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

[JohnTRN]

valentinebaby1, thanks for taking the time to post your review and pictures. Just burned the morning reading it over the last 2-1/2 hours!

 

Fatty's is on my list for places to look for. We always like to find places that locals eat at and this sounds perfect!

 

John

[valentinebaby1]

Enjoying your review and pictures. We sail January 26, 2014. Pretty much have our port stops planned . . . Jealous of your Calabaza Trip. They were booked up, so we probably ended up on one of those 'other' boats! :rolleyes: We'll have a great time, no matter.

 

John

 

Don't get me wrong about the "other" boats, I read nothing but great reviews on all that I looked into, and we had friends from our ship that went on a similar cruise with a different company and were just as happy...what sets Calabaza apart from the others is that they keep it small, but they're also a little more expensive than the others...I'm sure you'll have a great time with any of the boats!

[valentinebaby1]

valentinebaby1, thanks for taking the time to post your review and pictures. Just burned the morning reading it over the last 2-1/2 hours!

 

Fatty's is on my list for places to look for. We always like to find places that locals eat at and this sounds perfect!

 

John

 

Thanks for reading! Hope you got some good info :) and you'll love Fatty's!

[JKirkN]

Thanks to you both for your quick answers! I think we'll skip the mudbaths, and I don't mind being wet, I just wanted to make sure that it would not be a problem for the tour guides.

 

I usually make an envelope for each day with port name on it and our cash in it, and I am just trying to make sure to have enough for each day (cost of tour + tip + spending cash).

 

Another question for you - did your purchases stay in the van while you took the trip to the beach, or did you have to take them to the beach with you?

 

Ya, we left all our purchases in the van. They seemed to be fine...didn't lose anything. A couple times they did say to make sure they were covered up good or not showing out of the bags...but I wouldn't be concerned.

 

-Jim

[jenischmeni]

Thanks to your wonderful reports, valentinebaby1 (and JKirkN too!), I took the plunge and plunked down the deposit for our cruise on The Valor. We leave 6/1/14.

 

My invitation was sincere, if you want to go back, you'll already have a new-found-friend on the ship. I'll even buy you a pretty, umbrella drink.

 

Since Carnival is running a 3-day sale, deposits are 1/2 off :-D You'll have a tax check between now and when the final payment is due on 3/18.

 

I'm just asayin'

[valentinebaby1]

Thanks to your wonderful reports, valentinebaby1 (and JKirkN too!), I took the plunge and plunked down the deposit for our cruise on The Valor. We leave 6/1/14.

 

My invitation was sincere, if you want to go back, you'll already have a new-found-friend on the ship. I'll even buy you a pretty, umbrella drink.

 

Since Carnival is running a 3-day sale, deposits are 1/2 off :-D You'll have a tax check between now and when the final payment is due on 3/18.

 

I'm just asayin'

 

So glad you booked, you won't regret it! Have a great cruise, but it'll have to be without us, as much as I'd love to share a drink with you! If we're lucky we'll have this cruise paid off by the time you set sail! But until then we can't even begin to think about another one :(

[jenischmeni]

So glad you booked, you won't regret it! Have a great cruise, but it'll have to be without us, as much as I'd love to share a drink with you! If we're lucky we'll have this cruise paid off by the time you set sail! But until then we can't even begin to think about another one :(

 

I totally understand. By the time we get back on the Valor, it'll have been 8 years. Vacations like this aren't something we can do very frequently.

 

I do appreciate your review though and it was just the incentive that I needed to push me over the edge. (I totally want to "ride the fence" now!)

[JKirkN]

I totally understand. By the time we get back on the Valor, it'll have been 8 years. Vacations like this aren't something we can do very frequently.

 

I do appreciate your review though and it was just the incentive that I needed to push me over the edge. (I totally want to "ride the fence" now!)

 

You'll love it...it's a BLAST... LITERALLY! :) Just make sure that the plane is starting out down the runway a bit. I've seen videos of people getting really blown away when it starts too close to the fence!

[luvdod]

Thanks for sharing your fabulous vacation with us!

[valentinebaby1]

Thanks for sharing your fabulous vacation with us!

 

Thanks for reading!

[shilu]

Thank you for a fantastic review.

We are hoping to cruise on the Valor next Christmas 2014, 18 of us!

Just a couple of questions, is there a decent pool area for kids under 10 yrs?

And, what sort of camera did you use for your underwater shots?

Many thanks

Shilu

[JKirkN]

Thank you for a fantastic review.

We are hoping to cruise on the Valor next Christmas 2014, 18 of us!

Just a couple of questions, is there a decent pool area for kids under 10 yrs?

And, what sort of camera did you use for your underwater shots?

Many thanks

Shilu

 

I believe there is a small pool up in the kids camp area...(I think it's just a wading pool) Otherwise, it's just the big pools... I believe they are 4 feet deep and no lifeguard.

 

I used a Canon Powershot D20. I really love it! There is an "underwater" mode that I forgot to change to most of the time. When I did, it made it seem like there wasn't even any water...I wish I had remembered to use it more (I think it adds a bit of a red filter) I have a bunch more underwater pictures and some videos that I'm editing also.

 

-Jim

[Katemusical]

I loved your review! Im so excited to be on the Valor in December. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

[kteachcruiser52]

Thanks for the review. We are taking this cruise in March and I can't wait to see all the things you talked about.

