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

[cruisexlife]

Loving this!

[MollyRox]

YAY Can't wait to read your review!! I am a packers fan (sorry) but my husband also doesn't allow me to watch games in public (same reason). I feel your pain.

What ports did you visit on your trip?

 

Hey Kelley,

 

I see your UK logo, I'm a U of L fan and also a Packers fan! I'm not a Kentucky native, but I love to cheer both teams when I can. UK is having a great bball season so far. :D

 

Sorry to hijack the thread, I did the same cruise in May 2013 and loved it and can't wait to go back.

[PS1818]

Oh geez, sorry everyone. I went to take a shower and my review was hijacked. He did love that tour.

 

So moving along...

 

We walked around OSJ and even jumped on the free trolly just to see what that was like. It was fun but didn't move very fast. If you need a break from walking it is a good alternative. We were getting hungry and found ourselves right outside a Subway. P wanted to go there but in keeping with my quest to try to eat authentic PR food, I talked him into the sandwich shop across the street. I know what you are thinking...it wasn't THAT authentic. But it was filled with locals and it was REALLY good. It was called

La Mesa .I think it may have been a chain but I had never heard of it. I had a turkey sandwich and I think P had a ham sandwich. Everything tasted really fresh and good.

 

 

 

 

Here are some more random shots from around OSJ

 

 

Paseo de la Princesa

 

The San Juan Gate

[MollyRox]

Sorry, it was a "small" hijacking. :rolleyes: I am enjoying your review and reliving our cruise.

[Kim_KS]

Thanks for the review - loving it so far! We will be on this cruise in 122 days and I can't wait.

[Cruisertommyboy]

Loving your review, even if you are a Cowboys fan. This from a lifelong Redskins fan.

My wife and I are doing the same trip on the Liberty and are staying at El Convento and are really looking forward to it

Question, what times do they do the Segway tours, looks pretty interesting and would save a lot of walking.

Tom

[PS1818]

Sorry, it was a "small" hijacking. :rolleyes: I am enjoying your review and reliving our cruise.

 

 

Haha noooo!! I didn't mean you! I'm sorry!! I meant my husband decided he needed to interject about the Segway tour while I was in the shower!

[dawnvan]

AHHHH!! THANK YOU!! Been dying for a fresh Valor review and yours is GREAT! We leave Feb 22 so was hoping for one more review before we go!! Love all the pictures! Keep it coming.

[PS1818]

Selfie time!

 

P and I at the Raices fountain

 

After goofing off we went back to the apartment for P's nap. I sat on the balcony and relaxed. After awhile we ventured back out to find a restaurant called El Jibarita. From my research I thought that we could find something P would like for dinner while I was able to eat authentic Puerto Rican food. He likes pork chops and rice, and according to the research there was lots of that. It started to rain really hard for the first time just as we were getting there. The place was pretty full, there were a few couples waiting to be seated. We were seated quickly and given menus. I couldn't find the pork chops on the menu so I told P to order the pork ribs. He very hesitantly ordered the rice. His hesitancy stemmed from the rice being described as "yellow" rice and the server not being able to tell him what made it yellow. I ordered trifongo, yellow rice, and something that was meat (don't remember what kind of meat). The decor of the place was really cute. There seemed to be about 15 people working there and yet the service wasn't great. Someone took our order and someone else brought us our food. Other than that we never saw a server at our table. Neither of us liked the food.We were never brought our appetizer. I was brought Chicken stew. I may not remember what I ordered but I KNOW it wasn't anything with the word "stew" in it. I hate all stews. But I didn't say anything and tasted it and it wasn't good. The rice was ok but very greasy due to the long strip of what I think was pork fat underneath of it. I really wanted to love the trifongo because I had read so much about it...but I didn't. It had a semi sweet outer shell but the inside was a flavorless mush. I think I may have gone to wrong place to try this because everyone else in the world loves the stuff. And I promise you...I am not a picky eater. I like most foods. So we left there still feeling hungry. My plan to try to eat new things at authentic restaurants was quickly back firing.

 

 

 

 

 

So we made our way back to the harbor area and went into the Chicago Burger Co. for dinner #2. P was happy...we were about to eat cheeseburgers and watch football. I was happy because I was going to have some more of the best mojitos ever!!

[PS1818]

Wife and I are going to be on breeze 12/5 and one of the ports is san juan. I'll be docking into san juan on 12/8 my birthday. I was born in PR and haven't visited since 1998. Wife will be dragging me to coach store. She said for u to post pic of purse....ohhhh noooo

 

 

Haha well I am sure you will have a great time! I'll try to post a photo of the bag but it's on my laptop which is currently being repaired :( . When it's fixed I will post it.

[PS1818]

Great review. I was at that Packer/Cowboy game. It was awesome, in more ways then one. The next week, not so much. GO PACK!!! Anyway, we are on Valor March 8, in a room just down the hall about 10 rooms fore of yours. We are spending 1 day before and 1 day after our cruise in San Juan. We have sailed out of there 2 times on the Celebrity Summit and LOVED it. Now we will have kids 12/9 in tow for their first cruise. I,m excited to see what the Valor has for the kids. I just cant wait and your review is making my wait a little more tolerable.

