Mitsugirlys FASCINATION with San Juan-review & pictorial

[mitsugirly]

Kendra was like "Oh great, you have great weather all week there and I'm on my way to that!" I immediately decided to check the weather. I could tell that all of a sudden it wasn't as hot as it had felt about an hour before.

 

But, it was still fairly warm. 8am in the morning with predicted thunderstorms the rest of the day. It did start to sprinkle a little, but nothing major. With clouds like this, you would have thought it would be a downpour. The rest of the day didn't look promising either.

 

 

 

Thank goodness we were going to be away from here this following week. It didn't look promising. At least when we returned the following Sunday, the weather was supposed to clear.

 

 

 

Kendra said they were boarding the second plane and the last text she sent me said they were taking off. At least I knew she had made it and was on her way. I had about 4+ hours to fret before she arrived and that also meant 4+ hours of peace and quiet too.

 

I woke the family up and we decided to head out for some breakfast. It had stopped sprinkling as quickly as it started, which is good since we were walking.

 

Back to McD's we went. I know, not the authentic PR breakfast, but it was cheap and cheap is good.

 

 

 

There's that "large" coffee again.

 

 

A trip to the restroom before we headed back to the hotel and I found something else all bathrooms should be equipped with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mickev99]

Wow, those clouds look amazing!! I was thinking "alien invasion".

 

 

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[mitsugirly]

 

 

We made it back to the hotel and still no more rain. It was time to pack up and get ready to check out and head to the airport.

 

I looked out the balcony...do you see anything?

 

 

 

What about now? I hoped that this was going to be a sign.

 

 

 

We checked out at 10:30. As we were walking out...we passed the "smoking area"...seriously! Do you notice anything here as well?

 

 

We decided to drive to Walmart and pick up some more pop for our cruise. We followed the GPS and it took us to an area we hadn't been in. It was kind of neat to see a different area. Man it was hot! This Walmart was popping! The entire parking lot was full. We had to park way past the parking lot into the over flow lot and walk. I felt like I was in a desert with nothing to drink.

 

Once we got in, we circled the store and couldn't find the pop. I'm used the Walmart's here at home, which are Superstores, with a grocery section. This was not like that. We stopped to ask an employee...no hablo Ingles. Here we go with the hand signals again. That worked and she pointed in the direction of the back of the store.

 

Out we went into the desert, to the car, and at the airport by 12 noon. I hadn't heard from Kendra yet, so obviously they haven't landed.

 

We got in line to check our car in. They were 2 cars ahead of us, so since it felt so extremely hot once again, we decided to stay in the car with the a/c on until he got to the car in front of us.

 

Meanwhile, another car pulled up in the lane to the right of us, which was further up. Once the guy moved on to the car in front of us, we decided to get out and pull our luggage out of the car. The other car already had their luggage out and was standing there. When the man was done, he said who's next and we both said "We are". Um, no you are not. I've been here since he was 2 cars ahead of me and before you ever pulled up into the line you are in. So they said "go ahead and do her since she's in such a hurry". Such a hurry? I'm not in a hurry (although I didn't want to stand in the heat any longer than I had to), it was a matter of who had been waiting there the longest...and that was me!

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We walked across the busy street at the terminal and once again, played frogger. We made it. BUT...once over there, you can not go back into the airport. It was for passengers coming out only. WHAT?!?? I have never seen such a thing.

We were forced to stand out in the heat and wait on her.

 

She arrived and came to pick up her luggage and we caught a glimpse of this...

 

 

And our quiet days were over with...

 

 

 

As tired as Kendra was, she was still able to muster up a face for me like always. It was one of those "I'm here to crash your party smiles".

 

 

 

I said she needed to go to the restroom and change for "ship pictures" and off we headed (they had a really nice one outside). Once she changed, we were ready to hail a cab to the cruise port.

 

 

 

[Beagleluv6107]

Always a great review!!! Thank You for taking the time!!!

