Tim & Denise Tiner Travels: 2018 October Family Cruise - Day 01

Our family trip is here! It is hard to believe. I remember sitting at Cassidy's backyard in July of 2017, and having a weak moment, booking a cruise for all adult members of our family to celebrate my 60th birthday. Well, that birthday has come and passed. And after many highs and lows in trying to get everyone to join us....7 of our 10 adult kids will be with us. Dustin and Kerri cannot come because of a job shift that Dustin is pursuing that will move them to Las Vegas. His 4 month 'boot camp' falls right in the middle of our trip. So....they chose to pursue that. Neza, Karlie's husband, was told it was his job or the cruise by his employers. I say employers as his current employer told him that and then he set out to find a new job quickly...which he did. But that employer ALSO told him that he MUST start on the 11th. Although Neza would be home on the 14th, this new employer could not wait. I'm just amazed by the cruelty of people and employers. REALLY...that business could not wait 72 hours for Neza to get home. It is horrible that people could be so not sensitive to such things. Oh well, Neza took the new job and will stay behind. We will miss all three of these kids. But the rest of us....we're going to have a blast sailing to many Caribbean Islands, snorkeling, scuba diving and eating like piggies.

Although our cruise ship leaves port at 9 PM Sunday evening, Denise and I left Thursday night on a red eye flight. As a matter of fact, everyone is taking the same red eye itinerary on Jet Blue...but we left Thursday, Travis and Mackenzie are in route as I write this (Saturday morning) and Mike, Cassidy, Brent, Ashley and Karlie (and 6 month old Atticus) are leaving tonight. Yay!

We arrived without a hitch to San Juan. Red eye flights are never fun. But they do save some 'tour' time. Upon arriving, I texted our BNB host to see if we could get in early. We landed around 9:30 AM and check in, in theory, was not until 3 PM. He texted back and said his current guests were checking out and that he would text me when the apartment was ready. So to kill time, Denise and I found a little food court where departure gates were found. We watched a TV show that I had downloaded, ate some real food (not juices and chips as given on the planes). At around 11:15, our host Carlos texted us to let us know that the apartment was ready. So off we went to get a Taxi.

Our apartment was real close to the airport. So I knew the Taxi ride would not be too far. And that was clearly the case. Frankly, I can see the eyes of the pilots as they take off and land planes outside the window of our apartment. It feels like we are on the runway. Anyway, to go less than two miles, it cost us $20 for the taxi ride. Kind of a robbery if. you ask me. But oh well...the taxis have a market here. They won't let Uber on to the airport.

Our apartment complex is on the beach. The complex is pretty old and apparently had sustained some pretty good damage last year during the hurricane that ravaged Puerto Rico. The apartment, however, is very clean and nice. But having said that...is is the NOISIEST place we've ever stayed in. Besides the roar of planes coming and going periodically, the fans make noises, the bed is the squeakiest bed I've ever slept in and then outside in the concrete hallways, a fire alarm must need a battery or something and let's of a squeak every few minutes. But....we were so tired, none of this could stop us from catching a nice nap, then later on, sleeping deeply through the night.

After our nap, we showered. Normally we would have just changed into our swim wear and headed to the beach. But, clouds came in and it rained, and rained. We did go down to check the beach out once the rain stopped and lots of surfers were out enjoying the big waves. But we decided we would enjoy the beach tomorrow (Saturday), assuming we got some sunshine. We'll see.

At around 3:30 PM, we decided we would go for a walk and find some 'dinner'. We knew our evening was going to be cut short due to 'tiredness'. So we went looking for some dinner when it was not raining and we still had the energy. We found a place right by a Cockfighting ring. I can't believe they actually allow this still. But apparently they do. The restaurant was really good. We both got some Cuban food. It seemed to dominate this restaurants menu. It was a bit expensive and the portions really large. We would share a plate the next time we were to eat there. The name of the place was 'Metropol'.

After eating, we decided that we would walk to the super mercado to get some stuff for breakfasts and of course, dessert. The walk was about 10 minutes. And it is warm and humid here, even with clouds dropping rain on us. Luckily we did bring umbrellas. We thought, after shopping, that we would just catch an Uber back to the BNB. But we decided the walk would feel good after our large meal...and it did.

The evening was just a night of trying to stay awake. We eventually laid in bed and watched the movie 'Adrift' on my IPad. But even then, we could not stay awake. So it was lights out by 8 PM. And...did I tell you that the bed was squeaky? Man, every time I moved, the people in the airport terminal yelled 'oil that bed'! :-)

Hopefully tomorrow, Saturday, we'll have more energy, more blue sky and lots of beach time. We shall see.

Pictures...

Out in front of our BNB building. We are in the room, 5 floors up to the far left.

Some dinner...first picture is my plate...port roast with the pig skin left on it. I tried the skin...pretty chewy. But the roast, yummy! Denise's plate was a Cuban sampler. It was really good too.