My Valorous Solo Cruise - Valor July 28, 2013 - August 4, 2013

[Katemusical]

I love your review so far. My hubby and I are on the Valor during Xmas week. We are so excited!

Can't wait to see what tours/excursions you did on the islands?

[Leo's Rule]

That would be La Perla ;)

 

Yes, that's it! Thanks.

 

I've seen this car on two separate trips to San Juan this year! Did you see all the Chucky dolls in the window? I've never been able to snap a picture. He's too quick but obviously searching for attention. LOL

 

Nooooooo, I didn't see them. And yes; he is fast!

[Leo's Rule]

Can't wait to read the rest of your review! DH and I are hoping to do a cruise out of San Juan next year.

 

Hopefully the two of you will be able to do it. You will have a blast.

 

I love your review so far. My hubby and I are on the Valor during Xmas week. We are so excited!

Can't wait to see what tours/excursions you did on the islands?

 

Thanks. That should be a pretty time on the ship. I did more tours when I was there in October; a did a tour in every port, this trip was different.

[Isasprings]

The night before (Thursday) I didn't go to bed until 3 am because I was still packing my suitcase and guess what; I didn't even finish. I set my alarm for 7:30 a.m. so I could shower' date=' finish packing, walk and feed my dog, and stop at a beauty supply store so I can buy some hair pins.

 

Well, I wake up only to discover that I have no hot water!!! :eek: Really! What a start of my day. I call my aunt to see if I can come to her house to shower. I walk my baby (who by the way knows that I'm leaving so she took me every possible route in the neighborhood to prolong my departure) and then I come back and prepare my belongings and hers.

 

I grabbed my needed items (clothes and toiletries), Queen's bowls, her water (yes, I give my dog bottled water), her food, and her medicine and off we go. I get to my aunt's house only to discover I left Queen's dry food at home; I only give her a little wet food to mask her medicine. Oh well.

 

To make a long story short, I completely repacked when I got home, paid some bills, and was still scrambling. My right eye jumped and I thought, oh no, I'm going to miss my flight. I couldn't stop for my needed hairpins and discovered that I left a pair of shoes at home. How was I so unprepared for this trip? I've known about it for ages!!! :p I was only supposed to take my carry-on and a personal bag; well, I ended up with 2 checked bags and 1 carry on. :o

 

(Side note: I'm crying on the freeway because Queen was looking sad as I put the final garment in my suitcase. I pick her up to give her a hug and she hugs me like her life depended on it. I put her down and as I roll my bags towards the front door, she reaches out and places her paw on my foot; as if she's telling me not to leave. I exit and lock the doors and I can hear her crying, and then she scratches at the door trying to get out). :(

 

On the freeway I hop on and navigate the Beltway to get to Hobby Airport. (Oh, I left my house at 5 minutes to 11:00 a.m. and Southwest states you should be in the airport at least 90 minutes prior to your flight...that meant I only had 30 minutes to get to the airport, park my car, and get to the counter. I had a nonrevenue ticket so I had to go to the counter to get a "real" boarding pass.) When did the toll increase to $1.75? Thankfully I only had 2 tolls to go through. I made it in record time; I was only driving 20 miles over the speed limit (I was driving 80 mph; which is a norm for me).

 

Anyhow, I arrive to ParkingSpot 2 only to learn the lot is full and only those who made a reservation would be served; and what do you know, I didn't make a reservation this go round. NO!!!!!! I was getting my 25% discount for being a AAA member and now it's going to waste. Time is slowly fading so I go to PreFlight and their lot is full too; except for Valet.

 

Do I want to risk missing my 1 pm flight because I wouldn't get checked in on time? No, I don't; so I agree to the ridiculous price of $16 per day to park my car. And you don't get anything for valet; they used to vacuum and wash your car; not anymore! Oh why didn't I make my reservation for The ParkingSpot 2? (That's why my right eye was jumping; I couldn't park where I normally park and had to pay extortionist prices to Preflight Parking). Oh and to make matters worse, someone's luggage was on the shuttle, but they weren't and the driver refused to leave because he didn't know who the luggage belonged to. I'm thinking...just leave; drop us off at the airport, and sort out the case of the mystery luggage when you return. I guess he read my mind because we soon left for the airport.

