Valor Southern Caribbean review with pictures and Fun Times - better late than never

[pghsteelerfan]

I have read your review twice in anticipation of our 13th cruise on Carnival but first for the Southern route. We sailed the Valor on it's Eastern route in 2008 when our daughter graduated from high school. We have been cruising since first married and will now be celebrating our 30th Anniversary on the Valor in October. We have been to St Thomas and St Martin, but that's all, so the other Islands will be new to us. I loved all your pictures and details. We are booking most of our tours in advance on our own thanks to CC. It is a wonderful cruise tool and I am thankful to you and others for all the advice over the years.

Hope you get to cruise again soon. I look forward to reading any reviews you put out there.

Thanks Again for all the time and effort you put into this review.

From Tina in Virginia:p

 

You read it twice? Wow, thank you! :) I'm sure you will LOVE the Southern route, I personally feel it is one of the best and most scenic and the pictures do not do it justice. This was our first time in St. Lucia and St. Kitts (both are just gorgeous) and it's also been a long time since we were in Barbados. We were on a similar itinerary out of San Juan on our honeymoon and first cruise. CC was a big help to us in planning. We also booked most of our tours on our own in advance as well. It was mainly other reviews that gave me ideas for what we wanted to do. I really enjoyed doing this review, it was a great way to relive our cruise, and much easier than the review I did of our Liberty cruise. The hassle with that one was that on one of my cameras the date was off so the pictures loaded out of order. Lesson learned! :D I really hope we get an opportunity to cruise again soon and I'd love to do this same itinerary again. DH wants to do one that goes to Aruba and Curacao and I think I could be game for that too. If we do, I'll be sure to do another review but it may be a couple years. What part of Virginia are you in? We're near Manassas. We just did a western itinerary in April on Liberty and in 2010 we did an Eastern on Glory, both out of Miami. How did you like the Eastern on Valor? I wish you a very Happy 30th Anniversary in advance and hope you have as wonderful a time on Valor as we did.

From Holly in Virginia :)

[bigdawgmatty]

I'm just commenting so I can find this thread again (to keep reading) under "participated". Lol

 

 

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[Arizonagirl14]

I know the info is somewhere in the review, but I could not locate it. What camera(s) do you use? Thanks in advance... Starting out double digit dance this weekend... Yeah!

 

 

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[pghsteelerfan]

I'm just commenting so I can find this thread again (to keep reading) under "participated". Lol

 

 

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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it. :)

[pghsteelerfan]

I know the info is somewhere in the review, but I could not locate it. What camera(s) do you use? Thanks in advance... Starting out double digit dance this weekend... Yeah!

 

 

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To be honest, I don't know if I put in the review what cameras I was using...I can't remember. LOL!!! Most of the land/scenery pictures are from two cameras. I have a point and shoot Kodak Easyshare Z612 that I got in 2007. It's only 6 megapixels but I've been happy with the pictures I get on it. The other was the DSLR, a Canon Rebel t1i. With that camera, I am basically still learning how to use it. I wasn't going to take it on Valor last year because I hadn't been happy with the quality of the pictures I was getting. For the scenery pictures, I like everything crisp and well focused but the pictures I had been getting were grainy or a little out of focus. My brother, who also has a Canon Rebel t1i told me for scenery pictures to put it on the "P" setting, which is the letter "P" on the setting wheel, but I have no clue what it stands for. LOL!!! Well, last minute I decided to take it and used that "P" setting and was happy with the results. I also had a third camera, a Canon Power Shot D20 (waterproof) for all the underwater/snorkeling pictures.

 

Not much longer for you now...I'd be getting SO excited! I hope you have a wonderful time and great weather. When exactly are you going on your cruise? I'd love to do this itinerary Oct - Feb. some year. From reading other reviews, it seems the air quality is clearer (not as much humidity/haze) that allows for better views of the islands from the ship.

Edited September 20, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[Arizonagirl14]

Thanks for the info... Yes! Double digit dance today!,, we have a canon T 5i and I have a canon 16 mp elp point and shoot.

 

I am shopping to a waterproof and it's between a canon and the Olympus 840. Trying to decide between the 2. We still have a 6 MP Kodak easy share as well. Haven't used it in a few years.

 

 

 

 

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[pghsteelerfan]

Thanks for the info... Yes! Double digit dance today!,, we have a canon T 5i and I have a canon 16 mp elp point and shoot.

 

I am shopping to a waterproof and it's between a canon and the Olympus 840. Trying to decide between the 2. We still have a 6 MP Kodak easy share as well. Haven't used it in a few years.

 

 

 

 

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I've heard good things about both cameras, so I'm sure you'll get some great pictures. It's the scenery on this itinerary...pictures just don't do it justice, but you'll see very soon. :D I've been very happy with the Kodak easy share, but it's have recently been a few times where I thought it was going to "up and die" on me, but I'll keep on using it until it does...then I'll need to start looking for another point and shoot. How do you like the Canon 16 mp elp point & shoot?

[Arizonagirl14]

I like it except in low light areas. The pics just are not very sharp. I could be the camera operator! My husband mostly uses the rebel t5i. It has too many buttons for me. I did order the Olympus 840 underwater a few minutes ago.

 

We do take a great deal of pics. On our 18 day interior Alaska/Alaskan cruise trip 4 years ago we took over 4000 pics. I know we will be taking a great many on this trip. I am so looking forward to getting up really early and taking the pics coming Into port.

