cra-z-2cruise

As the week before us and the week after, we were late sailing away. I'm assuming it was to allow for additional supplies to be loaded to finish up work around the ship.

We hung out on deck and watched Oasis sail away before us.

Finally, we were off...

We went back to the room to finish unpacking. My bag had arrived early, but DHs had not. Well, the bag was there, but it had a note in it stating they had removed his brand new fan and extension cord. Oh No :eek::eek:

We are aware of Carnival's policy that they can confiscate items they feel are unsafe so we took it in stride. DH really needs the fan to sleep and takes one with him everywhere. Never before have we had a problem.

After exploring a little more and grabbing something to eat, we decided to crash. (We had been up since 4 am)

All was fine, even without the fan, until the very loud music started around 11 in the casino. We stuck it out for quiet a while, but it really was loud. DH went to guest services and very nicely explained the problem. Surprisingly, they said if we needed the fan to sleep they would return it the next day.

Sure enough, the next morning they delivered the fan. :D

It was still rough with the noise every night, but was way more manageable with the noise of the fan to drown it out somewhat.

The Red Frog Pub became one of our favorite places. Several times they had live music from David and James in the evenings. Melanie was always there and was always such fun! They serve fried plantains and fried peas, but sadly this pub does not have the bar food as is found on some of the other ships.

They didn't have the darts yet, but had many other fun games.

When we booked the cruise I actually had no idea of the scheduled dry dock. There was only one week we could possibly cruise this spring/summer do to a busy school/work schedule. I was looking to book a cruise as an incentive to get me through a tough eight weeks I had set myself up for. We have sailed Carnival many times and had become somewhat tired of the "same ole' thing." We live about 1.5 hours from Galveston and was shopping Royal Caribbean's offerings when I was lucky enough to receive one of the free cabin offers from Carnival. Like many others, I thought it was too good to be true, but after investigation, I found out it was legit!

Well played, Carnival, well played!

As I stated previously, my dates were not flexible and the May 10 sailing fit our needs perfectly. We had enough reward points on a credit card to cover the cost of the flight. Only after booking the cruise did I find out that she was scheduled for dry dock. That only added to the excitement as we had not sailed on any of the ships with 2.0 upgrades and was eager to try them out.

We flew in to FLL on Saturday morning. I never fly same day and was a nervous wreck from the moment I booked. However, everything went smoothly and we were at the terminal checking in by 12:00. There was a short line, but check in was simple. After check in there was about a 20 min wait to board. Ran by cabin just to see if it was ready and it was. Awesome :)

DH has a bit of a sweet tooth and enjoys an evening treat. I had an assortment of candy and jar of mini chocolate chip cookies delivered to the room as a surprise. The surprise was how great the cookies were!

They were not offering balcony upgrades for this particular sailing, so I choose an inside cabin on the upper deck in the center of the ship. We had stayed in a similar cabin on the Conquest and liked the more square shape of the room. It was in a great location! Until 11:00 pm each night when the live music in the casino played until 1:00 am.

We headed up on deck to have lunch and explore. We ended up in the Red Frog Pub for some shuffleboard and a drink. This is where we met Melonie. She is soooo sweet and fun!

Can't remember what exactly is in these "drinks of the day," but you will only need one!

Calabaza in Barbados, but book early!

Can't beat the experience

Valor leaving Barbados on top.

Elation arriving New Orleans bottom.

Miami Vice on my balcony!

...well, pretty much anything cold and sweet on my balcony! :)

Let him go for it!

A video will make a great memory too! :)

We have used priceline all for pre an post cruise stays for all three visits to San Juan. We won Caribe Hilton twice, Marriott Stellaris once, and Sheraton OSJ once. We were extremely pleased all three times. The time frame ranged from only 2 weeks prior to six weeks prior.

I am a HUGE fan of Calabaza sailing in Barbados!

Have done it twice and had a fantastic time both times!

Gina and crew can't be beat!

Have a fantastic trip!:)

...and they bring you a basket of goodies!

Have done this itinerary twice in the last few years.

Victory -Port Side

Valor - Starboard Side

Both Lido balcony (Highly recommend)

Was equally happy with both! :)

Like others have said, can't really know ahead if ship will pull in or back in each port anyways.

Have a great trip whichever you decide...

Great review and pictures. Will be cruising the Valor in September. Can't wait.

For Calabaza Sailing, do you mind if I ask how much this private trip costs per person. It sounds like a lot of fun.

It was either $110 or $115 (I think there is a small discount for cash vs credit card)

Worth every penny and more!

Book early, you won't be disappointed :D

I'm so bummed looking at these pictures, even as beautiful as they are. A year ago this Sunday we did this cruise and every bit of it was awesome.

