San Juan boarding

[Ocean Boy]

Also, if you are flying, I believe it is Delta and maybe American (?), you can pay to have your bags checked at the pier. I believe that the cost is $10 per bag. That would save you time at the airport, also.

 

I am pretty sure that it is $10.00 per person not per bag.

[KMHNY]

We are on the 3/17/07 too. A rep at RCI told us it was ok to board at 2pm. I asked if once on we could leave and they said no. I also asked about putting a luggage tag on a case of water and was told NO! Does anyone have experince with that recently?

 

Thanks

KMHNY

[Sheffie]

I am pretty sure that it is $10.00 per person not per bag.

 

Great! That makes more sense. I just saved $20!

[luv2zdworld]

Dear Pomperaugrr,

 

Thank you for the restaurant recommendation. We will be there on 3/30-31 with our 2 kids ages 6 and 9. Have you ever done any excursions from there - is the rain forest close enough to do it that day? We are staying at the Intercontinental the night before a 10pm cruise (coming from the NE) so we basically have 2 days there.

 

We've cruised out of Miami twice before -

 

Thanks!

 

Lieskarl:

We live in Puerto Rico and will be going on the AOS April 8-15, 2007.

The rainforest is a great tour, but it's about a 45 min-1 hour drive each way. I would not recommend it for the day you sail. You coud take the children to El Morro and walk thru the fortress, my children love doing that.

Rosa

[cmsjab]

We were on AOS last week - hopefully this will help.

Early departure - A form was handed to us in the embarkation line regarding departure flight times. We completed it and handed it in at the counter while getting our sea pass. Middle of the week, departure tickets were delivered to our stateroom along with the luggage tags. Different than previous cruises, they did not call by luggage tag but by the Departure ticket number - at 8:30 groups 1 and 2 were called (we were in group 2). We were out with luggage, grabbed a cab and were at the airport by 9am. We were flying US air at 1:55pm. US Air did not offer the $10 check in at the port or we would have taken advantage of the service.

 

Lesson learned: DO NOT remove the ships luggage tags. The ships luggage tags indicate that your bags have been inspected and are cleared. Like us - if you remove them, you will need to send your bags through the x-ray before getting in line for your boarding passes. We saw no signs giving us these directions. People were turned away from the counter and sent back to the x-ray area and then back to the end of the line to start over.

 

Any carry-on liquids must be less than 3 ounces and in a clear, plastic, one-quart bag. We had someone behind us with full bottles of suntan lotion, no clear bag, etc and required a full search and confiscation. Failure to adhere to the posted regulations will slow you down. We certainly could have made the 11:35 flight in plenty of time.

[mjyanne]

We are on the 3/17/07 too. A rep at RCI told us it was ok to board at 2pm. I asked if once on we could leave and they said no. I also asked about putting a luggage tag on a case of water and was told NO! Does anyone have experince with that recently?

 

Thanks

KMHNY

 

You most certainly can depart the ship once you have checked in (unless this is a very recent change and that doesn't make sense) and rec'd your sign and sail card. I have done this is the past and even had to do it to go to the luggage holding area to open a bag for inspection (this is completely outside the terminal). You need to remember that you need to be back on board by the posted time (which is ususally 45 minutes before the sailing time (or whenever Muster is). As for a luggage tag on a case of water (or anything else like that for that matter) I don't see why not but not sure that it would necessarily make it to your room (if you know what I mean).

[Ocean Boy]

We are on the 3/17/07 too. A rep at RCI told us it was ok to board at 2pm. I asked if once on we could leave and they said no. I also asked about putting a luggage tag on a case of water and was told NO! Does anyone have experince with that recently?

 

Thanks

KMHNY

The RCI rep was correct in that it is OK to board at 2PM. What the rep didn't mention is that it is ok to board earlier than 2PM.

 

As far as leaving the ship after you check in... just one more expample of an RCI rep being wrong.

[Ocean Boy]

double post

[Ocean Boy]

triple post

[hydrorama]

yamamma, 100 bucks sez you are not there by 10:30.

[stogeycruiser]

RE: Bag check at the pier.

 

It's $10 per person no matter how many bags? Do you get your boarding passes at the pier too? We're flying American and want to double check that there is an American baggage check at Pan American Pier.

 

Thanks for the information about letting the staff know about early departure during embarkation. We'll definitely do that at that time.

 

As always the best information about cruising on Cruise Critic.:)

[sgtgerryf]

Just pulled this off of the American Airlines website:

 

"For as little as $10 per person, homebound cruise passengers can drop off their luggage and check in for American Airlines flights at the AAdvance Bag Check station on board the ship. After the ship docks, bags are transported directly to the departure airport. Passengers can relax on the last day of their voyage without having to deal with their luggage until they land at their final destination."

 

RCCL is listed as a participating cruise line in this service.

 

Does anybody know if the AAdvance Bag Check station is actually on the ship as stated above or is it outside on the Pan Am pier?

 

Just trying to get all of the loose ends worked out before our AOS cruise on the 18th of March. We have a very late flight and would like to go into Old San Juan after disembarking instead of sitting around the airport.

[Lynnees]

You pick up your luggage and walk through immigration and customs. Directly ahead of you there are several airlines with their check in counters. That's where you would drop off your luggage.

 

When we were on the Serenade in January they did not tell us that USAir was part of this program along with many other airlines. We had to slep our luggage to the airport ourselves because we did not sign up onboard.

