SAN JUAN, 

PUERTO RICO

BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE

 AT SEA!

Tuesday, May 5, 2025, 6 AM, Temperature 79 Degrees, 76% Humidity, W–E @ 12.2 mph

I couldn’t get in the pool this morning; the pool area had been invaded by towel animals! The room stewards did this earlier in the cruise, but the large animals are all different! It was a lot of work (and late hours at the end of hardworking days), but they enjoyed creating the zoo!

Speaking of animals, Alif, the “Juice Guy” for breakfast in the dining room, gave us the cutest dog he had made for us out of recycled corks. He even added a smiley face. He said we were some of his “favorite customers,” but we reject his juice more often than we accept it – too many calories! Very special, not sure why so many crew are nice to us! I think we remind them of their grandparents! We think other cruisers are jealous when they see the origami animals & flowers that are made for us, our cork dog, and almost nightly card tricks. We are grateful for their thoughtfulness. 

Puerto Rico (officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) means “Rich Harbor” in Spanish. Puerto Rico is an archipelago consisting of the best-known main island and numerous smaller islands. On our tour, we learned that Old San Juan and New San Juan are on two separate islands connected by a bridge. The area was settled by Amerindian people 2,000 to 4,000 years ago. Spain claimed it after Christopher Columbus’s arrival in 1493. It was colonized by Ponce de Leon in1508. A number of European countries attempted to take possession of Puerto Rico, but it remained under the control of Spain for 400 years. Following the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was acquired by the United States. Although Puerto Ricans have been US citizens since 1917, it remains a territory of the United States not a state. Although they have the “fundamental rights” of citizenship, Puerto Ricans cannot vote in Federal elections (but most do not have to pay Federal taxes)!

It was a busy day for Cruise Ships in San Juan – there were four! We didn’t arrive until 12:00 PM and as the third “in town”, we didn’t get the “best” parking spaces with walking distance to San Juan, but the ship ran free shuttles into town. We took a “Highlights of San Juan” which gave us an overview of Old and New San Juan, but didn’t see any countryside – we would have loved that. First, everyone on the ship, guests and crew, had to go through Immigration since this is our first US port returning home. It went quickly, comparing us “in person” to the computer database.  

First stop, the iconic I “heart” (Love) PR sign! Our guide, a very nice young man (native Puerto Rican), said that if you don’t have your picture taken there, no one will believe you were in Puerto Rico! It is in front of the Puerto Rico Convention Center, the largest convention center in the Caribbean and one of the most technologically advanced in the Americas.

There are several significant historic fortifications in Puerto Rico. We first passed “La Fortaleza” (The Fortress) built by the Spanish in San Juan Harbor in 1533. Then we passed Castillo San Cristobal, known as the largest fortress, built by the Spanish in the New World. Finally, we stopped at the Castillo San Felipe del Morro (el Morro). Nearly 500 years old, El Morro welcomes cruise ships when they sail into San Juan Harbor. Parking our large tour bus in a very small and crowded parking lot was an adventure in itself - you couldn’t pay us enough to be a tour bus driver. We spent as long jockeying into the parking space, as we did at the Fort. But having time (albeit short) to walk around the fort was worth it. Adjacent to El Morro was “Cementerio Santa Maria Magdalena,” a beautiful, ornate cemetery overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, built in 1863. The Colonial Spanish government built the cemetery with a view of the Atlantic Ocean to symbolize the spirits' travel to the afterlife. After a drive by the Christopher Columbus Monument and a stop at a beach area for a view of the turquoise water (and an ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s) we were back on the bus and heading “home” to the Zuiderdam.

We had an 8 PM Sail-a-Way, which gave us a special view of the nighttime skyline as we left San Juan!

We’re on the way home - Day 123!