My Carnival Valor Southern Caribbean review!! With 2 days in Old San Juan !

[PS1818]

I simply can't wait for your review of Calabaza! We are booked with them in April. We reserved the last 2 spots over a year ago!

 

It was wonderful!

[PS1818]

This has been one of the best reviews. Thank you. I can't wait to read more!

 

Awww you're just saying that... Thanks tho!!

[PS1818]

I am loving your review! This cruise out of San Juan is on our list to do in the next year or so. We are going to St. Thomas and San Juan on our cruise in April so I enjoyed reading about what you did in those ports, specifically San Juan.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest!

 

It is a great cruise! San Juan was definitely one of my all time favorite places!

[Karen's Kruisin']

Thank you! Ohhh I bet you are excited!!

The Coach store is located at 158 Calle Cristo. If I remember correctly, If you are facing the Cathedral you would turn to your right and walk down that same street. There were lots of other shops around it. It was originally priced $328 but I believe I only paid $90 after all the discounts.

 

Thanks so much. Will definitely be stopping there!!!

[PS1818]

Hello again everyone! I promise I didn’t abandon you. And I thought about you all the entire time I was away.

 

So today we woke up in Barbados!!! I think I was the most excited about this port because we had managed to book with Calabaza. If you have never heard of Calabaza you should look it up on Trip Advisor, or put it in the search box for the Barbados ports of call board. Calabaza is a sailing catamaran that takes you to swim with the turtles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We woke up to gorgeous weather. It is true what everyone says about the port in Barbados. It is very industrial- not much to look at. After a quick breakfast we got off the ship and headed into the port area. We met our driver easily and were on our way to the marina. The ride to the marina was literally 3 minutes and was included in the price of $110 per person. We met the guys from Calabaza at the dock and boarded the cat. My first impression was that it was beautiful and clean. The crew was very welcoming and waited on us hand and foot all day. We never had to ask for anything, they offered it before we had a chance to ask for it. The wonderful hospitality started with fresh baked pumpkin bread and hot coffee the moment we stepped on the boat. After a short safety briefing we set sail for the turtles.

 

The water in Barbados is beautiful. We sailed to the turtle spot where we were given snorkel gear but no fins. This is because they don’t want you to kick the turtles or the other people and it can get pretty crowded. I must mention that the snorkel gear was not the best quality stuff. If you have your own gear, I would bring it. But it did the job. There were a few other tours already there so it was already a little crowded but most of them were getting ready to leave a few minutes after we arrived. We were instructed to stay together in a group and to stay near the guy who was part of our crew. He was throwing fish in the water to feed the turtles and also taking pictures of us. The turtles started arriving within just a few minutes of us being in the water. They were so amazing. There were probably a total of about 10 different turtles. The most I saw at one time was 4. I don’t even know how to describe how cool it was to see them in the wild.

 

We swam with them for about 30 minutes before it was time to get out and eat lunch. The rest of the crew had prepared lunch while we were in the water. I really want to tell you that we loved the food…but we didn’t. I had read such great reviews about the food in particular so I was a bit disappointed. It was chicken that was really dry, some form of cabbage salad that had no dressing, rice, flying fish, garlic bread, and veggies. The veggies and garlic bread were good. But I figure if this is the only slightly negative aspect of this day…I’m a pretty happy girl! When lunch was served I had my first rum punch of the day and it was delicious! Oh- and FYI- they email you the recipes for everything including the rum punch plus they give you a link to download the photos they took.

 

After lunch we headed to the next spot for snorkeling. This was a small reef which had decent snorkeling but not super great. We stayed here for about 20-30 minutes and then got back on the boat. We were anchored pretty close to a beautiful beach and given the opportunity to get some beach time in. We stayed on the boat, laid on the trampoline and enjoyed some more rum punch. It was so peaceful and beautiful, I almost fell asleep. While we were lounging around the captain was making us dessert. The dessert was cheesecake, brownies, and cookies. All were excellent! After a bit we had to start heading back to the port. I sat on the seat that is on the front of the cat (you’ll see in the pic) and it was so nice. We arrived at the marina, bought a couple tee-shirts, tipped the crew, and were taken back to the port.

