Feb 19-22. Disembarkation was unremarkable. It was easy getting a taxi into Old San Juan, since almost everyone else was headed to the airport. The hotel (“El Colonial”) was superb. An open bar!! I was able to stash my bags there and begin a walkabout. But first I had to contact AT&T about my phone costs. I learned, much to my surprise, that AT&T had a “cellular” tower on the ship, so even though I didn’t want cellular service, I was getting it. “You should have set your phone to ‘Airplane Mode'”. The confusion cost me $100.

It didn’t take long to realize that Puerto Rico has a thing for statues. They were everywhere, memorializing everything and everyone. (There’s a row of statues displaying every president who has visited PR. The guide said there is some debate about a Trump statue, with satirists proposing that it show him throwing a roll of paper towels. Cute.)

As with the rest of the Caribbean, noise is popular. While looking for a lunchtime restaurant, the first criteria wasn’t food. It was noise. Using Google Maps as a guide, I found a 4.8 rated place with a fantastic view of the ocean. Later I learned that it was in a location with an unsafe reputation. I was congratulated for finding the place. Excellent food. A subsequent walk through the neighborhood did seem less than safe, but it was also decorated with very nice graffiti.

By the time I returned to the hotel my room was ready. The place has a beautiful rooftop balcony. After getting some advice, I walked to a nearby restaurant and had a fantastic meat paella and a shrimp taco. BTW, everything is nearby. It’s a small town.

The next day I did a serious tour of the city, visiting both forts and lots of places in between. Excellent experience. Being President’s Day, the town was very crowded. The approach to one fort has a very large lawn, and the non-stop wind provided an opportunity for lots of kite flying. Very pretty. Traffic in the small streets was insane. My walking easily outpaced the cars. There were several cruise ships in port adding to the crowds, though the town was in no way dominated by foreigners. I had a fine pizza for lunch. Found a bar that specialized in fancy cocktails and had two. For dinner I returned to the same restaurant as the night before, mostly because of the shrimp taco.

On Tuesday I enjoyed a Local’s Tour of Puerto Rico. It was okay. Had snacks at rural restaurant, drove along the shoreline, stopped at one of their many caves, and had a short visit in their rainforest. It was a cloudy day so the forest wasn’t as impressive as I’d hoped. But the guide was very talkative and informative. A good day. Had delicious lasagna at what had been a very crowded restaurant for the past two nights.

My flight in Wednesday was at 2:45 AM. The Uber driver seemed to consider a 12:30 pickup no big deal, so clearly it’s not an unusual flight time. Flew back on Spirit Airline. Never again. Seats like plywood.

Saturday, Feb 18. I was scheduled for an excursion, but during the gathering stage it was evident that there were no fewer than 200 people going on the same one. From experience I knew we’d be separated, but not staggered. So we’d either be waiting for the group ahead, or pushed by the group behind. I have never felt so much like cattle. Added to it, there was another megaship in port. And it was very hot. So I bailed. Wandered the souvenir shops a little, then returned to the ship. Did just about nothing. Packed for tomorrow. Many people had saved tonight for dressing up. A lot were in fact well turned out.

Friday, Feb 17. Because if some discomfort I had canceled a Viator tour for the day that included a zipline. But last night I added a Norwegian excursion which was essentially a bus tour. The port of Castries has little recommend it. There were three ships in port, comfortably outnumbering the town. We spent almost an hour getting out of traffic. Nice bus. I got (and kept) the front seat. They drive on the wrong side of the road. And they drive FAST.

Extremely winding roads. Much was 1.9 lanes wide. A lot of ups and downs. Tunnels would be good. The size of the island shouldn’t be measured by how the crow flies. We rose up one hillside, only to descend down into a fishing village. Repeat. And repeat again. Beautiful views though. Several stops for viewing.

The objective of the day was two volcanic plugs that rise out of the sea. Grand and Petit Pitons. Both over 2,500 feet tall. Marvelous views. Lush green everywhere. We stopped in between the two for a nature and agricultural walk, very similar to what I experienced in Zanzibar. Our guide gave (for me) exhaustive details on the variety of plants we hiked by. Several stops were provided with excellent views of the Pitions. Very worthwhile.

Next we stopped at a famous (but small) waterfall, where those willing changed into bathing suits and stood under the falls for a very short while. Been there, done that. In spades. Totally anticlimactic. A huge crowd of people who had seemingly never seen the backside of water.

Had a nice lunch with Rum Punch. Yum.

Returned to ship for an attitude adjustment. Visited the night club, which was (for once) appropriately loud.

Thursday, Feb 16th. Nothing special to report. Did get into a hot tub in the evening. Joined two couples from Queens, New York. Straight out of central casting, accent and all. Joe Pesci with sunglasses, Paul Sorvino, Lorraine Bracco wearing a jewelry-studded bikini.

Wednesday, Feb 15th. In my research I learned that Curaçao is one of the lowest cost tourist destinations. Its reality matched its reputation. Not a bad place at all, but also didn’t seem to have anything to recommend it, though the main city is very pretty. It’s swinging pontoon bridge is a unique feature, as are its Dutch-like buildings.

My tour included a series of caves that don’t deserve capitalization. They certainly weren’t caverns. 40 people at a time, struggling to hear the guide. Unremarkable. The next (and last) stop was Mambo Beach, the “in” beach on the island. Beach chairs crowded together. Its waters are a very well protected sea pool with pure, sandy soil. I was unimpressed, to put it lightly. Totally unsatisfying tour.

