Carnival Valor Review! Southern Caribbean Dec 15th with PR and Island Itineraries :)

[xowendyxo]

I'm assuming 6483? We had that cabin two weeks ago. Best cabin EVER! :)

 

 

Yes!!! (I couldn't remember the number, lol). I plan on making good use of it! ;)

 

Sorry OP, hijack over 😘

 

 

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[ZJ13820]

Yes!!! (I couldn't remember the number, lol). I plan on making good use of it! ;)

 

Sorry OP, hijack over 😘

 

We did too. :D Enjoy!

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

We leave 6 weeks from today!!

 

Loved your picture of you balcony from the back of the ship because I could see my balcony....aft wrap on 6! I think it is going to be *one* of the highlights of our trip :D

 

We are also staying at LaConcha the day before we leave. Did you book a balcony room or is that what you were just assigned? I booked a cityview through Priceline, but called LaConcha and upgraded to an oceanview...I don't think that's a balcony room though.

 

 

Haha, no problem! And hi xowendyxo - you're going to love the aft wrap. Deck 6 will also be nice because you shouldn't have too much noise from above.

 

I looked at our reservation for LaConcha, the room was called a "1 Bedroom Suite, 1 King, Sofa bed, Ocean View, Balcony." We were assigned it. It may have been something to do with booking it with some points we had. There are several different areas with rooms, they kept calling our area "the tower."

 

The room was pretty great because it was really a one bedroom apartment. It had a little kitchen, living area, and dining table. :)

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Hi babsee101, kpatterson721, xowendyxo, jmwg49, ZJ13820, thanks so much for stopping in and following along! It's really fun to share this cruise with people who are taking it soon and with those who have been on it, too!

[Halya50]

Excellent review. Keep it coming!

 

We are leaving in a couple of weeks for a B2B on this itinerary.

 

Now get back to finishing the review LOL

 

Thanks again!

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

First port of call - St. Thomas!

 

In St. Thomas, the Valor docks at Havensight Point in the Charlotte Amalie East area. Two ships can fit on the dock. The Valor pulled in first and a Celebrity ship pulled in directly behind us. From the aft of the ship, we had a beautiful view of the bay and Hassel Island. Our vantage point gave us a view of the end of the port which hosts the requisite Senior Frogs.

 

Here are pictures of our view, and of the Celebrity. The morning was overcast (this was the only day the weather didn't cooperate...).

 

 

 

Before heading out, we grabbed a quick breakfast. I found (maybe a secret?) breakfast area in the back of the ship that was rarely crowded. It was the omelet station in very back, on the starboard side. (The omelet station in the aft port side didn't open until later.) We got breakfast here almost every morning. The line for omelets was short - they seemed like a healthy option, and there were plenty of breads, fruits, and other selections to add on. (Not as many selections as the main breakfast areas in Rosie's, but definitely sufficient.)

 

When you exit the ship, you exit into Havensight Mall. It is a short strip mall that has all of the normal shops you see at every port - jewelry, souvenirs, etc.

Even though this picture is from later in the day, I'm adding it here to show you the mall area (we bought this pink St Thomas sweatshirt because the rain - yes it rained :-( - made the area chilly!)

 

 

Our plans for St. Thomas were to relax. We saw an episode of HGTV Beachfront Bargain Hunt (or House Hunters International??) that featured St. Thomas, and the couple bought a condo in Secret Harbor. Also, other pictures of Secret Harbor looked beautiful - a calm, quiet, and relaxing beach area away from crowds where we could swim, snorkel, and standup paddle board.

 

Pre-trip, I read a lot of reviews about taking the local buses for $2 each, but I hadn't been clear on where to pick them up. We decided to take a taxi instead. The taxi stand is directly behind Havensight Mall. There are plenty of signs that will lead you there. Getting a taxi was a little frustrating, because the drivers have small vans and want to have every seat taken before leaving. We waited about 15 minutes for it to fill, and it wasn't until everyone threatened to get off that the driver would leave. (And since the driver left with room still available, a huge shouting match ensued between him and the other dispatchers/coordinators. Yikes!!!) Finally though, we were on our way.

