2/23 Snowing in Denver, but off by 6 AM to Atlanta via AirTran and change planes to San Juan. $65 luggage.... In SJU at 4:15, cab to Sheraton San Juan. Walk up the hill to Old Town -- Plaza Colon with a nice statue of Chris Columbus himself. Eat at Genesis. Excellent Mofromo with Chicken for 15 bucks, rice/beans great, garlic shrimp ordinary. Crash at 8 from jet lag.

2/24 Breakfast in hotel $20 buffet worth $10, but Starbucks in the room! Tour to El Yunque with Vlator -- book tour from hotel, that way you'll get picked up there for free instead of taking a cab like we did. Tour was good. Lunch at Latin Roots behind hotel. Dried out pork on a spit, ordinary beens/rice, greasy fries. Nap. Walk up hill to Fort Christobal -- good, then along the sea. Dinner at Cafe Puerto Rico (east side of plaza Colon). Grouper with PR sauce, shrimp in garlic sauce, best beans/rice of the trip, pistachio flan, tres leches cake -- every one outstanding! Old San Juan is nicely lit, narrow streets, and fun to wander around after dark. Hard to get lost, only a half square mile. Warning: slink old brick streets, high curbs, irregular surfaces.

2/25: Breakfast at Cafe Berlin (Plaza Colon) -- great guava butter, local ham highly flavored and burned a bit. Back to hotel to check out and store bags for later (along with 50 other guests) Walk down princesa and around corner to San Juan gate, up hill to cathedral and Ponce de Leon's tomb. Taxi to ship. Checkin starts 11:30, rooms ready 2:30, bags arrive at 3. Duty free in terminal looks like you can buy a bottle and take it on board. Salads for lunch and fruit. Dinner is prime rib, beet salad, crab salad, crème brulee. Discover that one of the improvements that Celebrity has made is a nightlight in the john, making useless my bringing some LED candles along. Read more