Days 6, 7 and 8 Disembarkation and Puerto Rico – December 18th, 19th and 20th

We arrived at San Juan around 8:00 a.m. and were unceremoniously told that we had to leave. This is the worst part of the trip. Disembarking in San Juan was a little bit different. There are no immigration formalities on board. You tell the crew goodbye, walk down the gangplank and into the terminal, where you pick up your luggage and clear both immigration and customs at one stop.

We had a driver arranged in San Juan, to take us to the El Conquistador resort. He never appeared and we ended up with a wonderful cab driver, who charged us $50 less than the arranged car. We arrived at the hotel around 10:30 and were able to get right into our room. FT spent the day at the pool. I napped and spent some time at the pool.

Friday night we took a kayak tour of bioluminescent bay. The sparkling single cell organisms are unbelievable. We took the second tour of the evening. All of us are non kayakers. FT and DD were in one kayak and DS and I were in a different one. FT's coordination impaired kayak was definitely a challenge for the guides who were fantastic, better than that, they had to be towed most of the way. We paddled, well DS and I did, through mangrove channels to a bay. At times it was so dark you could barely see the kayak in front of you. The organism were so concentrated the water flowing off the kayaks sparkled like diamonds were flowing through it. It was a wonderful adventure.

Saturday breakfast was a shock to say the least. DS got a glum look on his face. Turns out he had been having banana pancakes every single day for breakfast on the yacht and of course they weren't on the menu here. DD had to skip the chocolate croissants and I had to start the day without lamb chops. And both DD and DS were in withdrawal from SD hot chocolate. Louie had spoiled them by no matter where they were sitting bringing them a full pot, more than enough for a couple of cups each, every morning. Thank you Louie

The hotel has a private island that is very nice. FT and I took the ferry over and spent the day there. It was nice, not Jost nice, but nice.

On Sunday we called our cab driver who took us on a tour of the rain forest. As I mentioned we discovered a very good driver in San Juan. The service I arranged was not waiting at the pier and did not show up on a timely basis. Turns out a taxi was cheaper than the any car/limo/van quote I received. From the pier to El Conquistador - $80 for 4 plus $1.00 per bag and the $1.50 toll. His name is Regis Polanco and he will meet you at the airport or pier and was on time. I admired a CD he was playing - and he handed to him when he dropped us off at the airport. Phone number is 787.473.7872 and e-mail is 472-7872. (note: I am not receiving any compensation of any time for this recommendation.)

We were dropped at the airport and had an on time, uneventful flight back to CLT. The only bad part was that we were early and had to wait almost half an hour on the tarmac. A short drive up I-85 , we ran into snow on the side of the roads, and a return to reality.

Catching Up

A lot has happened since I had time to post. I am going to try to catch up.

San Juan – Friday March 6, 2009

Friday arrived blustery and blowing, but sunny. We woke up to the sight of SDI and SD II docked next to each other at pier 1, in Old San Juan.

FT and I had stayed at the Sheraton in Old San Juan, and FT had arranged for all of the CC people to meet for lunch at 12:00 before we boarded the ship.

Disney Jen and her husband DJs DH are across the hall from us, and the jbcjtc are next door, all on deck 2 midships. RaySan and MarDav are also on board but on different decks.

Prior to lunch I had a chance to go to the Polo outlet, and found some good buys. I was also able to finish the work that I had to get done. That was a great relief so that when I boarded the ship I had a clean plate.

Around 1:45 we had the bellmen at the Sheraton get all the bags and load them into a single cab for the transfer to the ship. After a quick walk over we were on SD II in no time at all. As FT and I approached the ship, captain T was at the top of the gangway, and warmly greeted us. FT has know him since she did some crossings with him previously, but this was my first introduction. What a wonderful man!

For those of you used to cruising on SD, they have started using ID cards. This slows the check in process by a few minutes, but it is not a problem, the champagne and hors d’oeuvre’s are plentiful as you wait. As soon as you have your ID you are taken directly to you cabin.

