We had booked a San Juan Luggage Storage shore excursion through Royal Caribbean, but we received notification during our cruise that it was canceled. Which left us in a bit of a pickle. Our flights home weren't until later in the afternoon, so we were banking on being able to store our luggage while we toured San Juan before our flights.

My favorite breakfast item on this cruise was the different variations of avocado toast.






Good-bye, Jewel of the Seas!





We stood in the parking lot as we figured out what to do. Stove and Judy's flight was sooner than ours, so they decided to head straight to the airport. The rest of us were considering going back to the Aloft and asking them to check our bags, but that would add an extra round of Ubers, since we wanted to go to Old San Juan to explore. I was searching on my phone and came across a recent Cruise Critic thread which said that Restaurant Barrachina would store our luggage for us. I verified on Restaurant Barrachina's Yelp page, so we figured it was worth a shot.




Our Uber driver asked us what we were planning to do with all of our luggage at the restaurant. When we got there (it was like 9AM), the Restaurant was not open for dining. Aaron walked inside and found the luggage room. It was just a room in the restaurant that had a lot of luggage stored in there, operating on an honor system.

We figured if all of these other people left their luggage there, it was probably fine. We filled out the luggage slips and slipped cash in the tip bucket. However, reading the warning about valuables, we decided not to leave our backpacks with laptops.


We didn't have a plan, we just started walking.


A Celebrity ship was in port.




Old San Juan has a diverse mix of architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Art Deco, and Modern.


The art deco headquarters building for Banco Popular de Puerto Rico was designed by Osvaldo Toro and constructed in 1938.


I love the intricate wrought iron rail.

Here we have Neoclassical architecture.



This is the front facade of the Banco Popular building, receiving some maintenance.



It was really hot, and with my laptop, D7100, and additional lenses inside, my backpack was way too heavy for this kind of foot touring. We sat down at Plaza Colon to take a break and plot out what to do next.

The Christopher Columbus statue was added to the square in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the European "discovery" of Puerto Rico. The statue of Juan Ponce de Leon which was formerly in the square was relocated to Plaza San Jose.

After a break and me begging Aaron to please carry my way-too-heavy backpack, we headed to Castillo San Cristobal, one of the largest fortresses built in the Americas.

San Cristobel is a fortification of three levels which took over 150 years to complete. Castillo San Cristobel is a National Historic Site. A Standard Pass is $10, or you can enter with the America the Beautiful Pass ($80 annual pass to all National Parks). Aaron and I have an America the Beautiful Pass, but unfortunately left it at home, and decided not to pay to enter.

We were able to explore Bastion de San Sebastian.

Garitas, or Sentry Boxes, are where the Spanish soldiers stood guard at night.



In 1898, after the United States won the Spanish-American war, Puerto Rico became a U.S. Territory, and the walls and forts were under U.S. Army jurisdiction. During the 1930s and 1940s, the walls were repaired and storm drainage was improved. Nine sentry boxes were reconstructed using concrete, though the Army was criticized for criticized for not using historically authentic techniques and materials.

The U.S. Army transferred jurisdiction of most of the remaining 2.5 miles of city walls to the National Park Service. The walls range from 20 to 100 feet tall.










Next time we're in San Juan, I'll bring my National Parks pass so we can explore the interior of the forts.

We decided to wander back to the vicinity of Restaurant Barrachina.

Peep the cruise ship -




Los Paraguas de la Fortaleza typically has an art installation. Throughout the year, it's a large suspended canopy of umbrellas. However, since it was Christmas time, the umbrellas had been replaced with globes of Christmas lights.... which I'm sure were a sight to be seen at night, but underwhelming during the day. The tourists were disappointed.

We were hungry and thirsty, so we figured we should eat at Restaurant Barrachina since we were keeping our bags there. However, it was very popular. We put our names on the waitlist and wandered around the corner to El Parnaso where we were seated immediately at a table on the street.


And that was my last photo of the trip!

Aaron and I had the earlier flight, so after lunch we headed back to Restaurant Barrachina to grab our suitcases. The restaurant was now open, and someone approached us when we went to our bags, so the employees were making some effort to make sure no one was taking our bags.

At the airport, we were able to catch Stove and Judy to say one last goodbye before they boarded their flight.

Another great Shinglebells Christmas Cruise! Thanks for following along!