(since I never had good wifi on vacation- everything will post about a week late)

The second day of vacation brought us another beautiful day. We took our time getting ready, knowing there was a gap between check out time and embarkation time that we would have to deal with. The guest house manager kindly agreed to keep our luggage after we checked out so we could walk through old town unhindered before going to the pier. We browsed several cute shops where we considered buying white linen clothing and Panama hats, but reason won out and we left empty handed, Such purchases can seem fun on vacation but unused clothes in the closet from previous impulse buys have taught us a lesson. Our next stop was Starbucks, which we only visit in other cities besides our own, to have coffee and yogurt for breakfast and not ruin our appetites for the famous Guy Fieti burgers waiting for us on the ship. We returned to pick up our luggage and pulled them the mile to the pier, it seemed a little too early but we could wait there as well as anywhere. We actually boarded the ship around noon and set off to find Guy’s Place- undoubtedly the best burger restaurant on the planet. Christian was proud to be the very first guest on this cruise to order a guys burger (we are easily impressed). The rest of the day held exploring the ship and napping (for me). Mallory and Olivia entered a raffle in the spa and we returned late in the afternoon for the “must be present to win” drawing. With 50-75 people crowded into one small corner of the fitness center waiting for the drawing, one lady decided this would be the perfect time to try out an elliptical trainer, which she did not seem familiar with. So while waiting for the drawing to begin, we all (I mean all 50 of us) watched the 60-something lady learn and slowly ride on the elliptical, all while holding onto her purse. I admired her courage (or maybe it was cluelessness as to her audience). Sadly, we did not win anything in the raffle, but we unknowingly developed a new game that would last all week, we called it “spot elliptical lady”. A little like finding Waldo on this size ship, but it would prove entertaining. We headed to dinner, ordering whatever you want off of a menu and not paying for it afterwards is always fun (for Christian and I anyway- that describes the girls dining experience anywhere they go). Before the ship sailed, we are required to participate in a safety briefing. The safety briefing is always a somewhat dreaded but necessary evil where we gather at our assigned lifeboat station and learn the procedure in case we hit an iceberg like the titanic, which seems unlikely in the Carribean. Sailing away from San Juan was a beautiful sight from the top deck. We could see that enormity of San Juan with is brilliant lights surrounding the harbor from which we were leaving. Before bed we gathered all our dive gear in preparation for the early dive in St. Thomas in the morning. The anticipation of the myriad of fun activities in tropical locations we have never before visited danced through our heads as we turned in for the night, excited to be in the Virgin Islands the next day….