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

[rjrice1]

Must subscribe to this awesome review!!! :)

We booked this cruise but don't leave for 22 more Sundays.. just sounds so much better than 152 days... lol

Can't wait to see more..

Cathy

[bjc5279]

Doing this itinerary in January. What type of camera did you use? We're currently shopping for a new one and your pictures are great!

[cormike1]

Katie....your pictures are beautiful. I love reading reviews but especially the reviews that include pictures. Looking forward to more!

[ktinnc]

Pics are done and uploading for the next installment...but there's 90 pics and they are only half done so far...sooo...guess y'all have to wait one more day for anything new. Sorry charlie :)

[ktinnc]

Alrighty - I'm back in business! I'm guessing there's probably 1 or 2 of you at work right now...it's friday....and you can't wait for the 5 o'clock whistle so you can go home and start your weekend. Well I'm here to help...you can read my next installment and be whisked away to Old San Juan...at least in your mind for a little while. Hopefully it'll help 5pm get here a little quicker! You're welcome! Ok on with the review.... there's a TON of photos...hope y'all don't mind!

 

Day 4/Sunday, Sept 22nd (CRUISE DAY!!)

 

We left off with the hubby and I drifting off to dreamland..oh..sweet sleep! I got up around 7:30am…ahhh…after 3 days in a row of getting up at 4:30, sleeping in felt amazing!! Brian was already up and had showered and was ready to go out and get some food. “Babe – it’s CRUISE DAY!!!!” I exclaimed. Finally it’s here!! Well..let’s get this show on the road…we’ve got stuff to do. I knew exactly where I wanted to take Brian for breakfast based on my research, so I grabbed a shower and we headed out around 8am. I took a few photos along the way since I knew it was our last morning in Old San Juan.

 



First up…remember the courtyard/park area I mentioned right outside our hotel? I definitely wanted to remember that. So if you walk out the front door of the hotel, the courtyard area is directly in front of you.

















If you stand in the same spot and look to your left, that’s where the Cathedral is.













I had every intention of going to 9am Mass, but since I had overslept the day before during nap time, we skipped church to go to breakfast and then to one of the Forts. We had to be checked out of our hotel by noon so there wasn’t a ton of time to do everything we wanted. The doors to the Cathedral were open so we did peek in there on our way to eat. So gorgeous!



















From the top steps of the Cathedral I then turned and took a photo of the courtyard area. From the pic our hotel was to the right.

[ktinnc]

Day 4/Sept 22nd (cont)

So we walked a few blocks in search of the place to eat that I had heard such great things about. I couldn’t wait to try it!

 

Oooh there it is! We found it! Cafeteria Mallorca

 



 





Mmmm…this is gonna be good! We got a peek at the goodies in the front window!

 



 



 

It wasn’t a fancy place by any means…it had a long counter top bar and cafeteria-style tables ….a little neighborhood diner that both locals & tourists frequent.

 



 



 

[Dirkgun]

As soon as I saw the courtyard I knew you were going to get the Mallorcas..... Your pictures are making me miss San Juan. Keep it up. :D:confused::D

[Dirkgun]

It's funny, I have almost the same photos of Cafeteria Mallorca, Just love the colors of Old San Juan... granted yours are better shots.... more composed and professional looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ktinnc]

It's funny, I have almost the same photos of Cafeteria Mallorca, Just love the colors of Old San Juan... granted yours are better shots.... more composed and professional looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haha too funny!!! That first one is almost identical! I'm planning to go back through and respond to everyone that has posted on here so far but thought I'd write you real quick. Your reviews are some of my absolute favorites! I read them each like 3 times before my trip!! haha I felt like we were old friends by the time I got to OSJ! :) I was trying to find your orange guy but I couldn't remember where you said he was (and I didn't take the time to dig back through your reviews once I was already on the trip)...next time :)

[Handsome58]

what did you all do with the fish that were caught???? PLEASE DO NOT WAIT TO ANSWER , I KNOW OTHER READERS WANT TO KNOW ALSO!!!!!

[ktinnc]

Day 4/Sunday, Sept 22 (continued)

 

We were there for their signature item….the mallorcas! They are delicious buttery rolls that are generously dusted with powdered sugar …they can be enjoyed plain or with ham and cheese (a favorite combination). I had to try the fav combo – ham/cheese while Brian got bacon and cheese. Both were delicious! Brian enjoyed a coffee with his & I stuck with water. We paid about $16 total. Yum! I want another one right now!!!

