The Amsterdam sailed into the Bahia de San Juan around 7am, joining the already docked Harmony of the Seas (RCI). It was not long after that, when the Carnival Magic arrived, making us look tiny by comparison. Since the cruise line book is packed, we are not sure of the passenger capacity of these two ships, but they have to be double or triple of what we have on the Amsterdam.
But first, we would have to attend a mandatory United States Border Protection Inspection in the terminal. This was a “zero” count, where everyone on the ship, including all staff members had to clear this inspection before anyone was allowed back on the ship. There was one exception, the passengers would clear first, and would be allowed back onboard during the time the crew was being cleared.
We were all assigned a letter or a number to follow when being called off. Ours was an “S”, which means we could go off first, or anytime we wished. We chose to go to breakfast like we always do, then go off when the final call was made for everyone to clear. This happened around 9:15am. Not wanting to be the last off, we went off the ship to line up with many folks doing the same thing. The process went quite well, where we queued up in five lines to see five agents. Our passports were recorded and we were on our way to either wait in the terminal to go back to the ship, or go out for the rest of the day. Some folks were on HAL tours as well.
There were several stores with souvenirs and alcohol on both levels, so many guests spent their wait time shopping. We were surprised to find so many people that wanted back on the ship.. We ran into Barb near the exit. She was also going to hang around to go back. She told us later on that it took 20 more minutes for all of the passengers to attend the inspection. The crew members were beginning to go through when she and the rest of the crowd were allowed back onboard.
Puerto Rico was founded in 1508 by Ponce de Leon, the Spanish explorer. San Juan, the capital, is the oldest city in a United States Territory. A completely walled city, San Juan was protected by several forts. The British and the Dutch attacked several times, but only the Brits were successful in 1596 when they overtook San Juan for 65 days. The island was ceded to the United States at the end of the Spanish-American War. Full of plazas, churches, and gardens, today it is a vacation haven with its Euro-African music, culture, and cuisine. The currency here is the US dollar, and the languages spoken are English and Spanish. The population is 395,400 people according to the census in 2016.
Listening to Barbara H’s talk, she mentioned that since we will be close to the center of town, shuttles will not be provided. There were, however, trolleys that you can take for a free tour around the city. Not a bad idea. But with 10,000 passengers in town, not including us, there might be a long wait to ride them. And it might avoid some sore feet from walking on the streets paved with old blue/gray cobblestones.
The Old Town was full of the typical Caribbean island shopping. High end shops like Diamonds International, Effy, Milano, Del Sol, and Cariloha were all here. So were dozens of souvenir boutiques, and street stands selling lots of treasures. Art is everywhere, and so is food. Many different types of restaurants lined these cobbled streets with fish, pork, stews, and rice. But most important of all, they have lots of pizza places, as we would discover later.
Barbara’s talks always end with, “When all is said and done, Puerto Rico (or whatever port we are in) has something for everyone. We did ask Barbara what her summer plans are, and she told us she was on the Volendam for the Alaska season. Then after that, she plans to retire. She will not be doing the Voyage of the Vikings. We will sure miss her when she does not come back to the world cruise. The only other port lecturer we have had on Grand Voyages was Frank Buckingham, but that was 2010 on the Prinsendam’s Grand South America. Barbara has been the most informative speaker, as well as a personal friend. As many times as she has been to these world-wide ports, she has stayed enthusiastic with each one, like it is her first time visiting there. The year that our camera shut down, she helped locate a replacement lens while we approached Africa. Calling port agents, she located just what we needed in Richard’s Bay. We would have been without a good camera going on our safari that year, had it not been for Barbara’s help.
Getting out of the terminal with so many other passengers was unusual for this trip. We have not had to share facilities with anyone during most of this four month voyage. Maybe in a few ports we had company, but not like today. Following the ship’s map, we hiked across the street and uphill towards the Monument of Christopher Columbus. Street markets had popped up everywhere along the way, selling lots of stuff for cheap. Few of our passengers were buying, since we are packing now, and finding we had little or no room.
Our destination was Fort San Cristobal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the largest fortifications in the New World. We did not go inside, but got plenty of outside pictures. Turning left at the top, we followed the boulevard above the fortresses below us. This area is called Le Perla, which is not referring to the gemstones of pearls. It refers to the area surrounding the water’s edge, where a wall is built with smaller forts.
On the opposite end of this walled hillside, is El Morro, built in the 1500’s, it is the oldest Spanish fort in the New World, also a UNESCO World Heritage site. We walked the grassy knolls to the front entrance, where we found a price board with their national park fee of $7 per person (kids were free) to enter this castle. It was brought up at dinner tonight that if you already have a National Park lifetime membership card, every US park is accessible for free. Good to know. Some of our tablemates had paid $10 for this card as little as 5 years ago, while today, the going fee is $80.
