Beagleluv's Valor Review w/Pics 4-7-13

[cruisinJenF]

LOVING your review!!!! I will be on the Valor in July.

 

Question: in St Kitts did you just take a cab to Timothy Hill and if so how far was it and how much was the ride? Thanks!!!!!

[Retiringworkingstiff]

Great review, unbelievable pictures, I agree with a poster above, much easier on the eyes, compared the thumbnail sized ones I uploaded on a thread I started on the same itin. I haven't figured out how to do what you did as yet.

[Beagleluv6107]

Great review! I was on the Valor with the same itinerary the week after you :D It is great to see what others did and didn't do (eat and didn't eat, drink and didn't drink - I can go on but won't :p). You did a great job with the review! Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

 

Thanks JennN, I really appreciate you reading my review.

[Beagleluv6107]

LOVING your review!!!! I will be on the Valor in July.

 

Question: in St Kitts did you just take a cab to Timothy Hill and if so how far was it and how much was the ride? Thanks!!!!!

 

 

I think the cab ride there was only $20-25 to take all four of us. I will double check with DH. The driver had no problem stopping for us to take a few pictures and then dropping us off at Shipwreck Beach. The ride was not long at all. When we went to leave we were approached by a driver that had an open air van and that was fun going back on that. I think it was around the same cost.

[Beagleluv6107]

Great review, unbelievable pictures, I agree with a poster above, much easier on the eyes, compared the thumbnail sized ones I uploaded on a thread I started on the same itin. I haven't figured out how to do what you did as yet.

 

 

 

Thanks to help from CC, I was able to figure out how to get the pictures bigger. I uploaded them to Photobucket. I select a photo and open it and then copy and paste. Thanks for your nice comments!!

[smurfm69]

Great pics and review! We did this trip a few years ago on the Victory and it was our favorite cruise by far. St. Maarten is our favorite island but St. Lucia is a close second. We might try to do this itinerary again next year.

[Beagleluv6107]

I'll try and finish up tonight

 

 

Here's another picture before we left the boat.

[Beagleluv6107]

We did the same routine again today. Breakfast in the MDR and then I went for cake and ice cream. We wanted to go to Maho Beach and watch the planes land. It seemed like a very long cab ride to me and when we got there the place was packed and no way to get a chair. The boys said they were tired of sand and swimming so we got a table in the restaurant and sat there for hours. We had a really good time and the boys took some great pictures that they still haven't shared with me. That is definitely an Experience!

This was our view from the bar/restaurant. Absolutely Amazing!

I still cannot believe how blue that water is.

 

We didn't wait long for our first plane to arrive. Since this was Saturday we had planes land all day. Or I'm just guessing that all that action happens on Saturdays more than any other day. My camera died before I had a chance to take good pictures but you get an idea of what I was seeing.

 

 

Getting a cab back to the boat is easy, they were everywhere.

[Beagleluv6107]

I looked for the chocolate extravaganza when I returned to the boat but it was already gone. I’m sure it was for the best that I was too late. That night for dinner I know DH tried the frog legs(I didn't get a picture). They are in buttery oil. That’s about the only way to describe it. They were ok. I’m not sure what I had but it looks like some type of fish. I know it was delicious and that I over stuffed myself. We all split the mac and cheese. I’d like to give a big shout out to the magician for the week. I am sorry that I didn’t write down his name. He was truly amazing. He had all four of us baffled. I am also sorry I didn’t write down the names of our wait staff. We all remember Dani so whoever else was is his group that served #375. Thank you all so much! Our service was outstanding the entire trip.

 

 

 

 

 

That night I went to bed and left the boys in the sports bar to watch Nascar. I went back to the room and took a few minutes to sit on the balcony and reflect on my amazing week on the Valor. Not much later DH brings a piece of carrot cake that must have been 2 pounds. I am so sad to say I did not get a picture to share with you all. You really need to see this. Since I was over stuffed we put the cake in the fridge and went to bed. In the morning before we left, I tried to eat as much of the cake as I could!

