A review of our first cruise
Day 3 (Monday)
San Juan, Puerto Rico

We had settled into a good routine on Century. We were comfortable with its layout and activities. It seemed like we'd been having fun on board for at least a week. However, the daily newsletter reminded us that today would be our first port of call, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I had expected we would be bored with normal activities and would anxiously welcome each port. That wasn’t the case. I didn’t really want to leave Century. After all, we had great service, fine food, and lots of activities. Why give that up just to go ashore with other tourists, outside of our very comfortable environment?

After breakfast, we relaxed on the pool deck, and Annie again spent time in the Jacuzzi. We tried lunch in the dining room instead of the buffet this time, and found it more to our liking. The setting was more relaxing, and the service was better (as was the iced tea.) I had potato pancakes with applesauce and sour cream, a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, fries, and a coffee-soaked cake that was the best dessert I had during the trip, even though I don’t drink coffee. I was sorry I got the sandwich, not that it wasn’t a fine sandwich, but the quiche and antipasto platter both looked better. To console myself, I had another good burger on the pool deck later.

Barb and I were tired after a bit too much sun and food, so we relaxed in the cabin, taking a short nap and watching the galley tour video on TV.

To our surprise, land was already visible, since Puerto Rico isn’t flat. The mountains and old forts were very pretty in the late afternoon sun. We docked at exactly 4:30. Lester, a colleague from Puerto Rico, had offered to meet us in San Juan when we docked, and he was at the terminal waiting for us.

One of the clearest memories I have from the cruise was returning to the ship that warm and fragrant evening. We were hot and sticky, tired, and had "night vision" from driving around in the humid San Juan night. Stepping onto Century again was just like returning home. The ship was dramatically and festively lit, including the string of lights running from front to back. Once up the gangway, we were immediately greeted  with the promise of a cool cabin and hot shower. It was like an oasis in the middle of old San Juan, where we enjoyed the view of the city from the top deck, surrounded with comfort and familiarity.

We had missed both our 6:00 dinner seating and the 8:30 one as well (although we found afterward that the dining room reserves sixty spots for folks like us running late.) For the first time, we found nothing to eat anywhere on Century, so we ordered from the limited room service menu. It was very slow in coming and it wasn’t very good (cold sandwiches can’t compare to five-course meals.) After a string of excellent meals, we were finally disappointed, and actually hungry for the first time since leaving Fort Lauderdale.

Note: as I said previously, we discovered later that you can order room service from the dining room menu. I was kind of miffed that this wasn’t made clear, given that I traded excellent, gourmet cuisine for a ham sandwich.

We thought the Tropical Fruit Buffet might console us. It started at midnight on the pool deck. The band was playing under the bright stars and against the backdrop of the San Juan lights. I wondered how the ship looked from the late night of the city, with its music wafting over the downtown area. It was a highly touted event, but being hungry, the food didn’t impress us. Some fruits were available as the name suggested, along with several kinds of cookies, some chicken legs and ribs, and ice cream, but not enough to replace the "real meal" we had missed.

At that moment, I would have paid cash for one of the burgers served from the pool grill each afternoon. I did have some pizza from the grill, which was good.