Puerto Rico!

Breakfast in the main dining room.   Food is much better here than on the Lido.  I had pabcakes, he had piached eggs.  Place was very busy and service was a bit slow, but overall a satisfactory experience.

Music:  "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna.

We arrived in Puerto Rico around midmorning.  If you like old forts, be on the port side of the ship when you arrive.  Our balcony was the perfect place for the photo opportunity.  The retaining wall extends way past the fort, and it's weird to see the modern city behind ancient walls.

We cleared US customs fairly quickly.  And then it was time to start our Puerto Rican adventure.  We spent a few minutes expliring the streets of Old San Juan.  Narrow streets, lots of traffic, restaurants, artsy shops, Starbucks, signs in English and Spanish.  Just like lower Manhattan, but with palm trees.

Then it was time for our tour.  We boarded a bus and headed for el Yunque.  On the eastern tip of the island, high in the mountains, our national park service has preserved a rainforest. 

Music: "Africa" by Toto

Our tour guide explained that the rainforest formed as a result of weather conditions in Africa and on the Atlantic.  Dust from the Sahara gets blown across the ocean, and when it hits the mountains of Puerto Rico . . .rain.

You drive up narrow roads to the visitor's center, where you can learn all about the ecology.  (And where I bought yummy tostones -- fried plantain patties.)  We continued our drive through the forest, passed a beautiful waterfall and up to the observation tower.  There are incredible views here, and if you actually climb to the top (as Drew did) you can see where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Caribbean.  On our way back down the mountain, we stopped at the waterfall to take pictures.  In the pouring rain, of course.  What do you expect, it's the rainforest.

Then it was on to Castillo de San Cristobal, the fort we'd seen as we arrived in San Juan this morning.  The fort was built by the Spanish to control not only Puerto Rico, but also the Caribbean and South America.  The English tried to take it several times, without success.  The Americans succeeded in taking the fort, and the island, in 1898, during the Spanish-American War.  The visitor's center, a modern facility at the base of the fort, was built when this place was known as  Fort Brooke during WW II.

An interesting tidbit.  San Juan was a walled city until late in the 18th century, and no one was allowed to live outside the walls.  Tearing down the walks to allow the city to expand was apparently a major controversy.

Back on the ship, and all I wanted was a hot shower.  Just before I turned on the water. . . There was an announcement from our cruise director.  No hot water!  Don't worry, it was fixed before 8:00 that evening.  You just have to roll with it, I guess.

Dinner in the steakhouse is an experience not to be missed.    I loved the shrimp cocktail, so much better than the version in the main dining room.  The pirate king loved the lobster bisque.  Hearts of iceberg salad was boring.  I loved the brioche and he loved the foccacia.  We both chose surf and turf -- petite fillet mignon and lobster tail.  The Yukon gold mashed potatoes are incredibly creamy -- the chef said he strains them three times before adding a ton of butter and cream.  Easily the best meal we had aboard ship.  Too full for dessert, we took it with us for later.  I have to say, it was a bit of a disappointment.  We are used to a thick, dense, creamy New York cheesecake, and this was light and airy -- like they used ricotta instead of cream cheese.

The evening's entertainment was a juggler named Edge.  He incorporates a lot of humor into his act.  He's an expert at Chinese yo yo.  He performed for a full hour and he was very entertaining.

Back up to the cabin . . .and messages from Guest Services.  First, we were informed that the balconies would be cleaned starting at 9:00 - no big deal, since our shore excursion was scheduled for 8:00.

But about that shore excursion . . .no, not cancelled.  Not entirely.  We'd still get ti see the island.  But no ride in the glass bottom boat!  Mechanical difficulties.  If we'd known that, we would have taken a similar excursion in Grand Turk.  So disappointing.