timenprayer

Hi everyone! After an extended break, I'm back to finish the review. Sorry for anyone that was awaiting more.

After our first view of the Pitons, the bus tour continued to a stop in the road that served as a nice overlook of them. The bus stopped again and we were able to get off and walk around and take some more pictures:

There were lots of vendors there selling local items. There were also folks selling soft drinks and Piton beers. I thought "when else will I be able to do this?' and therefore there is the obligatory Piton beer shot:

It was beautiful from this spot to overlook the town of Soufriere. I can't describe the feeling, but it was peaceful and relaxing. To me, it was a very beautiful spot and I will certainly remember it from this trip.

After this stop, our bus continued on to the St. Lucia Botanical Gardens. We spent probably about an hour to ninety minutes there. I was able to take several pictures using my new iPhone 6 plus, and I was pretty happy with some of them:

Our bus driver actually narrated and led the tour of the botanical gardens as well. She moved at a pretty quick pace, but we were able to keep up and get all the pictures that we wanted. There was a Pixels staff from Carnival with us on this tour, and we took several photos with him, but we never learned exactly where our photos went that he took that day. I'm not sure where those went. We even went to the Pixels desk later on in the cruise to ask, but we never did find the pictures that the photographer took.

Next up: The sea portion of the Land and Sea Combo Excursion to Soufriere.

I took a lot of photos from Anse la Raya and even a video:

As I mentioned, there were several vendors here and plenty of places to buy souvenirs if you were into that sort of thing. I also took some pictures of the artwork in the town as we were leaving.

There were some great views from the bus as we continued to make our way toward Soufriere.

As we continued on our way, we at last were able to catch a view of the Pitons. This was the first time that I had actually seen them with my own eyes and I really enjoyed just staring at them. The sky was beautiful with the clouds.

 

Really great review.

 

I'm going with my parents in 10 days (yay!) and I'm interested in the Barbados tour but I'm wondering if my parents would have a hard time getting on or off the catamaran? My dad isn't in great shape and both my parents are in their 70's. Do you have an opinion?

Thanks for reading the review and for your question! We really loved the Barbados tour and can't say enough good things about it.

To answer your question, I would say it depends on how well you feel that your dad gets around. The staff on the catamaran from Tiami are excellent - they will certainly offer a hand to help anyone get on or off the catamaran. There were steps to get on and off, but the crew was there to assist. They did ask all guests to remove footwear while getting on (I think because everyone had flip flops on). If your dad can get on and off of an escalator at a shopping mall, I would say that he could get on and off the catamaran. Remember that being at sea comes into play - you'll want to consider how your dad would do with his "sea legs" on. There will be several moments on the tour where he may want to get up and move around the catamaran - lunch is served buffet style - so he would either need to get his lunch himself or I suppose someone could bring it to him.

One other thing to consider, there aren't really too many forward facing seats on the catamaran, if that makes sense. There are some rear-facing seats and there are some side-facing seats. All seats are plastic bench style seats, if that makes sense. They are regular height - not too high or too low, but they may be hard to get up from if your dad has any problems standing from a sitting position.

Hope this helps! If you have more questions, please ask. :)

Here is a youtube video that I shot as we were making our way on the streets outside of Castries. You can hear our tour guide and also see how narrow and windy the streets were.

One of the buildings we saw on the tour - I'm afraid that I don't remember what the guide said it was. Sorry!

As I mentioned, sitting in the back of the bus as we made our way up and down the hills and over the narrow streets was a bit of an adventure! Some people (my wife) have a different way of dealing with adventure:

After a while, our tour made a short stop at an area that overlooked Marigot Bay. I was able to take several nice pictures from here:

We probably had 15 or so minutes at this stop and there were a few vendors there selling goods. We looked around for a few minutes but didn't buy anything. There were vendors that came up to folks in the tour and tried to get us to buy stuff, but they weren't overly pushy to my mind.

We then continued the tour and stopped in front of some banana trees that were on the island:

We then headed to the next stop on the tour which was in Anse la Raye. There, we probably stopped for about half an hour for more pictures and shopping. There were many more vendors set up in this area.

I was able to make my way to the beach area behind all the vendors to take a few photos:

More photos from Anse la Raya in the next post...

I'm not exactly sure what time our excursion left, but I remember that we had breakfast on Lido again that morning. The offerings on Lido are pretty much the same each morning, but they do change out the kind of potatoes. I remember that some mornings were better than others - but again, we're not picky and we're not complainers.

