My Valorous Solo Cruise - Valor July 28, 2013 - August 4, 2013

[gapearl]

I just want to say that I spent a couple of hours on Sunday reading your Valor review and thoroughly enjoyed it! You're so funny!

 

Can't wait to try the Gasolinas when I'm in PR (Breeze 9/17.... The day of my birthday!)

 

 

Leo's Rule - I'm anxiously waiting for tonight's installment. Thanks for answering my question earlier. Can't wait to read more of your experience at Barrachina and the M&G.

 

Thanks! I found out a friend who is a huge concert promoter is friends with the owner of Gasolina. I'm like hook me up with a case! Leo's Rule, did you buy any?

 

I'll be back tonight. But I'm just a mere shadow in your wings as far as writing style goes. :D :D :D

 

Oh don't say that! You have quite the sense of humor yourself! SMH at the pants hanging off that guy's butt. I was shopping at Express last month and this guy came over to me, asking me out, pants just as bad as that. My first question- Why are your pants hanging off your butt? Needless to say, he never took me out. :rolleyes:

[Neotericisis]

Thanks! I found out a friend who is a huge concert promoter is friends with the owner of Gasolina. I'm like hook me up with a case! Leo's Rule, did you buy any?

 

 

 

Oh don't say that! You have quite the sense of humor yourself! SMH at the pants hanging off that guy's butt. I was shopping at Express last month and this guy came over to me, asking me out, pants just as bad as that. My first question- Why are your pants hanging off your butt? Needless to say, he never took me out. :rolleyes:

 

I see you two already know each other LOL!!I guess I missed that GA Pearl posted before- see I knew you would be friends!:p

[cruise luvr]

Thanks so much for posting a solo review! My next cruise will more than likely be solo since no one can ever commit. LOL! It's nice to know other do it and have a good time. :)

[AXiDMonica]

Loving your review so far! And I love the part about the Coach outlet... Girllllll, that is my favorite Coach store in the WORLD! :D

 

On the corner of Calle Cristo I can get there with my eyes CLOSED! LOL!

 

Can't wait to read the rest!

[Leo's Rule]

Great start! I NEED to see a pic of your new Coach bag:p I love Coach sooooooo much and that guy and girl =hot mess!

 

Can't wait to read more! Oh and that elevator looks scary!:eek:

 

I'll take a picture of the purse when I get home. And I'm kicking myself because I should have bought a black purse. I have two other Coach purses that I either rarely carry or haven't carried at all.

 

Yes, they were a H.A.M. I just shook my head. The elevator was a little creepy.

[Leo's Rule]

Subscribing....love the review so far! I go on this cruise in October, and it seems forever away.

 

Didn't know about the coach outlet! Going to have to check that out!

 

 

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Thanks! You will love your cruise...and it will be hot in October!

 

The prices are awesome in the store. They were running a special the day I was in there. I don't know if they do them often or not. I saw several purses I wanted, but stuck with something small.

 

Great review...getting me psyched for my September 8 departure!

 

Take me with you, please. :D

[Leo's Rule]

Great review! Can't wait to read more.

 

Thanks! If I can stay awake tonight, I plan to at least get through Sunday!

 

I love reviews that are to the point and concise...love-love the ones with pictures...but LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the ones where there is so much personality in the writing that I feel I was right there with you!

 

Great start, and just what I need to hold me over until I sail in 25 days.

 

Like you said...my body is sitting at my desk in the office...but my mind is already on that ship!

 

Oh, thank you DaisyGirl55. I'll try not to take 25 days in posting. LOL :D My baby, Queen, wants all of my attention when I get home. She thinks I'm leaving again (and she's right, but not until October).

 

I'm at work now wishing I was back on that cruise! I'm going to have to snap out of it soon!

[Leo's Rule]

Love, love, love your review so far!

 

This reminds me of GA Pearl's Valor review. She is a solo cruiser as well! I think you two would make good cruising buddies!

 

Thank you for the compliment.

 

Leo's Rule, did you buy any?

 

Oh don't say that! You have quite the sense of humor yourself! SMH at the pants hanging off that guy's butt. I was shopping at Express last month and this guy came over to me, asking me out, pants just as bad as that. My first question- Why are your pants hanging off your butt? Needless to say, he never took me out. :rolleyes:

 

No, GAPearl, I did not. I had too much alcohol and couldn't get it. And it was probably a good thing too. I was going to walk over to the CVS after disembarking and buy a 10 pack there; it was a little of $10, but my bags were heavy and I didn't feel like crossing the street, walking down to CVS, and then walking back to the pier for a taxi. I just said next time. But now that I know that ...can you hook me up? LOL

 

Thanks, chica! And I don't understand why "boys" think we would want to talk to them looking like that. Oh if I could have been a fly on the wall to hear you ask him that. LOL

[michiganredrose]

Great review so far!! Only 6 more months until we cruise! Until then I am just absorbing everyone's reviews!

