Nancy’s Summer Cruise – Day 7

Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas
9 Night Cruise to Bermuda, St. Martin, St. Thomas, and San Juan

Missed the previous installments? Here they are: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6.

Remember what I wrote about hoping the heat would hold off? Well, today we were in San Juan … and it was hot, hot, hot … and what did I schedule for my family? A three hour walking tour of two fortresses. ¡Ay, caramba!

The two fortresses were “El Morro” (Castillo de San Felipe del Morro) and Castillo de San Cristobal. I found El Morro far more interesting than San Cristobal since El Morro is the oldest fort in all of the Americas, not just North America. It was built in 1539 and used by the Spanish for almost 400 years. There was a brief occupation by the British, then the Dutch tried to invade. Not until 1898, after the Spanish-American War, did San Juan become a commonwealth of the United States.

At El Morro, we climbed a lot of steps. Our footing was not too stable at times and, of course, there was the ever-present heat. Thankfully, there was an ocean breeze in certain locations to cool us off a bit, not to mention a quick stop for some flavored ice and Gatorade.

We then walked all the way to San Cristobal. By this point, Lex was hitting the proverbial wall. San Cristobal had its highlights and all but, since it was completed in the mid-1780s, it wasn’t too far off from our own Revolutionary War forts. Between the heat, Lex’s begging to go back to the ship, and that nagging sense of déjà vu, we sought out a bench with an ocean breeze while the rest of our group finished touring the fort. At the conclusion, we made our way back to the ship, silently thanking the inventor of modern-day air conditioning.

Once onboard, we cleaned up, got a quick bite to eat (plus ice cream!), then completely relaxed. Joe and Lex went miniature golfing. I attended another Meteorology seminar. This time, it was about how the weather affected a variety of historical events.

Joe and Lex met me for Big Band Name That Tune before dinner. We only got 12 out of 30 correct, and we had to name not only the song, but the artist! We had fun, but I’m sure I would have been happier answering questions about a different musical era.

We met Lisa and Mary for dinner and they told us about their day in the Puerto Rican rainforest. In short, very lovely and quite hot. ’nuff said.

Speaking of trivia from a different era: After dinner, we all headed to 70′s Disco Name That Tune. Very short snippets – no lyrics. I guess we just stink at trivia on this cruise (except for identifying logos). Even with all four of us, we only identified 9 out of 20. The worst part was, once I knew the answer, I could sing the entire song. Lisa and Mary, being of the NKOTB era, only knew “I’m Coming Out” because it was on a commercial. (Auugh! I’m dating myself, aren’t I.)

Lex had fun at Adventure Ocean but did not stay late tonight. He wanted to rest and just hang out in the cabin for a bit, so I left Joe and Lex there while I went to The Quest Game Show.

Quest, as done by Royal Caribbean, is one of the best game shows on the ocean. It involves complete audience participation with all inhibitions thrown out the window. It is a blast and should not be missed by any adult. (Yes, it’s an adult only event. This being a family blog, if you really want to know what it’s about, just contact me.)

Tomorrow is a day at sea and I am truly looking forward to sleeping in. Good night!