A lot of the Carnival excursions on the Valor meet in the Ivanhoe Lounge prior to departure. They then walk you of the lounge, off the ship, and directly to the area from where your tour is departing. This was the case for St. Lucia and we were ushered to a bus that was waiting for us. There were a lot of people doing this tour on this day, so there were actually three buses of excursion goers. I will have forever etched into my memory that we were on Bus 33. The woman that served as our guide was very fun and had a great personality. There were several times throughout the tour that she commented that we were the fun bus. She would say things like "look at those other people on the other buses - no smiles - no fun." She would also do really well at congregating our bus passengers and keeping us together. More than once she said things like "Bus 33 - we make it happen every day." I loved her on-vacation so anything-fun goes mentality. She also seemed to be very proud of the island and her culture.

All aboard Bus #33 for our day of fun:

Leaving the cruise terminal area of St. Lucia:

Sights from the tour bus as we make our way through Castries, St. Lucia:

As we made our way up the narrow, windy streets outside of Castries, we were able to have a photo stop for a good view of the Valor as she was in port that morning:

Up Next: St. Lucia and the Land & Sea Combo to Soufriere, Continued

Sorry for the delay! Now back to the review!

As I was looking through our pictures, I found some more beautiful sunset pictures from when we were leaving Barbados:

I also found a picture that we had taken at dinner on Barbados night.

After our excellent day in Barbados, we were looking forward to another day in St. Lucia. Because we did a snorkeling and water-based excursion in Barbados, we were looking for something more land-based for St. Lucia. After looking through the Fun Ashore guide, our group decided to go ahead and do the Land and Sea Combo to Soufriere tour. The Combo tour had everything that we wanted for the day - to see a lot of the island of St. Lucia, to see the Pitons, and to spend some time in the water as well. Two years ago on the Victory, my wife and I did the Carnival Adventure Zip Line tour. We had an excellent time zip-lining in St. Lucia and we'd certainly recommend that tour as well - but this time we wanted to actually see more of the island and the Pitons. The Combo tour also offered food, which we have really liked on our previous excursions that we've done through Carnival.

Pictures coming into port at St. Lucia:

Next post coming soon - I took a lot of pictures on St. Lucia and I can only post six at a time.

We woke up on Wednesday morning ready to go for the day ahead. When we cruised this itinerary two years ago on the Victory, Barbados day was definitely one of my favorites of the whole trip. We loved it so much, actually, that we ended up booking the exact same excursion this time around - the five star catamaran and turtle encounter.

We had a terrific view from our balcony that morning as we came into port. We were also able to see some dolphins jumping in the water off the front of the ship. If you watch the video in the first post that I made, you can see some of them there. We really enjoyed being able to see the dolphins in the water and it was a big deal for us being from Ohio.

We ate breakfast up on the Lido deck, I think. I don't really remember for sure, honestly. We either did that or we got room service. In any case, we had to meet fairly early for our excursion since it lasted most of the time that we were in Barbados.

A bus met us at the designated location in the Barbados cruise terminal. After a very short, 5 minute bus ride, we arrived at the Tiami catamaran company that operates the tour. They had us sign the obligatory waiver and board the catamaran. There was ample seating on the catamaran. You could choose to sit up front on the ropes, with the open water below, or you could sit in the back on comfortable seats - either in the sun or in the shade. Having done the tour before and remembering how hot it was a times, we sat in the back and had some shade.

Then they started the engines and we headed out to sea. After a short ride, they opened the catamaran sails and we sailed along the coast of Barbados, in the warm Caribbean sun and surf. The excellent bar staff came by and made sure that our cups were never empty - no alcohol prior to snorkeling, but after that, the rum drinks flowed freely and endlessly - to our heart's content.

After a while of sailing, they came to the spot where the sea turtles swim. They allowed snorkelers to freely swim with the turtles in all their underwater majesty - making sure, of course, that the turtles are protected (They asked for no touching of the turtles). They had food to entice the turtles and attentively watched all swimmers to make sure everyone was safe and having no issues.

Snorkeling equipment was provided by the tour and was in good repair. On this particular day, the seas were a bit rougher than the first time we did this tour. They advised that only advanced swimmers enter the water, as the current and the waves were a bit rough. The staff was excellent - attending to needs of those who struggled at all times. We were able to see turtles and enjoy the snorkeling portion of the tour.

(We saw the Jolly Roger Pirate Ship excursion as we were headed back to the ship. It looked like those folks also had a great time as there was loud music, cheering, and some dancing.)

After everyone has snorkeled for some time, they moved the catamaran to another location for some more snorkeling - this time with a view of the coral reefs of Barbados. The reefs where nice enough, but not super duper colorful (just being honest). It was still a great time. The staff continued to be attentive and helpful at all times.

After the second snorkel stop, it was time for lunch. They had super tasty chicken, fish, and cole slaw. Everything was excellent. They also opened the bar for rum drinks and everyone had a good time.

Throughout the tour, there was music playing and the staff were fun and interacted with guests as well as each other. The jokes, fun, and staff were great.

