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

[gapearl]

The Capitol building.

 

 

Lots of ice cream vendors everywhere. I had some later and it was pretty good.

 

 

 

Random thought- If Puerto Rico eventually becomes a state, where will the 51st star go on the flag? :confused:

 

 

 

Speaking of Puerto Rico becoming a state, I encourage those of you taking this cruise in the near future to ask the locals at your hotel, restaurant, taxi drivers, etc. what they think about it. I think I've asked 20 people and have gotten 20 different answers. Some will say yes, I'm all for it, and some will say no, I don't want it. I'm big on talking to people and learning about them and their lifestyle when I travel. I recommend everyone doing that. You can really learn a lot.

Edited March 6, 2013 by gapearl

[gapearl]

 

 

A Univision news truck was at the Capitol. Hmmmm, I wonder what was going on?

 

 

El Hamburguer Restaurant. I hear the food is good. Must be because it was packed.

 

 

Finally, there's the beach!

 

 

Plenty of parking available for $5.

 

[gapearl]

El Escambron isn't much of a tourist beach, but more of a place where the locals go with their kids. Lots of families were out enjoying their day, playing volleyball, surfing, just having a good time. It wasn't crowded at all. I'd recommend this as a great place to go for a good beach day if you want to avoid the crowds up further at Condado Beach.

 

 

El Morro way down in the distance. This was zoomed in quite a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

 

 

A restaurant is there for drinks and snacks.

 

 

It was here that I discovered the gasolina drink. Nope, this isn't a Capri Sun. It's alcohol. Even better is the fact that it's only $2. At that price, give me a case! There are 5 different flavors. There's a little straw on the inside and you can drink it straight from the pouch, but a classy lady like myself chose to take my $2 drink on ice. :p

 

 

Rum, tequila, passion fruit and other juices.

 

[jaxstiles]

Loving this review! Thanks for posting.

[gapearl]

 

Me encanta mi toalla de playa nueva.

 

 

The water was so warm and felt so good.

 

 

Now THIS says vacation.

 

 

[gapearl]

Looks like they were setting up for a wedding. Too bad Daddy Yankee is married. We could have gotten hitched here in his native country, right there on that hill. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

I left the beach at 4 pm and was back in OSJ around 4:30. Back at the Da House, I took a shower and laid down for a few minutes. I had to get ready for dinner at Barrachina tonight!

Edited March 6, 2013 by gapearl

[takevtr1]

a little late to the party, but I am also subscribed.

[deladane]

I'm loving your review so far! I did this itinerary on the Victory in December so I'm looking forward to reliving each of the islands through your review :) and OMG, how did I not know about those alcohol drink pouches?!? what a great find!

[Noreno]

Yes!!! I love when you do reviews!! I can't wait..

[teetee6263]

Welcome Home!!! Sorry but selfishly I couldn't wait for your cruise to be over, just so I could read your review ;). I'm enjoying your per cruise report, but can't wait till we get to the ship & all your gorgeous fashions. Your photos seem to help me justify my overpacking. I'm going on the Imagination (4days) in 6 weeks & already have enough dresses picked out to last 2 weeks:eek:

 

Tee Tee:D

[sun_set00]

GAPearl,

Thanks for both of the awesome reviews! I am taking this cruise 3/17/13, so I'm thankful you are a posting an up-to-date review about the Valor's in the Southern Caribbean. I can't wait to see the Fun Times and all your pictures. Your daily drink shots make me want one too. I added the Miami Vice to my list of drinks to try on the ship.

PS, I posted a link to this review on our roll call thread so everyone would read it.

 

Thanks,

Maegan

[CLDS]

Great review!!!! Read all the others... can't wait to read more of this one. We have this cruise planned for 4/7/13. Thanks for all the details and photos. Helps me feels less disoriented in a new place to SEE what to expect. Sunset great idea to post the review in roll call. Gonna do the same now. Thanks again GaPearl!

[bucks724]

 

Spoiler alert: There will be a cornbread part 2 post. :p

 

 

As if this wasn't good enough - something to definitely look forward to! LOL

[sjn911]

Your reviews are an absolute blast....thanks..sarah

[gapearl]

Oh, how I love entertaining reviews!! Thank you :). We (Me, DH and 2 young adult DS’s) are thinking about this cruise for next January. Now I have to go back and read your other reviews.

