We’re slowly closing in on the last few days of this Eastern Caribbean cruise on the MSC Divina. Day 5 saw us docked in one of my favorite ports of call, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. We were given clearance to go ashore around 8am AT and then the gangways were closed as the Carnival Valor began maneuvers to tie up next to us. After about 20 minutes, passengers were once again able to get off the ship and explore the island.
Before I went ashore, I headed up to the buffet for breakfast around 10am AT. Surprisingly the buffet was still very busy with a good number of passengers onboard. Being that all aboard time was 3:30pm AT, I quickly finished breakfast and headed ashore to do my usual routine when in San Juan. After all, nobody wants to be “that guy” running up the pier, waving his hands furiously as the ship is slowly pulling away. As I headed through security, the officer took my keycard, whipped out her Sharpie, and put a big “P” on the front of it. She told me that the photo taken of me on embarkation day is too dark, and I need to get a new one taken.
“No problem, I’ll do it when I return.”
It was sunny, hot, and humid in San Juan. In port in addition to the Divina and the Valor was the Carnival Sunshine and as I would see a few moments later, the Holland America Line flagship, Nieuw Amsterdam, would be joining us as well. With four ships in port, it was not that crowded.
San Juan, unlike other ports of call in the Caribbean, is one where I actually feel safe enough to walk around on my own and explore the backstreets and neighborhoods. I have a pretty much-set routine when in San Juan. I disembark the ship and head down the street to the massive fortress that stands tall at the entrance to San Juan Bay, Paseo del Morro, or simply, el Morro. Its stone walls have stood guard against the enemy for centuries and today are open up for tours. It also has a magnificent walking trail that takes you along the perimeter of the fort and the water of the bay.
Over the years, the National Park Service has added additional viewing areas to the site and the best vantage point is all the way at the end of the trail. That’s where a new observation area has been added so that you can sit at the mouth of the bay and watch the ships come in and out. It was here that I spotted the familiar marine blue hull of the Nieuw Amsterdam making her approach. It wasn’t long before she sailed by and the reality of how big these floating cities really are. While not as big as the MSC Divina, the Nieuw Amsterdam is still a sight to behold.
As I walked the path along el Morro signs of the fort’s most well-known residents were evident in multiple ways. You see, on this part of the island, there is a population of feral cats. While feeding them is prohibited by law, the National Park Service has an agreement with the “Save A Gato” organization to care for, feed and control the population. The cats stroll along the path just like the fort’s visitors, but unlike the tourists, the cats leave stinky souvenirs behind. Take the smell of that and add in the hot Puerto Rican sun and you can imagine the smell in some areas along the trail. I haven’t noticed the stench as much as I did today on previous visits.
Traveler tip: When walking around el Morro, keep an eye on the sidewalk in front of you… you don’t want to spend the rest of the day with cat poop on your shoes!
After about 90 minutes at el Morro, it was time to head into town and stop by a cigar store I visit each time I’m here. As I made my way through the narrow streets of Old San Juan dodging cars and people, I saw that the cigar store was out of business and now it’s just an empty storefront.
“So much for that,” I said and I continued along my journey. While the streets are full of shop after shop, there isn’t any high-pressure selling going on here. Same for the street merchants who are selling what I could simply call “junk.” They have their chair and a small table of stuff they obviously think people want to buy, but nobody ever does. They sit there, say hello, and never try to harass you into buying.
In Old San Juan, there are two places that are always busy. The first is the restaurant/bar that made a name for itself by setting up shop at all the cruise ports. You know who I mean, Senor Frogs. The place cruisegoers hit up to drink endless amounts of frozen beverages then stumble back to the ship at the end of the day. The second is CVS. The place cruisegoers hit up to buy a remedy to combat the endless amounts of frozen beverages they consumed at the last Senor Frogs.
I needed to pick up a few bags of Ricola, so I popped into the CVS where those of you who are claustrophobic will have to send someone else in to do your shopping. Shoulder to shoulder, people filled the aisles as lines snaked through the store for the checkout.
Ricola in hand and a bottle of Gatorade on my lips, I headed back to the ship where upon my arrival the same security officer who put the Scarlet Letter on my keycard this time confiscated it and gave me a green slip of paper which politely told me, in five languages, to go get my picture taken. There was no going back to my room to let out the now-empty bottle of Gatorade. It was straight to Guest Services where I quickly found out that I wasn’t the only one who had their cards confiscated today.
Apparently, the photos taken in Miami were too dark and one-by-one security was sending people to have new ones taken.
