San Juan Embarkation Continues to Be Horrible....WHY WHY WHY

[christinelee]

Well then the best way to describe all of your responses, to me and to other people is "kill joy" while some of your responses and comments have been very helpful, I honestly think that many of them are focused more on pointing out what people say wrong.

We're all just trying to have a good time here and get ready for our vacations, yes me needing it probably one of the most on this site

 

but no need to point out every single thing in posts, and just let us have a forum.

 

thanks for distracting from a serious subject in which I honestly plan to prepare a report to send to princess.

 

I was hoping to get responses from everyone that felt up to it (other then just going through all of the posts here on a search) so that I could actually list this intelligently instead of writing to Princess..."san juan sucks"

And when I go on vacation I can give my personal story at San Juan in 2008, and hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised.

 

So anyone still reading and not distracted or bored by the bickering, please send me your san juan princess embarkation date, time waiting, and any notes you'd like to include.

 

thank you and happy cruising

 

Thank You!......Thank You!.......Thank You!.....chrysails really does need to get a life......over 4,000 post since 2004 ,,,,,and just about everyone puting some one down or acting like they are stupid and interfering with the normal flow of the boards.....Again Thanks!

[jennifers490]

It seems to be hit or miss depending on the week. I have seen many posts that described a nightmare at embarkation in San Juan, and others that say it was a breeze. Perhaps it is the luck of the draw?

 

We were on the Crown last year in March and arrived around 11:30 as that was when we had to check out. We were on the ship in less than an hour, though lines were slightly long. However I thought I read on these boards that this year they are preventing early embarkation (before 1:00) due to increased cleaning to be proactive for Norovirus. If lines still start forming early I would expect them to be much longer by 1:00 and it take longer to clear out.

 

Weathergirl, We are also on the 2-9 cruise this year. So we will see how it goes and hope for the best. Thanks to all the responses to your post, I now know the porters can take your bags when you get to the pier and you can leave, so we plan to gauge the lines and try to enjoy the surrounding neighborhoods if they are too long. Does anyone know, if the lines are past the area where the porters are, if people get upset if you just walk up to drop off your bags? Don't want to make enemys before we even get on.:)

 

if you want to just drop the bags, don't wait on line you will see porters walking around with hand trucks, they even had extra tags for luggage if you forget them-i didn't have to walk all the way up to where we normally drop off the bags-no one should be upset because you're not cutting-actually i don't think a lot of people on line knew they could just hand the bags off instead of lugging them on line until they got to the drop off point-i always tip anyway so that wasn't an issue...hope that helps!

[sunsurf]

This must change from cruise to cruise?

 

We sailed on the Crown the November before last

and arrived at the pier early, and had a very short

wait to get on the ship. I wonder why everyone has

a different experience at different times???

 

Pete

 

 

same here. We travelled this past December and had no issues with whatsoever. IMO, the problem is disembarking. As soon as you walk off the ship, it's absolute utter chaos!

[nittanysam]

Familycruzer11 - No did not get an emergency notification about early birds being turned away - only 2 notifications so far 1st) goverment fees increasing by $0.19 per person - might break the bank ;) and 2nd) proper documentation needed (passport or proof of citizenship, etc). Only the normal note in the Itinerary to check-in 1:00 to 9:00 - but it said the same last year.

 

jennifers490 - thanks that does help

[Host CJSKIDS]

There's an emergency notification on our cruise personalizer now that wasn't there before discussing the time to board. It showed up about 2 weeks ago.

[cruiserbryce]

It seems like inconsistancy may be the issue...some of our friends have taken cruises out of SJ and had the worst embarkations of any of their trips...but many here say it has been fine...so it seems that maybe it isnt bad across the board, but rather inconsistent

[SingerEsq]

I think it must differ greatly .... when we sailed out of SJ (Pan American) we stepped out of the airport to the cab line (monitored by Puerto Rican Tourism Board) and were in a cab in about 5 minutes and at the pier about 10 minutes laster. We did get to the pier early, and did have to wait. But that was b/c the port authority would not open the building. Once open, we were on the ship within minutes.

 

Now, if you want to talk about leaving from the small terminal at San Pedro ......

[jdm]

We were on the Crown for their New Year's cruise and arrived at the pier around 11:30. I don't think it was a bad embarkation at all. We waited about 30 - 40 minutes. We got on, dropped off our stuff, ate lunch and then walked around Old San Juan all afternoon. The lines were very long when we left the ship around 1:30. We returned around 4:00 to no lines at all. My daughter and her husband boarded around 4:30 and were on board within five minutes. Personally, I find the embarkation process similar whether it is in Florida, Washington, Alaska, England etc.

[Califonria cruiser]

We were on the Crown at Pier 4 Jan 5th and they said arrive at 1pm and part of my family was there at 12:45 and they didn't get on until after 2pm. We arrived a bit later around 1:10 or so and were on around 2:30-3pm. I was bothered that we were in the hot sun and lugging the luggage. If I could have dropped the luggage off then waiting wouldn't be so bad. We sailed on Crown last year and the embarkation was much easier for some reason.

 

We had the easiest time getting off both times. Who knows?

 

Jenn

[willysgrandma]

When we boarded the Crown in Nov 2006 it was a nightmare but that was because they had some problems with immigration on the transitioning cruise that had just finished. This was at the Pan Am pier.

When we boarded the Crown for our 3/31/07 sailing at the Pier 4 East it was great and we couldn't believe the difference.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise, I look forward to hearing about your experience when you return.

 

I was on that cruise with you - and the issue was totally a problem with immigration, which can happen at any pier with either imigration or customs.

 

The continual problems would lead me to believe the issue is not enough immigration or customs officials and there is nothing Princess can do about that.

