Is 12:35am too early to fly out of SJU

[phantomtales]

Hello Fellow Cruisers'

 

I am thinking of booking a flight out of SJU @ 12:35 am after an AOS cruise. Is this too early? How long do the immigration proceedures take in San Juan?

 

Thanks!

[Firefighterhoop]

I am assuming that you are talking PM:D , When I cruised, immigration was a nightmare, the airport secruity line was over an hour and a half long. We would not have made that flight.

 

However, some weeks it sounds like security and immigration are no problem and others it is like how my experiance was. Somthing that will help at the airport is NCL no longer has a ship there, so the lines may go down a little.

 

Scott

[phantomtales]

Thanks,

I did mean PM. Sounds like a later flight may be better.

[MszKitty]

We were on Adventure of the Seas and we had a 2:30pm flight home. They call you off the ship according to flight times. They called our time around 8:30am but we weren't quite ready to leave so we waited a bit because we'd rather sit on the ship, than sit in an airport. We finally decided to leave the ship around 10 and it took us about 45minutes-1 hour to actually get off the ship, go thru customs, find our luggage, and grab a taxi. We got to the airport somewhere around 11ish. It took us over half an hour to get thru airport security. HOWEVER...by the time we got to the front of the security line, the line behind us was 3 times as long. I would imagine that it took those people at least an hour and a half to get thru. And thats just thru security. There was also a long line waiting at the ticket counter/check in. When we got there, a porter immediately met us at the cab and took our bags. Fortunately for us, we had American Airlines E-tickets, so he took us right up to a kiosk where we did our checkin ourselves. We didn't have to stand in that line. If we had, I'm sure that would have been another hour or more.

 

Sooo..will a noon flight work? Thats iffy. If everything runs absolutely smoothly, maaaaybe. But if there is a glitch somewhere, chances are you will not make it to the plane on time. (remember...you are supposed to check in 2 hours prior to departure.) My opinion is, I wouldn't chance it.

[Marcys]

I have a 2 p.m. flight for next June out of San Juan. It's the only flight we could get with frequent flyer miles without having to wait till Tuesay to fly home.

 

My plan is to get up early and get ourselves as close to to the departure area of the ship as we can so we are one of the first ones off. Will that work? Also, if we take our own luggage off the ship (everyone has one wheeled suitcase), will that help? (Do they actually check your tickets getting off to see when your flight is????)

 

Thanks!

[Marcys]

Another question...what happens once you check your bags and then you misss your flight?? Where do the bags go? Ahead without you?

 

Does Travel Guard insurance cover hotel, meals, and any extra flight charges to get the next available flight?? Not quite sure by reading their policy.

[kitty1]

If you are in the first group to disembark from the ship you will have plenty of time.

 

We had a 1:15pm flight and were at the airport and through the security check point by 10:30am. The line gets really long later, so you want to be in the first group to disembark.

[howard6933]

I would not take a chance on an early flight from San Juan on disembarkation

day. The airport is a "zoo" and I have sworn to myself that if I ever take

another cruise from San Juan I will stay at least one day after the cruise

to avoid the mobs of people leaving there on disembarkation day.:(

The last time I was there earlier this year, I had to wait on a long line

to check my bags and then another loooong wait at the security line.

The worst part about it was that there isn't anyplace to sit down in that

airport unless you go to the gate area and to do that you of course

must check-in and go through security. So be forewarned that it's

no picnic leaving from San Juan airport.:D

[Martino]

I think time of year is also a big determinant. Last April (spring break/Easter season) we would not have made a 12:30 flight.

 

Having said that, perhaps if we were the first group off the ship, it may have been possible.

[Alexis]

Someone on here posted this great website that shows what other ships are in port the same day as you. This can be a big help in letting you know whether you are the only ship disembarking, or 5 others at the same time. That information can give you a better idea of the times needed at the airports. Not just San Juan.

I found San Juan on the weekends is also much worse when we have flown out of there.

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/

 

I am also using free tickets and got a 3:45 pm flight out of San Juan to Vegas. That is OK with me. We would rather sit in the airport than run for a flight.;)

[Jesseer]

We were just in San Juan 2 weeks ago on the Golden. We had a 1:30 flight and were at the airport and thru security before 11. We also had friends on the Carnival Destiny that arrived the same time as us and they had a 8:30 am flight and had no problem making it. Just request to be the first ones off.

[Marcys]

Alexis...thanks for that link. On June 26, 2005, only Adventure and Carnival Destiny will be in San Juan. What size ship is Destiny?

 

Also, if we get up early and make our way down to the debarkation area of the ship before they even start calling times so we're not backed up down hallways and up stair cases like we were last summer on Explorer, this should give us an advantage, right?

 

I do not have a problem wheeling our luggage off, too. We lost a lot of time in Miami last summer looking for luggage that was put on the wrong color carousel.

 

If you don't think these ideas will work, I'll have to cancel our our airline tickets (they're on hold for a few more days) and, unfortunately, our cruise. They're frequent flyer miles and the only flights i could get.

 

Does anyone know if Continental has curbside checkin??

 

Thanks!

[MszKitty]

I have a 2 p.m. flight for next June out of San Juan. It's the only flight we could get with frequent flyer miles without having to wait till Tuesay to fly home.