 

The line in the airport was moving fast and then all of sudden it came to a standstill. Memories of me being denied boarding to Jamaica for my birthday 2 years ago flashed in my mind; we missed check-in for the luggage by 5 minutes thanks to the massive lines and 3 out of 10 kiosks being in working order. Anyhow, I finally get to the front of the line and tell the ticketing agent that I have a non-revenue ticket. She tells me to enter my confirmation number in the kiosk and there was an error. I re-entered my information and the same error was there. She then asks me what time was my flight..."OH SHYT" entered my brain; not again. It was 11:50 a.m. I told her 1 pm and she said oh, you should be able to board. She then asked for my ticket and that was the problem; I can't use the kiosk to check in, she has to do it because my ticket is non-revenue generating for them. She said, I thought you had a different ticket (I guess a buddy pass :confused: ); had I known you had this one I would have done it to begin with. Whew! My bags are taken and now I proceed to security.

 

I didn't spend a lot of time in the airport; people were already standing in line to board the plane; which was odd, but I had B on my ticket, so there was no need for me line up...and turns out..they hadn't even called people to get in line yet.

 

Once I boarded my flight there was this little girl who talked non-stop the entire flight...I mean it...non frigging stop!!!!!!! The airline attendant told her they were playing a game and she had to use her quiet voice because others couldn't hear her when she was doing the safety drill. Did she quiet down? No! And I thought it was strange that her dad never told her to quiet down. I learned the kid was flying solo, but she was disturbing the guy who I thought was her dad. He put on his headphones to drown her out; did that stop her from talking to him? Nope! "Mister, are you watching a movie? Mister, are you playing a game? Mister, can I listen to your headphones?" OMG!!!!!! :eek:

 

I went to sleep; she was talking, I wake up to her talking...she was just talking, talking, talking!!!!!![/quote']

Love your review so far.....

[Leo's Rule]

I explored the ship; taking plenty of pictures (my pictures will follow). Eventually I had my first drink of the day; the Funship. Whoa, I wasn't expecting for the drink to be super potent. I had to walk that off.

 

 

Eventually I headed to the area where our M&G was being held. We had a good turn out even though some people didn't make it. Snowdogg was the winner of the First to Arrive Trophy and JCLR and his wife won the Most Correct Answers Trophy and KMD002 was the winner of the lovely bejeweled lanyard. I should have taken photos of them with their prizes, but I didn't. You'll have to settle for our M&G photo. Oh, and one was taken of us by one of the photographers, but it was missing when I went to purchase it. Oh well.

 

 

 

I really wanted to stick around longer, but my reservation at the steakhouse was moved from 7:00 pm to 6:30 pm. I would have never known this had I not gone to the steakhouse to take pictures. The hostess asked if I wanted to sign up and I informed her I was booked since April and she asked for my name and told me my new time.

 

It turns out that Nicki and Karl signed up for the steakhouse and since I was dining alone, they asked if I minded sitting together. (I'm sure you're reading this Nicki, but I was worried that we'd have to share the bottle of wine, so I was hesitant at first.)

 

I must say that the food was excellent and well worth the $35 fee. I tipped at the end; though gratuity is already included, but they didn't take my tip. And since we were still in port, taxes were added to the bill.

 

I had the crab cake, lobster bisque, Chilean sea bass, wasabi mashed potatoes, and cheesecake.

 

 

(For some reason I didn't take a photo of the wasabi mashed potatoes and my camera died right as I was going to take the photo of the colossal cheesecake. Nicki took the photo, but I haven't received it yet.)

 

I was so stuffed, that I had to force myself to attempt to finish the sea bass; I took the gigantic slice of cheesecake to go. Oh, and the chef sent complimentary hors d’oeuvres to our table and we were able to get our own bottles of wine. Our server didn't want to do it because it is only one bottle per table and I don't drink red wine, but Nicki and her husband do. We pointed out that we had separate reservations and she checked with the chef and he ok'd it. So, Nicki and Karl shared a bottle of red and I had a bottle of white to myself.

 

And how could I forget that the chef sent me tiramisu for my birthday? And as stuffed as I was I ate it. It was soooo good.