After the lunch, the catamaran went to a beach in Barbados (all beaches there are public) and we did some swimming. The catamaran anchored off the beach and there was a short, can't-touch-the-bottom swim to the beach. They did offer noodles and they helped keep guests buoyant as they swam to shore.

After some time swimming in the crystal clear blue waters of Barbados, it was time to head back to the catamaran and head back to port. A short bus ride back to the terminal and the tour was over.

I can't say enough about the tour - it was great. The staff, food, and set-up of the day really stand out. Having done the same tour twice, we were still impressed and we had an excellent time.

I am not so much of a snorkeler, but my wife does really well. On this day, the seas were much rougher than two years ago and I struggled a bit with the snorkeling. I still had a very good time, though.

The last picture above was taken from the cruise ship once we returned. If you look next to the long white building, you can see a couple of little yellow houses. This is the Tiami company and where the catamaran sets out to sea.

Once we were back on board, I think we went back up to Lido for some food. I think we then took it easy for a little bit in the room and then went to dinner. That evening, we had thoughts of going to the show, but we ended up changing our mind. We instead went up to Lido for one of the Dive-in Movies: Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

We were able to find some loungers without and difficulty and it was really beautiful and refreshing out on the open deck. My wife wanted some popcorn, so I went down to get some and brought it back. We both quickly discovered that it was very bad and not seasoned at all. We didn't finish it needless to say.

We probably watched about an hour to an hour and a half of the movie before we got really tired and headed back to the cabin.

Overall, Barbados day lived up to it's memory from two years ago. We had another incredible time doing the same excursion. The blue waters of Barbados will always be in my memory when I think of a Caribbean paradise.

Next up: St. Lucia and the Land & Sea Combo to Soufrier

For our day at Sea, we decided to do the Behind the Fun Tour. My wife and I did this tour on the Carnival Pride last fall, and we really enjoyed the tour and thought it was a great experience. We strongly encouraged our friends that were traveling with us to do the tour and they went ahead and booked it. They shared with us that it cost $55 per person, and I was nearly confident that when we did it on the Pride it was closer to $95 per person! When they told us that it was only $55, my wife and I talked it over and we decided to do the tour as well. For that price, I considered it worth it - even though there would be a lot of repeat information.

We met for the 8:45 AM departure time for the tour. They gathered everyone in the Library of the ship and had a few refreshments available. Once they had everyone gathered, they provided lanyards and badges that everyone was to wear throughout the tour. They also had the ships security come and wand each guest to verify that there were no cell phones brought along on the tour.

Once the tour begins, we were able to go into several of the crew only areas of the ship. Many of these were the exact same places as the Pride tour, with a few notable exceptions. Areas that we visited on both ships included behind stage, the cast dressing rooms, the engine control room, the ship's bridge, the Human Resources office, the staff lounge, the staff mess hall, the waste disposal room, the main staging area below the ship (where all luggage and cargo is loaded), the laundry area, the galley, the beer and soda refrigerator, the meat freezer, and the Steak House. Because of the Valor's design, we were able to go the crew area all the way forward, where there is a great view while at sea as well as a crew hot tub. (The Pride does not have such an area). We also got to walk through the Captain's dining room on the Valor, which we did not do on the Pride. On the Pride's Behind the Fun tour, we went into the Pixels developing room, which we did NOT do on the Valor. On the Pride we also were able to see some pictures of the crew accommodations, and they really did not show these as much on the Valor. The Bridge was the final area we visited on both the Pride and Valor tours, after which they took you to the Steak House to give out the goodie bags. I was impressed that on the Pride tour, the captain himself came out and took a group picture as well as individual or couple pictures with each couple. On the Valor, the captain was busy with paperwork (read: in the restroom :D) and did not come out, one of the ship's officers came instead. There was only a group picture and no individual or couple pictures taken. Also - on the Pride they gave us a Behind the Fun hat, lanyard, and bookbag. On the Valor, it was only the lanyard and hat - there was no bookbag. Also, on the Pride we had mimosas in the Steak House - on the Valor, it was just orange juice.

For me, the tour was great - I enjoyed going into all the areas even though most were very similar to what we had done on the Pride. Again - for $55 it was worth it for me - even just to experience a few different areas of the ship and to see how each ship is similar / different than before. Our friends that were with us definitely enjoyed it and appreciated all that the Behind the Fun tour has to offer. Both times that we did the tour, the guide was really great and showed energy, enthusiasm, and pride in their work on Carnival.

After the Behind the Fun tour ended, it was probably around 12:00 PM. I'm not really sure, but I do remember that we had plenty of time to go down to the sea day brunch, which we are big fans of. My wife and I have always enjoyed the sea day brunch and we felt like the food was very tasty. I remember that I got the steak & eggs as well as the bacon mac & cheese. Both were very tasty. My wife and I got our free bar drinks, and we both had a kiss on the lips. To me, as a non-beer, non-alcohol drinker in general - this drink is the epitome of Carnival Cruises and it brings the whole Caribbean experience together in tasty, frozen perfection. :D Everyone in our group seemed to enjoy the brunch.

