Bienvenido! Puerto Rico!
Trip Start
Mar 07, 2009
1
2
10
Trip End
Mar 16, 2009
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Monday, March 9, 2009
We left our home last night at around 720 pm (as usual I'm always late) for a flight of 10pm (California time). We arrived at Los Angeles Airport (LAX) around 830 pm and went directly to airport's "park and fly" and parked our van there. Immediately we proceed to the curbside check-in counter and got our boarding pass. We're flying to American Airlines direct flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico at 10pm and arrival will be around 830 am PR time. After the security checked, which went well, we went right away to the boarding gate...whew! we just arrived in the nick of time.
The flight took only 6hrs and 5mins after take off, i was kinda surprise because it was 15 minutes early...thanks God it was uneventful. I barely slept, but that's fine, I'm used to it anyway. My children slept at least 3-4 hrs, except my toddler who slept on and off. When we arrived in San Juan airport, the weather was great it's only 74 F, it was sunny and bright! However there's a delay in our baggage claim, we waited for about 50 minutes, I think the conveyor was broken. Anyway once we got our stuff we went straight ahead to get the taxi. Actually I have a reservation at Budget car rental, but the lady in the airport give us some tips so we just back out to the plans of renting a car. We arrived in the Port of San Juan and just left our luggage to the storage, since the cruise embarkation will start only at 3:00 pm. Its only 1000am, we still have plenty of time to check out and see the historical Old San Juan .
Old San Juan is very rich in culture and history, the colorful Spanish colonial architecture are perfectly well maintained. I really liked their cobbled stones pavement in a very narrow street, the ambience of old and modern world meet together, the fashionable shops and the chic restaurants and bistros. We've seen the San Juan Bautista Cathedral, the El Convento Hotel, the Plaza De Armas City Hall etc..etc..
We discovered and trekked the whole Old San Juan, and were so glad that we still have time and able to see the El Morro Fort, San Juan's Historical site.
Finally its time to go for embarkation in the cruise, and we went and pick up our stuff at the storage. Its just walking distance from Old San Juan to the Port. The embarkation process went smoothly, actually its totally hassle free. My family was super excited that they didn't feel the exhaustion and tiredness.
Now we're in the ship! we had 2 cabins side by side, since we are family of five. The room looks great and the bathroom are nice.. i was surprise actually! I think this ship was refurbished a year ago. I am pleased and contented.
After we settled down and rest, and arranged all our clothes, we headed to the buffet restaurant, everybody are hungry! The food were great! By 900pm we attended the musters drill, which is a must to attend and no exceptions! Then we set sail to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands! Time to rest, its been a long night and day!
