Cruising

Last year I had a couple of cruising firsts. One was that after years sailing with Disney Cruise Line, I expanded my horizons (*gasp*) and sailed with Royal Caribbean on board Freedom of the Seas. I'll post separately about her but in case you're wondering, yes, she impressed! Another was that I visited a new port of call; San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. Personally I prefer to "DIY tour" if I can (for example see my St Thomas DIY tour, and my visits to Oslo and Kristiansand) and as long as your cruise ship docks at the Port of San Juan then it makes for a great DIY friendly port as Old San Juan is within easy walking distance of the cruise terminal. After researching San Juan to within an inch of it's life, I decided that our main mission for the day should be to visit the ...

One of the many things I love about cruising is going to sleep each night and waking in a new destination without having to pack and unpack each time - floating hotels, they're kinda cool. A cruise ship will occasionally overnight in port but it's rare so that means ashore time is precious and usually counted in hours not days. Needless to say I was happy when I found the St Thomas Skyride to Paradise Point when researching my cruise to St Thomas USVI. Located just a few minutes walk from Havensight Cruise Terminal, it's very easy to get to. Close proximity attractions are perfect for independent touring rather than taking a ship excursion which is usually expensive. I'm also not keen on the herd mentality of organised excursions and value my freedom to bumble around like a fool ...