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

[cynt]

Towel Animal? Easy...SNUFFLEUPAGUS from Sesame Street! :D

[Cruisit]

 

The ONLY way to eat the warm chocolate melting cake is with TWO ice creams.

 

 

You've got that right!

 

Love your review so far! I sailed the Valor a few years ago.

[gapearl]

I agree about the towel animal. I think the elephant and the one before, stingray, were headed for the towel rack and your mom remembered at the last second and tried to fix them up. Go on, ask her, bet she'll fess up!:D

 

Great review, awesome clothes, and you have a great outlook on life!

 

Thanks a lot for the compliments and for reading!

 

This dress looks SO good on you! My favourite so far, I love it!

 

Thank you so much! It's amazing what you can find on the sale racks. :)

[gapearl]

Towel Animal? Easy...SNUFFLEUPAGUS from Sesame Street! :D

 

That's another good guess. lol

 

You've got that right!

 

Love your review so far! I sailed the Valor a few years ago.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

For those of you waiting on my next installment on Grand Turk, it won't be up until tomorrow night at the earliest. I have to go back to work tonight after 16 days off! :eek: :rolleyes:

[deetrayn]

This is a wonderful, wonderful review! Will come back tomorrow for more. You take great pictures, and your dresses are lovely. If dresses looked that good on me, I would wear them more. LOL

 

Your pics have got me so ready for a Miami Vice! Can't wait to get one next week! :D

[CrimsonQueen]

Awesome!!! I sort of declared myself one of the best dressed women on this cruise. You're gonna love the dresses from this one. Keep reading.... :p

 

Self-declarations are the BEST...since no one can take them away from you! :D I declared myself QUEEN at 5 years old, and 50 something years later, I'm STILL wearing that crown! :p

 

The lido lunch theme today was American food. Part of that buffet was cornbread, or at least Carnival’s interpretation of what they think cornbread is. I have lived in Tennessee, Texas, and Georgia. I’m 110% southern girl. I know good cornbread. I need my southern folks to back me up here.

 

 

 

THIS IS NOT CORNBREAD!!!

 

 

 

 

I never thought I’d be writing a dissertation on cornbread, but this needed to be said.

 

Bless their little hearts....serving THAT as cornbread! My dear mother was turning in her grave as I read this....she was a baker by choice and by trade, and could have taught them Cornbread 101:).

 

 

Lovely review, and don't be blaming those pitiful little towel animals on your dear Mother....She's a Saintess, I can tell that all the way from here!

[pcrum]

Gapearl, I enjoy all of your reviews, this one included.

 

I'm with you and Ginny on the cornbread! That is certainly not like any cornbread I've ever seen. In fact, I've never seen anything like that at all...it looks like a roll with creamed corn in the middle!!!

 

Thanks again for the review and I love the pink!

[gapearl]

This is a wonderful, wonderful review! Will come back tomorrow for more. You take great pictures, and your dresses are lovely. If dresses looked that good on me, I would wear them more. LOL

 

Your pics have got me so ready for a Miami Vice! Can't wait to get one next week! :D

 

Thank you for following along! You're welcome to borrow my dresses if you wish. :) The Miami Vices are awesome! Very sweet and fruity. You'll love it.

[gapearl]

Self-declarations are the BEST...since no one can take them away from you! :D I declared myself QUEEN at 5 years old, and 50 something years later, I'm STILL wearing that crown! :p

 

 

Bless their little hearts....serving THAT as cornbread! My dear mother was turning in her grave as I read this....she was a baker by choice and by trade, and could have taught them Cornbread 101:).

 

 

Lovely review, and don't be blaming those pitiful little towel animals on your dear Mother....She's a Saintess, I can tell that all the way from here!

 

Thanks for the nice words and following along! Maybe if they're reading they'll decide to do something about the cornbread. lol My mother is a Saintess indeed, but I can't get over the fact that I think I missed out on a towel monkey. :(

[gapearl]

Gapearl, I enjoy all of your reviews, this one included.

 

I'm with you and Ginny on the cornbread! That is certainly not like any cornbread I've ever seen. In fact, I've never seen anything like that at all...it looks like a roll with creamed corn in the middle!!!

 

Thanks again for the review and I love the pink!

 

Thanks pcrum! That's exactly what it was, a roll with creamed corn. Cornbread lovers unite! lol Glad you love the pink. We all need to be pink for October. :)

[mikel24m]

were waiting for grand turk we leave in 2 days lol:)

[pcrum]

Cute Dress.

 

Thank you both!

 

I absolutely love the pink dress from the first formal night! Would you mind sharing where you purchased it? We are in the process of shopping for a Homecoming dress for my 16 year old daughter and that dress is gorgeous!

[gapearl]

were waiting for grand turk we leave in 2 days lol:)

 

I'm going to try not to go to sleep tonight until Grand Turk is finished. I just finished writing it and I'm uploading some pictures now to photobucket, but I have to leave for work in an hour. Sorry to leave you hanging again.

 

Thank you both!

 

I absolutely love the pink dress from the first formal night! Would you mind sharing where you purchased it? We are in the process of shopping for a Homecoming dress for my 16 year old daughter and that dress is gorgeous!

 

Thank you! I found it at Macy's. It was an end of season sale.

[pbmsmile]

can not wait! :p

[pcrum]

 

 

 

Thank you! I found it at Macy's. It was an end of season sale.

 

Thanks!

