Day Seven ~ San Juan

We docked really early in San Juan.  I woke up at 6 after sleeping great and felt so much better than I did when I went to bed.  I went out and sat on the balcony and watched the sun come up and the ship dock.  Doug came out a little while later.

We went to the WJ for breakfast and brought the food back to our balcony.  I just do not like to go through that buffet.  It is set up great, the food is good and has a lot of variety, but the people !  I had oatmeal and fruit and pastries....the standard balcony breakfast :)

The Coast Guard in San Juan is serious!

The dolphins were playing in the harbor.  We watched them while we ate breakfast.  There were 3 of them. It was hard to get their picture.  Kind of like trying to guess where the lightening bug will be next, and it's never where you think.  But we got a few, even if they aren't great.  That was a highlight for me.

The ship is enormous!

I was not prepared for the aggressiveness of the taxi drivers.  Worse than any port we'd been in.  They are standing in a group at the end of the pier and hound you as soon as you walk by.  They don't give up either.  We had one follow us for 2 blocks talking.  They don't really take no thank you for an answer.  That is my only complaint about San Juan, and it was quite off putting I will say.

It was HOT here.  It was 7:30 am local time and 95 and humid.  It was also very pretty and quaint.  We walked for a few blocks and found a local store to buy some trinket type things.  We sat on a bench and called home.  This is when I realized I was drunk the morning before because Jordan only wanted to talk to me if I was sober, and he had lots to say about talking to me the day before LOL.

Our main goal at this port was only to get off the ship long enough to buy local rum for Jordan's 21st birthday.  We sat on a bench and waited for the Don Q store to open.  They never did, which doesn't make sense.  If the ship is in port, wouldn't you want to be open?

We watched the horse and buggy rides.  We talked about going on one, but it was hot.

I LOVE this shot of the Brazilian navy ship that Doug took while sitting by the side of the road.

We gave up on Don Q and went to CVS to buy Jordan's local rum lol.  And just like at home, it is Christmas in San Juan before Thanksgiving.  It was also nice and cool with the a/c!

We came back to the ship, and were again accosted by taxi drivers.  Most people were just coming off the ship, but we were done and heading back on to sit by the pool.  It was nice that there was no line to stand in to board or to check our alcohol purchases.  Actually they weren't even set up to receive them, and we were happy that they made it to our room on the last night.

We went to the pool deck...nice breeze there.  Dwayne stopped for a photo op, asked where we were going to be sitting and then had our drinks there before we made it there.  Absolutely great service on this ship!

We decided to have lunch at Johnny Rockets while we were in port at San Juan and actually stuck to the plan!  It is a $4.95 cover charge per person and includes everything except milkshakes.  The milkshake that day was chocolate peanut butter...which would have been my favorite!  But I was getting pretty sugared out and passed on the milkshake.

They made fabulous onion rings and fries, and we enjoyed those.  I had a bacon cheeseburger and Doug had a double.  They were fantastic!  I only ate half.

Dessert was also included in the cover charge, and it looked great, some kind of apple something with vanilla ice cream or an oreo brownie ice cream something, but again, blah....no more dessert.  I can't believe I got to the point that dessert and sweet drinks was blah lol.  We did enjoy the singing and dancing by the servers.

I also decided to be all the way done with sweet drinks and switched to frozen lemonade.  Now that stuff is awesome, and I intend to figure out how to make it.  I also really, really enjoyed the frozen mojito.  Doug has switched to a mango lava flow, which is mango and pina colada....yummy.  He only tried new things after tasting something I had.  I was quite adventurous and tried a lot of things.  I enjoyed the hot coffee drink a lot at dinner one night, and then the chocolate coffee nightcap something or other in the Champagne Bar the last night.  Oh, and the chocolate shots at dinner in the really cute glasses you could keep.

Anyway.....our drinks on the pool deck.

The view from our pool chairs.

It was very, very hot, so we decided to cool off in the pool.  I only ventured in as far as the 6" deck around the pool and sat in the water.  It was cold.  It's a salt water pool and not heated.  Doug was brave and jumped in.  We hung out there for a while talking to some ladies that were dipping their toes in.

We tried to move into the shade, but it was SO windy!  And the part of the pool deck where we found shade was very windy and everything was blowing around.  So we decided to go to our cabin and nap.  And nap we did from about 11:30 am to 2:30 or 3.  We missed sail away.  Oh well, I needed the sleep.  I knew by port day 3 I'd be worn out, and that is part of the reason we didn't plan to do much in San Juan.

I think we napped and then did Johnny Rockets...it all runs together after a while lol.

Doug slept longer than I did, so I soaked in the tub with a glass of wine. Then we got ready for dinner and had our pictures taken...shocking, huh?

Dinner was really good.  Doug had fried mushrooms for an appetizer, the sirloin with mashed potatoes and veggies, and a pear tart with butter almond ice cream for dessert.