 

 

I barely put a dent in my bottle of wine; and to think I wanted to get the Cheers package; WTH was I thinking? The muster drill was starting right after we finished our meals in the steakhouse. I ran to my room for some reason I don't recall and then headed to deck 4. I know the drill is needed, but it was hot and the glass of wine I had was getting to me; I was doing everything I knew how to to keep my bile down. The muster drill finally started and it was over in 10 minutes. Yay!!! And I didn't throw up! (Heat and alcohol do not mix; it was hot as hell on that deck!!!)

 

I would later run into Lyndsay, JCLR's wife at One Step Up Dance Club. It was ladies night and every lady received a free glass of champagne. We had a great time. I don't think I sweat so much in my life!

[rob6465]

This december 8 i am celebrating my 49th birthday on the magic(eastern) and want to plan a 50th birthday cruise and now thinking of any that stops in San Juan.:D:D

[Leo's Rule]

 

 

 

 

 

[Leo's Rule]

This december 8 i am celebrating my 49th birthday on the magic(eastern) and want to plan a 50th birthday cruise and now thinking of any that stops in San Juan.:D:D

 

Well, you'll need to leave out of Florida for that to happen...or go to San Juan. :D

 

And Happy early birthday!!!!!!!!

Edited August 15, 2013 by Leo's Rule

[jolyn928]

1) you're beautiful!

2) I'm sorry the Plaze De Armas wasn't the best when you checked in :(

3) What in the world is up with Ronald McDonald giving the hitler salute?!!

4) what and where were the beaker, bong-looking things?

 

And finally...love your coach bags :D

Edited August 15, 2013 by jolyn928

[Leo's Rule]

This was absolutely gorgeous to me; I just had to capture it

 

The staff were setting up for a wedding; I just didn't post that photo...and they were in the beginning stages. Oh, this is the club.

 

If you don't like smoke; avoid this place like your life depended on it

 

They wanted to pose for me. They were a fun pair.

 

I never made it to this area

 

I was supposed to get on the slide, but never did.

[Leo's Rule]

This december 8 i am celebrating my 49th birthday on the magic(eastern) and want to plan a 50th birthday cruise and now thinking of any that stops in San Juan.:D:D

 

1) you're beautiful!

2) I'm sorry the Plaze De Armas wasn't the best when you checked in :(

3) What in the world is up with Ronald McDonald giving the hitler salute?!!

4) what and where were the beaker, bong-looking things?

 

And finally...love your coach bags :D

 

1) you're beautiful! - Aww, thank you!

2) I'm sorry the Plaze De Armas wasn't the best when you checked in :( - I hate it wasn't up to par either

3) What in the world is up with Ronald McDonald giving the hitler salute?!! - I wondered the same thing too!

4) what and where were the beaker, bong-looking things? - The hookahs were at the place I had breakfast; I believe the name was Carthage Express

 

And finally...love your coach bags :D - Thanks

[Leo's Rule]

 

 

 

[Leo's Rule]

We're in St. Thomas!!! I thought I overslept this morning, but I woke up at 6:15 am, but I was so tired that I laid back down. Boy, was that a bad mistake. When I got up for the second time, it was 8:15 am. I showered and got dressed, but soon realized I didn't have enough time to eat breakfast because I had a 9 am Spa Appointment.

 

I don't recall the name of the treatment I received, but boy was it heavenly. A seaweed scrub was applied to my back, arms, and legs and I was wrapped in foil (okay, a foil-like material), and then I lay on a floating bed and was wrapped again by soothing warm water. Afterwards I showered and was wrapped again without the seaweed mask and it felt like I was in a sauna by then. I showered one last time and received an amazing 50 minute massage!!!!!! Let me tell you...I had some good sleep.

 

 

 

Once my massage was over I disembarked the ship in search of a cab driver. I found one, I believe his name was Sam. Sam was a huge flirt. Once he learned I was traveling alone and was single, he was trying his best to convince me that he was the one for me. Before he let me out of his van he gave me his business card and asked that I give him a call and told me that the drive to Magic Ice was on the house.

