A short taxi ride later we were exploring the old fort. We spent a good hour or so walking around, reading about the years of battles fought and won, and taking in the sights. It really is beautiful and so full of history.
The views of the harbor were beautiful. More on the history later.
We left the fort walking toward Old San Juan to see what kind of trouble we could get into. I had to snap this shot as we were walking by ...
We did eventually find a restaurant where we could sit outside and enjoy an adult beverage and ended up ordering a couple of appetizers to snack on to tide us over until dinner. After our big breakfast we really didn't need a big lunch.
One of the little servers brought us a map and showed us how close we were to the cruise terminal so we ignorantly chose to walk back. After all, we needed to move and burn some calories - right? It sure sounded like a great idea. So we walked. And walked. And walked. And walked. It was like the ever elusive carrot being dangled in front of you and no matter how hard you tried you couldn't get any closer to it. After a good hour of walking, Bob managed to flag down a taxi that was up ahead of us. Thank God he saw him and backed up to wait for us. It was at least another mile, mile and a half or more to the ship. It wàs very windy and very sticky. We were done. Best $10 we've spent yet.
It was so nice and comforting to board the ship and know where you were and where you needed to go. When we got to our cabins we were delighted to find our luggage right there waiting for us!!! Yippee! Now we can take a shower before dinner. Trust me, that was a very good thing. So we took turns unpacking - only one person at a time can do that. If you've ever been in a cabin before you know what I mean. If not, we'll let me just say ... Never mind. Just trust me. You have to take turns to unpack.
If felt so good to get cleaned up and ready for our first dinner at Blu tonight! Gigi and I hung out on the deck together while Jacques and 8Ball were showering. We shared some champagne and simply basked in the fact that we were on our balconies once again. It felt like coming home.
About 6:00 we headed down to Blu. I was really hoping there would be some of our old people on this cruise but alas, there isn't. Not to take away anything from the current crew, we just loved the last one. Our cabin steward is Javier. We asked about Jose, who we had last time, and he said Jose was on holiday in Honduras. Good for him. Javier seems to be very enthusiastic and eager to please. I think we'll be just fine.
Mazy did not greet us at Blu and that was sad. (We later found out that he is in charge of the Ocean Cafe on Deck 10, which is the main eating area for the ship. It's the constant buffet. A huge responsibility. I think our new maitre d, Shah, will be broken in before the week is out. Gabriel has been moved to the main dining room (we have to go at least say hi to him) and Ganna is gone. I guess she left the company and has moved back home. So tonight we had Jasna (pronounced Yasna, from Yugoslavia). She is going to be fun to work with. The guys ordered the filet minon, Gigi ordered the blackened ahi tuna. I'm not much on sushi and I was afraid the tuna would be too raw for my liking. Jasna talked me into at least trying it and said if I didn't like it she'd take it back. So that's what I did. It was ok but certainly not my favorite thing I've had and I probably wouldn't order it again, when Yasna came by to check on me and asked how I liked it, she promptly said she'd bring me the filet when I said it was just ok. Can't beat that service can you? I had the special dulce creme brûlée for dessert. Yummmm. So delicious!
We were ushered out rather quickly for mandatory muster call. Everyone had to report to their stations at 7:45. Apparently there were some who thought they were special and the exception to the rule because we ended up having to wait around until about 8:10 to view a 5 minute demonstration of how to put on and wear a life jacket because there were some absentees. Go figure!
It was getting close to time to pull out of port so we made our way up to deck 11 to hang out and watch. Dancing by the pool right under us provided entertainment while we waited. We enjoyed the fresh air and disco music for a while and eventually decided we'd had enough and we're going to to try and get a good seat for the 10pm show tonight. The first time we got there it was only about 9:30 and the doors weren't open yet. So we found a little sports bar and the guys got themselves a Guinness, that they ended up taking into the theater only minutes later.
The show was an introduction to the cruise director and some of the acts we're going to see around the ship this week. The main attraction tonight was Rick somebody who is a juggler. He's also a comedian. He started of a little slow but definitely made up for it by the end. He included a couple of people from the audience to help with part of his act and it was really funny.
The show was over about 11:00 and 8Ball was hungry so we went back up to Deck 10 to find food for him. While we were walking around looking to see what was available that time of night, Bob almost ran straight into a mirror thinking it was another corridor. Oh that was a good laugh. The next one came while we were sitting at the table discussing knots under the skin and Ricky says, "I have a calcium deposit right here." And Bob pipes in saying he has one of those on his thumb too! ... While rubbing his pointer finger. That's some weird looking thumb there dude!!! Good grief everyone else in there at that hour thought we had lost it. They weren't far off! LOL That was our last hurrah and sent us back to our cabins. We all were done.
So here I sit being rocked to sleep - man that feels good!- and journaling. This is our route for the week:
Looking forward to St Croix tomorrow!!!!
Ttfn ...
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