My husband and I were celebrating a
Big Anniversary a couple of years ago, so we thought it would be nice
to cruise the Caribbean, then revisit our “old haunts” in PuertoRico, which is where he was stationed (NAS Roosevelt Roads) just a
month after we were married. Back then, I had to stay behind to save
up enough funds to ship our household goods, our car, and myself to
the island to join him. That took six months. It was a very long six
months!
This time, though, we were going
together. At the same time. Here's my diary from the trip:
April 24 – San Francisco to Charlotte
Here we are on US Air Flight 404, on
the first leg of our red-eye flight. We'll transfer in Charlotte, NC.
I haven't been in North Carolina since many years ago, when I was a
preteen and my family drove through the state on our way to Florida.
We were moving from the Montreal area to the United States. But I
digress, as I am so prone to do!
 |
Tired but excited!
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
They've loaded the plane early.
Everyone must be on board, because they are getting ready to shut the
door – almost ½ hour early. Come on! Who ever heard of that?!
Night-night. The cabin lights are about to go off.
April 25 – Charlotte to San Juan
I have a hard time sleeping on
airplanes, even red-eye flights. I couldn't stay awake, and I
couldn't stay asleep. Note to self: Next time, get some Ambien or
Benadryl or something!
So, the sleep deprivation (and a little
stress, but we won't go there) explains what happened at the airport
in
San Juan. Without thinking, we allowed our carry-on luggage to be
loaded into the van and transported to the ship along with our
checked luggage. So, it wasn't with us. What a knuckle-headed thing
to do [Just how knuckle-headed, we wouldn't find out until later]!
When we got to the ship, which was just a 10 or 15 minute ride on the
shuttle, the bags had been “delayed” [ya...no kidding...they were
probably going through all the unlocked bags...], so there we were in
our traveling clothes instead of the bathing suits I had
specifically packed in the carry-ons so we could hang out by the pool
or in the hot tub. Ah, well.
 |
The main lobby. Fancy!
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
The ship, the
Caribbean Princess, is
lovely. It's almost exactly – if not exactly exactly – like the
Sapphire Princess [another cruise...], which makes it easy,
convenient, and nice for orienting oneself and finding where things
are located.
We went up to the buffet for a light
lunch around 2 p.m. The weather was cloudy and warm on this day, but
no rain. Then sunshine. Then cloudy again. We must be in Puerto Rico.
Yay!
 |
Have the bags arrived?
In our cabin. Very nice!
Photo by Harry. All rights reserved. |
It seemed like a good idea to drop by
the cabin to see if our bags had arrived yet. And, hurray, the
carry-on with the shoes and snorkel gear had arrived (very useful on
the ship...). Just a tiny problem, though: The bag was in total
disarray, and Harry's brand-new, never-been-used-before,
purchased-just-for-the-trip camera was not in the zippered pocket of
the bag. Sometime between when we entrusted our luggage to the cruise
guys [As far as we knew at the time, it was “the cruise guys.”
Turns out, it was a “independent” transport crew that the cruise
line is not responsible for. Beware!] and the time it arrived in our
room, someone had rifled through the bag and stolen the camera. I
called the concierge desk to report the missing camera and filed a
report. Since we didn't have the cruise line's own travel insurance,
having opted for one through the travel agent, we would have to file
a claim with our insurance company if the camera didn't turn up. I
was very upset. It wasn't about the camera being stolen...it was
about not being able to take pictures with it.
 |
Making the best of it.
Actually got compliments!
Photo by Harry. All rights reserved. |
As I had walked away from the bags at
the airport, a small voice inside my head said, “Take your
carry-ons with you!” But I was too tired and sleepy from the trip
to go back to the luggage area. Very disappointing way to start a
dream vacation.
A second carry-on, the one with my
swimsuit cover-up/dress, arrived, so I changed into that. Harry was
able to at least take off his boots and put on some sandals.
