- The Journey Begins – The 2018 Grand World Voyage
- Leaving San Diego for Fort Lauderdale
- Arriving in Fort Lauderdale and our first day
- Fort Lauderdale – Day 2
- Day 1 – The Adventure Begins
- Day 2 – Our First Sea Day – Abba Fabulous!
- Day 3, Georgetown, Grand Cayman
- Day 4, At Sea En Route Puerto Limon (San Jose), Costa Rica
- Day 5, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
- Day 6, Transit the Panama Canal
- Day 7, Fuerte Amador, Panama
- Day 8, At Sea
- Day 9, At Sea
- Day 10, At Sea
- Day 11, At Sea
- Day 12, At Sea
- Day 13, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 14, At Sea, Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 15, At Sea – Enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
- Day 17, At Sea
- Day 18, Avatoru, Rangiroa, French Polynesia
- Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
- Day 20, Mooera, French Polynesia
- Day 21, Bora Bora, French Polynesia
- Day 22 – At Sea
- Day 23, Avarua, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
- Day 24, At Sea
- Day 25 – Alofi, Niue
- Day 26 – At Sea – Crossed Dateline – Jan 29th GONE!
- Day 27 – At Sea
- Day 28 – At Sea
- Day 29 – Auckland, NZ
- Day 30 – Tauranga – 3 Feb 2018
- Day 31 – Napier
- Day 32, At Sea – Super Bowl Monday
- Day 33, Port Chalmers, Dunedin
- Day 34, Fjordlands National Park – Milford Sound
- Day 35 – At Sea – Enroute Sydney
- Day 36 – At Sea
- Day 37 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 38 – Sydney, Australia
- Day 39 – At Sea
- 2020 World Cruise Possibilities
- Day 40, Hobart, Tasmania
- Day 41, At Sea
- Day 42, At Sea
- Day 43 – Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island
- Day 44 – Adelaide, South Australia
- Day 45 – At Sea
- Day 46 – At Sea
- Day 47 – Albany, Western Australia
- Day 48 – 21 Feb Perth
- Day 49 – Perth Yarn Crawl
- Day 50 – At Sea
- Day 51 – At Sea
- Day 52 – At Sea
- Day 53 – Benoa, Bali
- Day 54 – Benoa – Bali
- Day 55 – At Sea
- Day 56 – At Sea
- Day 57 – At Sea
- Day 58, Puerto Princesa
- Day 59, – At Sea
- Day 60, Manila, Philippines
- Day 61, Manila, Philippines
- Day 62 – At Sea
- Day 63 – Hong Kong
- Day 64, Hong Kong
- Day 65 – At Sea
- Day 66 – At Sea
- Day 67 – Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 68 – Siem Reap (ms Amsterdam at Sea)
- Day 69 – Siem Reap
- 2020 World Cruise – w/detailed dates
- Day 70 – Singapore
- Day 71 – At Sea
- Day 72 – Phuket
- Day 73 – At Sea
- Day 74 – At Sea – Enroute to Sri Lanka
- Day 75 – Columbo, Sri Lanka
- Day 76 – At Sea – Enroute to the Seychelles
- Day 77 – At Sea
- Day 78 – At Sea
- Day 79 – Victoria, Seychelles
- Day 80 – At Sea
- Day 81 – At Sea
- Day 82 – St Denis – Reunion Island
- Day 83 – At Sea
- Day 84 – At Sea
- Day 85 – At Sea
- Day 86 – Maputo – Safari Day 1
- Day 87 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 2
- Day 88 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 3
- Day 89 – Kambaku River Sands – Safari Day 4
- Day 90 – Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 91, Cape Town, South Africa
- Day 92 – At Sea
- Day 93, Walvis Bay, Namibia
- Day 94 – At Sea
- Day 95 – At Sea
- Day 96 -Luanda, Angola
- Day 97 – At Sea
- Day 98 – At Sea
- Day 99 – Crossing the Equator
- Day 100 – At Sea
- Day 101 – At Sea
- Day 102 – Banjul, Gambia
- Day 103 – Dakar, Senegal
- Day 104 – At Sea
- Day 105, Praia – Cape Verde
- Day 106 – At Sea
- Day 107 – At Sea
- Day 108 – At Sea
- Day 109 – At Sea – April 23, 2018
- Day 110 – At Sea
- Day 111 – San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Day 112 – At Sea
- Day 113 – At Sea
- Day 114 – Fort Lauderdale
- 2018 World Cruise Entertainers
Day 111 – San Juan, Puerto Rico – April 25
Today is the first port day after five sea days and our final port day of the 2018 World Cruise. We will be entering the United States for the first time and are required to clear Immigration. Everybody on the ship must get cleared and no one will be allowed back on board until all guest and crew have been cleared.
