REVIEW: Carnival Valor to Southern Caribbean Oct 6-13, 2013 OUR FIRST CRUISE!

[valentinebaby1]

Thanks for taking the time to put together this fantastic review! I thoroughly enjoyed it. We have soooo very long to go. It's reviews like yours that will get me through!

 

You and your hubby want a repeat? April 26, 2015. We will be there and would love to have you guys on our roll call! :D

 

Take care and thanks again!

 

We are actually looking at booking either Aug 31, 2014, Sept 28 or Oct 5...can't wait until 2015! Just trying to coordinate with some other things before we can finalize the date! So maybe I'll have another review before you go!

 

Who knows, maybe we'll be ready for our 3rd cruise by Apr 2015 lol

 

Thanks for reading!

[jenischmeni]

We are actually looking at booking either Aug 31, 2014, Sept 28 or Oct 5...can't wait until 2015! Just trying to coordinate with some other things before we can finalize the date! So maybe I'll have another review before you go!

 

Who knows, maybe we'll be ready for our 3rd cruise by Apr 2015 lol

 

Thanks for reading!

 

You're welcome to join us on the June 1st sailing!!!

 

BTW.... I'm in the process of booking Calabaza for the day we're in Barbados. Since there are six of us (all choosing to spend the day with Calabaza), we're already half of the passenger list.

 

That booking was mostly based upon your glowing review (which was easily verified with Trip Adviser).

 

We're trying to figure out how to do the Bio Bay the Saturday night before sailing. I'm thinking that our only option might be to rent a car. Do you know of any shuttles or cabs rates?

[Dirkgun]

We are actually looking at booking either Aug 31, 2014, Sept 28 or Oct 5...can't wait until 2015! Just trying to coordinate with some other things before we can finalize the date! So maybe I'll have another review before you go!

 

Who knows, maybe we'll be ready for our 3rd cruise by Apr 2015 lol

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

I know what you mean... this particular itinerary is addicting. I love cruising out of San Juan.

[jenischmeni]

I know what you mean... this particular itinerary is addicting. I love cruising out of San Juan.

 

It's funny that you should say that!

 

I just found out that Valor isn't going into dry dock until 2015. When I booked it, I booked assuming it was getting a whole makeover just a couple months before we'd be on it. Once I found out that it wasn't going to be all fresh and new, I called my PVP who was gracious and was going to find a different ship for me. I told him "no". I was already in love with this ship, this itinerary, and sailing out of San Juan.

[valentinebaby1]

You're welcome to join us on the June 1st sailing!!!

 

BTW.... I'm in the process of booking Calabaza for the day we're in Barbados. Since there are six of us (all choosing to spend the day with Calabaza), we're already half of the passenger list.

 

That booking was mostly based upon your glowing review (which was easily verified with Trip Adviser).

 

We're trying to figure out how to do the Bio Bay the Saturday night before sailing. I'm thinking that our only option might be to rent a car. Do you know of any shuttles or cabs rates?

 

Renting a car would probably be the cheapest option. I did a bunch of research on shuttles, before we decided to just rent a car, and one of the bio bay kayak tours quoted $120 round trip for transportation with a minimum of 6 people needed (otherwise we would have paid the $120 for just the 2 of us). I just don't recall who quoted that rate though. Once I found the bioislandpr company and the boat option, we decided to rent a car to do that one instead of kayak. Our car rental was for a midsize was under $30 per day through Ace/Charlies rental. I do recall that several of the kayak bio bay companies did have shuttle service for an additional fee, I just don't recall who.

 

Are you flying in on Saturday or earlier? There was another tour I found that incorporated the whole day, starting out in the rainforest, some time at Luquillo Beach and then the bio bay tour (kayak) and it provided transportation. I can't recall the exact cost of it, but was maybe around $120 per person total. We were considering that one before deciding to rent a car instead. They called it a triple play tour, but I don't recall the tour company.

[valentinebaby1]

It's funny that you should say that!

