Jan 16 San Juan, Puerto Rico

Founded in1521 by Ponce de Leon, San Juan is the oldest city within U.S. territory and the capital of Puerto Rico. It is also known as the rum capital of the world.

We were already docked in San Juan when we woke up. The girls got ready to visit the city on their own and i stayed in bed and out of their way as 3 women in a cabin getting ready all at once can get pretty crowded. Soon they were off and i showered and went to the Lido for breakfast. Afterwards i wanted to check out a secret passageway I had found a few days ago that i thought would shorten our walk into the Lido. I couldn’t figure it out to go in reverse as the elevator that i remembered seeing there now wasn’t there.....where the heck could it have gone.....it was bizarre and crazy! So i went the regular route thinking if i go out this passageway again this time i’ll pay attention and be able to figure it out both ways. Well, bah humbug, the elevators there took me to only the lower decks and that wouldn’t work for us but for today i decided to go wander around those lower decks again since i was there anyway. I’m glad i did as i saw some different awesome art, however it was again way too empty and spooky and cold down there so i found my way to get back to civilization and to hell with forging some new route as it was way too confusing for me. The real reason i was hoping it would work out for us was because our usual route took us through a blast of wind from a fan just before entering the Lido. This meant that everytime i went to eat my hair was all dishevelled. I guess that blast of wind was to keep flies from entering the restaurant which was a good idea but it didn't seem to bother anyone elses hair but mine! Now how can that be?

Later i went back to the Lido and had a nice lunch and then found myself a spot to crash for awhile with my IPad. Eventually it too became too cold just sitting so i went back to the Lido and got some dessert and coffee and because the lunch crowd had gone there were lots of places to sit in the warmth of the sunshine now beating through the windows. I was playing my IPad game when a man named Peter sitting nearby started a conversation with me. I enjoyed his company and his smarts, he and his wife had been on tons of cruises and with many different cruise lines and they now only cruise on the Carnival Sunshine. He was so full of cruise and ship knowledge and some of what he spoke i knew to be true and so i believed all of which he said. Peter and his wife have now been cruising only Carnival for so long that they actually get calls from Carnival to come and enjoy a free cruise on some misc. cruises. They live in Florida so it isn’t even a big deal needing to fly to a port, they simply drive down from their home nearby. We talked about the Jones act, the pros and cons of the mega ship cruises, about how the captains of ships move around to a lot of ships in their careers, what their real duties consist of and he answered my question of why a pilot from the country a ship docks at is always a local who takes the ship out of the port and is then picked up by a little tug boat and taken back to the shore. I’ve always enjoyed this little tradition or maybe it’s not so much tradition as it is necessity so i knew some of what he explained but he gave me more info and it was cool to learn. He did add that he thinks with technology this will all end and probably not too far in the future pilots won't be needed as a computer will do the honours. Peters info has made me rethink whether or not i really want to cruise a 6000 passenger ship as i’ve always said i wanted to do. One thing he pointed out was the sheer size means a lot more walking and of course i knew that but as i always choose a cabin midship i didn't think it through and therefore didn’t think it would be a big problem. But he explained that half way on a mega ship is the full way on a 3000 passenger ship and that hit home because these buggers are big longggg ships. Also he says the real biggest problem is the cruise ship Norvo virus and with double the people it’s easier-to catch and twice as severe. He also told me that’s why it’s so cold on this ship and even colder on a larger one because the germs don’t survive in the cold as well as they do on a warm ship. It all made perfect sense and now i’ll have to give this issue more thought before i jump into a reservation on RCC’s Oasis of the Seas or Anthem or any other mega ship. I’m real glad I had this little talk with Peter who was very wise and a nice man. Already i’m thinking that 3000 passengers is probably going to be tops for me and maybe as i get older and weaker i’ll be content on a ship with 2000 or less passengers.

The girls returned shortly after i got back to our cabin just as the ship was pulling out of San Juan. We then all went down to check out the shop sales before the girls left to attend the ventriloquist show. I didn’t feel like doing the show so i hung out in the casino for awhile, ate ice cream and then returned to the cabin which was freezing so i set the thermostat on full bore heat. The girls come in and found it too warm so i said ok, turn the acon as because by then i was in bed and nice and toasty warm. Until tomorrow!

                                              OOOhh I just loved this piece of apple art

 

I must add a little addendum here re what Peter,the fellow in the Lido had told me re the reason why they kept the ship so cool and well air conditioned. He said the virus doesn't like the cold but spreads like wildfire in warmth......I've googled this and turns out Peter was wrong and it's actually quite the opposite. Who knew?