 

Thanks for reading! It's an awesome itinerary you'll love. I've thought about booking it again.

 

Love your review!

 

Thank you! :)

 

Not trying to hijack, but you can make your steakhouse reservations on-line. I made ours already for the Nov cruise on the Valor. Roger:)

 

Enjoy that!

 

Loving your review! It's so nice to read a Valor review with Southern Caribbean. As I began to start researching it, I thought everyone HATED this itinerary until I realized the Valor didn't always do the Southern Caribbean. I cannot wait to read more... doing this ship/ports in May!

 

 

Ps: I love your dress with the tights from Day 1? Where'd ya get it? I am always looking for longer tops with tights, especially travel days.

 

The Victory used to do this itinerary, but is now in Miami. This was the Valor's second or third cruise doing this route. You'll love the ship and port. The dress came from Express and the leggings from Old Navy. Very comfortable, and that elastic waistband is perfect for eating a lot. :D

[gapearl]

Yay! Subscribing. Doing this one in September... :)

 

2 questions:

 

Did the have the unlimited internet plan on Valor?

Did they have the Cheers package?

 

Yay, you and Stephen finally booked! They do have the cheers package. I know quite a few people that bought it. Try to keep in the back of your mind what you drink late at night. I say that because if you're in the casino or disco and have 5 drinks around 2-3 am, it's easy to forget you have 10 drinks, not 15 when you're out by the pool or whatever later in the day. Also, you can only order 1 drink at a time. If you want to order 2 at once, let your server know. They have to wait 5 minutes before putting in the next order. I'm sorry, I forgot to check on the internet for you. I was cheap and logged on to the free internet in port. Hopefully someone else from my sailing can answer that for you.

 

Loving your review. I'm gonna get in trouble because I keep sneaking to read your review at work. I'm finding myself taking very long bathroom breaks just so I can sneak a peek at your review.:o

 

Can't wait till Dec. when we can sail away on the Valor also. Looking forward to information about Barbados on Christmas day also. Thanks a bunch.

 

Long bathroom breaks, LOL. Stay tuned for more!

 

Another fan of yours here! Thanks for all of this hard work posting and uploading photos for all of us to enjoy!

 

I cant believe all of that was one day!! I cant wait for the rest, especially Maho Beach!:)

 

Maho Beach was great! Thanks for reading! :)

 

subscribing....getting a preview for my January sailing!

 

Thanks for reading! You're going to have an awesome time!

[gapearl]

YEAH!! So excited to read your review...we are sailing valor in October. So far it looks like we will be doing similar things, so looking forward to see how you liked everything

 

October will be here before you know it. Hopefully you'll get a couple of days to explore San Juan.

 

Loving this review! Thanks for posting.

 

You're welcome, enjoy!

 

a little late to the party, but I am also subscribed.

 

Thanks for joining the party! :)

 

I'm loving your review so far! I did this itinerary on the Victory in December so I'm looking forward to reliving each of the islands through your review :) and OMG, how did I not know about those alcohol drink pouches?!? what a great find!

 

They were indeed a great find, and they sell them lots of places! I've been coming to San Juan now for 4 years and just found out about them myself!

[gapearl]

Yes!!! I love when you do reviews!! I can't wait..

 

Thanks for coming back to read another one! :)

 

Welcome Home!!! Sorry but selfishly I couldn't wait for your cruise to be over, just so I could read your review ;). I'm enjoying your per cruise report, but can't wait till we get to the ship & all your gorgeous fashions. Your photos seem to help me justify my overpacking. I'm going on the Imagination (4days) in 6 weeks & already have enough dresses picked out to last 2 weeks:eek:

 

Tee Tee:D

 

Oh I brought like 12 dresses, plus like 10 swimsuits, sundresses.....you should have seen my luggage! :eek:

 

GAPearl,

Thanks for both of the awesome reviews! I am taking this cruise 3/17/13, so I'm thankful you are a posting an up-to-date review about the Valor's in the Southern Caribbean. I can't wait to see the Fun Times and all your pictures. Your daily drink shots make me want one too. I added the Miami Vice to my list of drinks to try on the ship.

