Review w/ pics Carnival Valor 03/17/13 - 03/24/13

[Lyncoya]

Hello all. We just returned from a wonderful cruise on the Valor with the Southern Caribbean itinerary. This is the second time in two years that we've done this itinerary, so my review won't be too different than the one I did on the Victory. (that review is in my signature)

 

I won't be able to beat GAPearl's review, HAHA, but here is my take.

 

There was another couple who traveled with us. My good girlfriend and her husband. Our traveling buddies. This is the 4th cruise we've all taken together.

 

We are from Wisconsin and flew to San Juan the day of the cruise. Our flight left at 5:20 am, so we had to be at the airport at 3:30 am :eek:. The flights were very uneventful and we made it to San Juan at around 1:30. We hopped in a cab ($19 plus $1 per bag) and made it to the port in around 20 minutes.

 

The line to get into the terminal was RIDICULOUSLY long, so we dropped off our luggage with the porters and took a walk. We walked a few blocks until we came across a restaurant/bar that had drink specials. Two mojitos for $10 and 5 local beers for $6. You couldn't beat that with a stick so we went in and had a seat at the bar. 2 mojitos, two orders of hotwings and 5 beers later, we walked back to the terminal where the line had disappeared and we walked right on board. Here is my first picture I took of the ship...

 

 

We stopped at the liquor store inside the terminal. Each couple bought a bottle of wine and a liter of Cruzan Rum. We walked on board with BOTH bottles in the plastic bags that the liquor store bagged them in. Security didn't check the bags. They asked if the bottles were wine, we told them yes and they let us on. Easy!

 

We had a Scenic OV Room for the cruise, which I was very excited about. It was a surprise for my husband, but he wasn't too impressed. He's so dry sometimes. Here are a few pics of our room. Our cabin # was 9199 by the way. Please let me know if the pics are too large...

 

 

 

 

 

I absolutely LOVED the room. I kept the shade up constantly. It was nice going to sleep viewing the stars and the moon and it was even nicer waking up to views of the ocean or whatever beautiful port we arrived at that day. I would book this type of room again in a HEARTBEAT. I LOVED it.

[cuted126]

Following along!!!! I love that room too! Maybe we will book one next time!

[CHERRYBRANCH]

Looking forward to your review, we sail in 34 days! :D:D:D:D

[Lyncoya]

This is the third time we've been to St Thomas. We normally do a tour with Godfrey. This time we didn't make any plans. We got off the ship and guess who we saw? Godfrey Tours...yep. So we took yet ANOTHER tour with Godfrey for $25pp. Godfrey charges a little more if you want to go to the beach though. We've been to Magen's so we didn't do the beach. He provides a good service. I wish we would have gone to St John though. Next time that's exactly what we'll do. Here are a few pics from our day...

 

Shot of St Thomas from the window in our room...

 

 

A picture of a pretty chicken I kept seeing...

 

 

My husband at the "Mountaintop". They sell the BEST Banana Daiquiris (sp)

 

 

A view of the outside of Mountaintop

 

 

 

A donkey that some man dressed up and charged for pictures. We snuck these pictures. I felt sorry for this animal.

 

[Lyncoya]

One more pic of the donkey...

 

 

It started POURING rain when we got back to the ship. We got back just in time. Other than that, it was a really good day. Really nice weather.

[Lyncoya]

We didn't do much at all on this day. It was also Elegant Night. We drank a lot, sat on deck for a bit. We also watched the Hairy Chest Contest and the Master Mixology Contest. Same ole same ole. We normally go to the wine tasting but we didn't go this time. We saw the Love & Marriage Show.

 

I'm not sure when they started putting those large screens (kind of like theater movie screens) with the words kiss...kiss...kiss across the bottom. If they show you and your partner on the screen, you're supposed to kiss. We were the first couple they showed and we had NO idea that we were supposed to kiss. The audience had to tell us what to do. How embarassing, but fun at the same time. Cute idea.

 

This time they had 4 couples on stage (the first time I saw that as well) Same questions as always, but a very entertaining show anyway. I loved the Cruise Director. Woo Hoo!! The assistant cruise director Shawn was hilarious too.

 

We went to the casino on this day as well. My husband won $250 playing Blackjack on this cruise. And I won about $45 on the slots. We are NOT gamblers so as soon as we're ahead, we QUIT!

 

We drank a little too much on this day. We went to bed before dinner and slept for the rest of the night. OOPS! That's what vacation is for though, right?

 

I don't have any pics from this day. Sorry... :o

[ch27088]

I just love the room you have. Not sure if the Carnival Sunshine will have it, but it something that I am going to look into.

[gapearl]

So far, so good! I'm loving those scenic ocean view rooms a lot. I'll have to book one on a future cruise one day. Looking forward to more! :)

[Lyncoya]

So far, so good! I'm loving those scenic ocean view rooms a lot. I'll have to book one on a future cruise one day. Looking forward to more! :)

 

Thanks so much! Coming from the review Queen....YOU! The room was REALLY REALLY nice. I loved it.

[Lyncoya]

I just love the room you have. Not sure if the Carnival Sunshine will have it, but it something that I am going to look into.

