CRUISE 2014 - FINAL DAYS (ST. LUCIA, AT SEA & SAN JUAN)

DAY 7 - ST. LUCIA

It was a day that we planned to not do much.  Since we had been to St. Lucia several times before and knew that most things that we would want to do would be very costly and take the entire day...and that St. Lucia is not really known for its beaches, we had decided to make it a low-key day spent mostly on the ship.

Breakfast overlooking Castries

I woke early and grabbed a bit of breakfast and sat on the deck reading and writing in my travel journal.  Around 10:15am, I went back into the Windjammer and rustled up an omelette and a bunch of fruit for Dave and he got the luxury of breakfast in bed.  We had no real plans nor were we in a big hurry to accomplish anything so we didn’t get off the ship until around 11am. 

The ship was berthed at Pointe Seraphine and we found a spot to buy wi-fi access and spent some time online.  After my ½ hour was up, I wandered through all of the shops in the terminal area.  I found a lovely little art shop and a painting on the back wall drew me in as I had never seen such a unique technique use before.  It was large smears of multi-coloured oil paints layered over the entire surface of the canvas that look like they were applied with a paint knife.  They were so beautiful!  I took note of the artist so I could check him out online.  Check out the gallery and click on 'Oils' to see an example of what I was looking at.  I overheard a conversation with a prospective buyer and it sounded like it took months, if not more, to dry?  http://www.llewellynxavier.com/#gallery

We spent a couple of hours in the terminal and then got back on the ship to grab some lunch.  Dave went back to the cabin and I went to the sun deck but the sun was very strong and I couldn’t spend more than about 20 minutes in the full sun before I felt like I was burning up.

 I read for awhile in the shade and then found my way to the (adult only) Solarium and located the one lounger that was not occupied and staked my claim for a couple more hours of reading.  Connected with Dave for a mid-afternoon snack at the Seaview Café and then a nap.  Sigh…such a strenuous day demanded a rest J

In the Solarium

After supper, I went up to the Centrum to watch the 70’s Dance Party.  Disco music is a favorite and the staff dancers were fun to watch, as were the not-so-professionals!

DAY 8 – AT SEA

Our final day at sea was another very quiet and relaxing one.  Eating, reading, sleeping….all the best of pursuits!  We decided that we should go to at least one  production show so before supper, we went to the Farewell Show in the theatre.

 

DAY 9 – SAN JUAN

Our neighbours on the ship were up at 5:30am (what!!!) so we were awake very early.  The alarm rang around 7:30am and we got up, had breakfast and were off the ship by 9am.  The line for customs was very long so we paid the $5 for a porter to manage our bags and went to a much, much shorter line designated for them.  It was worth the money to not stand in the hot warehouse.  We got a cab back to the hostel (Posada San Francisco) and found that the elevator was broken and out of service.  We had to laugh or we would cry!

We hauled our bags up the six flights of stairs and stored them in a secure area, since check-in wasn’t until 3pm and we were well ahead of that time. 

The breezeway of a theatre on our walk

We walked a few blocks to the bus terminal and caught the bus to Plaza Las Americas, which is the big mall in San Juan.  It took an hour to get there as we had to switch buses.  I intended to keep track of what buses we took but didn’t do that task very well.  We relied on a local who was waiting at the terminal who just happened to be going to the Mall as well.  We wandered the mall for a couple of hours, grabbed some lunch at Applebee’s and caught the bus back to Old San Juan.  We were really unsure which bus to take and our local suddenly appeared again and we just followed him onto the correct bus.

We were happy to see the elevator had been fixed when we returned to the hostel and were checked in around 4pm.  The rest of the day was spent trying to nap, watching the NCAA Final Four games and getting our suitcases organized for our return flight.  We walked up Calle San Francisco and grabbed some Subway for a late supper and then tried to grab some sleep before our late flight.  We grabbed a cab to the airport around midnight and checked in for our 2am flight.  I didn’t sleep much on the flights but Dave slept the entire way…both flights.  He even slept on the floor at JFK while waiting for our second flight.

Sunrise at JFK

The guy can sleep anywhere....

We landed in Portland, ME on time around 10:30am in the morning and called the hotel shuttle to get us back to our car.  We had stayed at the Howard Johnson’s just a few miles from the airport.  They have a great Park ‘N Ride deal that also allows you to leave your car in their parking lot for up to 21 days and we always take advantage of that when flying out of Portland.  We picked up our car and with a very well-rested driver, made our way back to snow and reality….feeling very blessed that we are able to escape winter for wee spell.

