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

[PS1818]

Which port did you embark from? I have seen conflicting reports on which port. We will be embarking San Juan on October 11th and returning 18th. Hoping it's one of the ports in Old San Juan. We wanna try and get in as much Old San Juan as possible. Thanks

 

We sailed from Old San Juan Pier #4. I could be wrong but I think that is the only pier that carnival uses in San Juan. But again...I don't know that for fact.

[PS1818]

I have always been told that San Juan is the easiest. Has something to do with who runs the check in process. I seem to recall that the Port of San Juan operates the point where smuggled booze would normally be confiscated instead of Carnival agents and they don't care what you bring in so long as it isn't illegal. Great review so far. My wife and I lived in Seattle for 3 years while she was in school at UW. It was a great time.

 

I think you may be right about that. But I'm sure Carnival could find a way to fix it if they wanted to. Thanks! We actually live east of Seattle where it doesn't rain much but it does snow a lot. It is beautiful tho!

[PS1818]

Bonine was my savior on our cruise in November. I was using the Transderm-scop patches and they made my food taste horrible. Our ship (Navigator of the Seas) was having stabilizer issues and I thought I was going to die. I finally switched to Bonine and it made a huge difference. I took it right before bed and I never noticed any side effects.

 

I was wondering about the patches. I have never tried them, but I'm very happy with Bonine so I don't think I'll risk switching it up just for the sake of curiosity.

[TiffyLtheDork]

Awkward table mates are the WORST. Husband and I were seated with a couple that didn't speak the entire time. Seriously. I would start a conversation and they'd stare at me. Or mumble. We dined in the buffet the next night and they were there too hahaha. I guess the feeling was mutual.

[Hei1980]

Carnival is much easier than Norwegian supposedly they scan everything. We went out of Tampa for New Years on NCL and I bought a box of wine. I wrapped it in aluminum foil and then Christmas paper and put it in my suitcase. It arrived untouched. Norwegian says you can bring as many bottles of wine as you want only there is a corkage fee of $15 per bottle ridiculous. Wine bags are great for many things. I fill them with water and freeze them. Then use them in my cooler. My food doesn't swim around in the melted water, and when it melts. I have a bag of water. I love to go camping as well as cruising.

 

Loved the idea about freezing the wine bag full of water and using them in the cooler! Thanks for the tip.

[PS1818]

Awkward table mates are the WORST. Husband and I were seated with a couple that didn't speak the entire time. Seriously. I would start a conversation and they'd stare at me. Or mumble. We dined in the buffet the next night and they were there too hahaha. I guess the feeling was mutual.

 

 

Hahaha that is what I had imagined happening!

[Enigami]

Wow, this couldn't have come at a better time! We sail on Valor next week and we're loving your review. Thanks for sharing :cool:

[familyfuncruise]

Love your review. So glad we booked the Sheraton as a pre-cruise stay. My DH loves burgers. We will be eating at the Chicago burger.:D

 

Can't wait to read more..

[Scorp702]

Great review! Subscribed. Bringing back some very good memories when we were on the Valor a couple years ago. I have definitely put my rum runners to good use also haha. The Coki Beach pictures really took me back. We did the helmet dive next door and it was amazing. Again great review and looking forward to reading the rest.

[Catrin]

Hello!

Great review so far, thank you for sharing!!

 

Did you know that Bonine IS Meclazine? Check out the active ingredients!! But for some reason this stuff works like a charm.

I have been taking a cocktail of Bonine & Ginger Root for at least 10 cruises now. I got sick easily on the first five with Dramamine and Seabands. Once I started Bonine and Ginger, I no longer get sick!

 

Looking forward to the remainder of your adventure!

Catrin

[mjonis]

What kind of camera did you use to take the underwater pictures whilst snorkeling?

 

I've never seen anything look so good and amazing!!

 

I've got an Olympus Stylus Tough.

 

--Kevin

[Jennifer925]

Loving the review!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[JAXCRUISER]

Great review so far--thanks!!

[trippingpara]

We dove with Coke Dive. We're certified divers but our daughter isn't so we're thinking of taking her there for their discover course when we return in May on the Liberty. We were really happy with them. Congrats for seeing some good stuff on your first dive. Glad to hear that they treated you guys well.

