Jump to content

REVIEW: Carnival Valor to Southern Caribbean Oct 6-13, 2013 OUR FIRST CRUISE!


valentinebaby1
 Share

Recommended Posts

Loving your review! Will be looking up calabaza whenever I have the chance to do this cruise. That is one of my dreams, to swim with turtles!!! Were you able to touch them? Would they allow you to? Did you just book through the internet with him?

Glad you had a wonderful time on your "honeymoon". Can't wait to read the rest.

Becky

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Loving your review! Will be looking up calabaza whenever I have the chance to do this cruise. That is one of my dreams, to swim with turtles!!! Were you able to touch them? Would they allow you to? Did you just book through the internet with him?

Glad you had a wonderful time on your "honeymoon". Can't wait to read the rest.

Becky

 

In St Thomas, on our first excursion with the turtles, they said nothing about not touching them. Both hubby and I were able to very briefly. After getting back on the boat, several of us were talking about touching the turtles, and one of the guys mentioned that he thought you weren't supposed to touch them. So we asked the captain about it...he said it is bad for the turtles to touch them, it damages their slimy protective coating on their shells or something like that. But he also said that he "knows" these turtles we were swimming with, and knows that they have been touched so many times that the damage is already done. So he knows they won't be harmed by being touched more. But he said that when other boats are in the same area he makes a point of telling us not to touch because the other boat captains would get upset if he didn't. So technically I guess you aren't supposed to touch them, and I guess it's illegal in the US (which I assume would also be the case in St Thomas, being a US Territory).

 

In Barbados they didn't say either way, there was no discussion about it. I know people did touch them, and no one said not to. Now after the fact, I'm reading up on it and feel bad that we did.

 

We booked Calabaza via email with Gina directly. We were a little uncomfortable putting our cc info in an email to be honest, but didn't have any issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In St Thomas, on our first excursion with the turtles, they said nothing about not touching them. Both hubby and I were able to very briefly. After getting back on the boat, several of us were talking about touching the turtles, and one of the guys mentioned that he thought you weren't supposed to touch them. So we asked the captain about it...he said it is bad for the turtles to touch them, it damages their slimy protective coating on their shells or something like that. But he also said that he "knows" these turtles we were swimming with, and knows that they have been touched so many times that the damage is already done. So he knows they won't be harmed by being touched more. But he said that when other boats are in the same area he makes a point of telling us not to touch because the other boat captains would get upset if he didn't. So technically I guess you aren't supposed to touch them, and I guess it's illegal in the US (which I assume would also be the case in St Thomas, being a US Territory).

 

In Barbados they didn't say either way, there was no discussion about it. I know people did touch them, and no one said not to. Now after the fact, I'm reading up on it and feel bad that we did.

 

We booked Calabaza via email with Gina directly. We were a little uncomfortable putting our cc info in an email to be honest, but didn't have any issues.

 

Awesome, thanks very much!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GREAT review!!! I loved our Valor cruise, we want to do it again someday!

 

That pic of your feet looks like my feet every time I cruise!!! I can't figure out what causes it. My last cruise I even avoided alcohol and yep, same thing! The only common thing on all the cruises is the water. I know, people say there's no way there's salt in it but it has to be something! I get elephant feet every cruise. I even ate the "spa" entrees last cruise thinking maybe its salt in the food. Still happened. It's a mystery to me. For my semi back to back coming up I am taking plenty of diuretics with me and even some compression socks. It's just too many days and the swollen feet really hurt.

 

Love our review!

I used to suffer from swollen feet on a cruise, but now less so. I believe that it is the amount of salt in the food. At home, I cook everything from scratch and eat very little processed foods. So, I think that the overload of salt from the ship's food results in swollen ankles. Even the spa menu items I'll bet are overloaded with salt to compensate for the lower fat. I also think that there may be some salt left in the tap water that the ship makes. For this reason, I purchase bottled water on the ship (though I do still use the ice; have no choice). Now (in an effort to cut down my sodium intake while cruising) for lunch I no longer eat hot items off of the buffet. Instead, I'll eat salad greens and fresh vegetables with one scoop of tuna salad or a piece of grilled chicken breast with olive oil and vinegar. With these changes, now, at least I can comfortably get my shoes on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to suffer from swollen feet on a cruise, but now less so. I believe that it is the amount of salt in the food. At home, I cook everything from scratch and eat very little processed foods. So, I think that the overload of salt from the ship's food results in swollen ankles. Even the spa menu items I'll bet are overloaded with salt to compensate for the lower fat. I also think that there may be some salt left in the tap water that the ship makes. For this reason, I purchase bottled water on the ship (though I do still use the ice; have no choice). Now (in an effort to cut down my sodium intake while cruising) for lunch I no longer eat hot items off of the buffet. Instead, I'll eat salad greens and fresh vegetables with one scoop of tuna salad or a piece of grilled chicken breast with olive oil and vinegar. With these changes, now, at least I can comfortably get my shoes on.

