My wife and our ten year old son will be cruising on the Victory in January.  We have a few questions even though this will be our seventh time on Carnival.

1.  When are the formal nights?  Are there two?

2.  Since there is a port of call every day, how did the ship handle the excursions and debarkation talk?

3.  After the lifeboat drill, can you get off the ship while we are still docked in San Juan?  We don’t sail until late that night and we are thinking about hanging out in Old Town for a little while provided the weather is good.

4.  I hear that debarkation can be a real nightmare and can take a while.  Does Carnival offer the self assist luggage option?  We are thinking of doing this as we fly out of San Juan at 2:00 and I know that our luggage has to be scanned at the airport before we can even check in.

Any information greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

There are two formal nights.  We're on the Victory 1/24 so I've been doing some research.  Not sure about the excursion talks but we don't attend those anyway.  And the debarkation talk will be played on your tv in the cabin a lot after they have it one night.  The lifeboat drill will not be help until about an hour before the ship is ready to leave port.  Once you check in on the ship you can get back off just like you would at any other port to check out Old San Juan.  I've heard that the life boat drill will be between 9 and 10.  Carnival does offer self assist luggage.  We've never taken that option, but lots do.  Hope this helps!

Thanks.  We sail on the 17th or one week before you.  I am just doint some early research especially about sailing day.  We are spending the night prior in San Juan but have not decided where.  If we can get off after checking in, we may walk around then.  Thanks again for the info.

You're welcome for the info.  I can't stop doing research for our cruise.  It helps pass the unbearble time until we go!  Just in case you've never heard of it, check out www.cruisecritic.com website.  There is so much information there on our cruise and ship!  We are staying two nights after we sail in Old San Juan.  The hotel we booked is right across the street from the pier, which might be handy with a little one.  It's the Sheraton Old San Juan.  Everyone says that you literally get off/on the ship and dray your luggage across the street!

Oops...thought I read that as your "one" year old son!  Guess he's not that little!!!

tlc2399:

You're welcome for the info.  I can't stop doing research for our cruise.  It helps pass the unbearble time until we go!  Just in case you've never heard of it, check out www.cruisecritic.com website.  There is so much information there on our cruise and ship!  We are staying two nights after we sail in Old San Juan.  The hotel we booked is right across the street from the pier, which might be handy with a little one.  It's the Sheraton Old San Juan.  Everyone says that you literally get off/on the ship and dray your luggage across the street!

Cruisecritic has been on my favorites list for some time and yes, it's a great reference.  We've been to Old Town before on the Liberty and had a port of call there.  The Sheraton looks really nice.  I wanted to stay there prior to our cruise but its sold out for that weekend.  I kept trying on-line and finally called only to be told there is some sort of convention there that weekend so unless there is a cancellation, we'll be staying elsewhere.  We'll probably end up at the Hilton as its on the beach and my wife and ten year old would like a beach day so I think we'll do that.  We'll probably get off the ship after check in and walk around Old Town a bit.  We had an evening arrival last time so it will be nice to see it in daylight.  Keep researching!  So far, we cannot book any excursions on-line but I hear that changes as your sailing date gets closer.

what date are you going on your cruise?  I tried to switch my hotel reservation for Saturday night 10/10 and was also told by my travel agent that everything was booked and that there must be a convention.  Guess she was right.  We are staying at he Hampton Inn and Suites over by the Airport.  We'll take a taxi to old town that evening and tour it during the day on Sunday after we get through on the ship.  We are on the Victory sailing out 10/11.  When are you sailing?

Hi,

We just came back from our cruise this past Sunday. So maybe I can clear a few things out for you!

1- There is one Captain night and another formal night... so two in total.

2- The excursions talk will occur on the first night in San Juan and you will get the info through your TV. As for debarkation talk, since it's not like other ports, it will be done on the last day around 5hpm. Was very informative!

3- The boat drill occurs at 9h15-9h30, just before we get ready to leave... so no you cannot leave afterward. But you have until 8h30 to board back if you decide to go ashore.

4- In San Juan there is a possibility of self assist but the debarkation is very smooth and very well coordinated. We were out by 10ham and if people had flight early they were being let out first. Our flight was at 2h55pm. So no worries, we took time to eat and go back to our stateroon to get our luggage. We had plenty of time. Also, taxi ride is about 23$ for a single trip to the airport from port including 4 luggages. So cheaper than Carnival transfers!

