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

[pcrum]

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)

 

Yikes, no zip lining for me!! But, it looks like fun!!

[deladane]

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.

 

Yea, I am so thankful to Shetty for capturing the excitement in those photos and videos! St. Lucia is so lush and green... it's unlike any of the other islands on this itinerary. I've never done a catamaran excursion, but they look like lots of fun... maybe on my next cruise :)

[Kobayashi]

 

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Great videos! Thanks for sharing! Awesome review!

[mdh3pilot]

Sure enough, there were 5 beautiful sea turtles swimming amongst all the tourists. It was definitely very crowded with 40-50 people trying to get close to the turtles, and everyone was getting kicked and hit by neighboring swimmers, but it was all part of the excitement. I was very surprised to see so many swimmers out there since the last time I did this on my cruise in 2012, there were just the 4 people on my boat, but we also went on a lot earlier in the morning so I guess there is a big difference between going at 9am and 10am!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look closely, you can see 4 turtles in this photo!

 

 

 

 

Snorkel Selfie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was crowded!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent about 15 minutes snorkeling with the sea turtles, then got back on the boat. The guide gave us a cup of very strong rum punch to enjoy as he brought us back to the Boatyard. Overall, it was $20 well spent and I think everyone on our boat had fun, but I do think it was a bit too crowded to fully enjoy the experience. One thing to keep in mind is that many of the other boats near us were half- or full-day catamaran excursions that run up to $100 per person, yet we were all snorkeling at the same time, in the same water, with the same turtles! I am sure they had a great rest of their day on the boat whereas we only had 1 hour on the boat and spent the rest of our day on the beach, but I don't think it is worth the difference in price if you are only going for the snorkel experience and don't care about spending all day on their boat.

 

 

 

Did you take all of your photos with an actual camera or use your phone as a camera? I've never cruised before and will be taking my first one in just a few days and I'm wondering if I should just take my iPhone and use it as a camera (with a nice waterproof case of course).

[Dolly1952]

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)

The next day did you have any muscles telling you they were abused while on the zipline? Looks like you had a wonderful time.

[deladane]

Great videos! Thanks for sharing! Awesome review!

 

Thank you! I tend to forget to take videos, but I want to take more of them on future vacations because they really help to 'tell the story' :) Thanks for reading along! Drive safe today!!

[deladane]

Did you take all of your photos with an actual camera or use your phone as a camera? I've never cruised before and will be taking my first one in just a few days and I'm wondering if I should just take my iPhone and use it as a camera (with a nice waterproof case of course).

 

I only took a small handful of photos with my iPhone, and that was so I could put them on Instagram/Facebook when I had 3G or wifi access haha Pretty much everything you see in my review was taken on one of the 2 cameras that I brought on the trip. The photos from Puerto Rico and all the photos taken on the ship were with a Canon point and shoot (Canon HS 330). All of the photos taken in the ports were on my Sony underwater camera (DSC-TX20). The camera is very small and lightweight, but it does not float on its own. I purchased a floating wrist strap for it from Amazon.com... Funny story about that actually: When I was swimming out to the giant floating trampoline at the Boatyard, the clip that attached the camera to the wrist strap came undone, and I noticed my camera was quickly sinking to the bottom of the ocean :eek: I screamed for J to come help me, and he dove down and saved the day (and the camera!! lol) I guess that clip is not very secure, so be careful with it!! I don't trust those waterproof housings for the iPhone and I would never want to risk drowning my phone, so I like having a dedicated waterproof camera to bring to the beach. I usually did have my iPhone with me (since I purposely picked beaches with wifi access so I could catch up on social media haha), but I always leave my iPhone in a ziplock bag so the sand and water don't break it :)

[deladane]

The next day did you have any muscles telling you they were abused while on the zipline? Looks like you had a wonderful time.

 

Not at all! I was surprised at how unathletic zip lining was lol I guess you had to be somewhat in shape to climb all the stairs to reach the lines, but their stairs were relatively shallow and it was broken up... one flight here, one flight there... so you don't notice it too much. The actual ziplining was easy... you just step off the platform and let gravity do all the work. Even for that small section when I had to pull myself backwards to the end of the line, it was still surprisingly easy to do! On the other hand, my upper back and arm muscles were definitely sore from all of the swimming and snorkeling I did haha I woke up Thursday morning (before we went zip lining), lifted my arm to swat the alarm clock, and thought "oops! Guess I was a little over-zealous yesterday while swimming with those turtles" HAHA ;)

[TrqoisWtrs]

Love the tandem video. Really cool idea!