 

Guess it's time for me to start looking into booking another cruise. I'd do this one in heartbeat again as there was so much more to do yet so little time on each island.

I completely understand.

We had agreed no vacation until January, but when it came down to it, I just had to book one for May. :D:D:D

We had an absolutely amazing vacation!

We enjoyed every single port we visited, had near perfect weather, and met some really nice people.

We loved our Southern Caribbean cruise.

Currently booked on the Freedom for May, but already scheduled two whole weeks next January for Vieques!

Happy sailing everyone!

We had a few hours before our flight, so we headed out for just a little more exploring. Checked out of Bravo Beach and drove out to the pier.

While on the pier we met a couple that told us they had seen a few sea turtles while snorkeling the day before...next time...

We dropped the jeep back off in town and they dropped us at the airport.

Friday, 7/26/13

Up early again to catch one last sunrise on the beach.

The Bio-bay tour was scheduled at 7, so after a few hours at the beach, we headed back to Bravo Beach.

We made good use of both of the pools for a while, playing with the timer function on the camera.

We couldn't deny any longer that we would soon have to say good-bye to our island retreat.

Reluctantly, we packed as much as we could before heading out for our tour.

The meeting point for our tour was in Esperanza, so we headed there for dinner and one last walk on the beach there.

We booked our tour with Vieques Adventure Company.

The cost was $50 per person and well worth it.

They use clear kayaks, which makes the whole experience even more magical!

http://viequesadventures.com/vieques...ay-experience/

We followed their instructions to avoid lotions, bug repellents, and anything else that could potentially harm the bay.

They also advised that all valuables, including cameras, be left behind.

So, sadly I do not have any of my own images to share.

I borrowed these two images from the internet.

The tour was not without sacrifice.

13 people were stuffed into an old van for a treacherous ride down a muddy, unlit, poorly maintained road.

It was probably better that we couldn't actually see where we were going.

The name of the bay is Mosquito Bay, so there were a few bug bites while we loaded into the kayaks, but nothing compared to Southeast Texas.

There was a learning curve involved; trying to get 13 people corralled, headed in the right direction, and learning to paddle in sync, all while in total darkness was a challenge.

Having said that, the trip was truly amazing!

The glowing waters were almost unbelievable.

As an added bonus, the cloudless night sky was filled with thousands of twinkling stars.

As we paddled along the edge of the Mangroves and out into the bay, you could see thousands of florescent blue specs glide under the clear kayak.

Each stroke of the paddle produced a large, brilliant, bright blue glow in the water.

Swimming fish, large and small, created the same magical effect.

This is a must do when visiting the island!

For our last full day on the island, we wanted something a little different.

The destination for the day was Playa Navio for some boogie boarding.

It is located inside the Sun Beach gates and the admission is $2 per car.

The road was quiet an adventure in itself.

The speed limit sign says 10mhp, but I'm sure we never went that fast! Lol!

There were probably 10 or 15 other people out enjoying the waves, but it still seemed pretty secluded.

Thursday, 7/25

The sunrise each morning was spectacular, and the best place to catch it was on a beach about 5 minutes down the road.

We rarely saw any other humans on this beach, but we did find another beach buddy.

Stopped back by the "bakery" and grabbed some breakfast to enjoy by the pool before heading out for the day.

We headed back to Bravo Beach and relaxed in the pool.

The beach was beautiful!

Snorkeling was nice, but couldn't really compare with St Thomas or Barbados.

...not complaining, the privacy really made up for it.

Other than that, driving on the island was not difficult.

The maximum speed limit is 35mph, but lower in many areas.

No traffic lights.

Most paved roads were in good condition, but many were on the narrow side.

Roads to the remote beaches were unpaved, full of holes, and a little challenging at times.

A jeep was definitely a plus and I'm pretty sure we added a few scratches to the top! (There were plenty there before we started)

Also, horses roam freely pretty much everywhere on the island.

Up early for the sunrise at the beach down the road.

Spent a couple hours looking for sea glass.

Stopped back by the bakery, then had breakfast by the pool and planned the rest of the day.

While we found sea glass on virtually every beach on the island, I would say we gathered 80% of it on our morning walks along this beach.

The bartender at Bananas had suggested Punta Arenas, or Green Beach, for snorkeling, so we loaded up and headed in that direction.

Now is a good time to discuss the roads and traffic. The ferry landing was a few blocks from our hotel and we had to pass by it almost every time we left the property.

Traffic was pretty intense when the ferry arrived, but after a few trips we became used to it.

After lunch, we headed to Playa Grande.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the beach.

We only saw two other people the whole afternoon!

After a great morning at the beach, we headed back to Esperanza for lunch.

Bananas served up good food, good music, and awesome painkillers in a funky, cool beach bar!

...with an amazing view!