jam19872016

Good morning everyone. Sleep was even harder to come by than last week, but I don't feel quite as miserable as last week so that's good. I still hope for a chance at an afternoon nap. Grabbing the last of my things and heading out of the room now.

That's going to do it for week two. Tomorrow we will return to Miami to pick up the next group of folks and head off for the only trip to the Western Caribbean for this trip. Thanks for following along, good night everyone.

Wrapping up dinner, the brisket was good but it was not tender like last week. It usually is fork tender but tonight I found myself really sawing at it. It was like I needed a steak knife. It was strange because it was not tough to chew or dried out, just did not want to be cut into. The salad I was worried about when the waitress asked me if I was sure. I was hoping she just wanted to be sure I wanted a salad for dinner not that there was something wrong with it 🙂. The salad was very good, if not quite the flavor I was expecting from the description. I wish I could eat a salad and be satisfied, but that is just not the case. It was a perfectly lovely salad and I told myself I wanted to try a few of these new dinner salads, but I don't think I will be, they just don't feel like a meal to me. The only thing I would ding it on was the chicken. This was clearly leftover day old chicken that they recycled into the salad. The vegetables were all fresh and delicious, the chicken not so much. I like the entrée salad option, it's a great low cost dinner option for light eaters. I was again praised for finishing my plate. The table next to me got a good job, I saw you tried to finish so apparently she is an "everybody gets a gold star" kinda person 😁 My two baked Alaska plan was perfect. One I was still hungry, but by the time I finished number 2, I was satisfied and happy with my dessert and meal overall! I may have to do that going forward. The meal started off rough, but got better. There were a couple mistakes among the group and she apologized saying she is learning the new ordering on the phone thing. A few of the waiters have been struggling with it and I am sure it is hard learning new tech and is likely full of bugs like all new tech is when it is rolled out.

Walking, done. Was made difficult as track was taped off. Gym was closed at 9:30 with a big sign saying it closes at 10. Umm, ok. Went in the other entrance off the stateroom hallway and pretended like I was supposed to be there, because I technically was. Nobody said anything. Casino freeplay, done. And my $25 round of multi-line video poker only landed me $11 back. Ouch. Packing, done. I was certainly stressing about that one. I packed two extra empty bags as a safeguard against gaining too much extra stuff. I had to use one of them last week and it ended up being a big bag of stuff I didn't want to leave in my open to the world beach bag, but could not fit into my small suitcase so I ended up carrying it with me off and back on the ship. I wanted to avoid that this week but have even more stuff than last week. I did not need to pack my duty free items in the box they gave me, that took up unneeded space and was doing almost nothing to protect it from breakage. I wrapped them in clothing and unpacked them this week and that freed up room. I got the excess all down to just a small backpack that will be easier to carry. I should be ok still once I pack my last minute items. But wait...I stressed for nothing. I looked up my room for tomorrow and I booked myself just around the corner. I did not realize I was so close, I can just carry all my own bags over in the morning and not worry about new Stuart hauling it. I did a test run, exactly 68 steps door to door.

Dinner service finished strong. Full wrap up in a bit. I hit the duty free to refill the mobile bar. I'm gonna do one more mile on the track, use my casino free play that I loaded and didn't use last night (but at least I was up slightly) then pack and wrap up the evening.

Baked Alaska x 2 902.

That was very good. Nice rich flavor and the seafood was well cooked. I got a good job from the waitress for clearing my plate 😆. Braised beef and Asian chopped salad 846.

Yay not too much extra wait. Penne as an appetizer 837.

I will investigate and let you know.

Appetizer finally showed up at 833. Except it was the wrong one so who knows when I'm going to be served. This was after she came back and took my entire order for a second time because she lost it. Somehow an oh crap button feels more appropriate than an oh wow button right now.

Final night menu.

Took in a quick sauna and now I'm checked in for dinner. Checked in at 757 and table immediately assigned at 758. Dashing to the dining room.

Goodbye San Juan.

Approaching the fort.

The coast guard will be escorting us out. If you squint real hard you can see a plane landing. We have backed away and are heading into the open water now. The sun has gone behind the clouds now.

Sail away from San Juan is one of my favorite, so I headed up to the forward "secret" observation deck on deck 9. This is the best of all the secret decks on here because it is directly above the bridge so it has the wings that stick out along the side of the ship. Not great if you have one of those first few balconies on deck 9 😮 I was still at the back of the ship when I took this one. Sunset will be soon. I was careful to not bump into the sun. I'm at the front now, and we have already started to back away. The big bright ball of gas will soon go behind the clouds.

There was a proper beach here for you to enjoy although I did not end up photographing it. I had finished my water and was suddenly aware how hot I was and almost took a taxi driver up on his offer even though it was not a terribly long walk back. Instead I powered on, and stopped in a gas station for a bottle of water. It was cold and refreshing and I was on my way again. The way the sun was hitting it, it unfortunately did not show up on camera, but this tree was full of beautiful bright pink leaves. Fidget spinner bench like the kind I saw in I believe Las Palmas. I had a great walk, but I was happy to see home in sight again.

Climbing back up the abandoned stairs I took down to the water. Other areas were a little too steep to navigate safely down without the handy stairs but I got as close to the water as I could. Los gatos

There was too much glare on the sign to read it, but this tree is called a Woman's Tongue tree. Never knew there was such a thing. It's too steep of a drop off to safely navigate down to the beach but I keep walking another nine minutes and eventually the road leads down to sea level and there is a nice beach area to admire (or swim in if your a beach person). I find a secluded spot that was technically fenced off, however someone had cut a section out of the fence, so I was being a little adventurous and decided to explore.

Walking down the streets of San Juan. There were downed power lines everywhere, I didn't think they were live, there were too many of them scattered everywhere, but I was careful to not come in contact with them just in case. Didn't find any crosswalks in this area like you saw all over Europe, but I found a break in traffic and made a dash. In reality, I could have strolled across as traffic was pretty light here. I would have liked to have been able to get a better angle of this, it looked pretty cool. This bird was not bothered by my presence, which is ironic as I have never eaten a lizard. I see the ocean is nearby!

I spotted a giant lizard. This was as close as I could get to him and I left him alone. He seemed stressed by my presence so I wanted to respect his boundaries. He was huge though! Getting further away from the Magic now.

Rewinding back to my day in San Juan it was the first time I have ever been there that it was not unbearably hot. St. Maarten was hotter, and even St. Thomas was warmer than it was today in Puerto Rico. I still did not intend on going far as I was worn out from my day in St. Maarten, but I ended up enjoying my walk and continued going until my water ran out. There are usually other ships in port, so naturally I have always turned left. Today it was only us, so I turned right to see what that side of the city had to offer. It was a completly different experience over here. Much quieter. Almost no other tourists, and no vendors. Very different from the hustle and bustle you experience when you turn the other direction. Note the lack of people, just one other person in this square. I liked this giant sea horse. Walking Looking back towards the Magic.

And another.

Mango daiquiri from the casino annex.

They sell a book on making your own towel animals. I bought it for my mom but I guess she just likes getting, and not making them, because she has yet to produce one.