Leaving the port of San Juan at 10PM??

[pickleo]

Going on the Adventure of the Seas in April. Why does it leave from San Juan so late on Sunday?

[rollie]

Most cruise ships leave San Juan late at night, because people flying in on the day of the cruise wouldn't be able to make the ship.

 

Rollie

[pickleo]

Thanks. That would make sense!

[Sue L]

Also many of the ships make St Thomas their first port which is very close to SJU so they don't need the extra time at sea.

 

 

Sue

[eloyps]

Going on the Adventure of the Seas in April. Why does it leave from San Juan so late on Sunday?

 

 

San Juan is the port from which they refurbish the ship,and it takes them almost all day to do so...How do I know? I saw it on a documentary on Discovery channel.

[Retired not Expired]

Not to mention how beautiful it is at night with San Juan and the forts all lit up.

[lv2bcruzin]

Also many of the ships make St Thomas their first port which is very close to SJU so they don't the extra time at sea.

 

 

Sue

 

You are exactly right. For cruises that have a U.S Virgin Island as the first port it will leave late, and the ship will probably only be making about 10 knots, or at least rather slow compared to when a large distance needs to be traveled. If they left at 5pm and made normal speed they would probably be there before you finished dinner. :p

[eloyps]

Not to mention how beautiful it is at night with San Juan and the forts all lit up.

 

 

Thank you !!!!!San Juan is our pride and joy !!!!!

[Lightsluvr]

Thank you !!!!!San Juan is our pride and joy !!!!!

 

We'll be arriving in a little over a week - our first visit - really looking forward to it. Thought we would catch a taxi to El Morro and then walking "self-tour" back through Old San Juan to the cruise ship dock...any hints?

 

LL

[HookLine&Sinker]

Be prepared to experience the most beautiful sail away so before sure not to miss it!

[Madkitty]

We'll be arriving in a little over a week - our first visit - really looking forward to it. Thought we would catch a taxi to El Morro and then walking "self-tour" back through Old San Juan to the cruise ship dock...any hints?

 

LL

 

ditto - Ive heard thats a good idea too.

[Sue L]

We'll be arriving in a little over a week - our first visit - really looking forward to it. Thought we would catch a taxi to El Morro and then walking "self-tour" back through Old San Juan to the cruise ship dock...any hints?

 

LL

 

 

There is also a FREE trolley, that will take you to El Morro or San Cristobel. The trolley stops are green signs on the street corners and the sign on the trolley will say "el morro" you then can walk down back through Old San Juan.

 

We did this and on the way down we stopped and bought xmas ornaments at several stores.

 

Sue

[gkrebs]

The San Juan cruises have to be able to accomidate the flights that come in from the west coast and also San Juan does not have as many fights as FLL, Miami, Tampa, NO, and so on. Was on a Princess one that left at 11pm

[gkrebs]

We'll be arriving in a little over a week - our first visit - really looking forward to it. Thought we would catch a taxi to El Morro and then walking "self-tour" back through Old San Juan to the cruise ship dock...any hints?

 

LL

 

Walking back to the cruise dock is to far to do for RCI ships, you can grab the Trolley or take a cab back. It will only be about $8 for 2 people

[Cassandra]

Our ship Serenade left at 10pm. It was our first cruise & I was hoping to be on deck as we left port. Unfortunately, we were still stuck at dinner & the ship started pulling out at 9:40pm.

 

It was a bit unnerving when they have to do that sharp turn around the Fort and watch the water in my waterglass do a sudden tilt and feel the whole ship tilt ever so slightly. I was like, WHOA!

 

But yeah, St. Thomas is the next stop & its very close to PR (don't remember the mileage), so they leave late & do a nice slow ride.

[cacruiserjen]

We will be on the Empress on Nov 20th and we are scheduled to leave San Juan at 8 pm. We are flying from the West Coast - and our flight leaves here at 10pm on Sunday night - we arrive in San Juan at 4 pm - and will still have to get to the ship....

[cesarrcabrera]

Be aware that the RCI ships departing from San Juan dock at the Panamerican Pier, and not in the Old San Juan pier. Therefore, you would have to take a cab from Old San Juan back to the ship. It should not cost you a lot; but it is something you should remember...

 

If you are a big photography fan (like me) make sure you bring your camera to the lido deck at sailaway time... If possible, place it on a tripod so that you can capture the very nice views of Old San Juan all lit up at night... :)

[cacruiserjen]

We have transfers... Thanks though!

[JKHawaii]

St Thomas isn't the first stop; rather, it's the final stop. The reason for the late departure is the airline thing.................relative lack of early flights compared to ports such as Miami.

[erniesband]

Find yourself a great spot on the top deck, or pool deck, port side for sail away - the old city walls and the fort are beautifully lit - it's an absolutely spectacular sailaway. And spending the day touring El Morro, walking back down thru OSJ to the piers right in OSJ and catching a cab over to the Pan American pier is a great way to spend the day.

 

Serenade's first port of call is St. Thomas. On our first Radiance cruise we actually didn't leave San Juan somewhere between 2:00 and 3:00 am (they needed to replace a gas turbine day of embarkation), and still made it to St. Thomas by the scheduled arrival time. We did go top speed the whole way, which made for an interesting ride (especially for those who tended to get seasick :rolleyes:). My recollection is that the captain said we sailed at 27 knots most of the way, but I seem to recall reading the top published speed for Radiance class ships being a little lower than that.

 

Jodi

[lv2bcruzin]

For AOS cruises in April '07 St. Thomas is the last stop, so I would assume then it has more to do with airlines.

[tarababy18]

not sure why it leaves so late, but i liked the fact that it did because we were about to walk around old san juan during the day. it's also nice to see the city lit up at night like others have said. if you go to old san juan, there is this place that has good food called cafe berlin. we've eaten there the last 2 years for lunch. great quesdillas :)

[Madkitty]

but do you carry all your pennies, passports and everything with you? I really want to check in the ship and then taxi off to old san juan but im thinking its going to be safer to hang around til the cabins are ready???