Nathan's Insights

Sunday 29 December 2024
Highlights: Ghosts & Legends of Old San Juan Tour, Exploring Castillo San Cristobal (largest fortress built in the America)

A morning on the ship meant time to relax, explore and enjoy the Atlantic Ocean rolling by. We didn’t arrive until 2.00 pm in Puerto Rico which had a one-hour time change (so 1.00 pm arrival on Maimi time).

All excursion groups gathered in the Theatre on Deck 3 to work out logistics once we were off the ship. My tour was the Ghosts & Legends of Old San Juan Tour scheduled for 3.5 hours and assigned group number 39, meaning we were one of the last groups off the ship. Our guide in San Juan was Richard, an Englishman who has lived here for over 30 years.

Our first stop was a local theatre that used to be the gallows for the colony. Richard explained several deaths here and the reported ghost sightings over the years.

We then went to a statue of Christopher Columbus and got some background on his history in this region.

The highlight of the tour was next, exploring Castillo San Cristobal, the largest Fortress in the Americas built by the Spanish. The Fortress was built in 1634 as the Garita del Diablo (“devil’s sentry box”) and an artillery platform. Over the next 150 years, it continued to be developed reaching its largest size in 1790. 

In 1898 Puerto Rico became a US territory by terms of the Treaty of Paris to end the Spanish–American War. The USA took control of the Fortress at this point. During World War II, concrete pillboxes and an underground bunker control centre are added to the ancient defences of the Castillo San Cristóbal. 

The US Army moved out of the forts of Old San Juan in 1961, and the United States National Park Service took over control which remains today. 

We got to explore some of the underground tunnels and an old prison area. An impressive Fortress.

We then moved to the Old San Juan area. Visiting many old structures and houses and hearing of deaths and ghost stories. I particularly liked some of the old estates.

The current Governor’s Mansion has very impressive views.

We finished around 6 pm down on the coastline where I admired the setting sun before coming back on board.

On the ship, there were no big productions due to the late all abroad time at 8.30 pm. I enjoyed a nice diner and retired to my cabin to listen to the last day of the Test Match back in Melbourne which Australia won around 3 am local time.