 

I am pretty sure that the Sunshine has these rooms.

[Yankeegirl]

Great review so far, thanks for taking the time to post it! :-)

[Lyncoya]

Following along!!!! I love that room too! Maybe we will book one next time!

 

Thanks. Those rooms are the BOMB!

 

Looking forward to your review, we sail in 34 days! :D:D:D:D

 

You're so lucky...:D

[dchoney]

Thanks for your review! I'm booked in 9201, a Scenic Ocean View, in July. I can't wait to just sit for hours looking out at the water! Looking forward to reading your review!!!

[Lyncoya]

Again, we had no plans for this day. All four of us got off the ship and were gonna look for an island tour. We didn't have to luck for long. In fact, a guy found us within 10 minutes of us walking off the ship. $20pp....Let's GO!!

 

He took us on a very nice tour of the island. He also took us to a gas station to load up on beer and rum punch. I saw a pic of some rum punch that Gapearl posted in her review. I saw it in the gas station and immediately bought some. That is some strong stuff, but it's sooooo good. Here are some pics from our day...

 

 

 

 

Crooked palm tree...

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of us at the oldest church in Barbados...

 

 

We were in Barbados two years ago and visiting the same church. Still beautiful...

 

[Lyncoya]

One more pic of the inside of the church...

 

 

A cow...

 

 

A statue. I'm sorry, I don't remember if the slaves actually built this statue or if it was built in tribute to the slaves.

 

 

And here is a pic of my husband with our tour guide. I'm sorry, I'm bad with names and I don't remember his. He was a GREAT guy though.

 

[Lyncoya]

Thanks for your review! I'm booked in 9201, a Scenic Ocean View, in July. I can't wait to just sit for hours looking out at the water! Looking forward to reading your review!!!

 

Room 9201 is beautiful. We were right next door and every time the staff was cleaning it, I would peek in. It's huge and the views are wonderful. Lucky, lucky, lucky you!! :)

[Lyncoya]

We did the steak house when we returned to the ship. Yummm. I really wanted to do the steak house twice, but never got around to doing it a second time.

 

We talked to a gentleman who had been 3 times to the steakhouse already and we were only on the 3rd day of the cruise. LUCKY!

 

Here's a little food porn...

 

Pics of the chef's amuse-bouche. I got some sort of chilled tomato soup and my husband received some sort of tuna tartar. My husband is SOOOOOO picky and will rarely try new foods, so lucky me got to eat both of them.

 

 

 

My husband's jumbo shrimp cocktail. Please excuse his fingernails. He does autobody and paints cars for a living and it take FOREVER and a day to get his nails completely clean. It's a little embarassing.

 

 

My crab cake after I took a bite...sorry! Delish also.

 

[Lyncoya]

Mike's cowboy steak. Mmmmmmmm

 

 

My lobster. So good, I have to post two pics...The potatoes underneath were yummmmmy also.

 

 

 

If you have never tried to steakhouse...please do. I think they should have them on EVERY ship. Great food, romantic dimly lit atmosphere and the service is the best. ;)

[Lyncoya]

Great review so far, thanks for taking the time to post it! :-)

 

Thanks, and you're welcome! :)

[jjh5351]

Oh that room is gorgeous! I shall book one next cruise!

[Lyncoya]

Oh that room is gorgeous! I shall book one next cruise!

 

It's gonna be so hard for me to go back to a regular old OV on our next cruise. Or even a balcony. I enjoyed that Scenic Ov room more than I liked our balcony last year.

[Lyncoya]

We were really excited for this day. We booked a tour with Cosul Tours the last time we were there and he provides such a great product that we did it all over again. Our tour guide this time was Bumpy. He was great. No complaints whatsoever.

 

$65pp. Unlimited rum punch, water, soda, and local beer. You could take a hot mud bath and swim in a waterfall. (we did neither)

 

He also takes you to the beach in between the Pitons. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. The last time we were there, it rained. We had perfect weather this time. Here are pics...

 

The Pitons...

 

 

A nice lady who Mike wanted a picture with. We then spent $20 on sulphur soap and necklaces and bracelets for this kids...

 

 

Us

 

 

 

On the boat on the way to Jalouise Beach. We arrived at the boat dock and it was full of people. Once the driver realized that we were from Cosul tours, everyone had to get off the boat to let our tour group on. Ha! He said we were VIPs.

 

[Lyncoya]

Still on the speed boat...

 

 

Arriving at the beach

 

 

 

I love this beach

 

 

I love this picture too...

 

[Lyncoya]

More pics of the beach. I couldn't take enough pics here.

 

 

 

 

This pic cracks me up. I caught him off guard.

 

[Lyncoya]

We visited the volcano, mudbath and waterfall next. Here are some pics.

 

 

Some people taking a mud bath. It was REALLY hot that day and our guide told us that the mud was REALLY hot. No thanks. It's supposed to be really good for arthritis and other things though.

 

 

 

Here are some pics of the waterfall and the pool underneath it. I dipped my feet in. VERY cool and refreshing, but those rocks were slippery. It was also beautiful.