 

 

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[CookiePie]

I can't get over the mini-large coffees! So glad Kendra made it! I can't wait for more!

[cpshaye]

Yay! She made it!

[mitsugirly]

My first glimpse of the Fascination....

 

 

It's still looking a little icky outside and cloudy. But, being inside the cab with the tinted windows didn't help much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have arrived!!!

 

 

 

We got out of the van, paid the driver, and stood there. We had no idea what to do, where to go, who takes our luggage. It was odd. Usually at any port I have been to there are porters there taking your luggage, you tip them, then you go into a building to check in. But we just stood there. There was just no direction at all...it was weird.

 

Finally I stopped to ask someone and they called a guy over to help us. He started taking our luggage (and remember there's now 5 of us with luggage) and he tries to get the luggage up on the luggage cart...unsuccessfully I might add. Now I don't know the age of this man, but this is a business he probably shouldn't have been in. He was really struggling. We offered to help, he declined. We watched him throw luggage up there and it started to fall from being crooked. Once he managed to get it all up there, you could tell he was worn out. It wobbled back and forth and we thought for sure he was going to lose it along the way.

 

Ok, now what? He said for us to "Follow me" and down the open covered walkway toward the building we went. We were following him...VERY VERY slowly.

 

 

People were going around us like we were snails.

 

Then we came to this small line outside, that was chained off, and I ask if we were to get in the line? He said yes to give them our stuff. We did, including our health forms and they handed it back. Then we were told to proceed to the building. Our luggage man followed. Once again, showing our information and they collected our forms. So what was the purpose of the other person? We did this twice. So weird.

 

We went in...still no direction. I ask him what to do now. Once inside, they said to put our luggage up on the xray machine directly in the door. I ask a lady "Now what?" She said go up the escalator. I ask if the guy was going to follow us? She said "No, you need to tip him first"...which we did. This was the most weirdest check in I have ever done. What was the reason we needed a guy to wheel our luggage to the same exact spot we were going to that most people wheeled their own inside and gave to them to put up on the xray machine? Just dumb if you ask me.

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We headed inside, got in line and went right up to the counter where we checked in and handed them our numerous gift cards. We always get someone that doesn't know how to do this and has to be shown by someone else there...which takes time. They need a training class on this for ALL employees is my opinion.

 

They handed us our cards and we were headed to the ship.

 

I think the kids were excited.

 

 

 

Here we go...excitement!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fivemonkeysplus1]

Back to McD's we went. I know, not the authentic PR breakfast, but it was cheap and cheap is good.

 

 

 

There's that "large" coffee again.

 

 

 

I Lol'ed at McD's..b/c its Burger King :p

[mitsugirly]

Wow, those clouds look amazing!! I was thinking "alien invasion".

 

 

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You are so right! Alien invasion it is!

 

Always a great review!!! Thank You for taking the time!!!

 

 

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Thank you. :)

[gapearl]

Hiya! Glad you're here. Yep, you are about the 100th person that has pointed out my blindness. :D I just felt so turned around when we were flying in that I thought I was in a different location and couldn't spot them. After coming back and looking at them a little better, I did find it. But, without a good camera, I still would have never got very good pictures from above. I had originally thought that we would actually be flying "over" them...as in really close for some good pictures. But that wasn't the case. :(

 

Which NCL ship will you be on?

 

I only made it through page 1 last night before getting dressed to go out. I'm all caught up today and see others did indeed point out the forts lol. I'm going on the Escape and staying in a studio and I got the beverage package included. It's a year away but I'm really looking forward to it.

 

I spent a week in Puerto Rico earlier this year and was planning to do the bio bay. When I went to Trip Advisor looking up reviews on the different operators, they all said it was only lit up at about 25% of what's normal due to a weather impact and damage on the area. I decided to wait and try again on a future trip. I guess with your experience it's still not the same yet.

 

Looking forward to seeing what you do at all the islands. I took this itinerary 3 years ago and it's definitely one of my favorites.

