MY VALOR ADVENTURE!!! review complete with lots of Pictures, 5/18 sailing

[skidawg79]

Great review so far. We are going in July and staying at Marriott also. Quick question: Is taxi fare to Old San Juan per person? There are 7 of us total so things can add up quickly. I'm just hoping to have an idea if a quick ride will be $15 or $60 for 4 of us in my family.

 

No, the cab fare is just for the cab, not per person. When going to the cruise terminal, it is an additional $1 per bag.

[wrigley80]

Great start to your review...the Carnival Valor was our first Carnival ship that we cruised on. The Valor started my love affair with Carnival.....I love the atrium décor on the Valor. I will definitely cruise on the Valor again soon

[skidawg79]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and following along! Putting together some more posts for tonight!

[Rock_ON!!]

Your pretty funny, I think I'll subscribe!

 

 

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[Awoelk]

Was the aft pool adult only? And if so was it enforced?

 

 

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[skidawg79]

EMBARKATION CONT…..

Im baaaaack....

After we toured the ship, we went back out into Old San Juan to explore, this is my second time here and I am starting to love Old San Juan. We walked around this area that had tents with all kinds of handmade items, and food vendors. it was nicely shaded which was good because it was getting hot!

 

Ok, so Emily is a shopper…me…not so much. She has this thing where she buys a magnet from every country that she has been too. Store after store….she couldn’t find a magnet she liked. At one point, I swear the store said something to the effect of, “every magnet you could possibly want here” yet somehow we left empty handed. So when we were leaving like the 15th magnet store and I heard a voice yell, “free Pina colada samples!” Emily didn’t have a choice in this one, we were there!

 

We sat down and realized that we were at Barrachina’s, the birthplace of the original Pina Colada. Now let me tell you, I don’t usually like them but this was unlike any I’ve ever had. If you like Pina Colada’s, you owe it to yourself to go there!

 

About 2 hours and $80 later we were ready to go haha. We asked how to get back to the ship and the manager told us to go out to the road, make a right, tuck and roll. He was joking of course, but it was all downhill from there, so it might have worked. On the way back to the ship, Emily finally saw a Magnet she liked but was like, “I don’t have any cash left and left my credit card on the ship”, so I went to buy it for her, but only had $3 cash left (damn Barrachina’s), the magnet was $3.99 and it was a minimum purchase of $10 on a card…so we left magnetless. Ugh.

Time to get back on the ship and get ready for Dinner, the muster drill and sail away!

Took this before we got back on…

.

[skidawg79]

Was the aft pool adult only? And if so was it enforced?

 

 

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Yes the Aft pool was adult only. I didn't get there until about noon on the sea day, but I didn't notice any unsupervised children or any children at all back there. Occasionally there would be a teenager come to the Pizza place, but I really didn't have any issues with kids on the entire trip. I didn't physically see anyone enforcing it, but I also didn't notice any children back there.

[skidawg79]

SAIL AWAY…..

This will be a short post because, well, after a long but awesome morning on the beach, then touring the ship, then Old San Juan, then Pina Colada’s we were beat!

 

Well, we had to stay up for the muster drill and sail away so went to dinner and we were seated at a table for 10. After talking to the couple next to us, we found out that he was on the Carnival Triumph when it broke down, better known as the “poop cruise”. I made the comment that we should be ok, “because lightning doesn’t strike twice right?”. Regardless, we covered our bases and found out what room he was in so we could come get him if our ship broke down! Kidding aside, it was good to see him back on a cruise, and especially back on a cruise with Carnival.

 

 

After dinner we went to the Muster Drill. I know it’s necessary, but still a pain in the you know what. We made the mistake of getting there a few min early and the entire process took about 15 min or so once it got started. We were standing there for about 15 min before they started. We did meet a couple standing next to us that, let’s just say, they kept us entertained throughout.

 

Once we were released…it was time for SAIL AWAY!

We went up to the Lido deck to enjoy the sail away. The DJ was thumpin', people were dancin' and everyone seemed to be excited to get their cruise underway. I have to say, I LOVE sailing out of San Juan at night, the lit up forts are beautiful.

We didn’t stay up long after sail away, had a beer and called it a night because we were getting up early for St. Thomas tomorrow!!!

[skidawg79]

Your pretty funny, I think I'll subscribe!

 

 

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Stick around for the end...I have a great story from St. Maartin :-) Glad your enjoying it!

[AzJenn]

Hi there! Loving the review so far! I'm generally a princess/celebrity diehard however I have spent an awful lot of time on the carnival board lately to check it out.

 

Looking forward to reading more. :)

[ILCruzr]

I am loving your review so far! I am going on the Valor in January and it will be my first time to San Juan and all these ports...but funny it will be my 7th cruise with Carnival and I am excited to not repeat anything! YAY!!!

[sewgoddess]

Booked for October 12, 2014. Can't wait. Getting excited just reading your reviews. Keep em' coming.

[skidawg79]

ST. THOMAS!

I woke up early and went out to the secret deck on deck 7 and snapped some pictures while we were pulling into port. Was beautiful morning but clouded up quickly.

 

We didn’t have anything planned, except take a cab and relax on a beach somewhere. Last time in St. Thomas we didn’t make it to Magen’s bay, so we decided to give it a try this time.

