Mardi Gras: San Juan
Good morning! I didn’t get enough sleep the first two nights so this morning I made sure I stayed in bed and got a full 7 hours of sleep instead of getting up to watch our arrival in San Juan.
Someone put their room service stuff by my front door. I don’t have a neighbor on that side. I booked it that way for a reason. My neighbor on the other side is quite a ways away. This has to be from the people across the hall. I’m not happy about it.
I want a quick breakfast so I can get off of the ship so I stopped at Shaq’s Big Chicken.
I’m stopping by Della Rosa for my mocha and to have a look at the paper fun times.
They have the coffee punch cards at Della Rosa. I don’t need one since I have cheers, but it may be useful to a coffee drinker who doesn’t purchase the cheers package. I think it’s buy 6 get 1 free.
One for the road.
I am heading off of the ship with my coffee.
$100 fine for not wearing a mask here.
This 38 foot seahorse is made of steel and bronze. It was created by an artist, Ignacio Morales, who turned junk metal into artwork.
I was told they are closed for remodeling.
I’m going to make my way towards the fort.
I came across a bust of Manuel Gregorio Tavarez. He was a 19th century composer who is known as the father of the Puerto Rican Danza music genre.
I must be walking through the music section. This is Arturo Somohano. He was a 20th century conductor for the Puerto Rican Symphony Orchestra which is now named the Arturo Somohano Orchestra.
This is Colon Plaza. That’s a statue of Christopher Columbus in the center.
Christopher Columbus landed in Puerto Rico on November 19, 1493. He named it San Juan Bautista in honor of John the Baptist. This statue was built in Colon Plaza to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery.
We’re coming up on the Castillio San Cristobal
It wasn’t a bad walk here. There is a pretty steep hill I had to take to make it to this entrance.
For my full coverage of the two forts, check out The Forts of San Juan.
You can see the other fort from here.
When I came down, I saw there was a sidewalk that was a direct path to the other fort, I decided to walk it.
Along the way this basketball court caught my eye. I’m guessing Carmelo Anthony paid for it.
I was told it was a 1 mile walk to the fort. I feel like I’ve walked a mile and I still have a good bit to go.
This is the Telurico Totem in Quincentennial Plaza. The Telurico Totem was sculpted to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus discovering the new world.
This is the Ballaja statue. It depicts a woman and two men in a struggle which represents the rescue of the Ballaja district by the Puerto Rican people.
Again for full coverage of both forts, check out The Forts of San Juan.
After touring the second fort, I caught a cab back to the port. I think that was less than a half mile ride and it cost $15.
It’s really hard to get this without people in front of it. After a couple did him, then her, then him and her, then him and her kissing…I had my camera ready for when they left their photo session. Before they could totally clear out a guy is already in front of my camera. I said “sir could you please just give me half a second.” So he did.
Getting an elevator up is next to impossible. You have to be standing in front of the elevator that dings when it dings. Only a few of them were running. After three groups went up I just walked up a few flights of stairs then headed to the forward elevators and came up to my room.
I showered, changed, and got a laundry bag ready to send off.
Glass in the pool or swim diaper in the pool?
I guess street eats closed an hour earlier than I thought but this is what I would’ve had.
I stopped by Sea Dogs and got a regular dog with cheese, peppers, relish, and spicy mustard.
I also got an amber beer from the self serve beer station.
I recognize there are two comedians sitting at the table next to me. I tell Manny Oliviera I enjoyed his shows on Vista in 2019. I haven’t seen Tom Foss yet but I recognize him from his website since I try to maintain a Punchliner Comedy Schedule.
I’m pretty sure these are flavors they didn’t have on Panorama.
I’m not that big on the passion fruit but I love the salted caramel.
These are they cakes they have today.
I tried the German chocolate.
I went up to the Red Frog Tiki Bar and had Maria make me a spicy Bloody Mary since I didn’t have one this morning. Actually I had two.
Since we are in Puerto Rico we have to pay taxes on our drinks. It’s 11.5%! I’m sitting next to a guy from New York and even he is saying the taxes are high. That’s probably why the cab driver charges $15 for 1/2 mile.
After two bloody marys I had to get off of the spicy. I switched to Pina Colada.
And I had another.
I carried that to the back of the ship to watch sail away. I guess this is the airport.
I wanted to get another drink while I was filming that but no servers came around. I headed back to the Tiki Bar for another Pina Colada.
Bruno made me a Banana Colada. Bruno was the Alchemy Bar waiter on my 2019 Carnival Glory cruise.
After that I went back to the room to get ready for dinner.
I’m at Chibang! tonight with plans to try the Mexican side of their menu.
Quesadilla
Steak tacos
Steak ranchero
This is the Crema Catalana dessert which is basically a Creme Brulee.
After dinner I headed to the comedy club. I’m a few minutes late for the start of Tom Foss’ show. There’s plenty of space available.
After I left 30 were in line for the next show. I’m heading back to the room to make sure they got my laundry. They did.
I headed back down to the comedy club for the Manny Oliviera show. It’s almost full but there are still some seats.
After comedy I see the Flying Scotsman is doing his show in Grand Central but I want to see the magic show in the theater.
There are seats but not easy ones to get to without disrupting people. I can’t imagine this ship with another 1,000 or 2,000 people. I’m going to try the other side of the theater.
I was able to get an aisle seat on this side.
The name of this show is The M Theory. It’s pretty good. It’s similar to magic acts I’ve seen on America’s Got Talent.
I thought I would get out of there in time to catch the 9pm Manny Oliveira show but I’m not going in there late. He gives people a hard time for that.
I’ll watch The Flying Scotsman instead.
After the Scotsman the Electric Violins started playing in Grand Central. This is the same trio that was on my Carnival Panorama cruise last year.
It looks like a dive-in movie just ended.
While there are a lot of food options on this ship, there isn’t much after 10pm. Pizza is 24 hours and they extended the sushi to midnight. In case I got hungry before bed I went down to the Piazza Panini just before the cutoff and grabbed a turkey sandwich to stash in the room.
I was surprised how short that line was. There were like three people in front of me. I guess it’s a product of the number of options the ship has and it not being at full capacity. When I was on Glory within 30 minutes of the deli closing they would have 30 people in line. I’d say 10-15 people on Dream and Vista classes.
Deal or No Deal is happening in Grand Central.
After that the Flying Scotsman repeated his show from earlier.
Here is a clip of the end of his show.
After the Scotsman cleared the stage, Electric Violins returned.
They have a late night comedy showcase in the main theater at midnight. I’m going to catch it tonight.
After that I ate my sandwich and headed to bed. Tomorrow we’re in Amber Cove. Good night!
Continue to Mardi Gras: Amber Cove
