What a vacation!!!! Carnival Valor Review

[tawaik]

Thank you so much for your review:) I'm booked for April 2015 and I'm looking forward to experiencing something new with my husband since it will be his first cruise.

[jrmende63]

Wow...I am impressed with the Calabaza review. We have them booked for Barbados and we also have Spencer Ambrose booked for St. Lucia. I am really enjoying your review!

[jrmende63]

I am going on this cruise next November and I am confused. Do you board at the normal time as w/ any other cruise but just don't leave port until 10 p.m.?

From what I have read and the comments from friends who have been on this sailing, Yes, you do board as normal but the ship leaves at 10 pm at night. You may leave the ship and go explore OSJ or as we are going to do..go get more wine for our cabin :D

[marshalltp]

We just did this cruise April 6-13, it was fantastic. Love your review so far. We highly recommend this itinerary.....

[FloridaLaura]

So sorry for the few days away from the computer...I got a lovely flu bug. So where was I ? I think I covered St. Lucia tour with Spencer Ambrose. We got back to the shiop with an hour to spare. He brought us practically next to the ship. We hopped on board and grabbed a quick bite at the grill and hit the pool for an hour. We were always able to find a few chairs to occupy. That night was the 2nd formal night. We relaxed before dinner at the casino bar for a cocktail and headed over to the dining room. We didnt see any shows just a few comedians. We posed for a few more photos and just had a relaxing fun evening.

[FloridaLaura]

Friday morning up around 730am Room service was there with the coffee and fruit to enjoy on the balcony as we watched the ship sail into St. Kittss

 

 

We had pre reserved 8 loungers and 4 umbrellas at Carambola Beach Resort. The cost for each couple was 30.00 That breaks down to 10.00 per lounger and 10.00 per umbrella. We met a taxi driver and he agreed to take us all for 4.00 each I believe and 4.00 each back at the prearranged time. I hope that is the correct price...brain fog! He was very nice and gave us a mini tour on our way to the beach resort.

 

When we arrived at the resort I gave the hostess our name and she handed me 8 little tickets to give to the beach runners and they walked us over to our 8 loungers and set up the 4 umbrellas. It was a beautiful area. We enjoyed just relaxing there most of the day. We got several buckets of beer, $15.00 per bucket which consisted of 6 beers. We did purchase a few pina coladas but at $10.00 a pop we just had one each lol (the girls)

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also had day beds for 40.00 for the day We did not rent any

[FloridaLaura]

 

There is a reef right off shore, a few of us had our snorkel gear and went to explore. We saw a few starfish, a lobster a few fish etc.

 

 

After reading on cruise critic about a place down the beach called Shipwreck Bar and Grill, we strolled about 15 minutes down there to try out the fish tacos. Somewhere in my planning I noted the fish tacos were 2.00 ea which was a bargain compared to any of the food at Carambola that is why we took the walk, well I guess I misread something because the fish taco platter was 17.00 everythig was pricey but we stayed and had lunch since we walked there anyway

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food was all very tasty, just disappointed that it wasn't the bargain I had planned :)

 

In the back of the restaurant near the mountain area there were mongoose running around which we spotted, there were supposedly monkeys but I didnt see any

 

We strolled back towards Carambola and spotted another starfish

 

There was another little bar in between , we stopped and got 4.00 rum and cokes the owner was a character. Heavy pours on the rum too!

Edited May 28, 2014 by FloridaLaura

[FloridaLaura]

 

We planned on meeting our driver at 2:30pm so we took advantage of the showers and changing rooms and met him in the front of the beach resort as promised.

 

He drove us back with a stop at a beautiful overlook.

 

 

 

[FloridaLaura]

 

 

Our evening was about the same as previous evenings.... a few clubs, a little casino , dinner and a few drinks Dinner was again wonderful thanks to our magician waiter Alberto!

 

The next day was our last port St. Maarten. We all decided to do our own thing in the morning and meet at Maho around 12:30pm for some Jet action.

 

My husband and I got off the ship and headed to the taxi area we had packed our collapsible cooler with a rum runner flask of rum, and a few cans of coke ....We got in a van marked Mullet Bay/Maho Our plan was to be dropped off at Mullet Bay and then we would walk over to Maho a few hours later. It was 8.00pp to Mullet Bay It took approx 25 min.