 

[Beagleluv6107]

 

Goodbye to my animals:(:(

 

 

 

Debarkation

This was our first attempt at self assist. We woke up at 7am. I ate cake and then packed. I ran to the balcony for a few more pictures of San Juan. We had a 12:30 flight out. We had no idea how much time to allow so DH didn’t eat breakfast. We walked right off the boat with no lines at 8:00am. We walked right through customs, got a taxi, got through airport security and were waiting to fly out at 9am. We each ordered a breakfast sandwich and soda and it was $27. Ouch! We should have eaten on the boat

Before we left. We’ll know next time. The boys were scheduled to fly out at 2:50 but their flight was canceled. They were able to get on a 6:30 flight so it made for a long day waiting in the airport.

 

Before I wrap things up I wanted to list a few last minute thoughts I had.

 

A special thank you to our room steward, he did an amazing job. A big thank you to every bartender at our favorite bar at the Aft. Everyone was so personable and knowledgeable and we enjoyed getting to know them. Thanks again to our wait staff in the MDR. I know I mentioned them earlier but they were really that terrific.

 

Next time I will take my own hair dryer. The one that is attached to the drawer in the room is pretty tough on hair. I might want an extension cord next time as well because there is no outlet in the bathroom.

 

We looked at our bill and realized we saved about $300 by signing up for the Cheers Program.

 

Our room was toward the back of the ship by the elevators. It turned out to be the perfect spot because we always hung out or met each other at the Aft Bar. The buffet is right there and when we went down a few floors, we were right at our dining room.

 

Thank you to the whole Valor Team for one of the best vacations ever!

If I ever get the picture of me jumping off the platform in Barbados I will post it!

 

Thank you all for reading my review.

[Chelleum]

Great review and pics, I really enjoy reading your review. Im on this cruise in Oct. can't wait to do this intinerary.

[ktinnc]

Great review - thanks for sharing it! Somehow I missed it when you originally posted - surprising since I'm on here every day in preparation for our sept cruise..haha

[SunnieC]

Thank you so much for taking time to write your review! I really enjoyed it, and your pics were great! I'm taking this cruse with a HUGE group of friends that I met here on Cuise Critic, and I am so excited!

 

Thank you again! :)

[meme2manthajoe]

We had planned to catch the 11am ferry to St. John but we were slow to get off the boat and get our taxi so we ended up with the noon ferry.

 

 

 

 

 

I love St. John. It's so beautiful.

 

 

 

 

We had a feisty female older driver that cracked us up. She promised to be waiting for us at 4:20 when we returned on the ferry. Our newbie said that 4pm is too late but DH said no problem. Well there was a problem. They were working on the roads in St. Thomas and we were blocked in. When we finally reached the ship someone from Carnival said can I please have your name and room number? It was 4:48 and we had almost missed our boat. I never thought that would happen to us. Whew!

 

Precisely why we always go back with 2 hours to spare. I'm a little neurotic but it pays sometimes. :D Thanks for this review. We are sailing with our friends in April and I am just soaking up everything I can find until then.

[Family Travel Story]

We booked the cruise about 8 months in advance and I was able to get a few early saver price drops. Airfare to San Juan was a pricey $500 so the OBC was a big help.

 

Our flight to San Juan was 3 hours and 40 minutes and we arrived a little early. Our luggage was the very last to come out so that took awhile. Our cab ride to the port was only 18 minutes. I brought a tiny stapler to apply our luggage tags but when we approached the entrance a nice lady came over and applied our tags for us. We got in line to board at 2:50pm. By 3:45pm we had signed up for the Cheers Program and I was having my first DOD at the lobby bar. Ahhh, I was in heaven.

 

 

Do you think you made out on the Cheers program or is it a waste of money. It just seems like $700 is a lot of money for a week of drinks for two people. I wish I could split the program between my wife and I. 7 drinks each would be plenty.