 

I just found out that Valor isn't going into dry dock until 2015. When I booked it, I booked assuming it was getting a whole makeover just a couple months before we'd be on it. Once I found out that it wasn't going to be all fresh and new, I called my PVP who was gracious and was going to find a different ship for me. I told him "no". I was already in love with this ship, this itinerary, and sailing out of San Juan.

 

Hubby and I discussed this the other night, and while the upgrades sound nice and all, we were so in love with the Valor just the way she is that we decided it didn't matter if we went again before the dry dock. We considered booking in April 2015 so we'd be after the dry dock, but then we feared if there was any delay it could cancel the trip, plus I would imagine things just won't run as smooth at first with new things (like Guy's Burgers and whatnot) until they worked all the kinks out. So we decided not to base our decision on the dry dock schedule and just go ahead with the fall plan. We're just mulling over dates and our budget to be sure before we book. It's going to be tough to pull another trip like this so soon (after all, it took us 25 years to do the first one!). We're also looking at cutting back on expenses as much as possible so we won't be doing any expensive excursions the 2nd time around.

[jenischmeni]

I'm not totally sure what time we'll arrive on Saturday yet. (There is a possibility - an unlikely one though - that we'll fly in late Friday night.)

 

Southwest still doesn't have flights up for the return flight. They do have fares/flights for the trip out but I'm holding off purchasing until the whole thing is available. I've been checking it every single day for the last month (before I even booked the trip) and the farthest out is the 6th. Judging by the flights out though, I believe we'll get to San Juan around 1:30 on Saturday. That is God willing and if the creeks don't rise.

 

The $120 rate for the shuttle isn't that bad when I figure it to 6 people! Hubby gets that 'deer in the headlight' look when I mention renting a car in San Juan.

 

I have no desire to do the kayaking option. Hubby and I both are kayakers (we both have our own kayaks). We've already done enough group kayaking to know how the group thing works. (Or doesn't work.) We can imagine the mess it'll be with even a larger group AND a bunch of folks who probably have no idea what they're doing AND are in the dark. (literally!)

[jenischmeni]

Hubby and I discussed this the other night, and while the upgrades sound nice and all, we were so in love with the Valor just the way she is that we decided it didn't matter if we went again before the dry dock. We considered booking in April 2015 so we'd be after the dry dock, but then we feared if there was any delay it could cancel the trip, plus I would imagine things just won't run as smooth at first with new things (like Guy's Burgers and whatnot) until they worked all the kinks out. So we decided not to base our decision on the dry dock schedule and just go ahead with the fall plan. We're just mulling over dates and our budget to be sure before we book. It's going to be tough to pull another trip like this so soon (after all, it took us 25 years to do the first one!). We're also looking at cutting back on expenses as much as possible so we won't be doing any expensive excursions the 2nd time around.

 

 

This makes total sense to me. (Obviously! I've already made the same decision!) Even if you don't really do any planned excursions, I'm sure you'd have a blast just getting off of the ship and wandering around.

[DreaminFP]

I'm sorry if you have already said and I missed, but what camera were you using for your pictures they are amazing!

 

This is my dream cruise and while right now we have my mother in law living with us and she has alzheimer's so we can't plan anything like that, we will one day this my husband can be sure of lol

[JKirkN]

I'm sorry if you have already said and I missed, but what camera were you using for your pictures they are amazing!

 

This is my dream cruise and while right now we have my mother in law living with us and she has alzheimer's so we can't plan anything like that, we will one day this my husband can be sure of lol

 

We used a couple. A Kodak z812 and a Canon Powershot D20. The Kodak is 8 megapixels with a 12x optical zoom and takes beautiful pictures with very vibrant colors. The D20 is 16 megapixels with a 5x optical zoom and is waterproof down to 33 feet (10m) and takes beautiful pictures as well...but they tend to be a bit more grainy when zoomed in. But it's an amazing underwater camera!

 

-JKirkN (DH)

[jrmende63]

Hi Valentinebaby1!

I have a son who is a Valentine baby!

Hubby and I are going to do this trip on 10-5-14. I am thrilled that you posted so many pics! I have booked Calabza based on your review. I have Spencer Ambrose reserved for St. Lucia and Royston for St. Kitts. I am stumped on what to do at St. Maarten as we don't want Maho Beach or Orient.