 

I would give this tour a 5 star rating. Even though I wasn’t impressed with lunch I realize that food is totally subjective. The service was outstanding and everything else about the trip was amazing. I think part of what makes it so special is that they only take up to 12 guests. This tour always books very quickly so if you’re thinking of booking it, you should not delay.

 

Once we were back at the port I bought my magnet and Christmas ornament and we got back on the ship.

[PS1818]

 

Rum Punch!

 

 

 

 

[PS1818]

The other tours at the turtle spot

 

 

Turtle!!

 

 

 

[dawnvan]

I have Calabaza planned too!! Looks like a fantastic day! So enjoying your review!

[PS1818]

 

 

Puffer Fish! (2nd snorkel spot)

 

 

 

[PS1818]

The beach we stopped at...

 

It's hard to see but there's an eel

 

Lunch...I forgot, there was regular green salad as well...

 

The ride back...

 

[PS1818]

After we returned to the ship I think we ate...again...and then napped...again. This was becoming predictable. After our nap we got ready and went to dinner. Afterwards we went to watch karaoke. There were some pretty good singers. There were 3 or 4 that were chosen to be in the Legends show later in the cruise and it was clear they were using this as rehearsal time. But they were good and it was entertaining. We then went to the casino and made our nightly donation. Then off to bed!

 

Up next...St. Lucia and Spencer Ambrose's Jalousie Beach Break tour!

[PS1818]

Leaving Barbados..

 

Port of Barbados...

 

The Calabaza

 

The Tasing Swan....from Modelfart.

[lovebears]

Looooove your review! We are booked with Calabaza in Nov, and so excited to see and swim with turtles! Your pictures are amazing!!!! What type camera did you use? Was it an underwater camera! Awesome review!!!! Thank you so much!

[PS1818]

Looooove your review! We are booked with Calabaza in Nov, and so excited to see and swim with turtles! Your pictures are amazing!!!! What type camera did you use? Was it an underwater camera! Awesome review!!!! Thank you so much!

 

 

Thank you! It's an Olympus stylus tough 850. It's waterproof up to 33 feet. It worked great and took very good under water photos.

[PS1818]

I have Calabaza planned too!! Looks like a fantastic day! So enjoying your review!

 

 

It was awesome! You will love it!

[jigger]

Wonderful !!

[babsee101]

Awesome! I can't wait for Calabaza! I also can't wait for your review of Spencer Ambrose's tour. We are booked with him as well. :)

[happymanitee]

I'm following along too. I'm on Royal Caribbean's Adventure this summer, but it is a very similar route, so I love reading about the ports. I already booked the beach break with Spencer Ambrose, so I'm looking forward to hearing about that.

And, by the way...Dez definitely caught that ball! I've never felt so robbed in my entire life.

[LzyCruiser_NWA]

Thank you for taking the time to write up such a detailed review.

 

We're thoroughly enjoying each installment.

 

For calabaza and jalousie beach break, when do they collect payment?

[PS1818]

I'm following along too. I'm on Royal Caribbean's Adventure this summer, but it is a very similar route, so I love reading about the ports. I already booked the beach break with Spencer Ambrose, so I'm looking forward to hearing about that.

And, by the way...Dez definitely caught that ball! I've never felt so robbed in my entire life.

 

Haha yeah...it was a terrible call. Have fun! Our day in St. Lucia was my favorite day!

[PS1818]

Thank you for taking the time to write up such a detailed review.

 

We're thoroughly enjoying each installment.

 

For calabaza and jalousie beach break, when do they collect payment?

 

Youre welcome! For Calabaza I believe we paid once on the catamaran. For Jalousie we paid right before we left the beach to head back to the ship.

[Texasgalsa]

Are you posting St. Lucia's review today?? : )

[PS1818]

 

 

 

 

[PS1818]

For today we had booked a tour with Spencer Ambrose. He offers lots of different tours but the one we chose was called "Jalousie Beach Break". The reason we chose this was because I had read about how steep and winding the roads in St. Lucia are and I didn't want to risk getting car sick. The tour was a speed boat ride to Jalousie beach, about 5 hours at the beach, lunch, and a speed boat ride back which included some stops and photo ops. The cost was $85 pp plus tip.