[meme2manthajoe]

Thanks for a great review! I enjoyed reading it and looking at the pics! I see you save your animals too. My DH thinks I am nuts but I love lining them up and taking pics. I decorate them and really enjoy them.;)

[pghsteelerfan]

Papa and the crew were fantastic. Our group really enjoyed snorkeling and I had an underwater disposable camera. We attempted a few pictures but it’s sitting on my desk with only 6 pictures taken. I’m not sure what to do about that. We took some of the most beautiful pictures of the entire trip. The boat ride to the snorkel area was a lot of fun and Papa’s helper gave us a lot of information about the island. Papa’s tour was only $50 per person and well worth it.

 

 

This was the second place they took us to. We did not snorkel here and just had a few drinks. The place was really nice.

 

 

These boys jump off the cliff and swim out and Papa throws them a few soda's to share. In this picture one boys is actually in mid air.

 

 

 

We were told that celebrities were on the island that day. Turns out it was Matt Damon and his wife renewing their vows. I guess our invitation was lost in the mail. :D

 

 

 

 

 

We came VERY close to booking this sailing on Valor but my DH preferred to wait until May, so we were on the 5/5 sailing instead. We did the "Jalousie Beach Break" with Spencer Ambrose and he told us, because Matt Damon and his wife were renewing their vows at the Sugar Beach resort, that no one was allowed anywhere near Jalousie Beach while they were there. I had seen several other complaints from other posters here in CC who were on other tours, with planned stops at Jalousie Beach, that they could not get there. I'm so thankful my DH insisted on the later date. Were you hearing a lot of complaints about messed up or cancelled plans? I'm enjoying your review and love your pictures.

[Beagleluv6107]

Thank you so much for taking time to write your review! I really enjoyed it, and your pics were great! I'm taking this cruse with a HUGE group of friends that I met here on Cuise Critic, and I am so excited!

 

Thank you again! :)

 

 

Thank you Mary, I hope you and all the CC members joining you have great cruise!!!!! :)

[Beagleluv6107]

We came VERY close to booking this sailing on Valor but my DH preferred to wait until May, so we were on the 5/5 sailing instead. We did the "Jalousie Beach Break" with Spencer Ambrose and he told us, because Matt Damon and his wife were renewing their vows at the Sugar Beach resort, that no one was allowed anywhere near Jalousie Beach while they were there. I had seen several other complaints from other posters here in CC who were on other tours, with planned stops at Jalousie Beach, that they could not get there. I'm so thankful my DH insisted on the later date. Were you hearing a lot of complaints about messed up or cancelled plans? I'm enjoying your review and love your pictures.

 

 

Hi there, we would not have know about Matt Damon if Papa and his group had not told us what was going on. They didn't even know what celebrity. We read it in the paper once we were home and realized oh, that is what was going on. Lucky for us, it never affected our good time in St. Lucia.

[Beagleluv6107]

I want to thank everyone that took the time to check out my review. As promised, I finally have that picture of me jumping off the platform at the Boatyard in Barbados.

 

Here I am in all my glory. As you can see I'm holding my nose about 10 seconds before I ever hit the water. I'm older ... and a chicken so this was a big deal for me. Ok... it really was the beer that took over and made me think this was a good idea. LOL

 

 

Again I want to go on record and say I did that twice!

[Chelleum]

I want to thank everyone that took the time to check out my review. As promised, I finally have that picture of me jumping off the platform at the Boatyard in Barbados.

 

Here I am in all my glory. As you can see I'm holding my nose about 10 seconds before I ever hit the water. I'm older ... and a chicken so this was a big deal for me. Ok... it really was the beer that took over and made me think this was a good idea. LOL

 

 

Again I want to go on record and say I did that twice!

 

Nice!! I want to try that when I go. Just hope I do not hurt myself.:eek:

 

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