[gapearl]

can not wait! :p

 

Don't go to sleep any time soon, because it's coming in a few minutes!

 

Thanks!

 

You're welcome!

[gapearl]

DAY 6- GRAND TURK, TURKS & CAICOS

 

I slept in a little and woke up around 9ish to go work out. The treadmills in the gym have individual tvs and one of the channels is a live picture of the outside. My plan was to run 5 miles, but I was watching as we were pulling into port and I got a little too excited, so I stopped at 3 miles instead. What was I thinking signing up for a half marathon so close to this cruise? :confused:

While I’m talking about the gym, let me talk about the treadmills. There are 3 treadmills in particular next to each other, the 3 directly in front of the free weights area. I ran twice on the treadmill in the middle. I couldn’t help but notice the 2 on either side of me. I saw two ladies and a man with their speed set on 5.0 and 6.0 WALKING. You fellow treadmill junkies know that if you’re on 6.0, you are running and fast. I thought maybe they needed to be serviced until someone told me some of the treadmills are set on kilometers, not miles. I had no idea because I don't remember them being labeled as such. So, if you plan on hitting the treadmills, watch out for those. I thought they were broken.

 

Anyways, I was in such a hurry to get out to the beautiful weather that I skipped breakfast. We were off the ship at 11:30 am. We went outside to find a cab driver to give us a tour and happened upon a group of people that needed 2 more people to join their van so the cost would be cheaper, so we joined them. There was a family of 3, a single mom and her 2 young girls, and a family of 5, 3 adults and 2 children. Our cost was $20 each and our tour was 2 hours. Our driver’s name was Nathan.

 

The island of Grand Turk is small- 7 miles long by 1.5 miles wide and with only 5,000 residents. The airport is right by the cruise port. There’s a large fence around it, not necessarily for security purposes but to keep the wild animals out, and there are lots of them. Houses start around $350K and have to be made of cement, not wood. There aren’t a lot of big hotels or resorts, but plenty of guest houses and bed & breakfasts. We passed Turks & Caicos Community College, which offers free tuition for residents. You can get the free tuition as long as you have lived on the island for 10 years, or if you marry a resident and move. Nathan said I can marry him and I politely declined. :) We stopped at the local lighthouse for some pictures. The island’s hospital is right across the street from the school. We stopped at a flea market area for a bit to do some shopping. I bought a canvas painting made locally by the daughter of the lady selling them. These paintings were incredible! The 11 x 14 paintings were $20 and the big ones, I believe 16 x 20, were $30. I tried to negotiate a big one for $25, but she said no, so I just bought a small one. I was trying to save some money for a bottle of rum, which I ended up not buying, and I now wish I had bought the big picture. Oh well.

 

Some pictures from around Grand Turk.

 

 

A local church.

 

 

A big flea market. Buckeyes fans in the Caribbean, how about that!

 

 

Lots of salt from the ocean washed up.

 

 

[gapearl]

Random donkeys roamed everywhere.

 

 

 

All of these were taken at the lighthouse.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

All of these are signs posted throughout the lawns of the lighthouse.

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

As soon as they ring my doorbell with balloons and a $10 million check, one of these will be mine.

 

 

 

 

Shopping area.

 

 

 

[gapearl]

I met the sweetest kids at the shopping area. They were out of school today for some local holiday. They played music and entertained people passing by for tips. They took a break from playing to go swim in the ocean. They loved having an audience and started doing flips off the wall into the water.

 

The kids entertaining visitors with their music.

 

 

They had fun showing off for the camera.

 

 

 

This is without a doubt my favorite picture of the entire cruise.

 

 

Look at that water! FLAWLESS!

 

Edited October 8, 2011 by gapearl

[gapearl]

On the way back to the ship, we passed a replica of what astronaut John Glenn was in when he orbited the earth in 1962. He splashed down in the Grand Turk waters at the end of his journey.

 

I also talked to Nathan (and another local later at the beach) about their former Premier, Michael Misick. He was in the news a lot because he married an American actress, LisaRaye, and was accused of cheating on her and getting another woman pregnant while they were married. I remember one of the major networks (either NBC or ABC) had an hour long special on their wedding. It was a huge, lavish affair! They’re divorced now and he’s facing jail time for embezzlement. I got some local inside scoop that didn’t make it to the news. All I can say is wow.

 

We made it back to the port at 1:15. It was an enjoyable 2 hours. This same tour through Carnival would have been $40-50, so I’m glad I didn’t book through them. There’s also a small museum on the island and Conch World, two other points of interest I read about but didn’t see.

A little more from Grand Turk.

 

 

 

 

Part two of day 6 and Grand Turk will have to wait until tomorrow. There's a ton more to cover but right now I need my beauty sleep. Stay tuned.....

 

 

[KrystalWaters]

Looking forward to the rest. :D

[jaiybaby]

We stopped at a flea market area for a bit to do some shopping. I bought a canvas painting made locally by the daughter of the lady selling them. These paintings were incredible! The 11 x 14 paintings were $20 and the big ones, I believe 16 x 20, were $30. I tried to negotiate a big one for $25, but she said no, so I just bought a small one. I was trying to save some money for a bottle of rum, which I ended up not buying, and I now wish I had bought the big picture. Oh well.

 

 

WOuld love to see a picture of the painting. Really great review im loving it.

[Delta Dear]

A big flea market. Buckeyes fans in the Caribbean, how about that!

LOVE it ! I am a Class of '64 Buckeye ! I would have flipped out to see this !