GAPearl's Second Valor Review- Solo Southern Caribbean Cruise! (2/24/13)

[Chitownlou]

GAPEARL a/k/a Queen of the Valor.. how are you.... this is totally non cruise related but one of my best friends here in Chicago just hired today by the Atlanta's PD and has to report next Thursday... recommend somewhere to live in the Atl?

 

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[gapearl]

I'm almost as excited as I'd be if I were going on your next cruise! Can't wait to read your review and see your great photos.

 

Thanks again Cruiser! :)

 

GAPEARL a/k/a Queen of the Valor.. how are you.... this is totally non cruise related but one of my best friends here in Chicago just hired today by the Atlanta's PD and has to report next Thursday... recommend somewhere to live in the Atl?

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Forums mobile app

 

I'm awesome! Ready to do the single digit dance tomorrow! :D

 

Email me- gapearlcruiser at yahoo

[BDAN8V]

Hi! First, welcome to Cruise Critic! You see already these boards are so addictive. I appreciate you taking the time to read through this looooooong blog, lol. I hope you have a BLAST on your cruise! Is this your first one? By all means, be "that guy" with the camera. I sure am "that girl". I take pictures of EVERYTHING. I figure I might never get to come here again and see this or do that, so take all the pictures you can. Last two cruises, I had about 2,500 pictures by the time I got home. Hopefully when you return you'll come back and share some with us! :D

 

BTW, are you from Hawaii?

 

Not from Hawaii, from Bermuda (Hence the Username), but I moved to the NOVA/DC region from Hawaii and miss it like crazy (hence the location)!

 

This is far from my first cruise, best way to get home is via cruiseship, but have also done them just because I really enjoy the heck out of cruising!

 

We had an amazing time on the cruise, suffering a bit now from the "Post-Cruise Blues", but already looking forward to the next one! I was totally "that guy", sitting going through pics is great though, like re-living it. I'll be happy to share a link to the cruise pics if interested.

Edited September 23, 2013 by BDAN8V

[jt1602sd]

This has been such a great review! I'm booked on the Glory over Christmas (my second cruise) and my cruise mate had to cancel. There was no way I was going to cancel (I need my darn vacation!), but was kind of nervous about going solo (33/f), but your review has actually gotten me excited about going alone!! Hopefully the experience will be as great for me as it was for you! :)

[Luv2cruz4life]

Da Party Bus should be a blast. This will be my fourth singles cruise. The age group on this one is late twenties to sixties. This is the smallest group that I've ever sailed with. Halloween is the largest group and we had over 600 last year. The ages on the Halloween cruise is from the twenties to the seventies. Singles cruises are a lot of fun. We have group excursions. theme nights and open bar cocktail parties.

 

I would never write a review after reading yours. :D Besides, I don't have the patience to write a review.

 

 

Could you do a quick review on Da Party Bus tour? I am scheduled for the tour in 2 weeks and it looks great.

[gapearl]

OMG just noticing the two older comments. Looks like I'm a little late responding. :o

 

Not from Hawaii, from Bermuda (Hence the Username), but I moved to the NOVA/DC region from Hawaii and miss it like crazy (hence the location)!

 

This is far from my first cruise, best way to get home is via cruiseship, but have also done them just because I really enjoy the heck out of cruising!

 

We had an amazing time on the cruise, suffering a bit now from the "Post-Cruise Blues", but already looking forward to the next one! I was totally "that guy", sitting going through pics is great though, like re-living it. I'll be happy to share a link to the cruise pics if interested.

 

I would love to do a Bermuda cruise one day. I looked at NCL's Breakaway for next year but it's too expensive! Sure I'd love to see your pics!

 

This has been such a great review! I'm booked on the Glory over Christmas (my second cruise) and my cruise mate had to cancel. There was no way I was going to cancel (I need my darn vacation!), but was kind of nervous about going solo (33/f), but your review has actually gotten me excited about going alone!! Hopefully the experience will be as great for me as it was for you! :)

 

Oh I'm so glad you didn't cancel! I hope you have a fabulous time. You might discover you actually enjoy going solo and will be looking to book another one. Have a great time and I hope you bring a review back to tell us all about it! Glad this helped you out! :)

 

Could you do a quick review on Da Party Bus tour? I am scheduled for the tour in 2 weeks and it looks great.

 

I hope you get the answer you're looking for. You might want to ask on the ports of call board about your excursion as well. Thanks for reading!

[aehusk]

The good, the not so good, and other bits of randomness.

 

 

• This was definitely my favorite cruise ever. I had a ton of fun and got to see some beautiful places for the first time. I would love to go back to St. Lucia for a land trip. That was my favorite island from them all.
  
