GAPearl's Second Valor Review- Solo Southern Caribbean Cruise! (2/24/13)

[groundhog59]

Where can you take the public bus to in St. Maarten? Does it go to Maho Beach?

 

Yes the bus goes to Maho Beach. Go up 2 or so blocks in Phillipsburg (near Phillipsburg Market) and you'll see vans with placards in the window that will say where they are going i.e, Maho Beach. If you can't find it, just ask. It's really not difficult. Also, if you go to Maho Beach and don't want to spend a fortune on beer there is the Maho market and beers were $1.35 each. It's across the street from the beach to the left of the airport as you are facing the airport.

[pbmsmile]

We are not cruising this itinerary until Dec 29, 2013...but I am still getting excited by your review! We are in one of the L-shaped cabins with the double balcony. I booked cheap and have still gotten several pricedrops....I hope it continues to go down! :p Thanks for taking all the time to write this awesome review. Did I see somewhere that you worked for Delta? I have a VOUCHER scenerio ( I have several bc of voluntery bumps) I would like to run buy you if you do. Maybe you could get me an insider answer. ;)

[gapearl]

What's the latest they allow you off the ship on your last day? I am staying at the Sheraton Old San Juan just for that Sunday night. I see we get back at 7am.

 

I think it was close to 11 am when I finally got off the ship. My sailing had a lot of Canadian passengers, so that made debarkation slow. It could be earlier than that if you don't have as many non-US citizens and everyone is off quickly. I left at the last call, hurry up and get your butt off the ship announcement.

 

Yes the bus goes to Maho Beach. Go up 2 or so blocks in Phillipsburg (near Phillipsburg Market) and you'll see vans with placards in the window that will say where they are going i.e, Maho Beach. If you can't find it, just ask. It's really not difficult. Also, if you go to Maho Beach and don't want to spend a fortune on beer there is the Maho market and beers were $1.35 each. It's across the street from the beach to the left of the airport as you are facing the airport.

 

Very good information. Thanks for posting!

 

We are not cruising this itinerary until Dec 29, 2013...but I am still getting excited by your review! We are in one of the L-shaped cabins with the double balcony. I booked cheap and have still gotten several pricedrops....I hope it continues to go down! :p Thanks for taking all the time to write this awesome review. Did I see somewhere that you worked for Delta? I have a VOUCHER scenerio ( I have several bc of voluntery bumps) I would like to run buy you if you do. Maybe you could get me an insider answer. ;)

 

Ohhhh, a New Year's cruise! How awesome is that!!! :D

 

LOL a lot of people have guessed that's who I work for, but I have never said yes I do or no I don't. I prefer to keep my employer's name quiet on a travel website like this. I don't want to say I work for XYZ so no one will follow that with a "last time I flew them blah blah blah happened" and I find myself in a position to be defensive. Next thing you know I could be getting called into the supervisor's office, trying to explain why I posted whatever about XYZ on the internet. I will say though that inflight crew members know absolutely nothing about the goings on at the gate and ticket counter and how redeeming vouchers and credits work, so your best bet would be to call customer service about something like that. :)

[pbmsmile]

I think it was close to 11 am when I finally got off the ship. My sailing had a lot of Canadian passengers, so that made debarkation slow. It could be earlier than that if you don't have as many non-US citizens and everyone is off quickly. I left at the last call, hurry up and get your butt off the ship announcement.

 

 

 

Very good information. Thanks for posting!

 

 

 

Ohhhh, a New Year's cruise! How awesome is that!!! :D

 

LOL a lot of people have guessed that's who I work for, but I have never said yes I do or no I don't. I prefer to keep my employer's name quiet on a travel website like this. I don't want to say I work for XYZ so no one will follow that with a "last time I flew them blah blah blah happened" and I find myself in a position to be defensive. Next thing you know I could be getting called into the supervisor's office, trying to explain why I posted whatever about XYZ on the internet. I will say though that inflight crew members know absolutely nothing about the goings on at the gate and ticket counter and how redeeming vouchers and credits work, so your best bet would be to call customer service about something like that. :)

No worries..I totally get that! If only I could get the same answer from any two customer service people I asked this ?? to I would be thrilled!! :) Guess Ill just take my chances!!