Back in the USA
We received a notice in our stateroom assigning us letters or numbers to control the flow off the ship to Immigration. We were in no hurry to leave the ship so we waited until the final call and headed down to the pier about 9:30 AM. The line was short and only took about five minutes. Then we waited in a holding area in the terminal until the rest of the passengers cleared the ship before we could return. It was interesting that the US citizens on the crew (some of the entertainers, hosts, retail staff etc.) went first and then became guides for the rest of the passengers.
We waited about 20 minutes until the crew was cleared before we are allowed back on the ship. Getting back on the ship required us to go down to the first floor in the shopping area and then return through Security as if we were off the ship completely. There were two other ships in port roday, the Carnival Magic and the Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas which meant the terminal was very crowded. The signs to get back on the ship were different for each ship and were a little confusing. As it turned out, we ended up on the pier without having passed through metal detectors. We assumed that they would be on the ship as they sometimes are since we didn’t see them in the terminal. But once on the ship we realize that we had somehow bypassed Security altogether.
There was a short line to get on the ship and we ended up right behind Suzanne Godrey, the flute player, who performed a few nights ago. We learned that she’ll be performing one final time on the eve of our arrival in Fort Lauderdale. We were back in our stateroom buy 10:30 AM and spent the next hour and a half getting ready to go ashore leaving the ship around noon.
San Juan
The Cruise Terminal is very close to Old Town San Juan. Our plan was to take an Uber to the furthest point in Old Town, which was also the highest point, and then walk back to the ship which would also mean we would be walking downhill. It was a pretty nice day, sunny and not too hot.
Our first stop was the CVS store which was almost directly across the street from the Cruise Terminal. There is also a Walgreens nearby, either one has anything you may need if you’re visiting here on a cruise ship. We looked for some souvenirs and picked up a few T shirts before we headed off down the street to the Tourist Information center. The Tourist Information center is small with one person sitting at a desk. She had a few maps to hand out and was able to give us some recommendations about places to go and things to see.
Getting an Uber was quick, and we are soon on our way to the Museo de Las Americas, about a mile away.
Museo de Las Americas
The museum is in a large building, but only a small portion of it on one floor is used by the Museum. Admission is six dollars, tickets are sold inside the small gift shop and bookstore on the first floor. The museum itself is on the second floor. There are several areas which were not available for touring because they were damaged by hurricane Maria and were still being repaired.
Seeing all the exhibits took about half an hour as we were moving quickly and didn’t read all the signs. If this is something you know you will find interesting, I would plan on spending one hour here. We spent about another 30 minutes in the central courtyard relaxing and planning our route back to the ship.
Plaza del Quinto Centenario
As we slowly made our way back to the ship down the narrow streets of Old Town, we came across the Plaza del Quinto Centenario which was constructed in 1992 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in what is now Puerto Rico and is located at the highest point in San Juan.
The main feature of the plaza is the Telurico Totem, a 40 foot high monument created by local architect and ceramicist Jaime Suarez. The totem is carved from granite and embedded with ceramic replicas of archaeological artifacts in honor of the Taino native culture of Puerto Rico.
Plaza de Armas
About half way back to the ship we came across the Plaza de Armas which is one of the main squares in San Juan. It was the original main square for the city back when it was founded years ago. City Hall is located on the north part of the square while the Puerto Rico Department of State is off to the west side. The main feature of the square is a round fountain with four marble statues representing “The Four Seasons”, that were originally placed in the four corners of the square.
We took about an hour to get back to the Walgreens near the ship and spent a little time browsing and picked up a few birthday cards.
Back on the Ship
By 4 PM we were back on the ship and in our cabin.
The ship didn’t leave until 10:30 PM. Instead of live entertainment tonight in the Queen’s Lounge, they showed the movie “The Post”.
Only two more sea days until we will be back in Fort Lauderdale.
This entry was posted in 2018 Grand World Voyage, North America, Puerto Rico, San Juan, USA