 

Admission into Magic Ice was $20 and included a parka, leg warmers, gloves, a shot of rum, and a souvenir shot glass. I thought I looked pretty silly having on all of those things to protect me from the cold, but I was wearing flip flops; no protection what-so-ever for my feet!!!! There were some neat sculptures to be seen. Take a look at this one and please tell me what it is.

 

 

Am I the only one with a perverted mind? LOL I'm a big kid at heart and love adventure; I took a slide down the ice slide. Too bad we can't post a video.

After spending about 30 minutes at Magic Ice, I walked around the waterfront and eventually stopped at a table of a very handsome man. He repaired some earrings I purchased from one of the markets back in October free of charge. Because he helped me out, I purchased a pair of earrings his wife made.

 

Additional photos from Magic Ice

 

 

 

[Leo's Rule]

Silly me; I ate before I disembarked. I didn't have breakfast this morning. I went to Fish & Chips and had this:

 

The cup with watermelon was tuna tartar; it was good

 

Views around St. Thomas:

 

 

 

I then head back to the ship and realize a seminar on acupuncture was soon to start. I head up to the spa deck (out of breath; I walked from deck 0 to deck 11) and catch the seminar as it starts. Later I get a free consultation and the acupuncturist begins to flirt. Aside from his flirting he does tell me the things that ail me and he was spot on.

 

I'm sure I walked around the ship, but I don't recall what I did. I saw these guys along the way somewhere on the ship:

 

 

I do remember heading to the cabin to shower so I could head to dinner. I always do Anytime Dining and this trip was nothing different. I wasn't extremely hungry, but I recall from past cruises that arriving after 7:00 or 7:30; you could guarantee that you'd be waiting to be seated.

 

My dining venue was the Lincoln Dining Room; those with assigned dinner were in the Washington Dining Room. Anyhow, I'm seated at a table for two; can you imagine how devastated I was? Probably not, but I really was devastated. I don't know why, but I began to cry. I don't like people to see my cry, so I kept wiping away the tears, but I was so hurt. Though I cruised by myself, I didn't expect to be seated alone.

 

Once I got out of my feelings, I did order my food, but I didn't stick around for long. I had the shark (which wasn't good on this cruise), shrimp, and salmon. I did order a drink; a Twilight Zone (thanks Nicki aka Gardengirl 13)!

 

I didn't order dessert because they weren't serving anything I liked. I left the dining room, but not before asking the hostess why they felt it necessary to seat me alone. I was told to state I wanted a shared table next time.

 

After leaving the MDR I went to the gift shop to see if I was the lucky winner to guess the correct carat size for a ring; I wasn't. Truthfully, no one guessed correctly and the store employee pulled names from the bucket and handed out 3 gifts. I wanted to watch and maybe participate in karaoke, but the place it was held in (Paris Hot) allowed smoking and the smell was horrid...I'm shocked I tortured myself by spending 5 minutes in there.

 

I leave the lounge and head to the comedy club; the adult show was starting in 15 minutes. I was the only brave one to grab a seat in front of the stage and 5 minutes before the show started, Joel and his wife Janette joined me. The comedian for the night was Dean Gaines; he was ok. He spotted a kid in the audience and called him on stage. He practically embarrassed the little guy and gave him the nickname Opie. Dean favors our President and he also favors actor Terrance Howard to me.

 

After the show I was going to go to Reggae night in the dance club but I didn't make it. My body kept telling me it was tired and I tried ignoring it for a moment, but I decide to call it a night around 11:30 or 12:00. Before I made it to my deck, I was propositioned by one of the bartenders in the casino. Get your minds out of the gutter; it was anything sexual, though I'm sure he wanted it to end that way, but he complimented me, told me he was looking for love, and informed me that his shift ended at 1 am and he'd show me the ropes with operating some of the machines in the casino.

I never did return (and had no intentions of returning); the bed was calling my name.

[Leo's Rule]

This little fella was waiting for me when I retired for the night:

 

 

My view from the spa:

 

My view from my cabin:

 

My view from my cabin during some time after sail-away:

 

The price for photos has increased:

 

The Pixel Gallery was running a special the first two days of the cruise; you received 10% off of your photo purchases and if purchased on the first day, you received a lovely lanyard. I'll see if I can find mine to take a picture of it. As I type this, things are coming back to me.