Edited September 5, 2016 by gapearl

[mitsugirly]

I can't get over the mini-large coffees! So glad Kendra made it! I can't wait for more!

 

They were small no matter where we went. I guess there's not many coffee drinkers in Puerto Rico? :confused:

 

Yep, she made it!

 

 

Yay! She made it!

 

 

I know, I'm as shocked as you! :eek:

[mitsugirly]

I Lol'ed at McD's..b/c its Burger King :p

 

 

LOL :eek: Can you tell I've been at this too long today? Like I've been here ALL.DAY.LONG! LOL My mind is spent!

 

 

I only made it through page 1 last night before getting dressed to go out. I'm all caught up today and see others did indeed point out the forts lol. I'm going on the Escape and staying in a studio and I got the beverage package included. It's a year away but I'm really looking forward to it.

 

I spent a week in Puerto Rico earlier this year and was planning to do the bio bay. When I went to Trip Advisor looking up reviews on the different operators, they all said it was only lit up at about 25% of what's normal due to some weather an impact on the area. I decided to wait and try again on a future trip. I guess with your experience it's still not the same yet.

 

Looking forward to seeing what you do at all the islands. I took this itinerary 3 years ago and it's definitely one of my favorites.

 

Oh lucky you (staying in PR for a week). Maybe you can give me some more tips on places to go and things to see. We would definitely like to go back for sure. Did you do a review on it anywhere? I love your reviews.

[mitsugirly]

Since we got on board a little late, the rooms were already ready for us. We immediately split up and headed for our individual rooms. We were on the 4th floor and Kendra was on the 5th.

 

We got an interior this time. I figured there was no need to actually get a balcony and it was dirt cheap, so why not? Kendra ended up with an OV room and although I didn't visit her room at all, she said it was the exact same room as mine, but with a REAL window.

 

(I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the pictures of the room...I have no idea what setting my camera was on and they turned out sucky).

 

 

 

They had Sakari's bed already down and made. I had really hoped that they would not leave it down the entire time we were on the cruise.

 

Wait...what is that? I swear I booked an interior...

 

 

Sakari ran over in excitement and pulled back the blinds

 

 

Wow really? Way to get my hopes up! LOL Carnival, how are you going to tease me like that???

 

We had a bunch of goodies waiting for us from both Carnival and my wonderful TA.

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

I have no idea what this chair was for and why it was in there. Really, they needed to remove some of the furniture. There was just too much! They could have gotten rid of 2 night stands and 1 of the 2 chairs in there and I would have been happy.

 

 

 

Three closets.

 

 

 

 

Carnival robes, which we never use but I know some people get excited over these.

 

 

 

 

 

The safe. The kind that you have to use a cc of some sort to open and close. I know that people have said not to use the room key because it sometimes deactivates it. However, I decided to go ahead and try (since the only other items I had with me that had a strip was cc's and I wasn't about to have them deactivated.) We didn't have any trouble using the room key.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Oh lucky you (staying in PR for a week). Maybe you can give me some more tips on places to go and things to see. We would definitely like to go back for sure. Did you do a review on it anywhere? I love your reviews.

 

I've been to San Juan many times and stayed in Ponce before a cruise a couple years ago, so this trip I spent mostly on the west side of the island. I hit up all the beaches in Aguadilla, Rincon, Cabo Rojo, all the popular ones. I might would recommend getting outside of San Juan and exploring the island a bit. Aguadilla is a 2 hour drive from the SJU airport. I've had every intention on getting pictures up on my blog from that trip (as well as my pictures from my Cuba trip that followed that one, AMAZING), but a combination of being consumed with a cross country move as well as a lack of motivation have not allowed me to do so yet. I have so many awesome pictures from my travels so I'm planning to give my site a makeover. Hopefully I'll get them posted this year and will link it back up in one of my upcoming reviews.

[mitsugirly]

On to the bathroom. I honestly don't remember taking this picture with the hubby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can someone please tell me what the heck this thing is? It was under the bed and the thing in the middle is a mattress. At first I thought it was a baby crib, but there is NO WAY that it could be. I mean even if you had a preemie, this thing was too small. It was long, but not wide enough.

