Valor July 14-21 plus Vieques; Port and photo intensive review

[cra-z-2cruise]

That IS a Mango tree -and dem look like Imperial Mango!

There are several varieties, Julie being by far the most delicious!

 

but that large circular thang shown is not a Mango

-that is BREADFRUIT a tasty starchy foodstuff, staple of many island diets.

 

.

 

 

 

 

Sorry Aplmac, I guess I didn't explain why I included the pic in my post.

 

I deemed breadfruit as my favorite new food from our trip (from our day with Calabaza in Barbados), so I was thrilled to find a fresh one. :D

 

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm gonna be able to find any locally. :(

[Aplmac]

I deemed breadfruit as my favorite new food from our trip

(from our day with Calabaza in Barbados),

so I was thrilled to find a fresh one. :D

 

Unfortunately,

I don't think I'm gonna be able to find any locally. :(

Hang on...

if you have a Caribbean Foods source nearby...West Indian Foods...something along those lines?

you might just get it.

 

Fairly sure you'd get it in NYC, or over in London England,

where there are substantial W.Indian communities.

 

Have a look around. Yellow Pages?

 

.

[cra-z-2cruise]

We arrived back in port in early afternoon but we were a bit gritty from the tour.

We went back on board, showered, and headed back off for a look around.

 

 

We did a little shopping, then decided to stop at The Rum Bar for a little refreshment and some free wifi. :)

 

They had a sign saying "Rum punch special-$3". I figured they were going to be pretty small, so I sent DH to the bar to order three. ("Refreshments" increase DH's patience with me and the free wifi :))

 

Apparently, you have to ask for the special, cause DH comes back with 3 large glasses and says they were $8 each.

Oh well, that only means more patience!

 

All I can say about these drinks is OMG!

They were excellent, but very strong!

Use caution!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cra-z-2cruise]

Back on board, we ordered BLT's from room service. (Another Carnival favorite!)

Man, I really wish they would just go ahead and add these to the deli menu so I could just go get one myself.

 

While waiting on the sandwiches, I ran and dropped a load of clothes in the self-serve laundry. Remember, we were doing five days post cruise and were gonna run out of clothes.

It was $3 each for the washer and dryer.

Apparently, the vending machine for detergent was empty, because I tried two different slots and they both just took my money.

 

 

What to do now?

Walked the short distance back to our cabin, put some shower gel on a wash cloth, and went back and tossed it into the washer.

 

Headed out to lido, and caught the last few songs from a pretty good band.

 

 

Switched clothes to dryer, then headed to photo gallery to purchase an extra memory card :) and look at our photos.

I thought the card was reasonably priced at $14.

 

Laundry all done, we settled in on our balcony for sail away.

Good-bye St Kitts...

 

 

 

 

Had planned to do so many things on this ship...just ran out of time and energy!

 

Had every intention of spending some time at the comedy club, the piano bar, the theater, mini golf, etc.- Maybe next time.

We did manage to spend some time in the casino playing video poker, listen to more live music, and watch a couple movies out under the stars.

 

We generally eat in the main dining room most nights, but this trip we were just not up to it.

Tonight, we opted for deli/pizza out on deck. Chocolate dipped strawberries from the coffee shop for dessert. :D

 

 

 

 

 

[Regina67]

Hi,

We will be on this cruise in December. Could you please tell me how long the Spectrum ATV tour was? We did an atv tour on St Kitts in 2011 with Royal Caribbean and had a good time. The excursion listed with Carnival is $130pp which is a bit much for me.

Thanks in advance,

Regina

[cra-z-2cruise]

Hi,

We will be on this cruise in December. Could you please tell me how long the Spectrum ATV tour was? We did an atv tour on St Kitts in 2011 with Royal Caribbean and had a good time. The excursion listed with Carnival is $130pp which is a bit much for me.

Thanks in advance,

Regina

 

 

I used the time stamp on my photos to look up the times we left and arrived back at port.

We left at about 8:30 and arrived back a little before 12:30.

On their website, they offer the same tour + up to 3 hours at a beach with transportation for $120.

 

I agree that $130/pp would be a bit much for the tour. :)

 

[Chelleum]

Originally, we had made arrangement through Pereira Tours for a scooter rental for St Kitts.

About a week later, Liz emailed and informed me that a scooter was not going to be available on our date.

 

So, when we arrived at the port,

the plan was to get off and figure something out.:eek:

 

 

 

We were approached by several operators offering tours of the island. Then I saw a man holding a Spectrum ATV sign.

 

I had done this tour back in 2011 with two DS's and it was a blast. I had even considered it while planning this trip, but the price online had gone up to $95/pp.

 

When I asked at the port, the guy tells me $75. I smile at DH and he agrees! :D

 

A short time later, we are on our way with our two new friends, a mother and daughter celebrating high school graduation.

 

After a few laps around the training track and we are off!

 

 

 

Our first stop was a tour of Romney Manor and the Batik factory.

 

 

 

I'm loving your review and pics. I will be on the Valor in October and I can't wait.

