Our Next Destination: Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

January 08, 2014

After we left Haiti, we cruised through the night and next morning to get to Puerto Rico. After docking in San Juan, we got on a tour bus driven by a transplanted New Yorker who had a lot to say. The tour took us through the old city of San Juan, past the government buildings, "beaches," shops, houses, presidential statues, and even a Holocaust memorial.

Although it is a United States territory, most of the signs were in Spanish.

I found some quaint touches on the street and walls:

One of the popular tourist bars in San Juan was right off the dock, called Señor Frog's. In addition to the butt barstools and under-view of mannequins sitting in inner tubes suspended from the ceiling, there was this:

(Of course, this sign also led to the gift shop...)

We were at this port for the least amount of time, heading back to the ship for a late dinner and in time to see the aerial performance of the night.

Taken on a different night, these are some dancers rehearsing for that evening's show in what is known as the Centrum, the center of the ship where there would be music, dancing, or demonstrations.

You could view the Centrum from decks 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9.

This is the Palladium Theater where there were nightly musical, dance, magic, or comedy performances.

The Solarium: an indoor pool and hot tubs next to the spa facility. It was built to look like an ancient bath house.

The floor at the entrance to the casino, filled with booty...

I always walked through quickly, because it was the only place on the ship where it was permissible to smoke indoors. It is an awful habit and I held my breath every time.

At mealtimes, we had the best dining staff of all 21 ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet. We ate in the Great Gatsby dining room and had three waiters at each meal (the same ones for the whole cruise). Here is just a taste of some of the delicious food we ate: