Mitsugirlys FASCINATION with San Juan-review & pictorial

[perfect match]

Glad you enjoyed your date night last night with DH. Good thing he twisted your arm and dragged you to the casino. :D $$ Towards your neet cruise?

 

I thought the beach you went to was pretty, but I would not have liked the long walk from the parking lot to the water, and no beach chairs. :eek:

 

Glad the hotel in Isla Verde worked our OK for you. I was concerned when you said it was going to close down for rehab the day you were checking out.

 

Kendra made it to the ship on time! She did well, she even got a room with a view. :cool:

 

I vote to finish the day first, then the ship tour.

 

Hope your son is OK. Always scary to get a text or call saying that a family member has been injured. Please let us know how he is doing when you get a chance.

[jgskes]

Prayers for your son!!!

[CookiePie]

I hope your son injuries are not serious! Keep us posted! I vote for finish the day, then ship tour.

[LadyBeBop]

Oh neat. Do you throw the ball or kick it? There wasn't anyone playing it the day we were there. It was just too darn hot.

 

Just throwing. It was in the high 80s or low 90s throughout our trip. Hot, but not intolerable.

 

Now that we know Kendra made it, I can't wait to see what kind of trouble she gets into.

 

Hope your son is OK. Now I'm nervous again.

Edited September 5, 2016 by LadyBeBop

[mitsugirly]

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.

 

Would love to see the pictures. Let me know if you ever get time to do them. I'll look these places up for our next trip. Thanks! :)

 

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

 

Sorry I can't. It's kinda a special circumstance. :(

[mitsugirly]

Hope he is OK. Sending good thoughts!

 

Thanks. It was a long night.

 

Finish the day, then ship tour. ����

 

Ok, taking notes. :)

[mitsugirly]

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

 

We had a little less than 1/2 moon and it was very cloudy. I figured that would make for a decent night, but it didn't. We were also the first trip out and they did say that was the best time to go.

 

Hard on the relationship :p That was funny and exactly how I wrote my paper from what I had read on it.

 

Glad you enjoyed your date night last night with DH. Good thing he twisted your arm and dragged you to the casino. :D $$ Towards your neet cruise?

 

I thought the beach you went to was pretty, but I would not have liked the long walk from the parking lot to the water, and no beach chairs. :eek:

 

Glad the hotel in Isla Verde worked our OK for you. I was concerned when you said it was going to close down for rehab the day you were checking out.

 

Kendra made it to the ship on time! She did well, she even got a room with a view. :cool:

 

I vote to finish the day first, then the ship tour.

 

Hope your son is OK. Always scary to get a text or call saying that a family member has been injured. Please let us know how he is doing when you get a chance.

 

 

They did have beach chairs you could rent. We just didn't.

 

Yea, she made out better than me waiting until the last minute. I think she only paid $100 more than me for the room (but then again, we have 3 people and she only had 2).

 

My son is fine. He got his finger caught in a dirt bike wheel when it was moving. They go 2x a year to this thing called Powerline with thousands of people bringing four wheelers, dirt bikes, 4x4 trucks and so on. It's like a mud-bath and it's for the entire weekend and everyone camps out and a lot of people drink and get stupid. There's at least 5-10 deaths each time. It just scares me when they go. Even though they might behaving themselves don't mean others around them are.

 

He ended up breaking a finger, which went through his nail and the nail and skin around it completely bent back and was hanging. They had to remove the nail, clean it out (they sent momma tons of pictures along the way because they know I like that kinda stuff) and you could see the exposed bone. They ended up sewing his old nail back on and putting it back into the cuticle and said it would eventually grow back and push the dead nail out. I guess the reason behind putting the nail back on was since the bone was exposed, they wanted it covered so that it didn't get infected. They wanted to put a cast on it, but he refused and it was wrapped and splinted. About 4 months ago he broke his hand (same place I did on my 2010 cruise) and he cut the cast off in a week. He's stubborn. :p

[mitsugirly]

Prayers for your son!!!

 

Thank you he's fine (see above post)

 

I hope your son injuries are not serious! Keep us posted! I vote for finish the day, then ship tour.

 

Thank you. Another vote for finish the day out...:)

[mitsugirly]

Just throwing. It was in the high 80s or low 90s throughout our trip. Hot, but not intolerable.

 

Now that we know Kendra made it, I can't wait to see what kind of trouble she gets into.

 

Hope your son is OK. Now I'm nervous again.

 

Yep, she made it. I'm proud of her.

 

He's fine. Thanks for asking. (Details above). :)

[aztekpm]

So glad to hear your son is okay ... kids, huh!

 

Enjoying your review and now contemplating booking another from SJU. :)

[mistyinca]

He ended up breaking a finger, which went through his nail and the nail and skin around it completely bent back and was hanging. They had to remove the nail, clean it out (they sent momma tons of pictures along the way because they know I like that kinda stuff) and you could see the exposed bone. They ended up sewing his old nail back on and putting it back into the cuticle and said it would eventually grow back and push the dead nail out. I guess the reason behind putting the nail back on was since the bone was exposed, they wanted it covered so that it didn't get infected. They wanted to put a cast on it, but he refused and it was wrapped and splinted. About 4 months ago he broke his hand (same place I did on my 2010 cruise) and he cut the cast off in a week. He's stubborn. :p

 

OMG!:eek: I swear I can FEEL that! Ouch!! Hope it heals fine and he gets to keep his nail. I have a toenail that's been injured several times, and it doesn't grow back normal anymore.

Edited September 5, 2016 by mistyinca

[SenatorsFan]

Glad to hear your son wasn't badly injured. I'm sure you were worried until you heard all the details.

Heather

[mitsugirly]

So glad to hear your son is okay ... kids, huh!

 

Enjoying your review and now contemplating booking another from SJU. :)

 

 

Yes, they keep me worried all the time with the things they do!

 

I'm contemplating it as well. :D

 

OMG!:eek: I swear I can FEEL that! Ouch!! Hope it heals fine and he gets to keep his nail. I have a toenail that's been injured several times, and it doesn't grow back normal anymore.

 

I hope his nail grows back too, but I'm not sure. They seem to think it would but when the bone pushed through the fingernail it ripped the entire nail, plus the skin under it, plus past the cuticle and all. It just folded over. They removed all of that. took the nail and just put it back on. It looked weird. :cool:

[mitsugirly]

Glad to hear your son wasn't badly injured. I'm sure you were worried until you heard all the details.

Heather

 

 

Right. They like to scare me and get a reaction. :rolleyes:

[mitsugirly]

Well since it's a Holiday, I only had 3 patients to see, so I'm back at the review.

 

 

So even though this is day 4 for my vacation, we'll revert back to Day 1, since it's the first day of the cruise, just to keep things simple. hehe

 

After dropping our things off at the room and checking it out, we met back up with Kendra and B to get some lunch. This would be the first meltdown of the cruise....for Sakari.

 

We headed up to the pool deck and seen the Mongolian Wok. I just had to try it. The line wasn't long...but it took forever to get our food. There were 2 guys cooking, but it just took forever for them to individually cook eat meal for each person. It would be the only time we decided to eat here due to the lines being even longer after that.

 

As we are standing in line, Sakari decides she doesn't want this. (She had seen B take off into the buffet area to go get food). I told her she'd have to wait until we were done and I'd walk her in there and get her something. There was also a "burger" place next to the wok, but she wasn't interested. (I think she just wanted to go find B).

 

As I was standing in line, she took off trying to find B....which of course, made my blood pressure rise and I was pissed. She NEVER does this...EVER...unless B is around and then she loses her mind! Kendra pretty much lets B run and do what he wants, always has. She treats him like he's an adult, which he is not. I, on the other hand, keep a tight leash on Sakari...as well as Kenny, Kendra, & Kolin when they were young. I honestly do not know where she gets her parenting skills from, but it doesn't come from me!