 

The drive was exhilarating...scratch that - it was crazy. We flew up and down hills and around corners. Few pictures were taken because it was open air (no walls) and we were all holding on to each other and our belongings. Here's one picture we took - this may have been one of those $2 buses. We quickly snapped this while our driver was distracted by a stop sign.

 

 

That particular picture doesn't make the scenery seem nice - but it was, lots of plants, etc. We were the first to be dropped off and the ride to Secret Harbor took about 30 minutes.

 

The harbor area was as lovely as described. We pre-booked loungers and an umbrella from the dive shop - Aqua Action Dive Center. You can do it online, here's a link: http://www.aadivers.com/ The owner of the shop was really nice. She helped us with everything and let us change and store our things in her office.

 

We immediately hopped on paddleboards and started paddling in the bay. After about 45 minutes....the rain started. And it kept raining for the next couple of hours. We attempted to swim but then retreated to the restaurant next door. Even though it rained, it was still really relaxing to sit, relax, and read.

 

Pictures of rainy Secret Harbor:

 

 

 

And the restaurant we retreated to - it was really great, a huge patio overlooking the water and yummy food. If you go, try the ahi wasabi nachos - (I'm still dreaming of those).

 

Secret Harbor is mainly a hotel and condo association (but visitors can be there, too, just stay by the dive center like we did). The main office of the hotel was happy to call a cab for us, and it arrived after a few minutes.

 

That evening, we went to the Lincoln dining room for dinner. We had anytime dining. Overall, we found the food to be pretty good at dinner, and we ate in the dining room every night. (The food was good - but not as good as the Dream cruise we had been on before.) Additionally, wait times could be lengthy. We spent anywhere from 1 hour - 2 hours, mainly waiting for the dishes to come out. If you want a quick meal, you will want to stick to other dining options.

 

We usually checked out the show each night or walked around the ship. We also went to the Punchliner Comedy club one night and really enjoyed that, too. There were plenty of things to do!

 

P.S. I want to share more pictures - so I may do a "St. Thomas picture post" before continuing.

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Some other pictures to share with you :-)

 

Here's an image from the aft of the ship. You can see how the Valor's aft is sloped. You can see your neighbors from the rear and people often talk. (I read reviews with a different perspective, too, in which people didn't like this aspect because it takes away from their privacy.) For me, I liked this aspect of the cruise, and it was easy enough to step back deeper into the balcony.

 

 

Here's a shot from the taxi, that shows the view looking down from the hills onto the port.

 

 

This is another view of rainy Secret Harbor :-)

 

 

This is the restaurant and patio we went to in Secret Harbor. It was either called "Beach Club" or "Sunset Grille" - or maybe both ;-)

 

 

And, finally, a couple shots of us pulling away.

 

 

This one has the Celebrity ship:

 

 

And more to come later!

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Excellent review. Keep it coming!

 

We are leaving in a couple of weeks for a B2B on this itinerary.

 

Now get back to finishing the review LOL

 

Thanks again!

 

Hi Halya50! Thanks :-) You are going to have a great time!

[dawnvan]

Thanks for the Review Bluesky! Loving all the aft pictures, we have 8450, opposite side in 22 days!! So you got me dreaming of my balcony!!

:)

[Texasgalsa]

Blue sky- which side of the ship would you recommend staying on?? Which side has the better views while in port?

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Thanks for the Review Bluesky! Loving all the aft pictures, we have 8450, opposite side in 22 days!! So you got me dreaming of my balcony!!

:)

 

Hi dawnvan, That's great!! Let me know if you have any other questions - you're going to love it :)

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Blue sky- which side of the ship would you recommend staying on?? Which side has the better views while in port?

 

Hi Texasgalsa,

 

Here's a run down of the ports and views from each side:

 

• St. Thomas: Ship goes in facing forward. On the port side you have a beautiful bay view looking towards Charlotte Amalie and pretty boats in the water. On the starboard side you'll have hills and the town of Charlotte Amalie (So both sides are winners here.)
  
• Barbados: Ship goes in facing aft. On the port side you have mostly water...the view is probably not as good. On the starboard side you'll see more land and views.
  
