Gem Caribbean Cruise Review, 1/30/15 to 2/9 Part II, San Juan

[Carnac767]

This is broken into sections, as the CC reviews break out the ports of call separately from the general review:

Our first port call was San Juan, arriving on the morning of Tuesday, February 3rd. We had breakfast in Cagney's with a couple from the Haven we'd met at the cocktail party there. We weren't on an excursion for this port call. San Juan is reviewed below. We were back aboard the ship around three in the afternoon. That evening we went to our first show since the Welcome Aboard production. The entertainment was provided by comedian Noodles Levenstein, from Brooklyn. He's half-Jewish, half-Polish, and poked fun at both sides of his heritage. To an audience that was mostly from the New York area, his routine was spot on. It was a good show. Afterwards we had a late-night dinner at Le Bistro. For once, I skipped the steak and tried the lobster entree. The lobster and the Fruits de Mer dish are an additional ten dollars, unless one is on the UDP. There is no additional charge, in that case. In any case, I should have stayed with the steak. I really like Le Bistro and have always had a great meal, no matter which ship I've been on. But the lobster was overdone and tough. That was disappointing. Sarah had the Fruits de Mer, which is a mixture of lobster, shrimp, scallops and other seafood in a pastry. She said her dish was excellent, so we were one for two. My profiteroles dessert was great, though.

 

San Juan proper:

We had a beautiful, sunny, 82 degree in San Juan. As a matter of fact, it was 82 at every port on this cruise. I've been to San Juan many times but this was the first time I'd ever arrived via cruise ship. The approach into the harbor is worth seeing. The view of El Morro castle will be on the port side. We were docked slightly before eight and we cleared to leave the ship shortly thereafter. We did not take an excursion at this port, opting instead to just walk around town. As a side note, Verizon does not provide coverage in Puerto Rico, unless you've added the international coverage, which is about $25 for 100 MB of data. AT&T does provide coverage in Puerto Rico, however. I have Verizon and travel to Europe at least once a week, so I have a T-Mobile MiFi, portable data hot spot, which cost me $30 a month for 3 GB of data and works all over the world. I use it mainly to make our "eat your out heart" check-ins on Facebook and to make sure the children haven't burned the house down.

 

We walked straight up from the port and uphill to the north shore of Old San Juan to Castillo San Cristobal, one of the Spanish castles built to defend San Juan. The fort is now part of the National Park system and cost ten dollars per family to enter. If one is 62 or older, they can buy a Golden Eagle passport for ten dollars, which last for life and provides entrance to the cardholder and three guests at any National Park in the country. San Cristobal is well worth visiting, both for its history and the beautiful vistas it provides.

 

From San Cristobal we walked west along the old fortifications to Castillo San Felipe del Morro, better known as El Morro. This fortification guards the entrance to San Juan Harbor and is one of the most visited spots in Puerto Rico. It's about a fifteen minute walk from San Cristobal to El Morro. There is a free shuttle service that runs from the port, with stops at San Cristobal and El Morro, along with other spots along the way. El Morro also has a fascinating history and offers many spots for some great photographs.

 

After leaving El Morro we wandered the back streets of Old San Juan, finally stopping in for lunch at El Patio de Sam on Calle San Sebastian. There are many decent restaurants along this street and it's only about a ten to fifteen minute walk from El Morro. We chose this particular restaurant because it was noted for its mofongo, which is a traditional Puerto Rican dish of fried green plantains mashed together with broth, garlic, olive oil, and pork cracklings. You can have it stuffed with chicken, pork, shrimp, beef or vegetables. We both had the mofongo with chicken, which sort of resembles a big lump of Thanksgiving stuffing. It tastes much better than it looks, however, and is something you must try at least once in Puerto Rico. It was served with rice and beans, plus a salad and several ice cold beers. The total bill ran about $50, expensive for lunch but worth it.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering about Old San Juan, exploring the old Spanish architecture and enjoying the warm weather before returning to the ship around three. Old San Juan is an easy city to explore on one's own and the castles are a must-see.

[judyf]

Thans for sharing. did you see a lot of guides/taxi drivers at the pier that wold take you on a tour? As we want to get out of OSJ and Ellis is already booked the day we are there.

[Carnac767]

Yes, there were a lot of them.