[FireMedT]

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into your reviews! Enjoyed reading it and looking at your great pictures. I did my first solo cruise 3 weeks ago on the Glory and I had a great time. Sure there were times when I wished I had a girlfriend but I needed a vacation from work and I was not staying at home.

 

One thing I wish I had done was to take more pictures. But I got caught up in keeping busy to keep my mind distracted and just didn't make a point of taking a lot of pictures.

 

Keep up the great work!

[gapearl]

No worries..I totally get that! If only I could get the same answer from any two customer service people I asked this ?? to I would be thrilled!! :) Guess Ill just take my chances!!

 

Hahahaha good luck to you! :)

 

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into your reviews! Enjoyed reading it and looking at your great pictures. I did my first solo cruise 3 weeks ago on the Glory and I had a great time. Sure there were times when I wished I had a girlfriend but I needed a vacation from work and I was not staying at home.

 

One thing I wish I had done was to take more pictures. But I got caught up in keeping busy to keep my mind distracted and just didn't make a point of taking a lot of pictures.

 

Keep up the great work!

 

So how did you enjoy your first solo cruise? I totally understand what it feels like to be on the ship or in port where there's the potential for a really romantic moment, and you're like eh, whatever who cares. :rolleyes: Just head to the bar and take a shot of anything when that happens. :D Definitely take more pictures next time!

 

It's been a busy week and I've had to get some mandatory online training done for work the last few days and I've been flying, which is why I haven't been around. I was planning to get this done tonight, but I'm still writing. Tomorrow, I promise, this will get finished! I still have a lot more to share. :)

[Cruiser 2 too]

Have a good nite, look forward to more tomorrow.

[Cruiser 2 too]

You've earned some time away!

[FireMedT]

Hahahaha good luck to you! :)

 

So how did you enjoy your first solo cruise? I totally understand what it feels like to be on the ship or in port where there's the potential for a really romantic moment, and you're like eh, whatever who cares. :rolleyes: Just head to the bar and take a shot of anything when that happens. :D Definitely take more pictures next time!

 

 

My first solo cruise was a lot better than I expected. Yeah, those moments when I saw couples and thought hmmmm why not me? But I got over it. I tried to stay busy to keep my mind off those thoughts. I met and spoke with a lot of people. People would invite me to hang out with them. It helped that I had excursions at some of the ports instead of wandering around. I would definately do it again and in fact I can't wait! I have some vacation time and i'm fighting the urge to go back so soon. :eek:

[gapearl]

Have a good nite, look forward to more tomorrow.

 

You've earned some time away!

 

Thank you! I'd say I did. ;)

 

My first solo cruise was a lot better than I expected. Yeah, those moments when I saw couples and thought hmmmm why not me? But I got over it. I tried to stay busy to keep my mind off those thoughts. I met and spoke with a lot of people. People would invite me to hang out with them. It helped that I had excursions at some of the ports instead of wandering around. I would definately do it again and in fact I can't wait! I have some vacation time and i'm fighting the urge to go back so soon. :eek:

 

Awesome! Yeah it's pretty addictive. I'm looking into another solo cruise for next year, but debating on maybe taking a land trip to South America instead. In my experience, I always meet plenty of other single people, so if you want to have a drink with someone or hang out at the pool, it's not hard to find someone. I still keep in touch with many people I've met on cruises over the years.

[Leo's Rule]

Leo's Rule - that would be great. Were there on honeymoon in 1992, LONG TIME ago, but I remember it being very beautiful and would love to get back. Sorry gapearl, not trying to hi-jack your thread. I loved the pictures of the planes in Maho too, so I've love to be able to do both. :)

 

I looked at the card. The driver didn't have his own personal cards...he gave me the one for the company he works for. It's Bernard...of Bernard's Tours. The driver was Sexy.

[gapearl]

Last day of the cruise! Back to Puerto Rico!

 

That dreadful day I was scared would come sooner or later was here. It was time to go. :( Since I was spending an extra day in San Juan to avoid the airport ridiculousness on cruise day, I was in no hurry to get off the ship. I got up, showered, made one last sweep of the room to make sure I wasn't leaving anything, and headed up to the lido.

