Cruising in April, our flight arrives at around 3:00 pm and our ship, Celebrity Summit, sails at 8:30 pm. Our agent told us that we should be in PR no later than 5:00 pm. In any case we need to know if we should purchase the transfer $33.00 pp or is it better to take a taxi from the SJ airport to the cruise ship? From what I am reading, some people fly a day ahead, but that was in the winter. First timers so we are not sure what others do. Thanks in advance.

It's definitely cheaper to take a taxi on your own, and that's what I'd do.

As for arriving in Puerto Rico, there's always a chance that your flight could be late. There are, for instance, sometimes thunderstorms in April. And if you are coming from JFK, they are doing runway work and expected sometimes significant delays because of that (and weather can exacerbate runway issues out there because of winds). While you're certainly safer if you're on nonstop flight, your plane could have any number of issues that could delay the flight by more than an hour, and that would really make your connection pretty tight. You HAVE to be on the ship about an hour to 90 minutes before sailing or they simply won't let you on. That's why a lot of people come a day early.

Having said all that, I rarely fly in a day early for a cruise (I would if sailing from Europe but probably not Puerto Rico). That's a level of risk I'm willing to take on. But it is a risk, and you should make sure you have insurance to cover you in case you miss the ship and have to catch up to it at the next port (which I must say would be pretty easy in the Caribbean ... though you'd miss out on a day of your cruise and might have to arrange a flight on a small plane).

FYI: If you don't have a valid passport, you might not be able to catch up to your ship elsewhere in the Caribbean if you miss the original sailing because you wouldn't be allowed to fly into your destination (unless the next destination is St. Thomas). This is why sailing with just a birth certificate and photo ID is such a risky endeavor.

Thanks, we are flying from Florida and hope no storms! Agent advised to take a passport so we are covered for that too. We appreciate you input, being new to this.

Well, not so fast....if you make an arrangement with the cruise ship for airport transportation they WILL know if there are flight delays for one of their passengers and will be more willing to allow you in the ship if getting there past the 5pm but before 6:30pm. Passengers Manifest List has to be in the Port Security Office a min of 90 minutes prior to sailing time, which is totally outside their control. I would ask the cruise if this is still the case.

I do agree with traveling with passports as a contingency.