Booked the Valor!

[blondietink]

Took the plunge and booked the Valor for next April last night with the 1/2 price deposit. Have been looking at condos to rent in San Juan so we can get some beach time in a few days before the cruise leaves. We booked for the final week of April as the 3rd week had restrictions on occupancy. Did not like the sound of that and thought it might be a group cruise or something.

 

So, we need some help ..... we are beach and snorkeling people and would love some of your thoughts to do in the ports that Valor does: St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Maarten.

 

Also, what is not to be missed on the ship?

[Cruising Golfer]

IMHO, the sea day brunch was great. Enjoy!!!:cool:

[w4kry]

we are on the April 26, 2015 sailing also. We are flying a few days before and staying at the La Terraza. Hoping we made a wise choice.

[coasterjan]

Hubby and I are scuba divers, and that exact itinerary has been my all-time favorite. St Kitts, St Lucia, and Barbados are *beautiful*. I wish I was going with you! Can't get Hubby to fly all the way to San Juan again, sadly.

 

Be sure to enjoy Old San Juan, too. I loved the castillos.

 

Have fun!

 

Janis

[deladane]

Took the plunge and booked the Valor for next April last night with the 1/2 price deposit. Have been looking at condos to rent in San Juan so we can get some beach time in a few days before the cruise leaves. We booked for the final week of April as the 3rd week had restrictions on occupancy. Did not like the sound of that and thought it might be a group cruise or something.

 

So, we need some help ..... we are beach and snorkeling people and would love some of your thoughts to do in the ports that Valor does: St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Maarten.

 

Also, what is not to be missed on the ship?

 

Congrats on booking your cruise! I just booked the Valor for my birthday in mid-March so I'm starting the planning phase now too. If you look in my signature, I did this same itinerary in 2012 when it was on the Victory, and I posted a link to my review from that cruise. Feel free to check it out for some ideas of what to do in each port, and some ideas of things to do pre- and post-cruise in Puerto Rico too! The review goes in to a lot of detail and has a ton of photos too, so I hope it is helpful to you! I loved all of these islands so I can't wait to see them again in a few months :)

[blondietink]

We toured Old San Juan when we were on the Liberty, so we can check that off our list of things to do. But we didn't get much time to explore the fort, which we will have to make time for.

 

I have been looking on Vacation Rental by Owners and there are some nice condos available that are pretty reasonable in Isla Verde. We like to have a kitchen while on vacation. I know other people who have used that site and have been happy with their results.

[Dirkgun]

Just like Deladane said above and BTW she wrote a good review.... this cruise and ports are great. I also have a couple of reviews from the Victory which used to do this itinerary (one in 2010 over superbowl, one in 2012 over Christmas time) in my signature and we love to snorkel so there is a lot of those kind of excursions in my reviews. This next cruise on the Valor for us (Jan 2015) we are actually staying in a condo over in Fajardo by the Bio Bay, it seems to be a great option for lodging. Have a great cruise.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Dirkgun

[k9_Cop]

Took the plunge and booked the Valor for next April last night with the 1/2 price deposit. Have been looking at condos to rent in San Juan so we can get some beach time in a few days before the cruise leaves. We booked for the final week of April as the 3rd week had restrictions on occupancy. Did not like the sound of that and thought it might be a group cruise or something.

 

 

 

So, we need some help ..... we are beach and snorkeling people and would love some of your thoughts to do in the ports that Valor does: St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Maarten.

 

 

 

Also, what is not to be missed on the ship?

 

 

When are you going? We are booked to do the valor again on April 19. We did this cruise this past april for our honeymoon and loved it

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[SaWuttae]

We did this Valor cruise last April also, great itinerary, liked the ship. We're just easy going beach people too, not so much snorkeling though.

 

St. Thomas we did Emerald Beach, which was nice. We've done Magens bay before, I would put them both equal. Easier and cheaper access to amenities (alcohol) on Emerald, with decent prices. Magens is more scenic and open feeling, depending how busy port is that day.

 

Barbados we did the Boatyard, which I wasn't incredibly impressed with. We did Accra/Rockley beach in the past and liked it more than the boatyard. Except again The Boatyard has cheaper drinks, more active vibe.

 

St. Lucia we did a tour with Herod which we enjoyed, spent time on the beach between the pitons, and I have to say besides the experience of sitting between, the beach wasn't anything special. And expensive drinks.