PS, I posted a link to this review on our roll call thread so everyone would read it.

 

Thanks,

Maegan

 

Wow, that's less than 2 weeks away! Definitely add the Miami Vice to your drink list. Hopefully I'll have this done before you cruise so you can see the Fun Times and ports. Have an awesome time on your cruise! :)

[gapearl]

Great review!!!! Read all the others... can't wait to read more of this one. We have this cruise planned for 4/7/13. Thanks for all the details and photos. Helps me feels less disoriented in a new place to SEE what to expect. Sunset great idea to post the review in roll call. Gonna do the same now. Thanks again GaPearl!

 

Thanks for reading! Hopefully you and others on your roll call will find something helpful. I hope you have as awesome of a cruise as I did! :D

 

As if this wasn't good enough - something to definitely look forward to! LOL

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Your reviews are an absolute blast....thanks..sarah

 

Thanks for reading Sarah!

[mama_2_boys]

 

 

A restaurant is there for drinks and snacks.

 

 

It was here that I discovered the gasolina drink. Nope, this isn't a Capri Sun. It's alcohol. Even better is the fact that it's only $2. At that price, give me a case! There are 5 different flavors. There's a little straw on the inside and you can drink it straight from the pouch, but a classy lady like myself chose to take my $2 drink on ice. :p

 

 

Rum, tequila, passion fruit and other juices.

 

 

Yummy!!

[gapearl]

San Juan- Day 2 Continued!

 

Tonight I had a dinner reservation at Barrachina, birthplace of the pina colada! They have a free flamenco show on Friday and Saturday nights, and you do need a reservation to attend. I booked my table about a week in advance. You can make a regular reservation through their website, but for the flamenco reservation, you have to call. The show is from 8-9 pm, and the hostess I spoke with when booking said a good time to arrive is 6:45 pm if you want to get a good seat close to the front. They actually already have your table assigned when you arrive, so there's really no need to get there so early. Really about 7:15 pm is a better arrival time. That will give you time to get settled in and order your first drink and meal before the guitar player starts at 7:30.

 

 

That's my table right there in the front. Another solo traveler's perk!

 

 

 

 

Mmmmmm, pina colada..... DELICIOUS!

 

 

I had the chicken caribeno. It was really, really good. There was a lot of it and no way I could finish it all. I wish there were a few more vegetables on the plate though. No need to be so stingy with the broccoli.

 

[gapearl]

Here come the flamenco show pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

 

 

 

 

At the end of the show, the singer, Antonio, joined in the dancing.

 

 

[gapearl]

 

If you have the chance to visit Barrachina, add it to your list. Good food, good service, great show, really good pina coladas, what more can you ask for?

 

The patio area.

 

 

Me leaving the restaurant.

 

 

I headed back out into OSJ, walking around looking for something to get into. I made it back to the Nuyorican Cafe when they opened. By the way, it's $5 to get in. Mostly locals pack in here, but there's a good number of tourists as well. After the band plays their set and takes a (long) break, cd's are played (Latin music, of course) and a lot of people start to leave. The ones that stay continue to dance. Some guy my dad's age asked me to dance. He was so cute. I got bored from sitting down for too long and was ready to leave when another cute 20something asked me to dance. I didn't sit down the rest of the night after that! Oscar was a great dancer and we exchanged information so we could meet up again Saturday night for some more salsa dancing.

 

Me with the band.

 

 

Back at Da House, I got to my room and there was no power. None. *insert four letter word here* Someone is on duty 24/7 and when I found him, he immediately went to get it fixed. It was just a fuse, no biggie. I was still wide awake and headed up to the rooftop hot tub. I sort of crashed a little get together with a group of friends that were celebrating a 40th birthday. They were from all over the world- Spain, Italy, Brazil, Iran, France, Ecuador, and Puerto Rico. United Nations right there in the jacuzzi! I spent about 30 minutes talking to them before heading off to bed at 3:30 am. The music from downstairs was still going strong.

Edited March 6, 2013 by gapearl