 

Noticed you had like a hair net on - was that so you don't get hair tangled in the zipline? First time I've seen that. :)

[mncrusin]

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!

 

We ordered room service every day for our "first thing in the morning" coffee. The room service choices are printed out, so you check items you want and list the quantity.

We discovered by writing "bacon please" (even though it's not a choice) you can have bacon on your deck with coffee! Yum!

[deladane]

Love the tandem video. Really cool idea!

 

Noticed you had like a hair net on - was that so you don't get hair tangled in the zipline? First time I've seen that. :)

 

Nope, the hair nets were for sanitation purposes. J had to wear one too and his hair is short and had no risk of getting caught in the zipline. Everyone had to wear them... it's not the greatest fashion statement, but whatever! haha

[deladane]

We ordered room service every day for our "first thing in the morning" coffee. The room service choices are printed out, so you check items you want and list the quantity.

We discovered by writing "bacon please" (even though it's not a choice) you can have bacon on your deck with coffee! Yum!

 

haha good to know! You basically ordered the BLT from the regular room service menu, minus the bread, lettuce, and tomato ;)

[deladane]

After lunch, we went in search of somewhere to sit in the shade. My souvenir from Barbados was a bad burn on my back, so I didn't want to be in the sun any more than necessary. Sadly, our options of outdoor places in the sun were very limited. I didn't want to sit in the section of Lido deck underneath deck 10 because it is behind the windows and I wanted a clear view of the ocean. Why don't they put any umbrellas out on the decks?? We wound up on Serenity under the shade of the deck above and with a beautiful view over St Lucia and the ocean. We relaxed there for an hour or two as J read his book and I took notes for this review, then we got ready for formal night.

 

 

We definitely wanted to avoid the disaster from Tuesday's formal night with the hour long wait. We were both hungry by 4pm so we decided to hold off on snacking and we would go to dinner when the dining room opened at 5:45pm. We had no wait at all and were seated within minutes, so our plan worked, but I did notice that it never got full for the whole time we were there. When we left at 7:30pm, there was still no wait to be seated so I guess fewer people go to the second formal night. That was fine though, we were happy to finish our meal by 7:30pm and have tons of time to enjoy the evening activities on the ship.

 

But let's not skip too far ahead... Dinner was delicious, as usual! I had the eggplant parm and my favorite appetizer, the escargot. I had the chateaubriand for my entree and the diet cheesecake for dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we took a few photos around the ship (not the paid professional ones)

 

[deladane]

We got to the theater at 8pm and found a seat in the front row.

 

Showtime Selfie!

 

Tonight's show was called Far From Over, and it was an 80s theme. We both LOVED it!! It helps that we are children of the 80s and love 80s music, but we spent the whole show playing name that tune/band and singing along with the songs. At one point, they brought out 2 beat boys to do some break dancing. At first we thought these guys were part of the normal dance group, but we soon realized these must be the guys brought on the ship for more entertainment in the lobby later tonight. They were a great addition to the show and they were extremely talented, but I was wondering if they come to the ship every week to join the show, or if this was a one-time thing. Does anyone know? For people who have done this itinerary before, did the break dancers perform for you too? Anyway, the show ended at 9:15, and everyone filtered out of the theater and into the lobby to watch another brief break dancing show.

 

 

 

After that, we went to Lido so J could get a sandwich from the deli, and then we went to the piano bar. We stayed for about an hour and had fun singing along with Milton, but like Tuesday night, there were only about 20 people in there and it seemed like it was the same people who go there every night.

 

 

We then went to karaoke in the Eagles Lounge next door and stayed until midnight when we called it a night to rest up for St Kitts.

 

 

[deladane]

And since I'm on a video-posting kick, here are two videos of the break dancers in the lobby :)

 

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[tomsgirl84]

We did this same cruise in February 2014 and the break dancers were there then as well.:)

 

Also doing this cruise again on the Liberty in May.

[deladane]

We did this same cruise in February 2014 and the break dancers were there then as well.:)

 

Also doing this cruise again on the Liberty in May.

 

Oh wow, so I guess they have those guys join the cruise every week! Have a great cruise :)

[stephiemueller]

So enjoying your review! We sail on the Liberty on May 3rd, and your review is helping to hold me over until then! Thank you for taking the time to write an excellent review!