After the sea day brunch, my wife and I had the most excellent intentions of going to the tea time at 3:00 and the bingo session at 3:30. We really liked the tea time on the Pride last fall, and I loved, loved, loved, the scones. But, because we were on vacation and because our nap lasted longer than we anticipated, we didn't make it to either! We basically slept the entire afternoon and then got ready for dinner, which was the first cruise elegant.

Right before we left for dinner, the chocolate covered strawberries from the chef that we met on the Behind the Fun tour were delivered to our stateroom. We didn't want to spoil our appetites so we saved those for later on.

7CYQ55WReMU

We had an excellent dinner that night. I don't remember what I ate, but I am sure I had copious amounts of meat. On the first elegant night, we took a couple of Pro Portraits, but we didn't end up buying any of those that we had taken on the first elegant night. I love to have a lot of fun with those things, and my wife is gracious and kind and she loves me so she takes pictures with me.

After dinner, we went to the 8:15 PM show, which was "NightClub Express." We also enjoyed another tasty fruity frozen drink from the bar. I think I tried the Twilight Zone. It was tasty, but it's no Kiss on the Lips! Overall, we enjoyed the show and were entertained, but it wasn't my favorite show of the cruise.

After the show, we did our normal - wander around the ship - stop at the casino bit for awhile. As I mentioned before, we don't stay up super late so I'm sure we were back to room before it got too late and in bed.

Up Next: Barbados and the 5-Star Catamaran and Turtle Encounter - Take Two!

So we are going in December to St. John's. I would assume if I want to take similar taxi pics heading to St Johns I would want to be on the left side of the taxi? Theses pics are beautiful, and we can not wait to go.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I was seated on the left side of the taxi. It was an open air taxi on St. John and the driver was kind enough to stop and let any passengers that wanted to take pictures. We also went back the way we came after our beach day was over so you could take more pictures then if you wanted. The second time, of course, the taxi driver did not stop.

After taking several pictures from the balcony of the beautiful St. Thomas sights, it was time to head down to the MDR for some breakfast. This would be the only time that we ate in the MDR for breakfast. The food was good, but just average. I don't remember too much about it, honestly.

After we ate breakfast, we decided we would head off the ship and get to our day that we had planned in St. John. From all the reading I had done on cruise critic, we had a good plan of action how we were going to get over to St. John for the day at Trunk Bay. When we had cruised on the Victory two years ago, my wife and I did a Carnival excursion that was an island tour of St. John. After doing that tour, we knew we had to come back and spend some time at the beach.

First, we took a taxi to Red Hook. This cost $10 per person from my recollection. We had made arrangements with the taxi driver to be back around 2PM, and she indicated that she would meet us there then. The taxi driver really liked my friend that was riding shotgun, and she made several funny comments to him on the ride over. One thing to note - the ride to Red Hook is longer than I expected it to be - it felt like it was nearly a half hour of windy, narrow roads. Also - when catching a taxi at the cruise terminal, be sure to go to the taxi queue that is marked - do not try to ride with "unofficial" taxi operators that are outside of the terminal. As everyone else has posted, they will wait to fill up a taxi before you leave. In our van, we were the only ones going to Red Hook. The others from the cruise ship were going elsewhere. We were the first stop.

Once at Red Hook, we then bought tickets for the water ferry to St. John. If I remember right, this was $28 which was $7 per person per way. The ferries leave on the hour and so we probably were on the 10AM ferry.

On the way over, the seas were actually just a bit rough, so the boat bobbed up and down quite a bit. The crew made sure that everyone was seated and safe during the trip. My wife and I took time to apply lots and lots of sunscreen for our beach day ahead.

One we arrived at St. John, we boarded another taxi that took us to Trunk Bay. I think this taxi was another $12 or $6 per person. Our first views of Trunk Bay from the taxi:

Once we arrived, there was a small admission fee to get into Trunk Bay, but it was only $4 per person.

t9kbwhqUX0U

We had a great day at Trunk Bay. There was a food stand just off the beach. Their food was a bit pricey - but for a day at the beach in paradise, I couldn't complain. I had a tasty burger and soda and was very happy. I basically spent the entire time we were there getting in and out of the water, applying sun screen, and laying in the shade of a palm tree nearby. It was a very breezy day and that helped to keep us cool. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about Trunk Bay. We loved every minute and it helped to keep us get the vacation started in an awesome way.

There was also a place where you could rent beach chairs and other beach items if you wanted to.

