According to a Facebook post by Travel on a Dream, Disney Cruise Line’s Southern Caribbean sailings this fall aboard the Disney Magic will be embarking from the Pan American Port rather than the port conveniently located in Old San Juan. If you are like us, and booked a room at the Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel we will no longer be able to walk across the street with our luggage to check in and then walk back to enjoy Old San Juan. On the other hand this will make it easier to go between the port and the airport. It should be noted that this change is not reflected on DCL’s site (I checked my own reservation), and cast members fielding phone calls are telling guest the embarkation port is Paseo Concepcion de Garcia Pier #4, Old San Juan.
For those sailing on one of the four 7-night Southern Caribbean cruises the following is the embarkation day agenda as of now, which as we should all know by now is subject to change.
- 11:00 am – Check in begins.
You may check in and get onboard, then leave again if you wish. - 5:00 pm – Muster drill.
- Normal Dining times
- 9:30 pm – All aboard
- 10:30 pm – Set sail
It should be noted that this change is not reflected on DCL’s site (I checked my own reservation), and cast members fielding phone calls are telling guest the embarkation port is Paseo Concepcion de Garcia Pier #4, Old San Juan. We have been told the website is in the process of being updated and that the Pan American Port was always the port for the Disney Magic, while the Old San Juan port was for port calls aboard the Disney Fantasy.
Huge fare increases this year on most all sailings. The fare on this one is not cheap, but they’re going with a cheaper pier?
Scott are you sure? I just talked to DCL & they said the embarkation port is still listed as Paseo Concepcion de Garcia Pier #4, Old San Juan, which is across from the Sheraton.
Thanks for the info. I was starting to wonder. Disney is putting us in the Hilton Carib
Good to know, thank you!
How about Disney paying for transfers to the new pier when lots of people will be out of pocket paying now for taxi’s to the new pier. After all lots of people made hotel reservations in Old San Juan during the past 12+ months. Plus a lot of people (including us) have now booked tours which pick up at the pier in Old San Juan during the middle of our Back 2 Back and on the 27th. The last tour takes you to the airport too.
Like I said, we booked the hotel across the street so we could enjoy Old San Juan and walk to the ship, but such is life. We could have booked our hotel/transportation with DCL, and this would be a non issue for us. When we book things on our own we do so with the understanding the plans may change. Sure, this will be inconvenient for those like us who already made plans, but the most important thing is that our flight is unaffected and our cruise is still sailing as scheduled.
Yep. I think I will let my Old San Juan reservation go and booked at the Hilton Caribe for the beach access. I was really looking forward to being close to the port, checking in and leaving for a bit but such is life. 🙂 At the end of the day we will still have a great time!
They have done this with our Alaskan sailing (5/24- 9 nighter) as well. Every time you call to ask for a clarification, you get a different answer. I’d also beg to guess that DCL didn’t “go with a cheaper pier” but instead was assigned one by the port authority.
I checked on this again today and the phone agents have the updated information now. The driving directions on the website still reflect Old San Juan as Scott’s picture shows, but the agents have updated info on their intranet.
I was honestly surprised to hear when we were originally scheduled out of the OSJ pier. Usually they reserve that one for port stops and use Pan Am for home-porting. A quick taxi ride will solve this, fortunately. As usual my disappointment lies in Disney’s lack of communication. An email officially announcing the change would be nice!
From what has been uncovered it is not a change, but rather a miscommunication of the correct information for months.
That makes more sense. We have an OSJ hotel booked that would have been too much of a walk for four plus luggage anyway.
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