[Leo's Rule]

Thanks so much for posting a solo review! My next cruise will more than likely be solo since no one can ever commit. LOL! It's nice to know other do it and have a good time. :)

 

Yes, wait for no one. LOL But seriously, traveling solo is fun. I'm glad I didn't let fear keep me from doing this solo cruise.

 

Loving your review so far! And I love the part about the Coach outlet... Girllllll, that is my favorite Coach store in the WORLD! :D

 

On the corner of Calle Cristo I can get there with my eyes CLOSED! LOL!

 

Can't wait to read the rest!

 

I can hear your excitement through the text. :D I wonder if that was your picture I saw in their store? There was a caption under it that read, "Biggest Spender of the Month". LOL

[hockeyluver]

great review so far!! Cant wait to read more when I get home later :D

[JohnSpo]

Wow. Really enjoying your review and this is just the pre-cruise part. I look forward to each step of you trip. You write with a lot of description and the photos are great. Awesome job! Thanks for posting. :cool:

[rob6465]

 

 

 

 

The stench there was horrid!

 

I eventually found myself at a trolley stop (I had passed several) and hopped on a trolley after being at the stop for 5 minutes. I saw some places I wanted to go back to' date=' but never made it that way. I went to El Morro Fort since I didn't do it last time, but I didn't stay because it was 12:00 and my checkout was at 12:00!!! Here's a photo of what I saw from the outside.

 

[img']https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/522419_4749407947667_1391051029_n.jpg[/img]

 

I will say if you opt to do the trolley here; stay on until the very end. I made the mistake of getting off once I saw the sign for the fort and didn't realize I had to walk alllllllllllllllllllllll they way up to get to it. I hadn't been off the trolley that long and that sucker was full...I had to squeeze in between two people.

 

Anyhow, I arrived back to the hotel at 12:55 and all was well. My belongings were still in the room and I hadn't been locked out.

 

Side note: There was a guy and girl at the counter when I arrived back to the hotel. I don't know if they were checking in or checking out, but they were a sight. The guy had on skinny shorts and his underwear were showing and the girl was a big girl and she had on the shortest of short shorts. If you thought the back side was horrible, you should have seen the front!

 

Anyhow, they were arguing at the counter about something senseless. I happened to see them again when I was walking to the Sheraton OSJ and she was on the phone talking to someone and I overheard her say, "He doesn't look at me like he looks at those other girls. I guess I'm just an F-thing to him." Wow!!!! My thoughts are she paid for them to come to San Juan and she's footing the bill for everything.

 

I was born in Puerto Rico and have not been there since 1998. Now i want to take a cruise there. I grew up in NYC but now live in houston.

[mzthaij]

loving your review so far. i can't wait for the rest.

 

 

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[Leo's Rule]

Sorry for the delay. I get off work at 6 and need a little time to unwind and play with baby when I get home.

 

Anyhow, here's more pictures of things I saw while walking around San Juan.

 

I thought the guy was going to try and charge me to take the picture, but he was nice

 

 

Sr. Frog car

 

This was just funny to me

 

Militant Ronald and Plugged In Baby

 

I just kept wondering was this Jared's brother's store

[Leo's Rule]

This is the purse I bought

 

And since you asked to see that one; thought I'd share two others I bought on another shopping excursion.

 

I have yet to carry this one

 

I've carried this maybe 7 times

[Leo's Rule]

The building was just pretty to me

 

Old Harbour Brewery

 

Ok, this next photo I distinctively remember this guy being in the area. If I walked towards a certain area he would move. At first I didn't think anything of it until it happened 3 times. I was just trying to get photos. I had to hurry up and take this one because by this time a woman walked past where he stood to get away from me and he starts cussing up a storm and telling us to stay out of his em ***** business. I work for Mental Health; that guy wasn't stable and I didn't want him to snap on me.