 

You know you ate too much on the cruise when.....

 

 

I was doing squats to get my jeans on and yep, the zipper broke. I don't why I didn't just wear a maxi dress. Like Sweet Brown said, AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!

 

Goodbye to my new friends.

 

 

I don’t remember what time disembarkation started, but it was a long, long, really long slow process. Part of the reason it took so long is because there were so many Canadian citizens onboard and they had to be cleared first. I hung out on the lido deck with a few of my friends from dinner. We ate and just sat back and chilled, enjoying our last few precious moments on the ship. It was also during this time I went to get the pictures of the other two cabins you saw earlier in the review. I had zone 24 luggage tags, and it was well after 10 am when they called my zone. There were long gaps between when they called for each zone, much longer than I've ever seen on any other cruise. My friends and I finally headed down when they gave the last call, you ain’t gotta go home but you gotta get the heck outta here announcement. A porter helped me with my bags. I stood in line for about 10 minutes to go through customs, and that was it. I was off the ship around 11 am. Taxis were everywhere and I snagged one to take me to the Caribe Hilton. No, I didn’t get that good looking driver Juan again that I had on day 1. I had his number, but still a bummer.

 

Remember me from 10 days ago when I was headed to San Juan?

 

 

Well this is what I looked like now! Too much sun maybe? :eek:

 

 

My skin started to even out after a couple of days, and I was left with a pretty nice glow.

[gapearl]

I booked one night at the Caribe Hilton at a $99 airline discounted rate. They add on a resort fee, so the total came to about $125. Many people get good rates here through priceline. This is a great place to stay. The food in the restaurants is pretty expensive, so consider yourself warned. El Hamburgeur is a short walk down the street, and there's a Subway right across from the hotel entrance.

 

 

I had a room in the tower wing.

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

 

 

View from my balcony.

 

 

 

The open air, outdoor check in area and lobby.

 

 

[gapearl]

This long hallway is full of shops, as well as a Starbucks for your morning caffeine fix.

 

 

The bar area. The Caribe Hilton says they invented the pina colada. I still believe it's Barrachina.

 

 

 

Happy hour bar specials.

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2013 by gapearl

[gapearl]

The pool and swim up bar.

 

 

 

Another selling point- The Caribe Hilton is right on the beach!

 

 

 

 

 

I did much of nothing after arriving. I was sunburned pretty bad, so I didn't even think about laying out. I spent a good bit of time napping in a hammock before grabbing something to go from The Pina Colada Club Restaurant onsite. The rest of the night was spent just relaxing and recovering in my room. I was burned out and exhausted from the past 10 days. I would need a vacation from the vacation when I got home!

[gapearl]

Here's a quick recap of the past week.

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

Restaurants:

 

• Genesis Restaurant- good, cheap food, family owned restaurant
  
• Caficultura- great place for coffee and breakfast
  
• Barrachina- traditional Puerto Rican cuisine, home of the pina colada, free flamenco show Friday and Saturday nights with reservation :)
  
• Fattie’s- Jamaican food, little hole in the wall, cheap lunch specials, really good
  
• Blessed Café- Caribbean food, rum punch menu, prices not listed on the menu so make sure you ask how much before you order
  

Things to do:

 

• Museo de Felisa Rincon de Gautier- free
  
• San Juan Gate- free
  
• San Juan Cathedral- free
  
• Casa Blanca- free
  
• Don Q Museum- free
  
• El Escambron Beach- free
  
• Museum of the Americas- $3
  
• don't forget your gasolinas- $2 around town, and you can get a box of 5 from duty free at the airport for $7.50 :D
  

Nightlife:

 

• Nuyorican Café- salsa dancing with the locals and a live band
  
• Colmado Bar Moreno- dancing to the hottest reggaeton music with the youngins :p
  

Hotels:

 

• Da House- boutique hotel in the middle of Old San Juan, walking distance to everything
  
• Caribe Hilton- nice resort on beach, food is pricey
  

St. Thomas:

 

• $8 taxi each way to/from Magen’s Bay
  
• $4 admission to Magen’s Bay
  
• $7 for beach chair plus $5 refundable deposit
  

Barbados

 