 

When Sakari returned, she got a lecture, which put her in an "I'm not going to talk to you and ignore you" mood for quite some time. So, what does she do? She grabs a plate and stands in the line that I was in for the Wok. All of a sudden she wants this food. I would have preferred she got in line with me, but I guess I have taught her manors not to dish people (even though she was in line with me for quite some time before she decided to take off)...or either she was extremely mad at me and she didn't want to stand anywhere near me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We picked a place close by so that the kids would see where we were sitting and I could continue to keep an eye on Sakari as she patiently waited in line....forever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We were completely done eating by the time the kids got their food and sat down.

 

You can tell by the look on Sakari's face that she is upset with me. It's her "ignore you" look.

 

 

 

So once we were done, we discussed what to do next. I had a lot of things planned to see in OSJ and getting off the ship for the day, then returning before sailaway.

 

However, Kendra said she was going to go back to the room and go to sleep. Remember her and B only had 2 hours of sleep that night and they were extremely tired.

 

Another factor was that it was just SO HOT! I honestly felt drained from the heat and preferred to just stay in the a/c.

 

So, we made up our minds that we would just stay on the ship and walk around to explore (and take pictures of course) and then when our luggage arrived, we'd (I) would unpack.

 

We said our goodbyes and off we all went in our separate ways.

 

While walking across the pool deck....."PSSSHHHHBEEEPPPCRURRRSSSSHHHH" What the heck was that? It was over the loud speaker. Scared the crap out of me. It sounded like something blowing off a lot of steam. Weird. Ok, off to exploring we went.

 

After walking the entire ship, it's pretty small as everyone knows, we headed back to the room to see if our luggage was there and it was. I spent some time unpacking and getting everything in place and Sakari was back on speaking turns with me and she was now begging to go swimming. (I guess you are forced to speak to mommy if you want to do something LOL).

 

She got her bathing suit on and we headed for the pool.

 

She doesn't waste any time...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a lot of birds circling the plane all day.

 

[mitsugirly]

Everyone knows how Sakari makes friends super easy. Well, she met a group of friends during this pool visit. I watched them play, which turned into a tag game, which turned into a "anyone who gets out of the pool along the sides or in the middle gets pushed off game". There started to be a lot of horseplay. I didn't like it. I kept envisioning a kid getting pushed and hitting their head. My ER trauma days were kicking in.

 

 

I immediately had to go over and tell Sakari it was time to leave. I told her how dangerous it was to be playing like that and I didn't want her getting hurt. (She was not doing any of the pushing, but she was definitely getting pushed). Where were these kids parents during this? They should have put an end to this as soon as it started. I did offer a compromise of I would allow her to continue her fun somewhere else...as in the water park. She agreed and off we went. But, when we got there, they were not open.

 

We had been at the pool for 1 1/2 hours anyhow. It was time to head back to the room and get ready for dinner.

 

Off to the MDR we went. This first night of the cruise, they said that it was ALL open dining. You could eat any place you wanted, as in either MDR. So we decided to go to the assigned seating dining room, since we would not have the opportunity to eat in there after tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was our view during dining...the port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The menu for the night (which turned out to be crappy pictures)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And what we got...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

It was all good, not great, but good. Our bellies were full and we were satisfied.

 

They did have a lot of issues though. The service was not that great and our waiter seemed distant and unhappy. He could have been having an off night. Who knows.

 

 

The hubby ordered baked potatoes...he did not get them (as shown above). He had to ask for it again and ask for sour cream and chives (on the menu) and then they brought out just the baked potato. He ask about the sour cream and chives. They acted funny about it and questioned him wanting it. He said again, "yes, that's what I want and ordered the first time". They said "you want the chives too?" He said "It's on the menu, it's what I ordered and have ask for several times, why is this so hard?"

 

Under "Sides" on the menu: Buttered Baked Potato with

sour cream and chives.

 

I honestly don't remember if he ever got it and I didn't make a note of it.

 

Then of course we had the same old issue with asking for no water and showing them our "soda" card and them still coming around several times giving water (original waiter would take the water glass away and someone else would come along and put another down). We were more than half way through our meal when our drinks finally arrived.

 

All in all, it was kinda a frustrating experience by the time we were done and walked out. I don't know if it was just an "off" night or not. Hopefully it's not the norm.

