Transfer from San Juan airport to terminal

[luvocean9]

We are booked for the Summit March 21st. We will be arriving San Juan at 3:00 PM and need a ride to the ship. We've never been to San Juan. Can anyone advise us what is the best way....taxi, shuttle, thru Celebrity? Also, about how much should we expect to pay or tip?

 

If we arrive at 3PM, about how long will it take to get our checked bags and arrive at the terminal?

 

Thanks!

[mcmarya]

Take a cab. I think it's still $20 plus $1 per bag per taxi, not per person--get a slip from the dispatcher. Don't know about the luggage, but it's probably about a 15 - 20 minute ride.

[hurwitz5]

We cruised from San Juan in January 2009. Once you get your checked luggage, there is a well organized taxi stand outside. Wait in a line and the dispatcher will get you a cab. The total for 2 people with 4 pieces of luggage was approximately $25.00. My husband and I had our own cab, but there were also vans for larger groups - don't know what they charged for that. The ride from the airport to the port is about 20 minutes. We also easily found a cab to take us back to the airport when we finished our cruise. I think that the cab is cheaper than Celebrity's transfers, plus you can go and come when you are ready without waiting for a bus to fill up with passengers.

[warthog999]

We took a cab in Jan in San Juan. Cost is 20 plus 1 dollar per bag. Cabs are plenty when you get off the boat. It takes about 15min with no traffic.

[warthog999]

We also had 6 people in our party and 8 bags we gave the guy 30 dollars.

[luvocean9]

Thanks al for your replies. It's so good to know what to expect.:)

[eetonaee]

Just to add to what the previous posters said.

I think that San Juan airport is one of the easiest to use for taxis to the pier.

 

I'm sure we were at the ship while the Celebrity transfer customers were still waiting for the last passenger to find their luggage and get on the bus.

[warmwinds]

We also found SJU to be extremely easy to get a taxi to our hotel pre-cruise and then to the pier and then back from the pier to the airport. Be sure to get the slip of paper from the (girls) in all of our cases - the taxi driver never took it but it was nice to know you had the amount in writing.

 

I just want to say also that embarking and disembarking in San Juan on Celebrity was BY FAR the smoothest and easiest of any cruise, ANYWHERE, that we have taken.

[mkad1109]

Glad I read this thread! We are a family of 6 whose TA told us the transfers were the way to go..... I think it was $15 per person ($90 vs. $50) from what I have read here.... but the point about waiting is what REALLY got me. I'm a die hard NY'er and don't do waiting well (something that infuriates my Hawaiian born, laid back DH!!!). Does anyone know if I can get the transfer amount refunded? Even in form of a OBC. My TA left message today along the lines of "your cruise documents are in and oh by the way we are out next week- see you on March 18th", which is why I am not calling her directly- any assistance/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[robtulipe]

A taxi is definitely the best way to get to the cruise piers and back to the airport. Here are the zone rates for SJ. SJU is in zone 1. Both Pan Am and OSJ piers are in zone 4. Fare is $19 for up to 5 paxs plus $1 per handled piece of luggage.

Edited March 7, 2009 by robtulipe

[kym&lee]

Thank you so much for that zone map and to all of you for your replies. I've learned from 6 previous cruises that it is usually cheaper to do things on your own that through the ship, but sometimes it is "better" to do it through the ship. I can see by your posts that getting from the airport to the pier isn't a major ordeal and can easily - and cheaply - be done on our own rather than the ship transfers. Thanks so much!!!!!!!

[robtulipe]

Here is another great site for taxi fares for some major cities. We used it to determine our taxi fare from Barcelona airport to the cruise pier to catch our last Dec. Century TA cruise. The amazing thing was our actual fare was exactly the same (to the cent) as the estimate which I had printed out for reference. It cost us 20.30 E or about $25US compared to $58 for X's bus transfer for both of us. The time was also right on at about 20 minutes for this ride.

http://www.worldtaximeter.com/

Edited March 7, 2009 by robtulipe

[Lois R]

Glad I read this thread! We are a family of 6 whose TA told us the transfers were the way to go..... I think it was $15 per person ($90 vs. $50) from what I have read here.... but the point about waiting is what REALLY got me. I'm a die hard NY'er and don't do waiting well (something that infuriates my Hawaiian born, laid back DH!!!). Does anyone know if I can get the transfer amount refunded? Even in form of a OBC. My TA left message today along the lines of "your cruise documents are in and oh by the way we are out next week- see you on March 18th", which is why I am not calling her directly- any assistance/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hi:) you are sailing next month? You should be able to cancel

those transfers. I was going to take a transfer for a different sailing

but changed my mind. I cancelled them without difficulty.

I booked directly with X so I called and it was taken

care of on the phone. They emailed me a new confirmation too.

Since you booked with a Travel Agent they will probably have to cancel

them. They will be back on the 18th? You still have time.

Or you can try calling X but I think they will tell you the TA

has to do it.

Edited March 7, 2009 by Lois R

[Strumsong]

One time when we flew into San Juan, Celebrity took our luggage right off the carousel because it had the tags on it and we weren't expecting them to. We eventually figured it out and enjoyed the fact that we didn't have to tote the bags ourselves.

Have a great cruise! We're leaving in a week.