 

We took St. Martin as our sleeping in and cheap day. We got chairs and an umbrella and 4 beers for $15 bucks at Great Bay. Extra buckets of 5 beeers for $10. Mixed drinks were decent priced too. Walk down the boardwalk, they'll come to you with offers. We swam in the water and lived to tell the tale....

 

St. Kitts is our favorite place, we went to the Carambola Beach Club/South Friars beach. We tried to rent just an umbrella, they said no you have to get chairs too. We said no thanks and put our towels on the sand and baked. Great beach, I recommend walking down to the bars down on the other end of the beach for cheap drinks, the Shipwreck has good food. Jerk chicken sandwich was awesome. Supposed to be good snorkeling along there. Also a tip for a few cheap beers. Along the way the cab usually stops at the overlook on Timothy Hill. There is often some vendors there selling beers out of a cooler. Icy Caribe beers for $2 each or less to get you started, bring your own bottle opener.

[Dirkgun]

Here is a basic overview of what we are doing on each Island. As far as what not to miss on the ship, Really the Islands are the star of this itinerary. The Valor is nice, but no real fancy things on the ship you have to see, no 2.0 upgrades... just a great ship. Most likely you will be tired from all the activities on the Islands each day.

San Juan - Staying in Fajardo close to bio bay, Thursday after we arrive we are going to the beaches and famous food kiosks in Luquillo. Friday morning we are Hiking in El Yunque then doing the boat tour Friday night, Saturday we are going to stay in Condado at the Holiday Inn Express, after we get checked in we are going to the San Sebastian Street Festival (think Puerto Rican Mardi Gras :eek::D) It will be fun.

 

St Thomas - We are taking the Red Hook ferry over to St Johns and going to spend the day snorkeling and playing in the water at Cinnamon Bay. First time doing this.... should be great snorkeling.

 

Barbados - Going to Payne's bay to snorkel and swim with the turtles, then going to the wild animal preserve to watch them feed the monkeys at about 1:30 pm.

 

St Lucia - Doing the Land and Sea tour with Spencer Ambrose again. We have toured with him twice before and they are great. We take a van ride tour of the island stopping to see... historic sites/churches, Banana plantations, Scenic overlooks, Waterfalls etc., then you get in a water taxi to take you to Jalousie beach in between the pitons for a couple of hours lunch and snorkeling (some of the best in the Caribbean IMHO) then back to the ship in a twin engine speed boat up the coast stopping to see lots of sites.

 

St Kitts - Usually we go to Shipwreck beach to play and snorkel, but this time we are going to the south end of the island to Reggae Beach bar and grill. We heard it was fun and wanted to try something different (been to shipwreck 3 times).

 

St Maarten - Going to drive in a taxi to orient beach for a bit, then to the French open market for a while then to Maho beach to play in the water and watch the planes land and take off. :eek::D

 

San Juan - tour the forts on Sunday, then just relax at Embassy Suites resort in Dorado (west of San Juan) until we leave on Tuesday.

 

 

There so many options on each island, you cant do it all just plan on coming back again :cool::D Enjoy your cruise.

[christyran1228]

99 more days for us ... 98 until we fly to PR.

 

[emoji1][emoji14][emoji267][emoji484][emoji12][emoji3][emoji509][emoji509][emoji509][emoji39]

[figdu]

Looking forward to this itinerary as it adds three new ports. Lots of snorkeling to be enjoyed.

[pghsteelerfan]

You definitely picked the best itinerary, in my opinion. :) We were on Valor in May 2013 out of San Juan on the same itinerary. We've also been on cruises to the Western Caribbean (2); Eastern Caribbean (1) and Mexican Riviera (1) and our first cruise was also a Southern Itinerary out of San Juan which was very similar. The Southern itineraries, to us, are the most scenic.

 

Now to answer your questions. We also enjoy the beach and snorkeling and spent time at the beach on each of our stops on Valor last year. We also stayed one night, pre-cruise, in San Juan at the Courtyard in Isla Verda. There were some condos right next door & they may even be where you'll be staying. We loved that section of the beach. I think it only too 5 minutes to get from the airport to the hotel and we were on the beach about an hour and a half after our plane landed and spent the whole afternoon and some time the next morning there.

 

In St. Thomas we spent the day at Sapphire Beach (eastern end, great views of St. John) and there is some decent snorkeling. The chair rentals and restrooms there had been shut down but I believe they are reopen again.