Emily happened to get sunburn BEFORE the cruise even started in San Juan, apparently the Caribbean sun doesn’t like the Irish. So we went shopping for a long sleeve rash guard (which saved her from more sunburn the rest of the cruise) then walked up to the Kmart and bought some snorkeling equipment. After that, we took a cab to Magen’s bay. Initially we were worried about the weather on this day, although it ended up cloudy most of the day, it never rained. Emily was ecstatic that it was cloudy for obvious reasons.

The morning was relaxing, just did some snorkeling and enjoyed the beach. We did see a sea turtle, we were told he hangs out in the grassy area towards the middle of the beach and sure enough, he was there. My underwater pictures didn’t come out to well, but I got him poking his head out of the water…

After we did some snorkeling, we made friends with the people sitting next to us who ended up 2 of the many I plan on keeping in touch with following this trip. First thing up, a drink at the bar called Pain killer or something like that. The prices here aren’t horrible, $7.50 for a specialty drink, $6.50 for a mix drink, but man do they make them strong. This pain killer drink had about 3 different rums in it and a “splash” of something with coconut in it….it was delicious.

My overall impression of Magen's Bay is just ok, maybe it was because it was cloudy all day, but I thought it would be prettier. Don't get me wrong, the scenery is nice and we picked a great day to go as it wasn't too full (only ship in port), but I wasn't overly impressed. Glad I saw it, but if I'm back in St. Thomas, ill check out something new.

We caught a cab with our new friends and while waiting for some other people to get in the cab, I saw my first trash can hugger of the week. Apparently the drinks were a little TOO strong for her. She was ok, she had ,what one could only assume was her father, pouring water on her back as she filled up the garbage can. I did snap pictures, I take pictures of everything, and no I will not post them... lol

On the way back to the cruise terminal our cab stopped so we could snap some pictures….

The sun came back out as we were driving back to the cruise termina….again…Emily was happy. lol

Since we already started at Magen’s bay and we didn’t have to get up early tomorrow, naturally a stop at Senior Frogs was in order!

So as we stand there drinking the beer at 4:05pm (had to be back on the ship at 4:30), I turn to Emily and was like, “did you get your magnet?”. I mean you would think that shopping all morning, buying a rash guard, snorkeling gear, that she would be able to find a magnet. Well before she even answered she said , “hold this!” Hands me her beer and runs out, I was assuming that the answer to my questions was a resounding no. about 10 min later, she comes back with a bag in her hand and a smile on her face. Handed her the beer and made it on the ship at 4:29pm…no we didn’t have to run…this time…

Edited May 29, 2014 by skidawg79

[skidawg79]

I am loving your review so far! I am going on the Valor in January and it will be my first time to San Juan and all these ports...but funny it will be my 7th cruise with Carnival and I am excited to not repeat anything! YAY!!!

 

 

My first time with Carnival, I will definitely be sailing carnival again. I truly had an amazing time on this trip. If you have any questions leading up to your trip, feel free to ask, ill do my best to help you out.

[tigger10609]

Awesome review! We sail on the Valor October 12 and I am even more excited after reading your review. Keep it coming! :)

[chicagochris]

I'm going out on the Valor this Sunday. I'm super excited for this much needed vacation and am going solo. Any recommendations? This is my first cruise. I'm a 34 year old from Chicago.

[skidawg79]

I'm going out on the Valor this Sunday. I'm super excited for this much needed vacation and am going solo. Any recommendations? This is my first cruise. I'm a 34 year old from Chicago.

 

What kinds of things do you like to do? Any port in particular you want some advice on?

 

Even if you're only a little bit of an outgoing person, you will have no issues making friends or meeting people on this trip. One thing that I've noticed on this trip as opposed to my others on other lines, people seem very friendly and outgoing on Carnival.

 

Most of the action seem to be in the casino bar area as there was a live band, the club or the comedy club. Honestly, I would just say hand out at Aft pool during the sea day and you will need a ton of people. The aft pool during the sea day was a lot of fun. Did you join your rollcall?

 

Sorry if that wasn't what you were looking for, if not, message me back and I'd be happy to help you out.

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review and great photo's, thanks for posting.

[chicagochris]

Thanks for the advice. I've been crazy busy with work so I haven't had much time to really focus on the trip. This is a last second vacation (booked two weeks ago) and I'm really looking to relax and explore.

[skidawg79]

Thanks for the advice. I've been crazy busy with work so I haven't had much time to really focus on the trip. This is a last second vacation (booked two weeks ago) and I'm really looking to relax and explore.

 

Quick tip. Look at booking a tour in st lucia, can be a nightmare getting around there and I was told cabs are expensive. We did Cosol Tours (not carnival sponsored). We had a great time and highly recommend. Heard Spencer Ambrose was good too.

 

The beach at the Boatyard in Barbados was beautiful, wait till you see the pics I got from there.

[Biffer1997]

Enjoying your review..thanks! booked for next April.

[ragethjj23]

on st. Thomas did you ask the cab driver for a little tour or did he just take you to those points or did you specify the points. those pics with the ship in them look great!

[brue1451]

Following along Dave!!

[teetee6263]

EMBARKATION CONT…..

We sat down and realized that we were at Barrachina’s, the birthplace of the original Pina Colada. Now let me tell you, I don’t usually like them but this was unlike any I’ve ever had. If you like Pina Colada’s, you owe it to yourself to go there!

 

 

Loving the review & pics so far, looking forward to the rest. I'm leaving for San Juan in 10 days & I'm so excited, I cant wait. I'm not much of a Pina Colada drinker, but I can't see being at the birthplace & not ordering one. By any chance do you remember the price for 1?

Thanks

[athenasbyshanna]

We want more! Great start!