[dutchess43]

Glad I read this thread! We are a family of 6 whose TA told us the transfers were the way to go..... I think it was $15 per person ($90 vs. $50) from what I have read here.... but the point about waiting is what REALLY got me. I'm a die hard NY'er and don't do waiting well (something that infuriates my Hawaiian born, laid back DH!!!). Does anyone know if I can get the transfer amount refunded? Even in form of a OBC. My TA left message today along the lines of "your cruise documents are in and oh by the way we are out next week- see you on March 18th", which is why I am not calling her directly- any assistance/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

Fom one New Yorker(huntington) to another I sure understand where you are coming from. The only time we take the transfers is when we are in Europe & now that seems we are cabbing it there a lot more also. See if your TA can get the amount credited to your credit card. We find it is much quicker to get cabs then wait for the bus to fill up & a lot of times it is less expensive. We were in San Juan this past Aug for a cruise & their cab system works well. Be prepared they do charge 1.00 per piece of luggage. You can also tell the dispatcher that you want a mini van when you are standing on line. This is another reason why I book everything myself instead of a TA if there is a problem I call the cruise line & it is taken care of immediately no need to wait.

Edited March 7, 2009 by dutchess43

[mkad1109]

Hi:) you are sailing next month? You should be able to cancel

those transfers. I was going to take a transfer for a different sailing

but changed my mind. I cancelled them without difficulty.

I booked directly with X so I called and it was taken

care of on the phone. They emailed me a new confirmation too.

Since you booked with a Travel Agent they will probably have to cancel

them. They will be back on the 18th? You still have time.

Or you can try calling X but I think they will tell you the TA

has to do it.

Thanks you have made me happy! I think I am going to wait to call my TA. At which point I can let her know that I am not too happy with the advice I received (it's not the first time...She also told us to go to Kingston in Guatemala as a day trip on our last cruise-YUK!, and told me to book two one way tickets for this one to ensure the best fare - NOT!) Time to start doing it on my own!

[mkad1109]

Fom one New Yorker(huntington) to another I sure understand where you are coming from. The only time we take the transfers is when we are in Europe & now that seems we are cabbing it there a lot more also. See if your TA can get the amount credited to your credit card. We find it is much quicker to get cabs then wait for the bus to fill up & a lot of times it is less expensive. We were in San Juan this past Aug for a cruise & their cab system works well. Be prepared they do charge 1.00 per piece of luggage. You can also tell the dispatcher that you want a mini van when you are standing on line. This is another reason why I book everything myself instead of a TA if there is a problem I call the cruise line & it is taken care of immediately no need to wait.

Thanks for your advice. From now on I think I will do it on my own. I did not like having to call her to change my dining time either (which again was her advice for late seating. With 4 children and finding out it was after 8 that just didn't seem smart).

[robtulipe]

Glad I read this thread! We are a family of 6 whose TA told us the transfers were the way to go..... I think it was $15 per person ($90 vs. $50) from what I have read here.... but the point about waiting is what REALLY got me. I'm a die hard NY'er and don't do waiting well (something that infuriates my Hawaiian born, laid back DH!!!). Does anyone know if I can get the transfer amount refunded? Even in form of a OBC. My TA left message today along the lines of "your cruise documents are in and oh by the way we are out next week- see you on March 18th", which is why I am not calling her directly- any assistance/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Tell the dispatcher you are a group of six and he/she will try to get you a full size van which may take a few minutes more to get. This should cost $21 (6th person is $2 extra over $19 rate for five) plus $1 per piece of handled (not carry on bags) piece of luggage and tip.

It's amazing what the drivers can do. We were a group of six and after our last May Radiance cruise that ended in Honolulu, we needed to get to our hotel in Waikiki for our post-cruise stay. I thought we would need two taxis with all the luggage we had but the driver of a van knew exactly how to configure us and the luggage in his van so we ended up all going in one taxi. I wouldn't want to go a long distance cramped in that way but it was fine for our 15 or 25 minutes it took to go where needed to go. We all had a regular seat and the extra luggage was piled onto a single fold down rear seat.

[mkad1109]

Tell the dispatcher you are a group of six and he/she will try to get you a full size van which may take a few minutes more to get. This should cost $21 (6th person is $2 extra over $19 rate for five) plus $1 per piece of handled (not carry on bags) piece of luggage and tip.

It's amazing what the drivers can do. We were a group of six and after our last May Radiance cruise that ended in Honolulu, we needed to get to our hotel in Waikiki for our post-cruise stay. I thought we would need two taxis with all the luggage we had but the driver of a van knew exactly how to configure us and the luggage in his van so we ended up all going in one taxi. I wouldn't want to go a long distance cramped in that way but it was fine for our 15 or 25 minutes it took to go where needed to go. We all had a regular seat and the extra luggage was piled onto a single fold down rear seat.

Thanks so much for your words of wisdom.. We will definitely do that. My DH prefers to keep us all together!

[Joliboi]

Thanks so much for your words of wisdom.. We will definitely do that. My DH prefers to keep us all together!

 

Furthermore if you are not hauling tones of luggage you can use the local public bus system if your ship is leaving from the Pan AM terminal (Old San Juan). Happy sailing!:)

[ozarkmama]

Furthermore if you are not hauling tones of luggage you can use the local public bus system if your ship is leaving from the Pan AM terminal (Old San Juan). Happy sailing!:)

 

 

You do realize this post was from 2009??