joost

I so need a cruise.  All I can say is...

As you can see in my signature, my wife and I have seven eight cruises on the books as we steadily inch our way to Diamond Plus.  :-)   Getting very close now!
In late 2019 when the Mariner makes Port Canaveral its home, we plan on taking that ship for three day weekends on an every other month basis.  

guess  you dont know all things then and just drink ;)

I wonder if next year the USA Today cruise awards will have a new category for "Best Cruise Line for Sex".  Knowing USA Today Carnival will get it...

Wow!! Sad to say, but very true. I just got back from the Rhapsody over the holidays and I can truly say that review was spot on on the "hard sell" from boarding to disembarkation. My solution ... ignore and keep walking. If you are conversing with someone and you get rudely interrupted, do what I did. I turned and stated, "didnt your mother ever tell you to excuse yourself when there are adults present?"  It TOTALLY  confuses the "crap on a cracker" out of them! ??

Personally, I think these awards are all a bunch of B.S. Money talks. I rely more on what people say on tripadvisor than what some what some "online voters" say. Online voters are synonymous with the "undisclosed sources" you hear about in the news media. 

WOW!!  Where was twangster when I needed help with Math in School?!?!  Super Cool!!! 
 

I saw what you did there 

Reminds me of the time we walked on the nude side of Orient Beach (no, the Greeter wasn't there, unfortunately)...kept expecting to see the lovely sights, but it was anything butt that.  

So........ are you telling us the Flow Rider is one of your favorite hang out spots on a cruise ship?

o dear, besides a gofundme page for extra twangster cruise foto's we need to start one for him to go in therapy to unsee things to avoid cruise fears and we stop getting thoose good pictures :)

I have seen people topless on the Flow Rider but I don’t think the riders were expecting that 

o dear, besides a gofundme page for extra twangster cruise foto's we need to start one for him to go in therapy to unsee things to avoid cruise fears and we stop getting thoose good pictures :)

o dear, besides a gofundme page for extra twangster cruise foto's we need to start one for him to go in therapy to unsee things to avoid cruise fears and we stop getting thoose good pictures :)

o dear, besides a gofundme page for extra twangster cruise foto's we need to start one for him to go in therapy to unsee things to avoid cruise fears and we stop getting thoose good pictures :)

Freedom has a area where it is posted that topless sunbathing is allowed. This was right after she came back from Europe while sailing out Florida.

I didn't see similar sign on Indy.  
Generally the answer is going to be no.
On this trip in Antigua the new MSC Seaside was across the pier from us.  An older woman on the large side was on her balcony right across from us in plain view as she was people watching on the pier between us.  She was completely naked.  Some things can't be unseen. 

If you have a balcony cabin, you can pretty much go topless or bottomless whenever the fancy hits you.  However, I just wouldn't recommend doing that on a day the ship is in a port. 

This is what I got a few years ago when they first started the drink package thing. I think they ran out of the real things and were scraping the bottom of the barrel, so to speak.

keep in mind that most providers block regular (soccer) streams from an other country. due to lincences so that is worth checking out. you can bypass that but takes some technical /it knowledge. 

Day 4 - San Juan, Scheduled Arrival 3pm 
As we approached San Juan our sunny day ended and it became apparent we would have some liquid sunshine, emphasis on liquid, to contend with.

We docked near the Sheraton in Old San Juan. Skies began to look better but radar showed another line or two approaching from the East.


After a few false starts to avoid getting drenched I finally ventured out.  

San Juan is doing much better than much of Puerto Rico.  On the surface it doesn't look much different compared to previous visits.
There were street performers waiting to greet us. 

I've eaten here before but was looking for something a little less corporate to visit tonight.

I ended up at Tijuana's bar and grill.  This is very close to the ship pier on this side of the harbor and I've walked past it many times before.

Today is the first day they have opened since Hurricane Maria.  They have a limited menu right now and are cash only but I'm glad I stopped by.
Beer and a burrito sounded pretty good to me with great views. 

The bill came to around $18.  I left them $40.
After this I wandered down the shore along the edge of the fort walls that used to protect the city in the days of old.

Another wave of rain moved through but it was light and refreshing.  They have festive lights set up.  San Juan is back and is ready to greet you. The rain soaked streets increased the contrast and made it especially pretty tonight.

 
I made it down to the fountain I've visited before but lighting wasn't very good tonight and some more rain was moving in so I doubled back to a restaurant and bar I passed along the way.

The Princesa Gastro Bar has the "It's Rum Time" sign that you'll see around San Juan.  On the outside it's a small bar but I was I glad I stopped by.



I talked to 'Angel' the bar keeper and he eagerly explained the island rum he had available.  It's quite a selection.  He arranged it compared to popular liquor such as Scotch, Bourbon and Vodka.  He explained that if someone likes a certain type of Scotch, they might like this type of rum and so on.  He was very passionate and he invited me into his bar.   


After discussing my likes and dislikes he recommend a couple for me to try.   He then presented them to me, complete with bottles to review as I sampled them.

I was impressed.  As a frequent Scotch drinker I appreciated the flavors and differences between the samples that I would not have noticed had I not discussed them with him.  Despite being a small looking bar, it's packed with some great island rum and other liquor if you just don't like rum  (Scotch, Vodka, Gin, wine, etc). 
This might not be the kind of place to seek a rum punch or frozen something but there is no doubt Angel could probably come up with something for you.
The ambiance in the shadow of the old fort wall combined with the restaurant next door is quite nice.

I won't say the ridiculous price he tried to charge me.  I had to do a double take with my old eyes but I tripled it in cash.

They say the trick to navigating is always look for the North star as it shines brightest in the sky.  This wasn't lost on me as I made my way home to Anthem in light rain with a belly full of rum.









 


Back on board I settled down in Vintages to write and post this. There's no place like home.
I was hoping for not just an adventure in San Juan but I also wanted to contribute to the local economy as they need our tourist dollars in the long road to recovery.  It's wasn't what I had in my mind but I'm quite pleased how it played out.
I went into the Walgreens to pickup a few things I forgot to pack.  I used my credit card.  My time in old San Juan all seemed very normal except the restaurants and bars were lightly occupied.  They need tourists to return.  Absent of money coming in some of these businesses will be forced to close if tourists don't return.
If anyone is concerned about booking a cruise with a call on San Juan, don't be.  Book it.

And that is excatly why RCI created the ultimate drink package!

Deluxe package is now 35,26 € (+ 18 % service charge) - down from around 49 € + 18 % - for our Symphony TA 2018. Immediately booked of course =) Coincidentally Spa offerings have just appeared - might be connected to Black Friday? As the offerings only appeared today I have no way to compare prices to be sure. As we weren't planning on booking Spa services I guess it doesn't really matter.

With this message, I am wishing you a Thanksgiving that is filled with love, peace and laughter and may your bellies be full. 

Hope you all have  GREAT Happy Thanksgiving! And may the force be with RCI for their Black Friday Sale!