Attn LIBERTY & VALOR cruisers: Detailed Review of Valors Last Cruise from Puerto Rico

[deladane]

I'm sorry, but I have no idea how to post videos. I went back to look at your previous reviews and the photos are not showing...wondering if anyone else is having this issue.

 

Enjoying your reivew! :)

 

Yea, I know :( I use Facebook to host my photos for my reviews, and they did something to mess it up (I don't know the specifics, just that they changed the formatting of their photos or something, and now the links that I posted won't show the photos anymore). Under my cruise history, I posted a link to my Tumblr blog. All of my old cruise reviews are posted on my blog, and the photos work because they are uploaded directly from my computer :) The photos tell half the story of the reviews, so I was really mad at Facebook for messing them up, but at least I still have my blog as a backup!!

[IslandBound79]

Loving the review!!! Had such a good time with you guys in Barbados! 🐢🐢🐢 I can't wait to get back there!!! - Kathryn

[AimeeAndJoel]

Hi Aimee,

Don't hesitate to keep asking questions... I got so much helpful info from Cruise Critic when I was planning my cruise, so this is just my way of returning the favor :)

 

I will go into more details about my experience with anytime dining towards the end of the review, so if you don't mind, I'm going to ask you to hold off on that question for a few more days. I keep wavering back and forth about if I would do it again and if I really liked it, so I want to have some more time to reflect on the pros and cons before I give my final verdict haha

 

I am sure Harbor Lights is lovely, but we specifically wanted to go to the Boatyard because they have a really fun Caribbean party vibe and they are the only place along Carlisle Bay to have all those fun water toys. You can only use the water toys if you pay their $15 entry fee, so we knew we definitely wanted to go there :)

 

Price Drops are when the price of your cabin category goes lower than what you originally paid for it when you booked your cruise. Carnival handles price drops in 2 ways... I booked the Early Saver rate. It is only available if you book the cruise far in advance (5 months prior to sailing, I think?), and it has a lot of rules and policies (no changing the names of the people in your cabin, and if you cancel, you lose $50 and the other $200 from your deposit gets applied to another cruise in the next 2 years, so basically you need to be really sure you are taking that cruise with those people if you book this rate). The benefit to Early Saver is that if the price of your cabin drops, Carnival will match the price. If this happens before final payment is due (about 3 months prior to sailing), they just decrease your final payment amount as long as you haven't already paid in full (which is why I usually wait until 1 week before the final payment date to pay that remaining balance). If the price drops after you have made your final payment, they will give you an onboard credit which is usually refundable if you don't use all of it (but since tips cost $12 per day, you would need a lot of on board credit money to not use all of it!) If you do not book the Early Saver rate, then I think you can price match if the rate drops before you make your final payment, but after that, you are out of luck. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions :)

 

Thank you so much for the info! That was really helpful :)

[EpcotBill]

Does anyone know how to post a video on Cruise Critic? I have a few videos uploaded on Facebook that I want to include in my review. Hoping some of you know how I can post them so I don't have to start a new thread about it :) Thanks!

Try this, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=42124122&postcount=1. Well I guess that's just for YouTube?

Edited April 6, 2015 by EpcotBill

[deladane]

Loving the review!!! Had such a good time with you guys in Barbados! 🐢🐢🐢 I can't wait to get back there!!! - Kathryn

 

Hey Kathryn!

I'm so glad you found my review and are enjoying reading along! We never ran into you guys after Barbados :( How was the rest of your cruise? I hope you had a great time! :)

[deladane]

Thank you so much for the info! That was really helpful :)

 

You're welcome :)

[deladane]

Try this, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=42124122&postcount=1. Well I guess that's just for YouTube?

