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K&B's Excellent Adventure to the S Caribbean on the Valor (Sept 19-30) *pic heavy*

ktinnc

By ktinnc,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Great start to your review; can't wait to read more.

 

Thanks for following along (and for commenting) :) I am almost done with the next part but I have to work today (boo) haha. Will try to get it posted tonight :)

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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Hey Katie...

I have a question for you.... It is my understanding that Fortaleza Street is being cobblestoned. Did you notice that and if so, it interfere with your experience at all? THANKS!

 

It is definitely being cobblestoned. I don't know that it interfered with our experience but it was kind of a bummer to see it all torn up? In the next part of my review (which I'll try to post tonight) one of the pics is taken from the outside of a restaurant we went to on Fortaleza street and you can see some of the construction out front (as much as I tried to crop it out).

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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Loving your review. The Carnival Valor was my first Carnival ship....that ship is what started my love for Carnival. And 12 Carnival ships later they are still my favorite

 

You have a beautiful family and your "souvenir" from your honeymoon was a great story.

 

Hey! Thanks for following along and commenting :) I've read all of your reviews so I feel like a CC celebrity is commenting..hah! I loved the Valor - it was the biggest/newest ship I've been on thus far...can't wait to go on another!

 

Thanks for the nice comment about my family... we kinda like our souvenir :)

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dianel720

dianel720

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Great review so far....I'm headed there March 28. Can't wait!! I had a question on Hotel El Convento. I have a 2 night pre cruise stay there booked. I was wondering what room number you had. Was it a queen deluxe room? Any info you can give me on the room would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

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ktinnc

ktinnc

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The next part is alllllmmmmoooostttt finished... but I have to be up super early for work...so y'all will have to wait. 90% sure I should be able to post it tomorrow night :) I'll be sure to answer questions/leave comments for those who have done the same tomorrow too. Thanks to all who are following along!

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wrigley80

wrigley80

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Hey! Thanks for following along and commenting :) I've read all of your reviews so I feel like a CC celebrity is commenting..hah! I loved the Valor - it was the biggest/newest ship I've been on thus far...can't wait to go on another!

 

Thanks for the nice comment about my family... we kinda like our souvenir :)

 

Wow!!!! I'm a CC celebrity....I love it and thank-you. I'm going on the Imagination and Sunshine in December so be on the lookout for my next review

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chill6x6

chill6x6

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It is definitely being cobblestoned. I don't know that it interfered with our experience but it was kind of a bummer to see it all torn up? In the next part of my review (which I'll try to post tonight) one of the pics is taken from the outside of a restaurant we went to on Fortaleza street and you can see some of the construction out front (as much as I tried to crop it out).

 

Okay GREAT and thanks for the info!

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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Great review so far....I'm headed there March 28. Can't wait!! I had a question on Hotel El Convento. I have a 2 night pre cruise stay there booked. I was wondering what room number you had. Was it a queen deluxe room? Any info you can give me on the room would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!

 

 

Yes - we had a queen deluxe and I'm almost positive our room number was 514! It was a lot of fun to have a hotel room that seemed more like home than a regular hotel room (i.e holiday inn etc)

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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Subscribed!!! Loving your review! :) I have only a few more days to go and I'll be boarding the Valor :D

 

I'm so jealous! Wish I was getting ready to go..the anticipation is so fun. The cruise blues after is no fun..haha

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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Part 3/Saturday, Sept 21, 2013

4:30am – “Ugh….it’s dark out…I don’t wanna get up…4:30am? Again? Isn’t this vacation? lol” My hubby is one lucky man to have such an awesome wife who booked him on a half day fishing excursion on the very first day! He loves to (freshwater) fish..he hates the beach…so I figured since I was taking him to beaches every day for the next week I should put him in a good mood by taking him fishing first! Both of us got up, got showered and doused ourselves in sunscreen (even though it was still dark!) and we headed downstairs to meet Captain Paco! Brian was soooo excited!