• $5 taxi to The Boatyard
  
• $12 admission, includes chair, umbrella, drink, taxi back, and free wifi
  
• $20 Snorkel Wid Neville trip
  

St. Lucia

 

• Spencer Ambrose Gros Piton climb- $125 :eek:
  

St. Kitts

 

• Welcome Tours With Beulah- $30 :)
  
• Beach massage- $1 a minute
  
• $3 for chairs at Shipwreck Beach
  
• $50 if you want to buy a monkey, LOL :o
  

St. Maarten

 

• $8 taxi ride each way to/from Maho Beach
  
• $10 for beach chair
  

[FireMedT]

 

Awesome! Yeah it's pretty addictive. I'm looking into another solo cruise for next year, but debating on maybe taking a land trip to South America instead. In my experience, I always meet plenty of other single people, so if you want to have a drink with someone or hang out at the pool, it's not hard to find someone. I still keep in touch with many people I've met on cruises over the years.

 

I'm getting the itch to go solo again this year since I have some vacation time scheduled. But haven't decided anything yet. Speaking of land trips, I went last year to Peru and did Machu Picchu. You might want to consider that depending on how much time you have. It was amazing.

 

Those were some great pictures. Specially the zipper! LOL I know what that's like :D

[gapearl]

The good, the not so good, and other bits of randomness.

 

 

• This was definitely my favorite cruise ever. I had a ton of fun and got to see some beautiful places for the first time. I would love to go back to St. Lucia for a land trip. That was my favorite island from them all.
  
• The crew and the staff were FANTASTIC! I always noticed someone cleaning. The restrooms were well maintained. Tables were cleared immediately on lido and in Rosie’s. Everyone did a great job and service was awesome.
  
• The new sail and sign kiosks were very convenient for checking your balance, or if you want to add cash to your account without having to wait in the guest services line.
  
• Bar service from the bar waiters was incredibly sloooooooooow, including in the main dining room, the lido deck on the sea day, and in the Punchliner Comedy Club. It’s not the fault of the bar waiters. They were great and really worked their butts off! This is one area it was very obvious where the Valor has made a significant cut back. I didn’t do the cheers package, but the guys at my dinner table did. Your drink server or bartender has to wait 5 minutes before placing your next drink order. That’s something to keep in mind if you want to order two drinks at once.
  
• The singles meet and greet is pointless because it’s more or less nonexistent. On the first night, it was listed to be in the Eagles Lounge at 11 pm. When I got there at 11:10, there were about 20 people in the room- couples and families, NO singles- for karaoke and the legends auditions. Why put a “singles mingle” in the same room at the same time as karaoke? On night 2, the Fun Times had "singles welcome aboard" in the One Small Step club at 11:45 pm. I guess they figure many of the singles will be in there anyways. It circulates on this board all the time (mostly from non-single people that have never attended one of these) that there’s this awesome meet and greet for single folks as if it’s a nice, planned event. IT’S NOT. It’s really no different than when they say Friends of Dorothy, Friends of Bill, etc. be here at this time and chat amongst yourselves. When I sailed on the Navigator of the Seas last year, they had a day for the singles to meet for lunch in a certain area of the Windjammer (their lido buffet). It was on a port day so I didn’t attend, but I like the idea. I would love to see Carnival do something like this, like an official singles cocktail hour the first night or lunch the first sea day. Maybe someone from the entertainment staff could be present and offer some type of mixer game or whatever. Just a thought. Don't be surprised if you see this pop up on John Heald's page because I've considered writing him about it.
  
• I ordered a grilled cheese from room service almost every night after getting in from the nightclub. One night/morning, whatever you want to call it, I was on hold for 15 minutes waiting for someone to answer. I hung up, called right back and got an immediate answer. The lady said it would be an hour because they were preparing to start getting breakfast ready, so I passed. Every other night, it arrived within 10-15 minutes.
  
• The Caribbean duo is gone and yes, they were replaced with the dj’s on the lido deck. However, on the sea day, they played a good bit of reggae and Caribbean music. None of the rap so many people complain about.
  
• As far as the demographics of this cruise, if I were to guess, I'd say about 20% were locals from Puerto Rico, 40% American, 39% Canadian, with that last 1% being Europeans.
  
