My Carnival Valor Southern Caribbean review!! With 2 days in Old San Juan !

[PS1818]

I finally got a chance to get caught up with the St. Lucia portion of your review and really enjoyed it. I thought the snorkeling at Jalousie Beach was the best we've seen yet and couldn't get over the colors of the coral. Your underwater pictures came out really nice. The spot you talked about is where we spent most of our time. So glad you you enjoyed Jalousie Beach, it is just gorgeous there and I LOVED it. We did the same tour with Spencer that you did, the "Jalousie Beach Break" and when we did it, Spencer, his daughter and another gal were our guides the whole day. We were also on the same boat, the Me See Dye II, to and from Jalousie Beach. When we did it in 2013 we had use of the snorkel gear, all day, so they obviously changed that part. I'd like to do his land/sea tour to see more of St. Lucia next time. I love that you did the Piton Beer bottle picture with the Piton in the background. We did the same thing and I've seen it in other reviews too! LOL!!! I use that picture as my computer wall paper (desk top background). :D Love the picture you got of the rainbow, btw. I see that framed and displayed. :)

 

 

Jalousie Beach was awesome. Maybe Spencer had all the snorkel equipment on the boat he was on but our guide looked confused when I asked him if they had equipment. So I don't know. I'm pretty sure the girl who rented the equipment to me was connected to Spencer in some way. I think she may have been his daughter. She's also who prepared lunch. So maybe they changed it to make extra money...? Haha I had to take the Piton beer pic, it wouldn't be a complete review of St. Lucia without one! Thank you!!

[PS1818]

 

 

 

 

[PS1818]

Today we woke up to beautiful weather and no worries of rain. I was pretty excited for this day because we had booked an excursion with "Javin's MyIsland Tours". Javin is a young guy (maybe 35) who was born and raised on the island of St. Kitts. The tour was to be pretty much all day...and the cost was $85 pp plus tip. We got off the ship and found Javin waiting for us at the prearranged spot which was very easy to find. We discovered that we would be the only 2 people on his tour that day and that was perfect for us! I think he said he takes up to 16 people. Since it was just us he drove his suv which was nice, clean, and air conditioned. I sat in the front seat so that I wouldn't get car sick. When he has larger tours he uses his open air bus.

 

Getting off the ship

 

St. Kitts port area

 

 

 

 

Our tour had a lot of parts to it. We were going to start by driving trough town to an abandon cotton mill, then onto the Black Rocks and climbing down to the water. The cool thing about this is that most of the other island tours go to the Black Rocks but the people only get to stand on the over look to see them. We got to climb down them and walk around on them. Next we

would head to the rain forest for a 3 mile (round trip) hike. After that a snorkel stop at a wreck and then some beach time at Ship Wreck beach. The whole time Javin took pics of us.

 

Javin gave us a short tour of town and pointed out some interesting things. My personal opinion of Basseterre was that it wasn't much to look at. I know that tourism is a pretty new source of income for the island and it shows. The town right outside of the port area was pretty gritty and even a little intimidating. I don't think I would walk around downtown by myself in the daytime. Javin said there is quite a bit of gang activity in town. We continued onto the old abandoned cotton mill where Javin used to play when he was a kid. P loves old machines so he really liked this stop. Javin gave us wild plants to smell and tested us on what we thought it was. We were wrong of course lol. Then we headed to the Black Rocks. While Javin was setting up the rope system to climb down we walked over to the look out area where most tours take their guests to see the rocks. There are a few vendors set up here and a man approached us with a baby monkey. From reading on CC I knew that they will put the monkey on you and then make you pay them when you take a photo of it. Plus I really don't like to be a part of anything that exploits poor innocent animals. So as soon as he started approaching I immediately told him we have zero dollars. This was not a lie because our stuff was locked in Javin's car. I expected he would turn around and walk away but he didn't. He seemed really nice and told me to hold the monkey at no charge. The monkey was so cute and its little feet were so soft. I really wanted to run away with it. He then told P that he could take a pic of me with it if we wanted to at no charge. So we did...and of course I felt guilty. But the monkey seemed healthy and well taken care of. He didn't have it in a diaper or any ridiculous clothes or costumes.

 

 

A few minutes later Javin came back to get us and we climbed down the hill to the rocks. It was so pretty down there with the waves crashing against the huge volcanic rock formations. I really enjoyed this part of the tour but I wouldn't suggest it to anyone who has weak ankles or balance issues. I would think it would be very easy to twist an ankle.

[Texasgalsa]

We booked with Javin also!! So glad you're doing a review on his tour! :)

[PS1818]

P checkin out the machines

 

 

The climb down and up the hill was easy. The ropes are just there so you don't slip.