I think it was about 1:30 PM when we decided to start heading back to the ship. We wanted to be on the 2PM ferry so that we would be sure to have enough time to get back on the Valor. Once we boarded the taxi at Trunk Bay, we again had to wait for some time for the taxi to get more people before we left. That took maybe 10 minutes or so and then we were on our way back to the water ferry stop.

The seas were much calmer on the way back to St. Thomas. Once we arrived back to St. Thomas, it was about 20 after 2PM. We looked for our driver from the morning before, but there was a taxi that was right outside the door taking folks back to the cruise terminal, so we went ahead and boarded that taxi. The ride back was uneventful.

We were back on board the Valor probably by 3PM or so, and we made a quick trick up to Lido to get some food. I don't remember any of the details of what we ate, but the food was good and met our needs.

After that, we had some down time to get cleaned up and ready for tonight's dinner, which was our first time to be seated at our table for the week. I didn't really take too many pictures at dinner during the week, and I definitely didn't take any pictures of food. We had a group of 4 and we were sat at a table with another group of 4. Our table mates were nice enough, but just that. Nothing wrong with anybody, just not the funnest group of people ever. They probably felt the same way about us, though, too. We were at the early seating for dinner, which my wife and I have always done and we've always been happy with it.

While we were at dinner, I had this idea to try out the time-lapse video capture of sail away with my phone from the balcony. I put my phone on the balcony and set up while we were at dinner. It's not the most exciting video ever, but it's nice.

qsVIowrg9PQ

I also did one of sunset a bit later. The time lapse was going very well and then the ship turned.

gv6uQweQGNI

After dinner, we went to the Welcome Aboard show in the Ivanhoe Lounge. We enjoyed the show and appreciated it for what it was. Again, we are not complainers and are pretty go-with-the flow.

Overall, the first day was a great day and we had a super good time. As you will see from the rest of the review that is coming, we usually book excursions through Carnival and have a good time with that. This was our first time doing something on our own and we enjoyed that, too. If you were every wondering if you could do a trip to St. John's on your own - the answer is yes, you can - and you should. St. John is easily one of the most beautiful places that I've been to in the Caribbean.

Next post: Sea Day Fun and Behind the Fun Tour!

Sorry about the delay - yesterday was a crazy busy day and I didn't have time to get one here and post the next segment.

After spending some time in our room, our luggage arrived and my wife and I began to unpack. Last year on the Pride, we had very limited hangers in our cabin, so we brought some along. This year on the Valor, there were more hangers and so we actually had more than we needed.

My wife and I generally over pack for our cruise vacations and we did that again this year. Better to have more than you need to run out of things! I always pack a power strip and an extension cord so that I can have my phone plugged in next to the bed. All of the pictures and video that I took for this vacation were from my iPhone 6 Plus. I was very satisfied with the quality of the pictures and the convenience was great.

Before we knew it, the signal sounded and it was time to head to the muster station for the safety briefing. I remembered from two years ago on the Victory that this was hot, long, and tedious. This year, I was surprised at how quickly the muster drill went. It seemed to me that they cut out most of the Spanish-speaking portion of the drill and that made it much, much shorter. I also remember that there were some people near us that would not be quiet during the muster drill - maybe they were drunk or just plain rude, but the Carnival staff did ask them more than once to quiet down. Once safety briefing was over - it was time for sail away!

Two years ago on the Victory, my wife and were active watchers of the Sail Away party from the Lido deck. For this cruise, I think everyone wanted a bit more quiet and relaxation as we sailed away from San Juan, so we all decided to hit the Serenity Area on the Sun deck forward. The bar area up there was not yet open, so I made my way down to Lido to grab two DODs. I brought them back to the Serenity area for a great, relaxing time.

We very much enjoyed the time on the Serenity area for most of sail away. 3 out of the 4 of our group even got up and did some dancing in the Serenity area - as we could hear the music from the Sail Away party just fine. We had a great time - after all, we were on vacation!

After an hour and a half or so up on Serenity, we decided to make our way to the casino and try our luck. We arrived at the casino just prior to them reaching international waters and turning on the machines. We had maybe a 10 minute wait or so and then they turned the machines on. My wife and I regularly go to the casino back home, but our friends that traveled with us not so much. We all had a good time but nobody had any great luck that night. We probably spent another hour or so in the casino, before we decided to call it a night and head to bed. Our friends did a little more exploring of the ship and walking around, but we were ready for bed. For me, one of the best parts of a balcony stateroom is in the morning - being able to enjoy the awesome views and weather when coming into port.

I'm not exactly sure what time I woke up in the morning, but I woke in plenty of time to capture arriving a port.

After doing some exploring on the ship and walking around a bit, we headed to our cabin, which was ready right at 1:30 PM as they said it would be.