 

 

I thought maybe that would have something to do with it too. If we do this again I'll definitely be drinking more water, and probably try the bottled water instead. I drank tap water and a lot of it during the meals!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I'm home after my trip to the dentist today. The root canal didn't go so well; apparently my roots are curved rather than straight, so after FOUR hours and TWO different dentists, they called it a day at 6pm and I get to go back to finish on the 13th. Yippee.

[/size][/color][/size][/color]

 

Ouch that really sucks!!

 

I went in for a root canal, once they froze it and started they said the tooth would have to be extracted. So with a frozen molar i had to drive across town and have my hubby come with my daughter since they were going to put me out, they had to drive me and my car home. Now I have a space between molars. I wish you all the best!!

 

OK ON WITH THE REVIEW~~!!~~

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ouch that really sucks!!

 

I went in for a root canal, once they froze it and started they said the tooth would have to be extracted. So with a frozen molar i had to drive across town and have my hubby come with my daughter since they were going to put me out, they had to drive me and my car home. Now I have a space between molars. I wish you all the best!!

 

OK ON WITH THE REVIEW~~!!~~

 

Yikes! I'm hoping that doesn't end up happening to me. Both dentists working on me said they are still "hoping" to save my tooth, but after all this it might end up getting extracted. I'm kind of terrified of the bill more than anything else though!

 

More review should be coming tonight!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought maybe that would have something to do with it too. If we do this again I'll definitely be drinking more water, and probably try the bottled water instead. I drank tap water and a lot of it during the meals!

 

 

 

I have the same problem on every cruise as well. I asked my doctor about it & he said that it is the salt in the food!! So, with that said, not sure how you control the salt intake, but he also said to drink a lot of water!!

I told the dock I was drinking a LOT of beer which has water in it, but he wasn't very flattered!!:D:D

 

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the same problem on every cruise as well. I asked my doctor about it & he said that it is the salt in the food!! So, with that said, not sure how you control the salt intake, but he also said to drink a lot of water!!

I told the dock I was drinking a LOT of beer which has water in it, but he wasn't very flattered!!:D:D

 

Steve

 

Hahaha....thanks for the laugh!! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the same problem on every cruise as well. I asked my doctor about it & he said that it is the salt in the food!! So, with that said, not sure how you control the salt intake, but he also said to drink a lot of water!!

I told the dock I was drinking a LOT of beer which has water in it, but he wasn't very flattered!!:D:D

 

Steve

 

lol! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OCT 10, 2013-day 8

Today was St Lucia! We woke up as we were coming into the dock and within seconds of being out on our balcony we were already commenting that this was the most beautiful place we had ever seen! We woke up just in time to see the Pitons on our way to the dock, and they were stunning!

 

100_3315.jpg

 

100_3326.jpg

 

100_3323.jpg

 

100_3318.jpg

 

100_3352.jpg

 

100_3387.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's so intense! Double rainbow all the way across the sky! But seriously...it was! But it was almost a complete circle the way the rainbow reflected in the water, it was so beautiful I was so overwhelmed!

 

I think we actually had breakfast this morning, and had to be out for our excursion bright and early. We had decided to go with Cosol Tours for our day in St Lucia. Cosol's tour includes all the major highlights we wanted to see on the island, the price was right, and the reviews were all fantastic. We were not disappointed with our decision!

 

100_3389.jpg

 

Cosol Tours is a big operation. I believe there were a total of 8 vans full of people on this tour. We met our driver just off the ship and basically as soon as they counted off a van's worth of people, that van loaded and left. I think we were the first van to head out. 2 of our new friends from our meet and greet were in our group which made the day extra special!

 

The tour started our through the winding roads of St Lucia with the first picturesque stop overlooking Marigot Bay:

 

100_3433.jpg

 

100_3437.jpg

 

100_3431.jpg

 

The next stop was at the banana plantation where we learned about banana farming and were able to sample a super sweet delicious fresh banana.

 

100_3441.jpg

 

IMG_8658.jpg

 

At each of these stops, there were plenty of vendors pushing their wares, but for the most part if you told them no they wouldn't continue to bother you.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Next we drove through the little village called Anse La Raye. It was so pretty!

 

100_3457.jpg

 

We stopped at another overlook with more venders, and this man sang us a lovely song about Anse La Raye

 

100_3459.jpg

 

Next it was time to eat. All of the vans met up at a home that had a gorgeous view with a covered deck. Tables were set up with finger foods, all kinds of interesting things to sample.

 

Cosol is in the green, and our driver Sam is right behind him.

 

IMG_8728.jpg

 

100_3468.jpg

 

It was raining on and off throughout the day, but it absolutely poured while we were having lunch! Lunch was delicious and there was plenty of food for everyone. Drinks were available throughout the day, with water, an amazing spiced rum, beer and sodas (we tried a pear soda and a banana soda, they were so good!)

 

After lunch we headed back onto the winding roads and our next stop was an overlook with a gorgeous view of the Pitons!