• St. Lucia: Ship goes in facing aft. On the port side, you'll be closer to land and will see the port. On the starboard side you'll see water, the bay, other cruise ships, and a container port, too...but the land and hills over that.
  
• St. Kitts: Ship goes in facing aft. If I remember correctly, both sides probably have water views with some view of the land, so both sides would be fine.
  
• St. Maarten: Ship goes in facing forward...you pull into a port area that is a little further from town. You'd probably want to be on the port side here, it would overlook a nice beach and shopping area (but from a distance).
  

 

Reviewing this list, it seems like both sides have pros and cons. I might choose port because I just really loved that bay view in St. Thomas.

 

Good luck, you'll love it no matter what you choose!! :)

[Texasgalsa]

Is "port" side the even or odd number cabins? Sorry... I'm clueless on this stuff! LoL

Thank you for the detailed help....

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Is "port" side the even or odd number cabins? Sorry... I'm clueless on this stuff! LoL

Thank you for the detailed help....

 

Haha no problem! The port side is even and the starboard side is odd. (The port side is the left of the ship if you're facing the front, and the starboard is the right.)

 

I wanted to confirm where the even and odd numbers were before I told you and looked at this link here on Cruise Critic:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/carnival-valor-deck-plans/dp/?eng=CCUKSEM&kw=_cat:carnival&gclid=Cj0KEQiAl7KmBRDW6s-Xi_uT9OgBEiQAZdbbSS76Fviu1iUU7al6IZmSlBa09W8lvdYGMl8CaFWukbIaAiBH8P8HAQ

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Back to the review!!

 

The next day was our "At Sea" day. Here was another treat - we signed up for the "Behind the Fun" tour. We had a quick breakfast at Rosie's and headed to the library where we met the guide. (The library, by the way, was pretty cool - who knew?! Definitely go there for a minute to see the walls and art.)

 

The guide was fantastic. I wish I could remember his name - he was entertaining, positive, and it seemed like he loved his job. Around 20 people joined the tour. The only drawback - we couldn't bring any cameras. :-(

 

The tour included:

• Backstage of the main theater (props and walls are hanging and secured everywhere)
  
• The singer's and dancer's dressing room
  
• Crew quarters, dining rooms, living areas, etc
  
• The (huge) and very interesting galley
  
• Cold storage for beverages, meats, etc
  
• The BRIDGE!!! We met and talked with the Captain, and got to stand out on those "wings" that go out from the bridge (awesome!)
  
• Laundry (so many washers and dryers, and even a machine that folds the sheets and towels)
  

...and probably other things I'm leaving out :-)

 

At each stop, they pre-arranged a Carnival team member to talk with us. And there was tons of food - snacks and drinks when we first met up, snacks and drinks during a break, and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries was waiting in our room!

 

Since we couldn't take photos, this is the only thing I can think of to represent the tour - our lanyards! haha We received these and hats as gifts.

 

 

After the tour, we made it to the dining room for brunch with minutes to spare. There, we used our free drink tickets we received as "Red" VIFP members.

 

Then, we relaxed on the ship, laid out in the sun, and went to the Art Gallery Auction. We received free glasses of champagne but we did feel pressured to purchase art during the auction (but didn't) so we left before it was over.

 

We had dinner in the dining room and it was lobster night. Followed by chocolate melting cake, of course!!

 

All for Day 5 :)

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

The next port was Barbados!

 

Starting off with a picture :-)

 

 

The ship went in aft at Barbados and were out on the balcony checking out the port. The immediate port area looks industrial, here's a picture:

 

 

The blue arrow shows you where you'll eventually leave the port. The bright yellow square gate is the gate between the city and the port. To get there, you walk through the warehouse/mall directly ahead of the ship in port. Walking through the mall, we saw the normal shops that you would expect to see, plus a few others that are "new." A group of students sang Christmas carols and they sounded lovely.

 

 

We didn't have anything specific planned for the day. We walked past the shops towards the taxi area and joined a few other cruisers in a small guided-taxi tour. We paid around $30 each plus tip.

 

The first stop was the Mount Gay Rum Distillery. Everyone in the tour had a tasting of the different rums. (I wondered if maybe the driver brought us here first so we would all be in a good mood for the rest of the tour?!)