Upon our return I wandered the town. It’s not a bad town, but I was sensing a Caribbean pattern. in that it was very similar to Aruba. I found a nice street bar and had a Blue Lagoon, which includes the famous Blue Curaçao (which remarkably is an orange liqueur). Had a bowl of beans and rice. I printed a photo of the bartender, which got me a second glass of Blue Lagoon.

I had booked a Curaçao Evening Sunset Tour, but cancelled. The tour guide appeared uninterested, so I walked away. (Norwegian kindly refunded my money.)

Listened to the Fake Fab Four concert. They sing well, as long as you don’t watch.

Tuesday, Feb 14. Aruba. Nice little country. 95% of their revenue is tourism. Extremely windy. Almost distracted me from the heat. Did a 4 hour Viator tour around the island. Began at the island’s only Aloe factory. Excellent tour. Very expensive product. It’s the only business in town other than tourism. The Aloe revenue is a rounding error.

Drove north past Resort Row (nice places) to the island’s lighthouse. I didn’t climb it as all our stops were short and I’m slow. Beautiful view at ground level. Stopped at a tiny chapel, the oldest building on the island. (Sort of: It had been rebuilt several times. Why ruin the beauty of the thing with facts?)

An old gold mine right on the edge of the water. Never amounted to much. Some gorgeous cliffs that produced huge water sprays. A famous, though collapsed, natural bridge. A fun rock formation in the island’s interior. The guide stopped at several other oddities. It was an entertaining tour.

Returned to the main city (I’m not going to try to spell it). Found a nice open air second floor restaurant and had an excellent jambalaya with a margarita. Just as I was finishing, the inhabitants of the first floor began drilling holes in the wall. Cement dust covered the remains of my food. I got a free second margarita.

Aruba was a thoroughly delightful country. Back on board the ship I had trouble finding a restaurant. Finally settled on the buffet. Denny’s has nothing to worry about. Then, drink in hand, I got a prime seat for the Fab Four’s mini-concert in a small bar. Again, the music was fine. The performers need surgery.

Not a bad day.

Monday, Feb 13. Zzzze Day. Because this was a Sea Day, I indulged in over-drinking last night. This was a planned maneuver since I knew I had no responsibilities the next day. Woke up in pain at 8AM. I tried to have a simple breakfast in one of the basic restaurants, only to be engaged in a wonderful conversation with my neighbors. The meal was incidental. I had a great time talking about stuff.  But finally the conversation ended and I returned to my bed at noon.

Got up again at 3PM, still feeling ill. But I spent a little time in the gym, then wandered. Had dinner at the ship’s version of Benihana. The appetizers were thoroughly Japanese, but the meal was totally American, as is Benihana. Adequate fried rice, wonderful shrimp, ok steak. I skipped the desert. 

Attended the Prime-time performance of Norwegian’s Fab Four group. I arrived an hour early for good seats, then dozed. It was great singing, but the players were unfit to be Beatle’s lookalikes.

No photos. Tomorrow we arrive in Aruba, where I hpope to have more experiences. 

Sunday, Feb 12. I walked to the ship. It was supposed to be 2.5 miles but thankfully there was a shuttle bus for the last half mile. The boarding process was faster than expected and I was able to board as soon as I arrived. The “designated boarding time” was just an effort to stretch out things.  

Even though I was one of the early arrivals, the ship immediately appeared crowded. We weren’t allowed access to our staterooms until about 3PM, so everything became extremely crowded. And loud. Lots of Eagles and Chiefs shirts. Most of the venues had their planned events canceled to show the Super Bowl. The ship has escalators! And bowling alleys. 

I made my three specialty restaurant reservations without any trouble. Tonight’s was Cagney’s Steakhouse. Dinner was fine. Though I sat alone it wasn’t long before my neighbors began a conversation. Being single wasn’t a barrier to feeling like I had friends. Everyone is very talkative.

While most of the ship was watching the Super Bowl, I had a chance to sample the bars with some room to move. I’m not sure it’ll last in the following evenings. I used my printer to make friends with the bartenders. I wrapped up my first day at about 2AM.

Saturday, Feb 11th. As adventures goes, this one began with two relatively short flights. American Airlines has nice interiors, for a bulimic. Arrived in San Juan at 11PM with an internal clock that said it was only 7PM. So, following the hotel clerk’s advice, wandered over to the nearby “hot spot”. A whole lot of Puerto Rican partying going on. Some bars were not only checking IDs, but also frisking the men. Pot in the air. Extremely loud. I found a quiet(ish) bar and tried the bartender’s choice of rums, plus some odd but delicious spring rolls. By 1:30 (9:30 my time) I’d had enough, while lots of people had not.

Hotel is adequate, but nothing to be proud of.

Friday, Feb 10. Yoriko is still in Japan for 13 more days. I’ve had eye appointments for the last three weeks, preventing the booking of a normal adventure. Yoriko has never wanted to visit the Caribbean. Norwegian Cruise Line offers single cruiser bookings and had a killer offer. So . . .

Tomorrow I fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Sunday I’ll board the Norwegian Epic, a megaship of 4,600 passengers, for a seven night cruise that docks in four countries. My reasoning for taking this cruise has everything to do with the port visits. Just the thought of sharing a ship with 4,600 people makes me itch. Especially considering that vaccinations aren’t required. I had done research into island hopping without the ship, but the transportation costs are surprisingly high.

CruiseCritic contains reviews of ships. In the case of the Epic, the latest batch have been uniformly negative, all having to do with crowds. On the plus side, forewarned is forearmed. I’m going with low expectations. My stateroom is an Inside Berth, which might be a plus. I’ve been thinking of roaming the ship at night and sleeping during the day.

The ports I’ll visit are Aruba, Curaçao, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts. The main draw in each country is the scenery. Perhaps I’ll get good photos.