 

(It looks bigger in the picture than what it really is)

 

 

Then I would find another bed/cot under my bed. Like there's enough beds in this room for at least 5 people. Do they have 5 people interior rooms???

 

 

This is Sakari's bed put up:

 

 

As you can see under it, there's lights and stuff for another bed to go.

[mitsugirly]

There's another bed over top of our bed as well.

 

 

 

Same lights below it that went to our bed and across the room (above pic).

 

I'm going to say this right now....Having a bed above this one and having that "shelf" like strip of wood with the light was the most uncomfortable thing ever. I don't know what they were thinking when they did this. You can't sit up in bed to watch t.v. or anything because there's no place to rest your back or head. You simply hit the wood and it's not flat, so just no way to do it. It was the only aggravating thing in the room.

 

So they had it freezing cold in the room. Now it was extremely hot outside and I was thankful for the a/c, but this was just too cold. Where is the thermostat??? I looked everywhere. I found nothing on the walls.

 

Then I would look up and find this...

 

 

That little round knob turned it up and down. It wasn't anything fancy and by day 2ish, I had learned where to put the setting for the perfect "sleeping" temp and then the day temp. It worked out perfect. No issues there. This older ship isn't going to get the best of me yet.

 

 

[Gallivanting Souls]

Now I have to say that I was really nervous about booking this hotel. I had originally booked The Courtyard at Marriott. But the opportunity came up and we got a SUPER good deal on this place from a "friend" on these boards. So we cancelled our reservation with Marriott and booked this place.

 

 

 

 

Would you care to share your friends? Maybe you could have your "friend" email me so we could be friends too? We will be in SJU next June.

Enjoying your review so far and taking notes. :D

[mitsugirly]

Sakari couldn't wait to tear into her gift from our TA.

 

 

 

 

 

Super excited and it's a Carnival Towel and a pretty one at that.

 

 

Then mom and dad tore into their present:

 

 

 

I know some of you will get a laugh at that one. Me and wine=funny and makes for a lot of talk on here. Let the suggestions roll..............

 

Gifts from Carnival consisted of our free "return guest" bottle of YUMMY water. :rolleyes: At least they recognized the hubby as a return cruiser, even though this is his 4th Carnival cruise, last time they had him as a newbie.

 

We also got PINS!! Wowzers! I didn't even know they did pins. I'm super excited now.

 

Then we got a coupon for a free drink on the last night of the cruise. Is this something new too? I have never had that before.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Well, I just got a text that my oldest son is in the ER with a dirt bike accident. I'm going to take a break and try to figure out what is going on.

 

While I'm gone...let me know what you want next

 

1) The full ship tour

2) Me to finish out our day then the ship tour.

 

 

[Shayhooper]

Hope he is OK. Sending good thoughts!

[blarko]

Finish the day, then ship tour.

[Dirkgun]

Definitely a novel with me. LOL Woo Hoo on finally going to LFK. I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

You seriously suck! (Just kidding). See, that's the experience I wanted...AND you captured it on film. Lucky dog you!

 

Honestly the best way to describe what we seen is...the glitter globes you get and shake them and the glitter twirls around (like snowglobes). That's pretty much what it reminded me of...but very very light and dense. Like a globe that had been sitting around for years, in the direct sunlight, which had faded.

 

I'm going to try this again some time. I'm going to have to research it. See if the other place is supposed to be brighter. I will correspond my dates with the "best" moon time to go. I will get the experience I'm looking for! DETERMINATION!

 

 

Yeah we made sure we had no or almost no moon when we went. The other thing we did was to be the first excursion in on that night.... they have usually at least 2 sometimes three per night and we did still chase the glow. The guides wait to find it and then try to keep you in it for a while. The Kayaking is a fun experience and you are closer but... it is hard on the relationship. :eek: At least for the duration of the trip into and out of the bay. So worth it IMHO