• The crew and the staff were FANTASTIC! I always noticed someone cleaning. The restrooms were well maintained. Tables were cleared immediately on lido and in Rosie’s. Everyone did a great job and service was awesome.
  
• The new sail and sign kiosks were very convenient for checking your balance, or if you want to add cash to your account without having to wait in the guest services line.
  
• Bar service from the bar waiters was incredibly sloooooooooow, including in the main dining room, the lido deck on the sea day, and in the Punchliner Comedy Club. It’s not the fault of the bar waiters. They were great and really worked their butts off! This is one area it was very obvious where the Valor has made a significant cut back. I didn’t do the cheers package, but the guys at my dinner table did. Your drink server or bartender has to wait 5 minutes before placing your next drink order. That’s something to keep in mind if you want to order two drinks at once.
  
• The singles meet and greet is pointless because it’s more or less nonexistent. On the first night, it was listed to be in the Eagles Lounge at 11 pm. When I got there at 11:10, there were about 20 people in the room- couples and families, NO singles- for karaoke and the legends auditions. Why put a “singles mingle” in the same room at the same time as karaoke? On night 2, the Fun Times had "singles welcome aboard" in the One Small Step club at 11:45 pm. I guess they figure many of the singles will be in there anyways. It circulates on this board all the time (mostly from non-single people that have never attended one of these) that there’s this awesome meet and greet for single folks as if it’s a nice, planned event. IT’S NOT. It’s really no different than when they say Friends of Dorothy, Friends of Bill, etc. be here at this time and chat amongst yourselves. When I sailed on the Navigator of the Seas last year, they had a day for the singles to meet for lunch in a certain area of the Windjammer (their lido buffet). It was on a port day so I didn’t attend, but I like the idea. I would love to see Carnival do something like this, like an official singles cocktail hour the first night or lunch the first sea day. Maybe someone from the entertainment staff could be present and offer some type of mixer game or whatever. Just a thought. Don't be surprised if you see this pop up on John Heald's page because I've considered writing him about it.
  
• I ordered a grilled cheese from room service almost every night after getting in from the nightclub. One night/morning, whatever you want to call it, I was on hold for 15 minutes waiting for someone to answer. I hung up, called right back and got an immediate answer. The lady said it would be an hour because they were preparing to start getting breakfast ready, so I passed. Every other night, it arrived within 10-15 minutes.
  
• The Caribbean duo is gone and yes, they were replaced with the dj’s on the lido deck. However, on the sea day, they played a good bit of reggae and Caribbean music. None of the rap so many people complain about.
  
• As far as the demographics of this cruise, if I were to guess, I'd say about 20% were locals from Puerto Rico, 40% American, 39% Canadian, with that last 1% being Europeans.
  
• The last night of the cruise when I started to pack, I noticed a very important piece of my suitcase was missing- the hook that allows me to attach a smaller bag to my big one.
  

 

 

 

• Somewhere between leaving my bag with the porter and it getting delivered to my cabin, it got detached. Now this isn’t a clip that will just fall off. You have to physically unhook it. I don’t understand why someone would take it off!!!!! :mad: I went to guest services to file a report. The lady was very nice, filled out a report, and gave me a claim number. However, she did say there might not be anything they can do because I didn’t report the problem until the last day. It would have been different if I had reported it on day one. That’s fair and I understand. I honestly didn’t notice it the first day though. I never even bothered to follow up with the claim, so oh well. I think for my next cruise, I’ll head to TJ Maxx and invest in a cruise suitcase and leave the crew bag at home.
  
• I can understand the hesitation of some people to try Carnival right about now after all that's happened in the last month. If I was not already a loyal customer, I too would be skeptical. Try not to be too worried though. Incidents can happen on any ship on any cruise line.
  
• And to those of you who think Carnival is nothing but a party ship with 3,000 drunk people falling down the stairs, that's a bigger myth than the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. Obviously, if you want a party like I do, you can find one at the appropriate venues at night. If you want a family friendly party, you can find those at the deck party and by the pool on sea days. But if you want a quiet spot, you can find plenty of those too.
  
• I have seen Carnival compared to Walmart, Motel 6, a Yugo, etc. on these boards. I mean give me a break. :rolleyes: Don't let your cousin or coworker that's only HEARD about how bad a Carnival cruise is prevent you from booking a good vacation. Seriously, if my reviews can't convince you that you will enjoy a Carnival cruise, well then you must be about as dull as a monk's match.com profile, as difficult as Kim and Kanye's relationship, as boring as a bullfight with no bull, as hard to please as....as....well I can't think of anything funny to put here, but you get my point! Don't be afraid to give it a try and to say later you actually enjoyed it! :)
  
• If you've been considering a solo cruise but scared to pull the trigger, don't overthink it! Take a hint from Nike and JUST DO IT! :D
  

 

Hi Kim! I just finished reading your review, excellent job! I am going on this cruise in April and I can't wait! My only question to you is, were there many children on the ship? I booked this trip with my husband and our two young children, I hope it will be ok. I read a lot of reviews from the family section and hear about people who successfully cruise with young children, but I just want to hear your perspective! I didn't see any children in your pictures. :confused: Let me know, thank you!