The white Santa Maria Magdelena cemetery was below, next to this imposing fortress. Not enough time to explore it, we did take several photos. Following this coastline around the base of this fort, was a road where great photos could be taken. However, we were informed that the road was closed, due to recent damage done by a massive wave. Besides many roofs being covered with blue tarps, the damage from the hurricane this past summer was not really obvious. Just guessing, we think most of the destruction was in the mountain area. This whole Old Town of San Juan has been cleaned up and well-maintained since that catastrophic storm.
We have to mention that a notice was printed in the daily newsletter. It referred to donations given in this port for hurricane relief. While Amsterdam’s management had diligently and exhaustingly tried to add to those efforts, local limitations prohibited further ship-wide support. Go figure….. Guests were welcomed to undertake personal efforts, but the ship could not be involved. Again, go figure…..Now this did not stop locals from begging at the terminal gate, but who knows where those donations really ended up. No one gave anything to these fellows. Absolutely no one.
Back-tracking, we slowly made our way over the top and downhill. Sprinkles were beginning to fall, but the passing cloud kept going. There wasn’t one tourist that was packing an umbrella, and had it rained, thousands of us would have been quite wet. Might have felt good actually, since it was plenty hot and sticky out.
Our next job was the hunt for the Hard Rock Café, which should have been on Recinto Sur Calle. When we got to that address that was listed on their website, we found it was gone. The property was locked and for rent. Knowing that with this crowd today we had little chance of eating lunch there, we did want to buy a couple of their t-shirts. Not happening today, and it would have been nice if they updated their website.
So we found the nearest information center, and inquired if the HRC had been re-located. Nope, it was gone, but may have moved to the new city, far from here. Another suggestion was the best place for pizza. Pulling out a very detailed free local map, she circled the spot to go. Yes, there was one place very close, a few blocks uphill, but a bit more off the beaten path. It was called Pirilo, and was basically a narrow café with room for 2 dozen customers. They served tapas, salads, and most important….pizza, about the best ever on this entire trip. No kidding. Ordering a large 20 inch Margherita pizza, it arrived piping hot, with a thicker than usual crust. The beer we ordered was from a local brewery called Ocean Ale. Very icy cold and a higher alcohol content. We did notice that the majority of diners in here were locals, only a few tourists. That is a sign of a very good place to eat. When we left, there was a line of folks waiting for tables, including some of our ship buddies.
Trying to find a small souvenir from Puerto Rico was not that easy. One of us collects and wears sun visors, but everywhere we looked, only baseball caps were sold. One shop did have a few denim visors, so we waited in line to make our $10 (plus tax) purchase. The two young ladies in the line ahead of us were obviously not from our ship. How could we tell? Well, the age was less by 40 years, the clothing was skimpy, and they were quite mobile (no canes or walkers). Ha-ha, just kidding, but not really….. They took more time adding trinkets to their order, then taking out items like t-shirts because they had a $60 limit. Bet the vendors see a whole lot of different tourists here, as they were patient, but happy when they finally got their money. So were we.
Taking the last of the photos, we walked up far enough to spot the Casino, the Department of Housing, and the Capital building of Puerto Rico. Then we made our way back to the pier, where a crowd was gathering by 2:30pm. It seems that the Harmony at the Seas had already left at 2pm, but the Carnival Magic was getting ready to go at 4pm. So the line getting back on for us, mixed with those Carnival folks, made it take much longer to board. No problem for us, because all aboard was 10:30pm.
Sure was nice getting back to the coolness of the air-conditioning. Downloading photos took some time in our room, then we went out to watch the massive Carnival ship leave the pier and the harbor. There sure was a different crowd on that huge vessel, rock-climbing, high walking, and tube pool diving. Some of their cruises are very short, so the guests have to squeeze everything into 4 to 7 days.
Dinner found eight of us, which included frequent guest, Peter, and Freddie, one of the nicest dance hosts. He is a buddy of Barb’s and us, and really enjoyed being at our table this evening. He sure likes to eat, since he seldom gets a chance to eat in this dining room. The lamb chop entrée was recommended, and he ordered a double. We stayed chatting well past dessert time, and got back to our room by 10pm.
A big screen movie was shown, The Post, which was already shown on the ship a month ago. Bet they had few takers tonight.
We now have two days to get back where we began….Ft. Lauderdale.
Bill & Mary Ann
Carnival Magic
Outside the terminal
Harmony of the Seas – Royal Caribbean
Plaza Colon
Fountain at the Plaza Colon
Restored lighthouse