 



 

We left Cafeteria Mallorca and enjoyed our walk back to the hotel. We took our time and just enjoyed spending time with each other. We took some pics on the way of the streets because I think they’re very unique looking…

 



 

The stop signs made me laugh because they don’t say STOP. Well, they do, but not in English like I’m used to!

 



 

Brian was obsessed with the color of the cobblestones!

 



 



 

 

We stopped by the Walgreens on the way back to the hotel and got some drinks and some more sunscreen (just in case) for the cruise. In all the cruise reviews etc I had read prior to going on our trip I kept reading about the CVS by the port…I didn’t even realize there was a Walgreens. So I figured we should shop at the Walgreens instead because the CVS probably had less pickings with all the cruise passengers (and we had been there the other night and it was crazy with the construction.) I think I was right – there was plenty of sodas/waters etc. FYI, in PR, the drinks come in packs of 8 rather than 12. Near the Walgreens is another little square…I’m sure it has a name but I have no idea what it is..lol

[ktinnc]

what did you all do with the fish that were caught???? PLEASE DO NOT WAIT TO ANSWER , I KNOW OTHER READERS WANT TO KNOW ALSO!!!!!

 

Haha! It was just catch and release :)

[ktinnc]

Day 4/Sunday, Sept 22 (continued)

 

We got back to the hotel and packed up. I also wrote a few post cards to send home to the kids. I actually remembered to bring some stamps from home so I dropped those off at the hotel front desk and they mailed them for me! Easy peasy.

 

One of the most popular touristy things to do when you visit Old San Juan is to visit the Forts… we had yet to do that and we were running out of time before our 12pm checkout. We thought we would just go for “a few minutes,” and then if we really liked it we could always go back after we got checked in and settled on the ship. It was 10:50am when we left our hotel. We’ve got like an hour – we should be good…right?!?! Hahhahahahha! Fort El Morro was our destination….we had to walk back up the hills to get to the Fort. Well, it was hot. Crazy hot. Even the locals kept saying how it was was. So we hoof it back up those hills and then down these stairs….





 

and then we saw it. Fort El Morro. Holy crap – that’s a big lawn….we gotta walk alllllllllllllll the way up there too?!? Ok..here we gooo! (Keep in mind…not a big deal on a regular day to actually get some exercise..it’s just cuz we were short on time that we were like “Oh nooo..we have that much further to go”’...lol).





 



 



 

If you look to the left while walking up that walk, you’d see this pretty sight..





 

Oooh we’re almost there!

[ktinnc]

Day 4/Sunday, Sept 22nd (continued)

Sweat was pouring off of us by now (You’re welcome for that visual). We paid our $3 entrance fee per person and went in. We could’ve paid $5 to visit Fort Cristobal too, but we highly doubted we’d make it over there. Did I mention it was hot? The ticket for both forts is good for 7 days..but since we’d be on a ship for 7 days and had plans the following Sunday (to sleep..haha), we just bought the single ticket. So we go in and the park staff stopped everyone to tell them it was hot. Thanks captain obvious! I was wondering why it looked like I had taken a bath in my clothes. Ok ok….basically they were stopping to let us know that yes it was extremely hot and that everyone should stay hydrated…they pointed out where you could buy waters and then told us where most people start their tour. We knew we didn’t have real long so we didn’t see a ton, but we saw quite a bit. Brian was in heaven! I get a little bored at stuff like this but there were great photo ops so I was content with that. I felt bad that we didn’t have more time because Brian really really enjoyed it. So here’s a TON of pics from our speedy self guided tour through the fort. I don’t have a whole lot of commentary to go along with it because I didn’t have time to read it..lol

 

We did start off going down these steeps steps (and back up later)… there were 4 levels to the fort (I think)…..

 



 



 



 



 



 

[ktinnc]

Day 4/Sunday, Sept 22nd (cont)

 

More Fort pics....

 



 



 



 



 



 

[ktinnc]

Day 4/Sunday, Sept 22nd (cont)

 

 



 



 



 



 

[ktinnc]

Day 4/Sunday, Sept 22nd (cont)

 

Have you seen enough yet? Ahh..too bad..there's more..haha

 



 

Brian squeezed in here…it was teeny tiny…

 



 



 



 



 

[cantwait04]

I am really enjoying your reveiw. We decided to do this cruise for our 10th anniversary, June 2014. Last time we cruised thru San Juan it was a holiday and the forts was closed. So I am so excited about this time. I am excited for the rest of the review.