[gapearl]

Hi Kim! I just finished reading your review, excellent job! I am going on this cruise in April and I can't wait! My only question to you is, were there many children on the ship? I booked this trip with my husband and our two young children, I hope it will be ok. I read a lot of reviews from the family section and hear about people who successfully cruise with young children, but I just want to hear your perspective! I didn't see any children in your pictures. :confused: Let me know, thank you!

 

Hi Ashley! Yes, there were kids on the ship. I don't have any in my pictures because I don't have kids, traveled solo, and didn't really participate in any family type activities, so for the most part I wasn't around children at all. ;) Also I traveled in February, a time when there aren't many kids on the ship because it's right after Christmas and right before spring break. It looks like you're cruising in April. I'm sure there will be plenty of kids on your cruise. Thanks for reading and have fun when you sail! :)

[aehusk]

Hi Ashley! Yes, there were kids on the ship. I don't have any in my pictures because I don't have kids, traveled solo, and didn't really participate in any family type activities, so for the most part I wasn't around children at all. ;) Also I traveled in February, a time when there aren't many kids on the ship because it's right after Christmas and right before spring break. It looks like you're cruising in April. I'm sure there will be plenty of kids on your cruise. Thanks for reading and have fun when you sail! :)

 

Hey Kim,

 

Thanks for your response! I appreciate it. I understand you were solo/not around children, I had just peeked at some of the backgrounds of some of your pictures and never saw children, but I'm so glad to hear there were children! Right now there's only 19 members in my roll call, and none of them have children. It's a pretty lengthy cruise with a lot of stops, so I'm sure it's not a first choice for many families, but my children are well behaved and I want them to get the experience! We'll see how it goes :eek: Thanks again!

[beachlvr525]

Hi GA Pearl!

 

I just love your reviews! So much fun and so informative and VERY VERY thorough!

 

Do have any plans of sailing on the Carnival Sunshine for the Western Caribbean itinerary any time? I sure hope so! We're not sailing until...April 2015! Long time off but we are excited and very much looking forward to it nonetheless.

 

Thank you for taking the time to writing your reviews and sharing your adventures with us!

[gapearl]

Hey Kim,

 

Thanks for your response! I appreciate it. I understand you were solo/not around children, I had just peeked at some of the backgrounds of some of your pictures and never saw children, but I'm so glad to hear there were children! Right now there's only 19 members in my roll call, and none of them have children. It's a pretty lengthy cruise with a lot of stops, so I'm sure it's not a first choice for many families, but my children are well behaved and I want them to get the experience! We'll see how it goes :eek: Thanks again!

 

Hope you have some great excursions planned! :)

 

Hi GA Pearl!

 

I just love your reviews! So much fun and so informative and VERY VERY thorough!

 

Do have any plans of sailing on the Carnival Sunshine for the Western Caribbean itinerary any time? I sure hope so! We're not sailing until...April 2015! Long time off but we are excited and very much looking forward to it nonetheless.

 

Thank you for taking the time to writing your reviews and sharing your adventures with us!

 

As of right now, Sunshine is not on my radar, but that could change in the next year! :D Thanks for reading. I'm glad you enjoyed.

[teetee6263]

Hey Kim:)

I'm supposed to be working on my Glory review....but I decided to book the Valor for my birthday in June & I keep finding myself re-reading this review for excursion ideas. ;)

Teresa

[gapearl]

Hey Kim:)

I'm supposed to be working on my Glory review....but I decided to book the Valor for my birthday in June & I keep finding myself re-reading this review for excursion ideas. ;)

Teresa

 

That's awesome! Another cruise for you this year! I'm a June baby too, June 19. I should tag along and we take over the ship together. :p

 

ETA: Hurry up with that Glory review! I've been on the lookout for it all month!

Edited February 1, 2014 by gapearl

[docta2be2016]

CHEERS TO GaPearl! READING YOUR REVIEW JUST MADE MY DAY! THIS IS GOING TO BE MY FIRST CRUISE EVER!!

 

Thank you for taking the time to write such comical, informative, and earnest reviews! I am feeling more comfortable about selecting the Valor. I was considering some others b/c I am on a student budget, but I wanted to just go all out and have a blast! My boyfriend is going with me and it will be his first time outside the US... the only other Caribbean island I have visited is Jamaica, because it is my native country. Looking forward to this cruise!