Back on board, it was almost time for us to depart San Juan for our next port-of-call, Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian Cruise Line’s private island in the Bahamas. Most of the cruise lines own or lease islands in the Bahamas for their ships to take passengers to for a beach day. Royal Caribbean, Carnival Corporation, Norwegian, and Disney all have one and it was just recently announced that MSC is investing $200M towards their own private island in the Bahamas which will make a strong statement that they are committed to the US cruise market.
For now, MSC “rents” island time on CoCo Cay (Royal), Half Moon Cay (Carnival Corp), and Great Stirrup Cay for Divina passengers. When Divina is joined by the new MSC Seaside in 2017, they will have their own island to call upon.
As lines were cast and the bow thrusters began pushing the Divina from the dock, it was farewell, San Juan.
I didn’t have set plans for dinner this evening, but had two choices of restaurants to choose from – the Sports Bar for MSC’s take on American bar food; and Eataly Pizza for some real Neapolitan pizza. Being on an Italian ship, the choice was clear… pizza.
I started off with a “Small Wine Tasting” ($9.90) which included three glasses of wine. The first Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi Sauvignon Blanc, the second Castle Rock Colombian Merlot, and the third a red created especially for MSC bearing the MSC label. The wines were served with a selection of Italian tapas. For the price, this was a great deal and the wines included were not bad. As a side note, the cost of the “Small Wine Tasting” is not included in the all-inclusive beverage package.
Next up was the pizza. The Eataly Pizza menu lists 11 choices of pizza, one create your own signature pizza and one “Meter of Pizza” where you create your own meter – literally – of pizza. Now for as much as I would like to see what a meter of pizza is like, I stayed traditional and went with the La Margherita Originale Con Bufala (Italian peeled tomatoes, buffalo-milk mozzarella from Campania, fresh basil, and monocultivar ROI extra virgin olive oil.
One word is all that is needed to describe the pizza: Delicious!
Now, the pizza served at Eataly Pizza is different than the pizza that’s served in the ship’s buffet. Both are fantastic, but the pizza in Eataly is the real Neapolitan-style pizza and the pizza in the buffet is more New York Style with huge, foldable slices. Regardless, you will be hard-pressed to find pizza as good as the pizza on the Divina on land.
As I was finishing up dinner, a ship-wide announcement, made in five languages, alerted us to the fact that the MSC Divina has just turned around and is returning to San Juan in order to disembark a passenger in need of emergency medical care. By this time we were already four-and-a-half hours away from San Juan. It was full power as the Divina plowed through the waves in order to get to port.
Off to the Pantheon Theatre where the evening’s performance was called “The Voices” and featured the ships vocalists singing a range of songs from around the world accompanied by the ship’s cast of dancers. No acrobatics or Cirque-style performances tonight. This show was all about the vocal talents of the artists (Adrian Mocanu, Liudmyla Mieslhova, Enrico Bernardi, Silvia Specchio, and Rodrigo Mellado). The 45-minute performance wrapped up with all five vocalists singing “Time to Say Goodbye.” Once again the packed theater was on its feet at the end of the performance.
I have to give it to MSC…. they don’t spend any money on set design, as it’s the same each night, but they did manage to assemble an incredible group of vocalists who astound the audience each night with their singing.
The MSC Divina arrived back in port in San Juan around 11:30pm AT where the medical disembarkation took place.
It’s now Noon ET here on Thursday, and an announcement was just made that due to the return to San Juan, the Divina will not be able to make it to Great Stirrup Cay on Friday, a day that many were looking forward to. We’ve been told that there is a possibility of us visiting an alternate port and more details will be provided later in the day if arrangements could be made. While many may be disappointed with losing a beach day, one cannot lose sight of why. I found it quite alarming the number of people “complaining” about the return to San Juan last night and while I wanted to say “what would you be saying if that were a member of your family?” I just kept my mouth shut.
Human nature, I guess.
Anyway, it’s a beautiful day at sea, the sun is out, the wind is still a bit strong and earlier this morning the ship was rocking and creaking as we sailed along at full power.
There’s an opera performance at 3pm ET today in the ship’s theater that I’m going to try to attend, and dinner tonight is at the Galaxy Restaurant, one of the ship’s for-a-fee specialty restaurants where I enjoyed several delicious meals last time I was onboard and hope to enjoy another tonight.
That’s all today from onboard the MSC Divina!
Personal Day-By-Day MSC Divina Cruise Review:
Photo Tour of the MSC Divina:
Photography is a key aspect of preserving vacation memories, and my recent voyage aboard the MSC Divina was no exception. From the ship’s striking interior design and inviting swimming pools to my own cozy cabin, I captured numerous photos that showcase the highlights of my journey. If you’d like to take a look at my snapshots, feel free to check out the MSC Divina Photo Tour or browse the daily cruise review by clicking on the links provided above.