We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 17:00 and departed at Midnight. That didn't leave much time to see anything, but a number of options were available. I didn't care, since I had been to Puerto Rico before. As a matter of fact, my avatar was taken by a tourist off a cruise ship in February 1989. It shows us at Maria's in Old San Juan (I am the one with the yellow baseball cap). The option I decided on was a 2 hr. bus tour through San Juan, with time off for shopping. I decided to go to San Cristobal, the other fort east of El Morro. Our tour guide pointed out some interesting facts about Puerto Rico. For instance statehood vs independence, legal cock fighting and its possible impact on statehood and so on. But she mentioned another interesting fact, something I never gave much thought before. The impact cruise ships have on the local economy. Puerto Rico has not been directly hit by a hurricane since 1997, but whenever hurricanes hit Florida it directly affects the local economy since cruise ships don't leave Florida during a hurricane. As we eased into the port of San Juan we docked shortly after the Carnival 'Splendor', which was just slightly ahead of us. There were three other ships already there. Here are the statistics of these ships: From left to right, the 'small' ship is the MSC 'Lirica' operated by MSC Cruises, a division of Mediterranean Shipping Co., S.A. (Italy) Tonnage: 59,058 GRT Length: 824-ft. (251.16m) Beam: 94-ft. (28.65m) Decks: 9 Capacity: 1,445 passengers Crew: 671 'MS Independence of the Seas', Royal Caribbean International (USA, originally Norway) Built: 2008 Cost: ~828 million Tonnage: 154,407 GRT (Currently the largest passenger ship afloat-4,407 GRT larger than the Queen Mary 2, but 5m shorter) Length: 1,111.9-ft. (338.92m) Beam at hull: 127-ft. (38.6m) Beam at superstructure: 180-ft. (56m) Draft: 29-ft. (8.8m) Decks: 15 (passengers), 3 (crew) Speed: 21.6 kts. Capacity: 4,370 Crew: 1,360 'MS Explorer of the Seas', Royal Caribbean International (USA, originally Norway) Built: 2000 Tonnage: 137,308 GRT Length: 1,020-ft. (311m) Beam: 157.5-ft. (48m) Decks: 15 Speed: 23.7 kts Capacity: 3,114 passengers Crew: 1,180 Carnival 'Splendor', Carnival Cruise Lines (USA) Built: 2008 Tonnage: 113,000 GRT Length: 952-ft.(290.2m) Beam: 116-ft.(35.4m) Decks: 13 Speed: 22kts Capacity: 3,006 passengers Crew: 1,150 And us, the Carnival 'Liberty', Carnival Cruise Lines (USA) Built: 2005 Tonnage: 110,000 GRT Length: 952-ft. (290.2m) Beam: 116-ft. (35.4m) Draft: 27-ft. 8.2m) Decks: 13 Installed power: 2 diesel-electric propellers 63.400Kw ea Speed: 22.5 kts Capacity: 2,974 passengers Crew: 1,150 The 'Liberty' has a 1,500 seat theater with nightly Broadway/Las Vegas type shows, several restaurants, several pools, 18 elevators, a casino, excersise gym, shops and a number of bars. Both Royal Caribbean ships have rock climbing walls, a 400-ft. shopping mall, and the 'MS Independence of the Seas' has an ice skating rink (a first), and a wave generator. Clarification: I mentioned on my previous upload that the picture was taken from deck 14, the ship only lists 13 decks. There is a deck 0, used to get on and off the ship and for crew quarters. There is no deck 13, hence deck 12 and 14. Many passengers got off the ship and it can easily be seen how much money is being spend shopping, drinking and eating while in port. This picture was taken on 26 January 2009. Thank you for viewing and commenting on my recent uploads and a special 'Thank you' to those that may have added some of them to their favorites, Sig..