 

Remember as well, if you are taking a cab to the airport that also charge you per case in addition to the regular cabfare. Just something else to consider when saying "I don't want to pay the $10."

[Ocean Boy]

You pick up your luggage and walk through immigration and customs. Directly ahead of you there are several airlines with their check in counters. That's where you would drop off your luggage.

 

When we were on the Serenade in January they did not tell us that USAir was part of this program along with many other airlines. We had to slep our luggage to the airport ourselves because we did not sign up onboard.

 

Remember as well, if you are taking a cab to the airport that also charge you per case in addition to the regular cabfare. Just something else to consider when saying "I don't want to pay the $10."

So you are saying that if you do not sign up for the service while on board you cannot decide to take advantage of it after you have disembarked? I, too, am trying to tie up some last minute details before our March 4 cruise on Adventure.

[IBookHePays]

So you are saying that if you do not sign up for the service while on board you cannot decide to take advantage of it after you have disembarked? I, too, am trying to tie up some last minute details before our March 4 cruise on Adventure.

 

 

Although I did not sign up for it on our last cruise, that is what I understood.

[ILoveScotland]

Okay, let me make sure I understand.

 

We sail out of San Juan next January 26th at 11:00 p.m. (I think, maybe 10:00 p.m.). We're going to SJ a few days early to sight see.

 

If I'm understanding we can check out of our hotel and go on over to the ship early afternoon and board. We then have the option of eating on board or sitting by the pool or walking around the ship, etc. etc. etc. or going back off the ship for a last look around and maybe dinner.

 

Is that correct? If so, cool.

[ILoveScotland]

Okay, let me make sure I understand.

 

We sail out of San Juan next January 26th at 11:00 p.m. (I think, maybe 10:00 p.m.). We're going to SJ a few days early to sight see.

 

If I'm understanding we can check out of our hotel and go on over to the ship early afternoon and board. We then have the option of eating on board or sitting by the pool or walking around the ship, etc. etc. etc. or going back off the ship for a last look around and maybe dinner.

 

Is that correct? If so, cool.

[Shanafan]

Just slightly off topic....is there priorty boarding at San Juan? That'll be my first Platinum experience!

 

Just off the Adventure. We had our cab driver pick us up from the Comfort Inn at 10:30 am. We got to the port and waited a bit. I think we were on about 11:30-11:45 am. We were in line with about 15 people ahead of us. Because there were so few people in front of us we did not have to do priority boarding although once we walked in to get our sea passes we saw there was a special line for priority boarding.

 

One thing I missed and regret was not going to the special cocktail party for platinum and diamond members that we got an invite to. I was told by a staff member that it is a rather small group that shows up, usually under 30 people and they have an open bar. Dang.......missed it!

 

Disembarkment was the smoothest ever! With the platinum level they offer a special area to sit, have a mimosa and coffee and danish. When we went to go in they were on number 3 and asked if we would like a to disembark and they would give us a #1 ticket (we had # 7.) We opted for a quick farewell mimosa and then got our #1 ticket and off we went.......

[Ocean Boy]

Okay, let me make sure I understand.

 

We sail out of San Juan next January 26th at 11:00 p.m. (I think, maybe 10:00 p.m.). We're going to SJ a few days early to sight see.

 

If I'm understanding we can check out of our hotel and go on over to the ship early afternoon and board. We then have the option of eating on board or sitting by the pool or walking around the ship, etc. etc. etc. or going back off the ship for a last look around and maybe dinner.

 

Is that correct? If so, cool.

 

That is correct.

[ILoveScotland]

Thanks, Ocean Boy.

[terri23]

Does Continental offer the bag check service?

 

We have a 4:45 flight. What would the rest of you experts do for the day in our situation (with luggage)? Most of the RC day excursions require flights that leave a little later. I guess we can disembark late and then hang out in the President's Club :)

[Sheffie]

You could leave your bags at Baccharina. (sp?) It is a restaurant that will store your bags for free.

[IBookHePays]

Just off the Adventure. We had our cab driver pick us up from the Comfort Inn at 10:30 am. We got to the port and waited a bit. I think we were on about 11:30-11:45 am. We were in line with about 15 people ahead of us. Because there were so few people in front of us we did not have to do priority boarding although once we walked in to get our sea passes we saw there was a special line for priority boarding.

 

One thing I missed and regret was not going to the special cocktail party for platinum and diamond members that we got an invite to. I was told by a staff member that it is a rather small group that shows up, usually under 30 people and they have an open bar. Dang.......missed it!

 

Disembarkment was the smoothest ever! With the platinum level they offer a special area to sit, have a mimosa and coffee and danish. When we went to go in they were on number 3 and asked if we would like a to disembark and they would give us a #1 ticket (we had # 7.) We opted for a quick farewell mimosa and then got our #1 ticket and off we went.......

 

Thanks, Lisa, good info... How did they notify you of the special party and debarkation area (with mimosas!), with a note in your cabin?

[abcfamily]

I am on the AOS for 3/25/07 and looking at an Excursion in St. Martin The Loterie Farm Treetop Adventure- Has anyone done this type of excursion and can anyone comment it. Good , BAd

[IBookHePays]

I am on the AOS for 3/25/07 and looking at an Excursion in St. Martin The Loterie Farm Treetop Adventure- Has anyone done this type of excursion and can anyone comment it. Good , BAd

 

You will probrably have better luck getting an answer to this on the Destination Board (at the top in the orange band), or try to search this thread. Sounds like fun, anyway! Have fun on your cruise...wish I was going that soon!