 

What they CAN do is make sure there is water provided to passengers who may be standing out in the heat for an extended period of time, which they sure didn't do when we waiting in the blazing heat for over an hour. There were many elderly passengers that looked like they were going to keel over.

 

The Pan Am terminal line was out to the road and beyond. It was dangerous (and we arrived at 1:45 PM - not early!).

[B8C]

In April 07 we arrived at Pier 4 at 1:10 pm and boarded the ship in approx. 1 hr 20 minutes. There was a bit of an episode during embarkation.

 

I felt bad for an elderly couple who were standing in front of us. I noticed after an hour of waiting, the woman said she needed to rest and sat on the carpet. As the line moved forward, she shifted down the carpet. My guess is this was due to heat/hunger and the stress of travel. When the time came, she stood up and made it to the desk to process their paperwork. Unfortunately, she then fainted. Thank goodness my husband caught her before she hit the floor. The staff quickly offered her something to drink and asked her husband to help assist her to an office so she could lie down and rest. Her husband and a couple of staff members half walked/half carried her to an office. How embarassing for her. I was a bit surprised that the staff did not have a wheelchair available to transport her to the office. Hopefully, she recovered and was able to enjoy the rest of her cruise. I don't remember much else about them other than they were from NC ad cruised frequently.

[turquoisesea]

There's an emergency notification on our cruise personalizer now that wasn't there before discussing the time to board. It showed up about 2 weeks ago.

 

cjskids - I can't find the emergency notification on my Personalizer. Where is it?? :confused:

[Familycruzer11]

THe emergency notification isn't in the personalizer (if it is, not sure where), but I received it as an email PDF attachment with my booking information. This was the third "Emergency" notification. One was for the fuel surcharge, one was increase in taxes (.19) and then this one telling us to come after 2:00.

 

From what I've read, seems there is a lot of inconsistency, except that everyone who arrived 4pm or later seems to have been on board in 15-20 min.

 

I think we will sleep in, have lunch, shop and then try for a 4pm boarding..

 

Looking forward to the posts between now and then to see how it goes..

[Host CJSKIDS]

cjskids - I can't find the emergency notification on my Personalizer. Where is it?? :confused:

 

Mine is on my personalizer and it's on the page with the itinerary.

 

Here you go, I copied it from my page:

 

YOUR ITINERARY

 

This is the itinerary for your cruise vacation. Pre and Post-Cruise packages are not listed here.

 

SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN EXPLORER

 

DATE DESTINATION ARRIVE DEPART COMMENTS

 

 

 

Mar 29 2008 SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO 11:00PM CHECK IN 1:00PM-9:00PM

ARRIVE AFTER 2:00PM

FOR A FASTER CHECK IN

 

Mar 30 2008 ST. THOMAS, U.S.V.I. 07:00AM 06:00PM

 

Mar 31 2008 ST. KITTS 07:00AM 03:00PM

 

Apr 01 2008 GRENADA 09:00AM 02:00PM

 

Apr 02 2008 BONAIRE, ARUBA 11:00AM 07:00PM

 

Apr 03 2008 ARUBA 08:00AM 05:00PM

 

Apr 04 2008 AT SEA

 

Apr 05 2008 SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO 06:00AM

 

Notifications

 

Following are up-to-the-minute notifications about your itinerary. Please review these notifications for any actions you may need to take.

 

EMERGENCY NOTIFICATIONS

 

NOTIFICATION 1

** IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING EMBARKATION **

 

Please be reminded that embarkation will not begin until 1:00 pm.

Please note that adequate facilities are not available at the pier to

accommodate passengers who arrive prior to 1:00 pm. In addition, if you

arrive independently prior to 1:00 pm, you will not be permitted to enter

the port. You will be asked to return after 1:00 pm.

 

Thank you for your attention to this notification. We look forward to

welcoming you aboard Crown Princess!

[turquoisesea]

Thanks Carolyn - I will check this out. We will do the "arrive after 3:00" choice. There is plenty to do in Old San Juan! I love the Coach store - always great deals! I do like getting on the ship early, but I hate waiting in line more - so it's a no brainer!

[ilovetocruisetoo]

We were on the Crown in April of 07, and like others, had stayed the night before and needed to check out of our hotel by 11:00. So we got a cab to the pier at that time, planning on just dropping off our bags with the porters and coming back later. But when we got to the pier, there were only about 20 people in line in front of us, so we went ahead and got in line.

 

SERIOUSLY, we only waited about 30 minutes in the outdoor line before they opened the doors and let us go to the inside lines. We waited in there about another 10 minutes until the counters opened and we got our cruise cards. (the wait was no issue since we enjoyed visiting with others about the upcoming cruise, past cruises etc).

 

Then it was onto the liquor store and to the ship. We made it to our cabin which was already ready in probably 1.5 hours from leaving the hotel. It was so sweet.

 

We intentionally packed our swimsuits, a book each, sunblock, hats and our ipods in our carryon bag. We quickly changed and grabbbed the towels from the room and headed to the pool.

 

This was SUCH a smart choice because there was NOBODY by the pool, we had excellent wait staff service and had our first day basically by ourselves by the pool. My husband would make a run or two to the grill and get us burgers and fries, I ordered a couple buckets of Dos Equis and we were very happy campers.

 

So no complaints from us for the embarkation process or our first day.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Thanks Carolyn - I will check this out. We will do the "arrive after 3:00" choice. There is plenty to do in Old San Juan! I love the Coach store - always great deals! I do like getting on the ship early, but I hate waiting in line more - so it's a no brainer!

 

I believe they will take your luggage starting at 11 am so you can always drop it off and then hit the Coach store!

[SSM0120]

I believe they will take your luggage starting at 11 am so you can always drop it off and then hit the Coach store!

 

Oh no, I better not tell my fiance about that or he will lock me in the hotel room!