This was our first cruise and very much anticipated. It was our 20th wedding anniversary trip. We arrived in San Juan on Friday night. We stayed at the Condado Plaza hotel. It was ok but next time I think I'll stay in Old San Juan. Glad we only paid Priceline rates. The next day we had a leisurely morning and then made our way by taxi to the Pan American Pier at about 11:30 am. It was about a 5-10 minute taxi ride. When we arrived, there were a couple dozen people in line outside the terminal. We met some of the nicest folks waiting in line. We greeted each other throughout the cruise.
In about 20 minutes, our luggage was collected and we were ushered into the large waiting area where rows of chairs were provided along with friendly greeters and ice water. It was fairly muggy but not too hot that morning.
We took our seats, filled out a few papers handed to us (disembarkation plans) and before we knew it, we were receiving our boarding documents! We stopped in at the duty free shop right there in the terminal to grab a few beverages (both alcohol and non). We tucked them into our carry-on luggage and proceeded to board.