 

100_3481.jpg

 

100_3487.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our next stop was the volcano and the mud baths. This is the only time during the tour that I was a bit disappointed. We were given a choice of either doing the mud baths or a tour of the volcano. Basically the van stopped and they said if you wanted to do the mud baths to get out there, and gave them about 15 minutes and then said they had to walk up the road to meet the rest of us at the volcano site. Hubby and I hadn't really talked about it prior so we had to make a split second decision. He wanted to do it, I had read about it and read that it was really smelly and stained your clothing and that it was hard to wash out the smell and muck. So I said I didn't want to. So we ended up separating at that point. About half the van stayed at the mud baths.

 

IMG_8839.jpg

 

The rest of us had an opportunity to hear about the volcano and history, and saw a little bit of the botanical gardens and a small waterfall.

 

100_3519.jpg

 

100_3509.jpg

 

100_3495.jpg

 

You could see the earth bubbling in the volcano site. But boy did it stink! It was still raining on and off, and after a few minutes the stinky mud bathers joined up with us and we loaded back into the van to head to the next stop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Next we drove to a dock to load into water taxi's to take us to Jalousie Beach which sits between the Pitons.

 

IMG_9113.jpg

 

100_3532.jpg

 

IMG_9063.jpg

 

The beach is rather small. To one side are the lounge chairs that belong to the resort and cost a small fortune to use. To the other side are the free lounge chairs, most of which were in the shade. The beach is pretty rocky, and we were glad we brought our water shoes. But the snorkeling was pretty decent!

 

IMG_9006.jpg

 

IMG_9000.jpg

 

IMG_8985.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We saw this teeny octopus not far from the shore. He was hiding inside an old tin can. He would occasionally move around and pull the tin can behind him and cover himself back up with it. He was probably no more than a foot long but we never saw all of him.

 

IMG_8966.jpg

 

IMG_8959.jpg

 

Here you can see the side of the beach we were one. You could be on either side of the beach but you couldn't use the chairs on the resort side. We never did venture to that side though.

 

IMG_8934.jpg

 

Looking straight up at the Piton:

IMG_8935.jpg

 

Looking towards the resort side of the beach:

IMG_8932.jpg

 

100_3544.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Next we stopped at another overlook of Morne Fortune, where we could see the Valor in dock:

 

IMG_9342.jpg

 

IMG_9345.jpg

 

IMG_9373.jpg

 

Our tour was coming to an end, but before we were finished we made a quick stop and Sam picked up fresh bread and cheese for each of us. The bread was still warm and the cheese melted into it for delicious warm cheese sandwiches.

 

Now it was time to say goodbye to Sam before heading back to the ship.

 

100_3553.jpg

 

We had made numerous purchases throughout the day so we didn't stop in the shops near the port at all.

 

It took a few minutes to get back onto the ship as the line was quite long:

 

100_3556.jpg

 

But we were soon back in our room and saying goodbye to the beautiful island of St Lucia

 

IMG_9467.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After resting a bit and showering we were ready to eat. It was just before 6pm when we got a call from one of our new friends from the meet and greet asking if we wanted to go to dinner at 7:30 with everyone. Of course we did, but we were just about to walk out the door to go to dinner and we were starting, so we had a pre-dinner snack on the Lido deck to tide us over. We still had a little time to kill so we headed to the Ivanhoe Theater to catch part of the magic show, which was pretty funny! We had to leave before the show was over to meet our friends for dinner. We had a large table for the 10 of us in the center of the Lincoln Dining Room.

 

Hubby and I both had filet Mignon, and I had lasagna as an appetizer, with spring rolls and I tried the oysters from the didja menu. I finished with apple pie for dessert, but I have to say it was not very good at all. Hubby had oysters and chicken tenders for appetizers, and a chocolate raspberry cake for dessert. Dinner was another crazy night with our new friends and we loved every minute of it!

 

IMG_9618.jpg

 

My feet were even more swollen at the end of the day:

100_3653.jpg

 

We had every intention of going to a show after dinner, but we were just too tired so we went to bed early again:

100_3652.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I noticed that hubby had one of those waterproof cases around his neck. I was thinking of getting one of those as well. How did it work out? What did he put in it? Did you guys carry your passports off the ship or leave them in the safe?

 

It worked well. Because I didn't even bring along my drivers license I HAD to take my passport as my ID off the ship. Hubby brought his drivers license since he drove in Puerto Rico. His waterproof case was only big enough for his license, credit card and whatever cash we took with us that day, plus his sign and sail card. It worked out perfect for that. Others that we met had cases large enough for their iphones and they actually used them underwater for photos. It sure made for peace of mind for the most part, knowing that our money was safe while we snorkeled and stuff, but I was still always worried about my little bag on the beach that held my passport.

 

Your photos, descriptions, and commentary are all fabulous!

 

Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...

If you are already a Cruise Critic member, please log in with your existing account information or your email address and password.