 

 

After Mount Gay, we drove around the countryside. Our driver took us through towns, to see views of the water, to see a historic church, through Bridgetown, and then finally to the beach to swim in the clearest, most beautiful water I've ever seen!

 

Here is a view from one of the scenic overlooks:

 

 

And another from driving through the towns:

 

 

Barbados to be continued....

[dawnvan]

Boy that shows our room!!:)

 

thanks blueskys!

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Continuing on with our Barbados tour :-)

 

The church we went to was St. James Parish, the oldest in Barbados. Several other tour groups were there. The church staff explained the history and showed us highlights. It has an extremely old bell, made in 1696 at the same foundry as the Liberty Bell and Big Ben.

 

 

 

When the tour was complete our driver dropped us off at the Lobster Alive beach for about an hour and a half. We brought our own towels and shade and there were plenty of loungers and umbrellas available if we would have liked to rent them. There were also boats and other water sport activities available for rent. We saw a places to grab food, too, but we brought snacks and munched on those.

 

The water was gorgeous and the temperature was perfect. We swam for a while and watched other people near the water.

 

 

I'm still wearing my hat :-)

 

 

It started getting overcast as we were leaving, but here's an image of the beach to your left as if you're standing with Lobster Alive to your back.

 

 

Our driver returned at the pre-arranged time. It wouldn't have been a problem if she hadn't though - other drivers walked out to the beach and asked if we would like a ride.

 

The drive back was quick and we drove through Bridgetown. We saw cruisers walking from Bridgetown back to the ship, so I realized that walking it could be a potential for the next time we're there.

 

That evening we relaxed on the balcony as we pulled away and went down to the dining room for dinner. We had a great day!

[rmh661983]

Loving your review. We are going on the Valor in July but with a different itinerary.

 

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[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Loving your review. We are going on the Valor in July but with a different itinerary.

 

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Thanks rmh661983, you'll have a great time! :)

[Cruisegirl6]

Thank you!

[Texasgalsa]

We need more review Bluesky!! I wish more people would write reviews for the Valor!

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Thanks lyndamr and Texasgalsa, you motivated me to get back at it! :)

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

And next, St. Lucia! This was the day I was most looking forward to, and in retrospect, was one of my favorite days. :-)

 

To kick this day off, here's a picture from the back of the boat in port. (Sorry the picture is a little shaky - we have a new camera setting that allows you to take panos by slowly moving the camera from one side to the other. We couldn't always eliminate the vibration.) It was a very lovely view with shops to the left, the island out in front, and several other ships.

 

 

Before the trip, we couldn't decide whether to go on an island tour or to hike the Pitons. After research and discussion (and reading about a zillion reviews here on Cruise Critic) we decided on a tour since it would give us the opportunity to see the island by land and sea. Out of the many tour companies, Herod's won (for us) because of the fantastic itinerary, and also because of the lunch. Herod's mom serves a delicious homemade lunch on her patio with a view of one of the Pitons. I'm so glad we made this choice and highly recommend his tour! Here's the website http://herodstours.com/

 

After eating breakfast (again at the Omelet Station in the back), we exited the ship and headed to port. We found Herod's brother and then he found the rest of the guests. There were about 10 people on the tour and we were split between two vans. The first stop was an overlook where we could see the port.

 

 

Next up, we stopped at a view of Marigot Bay from the top - the view here does not compare to how GORGEOUS it is by boat, which we saw later:

 

 

And here's a shot to show you what parts of St. Lucia look like inside - there are many different variations in land, here's one image to give you an idea. :-)

 

 

Then we drove inland and stopped at a banana plantation. This was really cool!! A rep came over and told us about the growing process and we ate bananas (probably the freshest bananas I've ever eaten!). At this point, Herod and his brother handed out drinks. My husband and I chose a St. Lucia-made beer.

 

 

Views of the Pitons coming up in the next post!

 

Here's one to start:

 

 

More in the next post!

[inlinesick]

good stuff! GF and i are going on the liberty soon for the same ride. how long was the taxi ride fron conando area to the ship?