 

 

Oh man I bet that was exciting for you! I loved the location of our room. It was perfect for us. Unfortunately I can't tell you much about what they have for kids. I know they have mini golf, bean bag toss game, and ping pong! But that's all I know. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

[PS1818]

to see your review. Thanks for taking the time to post. I'll be on the same itinerary in April on the Liberty and this is making me even more excited. I've been looking at doing the Segway tour in OSJ and just hoping I can talk my friend into it. Beats walking around in the heat! Can't wait to read more of your review. Thanks again!

 

Susan

 

 

You are welcome! It's fun to relive it. The segways were so worth it. It was really hot and there are so many hills. People were super jealous of us lol. Hopefully you can talk her into it! Good luck!

[PS1818]

Glad to hear that the drinks are good at the Sheraton! That's where we'll be staying pre-cruise.

 

 

They were fabulous! Have one for me!

[PS1818]

We were on the December 28-Jan 4th Valor cruise and also spent 2 extra days in San Juan. I am already looking at when we can book again. We fell in love with San Juan and truly loved this cruise.

 

We can not wait to return to beautiful San Juan!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

I'm already checking when we can too!

[PS1818]

Going on the Valor in July. I can't wait to see what you think of the ship.

 

Sent from my Huawei Y301A2 using Forums mobile app

 

 

I liked the ship a lot more than I thought I was going to. I will get into a lot of detail later in the review but I loved it!

[PS1818]

Loving your review, even if you are a Cowboys fan. This from a lifelong Redskins fan.

 

My wife and I are doing the same trip on the Liberty and are staying at El Convento and are really looking forward to it

 

Question, what times do they do the Segway tours, looks pretty interesting and would save a lot of walking.

 

Tom

 

 

Haha ewwwww the Redskins!! They didn't do very well this season... Sorry :) . Please let me know how you liked the El Convento. It's a really cool building. They do the tours at 10 am and 4 pm. It was super fun!

[PS1818]

AHHHH!! THANK YOU!! Been dying for a fresh Valor review and yours is GREAT! We leave Feb 22 so was hoping for one more review before we go!! Love all the pictures! Keep it coming.

 

 

Thank you!! Part of the reason I wanted to do a review was because I knew how it felt to run out of reading material before our trip! The other reason was because others were so helpful in planning that I hope to be able to contribute and give back. Plus it's fun to relive it!

[PS1818]

Wife and I are going to be on breeze 12/5 and one of the ports is san juan. I'll be docking into san juan on 12/8 my birthday. I was born in PR and haven't visited since 1998. Wife will be dragging me to coach store. She said for u to post pic of purse....ohhhh noooo

 

 

Here is a pic of the purse.

[babsee101]

Subscribing! We are doing the same itinerary on the Liberty this April. Looking forward to your review! :)

[deladane]

Yay!! So excited to read another Valor review! You are doing a great job so far :) I'll be on the last Valor sailing for this itinerary in March, so I can't wait to see how your cruise went. Did you bring home your copies of the Fun Times? If so, any chance you could scan them and post them in your review when you get to that part?? Pretty much everyone who has started a Valor review in the last few months has disappeared long before finishing their review, so I am hopeful that you will beat the trend and actually take us all the way through to the end of your vacation :) All of your time and efforts are much appreciated!!

[DevilDogsWifey215]

After cooling off and resting for a few minutes we decided to head back out and check out a couple things a little more. On the segway tour we got a short look at the cemetary but we wanted to walk around in it. And we also wanted to see La Perla. Don't worry, P wanted to go down into it but I talked him out of it. It is very pretty.

 

Got this delicious treat from a street vendor on the way

 

 

 

Standing on the wall that Separates La Perla from OSJ.

 

 

Why did you talk him out if it?

[IslandBound79]

I'm so happy you are giving us more pre cruise reading material!!!!

 

Thank you!!!

[MollyRox]

Haha noooo!! I didn't mean you! I'm sorry!! I meant my husband decided he needed to interject about the Segway tour while I was in the shower!

 

Ha! I see that now. No worries. I would be one of the ones the locals would be laughing at driving the Segway.

[PS1818]

Yay!! So excited to read another Valor review! You are doing a great job so far :) I'll be on the last Valor sailing for this itinerary in March, so I can't wait to see how your cruise went. Did you bring home your copies of the Fun Times? If so, any chance you could scan them and post them in your review when you get to that part?? Pretty much everyone who has started a Valor review in the last few months has disappeared long before finishing their review, so I am hopeful that you will beat the trend and actually take us all the way through to the end of your vacation :) All of your time and efforts are much appreciated!!

 

 

Thank you! I loved reading your review as well! I did bring copies of the Fun Times and they are already scanned and ready to go! I know... I get so disappointed after reading a good one and then they never finish. It is definitely more work than I had imagined (especially when it's your first time) but I will finish it!!

[PS1818]

Ha! I see that now. No worries. I would be one of the ones the locals would be laughing at driving the Segway.

 

 

Oh good! I was hoping I didn't offend you. Those people were funny. They were commenting on technique and giving pointers.