I had a fruit and watercress salad, which was very good.  Ricotta stuffed cannelloni with a beef and mushroom sauce, and white chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

Pear tart

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Tonight was the Quest, which is an adult scavenger hunt.  We've heard a lot about The Quest and didn't want to miss it.  It was HILARIOUS!  I say don't miss it.  We chose to be spectators and not participants.  I will say it was much tamer than I was expecting based on things I've read, but I think that depends on the participants. 

Dwayne & Berry

The Cruise Director, Luke Aerowsmith

The crowd goes wild singing Who Let the Dogs Out!

After The Quest there was supposed to be a disco party in the Solarium (the adult pool area).  But while we were enjoying the game, it stormed and rained and the party was moved to The Chamber, and it was packed!  We ordered drinks and headed up to our balcony.....the best way to end and start the day.

The Solarium

I don't think we ever took pictures in the Chamber. It is dark and dungeony down there.  Not the best decor, but it was a fun place to hang out at night.

The Quest is held in Studio B, which is the ice rink.  There were 2 ice shows offered, and I really hoped to see at least one of them, but it wasn't ever a convenient time for us.  Next time hopefully.

And off to bed.  Tomorrow is Labadee, and I'm so looking forward to relaxing in our Cabana on Barefoot Beach!

Day Six ~ St. Thomas

St. Thomas today!!  I was so looking forward to this island.  We planned a sail and snorkel excursion, lunch and meet up with somebody Doug works with that was on the Celebrity Eclipse in port with us, shopping and relaxing.

First sight of land from our balcony.  We were up about 6 and breakfast came at 7.  We had the usual oatmeal, fruit, pastries and bacon with milk and juice.  LOVED eating breakfast on the balcony most days.

When you are 3ish miles away from the pier, a pilot comes aboard to advice the captain on conditions and such.  This guy jumps from a little boat.  We were able to watch him this morning.  Not a job I would want, for sure!  It's a fast transfer.  If you aren't there at just the right minute, you'll miss it.

Pulling up beside the ship

The jump onto the ship

And off goes the pilot boat

The forward view from our balcony.  The port side wing on the bridge.  And another view of St. Thomas.

An old fort we passed on our way to dock.

One of the most expensive yachts in the world. I is gorgeous!  Now that hurricane season is over, the yachts are coming in.  There were a lot of them.  They were gorgeous.  Most of them had boats and jet skies on their upper deck.  I think Doug may have gotten a picture of that.

Waiting for our excursion to start.  It was HOT!  Early in the morning, in November, and it's 85.  I don't think I'd want to visit the Caribbean in the summer months.

A quick picture of the ship on the way to the dock for our excursion.  Isn't she huge!

The Castaway Girl...the catamaran for our little trip this morning.  This was most fun.  The snorkeling wasn't fabulously exciting, but it was lots of fun and good for my first time.  We met some nice people on this trip.

Enjoying the sail.  It was simply breathtaking! There was also a Carnival ship in port this day, but I'm not sure which one it was.

On the trip to the shipwreck where we snorkeled, we stayed below deck.  It was rocky, and I was rather sea sick.  Still gorgeous views!

My first few minutes in the water.  I was feeling a little claustrophobic and was having a hard time getting used to the snorkel.  I think I clamped down too hard on the thing at first, because I was unable to open my jaw more than 1/2 way for the rest of the day.  I have jaw issues, and didn't even think about this being a problem.  But it was OK by dinner.

I love this shot!  We didn't have an underwater camera, but we do have a little point and shoot.  I bought a waterproof case for it on Amazon, and it worked great!

Our snorkel guide, Mike, dove down and brought things up for us to see.  First he passed around a conch shell.  They look much different than the cleaned up ones in the store.  And it had a hermit crab, which was cool.  Next was a white sea urchin.  It sucked onto my palm.  It was pretty cool to hold it.

There was a lot of fire coral.  And sometimes the depth was quite shallow.  I nearly swam into the fire coral at one point...which would not have been fun.

There were also numerous black sea urchins, which you don't want to touch either.  There were lots of little fish swimming around, and they were quite colorful.  But it was a little cloudy.  There were several snorkelers here, and an underwater scooter excursion, so things were stirred up.  But we were able to see just fine.

We saw a spotted sting ray.  It freaked me out.  It was right under us, and it didn't seem that far down.  I was on my way back to the catamaran at that point, and I just kept on going.  Doug stayed in the water until the very end and snapped several pictures.  It's not real clear, but you can see him. He had quite a long tail.

And then we sailed back.  It was a 50 minute sail each way.  The way back was a ton of fun.  They serve snacks and rum punch.  My jaw was hurting, so I figured rum punch would be helpful.  So I had a glass, just one glass mind you.  But they kept walking by and refilling it, and I lost track of how often they filled it.  I was feeling quite good by the time we docked at noon.  Lots of rum, very little food, breakfast at 7, and it's a good thing I'm a happy drunk.  It's the first time I've ever been drunk in my entire adult life.  Although I would have told you I was pleasantly tipsy.

The captain of the Castaway Girl.  I'd love his job!

I was feeling happy, so we stood on the deck on the sail back.