[cruiseclues]

Nice review...too bad Photobucket is so greedy. :):):):)

[valentinebaby1]

Nice review...too bad Photobucket is so greedy. :):):):)

 

Ya, I didn't know about photobucket having limits...I thought I was well below my limit, but that was my hosting limit, not the bandwidth limit. They should be viewable again on the 15th when it resets for the month...otherwise does anyone know if any other free hosting options? I might be able to change it up if anyone thinks its worth the time... :)

[JohnTRN]

Ya, I didn't know about photobucket having limits...I thought I was well below my limit, but that was my hosting limit, not the bandwidth limit. They should be viewable again on the 15th when it resets for the month...otherwise does anyone know if any other free hosting options? I might be able to change it up if anyone thinks its worth the time... :)

 

I ran into the same thing. Ended up 'upping' my bandwidth on Photobucket, but started posting pictures on my Google Plus account. I'm going to wait a month or two and go back to the free bandwidth.

 

John

[suz1729]

Wonderful review! Thanks for taking the time. We leave this Sunday 11/24 for the Valor. Can't wait, but dreading the plane ride. We haven't flown to a cruise in many years since we live in Florida.Carnival told me the roads are a mess in san Juan, and that from airport to port is almost an hour ride. We purchased transfers, but unclear what bus to take to the port. No one seems to know what it called.

[valentinebaby1]

Wonderful review! Thanks for taking the time. We leave this Sunday 11/24 for the Valor. Can't wait, but dreading the plane ride. We haven't flown to a cruise in many years since we live in Florida.Carnival told me the roads are a mess in san Juan, and that from airport to port is almost an hour ride. We purchased transfers, but unclear what bus to take to the port. No one seems to know what it called.

 

Thanks for reading, and have an amazing time! I don't know anything about Carnival's transfer option, sorry I can't help you with that.

[hancogran]

Wonderful review! Thanks for taking the time. We leave this Sunday 11/24 for the Valor. Can't wait, but dreading the plane ride. We haven't flown to a cruise in many years since we live in Florida.Carnival told me the roads are a mess in san Juan, and that from airport to port is almost an hour ride. We purchased transfers, but unclear what bus to take to the port. No one seems to know what it called.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread, but to answer your question there will be a Carnival rep waiting for you at the airport (after you pick up your baggage if I remember correctly). They will tell you where to wait, and once there is a group of you, they will take you to the waiting bus ! No worries :)

Edited November 15, 2013 by hancogran

[valentinebaby1]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but to answer your question there will be a Carnival rep waiting for you at the airport (after you pick up your baggage if I remember correctly). They will tell you where to wait, and once there is a group of you, they will take you to the waiting bus ! No worries :)

 

No problem at all, glad you were able to answer the question :)

[pghsteelerfan]

Ya, I didn't know about photobucket having limits...I thought I was well below my limit, but that was my hosting limit, not the bandwidth limit. They should be viewable again on the 15th when it resets for the month...otherwise does anyone know if any other free hosting options? I might be able to change it up if anyone thinks its worth the time... :)

 

Hi! When I was uploading pictures from our Valor cruise in May to Photobucket, I also went past the hosting limit and ended up spending the extra $$$ so I could do the review. I did find out, after the fact, that Shutterfly is now compatible with posting pictures to Cruise Critic. CC member, cruisin*tigger, posted on my review how to do it but I'm not sure if it will work or not. Here's the post: "Super easy to post via Shutterfly. Go into one of your albums. Click on a photo to make it larger. Right click and copy. Then come back here and paste into your reply."

Edited November 15, 2013 by pghsteelerfan

[JohnTRN]

Hi! When I was uploading pictures from our Valor cruise in May to Photobucket, I also went past the hosting limit and ended up spending the extra $$$ so I could do the review. I did find out, after the fact, that Shutterfly is now compatible with posting pictures to Cruise Critic. CC member, cruisin*tigger, posted on my review how to do it but I'm not sure if it will work or not. Here's the post: "Super easy to post via Shutterfly. Go into one of your albums. Click on a photo to make it larger. Right click and copy. Then come back here and paste into your reply."

 

 

Oh, hey! That was easy! May I elaborate a tiny bit?

1. Open/Sign-in to Shutterfly

2. Open folder your pictures are in

3. 'Double-Click' picture you want to use

4. 'Right-Click' on enlarged picture and choose 'Copy image URL' (I'm not sure if there is a difference between doing that and clicking the opened picture again, THEN right-click and copy URL.)

5. In your CC message, click the 'Insert Image' icon

6. 'Right-Click' and paste your copied URL into the address box

7. Enjoy! :p

 

John

[pghsteelerfan]

 

Oh, hey! That was easy! May I elaborate a tiny bit?

1. Open/Sign-in to Shutterfly

2. Open folder your pictures are in

3. 'Double-Click' picture you want to use

4. 'Right-Click' on enlarged picture and choose 'Copy image URL' (I'm not sure if there is a difference between doing that and clicking the opened picture again, THEN right-click and copy URL.)

5. In your CC message, click the 'Insert Image' icon

6. 'Right-Click' and paste your copied URL into the address box

7. Enjoy! :p

 

John

 

Thank you John! :)

Edited November 15, 2013 by pghsteelerfan

[babsee101]

Thanks for taking the time to put together this fantastic review! I thoroughly enjoyed it. We have soooo very long to go. It's reviews like yours that will get me through!

 

You and your hubby want a repeat? April 26, 2015. We will be there and would love to have you guys on our roll call! :D

 

Take care and thanks again!