[gapearl]

Really awesome review! This was my favorite itinerary yet. It's funny that you sailed the Valor on her last cruise from San Juan, and I sailed her on the second voyage after she repositioned there. The ziplining videos look like so much fun! I can't wait to see what you did at the other islands. Oh and congrats on the free balcony upgrade! Do you think you'll splurge for one on your next cruise? :)

[deladane]

So enjoying your review! We sail on the Liberty on May 3rd, and your review is helping to hold me over until then! Thank you for taking the time to write an excellent review!

 

Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you are enjoying the review :) Hope you have a great cruise!

[deladane]

Really awesome review! This was my favorite itinerary yet. It's funny that you sailed the Valor on her last cruise from San Juan, and I sailed her on the second voyage after she repositioned there. The ziplining videos look like so much fun! I can't wait to see what you did at the other islands. Oh and congrats on the free balcony upgrade! Do you think you'll splurge for one on your next cruise? :)

 

Hi Kim! I think we have similar taste in cruises ;) This is my favorite Caribbean itinerary so far too... but then again, I have only done 2 Caribbean itineraries so far haha More coming soon with what we did in St. Kitts, St. Maarten, and back in Puerto Rico at the end. As for the balcony, we really got a lot of use out of it! I never thought I would like it as much as I did, so now I have a much bigger debate of choice of cabins on future cruises haha I think I would do it if I had more sea days when I would definitely have time to enjoy it, but maybe stick with the oceanview on a port-intensive itinerary. But then again, if the price was right, who am I kidding? I'd go for the balcony for sure if it was affordable! ;)

[deladane]

Friday, March 20 ~ We found paradise in St. Kitts

 

Why do I keep waking up before my alarm?!? For the third day in a row, I woke up a bit before the alarm went off. No worries though... I was excited for a beautiful day in St. Kitts!

 

 

This would be my third time visiting St. Kitts and I had done something different every time. My first time in 2010, I took a half-day island tour through Liz Pereria. My second time in 2012, I went stand up paddle boarding. If you want to read more info about either of these experiences, please check out my other reviews (links listed below). This time around, we planned to go to the Palm Court Gardens. For $11 per person, we had access to a lounge chair, umbrella, free wifi, restrooms, and a beautiful infinity pool overlooking the harbor where the Valor was docked. With all the high-action things we had to do in the other ports, this would be our mellow day to relax. I emailed them a few months before the cruise to reserve our chairs, and they responded quickly with more details about their facilities.

 

After a big breakfast on Lido, we left the ship at 9am. They had given me pretty vague walking directions, but I thought we would be okay to figure it out. We left the port area and walked left along the water. I didn't feel unsafe, especially since I had J by my side, but I don't think I would feel comfortable to do that walk alone. We walked past some run down homes and lots of locals who looked like they were going to work. After about 10 minutes, we saw a tall monument which was our landmark to turn left up Wilkins Street and the Palm Court Gardens was about 200ft up the road on our left hand side.

 

This was our reference point on when to turn left... it was a World War II memorial

 

 

We both agreed this place was beautiful! The grounds were well kept, and the views of the water, the ship, and St. Kitts' sister island Nevis were perfect!

 

 

 

[deladane]

We spent the next few hours checking in on social media with the free wifi, and relaxing on our lounge chairs under our umbrellas (we had to keep moving them to hide from the sun as it moved across the sky... #firstworldproblems haha). We also went swimming for a little bit, but not as long as I would have expected. There was a hot tub but unfortunately, we never had a chance to use it because the entire time we were there, there were a bunch of children playing in it like it was a kiddie pool. Didn't anyone ever tell their parents that hot tubs aren't meant for children?!? Not ideal, but at least we were sitting fairly far form the "splash zone" haha

 

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

Who put the cruise ship in the swimming pool?

 

Another interesting aspect of Palm Court Gardens is, well, the gardens! The grounds are well maintained and there were lots of beautiful plants and flowers around the property.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a lovely time at Palm Court Gardens. We bought a few drinks from their bar... be forewarned that tax is not included in the drink prices and they charged like a 30% tax! Luckily we brought our remaining Gasolinas along to supplement the drinks we purchased (shhh! Don't tell them!) It never got very crowded... at most, I think half the lounge chairs were occupied. There were a few people who stopped by and took a look around, and then left within 10 minutes. They were not wearing bathing suits, so I think they may have been on a ship tour or something and just came to see the gardens and the views. Other than that, it was fairly empty. We asked the staff and they said it opened in 2010, about a year after the new cruise port opened. I think they need to do a bit more advertising or something because they could easily have more guests if more people knew what they had to offer (although I did love that it wasn't crowded!) It was our own piece of paradise for a day!

[AimeeAndJoel]

LOVE the hats you two are wearing! Did you purchase them on one of the islands?