• The last night of the cruise when I started to pack, I noticed a very important piece of my suitcase was missing- the hook that allows me to attach a smaller bag to my big one.
  

 

 

 

• Somewhere between leaving my bag with the porter and it getting delivered to my cabin, it got detached. Now this isn’t a clip that will just fall off. You have to physically unhook it. I don’t understand why someone would take it off!!!!! :mad: I went to guest services to file a report. The lady was very nice, filled out a report, and gave me a claim number. However, she did say there might not be anything they can do because I didn’t report the problem until the last day. It would have been different if I had reported it on day one. That’s fair and I understand. I honestly didn’t notice it the first day though. I never even bothered to follow up with the claim, so oh well. I think for my next cruise, I’ll head to TJ Maxx and invest in a cruise suitcase and leave the crew bag at home.
  
• I can understand the hesitation of some people to try Carnival right about now after all that's happened in the last month. If I was not already a loyal customer, I too would be skeptical. Try not to be too worried though. Incidents can happen on any ship on any cruise line.
  
• And to those of you who think Carnival is nothing but a party ship with 3,000 drunk people falling down the stairs, that's a bigger myth than the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. Obviously, if you want a party like I do, you can find one at the appropriate venues at night. If you want a family friendly party, you can find those at the deck party and by the pool on sea days. But if you want a quiet spot, you can find plenty of those too.
  
• I have seen Carnival compared to Walmart, Motel 6, a Yugo, etc. on these boards. I mean give me a break. :rolleyes: Don't let your cousin or coworker that's only HEARD about how bad a Carnival cruise is prevent you from booking a good vacation. Seriously, if my reviews can't convince you that you will enjoy a Carnival cruise, well then you must be about as dull as a monk's match.com profile, as difficult as Kim and Kanye's relationship, as boring as a bullfight with no bull, as hard to please as....as....well I can't think of anything funny to put here, but you get my point! Don't be afraid to give it a try and to say later you actually enjoyed it! :)
  
• If you've been considering a solo cruise but scared to pull the trigger, don't overthink it! Take a hint from Nike and JUST DO IT! :D
  

[gapearl]

So I went through all 2,500+ of my pictures and found a few more to leave you with.

 

I know these aren't pictures, but still....

 

The One Small Step Club even has flyers now, just like a land based club. I like little touches like this.

 

 

 

The room service menu is on the back of here. You will get this in your day one Fun Times. Don't throw it away!

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Puerto Rico

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chitownlou]

The good, the not so good, and other bits of randomness.

 

 

• This was definitely my favorite cruise ever. I had a ton of fun and got to see some beautiful places for the first time. I would love to go back to St. Lucia for a land trip. That was my favorite island from them all.
  
• The crew and the staff were FANTASTIC! I always noticed someone cleaning. The restrooms were well maintained. Tables were cleared immediately on lido and in Rosie’s. Everyone did a great job and service was awesome.
  
• The new sail and sign kiosks were very convenient for checking your balance, or if you want to add cash to your account without having to wait in the guest services line.
  
• Bar service from the bar waiters was incredibly sloooooooooow, including in the main dining room, the lido deck on the sea day, and in the Punchliner Comedy Club. It’s not the fault of the bar waiters. They were great and really worked their butts off! This is one area it was very obvious where the Valor has made a significant cut back. I didn’t do the cheers package, but the guys at my dinner table did. Your drink server or bartender has to wait 5 minutes before placing your next drink order. That’s something to keep in mind if you want to order two drinks at once.
  
• The singles meet and greet is pointless because it’s more or less nonexistent. On the first night, it was listed to be in the Eagles Lounge at 11 pm. When I got there at 11:10, there were about 20 people in the room- couples and families, NO singles- for karaoke and the legends auditions. Why put a “singles mingle” in the same room at the same time as karaoke? On night 2, the Fun Times had "singles welcome aboard" in the One Small Step club at 11:45 pm. I guess they figure many of the singles will be in there anyways. It circulates on this board all the time (mostly from non-single people that have never attended one of these) that there’s this awesome meet and greet for single folks as if it’s a nice, planned event. IT’S NOT. It’s really no different than when they say Friends of Dorothy, Friends of Bill, etc. be here at this time and chat amongst yourselves. When I sailed on the Navigator of the Seas last year, they had a day for the singles to meet for lunch in a certain area of the Windjammer (their lido buffet). It was on a port day so I didn’t attend, but I like the idea. I would love to see Carnival do something like this, like an official singles cocktail hour the first night or lunch the first sea day. Maybe someone from the entertainment staff could be present and offer some type of mixer game or whatever. Just a thought. Don't be surprised if you see this pop up on John Heald's page because I've considered writing him about it.
  
