Day Three--San Juan, Puerto Rico

Deck 11 (where the swimming pool is) and Deck 12 filled up quickly this morning with folks hoping to get some sun before we docked in San Juan at 2 p.m. I learned a valuable lesson this morning; it doesn't matter how many visits you pay to the tanning booths before a vacation, the sun at 20 degrees of latitude will cook you badly if you don't use sunscreen. My scorched forehead was evidence of that statement. After my wife took over my chair, I grabbed my Rio Nitrus mp3 player and walked four miles of laps around the Jogging Track. Much more of this will be needed to keep off the weight from all the food we're eating!

After dembarking the ship, a (thankfully air-conditioned) bus took some of us on a tour of New and Old San Juan. New San Juan pretty much resembles any large city, with freeways, traffic, large office building and condos. Nothing much to see here, in other words. Old San Juan and especially Fort San Cristobal, a 17th century military fortification built by the Spanish, on the other hand, was a real treat to see. We had a decent amount of time at the Fuerte, browsing around the various features and taking pictures from the higher points. Other that, we were dropped off in Old San Juan so we could shop, after which a short walk brought us back to the Jewel. San Juan rating: 7

By the way, the process of getting off and back on the ship at the different ports of call is very easy. You need to make sure to have your Sea Pass Card and your picture I.D.; after that, the rest is easy.

An early dinner at the Seaview Cafe where I tried out their Cuban sandwich (about a 6 on a 1-10 scale), and then back to the room to watch the post-sundown departure from our balcony.

(1) Morning view from Deck 12 (2) Deck 12 and the Skybar (3-6) Arrival at San Juan (7) Jewel Of The Seas from the pier at San Juan (8) San Juan tour (9-12) Fort San Cristobal (13) Sunset (14) San Juan port from our balcony at night

Day Four--St. Maarten

Early to rise today at 5 a.m.; no particular reason for this other than my wife left a wakeup call, so when she got up...I got up. .

There is just something neat about setting sail from an island one evening and seeing the next island approach as you eat breakfast at a window table at the Windjammer Cafe. Today's island was St. Maarten, the largest island in the world which is owned by two nations. The port of Philipsburg is in the part owned by the Dutch. Today's bus tour took us to the other side of the island and the town of Marigot, on the French-owned half.

A few other observations from today's tour:

The West Indies dialect spoken by today's driver was tough to understand but eventually we got used to how he spoke.

The people of this island appear to be very poor. The housing looks extremely run-down and there was a lot of junk in many of the yards we past. I haven't done the research but what we could visibly see suggest that the standard of living is very low here.

We were sitting on the right side of the bus which turned out to be a mistake as the overwhelming number of scenic spots were on the left side of the bus. There wasn't any way for us to know this, of course, but it did detract from the quality of the tour.

Many clothing items are very cheap here. At a market in Marigot, I landed a Hard Rock Cafe/St. Maarten t-shirt for just $4 and a St. Maarten cap for another $5.

It wasn't a bad tour, but it was one which we'd do only once. Likewise for St. Maarten; this isn't an island which we'd desire staying on in the future. St Maarten rating: 5

Back on the J.O.S., we watched the Adventure Of The Seas leave port a half hour ahead of us, and then watched another great sunset. The theme onboard tonight was Caribbean, and the jerk chicken they served up at the Windjammer Cafe was phenomenal! Once again, too much to eat, but this is becoming the standard. I'm not sure what's up with the food thing; is it that we're busy every day and working up an appetite? Is the food really that good? Is there an unconscious desire to get our "money's worth" out of this cruise? I'm not sure but I strongly suspect the answer to all three questions is "yes".

(1-2) Arrival in St. Maarten (3) Phillipsburg harbor from the shipdeck (4) Deck 13 of the Jewel Of The Seas (5) Rock climbing wall (6) Miniature golf course (7-8) St. Maarten tour; Pic 8 is in Marigot (9) Royal Caribbean's Adventure Of The Seas, which was docked next to our ship (10) Another view of the Jewel Of The Seas (11) Departure from St. Maarten (12-13) Another beautiful sunset in the Caribbean!

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last updated may 10, 2006