Finally, we are seeing the return of the birds, the first one spotted during breakfast this morning. These appear to be the Caribbean brown boobies. By 9am, there were dozens of these soaring and diving birds having a feast of the small flying fish. We did spot one masked booby from our veranda later on. Strange, just one.
The bad news was that we woke up to rain and heavily cloudy skies. We figured it would be a wet day in San Juan, but as the morning went on, it began to clear up. That would be a miracle, but sometimes things work out that way. Just as Captain Friso had promised, we arrived to the port by 2pm. At 12:30pm, Kimberly gave a sail-in commentary that could be heard about everywhere on the ship. The bow had been opened as well.
We stayed on our veranda and had the best place to photograph the entrance into the harbor, passing El Morro, the oldest Spanish fort in the New World as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The sun was at our back, and the views were spectacular….clear, sharp, and full of color. Eventually the skies did cloud up again, but we got lucky while doing the sail-in.
The first job we all had was to have a mandatory immigration inspection in the terminal, not on the ship. Around 2pm, the passengers decks were called off starting with 10 and 8, then the rest followed. It would be a zero count inspection, and no one was allowed back on the ship until everyone had been cleared. Kimberly suggested for those who did not intend on going into town, could wait until the final call and go off last. Tour groups would go off, and go through the process then head for their buses. Simple enough, but we did hear later that three passengers had to be called to finish the roster, and they held the waiting group up until 4:20pm. It happens all of the time and that does not make these folks very popular.
The crew members filed off the same time we did, but they had a separate area of the terminal for their inspection. All of them were able to return to the ship and continue working.
We went off by 2:30pm and decided to take the room umbrella since Captain Friso had mentioned that the south part of the island was experiencing flash flooding. We had no way of knowing if it was heading this way but chose not to take any chances. The customs checkpoint was quick, with a short line and several officers. Then we were off and heading the way we usually walk. Uphill.
In the meantime, there were some tours today which began with a historic walk-through San Cristobal Fort to see the secret tunnels and dungeons for 3 ½ hours for $55. A drive to see the highlights of San Juan for 2 ½ hours was $70, while a folkloric show in the evening was 1 ½ hour and $80. The history and cuisine of San Juan on foot was 3 ½ hours for $110 where canopies and a 3 course meal would be served. Craft cocktails and a sample of Puerto Rican food for twelve people was 3 ¾ hours for $170. Easy Old Town for 3 ½ hours for $180. This may have been a tour in an open- air vehicle for 6 people with a weight limit of 800 pounds. There was a tour listed previously that must have been cancelled. It was a bioluminescent Bay Kayak trip for 5 ¼ hours and $170. This would be a boat ride to the island where the organisms in the water light up like glow worms. There were two people to each kayak and a waiver had to be signed before going. And there was no guarantee that you would see the light show, but refreshments would be served. Too bad it was cancelled.
Anyway, back to our hike uphill. Even though it never did rain, the humidity was so heavy you could cut it with a knife. And today, we were not alone as the Carnival Celebration was already docked right across from us. And it was a big one. We need to look up her stats, but we guess with 16 lifeboats, there may be up to or over 6000 passengers. The Zuiderdam looked like a baby next to her. No doubt, there will be a lot of folks in the Old Town today.
We headed up the main street to the Plaza Colon, where the Christopher Columbus statue sits in the center. It reminded us of a small scale version of the monument in Barcelona. Columbus landed here in the early 1500's followed by Ponce de Leon, who became the first governor. That was well over 500 years ago when he declared the island for Spain. Further up the street we came to the Fort San Cristobal, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the largest forts in the New World. Turning left on the Malecon Road, we passed the old pastel houses and businesses along the cliffsides. It was so hot and sticky, we wished for rain that never came. As we got closer to the La Perla area, we began to see swarms of tiny bugs, like knats, but smaller. They must be hatching out in the fields of very green grass surrounding the oldest Spanish fort of El Morro. Many locals were out and about, and appeared to be waving at each other. Then we ran into the bugs, and realized they were all waving them away from their faces, hair, arms, and legs. They just stuck to us, and we had to be most careful not to get them in our mouths and noses. It almost became comical when coming back down from the gates of the fort. Many guys pulled their shirts over their faces and the gals cursed while swatting at the little critters. Our best bet was staying off of the expanse of grass, because that was where they were coming from.
Instead of back-tracking, we continued walking past the several plazas that eventually led back over the ridge and back into the streets of the old town. We had hoped to find the pizza place we had found several years ago, but when we got to the right street, it appeared the place had changed to something different. If nothing else, we went in search of beers somewhere. The only place that was serving draft beer happened to be Senor Frog's. Thinking that might work, we opened the door and got blasted with unreal noise of drums and people starting a congo line. Definitely not what we had in mind, we ended up back at the ship before 6pm.
We have had a bottle of sparkling wine in the refrigerator for months now, and today was a good day to pop it open and enjoy sipping it on our deck. Relaxing with the wine (which we normally don't drink), we watched as the last of the guests on the Carnival ship boarded. It was fun watching the kids or adults riding the Celebration's rooftop roller coaster or going down the tubular shoot to the back pool. Doing a little research on this behemoth, we learned that this new ship came out in 2022 at a cost of 1 billion dollars. At 183,521 gross tons, it is the largest ship in their fleet. At max capacity, there are 6500 guests with 1735 crew members. A big WOW. One thing we noticed when we walked back from our hike was the fact that the Celebration completely hid the Zuiderdam from sight despite the fact we were docked almost side by side with the terminal in the center. This ship was successful in blocking the entire sunset from our view as it left the harbor before 7pm. It sure was a pretty sight as it was lit up for the night as was the city.
Dinnertime found many people missing. Many guests may have gone out to dinner because all aboard for us was 10:30pm. The choices were limited but we did enjoy the hot bowl of pea soup and salads. Entrees were the Peruvian chicken (half order) and they were just right. Desserts were rocky road ice cream (finally) and one Tres leches flan.
The ship left after a few toots of the horn by 10:45pm. We are heading towards Ft. Lauderdale and will arrive on Saturday morning. We have two full sea days to finish the packing.
Bill & Mary Ann