We are staying at Numero Uno Best Guest house in Condado. I was a little worried about the traffic there, but we are doing an excursion right outside of San Juan called Toro Verde ( Ultimate Zip Line) They have pickup transportation to and from our Guest house. The Guest house is located on the beach. And has a fantastic restaurant located within.

I am so excited about this trip! I can't wait for it to get here. We are flying Jet Blue. We are staying 2 days in San Juan.

Thanks for your awesome review!

By the way...we are also one of those couples that "would not make it." We are celebrating 33 years married next year! 2 sons, 2 DIL and 7 awesome grandkids!

[valentinebaby1]

Hi Valentinebaby1!

I have a son who is a Valentine baby!

Hubby and I are going to do this trip on 10-5-14. I am thrilled that you posted so many pics! I have booked Calabza based on your review. I have Spencer Ambrose reserved for St. Lucia and Royston for St. Kitts. I am stumped on what to do at St. Maarten as we don't want Maho Beach or Orient.

We are staying at Numero Uno Best Guest house in Condado. I was a little worried about the traffic there, but we are doing an excursion right outside of San Juan called Toro Verde ( Ultimate Zip Line) They have pickup transportation to and from our Guest house. The Guest house is located on the beach. And has a fantastic restaurant located within.

I am so excited about this trip! I can't wait for it to get here. We are flying Jet Blue. We are staying 2 days in San Juan.

Thanks for your awesome review!

By the way...we are also one of those couples that "would not make it." We are celebrating 33 years married next year! 2 sons, 2 DIL and 7 awesome grandkids!

 

Hubby and I are planning on booking another trip on the Valor for next fall, 10/5 is one of the dates we are considering...but we are leaning towards 8/31 right now because it has the lowest miles needed for our free airplane tickets.

 

congrats on your long surviving marriage too!

 

For St Maarten are you not wanting a beach day or are you just wanting to avoid those 2 beaches? Bernards Tours also has an Island Tour 1 that doesn't spend time at Orient Beach. It does go to Maho but only for 30 min. They spend an hour at Marigot for shopping, there's an open market and that's where Serafina's, the amazing French bakery is. It has other stops too for photo ops.

 

The Condado area wouldn't bother me so much if we weren't driving. I'm sure it will be lovely! And enjoy Royston and Calabaza! I'm sure Spencer Ambrose's will be great too, we debated and debated between it and Cosol.

[jrmende63]

Hubby and I are planning on booking another trip on the Valor for next fall, 10/5 is one of the dates we are considering...but we are leaning towards 8/31 right now because it has the lowest miles needed for our free airplane tickets.

 

congrats on your long surviving marriage too!

 

For St Maarten are you not wanting a beach day or are you just wanting to avoid those 2 beaches? Bernards Tours also has an Island Tour 1 that doesn't spend time at Orient Beach. It does go to Maho but only for 30 min. They spend an hour at Marigot for shopping, there's an open market and that's where Serafina's, the amazing French bakery is. It has other stops too for photo ops.

 

The Condado area wouldn't bother me so much if we weren't driving. I'm sure it will be lovely! And enjoy Royston and Calabaza! I'm sure Spencer Ambrose's will be great too, we debated and debated between it and Cosol.

Bernard sounds good...I just don't know yet..St. Maarten is the one I am least looking forward to..No reason , just anticipation of the others are so great. Enjoy your trip no matter when you take it!

And we won't be driving...I can understand some Spanish, but I am not comfortable driving in SJ.

[CrimsonTideGal]

Loving your review.

The only time I have swelling in my ankles is when I am near the ocean. I believe it is from breathing in salty air. I know I am constantly having to clean the salty film off my sunglasses so I am assuming I am breathing it in also. I might be wrong and it does seem worse on cruises and always hits me the second day. I dont drink the ships water. Cant stand the taste but I know I get it in the ice and food.:confused: I read a lot of reviews and it is very common to have swelling but nobody has a definite answer.

[JKirkN]

Bernard sounds good...I just don't know yet..St. Maarten is the one I am least looking forward to..No reason , just anticipation of the others are so great. Enjoy your trip no matter when you take it!