 

Awesome! Thanks for posting the link :) Too bad it doesn't look like it will work with videos from Facebook, but that's fine, I will figure out how to load everything on YouTube so I can include the videos in my review :)

[deladane]

Thursday, March 19 ~ Zip lining across St. Lucia

 

Before we fell asleep last night, we left the breakfast room service door tag outside our room so we could eat breakfast while getting ready this morning. We had to meet our tour on the pier by 8:30am today and wanted to avoid spending an hour on Lido deck dealing with the buffet. It worked out perfectly! The room service lady knocked on our door at 7:20am, right in the middle of the 7:15-7:30am window we requested. We both ordered the bagel with lox and cream cheese, and we decided to eat it on our balcony and watch as the ship finished pulling into port. It made such a scenic place to enjoy our breakfast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back when we booked the cruise, we knew we wanted to go zip lining at one of the ports. St. Lucia is the kind of port where you really need to plan a specific excursion because it's not like you can just get off the ship and go to a beach like on other islands. St. Lucia is a lush tropical rainforest and it offers tourists many options of active things to do. With that in mind, we decided to make this our zip lining day. I did a bit of research on Cruise Critic and found a company called Treetop Adventures which offered a half-day zip lining tour with round trip transportation to/from their facility. They have 12 zip lines of varied lengths and speeds (whereas most zip line places only offer 4-5 lines), and they got tons of positive reviews so we booked the tour online. The company was easy to deal with and answered all of my questions promptly via email.

[deladane]

Our instructions said to meet their guide on the pier at 8:30am. Sure enough, we walked off the gangway and literally 50ft away was a guide holding a Treetop Adventures sign! It could not have been any easier to find him! They had us sign a safety waiver, and then we walked together through the small port shops area to the parking lot where a big van picked us up. I think we had about 15 people on the van so it was a nice small group for the day. Our guide's name was Eagle, and he told us all about the history of St. Lucia and pointed out important landmarks as another man named Cornelius drove the van. I read a few reviews saying that it is a 25-30 minute drive from the port to the zip line facility... Wrong!! The drive took exactly one hour (plus a brief 5-minute stop to take photos at a scenic overlook). So basically our tour was 4 hours long, but 2 of those hours would be spent in the van getting to and from the facility haha oh well! At least it was air conditioned and Eagle kept us entertained.

 

 

When we arrived at the facility, Eagle explained that they had lockers to store our belongings, but that we needed to leave a $5 deposit which would be refunded when we returned our keys. They also had bathrooms and encouraged us to use them since there were no bathrooms on the course. Once we walked down to the entrance area, a man named Shetty (rhymes with machete, as he told us) approached us and explained that he would stay with us all day and take photos and videos for us on my camera. Each couple or family had their own guide to take photos, and I loved this aspect of it. Shetty held my camera the whole time and took fantastic photos of me and J on the zip lines and throughout the course, and that meant I had both hands free to control the zip line and I could focus on what I was doing and not on operating my camera.

 

 

 

 

 

I need to pause the review here because I want to upload some videos to YouTube so I can include them in my next post, but I don't have time to do it before I leave for work. To be continued...!

 

[lovestocruise19]

That's really cool that they took photos for you with your own camera. Was there any extra cost for that? If not, that is really awesome because usually tour places charge extra for the photos they take. I've always wanted to try ziplining, but so far have been too chicken to try it. :o

[Dirkgun]

Does anyone know how to post a video on Cruise Critic? I have a few videos uploaded on Facebook that I want to include in my review. Hoping some of you know how I can post them so I don't have to start a new thread about it :) Thanks!

 

 

I know I uploaded a few videos and copied and pasted the links the same way you do for pictures.... I use Photobucket though so I am not sure if that matters. Loving the review.

[pcrum]

Yea, I know :( I use Facebook to host my photos for my reviews, and they did something to mess it up (I don't know the specifics, just that they changed the formatting of their photos or something, and now the links that I posted won't show the photos anymore). Under my cruise history, I posted a link to my Tumblr blog. All of my old cruise reviews are posted on my blog, and the photos work because they are uploaded directly from my computer :) The photos tell half the story of the reviews, so I was really mad at Facebook for messing them up, but at least I still have my blog as a backup!!

