departures-and-schedules/schedules/992

[kevingastreich]

11am

[tgetz]

we will take a cab.. haven't ride a bus in 50 years.