• I ordered a grilled cheese from room service almost every night after getting in from the nightclub. One night/morning, whatever you want to call it, I was on hold for 15 minutes waiting for someone to answer. I hung up, called right back and got an immediate answer. The lady said it would be an hour because they were preparing to start getting breakfast ready, so I passed. Every other night, it arrived within 10-15 minutes.
  
• The Caribbean duo is gone and yes, they were replaced with the dj’s on the lido deck. However, on the sea day, they played a good bit of reggae and Caribbean music. None of the rap so many people complain about.
  
• As far as the demographics of this cruise, if I were to guess, I'd say about 20% were locals from Puerto Rico, 40% American, 39% Canadian, with that last 1% being Europeans.
  
• The last night of the cruise when I started to pack, I noticed a very important piece of my suitcase was missing- the hook that allows me to attach a smaller bag to my big one.
  

 

 

 

• Somewhere between leaving my bag with the porter and it getting delivered to my cabin, it got detached. Now this isn’t a clip that will just fall off. You have to physically unhook it. I don’t understand why someone would take it off!!!!! :mad: I went to guest services to file a report. The lady was very nice, filled out a report, and gave me a claim number. However, she did say there might not be anything they can do because I didn’t report the problem until the last day. It would have been different if I had reported it on day one. That’s fair and I understand. I honestly didn’t notice it the first day though. I never even bothered to follow up with the claim, so oh well. I think for my next cruise, I’ll head to TJ Maxx and invest in a cruise suitcase and leave the crew bag at home.
  
• I can understand the hesitation of some people to try Carnival right about now after all that's happened in the last month. If I was not already a loyal customer, I too would be skeptical. Try not to be too worried though. Incidents can happen on any ship on any cruise line.
  
• And to those of you who think Carnival is nothing but a party ship with 3,000 drunk people falling down the stairs, that's a bigger myth than the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. Obviously, if you want a party like I do, you can find one at the appropriate venues at night. If you want a family friendly party, you can find those at the deck party and by the pool on sea days. But if you want a quiet spot, you can find plenty of those too.
  
• I have seen Carnival compared to Walmart, Motel 6, a Yugo, etc. on these boards. I mean give me a break. :rolleyes: Don't let your cousin or coworker that's only HEARD about how bad a Carnival cruise is prevent you from booking a good vacation. Seriously, if my reviews can't convince you that you will enjoy a Carnival cruise, well then you must be about as dull as a monk's match.com profile, as difficult as Kim and Kanye's relationship, as boring as a bullfight with no bull, as hard to please as....as....well I can't think of anything funny to put here, but you get my point! Don't be afraid to give it a try and to say later you actually enjoyed it! :)
  
• If you've been considering a solo cruise but scared to pull the trigger, don't overthink it! Take a hint from Nike and JUST DO IT! :D
  

 

STANDING OVATION FOR YOU GAPEARL!!! Your review was awesome!!! It replaced reading the paper in the morning for a week lol... Thanks again for the review... I can not wait to get on the Valor in July.

[gapearl]

St. Thomas

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Still Gone With The Wind Fabulous! #Twirl

 

 

Our waiters singing happy birthday to one of my dinner mates.

 

 

 

 

That look on my face after losing the master mixology. LOL

 

 

[Chitownlou]

So I went through all 2,500+ of my pictures and found a few more to leave you with.

 

I know these aren't pictures, but still....

 

The One Small Step Club even has flyers now, just like a land based club. I like little touches like this.

 

 

 

The room service menu is on the back of here. You will get this in your day one Fun Times. Don't throw it away!

 

 

 

 

 

Man... that Shave, with the scalp and shoulder massage sounds good... I might splurge on that for myself