 

Leave it to facebook to mess things up!!!! I checked out your blog and the photos are awesome, thanks for the link. :)

[biksgirl]

I earlier had posted that my family and I were on this cruise with you....after looking at your Barbados pictures I just realized we were actually on the same snorkel boat as you! :D You and your boyfriend sat at the bottom with us, and I believe your friends were up on top!

[Tutontow]

I am loving your report and the photos.

 

I love that breakfast room service door tag. Everytime we use it I think to myself how much that same breakfast would cost in Las Vegas or Biloxi. I know on my last trip to Biloxi, Bagels and Lox for two with coffee was over to $40.00 by the time you add the 17% tip and service charge.

 

I wonder how Carnival offers the product they do at the price they charge!

[deladane]

That's really cool that they took photos for you with your own camera. Was there any extra cost for that? If not, that is really awesome because usually tour places charge extra for the photos they take. I've always wanted to try ziplining, but so far have been too chicken to try it. :o

 

Nope, no extra charge! That was one of the reasons I booked with this company... I wouldn't want to spend a ton of money on buying photos from them, so I loved that they used my own camera and it was free (or maybe you can think of it as it was included in the excursion price haha) I hope no one tells them that they could charge for the photos like every other zip line company!! LOL As for being too chicken, I just told myself that they don't want to pay for the law suit if someone gets hurt on their zip lines so they will make it as safe as they possibly can haha They have a really secure way of using multiple carabiners so I felt very safe (although my brain definitely had trouble processing the idea of jumping off a perfectly safe platform for the first few lines! LOL)

[deladane]

I know I uploaded a few videos and copied and pasted the links the same way you do for pictures.... I use Photobucket though so I am not sure if that matters. Loving the review.

 

I just decided to load them onto YouTube... it wasn't hard and now I know how to get them onto Cruise Critic :)

[deladane]

Leave it to facebook to mess things up!!!! I checked out your blog and the photos are awesome, thanks for the link. :)

 

haha Facebook has taught me to fear the word "update" LOL Every time they update something, it messes something else up! Oh well! I'm glad you enjoyed my blog... I hope you find some helpful info in there!

[deladane]

I earlier had posted that my family and I were on this cruise with you....after looking at your Barbados pictures I just realized we were actually on the same snorkel boat as you! :D You and your boyfriend sat at the bottom with us, and I believe your friends were up on top!

 

OMG that's so funny!!!!! What are the chances?! Too bad that I don't think I got any photos on the boat, so you won't be in the background of any of my photos. I loved that the boat had a second story so we could hide out in the shade while not in the water... that's why I didn't head up top with Katheryn and everyone else lol

[deladane]

I am loving your report and the photos.

 

I love that breakfast room service door tag. Everytime we use it I think to myself how much that same breakfast would cost in Las Vegas or Biloxi. I know on my last trip to Biloxi, Bagels and Lox for two with coffee was over to $40.00 by the time you add the 17% tip and service charge.

 

I wonder how Carnival offers the product they do at the price they charge!

 

Thank you! Haha agreed that it's amazing that the room service is free on Carnival. Granted you can get the same food on Lido or at the MDR for breakfast, but sometimes it is just way more convenient to have them bring it to you! As for the prices, I have a feeling Carnival operates at a near loss for what they charge for the base cruise fare...You spend that little on lodging and meals for a land vacation, let alone the transportation costs between ports! They make all their money from what we spend on board (which is unfortunate for them when I sail because I don't spend any money on their overpriced shore excursions or in their casino lol)

[deladane]

Here is a video that Shetty took of us zip lining... let me know if the link works!!

[YOUTUBE]juNmCNFNKdU[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

 

 

There were 12 lines in total and we spent about an hour and a half on the course. When we got to the fastest and longest line, Shetty said he and I would go together in tandem and he would push me super fast and take a video at the same time so here is that video...

 

[YOUTUBE]rd817oYDWDc[/YOUTUBE]

 

Once we finished the course, we had some time to get changed out of our harnesses, use the restroom, and purchase a beer. Piton is the local brew and it was a light and refreshing way to finish the excursion ($2 each!).