 

After the muster drill on day 1 I went to the gallery to purchase my embarkation photo and to get the lanyard, but they were closed. It was advertised that they would be open until 11 or 11:30. They closed when we had to go to muster and didn't reopen.

 

At some point on day 2 I purchased the photo and gave the guy a little grief. I told him I should get a lanyard because it was false advertisement with their hours of operation. He found me a lanyard, but had to be discreet about it because the lady next to me asked the person who was helping her for one and she wasn't given one. He informed me those were their old hours and the FunTimes and what they were using to state their hours was outdated and would be updated in the future (was that near or distant; I don't know).

 

If you haven't been on a cruise recently, mine was 9 months ago prior to this one; Carnival has increased their prices; like I stated earlier, but they are now offering gifts with the purchase of x amount of pictures. They needed this 9 months ago; I purchased several photos; enough to get the mystery prize. I've thrown away the flyer now, but if memory serves me correctly, if you purchase 3 photos you get a tumbler with one of your photos in it (a personalized mug), the next step up was a personalized beach bag with one of your photos, the next step up was 10 of your pictures on a jump drive, I think there was a photo album too (so maybe that one was what you got with the purchase of 3 photos) and then after that, it was a mystery gift. You had to bring your card (the card they issue to you) every time you purchased photos so they could hole-punch it.

 

Another neat thing they are doing is placing up to 5 photos on their board in the gallery. If your picture makes it on that board; your photo is free.

 

I just noticed from the sign that the embarkation photo has jumped in price; wasn't that always $9.99? Good Lord, Carnival is dead wrong for that!

[Leo's Rule]

Our first and only sea day. I get up at 6:15 am, but the TV distracts me; The Croods are on and I watch the entire thing! I then hurry and shower and then go to breakfast. I decide to try the brunch; it was nothing to write home about. I had pancakes, scrambled eggs, and a plate of fruit. I asked that the cottage cheese be withheld from the fruit plate and what comes with the fruit plate? COTTAGE CHEESE!!! Thankfully, only 2 pieces of fruit was in it, but I wanted my strawberries. I don't do too well with powdered eggs, so I order shell eggs, but had to send them back because they were runny. My second batch comes back the way I like it, but with shells in the eggs!!!!!!!!

 

Here's a photo of the delicious fruit plate (cottage cheese not included):

 

I finish my breakfast and head to the Ivanhoe Lounge for a quick game of 2 Game Bingo. I was soooooooooo close to winning; I was two numbers away in the first game and 1 number away in the second game. Anyhow, I head back to my cabin to gather the things I need for the slot pull that we organized prior to the cruise. I get to the casino and everyone is waiting on me...it was 11:03; boy, they are punctual! We find a machine to play on and we load the money. Had we not decided to let it all ride we each could have walked away with $8, but instead we walked away with nothing! Well, I walked away with $65 because I had the highest pull out of the group.

 

Us smiling despite losing; we had a blast and got tons of stares

 

I attend the Fun Finds Shopping Show after our slot pull in hopes of winning a Movado watch; I didn't win. :( But I did walk away with a coupon book; some nice lady gave one to me. LET ME TELL YOU NOW; DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY BUYING THE BOOK. IT COSTS $25 AND I HIGHLY DOUBT YOU'RE GETTING YOUR MONIES WORTH.

 

After the show, it's the after party, and after the party it's the hotel lobby, and after the lobby it's probably Crist....ok...I couldn't resist typing that..the song popped into my head. :p But after the show I head to the Lido deck for food and end up being one of the judges for the Hairy Chest Contest. Um....let's just say it was fun. Someone recognized me later that day and asked who won and the only way I'd be able to recognize the guy is from behind. LOL, I know; that's sad.