5:00am – Walked outside of our hotel and as planned Captain Paco was just arriving to pick us up. He owns/operates “Peacock Bass and Tarpon Tours,” and I found him months earlier via a google search but then found he had great reviews on TA. The streets in Old San Juan are so narrow (especially where our hotel was) that he had to park a few blocks up the hill because he had his truck and was towing the boat. So at 5am I was already huffin and puffin as we hoofed it up the big hill while I was still half asleep (and it was already hot..lol). Oh thank goodness…there is the truck! And it has awesome AC..woo hoo! It didn’t take long and we felt very comfortable with him and were laughing/joking. He told us that the lake we were going to was about a 45 minute drive and that we would stop for a bite to eat on the way.

 

Paco took us to a hole in the wall/local restaurant where he ordered (and paid for) us. I found it funny that all around the place there was a single shelf that had different items you might need… i.e. motor oil, toilet paper, dish soap, etc. Kinda random gas stationy stuff yet in a restaurant/bakery.



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He asked if we liked eggs and bacon – we both said yes…we had no idea what he was ordering because everyone spoke Spanish. We were pleasantly surprised at the yummy plates we got. Eggs, bacon and cheese all scrambled together and a few pieces of this really thick/fat buttered toast – it was so delicious and a nice hearty meal for our morning on the boat. Paco assumed we both drank coffee (we don’t) and ordered us both coffees w/our food. Again – I didn’t hear him ordering and it was in Spanish anyways or I would’ve stopped him. Once I found out we were able to switch mine to a diet coke but Brian decided to just have the coffee. Come to find out – he really likes Puerto Rican coffee! He said it tastes a lot different than coffee at home. Funny thing – he ended up drinking coffee all week on the ship too (who is this guy? hah)



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After breakfast the sun had started coming up and we headed to the lake. It was pretty close by to where we ate. We stopped at this little playground/park area on the water. It was nothing like I expected (not that I really knew what to expect). It was really wet/muddy (from rain the previous few days) and there were stray (but fed) dogs running around. They were really cute/sweet and Brian made friends with them quickly.



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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Part 3/Saturday, Sept 21, 2013 (continued)

Brian and I had a few minutes to wait while Paco put the boat in the water and parked his truck. We jumped in the boat off this little shore area.



 

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Once we got loaded up in the boat we rode for about 15 minutes to the first spot. For the first 90 minutes I just relaxed and watched Brian do his thing. He was sooo happy! It didn’t take long before he caught his first fish and he said if he didn’t catch any others it was already worth the whole trip! (He’s easy! haha ) All in all between us we caught about 25 fish!! Surprisingly I caught a couple of the biggest ones! (I don’t even fish..hah). It was fun fighting to reel them in!

 

Here’s a bunch of pics of the sun rising and other pics of where we were at…I’m not a great landscape photographer but it was sooo gorgeous I just had to play a bit. We were in a lake at the base of some mountains..there was fog rolling around us and nobody else out there besides us and the wildlife. So cool.





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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Part 3/Saturday, Sept 21, 2013 (continued)

 

Here’s my happy happy fisherman!



 

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Paco fished a little bit too and we laughed because all of us caught at least one stick!

 

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Here’s some more of the scenery pics…. Sorry there’s a lot of them I like..haha

 

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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Part 3/Saturday, Sept 21, 2013 (continued)

 

A few more "scenic" pics...



 

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At one of our fishing stops Brian saw this tree that had these flowers on them..Paco told him to go ahead and pick one. They were soooo soft! Anybody know what it is?

 

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ktinnc

ktinnc

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Part 3/Saturday, Sept 21, 2013 (continued)

 

Oh yea….I suppose ya might wanna see some of the fish we caught huh? Here’s hubby & his first catch…a peacock bass!



 

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A catfish…

 

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A couple of jaguar bass..

 

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A red devil…

 

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My big ole peacock bass I caught…this one was a fighter!

 

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