Valor July 14-21 plus Vieques; Port and photo intensive review

[welshcorgie]

Can't wait for more. We are on Valor 1/19/14. Really enjoying your review.

[girlscruise2011]

I emailed Gina but was wondering the cost of this excursion. there will be 4 of us

 

It is $110 per person but that includes food and unlimited drinks so I think with all you get and just the wonderful reviews they have, its going to be worth every dime :)

[jmcancruise]

This is so cool. You stayed in the same room we will be in in September. As of right now no one is booked in the two rooms forward of us. Wouldn't it be sweet if it stayed that way. That would give us a truly private balcony.

[cra-z-2cruise]

It is $110 per person but that includes food and unlimited drinks so I think with all you get and just the wonderful reviews they have, its going to be worth every dime :)

 

I agree that the experience is worth every penny (probably more). The food, the rum punch, the wonderful crew, the boat, the water, the turtles, the fish! Many more details to come on this trip! I would book as early as possible if your budget allows!

[cra-z-2cruise]

This is so cool. You stayed in the same room we will be in in September. As of right now no one is booked in the two rooms forward of us. Wouldn't it be sweet if it stayed that way. That would give us a truly private balcony.

 

That is pretty cool! If you don't mind a little noise during deck parties, you will love it! Normally, we would have avoided this problem by just being at the deck party ourselves, but we were just exhausted after our port days.

[DaisyGirl55]

Cruising on the Valor next month, and soooo ready to get on the plane and start my vacation! Looking forward to reading your review and seeing your pictures!

[cra-z-2cruise]

Was hoping to get more on the review done, but got called-in to work today. Hope to make some more progress tomorrow, unless I get called-in again. :rolleyes:

I guess I can't complain too much since I just had almost three weeks off, right?

[hockeyluver]

Looking forward to the rest of your review and pictures!! Still got a long way to go until our January cruise and really having a hard time filling my Valor input quota!! :p :p

[soccersharon]

Wonderful review and pictures!

[sooner33]

Great start , cant wait to read the rest , we too went on the Victory on this same itinerary , and now we are doing it again on the Valor in 2 months.

[cra-z-2cruise]

Wonderful review and pictures!

 

Thanks Soccersharon! As you can tell, we really like taking pics. Helps me relive my trip...

[cra-z-2cruise]

Looking forward to the rest of your review and pictures!! Still got a long way to go until our January cruise and really having a hard time filling my Valor input quota!! :p :p

 

 

January will be here before you know it! Should be a great time of year too! :)

[cra-z-2cruise]

Sorry about the delay, but was called-in to work again yesterday. :p

Hope to make some good progress today though!

 

So, a short 10 minute cab ride from the Caribe Hilton to the port.

 

 

 

 

Just as the taxi pulled up to the terminal, is started to drizzle a little. We had planned to just drop our bags off and run over to CVS with our carry-on, but with the rain, we decided to go ahead and check in.

 

There was not a line at all. Very quick check in process. We were given Zone 8 boarding. We decided to check out some of the shops and also went downstairs to check out the liquor store (the free samples were very tasty).

When we went back up the escalator, I nice employee said, I'll trade you your zone 8 card for this one...

 

 

Thanks!

In less than 10 minutes they announced boarding!

 

After boarding the ship, we decided to check if our cabin was ready before heading to lido for lunch.

 

 

Arnold, our steward stopped by to introduce himself. Said he would be back after 5:00.

 

The Bon Voyage bottle was in the room waiting for us.

 

 

Dropped our stuff off, important stuff in the safe, and headed to lunch. The safe is the type that requires a magnetic strip for access, so we had brought along two empty gift cards for this purpose. I really prefer the code type safe though.

 

 

As we headed across the lido deck, we bought our compulsory Funship Special, then contemplated on what to eat.

 

I LOVE Mexican food, so we decided on the burrito bar. No line and the food was awesome! Unfortunately, they close sometime around 3:30 and we never made it back on time.

 

The rain had stopped so off we went to explore a little. DH wasn't up to explore the forts, as it was really HOT! Went to CVS and bought some water, Cokes, and juices for mixers.

 

Headed back to the ship until it cooled off a bit. Our luggage was waiting for us when we returned, so we unpacked and settled in.

 

 

[cra-z-2cruise]

After it cooled off a bit, we headed back into Old San Juan.

 

Started off with a drink.

