June 27, 2015 - A Day in San Juan, PR

Earline and I needed to spend an extra day in San Juan because originally, our place was scheduled to leave at 8:20 am and there was no way we could have made that flight with the ship docking at 6 am and with us having to depart and collect luggage, etc. However, American airlines made a dramatic flight change before we left California, making the plane leave at 4:30 PM. Of course we could have planned to make that flight on the day the ship arrived, but when you purchase cheap tickets, it would have cost more to change the tickets that to stay another night in the Condado Plaza Hilton. Besides, we wanted to spend the day exploring Old San Juan, or so we thought.

We got off the ship at about 9:30 am and collected our luggage in the cruise terminal, and then went through U.S. Customs where you declare what you are bringing into the USA duty free. You are allowed to bring in $800 each of goods and 2 liters of alcohol, each. If you purchase your goods in a U.S. Virgin Island, you can each bring back $1600 of goods duty free.

Duty Free Limits

Since most of our travels were not US territories, we were restricted to the lower limit. I had purchased a new wrist watch and some perfume for gifts and some jewelry for Earline but none of it exceeded our allowed limits. Because of our planned domestic air travel, we did not want to pack duty free liquor into our suitcases and risk breakage.

The Candado Plaza Hilton was very accommodating by allowing us to check into our room early on the morning we departed the ship. The desk clerk was pleasant and I believe she upgraded us to a large room on the top floor without extra cost to us. Once we got to the room and dropped off our luggage, Earline and I decided to walk into Old San Juan.

It is about a 45 minute walk from the hotel to the Castillo de San Cristobal.

We had time to kill, so we set out walking the 2.2 miles, taking in the sights along the way. However, the sun is quite warm, even early in the day, so we were ready for a beer before planning to visit the old fort. We found a suitable hole-in-the-wall bar to quench our thirst before visiting the Castillo de San Cristobal.

HISTORY OF SAN JUAN

Founded in 1509, San Juan became a walled city protected by multiple forts. It guarded an important entrance into the Spanish Main, and withstood multiple attacks by the British and Dutch (some partially successful). It was considered the Gibraltar of the West Indies. Due to its military significance, the government kept the growing population within the city walls until 1897, when a few bastions were demolished. The forts received some naval bombardment from US naval ships during the Spanish American War (1898). Much of the district's architecturally historic fabric is intact, including the impressive fortifications.

Castillo San Cristobal is one of the largest Spanish fortresses in the new world.It was built mostly using slave labor and was finished in 1783. Most of the fortified walls have sentry boxes at various points. These sentry boxes sheltered the troops watching the sea shore. The fortifications are now part of the National Park Service and the entry fee is $10 US/pp. El Moro is the fortification guarding the entrance to San Juan Harbor. 

It is a large fortification and the days are hot so wear good walking shoes and use sun protection. There are water fountains inside the fort.

The Royal Caribbean Ship as seen from the fort.

Walking around Old San Jose, you will find interesting old Spanish architecture and cobblestone streets, but mostly there are tourist shops.

We took a taxi back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day using the resort of the hotel. Later we wanted to find some authentic Puerto Rican music, but the best we could find in our hotel area was a group singing to pre-recorded music and playing live rhythm to the tracks. This was at the Mariott Hotel on Ashford avenue. Drinks were fairly expensive, about $12 to $14 each but there was no cover charge.

Following a night's sleep, we still had 1/2 day to spend at the hotel because our plane departure is about 4:20 on June 28, 2015