The Cruise Chronicles: The Beginning.

Our flight arrived in San Juan at around 2a.m on Sunday morning. I was a little sad that we came in at night and I was unable to see the beautiful landscape of the island upon approach. It was my first time visiting Puerto Rico so I would have loved to see the view from above.

Our reason for flying to Puerto Rico was because of a beauty called Carnival Fascination. I didn’t know prior to taking this trip, but each cruise ship has its own name and different activities associated with it, along with the different islands visited. Before, when I’d hear of Carnival cruises, I just thought that any ship could make any trip and that they all had the same activities on board. ( Don’t judge me).

Anyway, after we received our checked luggage at the baggage claim, we headed out in search of a taxi. It wasn’t hard finding a ride, and also at a good price. Our driver was very polite and also gave us a little information about the area during the drive to our destination.

We booked  a room at El Canario Lagoon Hotel. Our room was cozy and had a nice balcony view. I think it was fitting for the occasion. We really only needed a few hours of rest to reboot for later that day.

I have to say, the lobby was my favorite area in the hotel. It was vibrantly decorated and filled with so much color.

There were two vending machines, one for food and the other for drinks. Everything was a dollar and they had a variety of chips and snacks and also teas, sodas, and water. The workers at the front desk were super friendly and helpful and made the experience  nice.

After taking a 3 hr shut-eye, I freshened up and went downstairs to have the continental breakfast. It wasn’t really much. There were baked goods such as bread, and muffins and also cereal was  available. There was also tea and coffee too. I think I just had a cup of coffee and toast. It was enough to suffice lol.

After breakfast, there were still a few hours to spare so I went for a walk around the neighborhood.  While out and about, I  took a few pictures while enjoying the area.

While walking, I noticed that I could see the ocean in the distance and went in for a closer look. The beach looked beautiful.

The waves were rough though and I am not the best swimmer so I stayed ashore while my dad and his friend went in for a dip.

After awhile, we found a nice restaurant to sit and have a full breakfast.

The restaurant had an open setting which I truly enjoyed. So while dining, I could still feel the cool breeze from outside. Its always nice being exposed to natural sunlight as well.

As an appetizer I ordered the Sorullitos de maiz (corn sticks).

For the main course, an omelette of course. With toast and a side of bacon that I stole from my moms plate ( thanks mom <3).

The environment in the restaurant was so friendly that we ended up staying for awhile after finishing our food and had a few drinks. I may or may not have had a shot of liquor. It’s all a blur now really, haha.

When we finally did leave, we stopped by a CVS that was close by to pick up beauty products to carry with us on the cruise. Since we arrived by air travel, our packing was limited and we only carried the necessities.

After purchasing everything that we needed, we headed back to the hotel to grab our luggage (which was in storage since we had already checked out) and then waited for our taxi to bring us to the port.

My trip was already off to such a great start and I was overwhelmed with excitement of what more was to come.