And we won't be driving...I can understand some Spanish, but I am not comfortable driving in SJ.

 

LOL...I totally understand. You should have heard the feeble attempt my GPS made on saying the street names. And the worst part is, you have to actually SEE the name or know Spanish...otherwise it makes no sense. But we still made it...driving is not bad if you avoid the rush hours... It was actually pretty clear and not much traffic for most of our driving. Although I heard from other people that drove during rush hour that it was pretty slow going.

 

It's really worth it though. To have the freedom to just take off and see stuff... but my wife has to remind me that for some unknown reason, I almost always know exactly where I'm at (or at least which direction I'm going) and most people don't have that... :(

 

I really loved Bernard's Tours for St. Maarten, but I wish we had more time in Marigot... I would have loved to sample more of Sarafina's bakery items! What we did get was unbelievably amazing! And it would have been fun to spend more time at the farmer's market... btw, if you do get to go to Marigot, look for Cane Syrup. If you like sweet stuff, nothing beats this! I wasn't sure what to do with it other than what you would normally do with corn syrup...but after tasting it, I ended up just drinking a swig of it every once in awhile... I'm addicted to it now and don't know where to get more!

 

Next time, since we love the beach so much, we might try to find something that will spend more time at Orient/Maho and Marigot and skip the iguanas and other scenic stops... Maho would be fun to snorkel at, but we pretty much just watched the planes...next time I hope to snorkel!

 

-JKirkN (DH)

[babsee101]

Hello and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and again for the awesome review!

 

What about parking a car in SJ? Did your hotel offer parking? Was there a charge? Was it difficult to find parking elsewhere?

 

We really want to rent a car for doing stuff outside of SJ but will likely stay in SJ (because we wouldn't know where else to stay) and are a bit intimidated by all we have read.

 

Thanks in advance! :)

 

PS - If anyone reading this has suggestions on a area bordering SJ to stay, where you can comfortably drive and park a rental yet easily get into San Juan and walk or use the trollies, I would really appreciate the tip!

[valentinebaby1]

Hello and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions and again for the awesome review!

 

What about parking a car in SJ? Did your hotel offer parking? Was there a charge? Was it difficult to find parking elsewhere?

 

We really want to rent a car for doing stuff outside of SJ but will likely stay in SJ (because we wouldn't know where else to stay) and are a bit intimidated by all we have read.

 

Thanks in advance! :)

 

PS - If anyone reading this has suggestions on a area bordering SJ to stay, where you can comfortably drive and park a rental yet easily get into San Juan and walk or use the trollies, I would really appreciate the tip!

 

The hotels in Isla Verde offer parking, as I'm sure the hotels in Condado do as well. Old San Juan I'm not sure about. Our hotel in Isla Verde charged $15 per night for parking, which was in an attached garage.

 

We mainly drove outside of San Juan, to the eastern side of the island, where we had no trouble finding parking, and there was no charge for any parking we did. Within the city the only driving we did was to heliport for our helicopter ride (no charge for parking there). We drove through Old San Juan but didn't stop anywhere to park.

[babsee101]

Thanks so much! :)

[ch27088]

If this was your first time doing a review, you did an AWESOME job. I loved the photos and reading your review was easy. Thank you for sharing your first cruise with us, but now I have to ask...how was your very first cruise? I know you enjoyed it, but was it exactly what you thought it would be, or different. Also, how did hubby like the cruise? I like to hear from first time cruisers and see if there is anything that I would do or not do on our next trip.

 

BTW, glad you were able to get yourself a Coach bag and wallet. I just love Coach and the purse and wallet are beautiful. Enjoy!

[valentinebaby1]

If this was your first time doing a review, you did an AWESOME job. I loved the photos and reading your review was easy. Thank you for sharing your first cruise with us, but now I have to ask...how was your very first cruise? I know you enjoyed it, but was it exactly what you thought it would be, or different. Also, how did hubby like the cruise? I like to hear from first time cruisers and see if there is anything that I would do or not do on our next trip.

 

BTW, glad you were able to get yourself a Coach bag and wallet. I just love Coach and the purse and wallet are beautiful. Enjoy!

