Review Southern Caribbean Cruise from Puerto Rico Jan 18th -25th on the Valor

This is going to be my review of our Vacation and our cruise on the Valor. We went on the January 18th – 25th cruise. We specifically picked this date because it coincided with the San Sebastian Festival in Puerto Rico. I know it will be replaced in a few months by the Liberty and then that ship is also leaving San Juan before too long…. No matter the ship, this itinerary is the best in the fleet in my opinion. I will go through our days and post lots of pics. If you don’t want the whole review…

Yes the ship was great. The food was awesome, there were good and not so good food items but we never found a time where we could not get a good meal. Staff was great and friendly. Passengers were for the most part good. Comedy shows were the highlight of our entertainment on board. The Islands are definitely the star of the show on this cruise and they were fantastic again. Hope you enjoy the review…. And please feel free to ask questions I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge.

Wed Jan 14th/Thurs Jan 15th was the day we had been waiting for, after almost 2 years it finally came. There were 6 of us going, My Wife and I, our Daughter and Son In Law, as well as our Son and his Girlfriend (she was the cruise newbie this trip). We were finally all packed and ready. When the time came to leave for the airport…. Our Tetris video game skills came in real handy :eek:. Imagine 1 big suitcase and 1 carry-on suitcase plus backpacks/purses for all six of us plus one extra bag for all of our snorkeling gear. Then we had to get it to fit (with all of us as well) and make the 45 minute drive to the Salt Lake City Airport. When we carried the luggage out to the car… it looked like we might have to pull a trailer but astonishingly we got it to fit. Our flights were smooth and uneventful. As we were coming in to San Juan, flying past the Old city and Forts were cool to see. When we touched down the plane started applauding (we might have been the first ones to clap for it) it is awesome to know we are in Puerto Rico.

Once we got off the plane the plan was for me to hustle through the airport and get a taxi over to Enterprise in the Condado Plaza Hilton for our rental minivan. The rest of the group would gather our pile of luggage and I would come back and get them. It worked extremely well; I was back at the airport with them out waiting for me by 11:30 am. Once we figured out the luggage puzzle we were off. This trip we rented a condo over in Fajardo close to the Bio Bay. We rented it through HomeAway dot com and the owners name was John Webb. It was a much cheaper option than getting 3 rooms for the 2 nights we were staying out there. The condo was in a very nice gated complex where you had to show your rental agreement and be on their schedule in order to be allowed in the premises. Things had gone so smoothly that I did not even think about the 3:00 pm check in time…. What to do with 2 plus hours?? So we drove around the town and found someplace to eat…. We settled on a subway, and then got a frozen yogurt next door. Probably the slowest we have ever eaten at a subway in our lives. The ambiance just does not lend itself to lingering there. We headed back to the condo, went through the security gate at about 2:30, figuring by the time we carry our bags to the elevator and up to our floor it will have wasted some time…?

Downstairs at the condo waiting for me to open the door to the building.

Apparently in vacation mode we are all extremely efficient, still had 20 minutes to spare. I went to the condo door and tried the electronic lock sequence but it would not let me in. We waited until 3:00 pm straight up but it did not work. I probably kicked my code out when I tried it too early. I broke out the number of the Condo owner and called him, He figured it out for us and was very helpful…. Yay we were in and could get the A/C working and get comfortable. It was a great condo, the complex had a couple of pools and a fitness center, and we were overlooking the harbor with a very great view. The beds and condo were just as promised.

Some Condo Pics...

Great start! Can't wait to hear more as my family will be boarding Mar. 15! Thanks for doing this review!

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As you know it is tough to get good sleep on a plane so everyone agreed to take a nap for a couple of hours then we would get up and explore. I set my phone alarm and we got up… some slower than others but that is a different discussion (my son does not like to be woken up from sleep):rolleyes: we had planned to go to Luquillo beach and eat dinner at the Kiosks. So we got in the much more empty minivan and drove the 10 minutes west to Luquillo, we found a place to park and got out and walked down the row of kiosks and restaurants to find what we wanted to eat. There were a number of places that looked real good so we kind of had to debate where to try. We settled on a place called Cerrunos it was more of an actual restaurant than a food counter but their menu looked good. I think we ordered some chicken Mofongo, Seafood Mofongo, and some grilled chicken breasts…. All of which were fantastic, but I think the star of the show was the Puerto Rican Rice and Beans. They are delicious in fact every other place we ate in Puerto Rico this trip I think we have at least an order or two of Rice and Beans.

Great start! Can't wait to hear more as my family will be boarding Mar. 15! Thanks for doing this review!

 

 

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You are welcome.... you will have a fantastic time.

After dinner it was too dark and we were too full to go out and walk on the beach but we did walk around the kiosks some more for souvenirs etc. Then on the way back to the condo we made our first obligatory Wal-Mart stop (not a vacation unless you go to Wal-Mart) we had a few needs to take care of as well as get some breakfast items so we could just go on our way the next morning (another great benefit of the condo). We went back to the condo and crashed for the night. Tomorrow we have a full day planned so we need lots of rest.

Fri Jan 16th Today we woke up excited and early…. We were going to El Yunque Rain Forest to tour it, then hike to La Mina waterfall and swim in it. The other times we have gone to El Yunque we were staying in San Juan and by the time we got up and drove there it was much later in the day. This time we are close so we could be there most of the day. Then in the evening we were going to BioBay and doing the boat tour there (definitely a highlight). We got going and got to the rain forest pretty early. There were more cars and people there than previous times, so finding parking was a little more of a job but not bad. First we stopped at La Coca falls and took some pictures. It is a pretty falls where the water just sheets over a big flat rock. It is close to the road in fact you see it as you drive past then park just up the road and walk back.

