As usual, I booked this trip more than a year in advance, and never had any reason to regret having done so. Not only did I get the best airfare as soon as the airline's booking window opened, the cruise fare never fell to a lower level than it had been when I reserved, staying at least 100 bucks per person higher right up until sailing day. And my timing was also good in that after a mostly mild December, winter weather began in earnest just days before I flew down to San Juan.

The only really rough part was getting aboard the plane. Despite arriving at Bradley at 5 am for my 6:20 flight, I made my plane literally by just seconds, sweating, panting and panicky after a mad dash from the security line. The main culprits: some poor planning on the part of Jet Blue (not enough check-in personnel), and one incredibly obstreperous passenger who kept coming back and back to our lone harried agent with some impossible demand, monopolizing a good 20 minutes of her time. (At one point she threatened to call the state police-- "You are NOT flying today, sir!"-- then actually disappeared for several minutes to help round up the other members of his party, as the rest of us unfortunates in line just hoping to make it to the counter-- and to our plane-- looked on in disbelief and horror. But I digress.)

SAN JUAN: Since the friend I had hoped might come along for this trip had to back out due to ongoing health issues, I cancelled my reservations for rooms at my favorite (the magical Gallery Inn,) opting to try a room at another Old San Juan landmark, Da House. This had the advantage of being roughly half the price. Created from a former convent, which later housed an artists' collective starting in the 1970's, it's hip and contemporary in style, with a very friendly and helpful staff behind the desk. Rooms are described online as being "close to the party" or "farther from the party". I chose the latter, since immediately adjacent to the hotel is The Nuyorican, a club which generated noise until after 2 am on my second night there. (That being New Year's night-- New Year's EVE is oddly quiet in San Juan, for whatever reason.) It was audible even in my room, the windows of which looked out only on the internal skylight-topped air shafts carved out of the building in the original 1970's conversion. I was glad I had been careful not to book a room with direct exposure to the street-- and also glad that I never travel without ear plugs! Read more