Trip Report...........LONG......Valiant Lady 2/24/24...S. Caribbean

[tbmrt]

Getting caught up after getting home from our cruise on March 2nd.  My trip report follows.  Thanks to everyone who helped me plan along the way.  

 

Trip Report – Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady 2/24 – 3/2/24

 

Very long….but I like to keep these reports for future reference.

 

This trip was originally planned on the Brilliant Lady, but was changed to Valiant Lady.  We had cruised on Scarlet Lady from Miami in June and loved it so we decided to book the VL from San Juan to the Southern Caribbean in February.  We had 3 balcony cabins, 1 for my husband and me, 1 for our friends and 1 for my sister/daughter.

 

We had gotten a “coupon” onboard so we received $1,050 in loot and a $600 bar tab. Some of the loot was from our travel agent.  We had about $33 left on our bar tab when we disembarked and used the loot for small diamond earrings, t-shirts, etc.  Since this was a port intensive cruise, we weren’t onboard all day so we never completed the $600 bar tab.  (We were surprised at this because we do enjoy our drinks!)  Didn’t bring the 2 bottles of wine onboard and had a total of 3 bottles of Moet since our 3 cabins booked Splash of Romance.

 

The weather for the whole cruise was sunny and comfortable onboard and at all the ports.  Highest about 82 degrees; coldest about 64.

We have cruised on many cruiselines and thought the Valiant Lady rocked more than the others.  Our friends agreed.  Not a big deal, but you could feel it.

 

On 2/23 we flew from Tampa to San Juan on Jet Blue.  The only direct flight we could get left at 6AM so we were up very early.  Jet Blue’s seats and wifi were excellent.

 

The hotels near the Port in SJ were extremely expensive ($500 and up!) so we decided to go with an airbnb in the Rosalina/Carolina section of Puerto Rico, about a 10 min Uber to the ship.  Ubers were numerous and not too expensive.  The airbnb was plain, but had everything we needed and a small pool/courtyard to share with others. Check in time was 4pm, but we could leave our luggage in the office before that.   

 

We ate at a pizza place near the airbnb and the pizza was the most amazing I’ve ever eaten (I’m originally from NJ so know good pizza!)  Pretty expensive though. 

 

Had breakfast at Kasalta’s near the airbnb.   What a great place for breakfast.  Everything from pastry to hot breakfasts, puddings, cake, etc.  They had wine, sandwiches, etc as well. The coffee was terrific!

 

On Saturday, 2/24 we ubered to the ship to drop off our luggage at 10AM, get checked in and obtain our ship’s bracelet.  Had a few drinks across from the ship and went back at around 12:30…Walked into the terminal and was let on the ship around 1.  My daughter was able to book shows there before getting on the ship.  The rest of us could not do so.  She was able to book everything we wanted.  Had previously booked our dinners at midnight on the 45^th day before our cruise.

 

Our cabin steward and his assistant were very friendly and cleaned our cabin once a day. We could request towels etc on the tablet that was in the room or by calling Sailor Services on phone or chatting on the app. I found that Sailor Services was definitely the place to chat for anything  you need.

The shower was big enough…Not too much space in the bathroom for cosmetics, etc. though. The bed and pillows were very comfortable. 

 

Booked the thermal spa that was part of our Splash of Romance package.  While it was very pretty, the one hot tub only fit 2 people, didn’t have jets and water was just warm..not hot at all.  There were 2 cold pools and 1 a bit larger pool with room temperature water.  The  heated seats were lukewarm and not comfortable.  They had 2 steam rooms and a sauna which were nice.  I think paying the $200 for the Splash of Romance helps if you don’t have a very early embarkation time, but we would never do the thermal spa again. The candies they left a few times during the cruise weren’t that good.

 

We ate at all the restaurants except Test Kitchen.  My husband loved it on Scarlet Lady, but I really disliked it.  So we headed to the Galley for dinner that night…The butter chicken and Beef Wellington were excellent.

 

The Wake was a big disappointment.  Steaks were very tough, lamp chops dry.  Service was very slow.  Did brunch and same situation.

Love Extra Virgin..food and service was wonderful.Pink Agave was good and Razzle Dazzle was just okay.

