Carnival Valor, 9/25/11: A "pink" review of the Eastern Caribbean.... PICTURES!!!

[gapearl]

We wandered in and out of gift shops and duty free stores. There are a lot of jewelry stores and they’re very aggressive in trying to get you to come in and look around. I bought some Sangster’s Jamaican Rum Cream (so excited to see it because you can’t buy it in the US), a few souvenirs, and then we headed back to Emancipation Park to meet back up with Sunny.

 

The park was named in commemoration of the July 3rd, 1848 emancipation of slaves in the Danish West Indies.

 

 

 

On my first visit to St. Thomas, I met an interesting man and his lipstick wearing donkey named Oprah. They were out in this area every day to meet and take pictures with tourists. I asked Sunny if they were still around, and he said Oprah (the donkey, NOT the person) died and her owner moved back to the states.

 

Me 3 years ago with Oprah. Anyone else remember them? Oprah's gone on to donkey heaven now. :(

 

 

 

They drive on the left side of the road here, so be careful if you rent a car.

 

[cuted126]

Nope,nope,nope,that is not cornbread!!!

[gapearl]

Our open air jeep tour had about 25 people. Sunny was very animated. He played music and we all had to sing along. I’m going to try to upload some video later. Our first stop was at the top of some random hill where Sunny pointed out some landmarks and allowed us some time for pictures. He pointed out St. Croix in the distance, the free hotel on the island (the jail, lol), and Blackbeard’s Castle. Blackbeard was a pirate that had 14 wives and killed them all. Good thing we have background checks these days.

 

That's Sunny, our guide.

 

 

There's something about this place I just love. I could live here.

 

 

The governor's mansion.

 

 

The brown tower with the flag is Blackbeard's Castle.

 

 

The three ships in port.

 

 

Yours truly.

 

[lovecruzing]

 

 

Cute Dress.

[gapearl]

Our second stop was The Mountain Top, where we overlooked Magen’s Bay. This beach was named as one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. Sunny pointed out all the near by islands we could see, including Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, and St. John.

 

 

 

The gorgeous Magen's Bay.

 

 

This island is for sale for $45 million! :eek:

 

 

That little strip of an island on the right is nicknamed Alligator Island because, well, it looks like an alligator.

 

[Oakman58]

Normally I don't comment on women's clothing but I gotta tell ya, that dress looks like it was designed just for you and no one else.

 

 

[gapearl]

The Mountain Top is famous for their banana daiquiris. I asked the bartender to mix half strawberry, half banana, and he did. It was $8.95 and really good.

 

That's my kind of bottle of rum!

 

 

 

 

Not quite a Miami Vice, but it'll do for now. :)

 

 

[gapearl]

After we left The Mountain Top, we stopped for a few minutes to get pictures at Drake’s Seat. Lots of history behind it. Google it.

 

Next up was the beach. You had the option of adding 2 hours at the beach to your tour and you could choose either Magen’s Bay or Sapphire Beach. As we were driving to Magen’s, Sunny got a call that there was a lot of seaweed at Sapphire and said anyone planning to go there could switch. We dropped a few people off at Magen’s and it’s $4 to get in. Sapphire beach was free and had jet skis, kayaks, etc. And yes, there was a TON of seaweed washed up.

 

This is the only good picture I got of Magen's because we never got off the jeep.

 

 

Sapphire Beach. Notice all the seaweed. It's normally not that bad.

 

 

 

Sunny and I again.

 

 

If you do decide on Sapphire Beach, beware of the food prices!

 

[gapearl]

Nope,nope,nope,that is not cornbread!!!

 

Nope, not even close!

 

Cute Dress.

 

Normally I don't comment on women's clothing but I gotta tell ya, that dress looks like it was designed just for you and no one else.

 

Thank you both!