Edited January 31, 2015 by PS1818

[PS1818]

View from the over look

 

View from the bottom of the hill

 

 

 

 

[PS1818]

After the Black rocks we headed to the rain forest. It took about 30 minutes to get there and it was a very pretty drive. We drove through different villages and Javin would point out places where his friends lived and where he went to school. It was very interesting to see that side of a tour. We made it to a trail that would take us through the rain forest. It was not a super difficult hike. If you have any issues with climbing over big rocks or aren't sure on your feet I wouldn't suggest it. We walked through water, climbed over wet mossy rocks, and there was a lot of mud. We wore water shoes that had good traction. There were all kinds of different trees and plants. It was really neat and very pretty. We saw goats and wild monkeys just roaming around. There are no mosquitoes in the rain forest because the cray fish eat the larvae so they never hatch. Also, there are no snakes on the island because the mongoose killed them all off. There are way more wild monkeys than there are people. The locals hate the monkeys because they ruin the crops and make life more difficult.

 

When we made it to the turn around point there is a fresh water pool that you can swim in if you like. I was the only one who jumped in and I am so glad I did! It felt amazing. Plus, how many times do you get to jump into a rain forest pool in the middle of a tropical island?

After we hiked back to where we started Javin prepared us some snacks of breads, pastries, and juices from a local bakery. It was really good and we needed the energy.

 

 

An adorable baby goat on the trail

 

Rain forest canopy

 

Wild monkeys!

 

Our snacks (sorry about the foggy lens...humidity)

 

My swim!

[PS1818]

After the rain forest we drove to a small rocky beach to snorkel over a ship wreck. I don't know what beach this was but it wasn't the type of beach you would want to lay around on. Javin provided the snorkel gear and we got into the water. There really wasn't anything to see on our swim to the wreck. The only thing we saw were starfish which were pretty cool. If I have one complaint about this tour it would be that our swim to the wreck was really long, and really fast. Javin seemed to be in a really big hurry to get there. We probably swam for about 20 minutes and pretty much as fast as we could swim just to keep up with him. And we were already pretty tired out from the hike. But once we got to the wreck we saw some pretty cool fish (including a lion fish and a sting ray) and it was neat. But other than the wreck and the coral around it there was not much to see. We made the death march swim back to the beach and loaded back up into the car and headed to shipwreck beach.

 

This was about the half way point to the wreck...look how far we are from the beach! lol

 

A cannon from the wreck

 

 

 

Lion fish!!

 

Sting Ray!!

 

This beach was very pretty and I was SOOOOO excited to see that there was a lady doing aloe massages!! I had read about these and it was on my list of things I really wanted to do at some point. I paid $25 and it lasted about 30 minutes. She used real aloe leaves and it was AMAZING!! I would really suggest doing this if you have the chance. We had the opportunity to swim if we wanted but we chose not to. We just relaxed for awhile and then headed back to the ship. I forgot to mention that we stopped at a couple places for photos on the way to the snorkel spot including Timothy Hill.

[Texasgalsa]

Did you guys wear life vest to get to the wreck? My 10 yr old is coming with me on the tour... Hope she can make the swim....

 

Please post more pictures from this tour please! Especially from the photo stops y'all took....

Edited January 31, 2015 by Texasgalsa

[PS1818]

Timothy Hill...the left side is the Atlantic and the right is the Caribbean.

 

 

This was at an overlook spot near where we snorkeled

 

Shipwreck Beach with Nevis in the background

 

The magical masseuse!

 

Very pretty water here

[PS1818]

We returned to the port area and bought some tee shirts, a magnet, and an ornament. St. Kitts port area was really nice and had a lot of shops, restaurants, and bars. We got back on the ship and showered and changed. Then we went to eat at Pizza Pirate. It was a bit busy because of course it was that time of day when not much is open. The line moved quickly tho and we got mushroom and pepperoni pizza. I really liked it. The crust was perfect. After that we watched sail away and went to take a nap.

 

After dinner we went to make our nightly donation to the casino. Side note....I think Carnival has the most attainable casino rewards of any ship or land casino I have been to. We are not huge gamblers but we do like to play a bit. P plays poker and I like slot machines. But we don't spend hours or thousands at the casino. Our budget was $300 to spend in the casino for this trip. I know that we won a little here and there and put it back in. On Carnival you use your sail and sign card to track your points. Once you reach 1500 points they come and give you a card that tells the bar servers in the casino that you get to drink for free! I made it to 1500! So the servers come and you can order a drink every 15 minutes. I had an envelope of $1 bills and was putting them in the machine one at a time and betting the minimum amount on a penny machine while hanging out with our new friends and drinking "free" drinks without spending a lot of money. It was great! The female half of our new friends liked to play slot machines and I have no idea how much she gambled but the casino host walked up and handed her a free cruise, and quite a few other people around us received one too. I didn't get one...I would imagine you have to bet a lot more than I was. But for next time I now know to do most of my gambling at the beginning of the cruise to reach the free drinks reward sooner in the cruise lol.

