A View of San Juan

On Monday, the ship was headed to Old San Juan. Our arrival time was scheduled for 4PM. Overnight and into that morning there were some high seas. It was a bit bumpy so I decided I wasn't going to the gym. My equilibrium gets thrown off a bit when I'm stepping one way on the elliptical and the ship is going the other. So we just enjoyed watching the sea from our wonderful cabin. At 11:30 we attended the Captains Club reception where they had so many delicious small bites. Shrimp cocktail, goat cheese roasts, mushroom arancini and crab cakes.  

We had lunch at Sushi on Five. The highlights were a delicious lobster ramen, pork ramen, tuna tartare and a dragon eel roll along with some cold sake. 

 After a stop for a cocktail at Michael's Club (aka The Retreat Bar), we returned to the cabin to watch more of the sail-in. The ship had also sent out invitations to a select number of guests to watch the sail-in from the Helipad. That was an amazing sight to see the fort as we passed by.

 We headed back to the cabin to watch the remainder of the sail-in as the ship docked in Old San Juan. 

 It's such a cool little city and when you dock here, the ship is right in the heart. A lot of places within close walking distance, including the fort. The all aboard time was 10:30 and we had no plans to get off the ship. We have been here recently. The next time you visit, make a stop at La Taberna Lupulo. It's one of the best beer bars I've ever been to in the world. It's about a fifteen minute walk from Old San Juan.  

Our dinner was at the Lawn Club Grill which is an outdoor venue on Deck 15. It's sort of a steakhouse but they also had flatbreads. And some of the sides, such as dirty rice, made you think they were going for a New Orleans vibe. And the water glasses were Mason jars. So a confusing concept. But some delicious food. They have a small salad bar that has a good selection. We both realized we hadn't been having as many vegetables as last week so it was time to make amends. We then quickly recovered and had a sausage and pepper flatbread which was thin and tasty. Angie went with the signature burger which was tasty but she thought the one from Luminae lunch was better. I had a well seasoned and grilled veal chop. To add to the confusing concept of the restaurant, three sauces were served. One was their version of A1 steak sauce. The middle was a well made chimichurri. And the third one was a Texas-style BBQ sauce. All were tasty but none really went particularly well with my veal. Our sides were lobster Mac and cheese and dirty rice. Both very tasty. Angie's burger also came with lackluster and under seasoned potato chips. No dessert.  

After dinner we stopped by the World Class Bar and chatted with Olympia who is one of the bartenders in Michael's Club. Angie had the Applie Pie cocktail made with bourbon and I had a Zacapa 23 (rum) Old Fashioned. Both delicious. We headed back to the cabin and watched from our balcony until the ship pulled away from the pier just after 11 PM.  

This morning we've been watching the sail-in and the sunrise. Today we'll be docking at Crown Bay in St Thomas. We have no plans to get off the ship. The main downtown are of Charlotte Amalie requires a taxi ride if your ship ever stops here. I believe Crown Bay is where Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships usually dock. Whereas Carnival and other are at Charlotte Amalie where there is more shopping and the tram to Paradise Point.