I'm so happy that I had cancelled the island tour to do the Spectrum ATV tour instead it looks like so much fun. I saw on there website $95, And I wasn't going to book it for that price. Until I found another tour company offering it for $75pp. I asked them if its Spectrum ATV that they will be taking us too, and said yes.

 

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Forums mobile app

Edited August 11, 2013 by Chelleum

[cra-z-2cruise]

I woke up early Saturday morning, a little in disbelief that this was our last full day on the cruise!

It's been a week already?

 

This morning I decided to watch the sunrise from the Serenity area.

 

Thank goodness for my iphone!

 

 

 

On both of my previous visits to St Maarten, once with DH and once with two DS's, we did the America's Cup Sailing excursion.

Yeah, I liked it that much!

 

This time we decided to go to Maho Beach and watch the planes land.

 

My memory card was almost full, so the night before I switched to the new one.

I wanted to make sure I would have plenty of room for plane pics!

 

 

 

Well, I have absolutely no idea what happened, but when I got home to look at my photos, EVERY photo I took in St Maarten was missing! :confused: :eek: :(

I even reviewed them while we were at the beach.

I must have accidentally erased the whole day somehow.

 

Luckily, I did take a few photos with my iphone and DH took a few at the beach, but all my pics AND videos have just disappeared.

 

 

 

No rush to get off early, so we went and had a nice relaxed breakfast.

 

Around 10:30 we gathered our stuff and headed downstairs.

 

What the...?

Is that rain?

It was pouring outside the gangway. Pouring!

 

We just looked at each other, shrugged and headed off down the pier. ;)

 

By the time we reached the St Maarten sign the rain had stopped and the sun was shining again.

 

[cra-z-2cruise]

Since we were not in a rush, we decided to walk to town and take the bus to Maho instead of a taxi.

An adventure in itself, right?

 

 

If you look in the background of the above picture you can see some goats on the hill. Who would of thought?

 

 

 

We walked into town to catch the bus on Back Street.

As soon as we reached the corner, her comes the "bus" with a sign that said Maho in the front window.

He stopped and asked if we needed the bus.

Was it really that easy?

Sure was! :)

$2 each.

 

We stopped twice along the way to pick up and drop of other passengers.

 

 

We asked the driver to drop us at the stop closest to the beach.

A short walk around a corner and down the road and we were there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cra-z-2cruise]

We arrived at the beach at around 11:45.

We walked down to Sunset Bar and Grill and rented two chairs and an umbrella for $20.

View from our loungers.

 

 

We went and checked the surfboard for arrival times.

 

Remember, I had a better picture of this somewhere!?

 

 

 

 

Proof I actually had the camera with me! Lol!

[cra-z-2cruise]

It wasn't long before our first arrival.

- DH stayed farther back to take his pic, I ran to get more up close and personal.

 

 

I have to admit, that as I stood directly between the oncoming plane and the runway, a little lump developed in my throat...

 

...but how awesome was that!

 

 

It was pretty hot, but a quick dip in the beautiful water took care of that...

 

 

 

Of course, there were some crazy folks lined up on the fence to stand in the jet wash of departing planes!

Okay, so I was standing near the crazy people, but not directly behind the plane! ;)

Lol!

 

 

 

 

[cra-z-2cruise]

So we shared a few drink of the day's, watched planes take off and land, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and periodically cooled off in the spectacular Caribbean waters of St Maarten. :cool:

 

 

 

 

I'd say it was a pretty good afternoon! :D

 

 

[cra-z-2cruise]

The big Air France plane came in around 1:30. (Unfortunately, no awesome photo to share) :(

 

Around 2:00 we decided to head back.

Grabbed another drink of the day and found a taxi.

 

We asked the driver to drop us off in town instead of taking us back to port.

We went into a few shops, where I found some really cool beach flip flops, then walked down the boardwalk.

 

 

Headed back to port and the ship, but had to make one last stop at the Guavaberry stand.

 

 

 

We were back on board by 4:00.

Grabbed a couple slices of pizza (shocker), showered, watched for runners, and enjoyed our last sail away on our balcony.

 

Our cabin is usually on the port side (crazy, but I like even numbers), but the starboard side really worked out well for us this time.

 

We planned to go to the main dining room later since we had only been once the entire week.

 

 

After sail away, we decided to get the majority of our packing out of the way. :(

 

At dinner, our waitstaff was incredibly friendly and was constantly running, but food service was really slow.

We opted to skip dessert and went to lido for soft serve ice cream.

 

 

Our room steward, Arnold, took really good care of us all week.

I had asked if I could collect my towel animals during the week.

 

No problem!

 

 

 

We left him our extra 8-pack of cokes, the leftover Gasolinas, and a nice extra tip.

Thanks Arnold! :)

 

Spent the remainder of the evening out on our balcony with the warm sea breeze and the sound of the ocean.

[valentinebaby1]

Loving your review! Looking forward to hearing about the bio bay!

 

Did you buy the Gasolinas in San Juan, and how did you manage to get them on board?

[cra-z-2cruise]

Up early for sail into Old San Juan.

Thank goodness, photos from my camera are intact! :):)

 

 

 

 

Couldn't ask for a better finale to our amazing week!