 

 

 

The food looked and smelled great! Too bad we were still stuffed from the burrito bar! Next time we will plan for it.

 

They had a street market set up along the water, so we walked through that, down along the old wall and in through the gates to the city. On the way back, we stopped at a little shop for ice cream.

 

Had to be back on board before 8:30, so we headed back.

 

We had some time before muster, so had some fun pics...

 

 

 

You no longer have to bring life jackets to the muster drill, but I have life jackets pics from every cruise, so this was not going to be any different.

 

The drill was quicker and less painless than we had anticipated.

 

We were pretty wiped out at that point, so headed back to the cabin to organize our stuff for St Thomas in the morning! :D

 

 

[cra-z-2cruise]

I'm usually not a morning person at all, but was up before the sun. Beautiful sail into St Thomas.

 

 

View from our side of ship above, other side below.

 

 

Plans for the day...snorkel at Trunk Bay on St John!

 

Here was the plan:

Taxi to Red Hook $10/pp

Ferry to St John (Leave on the hour) $6/pp

Taxi to Trunk $7/pp

Taxi to Ferry $7/pp

Ferry from St John $6/pp

Taxi from Red Hook $10/pp

Entrance to Beach $4/pp

 

Total

$50/pp $100 for 2

 

We were off the ship early, the plan was to catch the 9:00 ferry in Red Hook.

We walked through the shopping area to the taxi area and grabbed a cab with 4 others.

Once in Red Hook, we bought tickets for both ways at the terminal. On the ferry and on our way.

 

[pc2425]

Love your review so far....can't wait to read more! We are on this cruise 11/3 and we can't wait.

 

I read that you drove down the California coast last year. We are planning to do that next year. I would love to ask you a few questions about that if you ever have time. I can give you my email.

 

Thanks!

[jimbo5544]

Nice start to your review. Enjoying the pics as well.

[cra-z-2cruise]

Love your review so far....can't wait to read more! We are on this cruise 11/3 and we can't wait.

 

I read that you drove down the California coast last year. We are planning to do that next year. I would love to ask you a few questions about that if you ever have time. I can give you my email.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Thanks pc2425!

Would be happy to answer questions about California. Email sounds good. It was a really great trip too! :D

[cra-z-2cruise]

Nice start to your review. Enjoying the pics as well.

 

 

Thanks everyone! Glad you're enjoying the review.

[cra-z-2cruise]

I have to make a side note here.

 

I have only been to St Thomas one other time. In 2011, me and two DS took a day say sail on this boat, Simplicity. It had raised the bar pretty high.

It was such an amazing day, I have to share a bit for anyone who may be interested.

 

Simplicity does a day sail, with maximum of six guests. You are able to reach areas that you would not be able to reach without a boat. Hinckley, their adorable "working" boat dog, tags along to greet you at the pier

. Great food and drinks are included, but the real attraction is the friendly crew, the joy of actually sailing, not motoring, were the wind takes you, and the amazing snorkeling! Josh, the first mate, is actually a marine biologist and goes snorkeling with guests to point out interesting sites.

 

I'll include some photos from our last trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last photo is a puffer fish under a rock!

 

If anyone is interested in a day sail on the island, I highly recommend Simplicity Charters with Charlie, Josh, and Hinckley!

www.simplicitycharters.com

[cra-z-2cruise]

Okay, back to St John. The ferry ride was pleasant and smooth. Made some new friends on the way over. Once on St John, we took a cab to Trunk. I'm pretty sure the cost was $6pp, not the $7 I was expecting.

 

Besides the gorgeous pics online, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from Trunk Bay.

 

We arrived so early, the admission window was not even open yet. So we walked down the path and right onto the beach. Then, wow!

 

 

 

It was so beautiful! So I needed to get into the water, now! We decided to walk all the way down to the right and hung our stuff from a tree limb.

 

 

Perfectly shaded during our stay.

Slathered down with sunscreen, grabbed the snorkel gear, and headed into the water! We brought our own gear, but they did have rentals. I want to say it was $5.

 

 

 

[cra-z-2cruise]

The visibility was great and the water very calm. What else is there to see?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aplmac]

Now that's a girl earning her keep! ;)

 

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Edited August 5, 2013 by Aplmac

[Aplmac]

HOLOTHURIAN = "Sea Cucumber" !

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holothurian

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[cra-z-2cruise]

Now that's a guy earning his keep! ;)

 

.

 

She's a doll too! She really thinks she runs the operation!