 

[deladane]

On the hour-long ride back to the port, Eagle pointed out a bunch of local plants including banana trees, pepper trees, coconut trees, and a few others.

 

Bananas growing in the blue bags for protection from the sun

 

 

Teeny tiny bananas

 

Pepper trees (can you see the tiny red things in the trees?)

 

Papaya trees

 

We also stopped at another scenic overlook to see the Atlantic Ocean.

 

The roads in St Lucia are very windy and narrow, so this is probably not the best island to rent a car, and if you are prone to motion sickness, you might want to take a Dramamine before going on your tour. We got back to the pier at 12:45pm and went straight up to Lido for lunch. I had the Mongolian Wok for the 3rd time... I'm not sure why I was so addicted to it, but it made for a yummy lunch. The downside was that it always took a long time to get my lunch. J opted for a burrito and he finished his food before mine was even made! We also went upstairs to the fish and chips. There was no line for food, and only 2 or 3 tables had people sitting there, so even though the cruise was half over, it looked like people still hadn't found the fish and chips place. We shared a battered fish and it was pretty good, with a good ratio of dough to fish.

[pcrum]

Love the zip lining videos, even though I think I would be too scared to try it. Does anyone ever get stuck half way through the zipline? That would be my fear, to get stuck between platforms! Looks like you had fun.:)

[rob6465]

Sunday, March 15 ~ The Tides of March

 

Nearly 8 months after booking our cruise, it was finally embarkation day!! We went to breakfast at Waffle-Era, a little restaurant 2 blocks from our hotel.

 

 

They had a huge menu with lots of regular or iced teas, and tons of sweet and savory waffles. The waitress spent a few minutes reviewing the menu with us and suggesting the most popular options. It was a bit overwhelming, but in a good way! They serve their waffles either as a half- or whole-portion, so we decided to get a whole Caneloide for me so I could give one quarter of it to J, and J ordered a half-portion of the Honey Almond Blues. We each had 3/4 of a waffle and it was the perfect amount (we wanted to avoid over-eating, knowing how much food we'd eat for the next week!).

 

 

 

 

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and grabbed a taxi to the cruise port. We arrived at the terminal at 10am, and there were about 30 people already waiting to board. They were still debarking passengers from the previous cruise, but they opened the doors at 10:30am and we entered terminal by 10:40am. They directed us up the escalators where they first took our embarkation photos and then directed us to line up for check in. It took until 11:10am to get checked in because they only had 5 or 6 people working the counter. No worries though! We chatted with the couple standing on line in front of us, and before we knew it, it was our turn to check in. I was shocked that we got zone 1 since I thought that was usually reserved for Platinum/Diamond/FTTF, but I later realized that they just board those passengers separately before starting to call the zone numbers. The cruise terminal in San Juan has very limited seating, but since we were so early, we easily found seats.

 

 

Luckily, we didn't need to use our chairs for very long... They started boarding at 11:30am, called zone 1 at 11:40am, and we were on the ship at 11:45am!! Let the cruise begin!!!

 

 

I was born in southern part of PR and this december 8th while on the breeze i will dock into san juan on my birthday. GO YANKEES.

[deladane]

Love the zip lining videos, even though I think I would be too scared to try it. Does anyone ever get stuck half way through the zipline? That would be my fear, to get stuck between platforms! Looks like you had fun.:)

 

haha actually yes! It happened to both me and J on the same line (the guides said the line isn't steep enough so lots of people get stuck on that specific line). At the start of the day, they told us what to do if that happens... let yourself turn around backwards and use your hands to pull yourself in. I was worried that I wouldn't have the upper body strength to do it, but it was actually much easier than I anticipated! I think the pulleys help you to roll along the lines. Luckily I was only short by about 15 feet (J was more like 50 ft short but he pulled himself in safely too)

[lovestocruise19]

Those ziplining videos were awesome! I went to St. Lucia for the first time ever in February on the Freedom and I'd love to go back. We took a catamaran cruise to the Pitons and I thought St. Lucia looked so beautiful. Nice to see that it is beautiful inland as well.