 

 

 

Self assist debarkation was a breeze and we were off the ship and through customs in about 15 minutes.

 

 

Walked down to CVS, restocked our sunscreen, and grabbed a cab for the airport.

 

Next up, part two- Vieques! :D

 

 

[cra-z-2cruise]

[quote name='valentinebaby1']Loving your review! Looking forward to hearing about the bio bay!

Did you buy the Gasolinas in San Juan, and how did you manage to get them on board?[/quote]

[SIZE=5][COLOR=Navy][SIZE=4]Thanks Valentinebaby1!
Trying my best to get it finished. :)

[IMG]http://www.nprintonline.com/Family/2013/Puerto-Rico-2013-Valor/i-dVzMDWM/0/L/Carnival%20Valor%20PS%20201327-L.jpg[/IMG]

We bought a box of five Gasolina's and a bottle of wine at the liquor store immediately before security.

Stuck them in our carry-on and crossed our fingers!
If they would have taken them, we would have just taken them with us on our next leg. :)

Scanned right through without question!

Funny thing is we only drank one of them and left the rest for Arnold. :)
Didn't drink the wine either, but brought it with us.
[/SIZE]
[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[cra-z-2cruise]

[quote name='Aplmac'][SIZE=2][COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=3][COLOR=Black]THAT is a seriously-nice picture! Very moody. [I] Like![/I][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR=White].[/COLOR][/COLOR][/SIZE][/quote]

[IMG]http://www.nprintonline.com/Family/2013/New-Orleans-Cruise/i-qR83pvK/0/L/IMG_1445-L.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://www.nprintonline.com/Family/2013/New-Orleans-Cruise/i-sscRR2B/0/L/IMG_1393-L.jpg[/IMG]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=Sienna][I][FONT=Fixedsys]
Aplmac, thought you might like these too...
taken with my iphone coming up the Mississippi River last May.[/FONT][/I][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[fergusonvt]

We were on the Valor for her repositioning to PR and loved the ship. Glad you had a great time.

[Aplmac]

[quote name='cra-z-2cruise']

[IMG]http://www.nprintonline.com/Family/2013/New-Orleans-Cruise/i-sscRR2B/0/L/IMG_1393-L.jpg[/IMG]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=Sienna][I][FONT=Fixedsys]
Aplmac, thought you might like these too...
taken with my iphone coming up the Mississippi River last May.[/FONT][/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/quote][SIZE=2][COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=3][COLOR=Black]Very nice...particularly this one..[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR=White].[/COLOR][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Aplmac]

[SIZE=2][COLOR=DarkSlateGray][COLOR=White].[/COLOR]
[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Sunset-700.jpg[/IMG]
[I]Swimming after sunset.


[/I][COLOR=Black]South Coast Barbados. Tough life, huh?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=White].[/COLOR][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[skiracer0112]

Thanks again for posting all about your trip. I'm sitting in the San Juan cruise building finishing reading through your review, I finally think i know what we are doing in port the next few days!

[cra-z-2cruise]

[SIZE=2][COLOR=DarkSlateGray]

[COLOR=White].[/COLOR][/COLOR][/SIZE][/quote]

[quote name='skiracer0112']Thanks again for posting all about your trip. I'm sitting in the San Juan cruise building finishing reading through your review, I finally think i know what we are doing in port the next few days![/quote]


[COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=2][SIZE=4][COLOR=Navy]OMG!
I know your excited! :D

Glad you liked the review and thanks for following...
I stayed up all night to get the first leg finished.

Looking forward to hearing about your trip!
[COLOR=Blue]Happy sailing! [/COLOR]:D:D:D
[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[FONT=Fixedsys][SIZE=4][I][COLOR=Navy](Take lots of pictures...);):)[/COLOR][/I][/SIZE][/FONT]
[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[cra-z-2cruise]

[quote name='Aplmac'][SIZE=2][COLOR=DarkSlateGray][COLOR=White].[/COLOR]
[IMG]http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Sunset-700.jpg[/IMG]
[I]Swimming after sunset.


[/I][COLOR=Black]South Coast Barbados. Tough life, huh?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=White].[/COLOR][/COLOR][/SIZE][/quote]


[SIZE=5][COLOR=Navy][I][FONT=Fixedsys]I pick yours!
You would never catch me swimming in the Mississippi...
before or after dark! [/FONT][/I][/COLOR][/SIZE]:)

[WECRUISE4US]

[URL="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/member.php?u=351578"]cra-z-2cruise[/URL] [IMG]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif[/IMG]
Cool Cruiser

Enjoyed your review. We are going on this itinerary again for the 3rd time and 3rd different Carnival ship. We go in 70 days. :):)

[sjn911]

Crazy 2 cruise, Aplmac, everyone..this is the Caribbean cruise I look forward to the most and has simply been a complete joy and relaxation to go on with you..thanks for all the terrific input from a local, great travelers ideas agendas and methods of enjoying, and happy cruisers..thanks for all the effort..what a wonderful armchair excursion today..looking forward to phase 2 and thanks sooo much..sarah