Flight in late afternoon

Sunbeam · September 8, 2007

I found out that our flight out of San Juan, Puerto Rico next November is at 3:40pm.

What do we until we our brought to the airport?

Will we be sent to the airport very very early so that the crew cleans up the ship before the next group comes on?

Gregswife · September 8, 2007

We flew into and out of San Juan for a cruise about 2 yrs. ago. If your flight is at 3:40, I don't think you will be getting there any too soon. Unless things have changed, it was the longest lines we have ever waited in - first to get to the check-in counter and then thru security. We waited in lines for a couple of hours before even getting to the gate. My in-laws flew out of there about 6 months ago, and said it was the same way then.

hazelson · September 8, 2007

Looks like another fun day of "people watching" at the airport....one of my favourite activities LOL.

But check and see if the cruise line has a city tour or something that you could take that will end up dropping you at the airport. They should have the timing down....hopefully....so you are there with lots of time to spare.

Cheryl - do you know why the San Juan airport is so slow - is there something special about the screening or do they have a lot of smuggling or something?

jacketwatch · September 8, 2007

How much time is there to kill? If enough then try seeing the Spanish Fort El Morro. The views from its top of SJ harbor are spectacular. You could also explore old SJ, tour the Bacardi factory, shop, etc. All of this assume you have adequate time. :smile:

Gregswife · September 9, 2007

Jenn, the check-in process is just really slow and of course, if you are flying out after a cruise, there are several other ships that have disembarked at the same time, so all of those passengers are flying out at the same time. It isn't like you can drive to that port, like you can if you are sailing from the U.S. or Canada, so almost all of the 10,000 passengers are boarding planes. Then at security, they take a little thing that looks like a wet wipe and rub it inside any carry-on's or purse you are taking onboard and that is put in a machine to see if any chemicals are present.

hazelson · September 9, 2007

So it sounds like it might be best to stay a night or two after the cruise in San Juan? What is there to do if you to stay. I know absolutely nothing about that area. :o)

zebra · September 10, 2007

There are a couple of hotels in Old San Juan and then there are the spiffy one's on the beachfront - Jenn, I like your idea of staying over for a night and missing the zoo of people at the airport, Sunbeam would that work for you?

Sunbeam · September 10, 2007

Wow

I guess we are in for quite a wait.

This is not our first time in San Juan, we have done the El Morro excursion walked and walked downtown. The excursion to the Bacardi Factory we will look into it.

We cannot change our day to come back because we will have done the pre-cruise.

rogue · September 10, 2007

There is only going to be one other ship in San Juan the day you disembark, so the crowds will not be overwhelming that day. We've done post cruise excursions before, and it's a great way to shorten the waiting time.