 

Up next... St. Maartin (Marigot and Maho Beach on our own)

 

 

Sailing into St. Kitts

 

Sailing out of St. Kitts

 

I win! (not really, but it felt like a win)

 

My first free drink!

 

 

I'm not sure if I already posted this pic...but this was a live cover band that was playing on the casino stage most nights and they were REALLY good!

[PS1818]

We booked with Javin also!! So glad you're doing a review on his tour! :)

 

It was a great tour! It's very active and you get to see a lot of things that no one else sees. He loves his island and he refers to it as "his back yard". Have fun!!

[PS1818]

Did you guys wear life vest to get to the wreck? My 10 yr old is coming with me on the tour... Hope she can make the swim....

 

Please post more pictures from this tour please! Especially from the photo stops y'all took....

 

We didn't but I would imagine you could request one. I'm sure he has them but I would email him to be sure. I posted more pics after you posted this question but if you want to see a ton of pics from all his tours you can go to his facebook page(google "Javin's MyIsland tours) and there's a link to his shutterfly account where he posts all the photos that he takes of his tours.

[familyfuncruise]

Great review and pics! Was there a midnight buffet?

[PS1818]

Great review and pics! Was there a midnight buffet?

 

Thanks! I don't know how extensive it was or what was offered because I never went but the Fun Times show that Rosie's was open for "Late night Snacks" from 11:30 pm- 1:00 am.

[Texasgalsa]

We didn't but I would imagine you could request one. I'm sure he has them but I would email him to be sure. I posted more pics after you posted this question but if you want to see a ton of pics from all his tours you can go to his facebook page(google "Javin's MyIsland tours) and there's a link to his shutterfly account where he posts all the photos that he takes of his tours.

 

 

Just saw how Javin post tons of pictures each day for his tours! That is crazy and such an amazing perk for this tour!!! Eeeee! Can't wait! : )

[jkosbur]

What is each islands local time compared to the ship time? Just want to make sure that we don't miss our excursions since we have booked all of them privately. Love reading these reviews as we get ready to leave on March 1st!

 

 

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[trippingpara]

What is each islands local time compared to the ship time? Just want to make sure that we don't miss our excursions since we have booked all of them privately. Love reading these reviews as we get ready to leave on March 1st!

 

 

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Once you're in Puerto Rico, you'll stay in the same time zone...ship and islands.

[disneyaholicraquel]

Do you mind sharing the name of the apartment? We will be heading down a couple days early in April and this sounds like a great idea.

[KirstyGee1978]

Love the review so far and the pictures of the Laundry Room really help me and knowing the cost!

Nov until we sail on Valor!

Love your honesty too :0)

[PS1818]

Love the review so far and the pictures of the Laundry Room really help me and knowing the cost!

 

Nov until we sail on Valor!

 

Love your honesty too :0)

 

 

Thank you! I was happy there was a laundry room! There's an ironing board and large sink in there as well as a vending machine fore soap and such.

[PS1818]

Do you mind sharing the name of the apartment? We will be heading down a couple days early in April and this sounds like a great idea.

 

 

It was really convenient! The name was Condominium La Puntilla. You can probably search that name on VRBO.com in the Old San Juan Listings.

[PS1818]

What is each islands local time compared to the ship time? Just want to make sure that we don't miss our excursions since we have booked all of them privately. Love reading these reviews as we get ready to leave on March 1st!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

The times were all the same as ship time. Same time zone as San Juan. Just to be sure, we always looked at the digital clock on the wall near the elevators and made sure our watch said the same thing. And when you leave the ship they always had a sign saying what time to be back on board.

[ParRoo]

Great review!

 

What was embarkation like? I've never cruised out of San Jaun, only Florida. Do you give your luggage to porters outside and then just take your carry on, or do you take everything with you through the check in process and then the porters take the bags?

 

For the Segway tour, did you get off them and walk around the fort, or just drive them around? Also, with the other stops in the tour, did you stay on the Segways the whole time?

[youwash]

I was interested in your remarks about taking Bonine for seasickness. Does this really not make you drowsy? Many cruises ago we tried Dramamine and spent the day in bed sleeping. And you can take this and still drink alcohol?! I have been using wrist bands and ginger but each cruise seems to be worse. Not really sick-sick but always feeling "off". Hoping to be able to enjoy my free drinks package on Celebrity.