[ktinnc]

Day 4/Sunday, Sept 22nd (continued)

 

Oh lookie there..I have more pics for you!

 



 



 

Unfortunately we had to head back to get checked out, so we walked a different way …we walked along the wall where you can see down to the other fort and we also peeked at the Old San Juan Cemetery. Never thought I’d say a cemetery was pretty but this one was.

 



 



 

[mondello]

Thank you for all of the great info and pictures. We'll be in San Juan for 3 days pre-cruise next month for our 8 day Conquest from SJU to Miami.

[ktinnc]

Day 4/Sunday, Sept 22nd (continued)

 



 



 



 



 

We took a few more pics and then we booked it back to the hotel. One would think that going back (mostly down hill) would be fairly easy…but it was just about noon (aka hot as heck) and we had to really haul tail. Well this “fluffy” girl was dying by the time we got back to our room. Beet red..sweaty disaster…holy moly let me die now. I had to lay down on the bed for a few minutes with a cool towel and a bottle of water to catch my breath and cool down for a few minutes. Whew – that was rough! So we ended up checking out of the hotel room about 10 minutes late but thankfully they didn’t charge us anything. I didn’t expect them to but I didn’t want to take any chances and be very much later! On our way down to the lobby we ran into one of the bell hops? in the elevator so he took our bags from us while we checked out and he went and got us a taxi – nice! Overall – final notes on the hotel – the hotel was very nice and everyone was extremely helpful. The free bottled water was a tremendous perk to us – saved us some $$ and encouraged us to stay hydrated (yes I know we paid for it in our hotel rate but it was still nice). The facility was beautiful – our room was a little on the small side but we expected that. I’d definitely stay there again.

 

I’m going to stop here for now so that I can respond to everyone's comments and write up the next segment (pics are done though)..up next…. boarding the ship!!!

[ktinnc]

Subscribed! Loving your review so far...the "scenic pics" are pretty breath taking! Waiting on the edge of my seat for more ;)

 

Thank you so much! I'm glad you are enjoying it :) Settle in..there's LOTS more pics to come..haha

[ktinnc]

Loving your review Katie! And, the pics are amazing! You got some beautiful shots out on that lake!

 

So what did you do with all the fish? Catch and release or was there a restaurant that would cook them for you?

 

I have to laugh about your coffee comment and your husband. My DH and I didn't drink coffee either (which irritated the lady when we did our bridal registry all those years ago, and she insisted we register for a coffee maker!) About 10-12 years into our marriage, all of a sudden, he starts drinking coffee, first with alot of cream and mocha or only cappuccino. Now, he's a plain-black-coffee -with-a-splash-of-milk guy. I swear I don't even know him anymore! :eek: Must just be something that happens at the 11 year point of marriage for the male non-coffee drinkers! :rolleyes:

 

And, no, I still don't drink coffee. ;)

 

Can't wait for more!

 

Thanks Geri! I'm so glad you're following along :) That lake was beautiful so it was easy to capture some nice shots :) All the fish were thrown back in...it was just for fun/catch and release!

 

That's funny about your hubby - I asked Brian and ever since we got back he hasn't really been drinkin coffee. I guess he's just a cruise/vacation coffee drinker? lol

[ktinnc]

Subscribing!!! Your pictures are AMAZING!!!!!!!

 

My husband and I did this cruise in July and we both agreed it was the most amazing cruise we have ever taken. We LOVED Puerto Rico, we stayed at the Htel Casablanca and can't wait to go back someday and stay a few extra days there. Loved Old San Juan. Someday I am going to do this cruise again, I hope!

 

Thanks for doing a review, looking forward to reliving my cruise :)

 

Thank you for the kind words about my photos :) I didn't want to haul my "big girl/pro" camera around on the trip because 1 - it's big/cumbersome and 2 - I didn't want anything to happen to it (even though it's insured etc)...sooo I had fun challenging myself to take great shots no matter the camera :)

 

I hear ya about doing this cruise again - I thought it would be a one time thing for us but we both had such a blast and I think I'm spoiled for future cruises...how can they even compare?? :) Thanks again for following along (and commenting!)

[ktinnc]

Katie....

You booked your dude a freakin FISHING TRIP! KILLER!!! Girl I know all I need to know about you! You're a TEN!:) He's one lucky fella!

 

Really enjoying the review!

 

Haha! yup..yup I did! lol I booked it for him but surprisingly I enjoyed the heck out of it! :)

 

Thanks for following along and commenting!! I loved your post - made me smile!