 

My plan is to get up early and get ourselves as close to to the departure area of the ship as we can so we are one of the first ones off. Will that work? Also, if we take our own luggage off the ship (everyone has one wheeled suitcase), will that help? (Do they actually check your tickets getting off to see when your flight is????)

 

Thanks!

You should be ok with a 2pm flight.

 

Also, they didn't check our tickets when we disembarked. (With that being said, however, we didn't make the mad dash to try to get off early. We had a 2:30 flight and they called our flight time earlier than we were ready to leave. Don't know if they actually checked tickets of those trying to leave early.)

[Alexis]

I do not know if this is how RCCL works in San Juan now, as we have not gone out of there in over 2 years.

On other RCCL cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale, and Miami, we had white tags which are supposed to be first off after the special people and handicapped. We had to show those stubs to get off the ship and claim our luggage where all the other white tagged luggage was.

People who tried to get off with other colors were turned back.

 

Marcys- the Destiny is 101,000+ tons, 3,360 passengers.

Between the two ships you have 6,000 people. :eek:

[Marcys]

MszKitty and Alexis,

 

Thanks for that useful information. With the use of etickets these days, not everyone has tickets to show!! So...if we get off early, showing tickets shouldn't be an issue.

 

Now I just have to resolve the issue of whether I can take my luggage off myslef.

 

Marcy

[Alexis]

No, not airline tickets, but luggage tags.

Before you leave the ship, RCCL will give you a form to fill out with information about your flights and other details. They will then have your cabin attendant give you luggage tags that come in colors. That tells them when your flight is and who needs to get off first. These are the tags I was speaking about. You will keep a stub of that tag.

On leaving the ship, they have a person who looks at those stubs to make sure you are in the color called to disembark. This is how it works in other ports. It is unfair to have people who live near the ports trying to get off before the other guests who have flights. They tie up the lines.

To claim your luggage you go to the area where the luggage with the white tags is lined up. (if that is still the color for first off.) You then can get your luggage.

PS I really think you will make your flight with no problem.

[MszKitty]

No, not airline tickets, but luggage tags.

Before you leave the ship, RCCL will give you a form to fill out with information about your flights and other details. They will then have your cabin attendant give you luggage tags that come in colors. That tells them when your flight is and who needs to get off first. These are the tags I was speaking about. You will keep a stub of that tag.

On leaving the ship, they have a person who looks at those stubs to make sure you are in the color called to disembark. This is how it works in other ports. It is unfair to have people who live near the ports trying to get off before the other guests who have flights. They tie up the lines.

To claim your luggage you go to the area where the luggage with the white tags is lined up. (if that is still the color for first off.) You then can get your luggage.

PS I really think you will make your flight with no problem.

Alexis....they don't do it that way now. I was on AOS this past July and they call you by flight times, not by the colored tags. The colored tags were only used to find your luggage once you were off the ship. That was the first cruise I'd been on where they did it that way and it makes sense seeing as 90% of the people sailing on the AOS will have flights to catch as opposed to other ports where people could drive to the port.

 

By the way....to the OP regarding the noon flight...I still think you might be pushing it. Sometimes there are problems getting the ship cleared. The day of my cruise, we couldn't get on the ship until almost 2:00PM because they were having problems with customs and the passengers didn't get off the ship until after 1:00PM

[MszKitty]

On June 26, 2005, only Adventure and Carnival Destiny will be in San Juan. What size ship is Destiny?

Destiny carries approximately 2,600 passengers.

[pjbrock]

Last April we had a 2:30 p.m. flight but would have made the noon easily. They usually let you off earlier if you tell them, that you have an early flight. I had a choice for a noon flight but was afraid that we'd miss it. As it turned out-itwould have been fine.

 

As to bags- the bags are checked at the airport so why would you miss it and your bags not? That actually did sort of happen it us once. THe flight was delayed and they put us on a earlier flight to make our connection-which we still didn't make-but that's another story. The bags took the original flight and we got them the next day.

[Marcys]

pjbrock...since bags are checked, then you go through security, if there are 1 1/2 hour long lines at security like one poster said, then the bags would make the flight but not us.:mad:

[JanetMarie]

Personally, I would take it. I can't imagine that you will need more than 3 hours to get to the airport, get through security, etc. We have been able to do it. Now, if there is a tie-up on the highway, well...

[Marcys]

How far is the airport from the pier?

[MszKitty]

How far is the airport from the pier?

Its about a 15-20 minute cab ride.

[MszKitty]

Personally, I would take it. I can't imagine that you will need more than 3 hours to get to the airport, get through security, etc. We have been able to do it. Now, if there is a tie-up on the highway, well...

Or a delay in the ship getting cleared..... I've read stories where the ship didn't get cleared as early as it usually does...and I saw it firsthand the day I was to board the ship. We couldn't board until after 2pm because passengers were still waiting to go thru customs until after 1pm. Yes, you could be one of the first off the ship, but that day, we could see the people waiting to go thru customs and the same people were waiting for at least an hour...the line wasn't moving. So, what time they actually got OFF the ship didn't matter. Customs held them up.

 

That being said, however, I still believe that, generally, a 2pm flight should be ok, but noon flight would concern me.

 

I would do what you feel comfortable with. But don't be upset if things happen and you miss the flight. JMO

[Marcys]

Haven'treceived my Travel Guard policy in the mail yet, but if there are major delays at the pier I would hope the insurance would cover rebooking fees for flights and a hotel for the night, if needed.