For this cruise, we had cabin 1031, which was on the port side of the Panorama deck. When we were planning this booking, we chose this cabin because it was:

1. A balcony :)

2. High up

3. Below the spa

On our October 2013 cruise, we had a balcony on the Pride and we experienced a lot of chair scraping noises at very early hours of the morning - so we wanted to be sure that we had a place that was a little bit quieter - and this time, we had absolutely no noise during the night - other than children running up and down the hallways at late hours.

So... what can I say about cabin 1031? Pretty much a standard balcony cabin if you've sailed in one before. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this cabin and we enjoyed it very much. The neighbors on either side were nice enough and like I said, we had no issues. The smell of smoke was apparent on the balcony, but this was the last cruise with Carnival where that should be an issue.

It was interesting, but there was absolutely nothing in the "goodie" bowl in the room. I know before we had some breath-freshening strips or Breathe Right things, but this time it was just an empty bowl in our cabin. No worries, though.

One thing that really made me laugh was the label for the "shower gel." This was really funny to me and I even ended up sharing it on John Heald's Facebook because of his disdain for the French. :D

I will say that cabin 1031, to my preference, was always a bit on the warm side - this, even though the thermostat was turned all the way down for the duration of the cruise.

The other thing that we noticed was that our drink coupons for being returning Carnival cruisers were not in our cabin at embarkation. Matter of fact, they were also not there on Tuesday morning either, which was our one sea day - so my wife made a trip down to guest services to enquire. While she was down there, no joke, the stateroom steward came by and delivered the drink coupons. I had to laugh when my wife came back to the room with two comped drinks from guest services and then I showed her that the coupons had arrived. :D I'm not sure what happened there - but in past experiences the coupons were always on the desk when we arrived at our stateroom.

Our traveling companions had an inside stateroom right across the hall - 1033. I spent a few seconds in their room, and it also seemed like a very nice room. They had not cruised since 1997, and they said they will go for the balcony every time from here on out. They came over to our room a couple of times to enjoy coming into port and the views from the balcony.

I didn't really take any cabin pictures or anything like that. If you want to know more about the cabin, you can research online where there are plenty of pictures.

Before too long, it was time for dinner, and we made our way down to the dining room to eat. For the first night of this cruise, it's open seating at the dining room, so you will be at a different table with different wait staff for the first evening. Our dining experience was great. I don't remember what I ate that first evening, but I do remember getting three desserts! I had two creme brûlées and one melting cake - I was on vacation after all! :D

One of our friends that cruised with us is gluten free - not by choice - and I was able to to witness firsthand how Carnival handles special dietary needs. I will tell you that I was beyond impressed with the staff and their accommodation. It was also really great to see my friend enjoy the cruise as far as food goes and get to eat pretty much what she wanted without having the worry of cooking her own meal or missing out on things. Basically each night they would have one of the Carnival staff - for my friend it was Radmila - come by and take her order the night before. She would browse the menu and then Radmila would take her order and make sure the chef could prepare the item requested in a gluten free way. In most instances, they could and did. Sometimes my friend had to make a second choice - but this was rare. She would order for breakfast and dinner the night before. Again, I was beyond impressed here.

OK - I've ran out of time this morning. Next post I'll get to Sail Away. Thanks for reading!

After a great night's sleep and some sleeping in, we awoke ready for the day ahead!

I don't remember exactly what time we got up, but I remember spending some time on the beach just walking around before Numero Uno had their "continental breakfast" set up. There is just something about waking up next to the water and experiencing the morning in a new, unfamiliar place.

As I mentioned, the hotel has a very quaint feel to it - I think there are only a dozen or so rooms in the place. What was Pamela's Restaurant the night before was now the area where the continental breakfast was being served. When I first went in there - prior to the breakfast being set up - I was amazed at how HUMID the room was inside - I knew right away that I would want to eat outside again. No worries, though - we're on vacation!

Even though we slept in, there were not too many people around or up yet. After awhile, the breakfast was set up - So... there was not really too much to choose from. It was a pretty small offering. They had some bananas, some cereal, and some small pastries. They also had two different varieties of juice - one that was punch-like and another kind that I don't really remember (not orange). At first, I took a pastry and had a bowl of cereal so as to allow other guests to eat from the meager offerings. After awhile, more guests showed up and they did bring out replacement pastries and cereal boxes. I went probably 2-3 times to eat a few more pastries and another bowl of cereal because I knew that the next time I ate would be on the Valor on Lido after embarkation.

Check out from Numero Uno was 11AM, so our group decided we would check out right at 11 and then, because we were excited and ready to go, head right to the Cruise terminal. Check out was quick and easy. The staff at Numero Uno called a cab for us and it arrived a short while later. After another fun 15-minute-or-so cab ride to the cruise terminal, we were ready to go.

