San Juan departure day

[anne]

Does anyone know how we can spend our departure day at the Beach in San Juan?? The Horizon docks in the AM but our flight doesn't leave until 4:45. Big Question What do we do with the luggage?? Has anyone dealt with this? Don't want to spend the day at the airport. Party of five.

[Donna]

Hi Anne,
On our last cruise to the Southern Caribbean, we were able to take a tour the day we got off the ship, also had a late flight. We were on a Princess ship and were able to check in all the luggage at the pier, get our boarding passes, etc. Then we were on our way with a nice tour that ended at the airport, much better than hanging out at the San Juan airport, still not enough seats Depending on how late your flight was, you could also spend the day at a hotel and use their facalities, beach, pool, etc. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time for that, but that sure sounds like a great way to end a cruise.

Once you get on board, you should be able to find about these tours, we didn't know anything about it either til we were already cruising and they did provide all this information. We also had purchased the transfers back to the airport, which they did credit us, since we didn't end up needed them.

Have a great cruise


Donnassei

Hi Anne:

We debarked in San Juan from GALAXY on 2/24 and had a 3:45 p.m. flight. Here's what we did that worked for us:

You can check luggage all the way through to your final destination right at the dock after you clear customs/immigration. The airlines issue boarding passes and have baggage trucks lined up on the dock to handle everything. We only kept one small carry-on with us so we were unencumbered during the day.

After checking baggage and getting boarding passes at the dock, we skipped the transfer to the airport and took one of the cabs ($6) waiting right there into Old San Juan and were in town a little after 10 a.m. We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon looking at El Morro, shopping, and having a nice quiet bite to eat--how we ever had room for more food after a week on GALAXY I don't know!

We took a cab from Old San Juan to the airport ($12) and simply boarded our plane. This was sooooo much better than spending even a few hours at the airport. There aren't enough seats on cruise transfer days and the airport lacks for decent restaurants or other facilities.

We didn't think to ask for a credit for our unused airport transfers--that was a good idea. There may be beaches near the airport, then it would make sense to go from the airport, but if you're going to Old San Juan it's a waste of time and cab fare to go to the airport first. The ship docks between the airport and Old San Juan.

Anyway, you're on the right idea to avoid spending any more time than necessary at the airport--well, unless you enjoy people-watching while you're sitting on the floor :-)
jes

[TONY]

Hello
Om my last trip to San Juan , I had a 5:00 flight. So I went to the air port and checked in my bags. Afterwards I took a cab to an area full of resort hotels. I had lunch and drinks. Talked to some guys from New York. I then went to the front of the hotel and flaged another cab back to the Airport.

Piece of cake

100% agree with Salty Sea Dog.

You can check your bags at the pier, so that solves the baggage problem.

Cabs are plentiful and cheap to town, and unless you've already spent some time there, the city is a more worthwhile day than the beach which, while fine, is just a beach.

Easy and relatively cheap to get a cab (or two) to the airport, which is only about a 20 minute drive from town as I recall. It is an easy day to do on your own, and not taking a tour allows for a little spontenaity.

By the way, there are some nice brunches available at many hotels--a good first stop on your way in from the ship.

AR

[anne]

Thanks for the advice. It seems do-able. Last time we left out of San Juan we spent the day sitting on the airport floor.
One question to be clarified. Will all the airlines have check-in at the pier? Even TWA?? How can I find out?
PS I made my arrangements through Expedia so I can't ask a TA.