 

Thank you! I'm so glad to know so many people have read it and have enjoyed it. Reviews were a HUGE part in our planning, so I'm glad to pay it forward so to speak.

 

The cruise experience was absolutely everything we hoped it would be, and exactly what we thought it would be! I really have no complaints, just 2 issues (our canceled excursion, which I feel Carnival should have notified us the night before instead of waiting until a hour before, and an issue we had with pool towels which wasn't that big of a deal). The room was great, the bathroom was bigger than I had pictured, the food was great the majority of the time, the entertainment was great.

 

All things considered, looking back I can't really think of anything that we feel we should have done different. Except maybe I should have ordered a 2nd Bitter and Blanc! lol :)

 

We didn't anticipate purchasing so much alcohol to bring home, so next time we will be more prepared with bubble wrap or bring more blow up armbands for packing them. We might also invest in a luggage scale to avoid some of the issues we had the last time with our luggage weight, if we do get to do this again.

 

I feel there was a lot we didn't do on the ship; for example we only went to one comedy show. We didn't get to eat at all the food options. We only ordered room service once, we had pizza once, hubby tried fish and chips the first day but I never did, we usually didn't have time for breakfast...so I feel like we missed a lot of food "opportunities". But with this being such a port-intensive cruise I'm not sure we could have done anything different.

 

Funny thing about the Coach bag and wallet...I couldn't bring myself to use it yet until yesterday. I was enjoying it's newness, and was afraid to break it in, but finally caved yesterday! I love it!

[JKirkN]

If this was your first time doing a review, you did an AWESOME job. I loved the photos and reading your review was easy. Thank you for sharing your first cruise with us, but now I have to ask...how was your very first cruise? I know you enjoyed it, but was it exactly what you thought it would be, or different. Also, how did hubby like the cruise? I like to hear from first time cruisers and see if there is anything that I would do or not do on our next trip.

 

BTW, glad you were able to get yourself a Coach bag and wallet. I just love Coach and the purse and wallet are beautiful. Enjoy!

 

She answered it pretty well. I just wanted to add that it was so wonderful, the only bad part was leaving it! I absolutely fell in love with St. Lucia and St. Kitts! The first few weeks home were very hard. Anything that reminded me of the trip made me miss it again (even the smell of our laundry detergent!). I wish there was some pill you could take to get over the post cruise depression.

 

The pace really was pretty fast. The excursions seemed just right but afterwards, I realized how much more time I would have liked to spend on some of them. But I'm glad we did them! Now that I've had the fast and comprehensive experiences, next time I want to focus on spending more time in the places we liked the most from last time.

 

The snorkeling excursion in St. Thomas was wonderful! My only regret was that we never really saw St. Thomas... only a few yards of the dock and and the duty free shops. Next time, I want to go up to the top of the hill and get some banana daiquiris and go to Magen's Bay or maybe Sapphire Beach. And I definitely want to get some more of the Cruzan samplers to mix with soda back on the ship.

 

I absolutely LOVED the Calabaza excursion in Barbados! Next time, I want to just go to the boatyard and get Neville to take us out to the turtles/wreck for snorkeling and spend more time at the beach and try some local foods/drinks. (also, I'm not much of a drinker, but the prices were so low at the duty free shops, that I think I might need to stock up! :) )

 

Cosul was wonderful in St. Lucia. Next time, I'd like to find something that skips the volcano/mud baths and waterfall (only because we've already done those and they don't really need a repeat) and gives us more time at Jalousie beach between the pitons and maybe some time at Marigot Bay. I definitely will need to eat a couple more of those amazing bananas, and I'll have to buy 2 or 3 bottles of spiced rum or at least the bottles with the spices so they are ready to make when I get home so they don't take up so much weight in the luggage!!! (We might even go the opposite direction and check out pigeon island... (maybe for our third cruise! lol)

 

Royston's was perfect in St. Kitts. But now that I've seen the fort and the whole island, next time I think I'd like to check out Cockleshell beach and then go back to Shipwreck Beach (South Friars Bay) for some awesome swimming/snorkeling. And I definitely want to have more CONCH!!!