And now for the really-fun-not-really-so-fun part. :D As we pull up to the cruise terminal, there are already a slew of people there - both disembarking and arriving passengers. The taxi driver finds a place to park and a porter comes up to load our bags. The taxi drive proceeds to offload our bags from the back of the taxi onto the baggage cart that the porter was still holding. Because the taxi driver put the bags onto the cart with some gusto, this caused the baggage cart that the porter was holding to slip out of his hands. The bags fell to the ground in a disorganized cluster. What ensued was a feisty discussion in Spanish between our taxi driver and the porter - neither of which were none too pleased with each other.

At this point, I have to assume that this set our porter in a crusty mood. He did eventually load our bags, but he was not too friendly or helpful. Once our bags were loaded - outright confusion, chaos, and disorder began. The porter seemed to have his idea of where we should go, but after he led us there, he called us back over to talk to him. I had tried to tip him there, but he wouldn’t take any money. I was seriously confused and didn’t understand what we were supposed to do or where we were supposed to go. We had gotten into what I assumed was the line to enter the cruise terminal, but nothing was marked clearly and there were all kinds of people everywhere. After realizing that our porter wanted us to stay in the line, we got back into line and then entered the first layer of security. There were officials checking boarding passes and photo ID before you could enter the actual terminal. I mean there were people everywhere and it was very stressful – especially for our friends who were cruising out of San Juan for the first time. As we were about to show our documents to the official, someone came pushing from behind asking where the “priority” line was. I had to laugh at that – clearly this was not a situation where status or priority for Carnival had any bearing on how this line operated.

Once they had verified that our documents were in order, we entered the cruise terminal area. It was at this point that I realized that our porter had went on ahead of us to deliver our bags to where they would be put into the metal cages for inspection and loading onto the cruise ship. He was waiting for us there for his tip. After I had given him a tip he very rudely explained that it was not enough. I could not believe his audacity, and honestly, I was done with the guy at this point. One of our friends that was traveling with us did offer a couple more dollars and we were on our way. Realizing that this man did not work for Carnival, we let it roll and went on our way.

It was up the escalator to the second floor. We took our departure pictures and then got into the line for check-in. The line moved quickly and efficiently with no problems or issues. Our documents were reviewed, we were given our sail & sign cards and then we were on our way… to wait. Because we had arrived so early, boarding had not yet started. We were given a placard that indicated our boarding zone and we joined the hundreds of other people that were waiting in the terminal.

Boarding began sometime around the expected time – I honestly don’t remember exactly when that was. They were supposed to be announcing zones for boarding, and occasionally a lady with a Carnival name tag would come by announcing zones – but she was not coming by regularly and there were so many people. I could not hear a single boarding zone announcement. We saw that they had cleared the priority lounge, so we figured that boarding was progressing. We found some empty chairs outside the priority lounge so we probably sat there for 15 minutes or so. There were still no boarding announcements that we heard, so after sitting for about 15 minutes – we made our way to the boarding area. We were met by the lady that had been walking around making the announcements earlier – and she promptly assured us that it was our turn and she took our boarding placard.

My wife and made our way to the metal detector and once again we were slightly delayed by a family that thought they could just push their stroller through the detector without having to remove the child. That happened, then the machine broke down, so my wife and I jumped into another metal detector line. After a short while, we met our friends who had already went through the metal detector and we were headed on board.

In just a few moments time – I would hear that wonderful “ding” for the first time – somehow signifying in a somewhat more official way that I was now onboard and on vacation.

At, last – “ding” and I was on board. For me, one of the best feelings on any cruise vacation is when you get to see the beauty and majesty of the lobby area. Looking at the décor, glass elevators, and promenade just seem to confirm that you are on vacation and “home” for the next week. After quickly taking it all in, we made our way up to Lido for some food.

First stop for me was the burgers and fries. We really enjoyed these on the Pride last year, and they were just as tasty on Valor this year. I also had some obligatory soft-serve ice cream. Another very tasty welcome to cruising and being on vacation.

Originally, we had thought that we might get back off the boat and go explore around San Juan, but our group was perfectly happy being on board and enjoying the ship and some down time. After lunch, our group spent some time walking around the ship and then we headed back to our cabin, which was now ready.

Next Post: Sail Away & Cabin Review

We can't see the video. I hope you are able to change it as we leave on the Valor in 4 days. I would love to see this video.:D

I just finished the post above and saw that my video was private! Sorry about that! I went to youtube and changed the settings so hopefully now it will work! Sorry about that!

For this cruise, my wife and decided that it would be best to fly into San Juan the day before so we could spend some time on the island and enjoy some relaxing time prior to getting on to the ship. Two years ago, we had planned to spend the day post-cruise in San Juan, but Superstorm Sandy had other plans and most flights on the Monday following were already being canceled, so we went ahead and left San Juan on the Sunday right after we disembarked.