[stresssolutions]

RE cameras...our first and 2nd digital cams were both Sony cybershot, the T5 and the H3, love them both. I dropped the H3 too many times and replaced it with the H10, which is exactly the same, only newer. I spent a long time thinking about DSLR and decided it was not for me. My real complaint with Sony is the proprietary memory cards and cables. :(

 

Carry on with your review, it's nice that you take time to respond to us. :)

[gapearl]

RE cameras...our first and 2nd digital cams were both Sony cybershot, the T5 and the H3, love them both. I dropped the H3 too many times and replaced it with the H10, which is exactly the same, only newer. I spent a long time thinking about DSLR and decided it was not for me. My real complaint with Sony is the proprietary memory cards and cables. :(

 

Carry on with your review, it's nice that you take time to respond to us. :)

 

I guess I may be one of the few people that had a bad experience. I definitely want (and need) a new camera, just need to do some research.

 

The rest of the review will be coming soon. I'm having some photobucket issues with my pictures and need to start writing up day 5. Thanks for reading!

[New2Cruising24]

Thanks so much for the great review!! On the Valor this weekend, same itinerary. Yay...have been counting down for 100+ days and it's almost here! Looking forward to the rest of your review! :)

[navybaby1113]

Boo on mom for killing the towel animals!

[matondo]

I think one of the scary parts of driving in St. Thomas is all the cars we were in were set up like cars in the States yet you drive on the other side of the road. So the driver is driving next to the curb all the time. Too confusing for me.

 

I am loving your review!!

[dmarie21]

That cornbread looks a mess! In my head, I imagine that the chef either tried to get creative or was told to make cornbread and had no idea what was...lol And yeah...that chicken looks suspect from the pics I've seen, so I can't wait to hear about it.

 

Loving your review!

[gapearl]

DAY 4- ST. THOMAS CONCLUSION

 

We headed back to the ship and Sunny continued to play island music for us. I love Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” and everyone that knew the words sang along. We passed lots of homes for sale and Sunny said they start around $250K. A gallon of regular gas was $4.59 (currently $3.19 by my house). We passed Mahogany Run Golf Course, the only one on the island. It’s $150 for fees and to play. We made it back to the ship around 2:45 pm. I tipped him $5 and he gave me a complimentary cd of all the island music he played. I absolutely LOVED Sunny! His tour was a lot of fun. There are literally dozens of similar tours offered and we passed many of them on the roads. They looked quite boring compared to the fun we were having! A lot of people looked at us, singing and having a good time, like they wanted to leave the jeep they were on and join our tour. I would definitely recommend Sunny Liston to anyone wanting to experience St. Thomas in a fun way. Once back on the ship, we headed up to the lido for lunch. French food was today’s theme. Then I bought a few pictures, took a nap, and headed up to the gym for a quick run on the treadmill and some sauna time.

 

Dinner was good tonight. I loved the farfalle with turkey and peas. I tried to cook something similar at home after my last cruise, and it tasted nothing like Carnival’s. LOL Sorry I don't have any food porn because photobucket is not cooperating with those 6 pictures, but I do have dessert porn!

 

 

Bitter and blanc was offered tonight. I’ve been wanting to try it for a long time because CC members rave about how awesomely fabulous it is. Sorry, don’t flame me, but I didn’t like it. Neither did my mom or Romy. It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t care for it.

 

 

 

Shamalee, the hostess for our dining room, was a beautiful lady from Sri Lanka that came by every night to chat with us. My cruise was her last one before going home for her vacation, so those of you sailing soon won’t have the pleasure of getting to know her. Tonight was the night I fell in love with my head waiter, Rex. He’s a very good magician and did a magic trick for us. For the life in me, I can’t figure out how he made that sugar disappear!

 

 

Dennis and Rex.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2011 by gapearl

[gapearl]

Quest was held after dinner in the Eagles Lounge. I met up with a ton of roll call members and we were team #1. This game is so funny and you have to experience it at least once. Each team has a leader. The leader has to find certain things from his team and get to the stage first with them and hold up the team number for points. It starts out pretty tame and gradually gets a little rowdy. The leader has to find a picture of a baby….a picture of the White House….an empty purse….a woman with a tattoo....a dirty picture on a cell phone.... 2 men holding hands skipping....men wearing women’s shoes….you get the idea. All I know is that at the end of the game a bunch of men ended up on stage with no shirts on, wearing heels, lipstick, and earrings. :eek: Team #1 ended up with the most points and won! That ship on a stick from my first post was won in this game. If you want to stand a chance at winning Quest, get a table as close to the front as possible. Superstar karaoke was held immediately after Quest. The disco was kind of dead and the ship was rather quiet. I headed to bed around 2 am.