 

I find food then head to the casino stage for the Sea Feud game; it was already in progress, so I stood around and watched it. I run into Ryan and his wife, and I saw Janette as well. They were going to the Love and Marriage Show; I wanted to go, but John Heald reserved a room for us to hold another M&G and I wanted to pop my head in to see if anyone else had showed up. Low and behold there were people in there. I stuck around and chatted with everyone and missed the show (I watched it later in the room, and the longest married couple had answers similar to a couple who was on the Destiny Oct. 17, 2011. Anyhow, the responses were funny. One guy said you haven't seen ugly until you've seen his wife's face in the morning. One lady said her husband would choose to take a nun with him on a deserted island and once he was done with her she'd become a hooker. And another lady's husband said he'd take a hooker dressed like a nun. And how could I forget, a gentleman proposed to his girlfriend during the show).

 

I'm able to catch the Super Trivia, but those questions were hard and weird and the host Francisco made it funny with his accent. The show is over and I'm feeling sleepy. I try to fight it, but I head to my cabin for a short nap that wasn't short. I get up after the alarm I set and the TV became my nemesis yet again; Full Steel or something to that effect was on and it was interesting to me. Kick me because I don't leave the cabin until 7:20 and it's formal night!

 

 

There was a 30 minute wait, but it felt more like a 45 minute wait....and I was starving!!!!!! I didn't have to tell the hostess that I wanted shared seating; he remembered from the previous night. I was seated with two ladies from Barbados; it was their last night on the ship. I will say the service was slow....it was so slow that I missed the 70s trivia game and I damn near missed Showtime in the Ivanhoe Lounge.!

 

I was being greedy; I had the alligator, fish, and lobster. And you guessed it; I didn't order dessert. Tonight I tried the Mocha Chocolate Getaway (drink)...it was good.

 

The wait staff was supposed to sing to me, but I left so I could get a good seat in the theater. I will say the performance from the Entertainment staff was wonderful. I enjoyed the show immensely! Sleep slapped me in the face again and I didn't make it to the VIP After Party in the Dance Club. I called it a night at 11 pm. Here's my bed mate for the evening:

 

[Leo's Rule]

 

We're in Barbados! Today we're going to the Boatyard (me, Joel & his family, Ryan & his family, and Judd & his wife) and we agreed to meet at 9 am once we had our photo taken when disembarking. Well, I get up at 6:10 am, but end up being late because....you guessed it...the TV. Some show was on that captured my attention and I watched it until it ended. Well, that only left me 10 minutes to eat breakfast and of course I forgot something in the room and my time was cut short. I ate fruit and one pancake and then I headed to deck 0. And you guessed it; they were all waiting on me!!!!! I do believe it was 5 after 9:00.

 

Anyhow, we all head to the taxi stand and was shuffled around to two vans until we were finally told to pile into a 3rd van that would take us to the Boatyard. It was 9 of us and then 4 more people joined us and the cost was $5 per person; there was no negotiating with them. The driver made a killing off of us. Oh, and we didn't see how 4 more people would fit in the van, but the driver made it work; he unfolded additional seats and we began to joke that there were seats in the roof of the van.

 

 

We arrive at the Boatyard, paid our admission, received our wristbands, and were in search of our lawn chairs. Before we could make it to our chairs we had vendors asking us if we wanted to do any water sports. I asked how much for the snorkel with turtles tour ($20) and said I'd think about it. I find my chair (no they aren't assigned) and count my money....what do you know...I didn't bring enough. I only had $11 dollars on me. I put the wrong pile of money back in the safe. Oh well...no excursions for me.

 

Well luck would have it that a different guy (Falcon) approaches me and asks if I want to go out for the snorkel ride and I told him I wanted to, but didn't bring enough money. He told the guide (Sean) how much I had, but Sean felt it wasn't enough, so needless to say I didn't leave with him. I would have gone back to the ship, but I didn't want to spend a total of $15 getting from and to the Boatyard. Falcon told me it was only a 5-10 minute walk back to the pier. I said I'd do it if he walked back with me...and what do you know...he agreed to do it. I find my new found friends from CC and tell them I'm walking back to the ship to get more money and Nicki and Karl offered to loan me the money needed for the excursion.

