Pre-cruise, post-cruise?

[suziehmkr]

We are new to the Caribbean and flying to ports. :eek: We will be sailing out of San Juan in late 2009. DH hates to fly, but since this southern itinerary only has 1 sea day, he said I could book it. The flight to Hawaii this year will be tough enough and it is much shorter. This is a big deal for me because he doesn't agree to fly easily, as you can tell from our West Coast cruise list. :rolleyes: It took a Pre-Inaugural cruise from RCCL to get him on a 5+ hour flight to Miami from California. So, our flight to San Juan will be even longer.

 

So, knowing how long it will take to get there and that our cruise is port-intensive - what would you recommend for 2 days in San Juan? 2 days pre-cruise or 1 day on each end of it?

 

On a side note: Do you find better flight deals on your own or thru the cruiseline for San Juan, specifically? I have read that for some ports booking thru the line will get you a better deal (like Tahiti) and I am not sure if San Juan is one of them.

[melgray13]

Here's my advice.

 

If your hubby isn't a fan of flying (like mine) I would spend time both ways 1 day before and 1 day after. This allows him to really enjoy his vacation without having to be in flight anticipation/recovery mode. For our April trip to SJ we are flying in 1 day early and staying 2 days late (which is also saving us $$ on airfare). In response to your question on airfare - we've flown to SJ from 2 different cities and were able to get our own airfare for less than what the cruise line was asking.

 

Can I ask, why doesn't hubby like to fly? Mine had a lot of issues with flying (actually passed out on a flight) :) He started using the same patches that you use while on the cruise ship on the plane and hasn't had any trouble since.

 

Do you happen to have any frequent flyer miles? We used ours to upgrade to 1st class. Nice to have the extra space for the longer flight and the extra luggage allowance makes it easier to bring home any treasure you find on your vaction.

[suziehmkr]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I am not sure exactly why he doesn't like to fly. I personally love to fly - driving to LA for 6-7 hours to sail drives me bonkers! So I am glad he is agreeing to this. When we were going to sail to Alaska, we were going to drive to Canada! :eek: He keeps making reference to them not being safe. He did very well flying to Miami - I was quite surprised. But then he has let me know that Hawaii will be tough for him because of flying over water. He is a very rational man, so I can't explain this. I have considered taking him to the doctor for some anti-anxiety meds, but he is pretty stubborn. hee hee I can do a night flight over so he can sleep most of the way - but coming back, that isn't as easy.

 

I hadn't thought of how the flight will work out as far as days... I guess my flight rates will help decide too... like you said you are saving money by staying a bit longer. It will be interesting, for sure. I just think with the long flights it would help to spend some extra time in San Juan - not to mention there is a ton to see - from what I am reading on here. :) I am spending the next year + racking up Marriott points so it can help pay for the extra nights.

 

Thanks again - I really appreciate your time.

[T0M Cruzer]

We are also flying all the way from California and it is a long flight. We've booked a night flight so that we will hopefully sleep through a lot of it. The itinerary is definitely worth the flight time, otherwise I wouldn't do it because I hate long flights.

 

We're taking three days pre-cruise, so that we can see the sites, and get into the island time. We're staying in a bed and breakfast on the beach, which should be nice. We aren't taking any days on the back end, because we seem to always want to get home.