CRUISE 2014 - DAY 1 - WEST PALM BEACH TO SAN JUAN, PR

We began our next cruise adventure in a leisurely way instead of a very early morning wake-up call in order to get to the airport in time for an early flight.  We got up at a reasonable time and finished packing and drove the hour to West Palm Beach Airport in time for our 12:10pm flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

We were thankful to be able to enjoy a JetBlue flight.  It has quickly become our favorite airline to travel with.  Comfy seats, great snacks and free TV…until you reach that point, somewhere over the Bahamas, where satellite coverage ends.  Our flight arrived early and after waiting quite awhile and finding that the luggage was actually coming out on a different carousel without any prior announcement (par for the course in San Juan - go with the flow), we made our way to the taxi stand and caught a cab to Old San Juan.  Taxi prices are regulated by zone in San Juan and you know up front what your cost will be.  Our rate was $23 to Old San Juan plus $1 for each piece of luggage we had, not including carry-on items.

We decided to be adventurous on this trip since we were alone and weren’t splitting hotel costs with another couple.  I found a guest house/hostel in Old San Juan whose price just could not be beat and it had excellent reviews on Trip Advisor…not just from backpackers or younger travelers.  The rate for a night came to $62US.  We have always stayed in the Condado Beach area and were excited to spend some time in Old San Juan instead of just a few hours.  The cab dropped us at Posada San Francisco and we had to look for a bit to find the entrance.  There is no sign outside and the guest house takes up the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th floors of a beautiful old building, a former nunnery, that is gradually being renovated in keeping with its history.  There is one small elevator that won’t break any records but will eventually get you to the office on the 6^th floor.  We checked in and were shown to our room on the 5^th floor.  It was a simple room with just the basics, but very clean.  A bed, one wrought iron chair and a small refrigerator were the only furnishings.  There was an in-room air conditioner that they requested by turned off when you are out, in order to save expense.  We quickly checked out the common areas: a lounge area and separate kitchen area.  We were impressed at the set-up and how clean everything was.  The bathrooms definitely showed some wear and tear and had some patchy performance in the shower that I used but, again, everything was very clean and, for the price, I can overlook some missing tiles here and there.  I considered it part of the adventure!

The view from the small patio was gorgeous!

To the left you can see San Cristobal Fortress

We dropped our bags, changed quickly and made our way down the five flights of stairs and into the cobblestone streets of OSJ on the hunt for a place to eat.  We walked up Calle San Francisco to a tourist information booth and got a map of OSJ.  We weren’t in a major rush so we spent our time getting oriented and checking out the menus of restaurants that we passed to see if they had options that Dave’s restricted diet could work with.  We walked almost up to El Morro Fortress and then made a circle back around and settled on a spot called Moreno’s on Calle Tetuan at the end nearest to San Cristobal Fortress.  We had a very simple meal of pan-seared chicken and a green salad.  It was filling, if not inspiring, but we understand the difficulties of trying to find a place that will cater to someone who cannot eat flours, starches (no rice or potatoes), or sugars.

The colours....

The entrance to the hostel was the door to the right of the blue awning

After supper, we made our way back to the guest house…in a bit of a round-a-bout path.  We walked around the corner from the restaurant and past a small park and up the hill toward where we thought the Posada was located.  When we reached the top of the street and realized that we were at the edge of OSJ and overlooking the water, we checked the map and made a loop back down to the correct location….which was on the other side of the small park!  We didn’t mind the extra walk and got to enjoy another look at the huge waves on the Atlantic side of OSJ.  The waves were so high that there was a hazy mist in the air all day and night.  The cab driver had told us that the area is popular with surfers when the waves are that big, but they had closed it to surfing because they were having a problem with an abundance of sharks in the water because they were following the cruise ships into port scenting food. Yikers!  My shark phobia made a crawling trip up my spine at that point!

Back at the guest house, we settled into the common living area to watch some TV (Dave) and watch a cultural music and dance show taking place in the park right across the street (me).  The guest house had these lovely little patios that were open to the air and had a great view of the goings on in the street and park.  We just enjoyed the atmosphere and the warm breezes and enjoyed meeting several of our fellow guests and getting to know them a bit. 

 

After a particularly bitter and long northern winter, we soaked it all in!!