I used United frequent flyer miles for the trip to San Juan, so my wife and I were booked on a very early morning flight on Saturday that connected in O'Hare. We had no issues with our flights and arrived on-time into San Juan. My wife pretty quickly became annoyed with my poor Spanish skills when I told her that we had to make our way to the reclamo de equipaje (said in the worst Spanglish accent you can imagine). :D Thankfully, all our bags arrived safely. United did manage to break one of the rubber wheels on my wife's bag, and they were very quick to point out how "that's not covered." (Isn't it interesting that you pay for your bags to be put on the plane and delivered, and yet "that's not covered?") Anyway, no big deal.

Our friends were flying on Southwest and their flight - though it left much later than ours - arrived about the same time. A few moments later, they arrived, claimed their baggage and we were headed for the taxi queue. There was a small line, but the taxis are very organized in San Juan. A person will greet you, ask how many persons, how many bags, and where you are going. They will then give you the price and hand you a carbon copy form for you to keep. They will then lead you to your driver and you are off.

My wife is a great planner, and prior to this cruise she did some research about hotels in San Juan. Originally, we were planning on staying that the Stellaris Resort and Casino. We'd had some friends that had stayed there and really loved it, so we planned on that, too. As the time for the cruise got a bit closer, and my wife did some more research, she found a place called Numero Uno Guest House. It's a small, quaint kind of place with no-frills and basic accommodations. Again, we aren't picky and just needed a place to sleep, so we decided not to book the Stellaris and stay at Numero Uno instead.

We took our taxi from the airport to Numero Uno and for four of us it was something like $29. Not too bad. If you have never traveled internationally, you may need to do some preparation for how folks drive in other parts of the world. In my experience, drivers in San Juan (and other parts of the world) really seem to understand their vehicles and how big or small they are. They are able to get amazingly close to one another without hitting. They know where their vehicle fits and where it doesn't - and they are much better at judging that when traveling at a high rate of speed. They also understand the concept of travel lanes differently and adapt-on-the fly as the situation warrants. All of this to say - be prepared for an adventure in the cab. I loved every minute of it.

Once we arrived at Numero Uno, we checked in quickly. The check-in for the hotel is outside in a small area. I thought it was perfect - but remember, it was a small quaint place. Our reservation was quickly verified and we were given our key to room number one. I turned around and right behind me - not 10 steps away, was room number one. It had a door that opened right to the outdoors and the check-in area. The room itself was nice - very humid when we first opened the door - but a quick push of the power button on the window AC unit solved that. There were the typical room amenities and it met our needs. I did not take any pictures of the room or check-in area, because we didn't really care about those things.

After some short rest in the room, my wife and I went out to the beach - to just take in the sights and enjoy the fact that we were in PR and on vacation! Just being on the beach and taking in the Caribbean air was incredible. Numero Uno sits right on the beach and is a 30-second walk away from paradise.

After some time on the beach, we all decided that we were ready to eat and so we decided to eat at the restaurant right there at Numero Uno. The name of the restaurant is Pamela's and we had a very enjoyable meal. The price of the meal, with drinks, was almost the same as the room was! No complaining, though, we were on vacation and enjoyed every second! I would certainly recommend Pamela's to anyone - the food was very tasty and had some local flavor to it.

After dinner and sunset on the beach, we all agree that we were pretty tired from traveling, so it was back to the room. I watched some Sunday Night Football for a few minutes before turning the TV off.

Next post: Continental Breakfast at Numero Uno, Embarkation, and Welcome Aboard the Valor!

My wife and I recently returned from the October 5, 2014 sailing of the Carnival Valor out of San Juan. Prior to the cruise, I read a lot of reviews here that were very helpful and informative. I figured that I'd try my own hand at writing a review to pass along our experience and help others relive their experience or get excited about their coming cruise.

First, a little about us. This was our third cruise - all on Carnival. We took our honeymoon in October of 2012 on the Victory, so this was our second cruise on this itinerary. In 2012, Superstorm Sandy was happening, so our last port of call into St. Maarten was canceled due to sea swells. Last October, we cruised on the Pride out of Baltimore to Port Canaveral, Freeport, and Nassau. we had a good time on that cruise, but our honeymoon cruise on the Victory and this itinerary drew us back. There is just something incredibly majestic about the beaches of the Southern Caribbean and we LOVED the ports on this itinerary.

My wife and I are pretty laid back and really enjoy cruising. We are not complainers and try to see the best of every situation. We have absolutely loved every Carnival cruise and ship that we've been on. We began planning for this cruise in November of 2013, so we almost had a full year of planning and excitement prior to sailing. We have always had a balcony cabin and love being able to be out there as much as we can. This year, we invited some close friends of ours to come along for the cruise and they booked an inside cabin across the hall from us.

I will be posting more details as time permits, but here is the youtube video I made from our trip. The video is 17 minutes long and I am not a professional video taker or editor. :)

FrQHbv_9GPI