This is Mike.  He was our snorkel guide and also my best friend since he kept refilling my glass with punch.  The entire crew was a good time.  It was a simply gorgeous day and so much fun.  We snorkeled in the 2nd saltiest body of water in the world.  I can attest to that because I took in an entire snorkel full of water not realizing I was all the way submerged.  Oops.

We met Jason and Michelle.  Jason is a camera buff and was giving Doug some tips.  This is a cool shot I thought.

Next we shopped a little and then Doug decided I needed food.  So we went to find a restaurant.  We planned to eat at Wikked, but they were out of business.  So we walked on down further and found The Fat Turtle.  They had patio seating, and here is our view.  Simply gorgeous!!  The Celebrity Eclipse and several private yachts.

We ordered nachos and a philly cheese steak and fries.  We shared that.  Oh, and coffee.  I kept trying to find good coffee.  This wasn't it!  The food was fabulous though!!

We also called home since we were in the US and could use our phone like normal.  Doug talked with the kids, and I talked with the kids, and the kids were laughing at me for reasons I just couldn't understand....they'd never seen their mama drunk, and I didn't realize I was LOL.

Doug's friend, Bill, that he works with was on the Eclipse, so we met up with them for a bit.  I wandered the shops and found coffee....fabulous coffee!!  I wandered into the Bad Ass Coffee Shop, stood in line for what seemed like forever, and ordered the biggest, boldest coffee they had.  They gave me a Jamaican blend, which was fabulous.  I was in heaven.  It was the only great cup of coffee I had since leaving the house.  I met back up with Doug, and we went over to the shops by the pier and bought little gifts and rum.  You can take 5 liters per person of rum back into the states, but at least 1 bottle has to be local and bought in the US territories.  We ended up with 8 liters and a flask size of rum.

It rained while I was shopping.  For all of 15 minutes and then it was sunny again!  I could live in rain like that.  NE Ohio rain is not so lovely.

We also ran into Rita and Gary while we were shopping.  They had bought some beer and shared with us.  Doug didn't have any, but I did and surprisingly I liked it.  I am not a beer drinker.  So I added beer to the rum punch in my system.  Oh yeah....I was having a happy old time lol.  And the shops in St. Thomas...they let you drink while you browse.  It was my favorite port LOL.

This rain storm had strong winds and came up suddenly.  We found out after we came home that a lady on a parasailing excursion from the Celebrity ship was killed in a tragic accident while parasailing during this storm, and another lady was critically injured.  So sad.  We were going to parasail in St. Thomas, and now I'm glad we snorkeled.

We invited Mark and Kathy to sail away with us on our balcony.  So while I was showering and getting ready for dinner, Doug ordered fruit and cheese trays from room service.  We had little canapes waiting for us when we returned to the stateroom after being in St. Thomas.  Mark and Kathy brought drinks.  We brought out the 2 chairs from our room and all sat out there talking and enjoying the gorgeous view of the harbor while we sailed away.

Celebrity Eclipse

St. Thomas all lit up at night.  We were very close to San Juan, which was our next port.  So we drifted for hours.  We were still by St. Thomas late at night when it was dark.  It was a lovely sight from our balcony while having before bed drinks on the balcony.

One of our professional pictures from this evening.  I bought this dress in St. Thomas and love it.  I should have bought the purple one, too.  Doug got this shirt there, and we bought shirts for the boys, too.

Pictures taken right after getting off the ship in St. Thomas.

We stopped at the Champagne Bar before dinner.  It became our nightly habit to stop here.  Many of the same couples hung out here before dinner, and it was great fun.  I had a peach bellini and Doug a fuzzy navel.  I met Barb, who is a WW receptionist in NJ, so we had a great time talking and talking and talking and not talking to anybody else.  Doug realized what it was like to be me when we go out.......sitting there while he does all the talking LOL.

Our view from the dining room.  The dining room is 3 stories and we were on the top one.  It is simply gorgeous!!  We had a great view of the captain's table, too.

So it was such a fun, sunny, lovely day.  But it included way more alcohol than I am used to; rum punch, beer, mudslide, champagne.  I was not feeling well at dinner.  I blamed it on the food we ate in St. Thomas, and the water, because I still didn't realize I was drunk earlier.  I was hung over by dinner :::rolleyes:::  So we left before dessert.

We went to the show.  It was the 2nd of 3 production shows.  I wasn't feeling well, so I went back to the room to rest before the midnight buffet/pool party on the pool deck.  Doug stayed for the show and then was talking with people.  So he came to the room, we walked up to the next deck for the party, and once we got to the landing I realized a party was not on the agenda for me this night.  I went back to the cabin and went to bed.  Doug had a fun time at the pool party with "the gang" and then came in and went to bed.

We had an alligator towel animal this night.  He was so adorable, but no way I could move him....he was in way too many pieces.

We did decide our penguin needed a drink, too.  Dee thought that was great and said he'll be using that in his display of towel animals in the future.

Tomorrow is San Juan.  I wasn't thrilled with this stop, but this is where Jordan wanted us to buy local rum for his 21st birthday gift, which was the day after we got home.  So off to bed.

Day Five

Day Four

Day Three

Day Two

Day One cont

Day One

Day Zero