We met our stewardess, Jinky, who is doing a great job taking good care of us. Our luggage was on board within 10 minutes and we were unpacked by 3:00 at the latest. We were off to the TOY for what is quickly turning into a daily routine.

Muster drill was at 5:00 pm. It went without a hitch.

After muster drill, our group of ten from CC, along with quiet a few other passengers were at the Top of the Yacht enjoying cocktails, when DJsDH dropped to one knee and recited a lovely poem that he had written and proposed all over again to his wife of 25 years. Appropriate music was played by the wonderful staff, and drinks were liberally poured by Clint one of the wonderful SD bartenders.

Prior to dinner Mary, the CD, and Capt. T gave the usual speeches, but warned us that getting from San Juan to our first port St. John was going to be like riding Arrowsmith’s Rockin Roller Coaster at Walt Disney World. Everyone was cautioned to take “the pills” which are freely available at the Concierge desk, or to use the patch, which may be purchased for $10 at the desk.

Dinner, in the usual SD fashion was wonderful. The Filet was perfect and service was exquisite. The standard wines were very nice and fit in perfectly. I did not pay a bit of attention to the labels, but trusted Frank, our sommelier to make good selections, which he did. On SD for the most part there is never a reason to need any wine other than the standard pour.

Due to the weather conditions we stayed late in San Juan and sailed at 11:40 p.m. The captain was right it was a rocking night, with 8 to 10 foot seas coming off the port quarter since the were from the north east. I’m not sure when we got to calmer waters but when we awoke Saturday morning we were anchored off Cruz Bay, St. John, USVI.

Looking off our starboard side we saw Sea Dream I anchored beside us. The captain established a tender service first thing. I went into town in the morning and wandered around a bit. St. John is not the shopping or tourist mecca that a lot of other island are, but is quaint in its own way.

Disney Jen and DJsDH renewed their wedding vows in a lovely ceremony at sunset, officiated by the captain, on the back of deck 4. Stephan the Hotel Manager and Mary, the cruise director went out of their way to make the ceremony meaningful. There was even an appearance by DJs favorite person, Kenny, though he caused quite a scene falling down and knocking over a wine bucket that had champagne bottles in it.

Our scheduled stop for Sunday is St. Martin, however due to the swells and high seas Captain T has decided to spend Sunday at St. Thomas. Promptly after the ceremony we weighed anchor and made the journey to St. Thomas harbor, where we anchored with a view of the West India Company Dock, known as Havensight, and downtown Charlotte Amalie. before dinner. As a special treat, in celebration of the vow renewal, we had dinner outside on deck 4 aft. The menu consisted of DJs favorite Osco Bucco. Peter, and Zoltan (what a wonderful sense of humor) took great care of us as we enjoyed our meal. It was nice to have a calm night to eat and sleep, after last night’s rockin and rollin.

We awoke Sunday morning to beautiful Caribbean skies. A tender service was established into Yacht Harbor Grande on St. Thomas. We learned from the captain that he prefers to anchor instead of dock. On SD this is not an issue like on the mass market lines because the tender service is very efficient and frankly the passenger loads are so low that there is never a line for a tender.

I would love to tell you a lot more about St. Thomas but except for a quick run into Havensight to Royal Caribbean, a shop where I always seem to have good luck with electronics, we spent the day lounging in the sun on the aft pool deck.

Around 3:00 p.m. the captain repositioned the ship to Water Island. This took about 30 minutes. For those of you familiar with St. Thomas harbor, this is one of the islands that protects the harbor. We anchored off Honeymoon beach. The reason for the move was to allow the water sports platform to be lowered. The water toys were brought out and swimming was allowed off the back of the yacht. A Zodiac service was established into the beach. FT and I were on the first trip in and when we landed were greeted to the sounds of Kenny Chesney. It seems the locals like his music as much as FT does.