 

Barbados: We spent the day at the Barbados Hilton which has a nice beach but I've read other reviews from others who have gone to Carlisle Bay were excursions for snorkeling with the turtles are offered right from the beach for a great price.

 

St. Lucia: We booked a private tour with a local vendor for a Jalousie Beach break. Jalousie Beach is the beach between the Pitons. This tour pretty much guarantees your the first group and we were. The snorkeling is great there earlier in the day but I've seen other reports where the water isn't so clear in the afternoon when all the other snorkeling tours arrive.

 

St. Kitts: Spent the day at Cockleshell Beach but didn't get to snorkel since it ended up being our rainy day. Cockleshell Beach is on the eastern end and is where the Reggae Beach bar is. Loungers/umbrella were $5.00 per person. There are several other beaches at St. Kitts that have some great snorkeling. Valentinebaby1 did a review from their trip last October and there are some really nice snorkel pictures from St. Kitts.

 

St. Martin: We booked a private tour to spend the day in Pinel Island (French side in St. Martin). We'd been there on our first cruise on an excursion we booked through Carnival that is no longer offered but we wanted to get back since it was beautiful there. The snorkeling is also pretty good. It was a fun and relaxing day.

 

The Valor herself has not had the upgrades and we were finally on a ship (Liberty) this past April that had the upgrades. The upgrades are nice, but not a deal breaker if the ship doesn't have them. We spent a lot of time on the Lido deck on Valor enjoying a drink and relaxing. For activities and events on Valor, make sure to check the Fun Times for the schedule of the daily activities. There will be two deck parties, which are always fun, for sail away from San Juan and also the night after leaving Barbados.

 

One thing I really enjoyed was getting up early in the mornings as we sailed into the islands. We had a starboard (right side of ship) balcony and had excellent views. If you don't have a balcony, you can also get great views coming into the islands from Panorama Deck 10.

 

I also did a review of our trip with a lot of pictures and the link is in my signature if you'd like more details. I saw that Dirkgun and deladane also commented. It was Dirgun's review of Victory (the 2010 one) that "sold" us on doing this itinerary again. I also read his 2012 review and also deladane's review right before our trip for ideas. They both also have great pictures and details.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will try to answer as best I can and I'm sure the others will as well. I hope you have as much fun on Valor as we did.

[Cruza4eva]

My name is Travis and we just got back from sailing on the Valor 2 weeks ago!! Awesome cruise and you will love it!! A couple of suggestions on beach type activities and snorkeling. On St Thomas we actually took a cab to Red Hook ($10) per person and grabbed the Ferry over to St John to Cruz Bay!!! The water taxi was fun and only a 12 minute hop on over to St John. Water taxi was $14 roundtrip per person. Once on St John we walked the Lind Point Trail about 1.4 miles to a very secluded beach (only accessible by trail or Catamaran) called Honeymoon Beach!!! Just beautiful with very little people and awesome snorkeling. The walk on the trail is pretty but don't wear sandals or beach shoes (trail is a little rocky). There are public facilities at Honeymoon Beach. The beach next to honeymoon beach is called Solomon's Beach (even prettier)!!! We had plenty of time to do both beaches and explore around town! Don't pass this opportunity up! Our friends recommended this side excursion for us and we were blown away. Also it's very safe so no worries there. I'll post more later on the other islands when time allows. Hopefully this gets you guys excited and in the mood!

[blondietink]

To answer K9 Cop: We are going April 26th. We had almost booked the 19th of April, but there are occupancy restrictions for that cruise, so that sent off a red light for me. I think there must be a large group on that cruise or something. Even though we will have 4 to a cabin, it specifically stated that if you had fewer people in a cabin rated for more people, be expected to be moved. So, we switched to the 26th.

 

We went to paradise Beach on St. Thomas on our Liberty cruise, so we are willing to try something else, even though we had a good time on Paradise.

 

One of my Facebook friends is going on the Valor in October and has booked a tour on St. Lucia with Cosol Tours. Anybody heard of it?

[KirkNC]

Hope you have a great cruise!

[Relayer]

Took the plunge and booked the Valor for next April last night with the 1/2 price deposit. Have been looking at condos to rent in San Juan so we can get some beach time in a few days before the cruise leaves. We booked for the final week of April as the 3rd week had restrictions on occupancy. Did not like the sound of that and thought it might be a group cruise or something.

 

So, we need some help ..... we are beach and snorkeling people and would love some of your thoughts to do in the ports that Valor does: St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Maarten.