 

We met up with Kendra and she had went to the deli and had a turkey wrap and said it was SUPER GOOD!

 

 

[mitsugirly]

After dinner it was time for the safety meeting.

 

We met inside and it was L-O-N-G!! Like an hour of waiting long! They had us wait for a good 20-30 minutes inside, then the announcements came, the demonstration, the directions, they put the arm tag on the children (Sakari hates it and still has a ring around her arm from it-tan line) and then they told us to single file out and follow them.

 

We would proceed OUTSIDE along the side of the ship where they would put us in rows, perfect in line and if you were leaning, you would be told to straighten up soldier. No really, it was stupid. They said NOTHING while we were out there. Just put us in lines and had us wait. After about 10 minutes out there, they said "Okay" and then everyone scrambled. Everyone was completely confused and aggravated about why we were doing this. There was no instructions at all. It was the weirdest safety drill I have ever been to and the longest. I only assume that if something happened, that's where they wanted us to meet, but they didn't say this. They said nothing. I can guarantee if the ship is sinking there's not a sole that would report to their assigned spot. It would probably be the closest place you can get to.

 

We then headed up to the deck for the sail-away party. It ended up being a Dr Seuss sail-away party, which was a first for us, and it was a lot of fun. They have a raised deck area in the middle of the pool deck and the characters were all up there dancing and the crowd was...well VERY crowded and having a good time.

 

 

 

 

Chris, not sure what his title is, maybe assistant cruise director, but he was dancing away! He was good and boy did he have the moves. Honestly, I seen him everywhere and he was involved in everything. He should be a cruise director himself. I think Felipe (?) was the cruise director? Whoop Whoop.

 

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Sakari loves dancing and knows most of the dances, but that girls rhythm....don't know where she gets that from either! She's always so off beat.

 

d1pHcpJNEjE

 

They shot streamers up in the air and they were every where. Carnival really does know how to throw a dance party...even with Dr Suess!

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

There was a guy there from Puerto Rico and he loved his breakdancing. He reminded me of some guys that were really good at the club I went to back in the 80's. Same attitude and demeanor. The floor cleared and he did his thing. I didn't catch him on video the first time, but the second time I was waiting. He carried around a bag on his back with his "supplies", which included a "special" hat for his break dancing. He put it on, gave the "battle" sign that "I'm better than you are and watch this" and started spinning on his head. He was a character to watch the entire cruise.

 

pupU7S2GGso

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari worked up a sweat and wanted some pizza before heading back to the room.

 

 

 

We headed back to the room around 11pm, showered and packed for our first port day tomorrow...ST THOMAS!

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tropicaledrink]

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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You moved up a loyalty level to GOLD! If I remember right, this is your 4th 7 day cruise. Gold begins on Day 25, and if you cross in to 25 at any point during your cruise, you are gold the whole cruise. You should have also had a gold card instead of a red one this time?

 

The pin and drink are part of the gold level. Gold used to include a few more things, but has been scaled back in the last year or so.

[seannyice81]

Great review!

 

This is very informative and gives me a good idea on what to expect with friends who might be bringing their daughters who should be roughly the same age when they sail (this would be the same cruise in 2018 ).

 

Looking forward to more :cool:

[pghsteelerfan]

 

We have arrived!!!

 

 

 

Wow...what were they thinking when they painted the front of the building red like that?!?! Kind of "loud". LOL!!! I guess you can't miss it and it's easy to fine. This is what it was like last year and all the other times we've been in San Juan.

 

 

Oh, to answer your question on my previous quote where I mentioned I'd LOVE Palomino Island and am getting ideas...yes, I did mean to say actually stay at the El Conquistador Resort and then to Isla Verde the day before a cruise. I'd actually love a week long, land vacation in PR sometime though. There is just so much to see and do there.

 

Can't believe the cluster you had boarding...sheesh!!! The porters were always right there where the taxis and transport buses were dropping people off and the check-in has been really easy, and super fast, each time we've done this itinerary, but it happens. Looking forward to the rest when you have time and glad to hear your son will be fine.