 

We woke up to cloudy skies...which in the Caribbean isn't a big deal because it usually clears up quickly. We ate breakfast and then made our way through the port shops to meet Spencer. He was there on time and put us in a group of other people who were doing his various tours. About this time it started to sprinkle a bit. No big deal. A few minutes later we were split into groups according to where we were going. Our group walked to where the boat was tied up, which is very near the port shopping area. In the picture below you can see a path that goes from the port area to the water. That's how close it was. And then it started Raining. We all huddled together under a little roofed area near the boat tie up while we waited for it to stop. Then it started to pour. And I got worried.

 

We huddled in the little shack by the telephone pole near the water

 

 

The reason I got worried was because I was having very lucid flashbacks of an excursion we took last year while in St. Maartin. We had booked a jet boat snorkel tour that turned into a jumping -10 foot- waves -at- full- speed-while- being- pelted -in- the- face- with- giant- rain- drops-tour. I was sitting on the bow of the boat with my legs dangling over along with a few others. Don't get me wrong, it was wet,wild and really fun. There was no real snorkeling to be done because the water was so rough. Not all was lost though because we ended up at this little beach bar on Pinnel Island and this is where I found the love of my life. That's right folks....this is where I discovered the Guavaberry Colada. If you don't know about these...well...all I can say is...you must find out about them. Anyway, I'm getting off topic of my off topic story. To make a long story short...it's all fun and games until someones legs are hit with the giant ocean buoy that the captain failed to see. So what does this have to do with our current situation you might ask. Well, Just like in St. Maartin I was getting the distinct feeling that we were about to embark on a tour that should perhaps be canceled because of the monsoon we were experiencing. But also like in St. Maartin, the tour would go on because they don't want to lose money. Even if no one wants to sit on the beach in the rain all day. Or in the case of St. Maartin...no one wants to sit on the bow of a speed boat in the rain all day.

 

Any-who, back to our current situation. We eventually all got into the boat and sped off for Jalousie Beach. On the way there the guide (not the one driving) pointed out some stuff and tried to yell loud enough for us to hear over the engines and the rain storm. I would estimate the ride over took about 30 minutes.

 

This is a shot looking back towards the ship right before the downpour hit.

 

A pretty rainbow!

 

This is Spencer's boat as we were getting into it.

[PS1818]

It stopped raining about 5 minutes before we reached the beach. Jalousie beach has a super nice, super expensive resort on it and is nestled between the Pitons. The beaches in St. Lucia are all public. So we were told that we could put our towels down any where we wanted along the beach but it cost $50 to rent one of the resort's loungers. There were some loungers provided for us on the far end of the beach near the snorkeling area. Some of the chairs were not in the best shape but luckily we were the first tour group to arrive so we had our pick of chairs. P and I got the best spot under a thatched hut thing. It was perfect. We had shade if the sun ever came out and we had cover in case another monsoon hit.

 

So we staked out our spot and decided to try the snorkeling before a ton of people arrived. There is a little hut that sells trinkets, dresses, swim suit cover ups, and also rents snorkel gear. That is a lucky thing because I was under the impression that gear was provided for us. But it is not. Because technically this wasn't a snorkel tour. I have no idea why I thought that. But no big deal...we rented gear and started snorkeling.

 

I should first tell you that I thought St. Lucia was by far the most beautiful place I have ever been. It is so green and lush. The beach and the Pitons was just indescribably beautiful. The water was the clearest I have seen yet. And the snorkeling was the best I have ever done. I have read some reviews that said the snorkeling wasn't that great and all I can think of is maybe those people didn't go far enough out or the bottom was all churned up or something...unless you have snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef and are comparing it to that , I don't know how you could say this place wasn't great.

 

Our spot...eventually someone came and moved the two chairs on the right so we moved one of ours to the other side and had tons of space and peace and quiet.

 

The chair area as we were pulling in

 

The resort beach area

 

Our first glimpse of the Pitons