 

Also, what is not to be missed on the ship?

 

Valor is awesome as is your itinerary!

 

St Thomas - Magens Bay

St Maarten- Pinel Island

Barbados - Accra Beach

St Lucia - All time favorite island! Water taxi to Anse Chasenet, Jalouise Beach and the Pitons by sea

St Kitts - Cockleshell Beach.Magnificent drive. Sadly Wilbur passed 2 years ago

ago

 

Have a blast!

[ldlewis45]

Took the plunge and booked the Valor for next April last night with the 1/2 price deposit. Have been looking at condos to rent in San Juan so we can get some beach time in a few days before the cruise leaves. We booked for the final week of April as the 3rd week had restrictions on occupancy. Did not like the sound of that and thought it might be a group cruise or something.

 

So, we need some help ..... we are beach and snorkeling people and would love some of your thoughts to do in the ports that Valor does: St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Maarten.

 

Also, what is not to be missed on the ship?

When I went on the cruise in February, I did the Behind the Scenes Tour on the ship, and it was definitely worth the money. The steakhouse is also worth every penny!

 

I also booked some excursions privately that were really good. One was the Jalousie Beach Break in St. Lucia with Spencer Ambrose Tours. It's a rocky beach, but the snorkeling is good and they provide a good lunch and unlimited (strong) rum punch. In St. Kitts, I booked a lounger and umbrella at Carambola Beach Club (you can do it through Facebook), and that was definitely worth the money. In St. Maarten, I booked a snorkeling excursion with Captain Allan's Boat Charters that was initially supposed to be just a few hours long. When I got there, they upgraded me for free to a longer trip because they didn't have enough people booked for that trip. It was really good, lots of fish and turtles, and stopped for lunch at Pinel Island.

 

I'd also recommend staying a few days in San Juan either before or after the cruise. I wish I'd stayed longer than I did. I flew in the day before the cruise and stayed in the Casablanca Hotel in Old San Juan. It was very good, and I'd recommend the hotel to anyone, since it's walking distance to the port and close to tons of stuff in Old San Juan. While you're there, you need to try the mofongo and mojitos at Cafe Puerto Rico. They are so, so good!

Edited August 3, 2014 by ldlewis45

[wicruisin]

Our family is booked for the Valor in March 2015. We are traveling with our kids (15&17), so we have excursions booked in almost every port-except St. Thomas where we will probably go to Coki or Sapphire.

 

St. Marteen - Robinsons speed boat

St. Lucia- Herod's land and sea

Barbados- Calabaza

St. Kitts-my island tours-Javin

 

Worried that we will be exhausted-but operating under the idea that it may be the last time our spring breaks coincide.

 

DH and I did this itinerary on the Victory a few years ago and loved it! At that time we did Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia and Silver Moon in Barbados. We wouldn't hesitate to do either of those tours again. We also did a lot more lounging on beaches and drinking local beers than we will this time!

 

Have a fabulous time!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Rockjock64]

On st Thomas, we did sapphire last trip and rented jetskis at the marina, what a great time that was, we got 2 of them for an hour for $100 total....

They said the day we were there that it was pretty slow and to go have fun, we had been expecting $200 for the 2 for 2 hrs...imagine our surprise.

We have also been to megans bay, both were unbelieveable.

ENJOY YOUR CRUISE!

[dolfndreams]

Favorite itinerary and I'm not a beach person. Definitely love to snorkel though. And love the first port of Old San Juan, actually added a day this year just to enjoy the atmosphere and wander.

 

Favorites on the itinerary:

St. Thomas: have done island tour but this year binging and doing Highpockets a 6 person snorkel/lunch tour. Not cheap but a treat for my sister I'm taking with me.

 

Barbados: Have done both Silvermoon and Calabeza lunch/catamaran snorkel with turtles. Loved them both. Back on Calabeza this year

 

St. Lucia: Have done Cosol and Herold's island tours and enjoyed both

 

St. Kitts, no snorkeling but enjoy the Clay Villa tour w/island tour by taxi

 

St. Maarten: Have done 3 island snorkel w/ Captain Alan and loved it; highly recommend. Trying a similar highly rated tour this time just for variety with Soualigia with Captain Bob since #1 on tripadvisor.

 

Enjoy, it is a wonderful itinerary. As for the ship looking forward to the Valor. Had the Victory the other times until they switched it out.

Edited August 3, 2014 by dolfndreams