 

We arrived and rented 2 loungers and an umbrella for 15.00 total. We basically the place to ourselves it seemed. The water was gorgeous and we just relaxed and played in the water.

 

 

 

 

[FloridaLaura]

At 12pm we asked for walking directions to Maho...it was a 15 minute walk past a golf course and then over to the main shopping area. It was no problem at all to walk it. We found a table for 8 at Sunset Bar and waited for our friends to arrive. We ordered a few drinks and enjoyed watching the planes take off and land. When the gang arrived we ordered appetizers and a bucket of beer. It was a fun few hours The first pic is off the beach area as a jet was preparing to take off..blasting everyone around (we were safely far enough away to just watch) .

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2014 by FloridaLaura

[FloridaLaura]

Part of the 8 of us had a driver and we all crammed in his van for the trip back to the port area.....my hubby and I and one other couple just had to pay the 8.00 pp fare for the trip back. Some of the group wanted to get dropped off in town, so we all hopped out and shopped for a bit. I dont know whos idea it was to walk the rest of the way back, but we did and it was a LONG walk and HOT out. Wish I would have grabbed another cab or did the water taxi ....but oh well I burned off some of the many meals we enjoyed!

 

Once back to the ship we headed up to the LIdo for a much deserved ice cream cone!

 

Met for dinner after naps and showers for our final dinner with Alberto. More great magic tricks came our way!

 

We did hit the piano bar a few nights, not much happening there, but we made it fun the few times we were there!

 

Karaoke was a bust to me, every time we stopped in there, there were only 4 or 5 people in there and it seemed like the same ones singing (not so great by the way lol)

 

We had packed most of our stuff up before dinner, so around 11pm we went to the cabins to set our luggage out. We headed back to the casino and actually did ok . We needed to just stop, because it was almost 2am and we had a long travel day ahead of us the next day. We cashed in our players cards and headed to the cabin.

 

this is view from my balcony as we approached san juan

 

http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s603/raysfan0713/IMG_6830_zps85b1a541.jpg

The final morning we all met at the LIdo at 8:30am We wanted to stay on the ship as long as possible since our flight wasnt until 8pm.

 

We ate and just sat in Rosies buffet for almost 2 hours lol We finally headed down to deck 0 at 10:15ish thats where the line bagan to get off the ship they actually held us on the ship because the terminal was backing up. Once off the ship we found all of our luggage and 1/2 of us paid a porter to load it on his cart and wait with us until we went through customs I bet we waited for over 30 minutes. Finally we all got through that and we headed to Aloha restaurant directly across for the port, carnival recommends them to hold your luggage for $3.00 per piece, that way we didnt have to lug it all day! Well worth it. Once our suitcases were handed over we found the free trolley stop and took the trolley one spin around old san juan which took over 30 minutes i am guessing.

some sites from the trolley

 

 

We hopped off at a stop for lunch and enjoyed a puerto rican meal and mojitos and I for the life of me can not remember the name of the restaurant. I will ask my friends and post later! It was yummy.

 

 

 

We wanted to hop back on the trolley to go to the fort to walk off lunch. Each time the trolley came by though it was full so we asked a taxi and he said 3.00 pp SOLD! Hopped in the van and headed to El Morro Fort, traffic was getting terrible. We got pretty close to the fort and it was just backed up. One of my friends was feeling a little claustrophobic so we asked to stop and we walked the rest of the way. We paid our fare and started walking. Maybe 10 minutes Once at the fort we enjoyed watching the kids flying their kites and the families picnicking. The fort scenery is awesome, I really enjoyed it.

 

We spent a few hours there, and then headed back to Aloha to get our suitcases (by trolley) around 430pm then we got into two seperate vans with all our luggage to get to the airport . Fare to the airport for 4 was 21.00 plus 1.00 per bag, its about a 20 -25 min cab ride from the port to the airport.

 

Once at the airport we got all checked in and got in the LONG security line. That took well over 45 minutes, but we planned on getting there early glad we did. Got to the plane around 45 minutes before boarding. Had one finally drink and nachos at a little airport restaurant called Mangos pricey but yummy. Had an uneventful airplane ride back to Tampa landed at 1050pm home by midnight!

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2014 by FloridaLaura

[trumbull archer]

Simply Awesome! This cruise is top choice on our list for next April.

[cindphillips]

Great review! Thanks for sharing!

 

 

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