 

Amazing tips,advice, and review!

[gapearl]

CHEERS TO GaPearl! READING YOUR REVIEW JUST MADE MY DAY! THIS IS GOING TO BE MY FIRST CRUISE EVER!!

 

Thank you for taking the time to write such comical, informative, and earnest reviews! I am feeling more comfortable about selecting the Valor. I was considering some others b/c I am on a student budget, but I wanted to just go all out and have a blast! My boyfriend is going with me and it will be his first time outside the US... the only other Caribbean island I have visited is Jamaica, because it is my native country. Looking forward to this cruise!

 

Amazing tips,advice, and review!

 

What's up Doc? Congrats on booking your first cruise! I'm so happy you managed to find my review to get you ready. This is a great itinerary and I know you'll have a great time on some fun excursions. You and your boyfriend will have an awesome time indeed. Hopefully you'll come back and tell us about it! :)

[docta2be2016]

HOLA!!

 

Thanks for the reply! I love your energy and enthusiasm. I cant wait to read the reviews of your other cruises! Take care and thanks again!

 

What's up Doc? Congrats on booking your first cruise! I'm so happy you managed to find my review to get you ready. This is a great itinerary and I know you'll have a great time on some fun excursions. You and your boyfriend will have an awesome time indeed. Hopefully you'll come back and tell us about it! :)

[teetee6263]

That's awesome! Another cruise for you this year! I'm a June baby too, June 19. I should tag along and we take over the ship together. :p

 

ETA: Hurry up with that Glory review! I've been on the lookout for it all month!

 

That would be great, would be an awesome Gemini takeover. I'm the 8th, one of the BFFs is the 16th & her coworkers hubby is the 10th. Tiana would be so upset, because shes not going...doesnt even know I'm going yet. She wants to do Dat Intinerary, but I'm already taking her out of school for our family cruise in Sept. We should plan an Alaskan Birthday cruise for 2015:D

 

Its still a work in progress, but hey I started

Glory Review

[gapearl]

HOLA!!

 

Thanks for the reply! I love your energy and enthusiasm. I cant wait to read the reviews of your other cruises! Take care and thanks again!

 

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the others! :)

 

That would be great, would be an awesome Gemini takeover. I'm the 8th, one of the BFFs is the 16th & her coworkers hubby is the 10th. Tiana would be so upset, because shes not going...doesnt even know I'm going yet. She wants to do Dat Intinerary, but I'm already taking her out of school for our family cruise in Sept. We should plan an Alaskan Birthday cruise for 2015:D

 

Its still a work in progress, but hey I started

Glory Review

 

OMG a gemini takeover, that sounds awesome! But too many geminis together could also be :eek:! haha I'm actually thinking of Lima for my birthday this year and hiking through Macchu Picchu, something on my bucket list. :D I'm sure Tiana is a smart girl. Go ahead and bring her on dat itinerary! I've actually been thinking about an Alaskan cruise for my mom and I next year. I've been putting that off for a while now. That would be so awesome if we made that happen. I'm already thinking of a good birthday trip for next year. Is 35 considered a milestone? lol

[sue2002]

WOW! I just finished this review in one day A LOT of reading great review!!!

[Arizonagirl14]

Thanks for a the great review! We will be on Valor in December and can not wait. I enjoyed you viewpoints and reviews... Very refreshing. I am originally from Georgia, so I was intrigued when I saw your postings.. I spent the entire morning reading the Valor review. Thanks again!

[jamona2311]

I ve booked this cruise for my 45th birthday in February! My first solo. I can't wait. Thanks for a wonderful review. It's so helpful n fun.

 

P s you are just too cute! I can only hope I get our there and have half as much fun as you do. :)

[christyran1228]

I've read about this area of San Juan called La Perla. It's a residential area between the two forts right on the water. If you Google it, you'll read that a lot of drug activity happens here. It seems to be a dangerous area where even the police avoid. If you're tempted to go down there for a look around, don't.

 

Funny...I was just before this part of your review when DH came home from work. He had been talking about our upcoming trip to PR with with his boss who is from there, and he warned him about this area ... and DH was relaying this to me, almost verbatim. Then I pick back up on your review right here.

 

What a crazy coincidence!

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review. We are going on this itinerary in November and I've been soaking up as much as I can to pass the time. [emoji1]

 

 

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[PathfinderEss]

Nice review, thanks for posting.

[Maura111]

I love your pictures. I'm going next week out of San Juan and plan to go to the Nuyorican to salsa dance the night before. Is that where you danced?

[frozenrope2001]

I really enjoyed reading your review. Thanks for posting it !