[Kim_KS]

I swear by Bonine too! I read a great tip to take it every night before bed so if there are side effects, you don't feel them. I knew Dramamine made me feel sleepy so wasn't sure what Bonine would do and by taking it before bed, I still don't know what it does. LOL

 

Loving your review BTW. My husband is from Puerto Rico so we visit there about twice a year and I look forward to it every time. We are taking this cruise on 15 Feb and your review makes me want to leave today! I told my husband about the wonderful apartment you rented and he said his mom would be upset if we stayed somewhere else. He's right and he loves her cooking anyway. Also, you were very SMART to not go to the area next to the cemetery.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Donna - Do you think your MIL would let us stay with her and cook for us when we go on our cruise in May? LOL. Sounds like a good deal to me! :)

[PS1818]

We dove with Coke Dive. We're certified divers but our daughter isn't so we're thinking of taking her there for their discover course when we return in May on the Liberty. We were really happy with them. Congrats for seeing some good stuff on your first dive. Glad to hear that they treated you guys well.

 

 

It was perfect! We loved it!

[PS1818]

Great review so far--thanks!!

 

 

You are welcome!

[PS1818]

What kind of camera did you use to take the underwater pictures whilst snorkeling?

 

I've never seen anything look so good and amazing!!

 

I've got an Olympus Stylus Tough.

 

--Kevin

 

 

Haha thank you but I used the same one that you have.... Olympus Stylus Tough 850. I don't think it was me, it was just that clear and pretty. I was really happy with that camera though. It was my first time using it.

[PS1818]

Hello!

 

Great review so far, thank you for sharing!!

 

 

 

Did you know that Bonine IS Meclazine? Check out the active ingredients!! But for some reason this stuff works like a charm.

 

I have been taking a cocktail of Bonine & Ginger Root for at least 10 cruises now. I got sick easily on the first five with Dramamine and Seabands. Once I started Bonine and Ginger, I no longer get sick!

 

 

 

Looking forward to the remainder of your adventure!

 

Catrin

 

 

Yeah, so is Dramamine. But for some reason it works way better. And no sleepy side effects. Maybe it's a different amount or a different compound mix or something scientific... I dunno... But it works!

[PS1818]

Great review! Subscribed. Bringing back some very good memories when we were on the Valor a couple years ago. I have definitely put my rum runners to good use also haha. The Coki Beach pictures really took me back. We did the helmet dive next door and it was amazing. Again great review and looking forward to reading the rest.

 

 

Thanks! It was a great trip!

[PS1818]

Love your review. So glad we booked the Sheraton as a pre-cruise stay. My DH loves burgers. We will be eating at the Chicago burger.:D

 

 

 

Can't wait to read more..

 

 

It looked like a good place to stay. The burgers were good!

[PS1818]

Wow, this couldn't have come at a better time! We sail on Valor next week and we're loving your review. Thanks for sharing :cool:

 

 

Well hopefully I will have it done before you leave!

[PS1818]

 

 

 

 

[PS1818]

This was our only sea day so we were more than happy to sleep in and relax a bit. This was a really busy cruise and we had excursions planned for every port. So on this day I think we slept until around 9:30 which is really late for us. But we needed it. I wanted to go to Sea Day Brunch but for some reason we didn’t-I don’t remember why. We ate breakfast in the buffet and expected it to be packed on a sea day. But, to my surprise, it wasn’t. In fact, we never had trouble finding a table or had to wait in any long lines for the buffet the whole cruise. I think this buffet is set up really well.

 

After breakfast we wandered around the ship and found that even the lido pool wasn’t that crowded. There were loungers available as well. We headed to the aft adults only pool and laid in the sun for a while, then alternated sitting in the hot tub and getting in the pool. In case anyone is curious- the pool is salt water and the whirl pools are fresh water. I don’t want to talk about how I know that.

 

We eventually headed to the lobby stage for a game of Scattergories. I love this game! And you know what? I love it even more because it made it possible for me to go home with a Ship On A Stick!!! Well…I guess I should clarify…P won a SOAS. I won a second place medal. But I still possess a SOAS. What’s his is mine. If you don’t want to take my review seriously because I didn’t actually win a SOAS…then I don’t know what to tell you…I will try harder next time.

 

Busy…but not too crowded

 

 

The presentation and gloating…

 

The aft pool…see all the open chairs?!

[jtwitch]

I *really* hope that my question doesn't spur an unnecessary sidetrack to your wonderful thread.

 

:)

 

How did the "do not reserve deck chairs" policy actually play out on your cruise (especially on the Sea Day)? Were there may chairs with just towels on them? Were there often available chairs whereever you went? Did you ever actually see any personal property or towels removed by pool attendants and taken to the towel hut?

 

(Notice that I've attempted to avoid any perjorative words, in hopes that this question doesn't spur some debate in the midst of your excellent review!)

 

:)