After we got our pictures there we headed up the road to Yokahu tower. The last time we were here the tower was closed (it was after 4 pm on Christmas Eve after all) so we could not climb it. This time we were able to climb the spiral staircase and get to the top to see a fantastic view of the Rain Forest as well as see all the way down to the coast in Fajardo. It is a fairly easy climb, the stairs are spaced pretty well and there are windows along the way you can just stop to look out (or catch your breath) the exertion is well worth it though. When we came down from the top there were things to see like pretty flowers and little lizards etc, as well as a guy making things out of palm fronds…like birds and fish. We bought a few of course.

More pics from Yokahu tower....

Our next stop was the trailhead at big tree. We were hiking to La Mina Falls and they said it was a 45-60 min hike each way and that is pretty dead on. The trail is nice and paved in most places. We made it in 40 minutes (even me…Captain Fluffy) I may have sounded like a herd of elephants having an asthma attack but I made it. Whenever I needed a break I just got my camera out to find something cool to take pictures of. Of course it is warm but it is up in the mountains and a little cooler as well as being in the shade of the Rain Forest. There is also a nice cool breeze in places, so very pleasant. There were lots of people there at the falls when we got there.

I am loving your review! I fell in love with San Juan last November, and I want to do this cruise, as a retirement gift to myself in May 2016. Still dont know which ship it will be though.

Great photos, thanks for taking the time to post a review:)

More pics from La Mina falls....

I am loving your review! I fell in love with San Juan last November, and I want to do this cruise, as a retirement gift to myself in May 2016. Still dont know which ship it will be though.

 

Great photos, thanks for taking the time to post a review:)

You are welcome, thank you for the nice comments.... that is funny on the date. I turn 50 in May of 2016 and my wife was wondering about doing a cruise for my B-Day with my family but when we called Carnival they have no idea what ship will be there or dates etc. San Juan is a great place... one my favorite places in the world.

more pics from Waterfall and going to try a video link...??

Video hopefully it works for you...

It is a beautiful waterfall with lots of gorgeous scenery around with rocks and river as well as the lush greenery. I think we all went in the water at some point; some of us took longer in order to shoot pictures from different locations etc. The water is cold but it feels so good especially after that hike and the humidity. It was Just kind of a surreal feeling, being there in Puerto Rico, in a tropical rain forest, swimming in a waterfall pool in January, when normally in Utah we would be in cold and snow. We had to soak it in for a while. Plus it was difficult to get motivated to get out and start the hike back to the car. It seemed for some reason the hike back was shorter but obviously it was not. I guess you just knew what was coming.

We got back to the car and headed down the road. We stopped to get something to eat at one of the roadside diners in the rain forest. They had hands down the best rice and beans of the trip… yes we were ravenous but, they were awesome. They also had a veritable plethora of fried things… some were good some were not so much. I had some fried mashed potatoes stuffed with ground beef (no Bueno) my son had a fried crab taco (also no bueno) the fried cheese and cornmeal sticks were good though as well as the chicken kabobs. Some local food is hit or miss. You never know until you try right?

I will try to post more tonight later.

Did the room safe have a key pad or did you have to slide a card? I've see it both ways. Just checking.

Thanks

Following can't wait for more.

I'm following as well! This cruise is on my bucket list!! You're doing a great job!

Following , I will be on the Liberty the first week of June .

Yay! Can't wait to read the rest of your review! We fly out two weeks from tomorrow for our Valor cruise!!! Any chance you brought home your copies of the Fun Times? And if so, could you please post them in your review? Thanks so much!!

We are on the Valor May 8th different Itinery. So looking forward to ship pics, but our last cruise was Puerto Rico. so reliving it. Thanks for writing this.

Looking forward to your review!

Im also hoping to hear about what the lunch buffets and mdr dinner is like. I want more of everything appreciate this review!

Subscribing! I am soooo looking forward to this review. Will be doing this same itinerary on the Liberty in April! ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WAIT!!!

I know that posting a review is a lot of work, thank you for taking the time.

We are 3-peating this cruise in a few short weeks.

This itinerary is so wonderful.

I saw that you had another review when you were on the Carnival Valor. On that trip you took a taxi from the airport.

We have been on this cruise twice and took the Carnival transfer both times.

This time we would like to take a taxi because we have a total of 8 people.

Do I just look for a taxi when we walk out the airport doors?

I would appreciate any recommendations. I think a taxi will be more cost efficient this time than paying for 8 Carnival transfers. We arriving the day of departure.

I'm following as well! This cruise is on my bucket list!! You're doing a great job!

Thank you. you need to do it. it is well worth it

Following , I will be on the Liberty the first week of June .

Thanks for reading, The Liberty will make it that much nicer with the 2.0 upgrades. Enjoy

Did the room safe have a key pad or did you have to slide a card? I've see it both ways. Just checking.

Thanks

We did not use the safe but I am sure they use a card.... I know my son used his and said he used an old gift card that had a magnetic stripe.

Following can't wait for more.

Thanks for reading

Yay! Can't wait to read the rest of your review! We fly out two weeks from tomorrow for our Valor cruise!!! Any chance you brought home your copies of the Fun Times? And if so, could you please post them in your review? Thanks so much!!

I will look to see if we brought the Fun Times... I think we did. I will scan them if I find them.... any thing in particular you are looking for?

We are on the Valor May 8th different Itinery. So looking forward to ship pics, but our last cruise was Puerto Rico. so reliving it. Thanks for writing this.

I will try to post some ship pics also for you. She was in good shape and a very nice ship. You will enjoy sailing on her.