Hope it's help.

BTW if you like snorkeling, we suggest you go for the Champagne Reef Snorkel in Dominica... beautiful and truly interesting.

sweet inspiration:

what date are you going on your cruise?  I tried to switch my hotel reservation for Saturday night 10/10 and was also told by my travel agent that everything was booked and that there must be a convention.  Guess she was right.  We are staying at he Hampton Inn and Suites over by the Airport.  We'll take a taxi to old town that evening and tour it during the day on Sunday after we get through on the ship.  We are on the Victory sailing out 10/11.  When are you sailing?

Not until January 17 but it's never too early to plan!

flashover28:

Hi,

We just came back from our cruise this past Sunday. So maybe I can clear a few things out for you!

1- There is one Captain night and another formal night... so two in total.

2- The excursions talk will occur on the first night in San Juan and you will get the info through your TV. As for debarkation talk, since it's not like other ports, it will be done on the last day around 5hpm. Was very informative!

3- The boat drill occurs at 9h15-9h30, just before we get ready to leave... so no you cannot leave afterward. But you have until 8h30 to board back if you decide to go ashore.

4- In San Juan there is a possibility of self assist but the debarkation is very smooth and very well coordinated. We were out by 10ham and if people had flight early they were being let out first. Our flight was at 2h55pm. So no worries, we took time to eat and go back to our stateroon to get our luggage. We had plenty of time. Also, taxi ride is about 23$ for a single trip to the airport from port including 4 luggages. So cheaper than Carnival transfers!

Hope it's help.

BTW if you like snorkeling, we suggest you go for the Champagne Reef Snorkel in Dominica... beautiful and truly interesting.

Thanks for this.  Much appreciated.  I know my wife will want to stroll around Old Town if we can and now we know.  I am really looking forward to this trip and am counting the days!

HI,

I just just went on this cruise Aug 23.  You heard right, the debarkation was a nightmare.  We almost missed out flight. Our flight left @12:25 and we made it within 5 min of last call.  We waited around on the ship for almost 3 hours for them to call our number, it was getting down to the wire and finally I just left before they even called our number.   My mother was also there and she actually missed her flight.  Keep in mind the airport was a wait also.  Thank God I was able to skip the long line, because my flight was about to leave.  That was the longest time I have ever stayed on the ship waiting to get off.  I have been on 3 prior ships and we were off before 8:30-9.  

Not that I don't believe problems can occur... but maybe if you had attended the debarkation talk (night prior to debarkation) you might have known that they gave out earlier numbers to debark... We had 18 and they gave us 3 because our plane was before 1hpm. So sometimes it's not all lost to attend those meetings... even if they seem boring. Our flight was later finally so we didn't need to use our #3 debarkation but our friends were trying to get an earlier flight so we gave them the number.

So my word of advise... whatever you read on this board could be positive or negative, if you leave on a positive mind and let the stress back at home you will be able to face whether event with a positive and open mind and therefore will pass throught it without to much resentment. Not all is gloom and doom! Even bad moments can be turned around!

Wish you the best on your cruises... and hope you have a wonderful time. Take it slow and enjoy! Isn't it what are vacation are for???

Well put.  Our flight is at 2:00.  If we don't get a decent number or have issues movign up, we will probably use the self service option that morning to avoid delays and potentially missing our flight home.  I've dealt with the San Juan Airport previously so I know about all of the lines.

Not trying to hijack another persons thread here, but I'm headed on the victory on Jan 31st.  We're looking at flying down a day early and staying in a hotel the night before the cruise.  We've never been to San Juan before, and this is only our second cruise.  Can anyone recommend a hotel close to the port besides the Sheraton (I believe it is already booked up for the night in question)?  I want something clean, safe, and at a good location.  Doesn't really matter if it is a "resort" or anything like that, we'll be more than occupied by exploring Old Town.

We stayed at the Howard Johnson in Old San Juan... good rates (we took through Expedia and we actually got a suite for the price of a room). It included the breakfast and it's VERY well located to do all the sites on foot. Although since all sidewalks are very narrow and made of stone... I don't think you could carry your luggage to the pier. We took a taxi from the hotel to pier and we paid 12$ (10$ for the ride and .50$ for each luggage). So not that bad! The room was very clean, employees very friendly and we were able to leave our luggage there on our embarkation day until late since we wanted to stroll around San Juan before boarding the ship.

Hope it helps!