allears
"If I were not upon the sea..." I'd want to be!
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
Day 6: San Juan
Another spectacular weather day, sunny and hot!!! This was the first time either of us had been to San Juan and we docked in Old San Juan, which is very, very pretty. Breakfast on deck at Cabanas with very lovely views of the entire region. I never get over just how awesome it is to start the day this way!!!!
Once again we had chosen not to book any excursions and read a bit about walking around San Juan, which sounded very doable. We could see one of the forts, Castillo San Cristobal, from the front of the ship. It looked pretty easy to walk to so off the ship we went. Again, more photos of the ship and our first chance to take a photo of the window to our stateroom! We were docked next to an MSC ship, which was rather ugly, okay, so I think all other ships are ugly.
It was a beautiful day, and we walked to the fort which was about a half mile from the dock. The fort is on a sprawling chunk of land right on the ocean. Admission was $3.00 or you could purchase tickets for both this and a fort a bit further away. We opted for just the one. Up a couple of flights of stairs and you end up on the open grassy areas. We spent about 45 minutes walking all over the open hilly areas, and took a ton of photos. It was really beautiful, and we couldnt get over the access and just how you were allowed to crawl over pretty much everything, including getting right up to the edge of the property without finding any obstructions like fences!
We made one miscalculation, and that was under estimating the amount of time we were going to be spending out in the sun, so we didnt think about sun screen on our faces. We could tell we were getting a bit baked while wandering around the grounds. We spent the next 45 minutes or so exploring the main part of the fort. The views were awesome! We would highly recommend this stop.
While snapping photos at a feverish pace, I noticed that we had nearly filled up our memory card, so our mission when walking back was to find a place to pick up another one, thinking they may be cheaper on land than on the ship. This turned out to be a good reason to wander the streets a bit, check out some of the open air vendors wears before finding a Walgreens and getting a couple of new memory cards. Then a leisurely stroll back to the ship. We very much enjoyed our short adventure in Old San Juan and could see coming back and exploring more someday.
Back on board we grabbed some lunch then found a shady spot to lounge on deck 13. We determined that staying out of the direct sun might be a good idea after getting a little crispy on the island. We hung out there until sail away shortly before 5. Sailing out of the harbor was really pretty and we got some nice shots of the coast before heading out to sea.
We had talked about wanting to ride the Aquaduck at night, which is not easy to fit in between shows and dinner, but we had a plan for tonight. This was our night for Palo dinner, so we went to the show dressed to hit the ride right after the show. Tonight was a full show by Buckets and Boards. We saw them for the first time on the Magic last year and were very excited when we found out they were going to be on board for this voyage. We find them very funny, clever, talented and the show is just plain unique. We enjoyed the show A LOT, but booked right out at the end.
We headed up on deck to ride the duck. We rode it twice and thought it was so cool at night, with the lights and the view of the ocean at night. Then back to the stateroom to get cleaned up and dressed for dinner at Palo.
We arrived a few minutes early and were escorted into Meridian where we ordered cocktails. This is truly a nice classy space. A very few minutes later the hostess escorted us to the banquet we had requested. We also requested Luca as our server once again. He was awesome. Dinner at Palo has always been a highlight of our past cruises and on board the Fantasy it seems to have been turned up a notch. They prepare the antipasti from a cart at your table, the venue is so pretty and the meal was astounding. Of course it was topped of perfectly by the chocolate soufflé!!!
After a great meal, we got changed then headed to the Tube for a couple of game shows. One of the things we really liked on this trip was the two for one drink specials they had every night in the Tube. Not sure this is something they are doing on the classic ships now, they werent last year on the Magic, but it is a great incentive for hanging out in the club. The drinks were always some sort of tropical type concoction, and as Tina (the club hostess said) will get you where youre going! Tonights games were called Pop and 80s music challenge. They were a lot of fun. Afterward we strolled deck 4 before turning in.
Another spectacular weather day, sunny and hot!!! This was the first time either of us had been to San Juan and we docked in Old San Juan, which is very, very pretty. Breakfast on deck at Cabanas with very lovely views of the entire region. I never get over just how awesome it is to start the day this way!!!!
Once again we had chosen not to book any excursions and read a bit about walking around San Juan, which sounded very doable. We could see one of the forts, Castillo San Cristobal, from the front of the ship. It looked pretty easy to walk to so off the ship we went. Again, more photos of the ship and our first chance to take a photo of the window to our stateroom! We were docked next to an MSC ship, which was rather ugly, okay, so I think all other ships are ugly.
It was a beautiful day, and we walked to the fort which was about a half mile from the dock. The fort is on a sprawling chunk of land right on the ocean. Admission was $3.00 or you could purchase tickets for both this and a fort a bit further away. We opted for just the one. Up a couple of flights of stairs and you end up on the open grassy areas. We spent about 45 minutes walking all over the open hilly areas, and took a ton of photos. It was really beautiful, and we couldnt get over the access and just how you were allowed to crawl over pretty much everything, including getting right up to the edge of the property without finding any obstructions like fences!
We made one miscalculation, and that was under estimating the amount of time we were going to be spending out in the sun, so we didnt think about sun screen on our faces. We could tell we were getting a bit baked while wandering around the grounds. We spent the next 45 minutes or so exploring the main part of the fort. The views were awesome! We would highly recommend this stop.
While snapping photos at a feverish pace, I noticed that we had nearly filled up our memory card, so our mission when walking back was to find a place to pick up another one, thinking they may be cheaper on land than on the ship. This turned out to be a good reason to wander the streets a bit, check out some of the open air vendors wears before finding a Walgreens and getting a couple of new memory cards. Then a leisurely stroll back to the ship. We very much enjoyed our short adventure in Old San Juan and could see coming back and exploring more someday.
Back on board we grabbed some lunch then found a shady spot to lounge on deck 13. We determined that staying out of the direct sun might be a good idea after getting a little crispy on the island. We hung out there until sail away shortly before 5. Sailing out of the harbor was really pretty and we got some nice shots of the coast before heading out to sea.
We had talked about wanting to ride the Aquaduck at night, which is not easy to fit in between shows and dinner, but we had a plan for tonight. This was our night for Palo dinner, so we went to the show dressed to hit the ride right after the show. Tonight was a full show by Buckets and Boards. We saw them for the first time on the Magic last year and were very excited when we found out they were going to be on board for this voyage. We find them very funny, clever, talented and the show is just plain unique. We enjoyed the show A LOT, but booked right out at the end.
We headed up on deck to ride the duck. We rode it twice and thought it was so cool at night, with the lights and the view of the ocean at night. Then back to the stateroom to get cleaned up and dressed for dinner at Palo.
We arrived a few minutes early and were escorted into Meridian where we ordered cocktails. This is truly a nice classy space. A very few minutes later the hostess escorted us to the banquet we had requested. We also requested Luca as our server once again. He was awesome. Dinner at Palo has always been a highlight of our past cruises and on board the Fantasy it seems to have been turned up a notch. They prepare the antipasti from a cart at your table, the venue is so pretty and the meal was astounding. Of course it was topped of perfectly by the chocolate soufflé!!!
After a great meal, we got changed then headed to the Tube for a couple of game shows. One of the things we really liked on this trip was the two for one drink specials they had every night in the Tube. Not sure this is something they are doing on the classic ships now, they werent last year on the Magic, but it is a great incentive for hanging out in the club. The drinks were always some sort of tropical type concoction, and as Tina (the club hostess said) will get you where youre going! Tonights games were called Pop and 80s music challenge. They were a lot of fun. Afterward we strolled deck 4 before turning in.