 

I locate Falcon and tell him I no longer need to walk to the ship. Well, the guy doing the snorkel tour left already and Falcon takes me to the boat via jet ski. The snorkel tour was only supposed to be an hour, but my tour lasted 2.5 hours!!!! I met a lovely lady and her son while on the tour. She was a sweetheart; I can't swim and she agreed to hold my hand while out in the water (I was barely moving or not moving at all in the water). Yeah, I'm a bit of a daredevil; I can't swim but love water activities; I'm afraid of heights but get on rollercoasters and want to sky dive! We saw schools of fish, 3 shipwrecks, and we saw turtles. I was able to capture pictures of everything except the turtles!!!! Oh well, maybe next time. On this excursion we were to only be taken to one shipwreck, the other two we were to pass over them and view them from the glass bottom boat. We were very fortunate that day.

 

Eventually I'm taken back to the Boatyard's section of the beach and my CC crew was wondering where I'd been. We pose for a photo

 

and I put more sunblock on to prevent getting baked like I did last year and Janette and I head for the rope swing. Joel offered to videotape me swinging from the rope; what he didn't tell me was that he couldn't swim either, so the footage he captured of me looks like an ant due to the distance he was from where I was. I know it was me so that's all that matters. Did I mention that I couldn't swim? After I hit the water, I was supposed to move from the area others were jumping; but I couldn't move no matter how hard I tried. At some point I drifted back to the shore. I decide to get my free drink...I had the Rum Punch; I didn't like it because it had some weird spice in it and it was soon watered down. After the drink Janette talks me in to climbing the iceberg that was in the water...I never made it...Janette glided over like she was part fish...AND SHE CAN'T SWIM EITHER...while I just kept being pushed backwards. I literally thought I was going to die because I almost passed one of the buoys. I began to pray and then a breeze came and the waves pushed me forward back to the shore. NO MORE WATER FOR ME...or so I thought. I was taken on a free jet ski ride!!!! It was thrilling. (If you look at the group photo and see the people on the pier; that is where the rope swing was. The white thing in the background is the iceberg).

 

I made it back to shore in time for the free shots. I didn't know the shots consisted of the bartenders literally pouring shots down your throat. All I can say is YUM!

 

I needed to head back to the ship; I was getting hungry and I wanted to check in; call my mom and see about her and my baby (she's watching Queen while I'm on vacation). I head to the ship and make it to Fish and Chips in the nick of time; I satisfy my hunger. I headed down to deck 0 so I could connect to WiFi but the lines were long for people ready to board the ship; so I knew if the lines looked like that at 4:00, they would be worse in 30 minutes. I didn't get off. I headed back to my cabin and arranged my luggage and picked out my clothes for St. Lucia and St. Kitts.

 

I watch tv for a bit then head to dinner around 7:30. A lot of my time was eaten up because I needed to iron my dress. I put on my dress and head to the laundry area, but there was a guy in there ironing a butt load of clothes. I head to deck 6 only to find the same thing. Then I head to decks 2 and 1 and they're occupied too! I go back to deck 6 and it's still occupied. I steal a towel off the cart and head back to my deck. Now another guy is in there. I'm hungry and my dress needs ironing. I ask him if I could please iron my dress and I proceed to wrap the towel around me and I get out of my dress. I know the guy was like "WTH is she doing?" but I didn't feel like going back to my cabin to grab a robe, iron, and then put the robe away; doing what I did was the quickest way for me.

 

I was shocked because I didn't have a long wait when I arrived to Lincoln DR. The service tonight was somewhat better; definitely better than the night before, but it was still somewhat slow. The bartender who wanted to show me the ropes of the casino when his shift was over was my bartender for the night. I was seated with a married couple who are active military (the husband is in the army and the wife is in the air force) and live in separate states. They were celebrating his birthday a month early on the cruise because the wife will be deployed in August. I had a cheeseburger this night, sushi, and two servings of their fresh fruit. I wanted the chicken quesadilla for an appetizer but sour cream comes pre-loaded in it. I had originally ordered a Cruiser for my drink, but something was floating in it and when I did sip the replacement, it wasn't good. I ended up getting a Hurricane Wave. It wasn't the greatest either, but I'm thinking the wasabi from the sushi threw off my palate, because the Cruiser had a funny taste and the Hurricane Wave tasted like onions to me.

 

After dinner I head to the Variety Showtime and OMG, it was amazing! I think my favorites were Prince and Madonna. The Entertainment staff did an amazing job! Don't miss this show.