To make a long story short, the bag
with our clothing finally arrived, but not before we had already gone
to dinner. Note to self: See? You packed too many clothes, anyway.
Response to self: Oh, yah? We'll see about that.
 |
Waiting for the movie.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
After dinner, we went up on deck to
watch the “movie under the stars.” It was a Tina Turner concert,
and it was a lot of fun. [I know you want to know what we had for
dinner. I'm getting to that, don't worry.] After the movie, we went
to the Explorer Lounge to see a flamenco guitarist, Juan Carlos,
complete with really terrific dancers. Juan Carlos was outstanding.
What with the ship being docked right next to Old San Juan in Puerto
Rico, it seemed entirely appropriate to enjoy a
Pina Colada. San Juan
is, after all, the place where Pina Coladas were “invented” or
“created” or “concocted” or whatever. How about “first
served”? Yes, that's it.
 |
Fabulous! Juan Carlos & Dancers
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
Dinner in the dining room was simply
excellent. I started with a very tasty spring roll with peanut sauce,
followed by a fresh and crisp Caesar salad. Next, I chose a cool and
refreshing Pina Colada yogurt soup. For my main dish, I decided on
pan-seared
barramundi with rice pilaf and asparagus spears. Finally,
for dessert,
Bananas Foster. Yum! Harry had seafood terrine, mushroom
soup, Cajun-style crawdad pot pie, and also the Bananas Foster.
Having trouble breathing because you're so stuffed after imagining
all that? Yes, you can order an appetizer and the soup and a salad
and a main dish and dessert. Still hungry? Yes, you can order two
appetizers and two main dishes and two desserts. No, you don't have
to decide between two equally enticing dishes. You can have them
both! The answer is “Yes!” Don't feel like eating in the dining
room? The same delicious food is being offered in the buffet area (in
case you want to eat twice...).
There were only two table mates who
joined us at our table-for-six this evening. They seemed very nice
but were rather shy and non-conversational. It was hard work. But
perhaps they were really tired from their flight, too.
 |
Castillo San Felipe del Morro
("El Morro" for short)
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
Following dinner, my husband and I went
to the lounge for a comedy act, but it turned out to be rather
vulgar. We stayed for maybe 5 minutes of it (thankfully), then went
up on deck for the sail-away past
El Morro. It was unfortunately a
very dark night, so pictures with my camera were a waste (Harry's MIA
camera would have caught the scenes perfectly...grrr...). Well, “It
is what it is,” as they say; I am over the initial anger and have
determined not to allow this one unfortunate incident to ruin a
fabulous vacation.
Our room, A219 – Aloha Deck, is just
like the cabin on our cruise to Mexico [more on that soon in another
blog entry], only the floor plan is reversed. The lovely soap and
shampoo and lotion are the same (must be a specially-made formula for
Princess lines). Smells delicious (but don't eat it)!
This afternoon, I “won” a port and
shopping book at the drawing, so now I shall have to go shopping so I
can save lots of money.
My husband did really well today, all
things considered, except he made me a tiny bit crazy asking, “So,
what's next?” while I was trying to empty the bags and stow our
stuff. It was almost as though he was doing it on purpose to
frustrate me. Almost. But of course he would not do that, right?
As we sail away from Puerto Rico, I
find I'm looking forward to our longer stay on the island right after
the cruise. My husband's brother and our sister-in-law will be
joining us. I hope they want to visit Old San Juan! But we shall have
a wonderful time, no matter what.
 |
View from balcony, stage left.
Photo by Chris. All rights reserved. |
My legs are kind of sore from all the
trips up and down the stairs today. I prefer to use the stairs rather
than the elevators. This is so I can burn off all (or at least some)
of the extra calories I know I'm consuming because of the tasty,
ever-present, enticingly delicious, and pretty-much-always-available
food and snacks. Yes, I know I could be eating light. But you're
kidding, right?
All in all, it's an excellent start.
Tomorrow, we'll be in St. Thomas.
