CRUISE 2014 - DAY 2 - SAN JUAN, PR - EMBARKATION

A beautiful sunny morning welcomed us and I spent some time writing in my travel journal and eating a muffin while enjoying the sun and warm breeze at a café table on the small patio. 

Open shutters let in the morning breeze

The lovely little patio

The night before, word got down to the 4^th floor that we were sailing on the Jewel of the Seas the following day and a fellow cruiser came up to chat with us and ask some questions as a first-time cruiser.  He and his wife had been in OSJ for a couple of days and raved about Café Manolin (251 Calle San Justo) for their reasonably-priced and tasty local food so we knew we had to try it out for breakfast.  We walked up to the restaurant to see what all of the fuss was about. 

Dave had an omelette and I had eggs, fried potatoes and ciabatta toast and we each had a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, which beats packaged OJ anyday!  Total bill - $11.77US.

We got back to the hostel just in time to pack our stuff up and meet the couple from the prior evening for a shared cab ride to the Pan American Pier (our half - $11US) to meet the Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas...our home for the next week.

 

I think that the check-in was the fastest of any cruise we have ever been on.  We enjoyed the Gold Status perk of using the priority check-in line.  I think from the time we arrived until the time we walked onto the ship was 10 minutes.  We did a quick tour of the Jewel of the Seas, stopped by the Windjammer Café for something to quench our thirst and then got off the ship again to meet our friends, Mark & Kim, who had just finished a cruise on the same ship and were in town for another couple of days. 

The Windjammer Café

Dining area where we ate many lunches - outside, but covered

The atrium

The Solarium (adults only)

 We hadn’t seen them for several months so we were excited to spend the afternoon together seeing the sights since it was their first time in OSJ and it is always fun to see things through someone else’s eyes.   We caught a cab back to OSJ and made a stop at CVS on the front street near the OSJ pier to get some sunscreen and bottles of water for our day.  It was already extremely hot so we knew we had to hydrate well and protect our white northern skin!! 

You sure can tell who has just arrived and who has been in the sun for awhile :-)

The next stop was back at Café Manolin to have some lunch.  Traditional Puerto Rican food was on the menu.  Fish or chicken dishes with rice and beans and some fried plantains.  After lunch, we wandered the streets for a bit.  I cannot get enough pictures of the cobblestone streets and the beautifully coloured buildings.  The next stop was El Morro Fortress ($3 per person entry or $5 for entry to both El Morro and San Cristobal for the day) where we spent a couple of hours exploring just about every nook and cranny of the fort.  We have been there several times and, for some reason, it never gets boring to us.  We learn something new each time we visit.

We walked back to the pier area by the walking path that goes along the old city wall beside the water.  It is a beautiful walk and we took our time, bought a pina colada smoothie and stopped at CVS again to pick up a case of water and some snacks.  Things are so expensive on the ship so we always bring along an extra duffle bag to allow us to check our water onto the ship.  This time, we just carried it on board and put some bottles immediately into the refrigerator in our cabin.  We had brought some things for Mark and Kim from home so we took them back down to them and said our farewells.  We had an absolutely stellar day with some wonderful friends!!

We were unable to get an early seating for supper so we grabbed a bit of food at the buffet and headed back to our cabin to unpack, since our bags had been delivered while we were off the ship. 

 

We had walked so much that we both had blisters on our feet so had to do a bit of first aid as well.  We went to the formal dining room for the late seating meal and had something light and then went to the mandatory muster station drill before going back to the cabin and crashing.  I never have any problems sleeping well on a cruise.   We were looking forward to our first stop – St. Thomas, USVI.