 

The deck party on Valor wasn't as great as when the Victory did this route, but it was fun. I was sweating up a storm during the deck party. An amazing thing happened while out there; a guy proposed to his girlfriend and it was a very touching moment. Before I head to the Mexican buffet, I couldn't pass up the opportunity of taking a picture with this person:

 

.

What in the world possessed her to do this; I'll never know, but she certainly stood out.

 

The food was better in the Mexican buffet than on Victory. I wasn't really hungry, but I did sample some of the food. For the life of me I don't recall what I had, but it was so good. I really wished I had room for more food, but I wasn't going to be gluttonous. I did take some chocolate cake to go.

 

I'm wide awake and ready to party and of all nights there is nothing to do in the dance club; it was Latin Fiesta night. I peeped my head in, but wasn't feeling it. Wow, am I really going to bed at 11 pm tonight? I guess I am. I head to my cabin, but pass the Fun Shops on my way there. Marcele, the manager was standing outside and we began chatting. It may have had something to do with the fact that she was guarding the entrance to the store while others were in there shopping. It made me think about times I've been places where a celebrity decides to shop in the store and it's closed down so they can shop in peace.

 

Turns out the store was shut down for the staff to shop. I began joking around with the individuals who were leaving the shop; I would ask them if they had my gift, if they said no, I'd tell them they couldn't leave until they picked up my gift. I guess I goofed around so much that Luis, one of Marcele's employees, stated that I should be let in to shop as well, but I told him I didn't want in if I didn't receive the employee discount (I didn't go in).

 

Marcele talked to me about life on the ship and how some people didn't get along (roommate wise). I learned that some people didn't have to share rooms. She informed me of the countries that would be best for me to move to if I wanted to improve my skills in Spanish. She also talked about how the store on Valor was the worst in Carnival's fleet, but she helped turn it around. Before I knew it, it was 1 am and I called it a night, but not before taking a photo with Marcele and Luis (I'm waiting to receive it) and not before Luis asked me to come back on Friday to help sell bracelets and Marcele agreed that I should come back as well. I thought they were joking, but they were serious.

 

I swear I'm not loose, but every night there was a new person in my bed. Tonight Sr. Ribbit kept me company:

 

[INCHARGE]

 

After the show' date=' it's the after party, and after the party it's the hotel lobby, and after the lobby it's probably Crist....ok...I couldn't resist typing that..the song popped into my head. :p']

 

:D So now I will be hearing R Kelley in my head at 1am! thanks a lot. :) Love your review, and you looked great in that blue dress, lady.

Edited August 20, 2013 by INCHARGE

[Leo's Rule]

:D So now I will be hearing R Kelley in my head at 1am! thanks a lot. :) Love your review, and you looked great in that blue dress, lady.

 

Lol. Sorry. As I was typing, that song popped into my head. Hopefully it didn't stay in your head long.

 

And thanks. I'm almost done with the review. It's hard choosing which pictures to post. I upload to Facebook while typing the review.

 

AFter I finish the review here then I will do my full album on Facebok so friends wnd family can see the pictures and I have the review to give to a cruise group I'm in.

[cruisingfool44]

Girlfriend I am luvin your review! I leave on this cruise next month. Wish you were going with us !

[rob6465]

Friends on FB? Does that mean us??

 

Sent from my SGH-T999L using Forums mobile app

[joel1316]

Glad I saw the link to your review. Lovin it!

You were all over the ship, no wonder we kept bumping into you : )

Can't wait to read the rest of the review!

[joel1316]

Girlfriend I am luvin your review! I leave on this cruise next month. Wish you were going with us !

 

Me and my family were blessed to have met Leo's Rule. If anyone is cruising, make sure to have Leo's Rule with you and I guarantee you'll have an awesome time!

[JustCruiseMe]

I am loving this review even though I am not even halfway through. I think the underwear butt thing is the most ignorant fashion that has ever been created. Who wants to look at a someone's butt and underwear? It looks so low class. (not that I consider myself high class)..lol..

 

I love your pic on that sofa!

[smurfm69]

I'm really enjoying the pics and review! Makes me want to go back and do this cruise again.