 

Most of our group didn’t care for the food at Gunbae and the server didn’t speak good English so we had no idea what we were eating.  Fun playing the drinking game though.

 

We ordered Ship Eats twice in the early morning.  Came in about ½ and hour and although food/coffee were excellent, they were cold. 

 

The PJ Party was changed to The Manor.  We were disappointed that it wasn’t on deck and headed to The Manor…Just overly packed so we didn’t stay long.

 

Scarlet Night was absolutely amazing...music, dancing, watching acrobats, etc.

 

Loved Misbehave and Carlos the Diva - best ever.

 

Tortola - Went to Jost Van Dyke White Bay on a VV excursion.  Great time with excellent painkiller drinks. 

 

We stayed on the ship in Guadeloupe.  2 in our group went on a private kayak tour and enjoyed it.

 

Barbados – Did a catamaran tour with private company…Just 9 people on it.  Food was amazing and service great…We had a wonderful time.

 

St. Lucia – Did private speedboat excursion to Jalousie Beach.  Absolutely beautiful.On our Sea Day we did Loteria bingo which we love.  Lots of margaritas and fun. Also did slot pull with our FB group.  Got our $ back plus just a bit.

 

Antigua - Walked around town and came back to enjoy the ship.

 

Left our luggage outside the doors by 10 pm.  Went to brunch the next morning and then easily picked up our luggage in the terminal.  Headed to a Resort Pass hotel to spend the day.   Fabulous service, good food and drinks. 

 

Left the resort by Uber about 3:30 pm and headed to airport for our approximate 7:30 flight. USDA and TSA both pretty empty!  Our United flights were fine (2 of us). We received a notice that our Jet Blue flight was delayed an hour.  My sister told me to keep watching our email because often Jet Blue moves the flight back to its original time.  Sure enough we took off just a little after the originally planned time. Got home to Tampa around 11 PM.  Slept the whole flight. 

 

Although I thought most things on Valiant Lady were fine, I don’t think we will cruise with VV for awhile due to same restaurants and most shows.

We enjoyed our past cruises on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, NCL and Windsurf but think we’ll stick to land vacations for awhile.  We had gone to Ecuador and the Amazon a few years ago and it was wonderful.

Edited March 5 by tbmrt
changed words

[herdfans4]

18 minutes ago, tbmrt said:

My daughter was able to book shows there before getting on the ship.  The rest of us could not do so.  She was able to book everything we wanted

Did she have a different phone then the rest of your party?

 

thanks for the review

[Back to school]

Thanks for the trip report!  I booked March 23-31 San Juan - Miami.  

[herdfans4]

2 minutes ago, Back to school said:

I booked March 23-31 San Juan - Miami.  

We are booked on the same one.  Can't wait!

 

22 minutes ago, tbmrt said:

Headed to a Resort Pass hotel to spend the day.   Fabulous service, good food and drinks. 

which resort did you go to?  we have a later flight and are considering this option

[tbmrt]

18 hours ago, herdfans4 said:

Did she have a different phone then the rest of your party?

 

thanks for the review

No.  We all had Samsung Galaxy Android

[JandPB]

We were on the same cruise. I agree about the Wake. It was ok. If it were another cruise line and I had paid for it, steaks would have been going back. Steaks came out cold and/or improperly cooked. Service first night was great. Second night, awful. We could have done the Galley more and been happy. We also went to Jost Van Dyke and the Soggy Dollar. Did not disappoint. We enjoyed sailing from San Juan. Third time for us. We took advantage of the new itineraries and the MNVV and booked out of San Juan again for next March. Carlos was fantastic. So much fun. We enjoyed the vibe. The parties were indeed parties. Met some nice people, the staff except for one bartender were amazing. Glad you had fun. 

[Watchmen]

Wake is terrible. Extra Virgin is amazing. 
 

PSA:  The spa doesn’t have a “hot tub.” The pool is just a “warm” pool for cooling off after being in the sauna and is useful to those who don’t want the icy cold plunge. My wife and spa snobs and love the spa on VL, but I know many get disappointed. 

[brookie848]

Can I ask what catamaran VV uses for the trip to Jost Van Dyke? I'm just wondering if it is the same one NCL uses (Rebel Yell).

[Back to school]

January 14 VV, Rebel Yell