 

Team #1!

 

 

Team captains trying to get to the stage first.

 

 

Goose was the host.

 

 

Oh, and my mom remembered to leave the towel animal for me tonight! :)

 

 

Up Next: San Juan, Puerto Rico!

Edited October 5, 2011 by gapearl

[gapearl]

Thanks so much for the great review!! On the Valor this weekend, same itinerary. Yay...have been counting down for 100+ days and it's almost here! Looking forward to the rest of your review! :)

 

You're so welcome! I hope you have a blast! Fingers crossed that you get good weather like I did.

 

Boo on mom for killing the towel animals!

 

Right!

[w8ing2cruz]

DAY 4- ST. THOMAS

 

 

 

View of St. Thomas from the secret deck.

 

 

 

 

Wow - wonder what's up with the marina? We were here last October and there were at least a COUPLE of boats docked. I think they have priced themselves right out of the market. We had an AWESOME private sail on 'The Cat' - a new catamaran that was docked here.

[w8ing2cruz]

Oops - sorry - GREAT review!!!! :o

 

I got so concerned about the marina in St. Thomas I forgot to thank you for sharing your journey! LOVE the dresses!!

[gapearl]

I think one of the scary parts of driving in St. Thomas is all the cars we were in were set up like cars in the States yet you drive on the other side of the road. So the driver is driving next to the curb all the time. Too confusing for me.

 

I am loving your review!!

 

Not only that, but there's only a 2 lane road to drive on, it's narrow, you go up lots of hills, and the drivers aren't all that safe! Thanks for reading, lots more to come!

 

That cornbread looks a mess! In my head, I imagine that the chef either tried to get creative or was told to make cornbread and had no idea what was...lol And yeah...that chicken looks suspect from the pics I've seen, so I can't wait to hear about it.

 

Loving your review!

 

The fried chicken was actually pretty good. I guess with the chefs and cooks coming from all over the world, not all of them have experienced a lot of American cuisine, and definitely not southern food. LOL Stay tuned for more!

[Buffalofirsttimer4]

Just wanted to tell you that I am loving your review. I keep pulling up the boards to check and see if you have posted anything new :p, instead of working :rolleyes:.

LMAO on the cornbread- being a northerner but my family being originally from the south that was not cornbread- I'll have to remember to stay away from that :eek: . Thank you for sharing your experiences with us!

 

BTW- love the shoes and dress up, not my thing- too much trouble but you look great!

[Winterstale]

Wow - wonder what's up with the marina? We were here last October and there were at least a COUPLE of boats docked. I think they have priced themselves right out of the market. We had an AWESOME private sail on 'The Cat' - a new catamaran that was docked here.

 

It's called hurricane season....

[gapearl]

Wow - wonder what's up with the marina? We were here last October and there were at least a COUPLE of boats docked. I think they have priced themselves right out of the market. We had an AWESOME private sail on 'The Cat' - a new catamaran that was docked here.

 

Not sure. I didn't think much about it. Maybe some of the boats were already out sailing for the day.

 

Oops - sorry - GREAT review!!!! :o

 

I got so concerned about the marina in St. Thomas I forgot to thank you for sharing your journey! LOVE the dresses!!

 

No problem! Thanks for the compliments!

[gapearl]

Just wanted to tell you that I am loving your review. I keep pulling up the boards to check and see if you have posted anything new :p, instead of working :rolleyes:.

LMAO on the cornbread- being a northerner but my family being originally from the south that was not cornbread- I'll have to remember to stay away from that :eek: . Thank you for sharing your experiences with us!

 

BTW- love the shoes and dress up, not my thing- too much trouble but you look great!

 

Thank you so much for reading! I've caused quite a stir with the cornbread comments, huh? LOL Thanks for the compliments. San Juan is coming up right now!

 

It's called hurricane season....

 

That could be another reason.