 

 

I originally took this picture because the guy driving it was an elderly gentleman and the car has hydraulics; I would have had him in the picture, but my camera decided to act stupid. I had to zoom in before he was out of my sight. It wasn't until I pulled the picture up on my computer that I noticed the hand and purse hanging out of the trunk and his sign that says Back from the dead! :eek:

 

 

I liked this

[cuted126]

This is the purse I bought

 

And since you asked to see that one; thought I'd share two others I bought on another shopping excursion.

 

I have yet to carry this one

 

I've carried this maybe 7 times

 

 

All of them are beautiful! Life has been given lol. I love Coach:p

[Leo's Rule]

This was just pretty to me

 

Me showing off my zoom on my camera. The first picture is what I see with the naked eye and the 2nd is me zooming in...and I could have zoomed more.

 

 

 

Pictures from DonQ:

 

 

 

 

My thoughts on DonQ; it's not better than the Bacardi Factory

[alreadypacked]

Great review!! Keep it coming & thanks!:):)

[Leo's Rule]

After I showered and dressed, I walked to Barrachina and arrived at 7:35. Cheyenne and her family were already there (she had been there since 6:30) and our reservation was for 7:30. I was seated and we waited for Joel and his wife and son to arrive. Eventually we ordered food and drinks. I was still full from Raices so I ordered some fish appetizer...and I didn't eat it all and I love fish and the meal was good.

 

Barrachina is famous for their pina coladas, but I was talked into ordering the frozen mojito, and boy was it good (when I actually drank it and it wasn't on my clothes, my chair, and my hair!). The waiter spilled my drink on me!!!! He said I made him nervous after I told him how beautiful his eyes were. :rolleyes: Here's a picture of the two of us:

 

 

The family at the table next to ours was from Houston (they recommended the frozen mojito)! What a small world....I'm from Houston and it turns out we only live 15 minutes from one another!

 

Anyhow, I enjoyed my food and I enjoyed the flamenco show. We all hit it off; I can say that I believe I've found some travel friends for life. There was one member on the roll call who decided last moment to join us, but since we were already a table of 8 and we were due in San Juan soon, she said she would book a separate reservation. She was supposed to wear beads, but no one had on beads. It turns out she and her husband Karl were seated at the table across from ours. I would learn later that Karl is a mess (in a good way).

 

Our group photo (Karl and Nicki left before we decided to take the photo):

 

After dinner and the show I walked back to my hotel (I felt completely safe) and attempted to write about the night's events and take a shower, but the mojito and the bed were just too relaxing. I felt like I was sleeping on clouds; that's just how comfortable the bed was and the bedding that was used. I was out before I knew it.

[Alexlee]

I love long reviews!! Can't wait for more posts!!:D..... Nice pictures too!;)

[Leo's Rule]

C.C. spazed out on me. I wonder if they were down for maintenance. I was in the middle of my review!!!! And yes, I'm still up and will pay for it in the morning.

 

My frozen mojitos:

 

My replaced drink and a free one

 

Another group photo:

 

 

Sunday, July 28, 2013 (My birthday)

 

It's my birthday! I had tons of phone calls and messages with well wishes. This is also the day I board the Valor. You would have thought from my excitement that I would have risen a lot earlier, but I didn't wake up until 9 am. I showered and prepared my bags. For whatever reason I didn't eat breakfast.

 

I walked up to the rooftop of the Sheraton to look at my home for the next 7 nights.

 

 

I checked out of the Sheraton at 11:15 am and walked across to the pier. I was in the waiting area by 11:30 am and boarding began at 12:00 pm.

 

 

While waiting, I ran into Joel and his family. We ate lunch together once we boarded; I had food from the Mongolian Wok, Joel ate from the burrito bar, but I don't know where Janette and Sean picked food from. Can you guess what else Joel had? If you said ice cream; you're right! (Only our roll call members knew this fact about Joel). I had pictures, but they are missing!

 

Anyhow, after lunch I decided to see if my room was ready. On the way there I ran into Tippi and her family; they were getting food from the Lido buffet. My room wasn't quite ready, I had to wait for it to be vacuumed, but I did need to offload my heavy carryon. I locked some things in my safe and hid my bag.

 

Pictures of my 4J cabin:

My cabin door

 

View from the door. Some room stewards utilized the mailbox you see to the right; mine didn't.

[Leo's Rule]

More pictures of my cabin:

 

 

 

What I didn't show is the hair dryer is in the 1st or 2nd drawer; it's not in the bathroom

 

 

[Leo's Rule]

More pictures from my cabin and the deck outside my window:

 

I made Gold on this cruise!!!!!

 

View from my window

 

Outside on deck

 

My window. You couldn’t see in.