 

Bernard's in St. Maarten was great! I got to see everything I wanted to see and more! Next time, I'd like to spend more time at Orient beach, Sarafinas and the farmer's market in Marigot, and Maho beach. There wasn't much else there since it's mostly a big desert and too touristy.

 

Also, we brought our own snorkels and masks (Kendra didn't like hers that much) but we didn't buy fins... looking back, I think next time we'll need to at least get some small travel fins...I'd like to have them at each beach because sometimes you really need them and don't want to rent them each time. At South Friars in St. Kitts, I was fighting the current coming back to shore and it took a long time and really wore me out (I was WAY out there...probably too far out)!

 

I also want to see more places and eat a LOT more of the different foods in Puerto Rico! I loved it so much there, you have no idea! The only thing I knew about Puerto Rico was that a couple of the cast on Sesame Street were from there...otherwise it wasn't even something I gave a second thought to. Boy was I missing out! I would be happy going to PR for vacations the rest of my life! The food, the atmosphere...it was all amazing! And everywhere you go there is fun, uplifting music. I just need to learn Spanish so I understand more and can converse with the locals better.

 

Wow... That was a LOT more than I though I was going to say. Once I got going it was hard to stop. As you can see, this was probably the best vacation of my life so far. And as much as I love my kids, it was so unbelievably nice to spend all the time with just my wife and I. We really needed it and I can't wait to do it again! :D

 

I hope this answers your questions and provides some food for thought for your next cruise!

 

-JKirkN (DH)

[jenischmeni]

Those are excellent points, valentinebaby1 and JKirkN. It's a great guide for those of us who are heading that direction and gives us ideas for possible things to see and do.

[itsrikkig]

OCT 8, 2013-day 6

Happy Anniversary to us!

 

Hubby and I had stayed up pretty late on Monday night, and had been up pretty early every day of the trip so far, so we ended up sleeping in. We had planned to go to brunch in the dining room, but ended up just grabbing breakfast from the buffet instead. It was our first breakfast on the ship, because with our last minute change of plans on Monday, we didn't have time for breakfast. I will admit the scrambled eggs were pretty bad, but if you put enough salsa on them they were edible. We never tried the omelet station on any morning, time was always an issue with our excursions. After breakfast, we just went to hang out on the Lido deck and see what was going on there. We watched an ice carving demonstration;

 

'

 

And then the Mixology competition:

 

 

Then it was time for the Hairy Chest Competition. I had a goal in my mind that I wanted one of us to win a 24k gold plastic ship on a stick, and I didn't care how he did it (lol). They were asking for entries, and there weren't a lot of people jumping up to volunteer, so I told him to and he did. I didn't think he was hairy enough to win, but I figured it would still be funny to watch. So he signed up. Here they are waiting for further instructions:

 

 

Each of the contestants (there were 8 I think), had to make their entrance to the little stage area, where there were 3 judges. Things got a little wild and after all of the contestants were done, each judge had to eliminate one contestant.

 

 

 

love the review

[boaterette]

I have loved reading both of your posts. How is your tooth doing by the way?

[valentinebaby1]

I have loved reading both of your posts. How is your tooth doing by the way?

 

Aw, thanks :)

 

Tooth has been a nightmare, truthfully. Went back for part 2 of the root canal, which they say was successful as they seem to have gotten everything out and say the tooth can still be saved, but they weren't able to fill it yet because it wasn't "dry" enough. There was still infection and so I'm currently on round 3 of antibiotics and I go back on Dec 27 to hopefully have it filled. Then in January I'll go back for the actual crown (have to wait to spread out insurance benefits and medical flex spending)

 

Meanwhile, I start root canal #2 on Dec 4. I'm just hoping it isn't as bad. They can't tell from the xrays if that one's roots are curled as well, so they won't know til they get in there and find out. We don't want to wait on this one in order to maximize insurance benefits and get it started with 2013's coverage and finish under 2014's coverage.

 

With a temporary filling on one side until Dec 27, and a temporary filling that will go in on Dec 4, on the other side of my mouth, I'm going to have a real hard time eating anything!