 

 

 

 

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[taxcruisermom]

You read it twice? Wow, thank you! :) I'm sure you will LOVE the Southern route, I personally feel it is one of the best and most scenic and the pictures do not do it justice. This was our first time in St. Lucia and St. Kitts (both are just gorgeous) and it's also been a long time since we were in Barbados. We were on a similar itinerary out of San Juan on our honeymoon and first cruise. CC was a big help to us in planning. We also booked most of our tours on our own in advance as well. It was mainly other reviews that gave me ideas for what we wanted to do. I really enjoyed doing this review, it was a great way to relive our cruise, and much easier than the review I did of our Liberty cruise. The hassle with that one was that on one of my cameras the date was off so the pictures loaded out of order. Lesson learned! :D I really hope we get an opportunity to cruise again soon and I'd love to do this same itinerary again. DH wants to do one that goes to Aruba and Curacao and I think I could be game for that too. If we do, I'll be sure to do another review but it may be a couple years. What part of Virginia are you in? We're near Manassas. We just did a western itinerary in April on Liberty and in 2010 we did an Eastern on Glory, both out of Miami. How did you like the Eastern on Valor? I wish you a very Happy 30th Anniversary in advance and hope you have as wonderful a time on Valor as we did.

From Holly in Virginia :)

 

Thanks again for taking time to do such a detailed review and responding to my comments. We live in the Fredericksburg area and really love it here. So close to DC but far enough away to be a little less crazy. We loved the Eastern Itinerary on the Valor and loved the Valor itself. That was our only cruise so far to those ports. We tend to end up in the Bahamas and western Caribbean. We just love cruising and try to cruise every year. We have actually been on the Pride 3 times - it is so convenient. But since this was such a special cruise for our Anniversary we decided to deal with the hassles of flying and do the Valor again, this time out of San Juan. I love researching everything in advance and planning our port excursions on our own. I think I am most excited about St Lucia. We are doing the Mystic Man Catamaran eco tour to the Pitons. I loved your pictures from there and just can't wait to see it all. I look forward to reading your review of your last cruise and thanks for your well wishes for our trip!! Tina

[Arizonagirl14]

To be honest, I don't know if I put in the review what cameras I was using...I can't remember. LOL!!! Most of the land/scenery pictures are from two cameras. I have a point and shoot Kodak Easyshare Z612 that I got in 2007. It's only 6 megapixels but I've been happy with the pictures I get on it. The other was the DSLR, a Canon Rebel t1i. With that camera, I am basically still learning how to use it. I wasn't going to take it on Valor last year because I hadn't been happy with the quality of the pictures I was getting. For the scenery pictures, I like everything crisp and well focused but the pictures I had been getting were grainy or a little out of focus. My brother, who also has a Canon Rebel t1i told me for scenery pictures to put it on the "P" setting, which is the letter "P" on the setting wheel, but I have no clue what it stands for. LOL!!! Well, last minute I decided to take it and used that "P" setting and was happy with the results. I also had a third camera, a Canon Power Shot D20 (waterproof) for all the underwater/snorkeling pictures.

 

 

 

 

Not much longer for you now...I'd be getting SO excited! I hope you have a wonderful time and great weather. When exactly are you going on your cruise? I'd love to do this itinerary Oct - Feb. some year. From reading other reviews, it seems the air quality is clearer (not as much humidity/haze) that allows for better views of the islands from the ship.

 

 

I did not see your other question, we are in the December 28th cruise, so we will celebrate the New Year on board. We will arrive in San Juan on December 26th.

 

I would like to schedule a cruise for 2015, but the daughter is getting married in June in Cancun, so we will be doing an all inclusive vacation next year.. There are so many ships I want to sail and so many ports to see! Maybe 2016 will be another cruise year.

[pghsteelerfan]

Thanks again for taking time to do such a detailed review and responding to my comments. We live in the Fredericksburg area and really love it here. So close to DC but far enough away to be a little less crazy. We loved the Eastern Itinerary on the Valor and loved the Valor itself. That was our only cruise so far to those ports. We tend to end up in the Bahamas and western Caribbean. We just love cruising and try to cruise every year. We have actually been on the Pride 3 times - it is so convenient. But since this was such a special cruise for our Anniversary we decided to deal with the hassles of flying and do the Valor again, this time out of San Juan. I love researching everything in advance and planning our port excursions on our own. I think I am most excited about St Lucia. We are doing the Mystic Man Catamaran eco tour to the Pitons. I loved your pictures from there and just can't wait to see it all. I look forward to reading your review of your last cruise and thanks for your well wishes for our trip!! Tina

 

Fredericksburg, you're not too far. I wish we lived further out. Even if an are looks like there should be no more development, surprise, surprise. In a year or so, our whole neighborhood is going to basically be boxed in with a lot more mixed residential development. Traffic is bad enough already. I just wish they'd leave some green space and give existing homes a chance to sell.

 

This will be a great cruise for your anniversary and well worth the hassles of flying. Do you fly out of Dulles? We love the convenience of it and have found it easy to navigate and even the security lines, which have appeared very long, are kept moving and we're through within a few minutes. Are you going to fly down to San Juan the day of the cruise or will you go early/stay later for a few additional days there? I could spend a week there. :) Our Valor cruise will go down as one of our all time favorites. I loved all of our cruises, six total, and there is always something about each cruise that has made it "unique" (in a good way) but I think the scenery on this route really stands out. I was also looking forward to St. Lucia the most and we had such a fun day and wonderful experience. The Pitons are really a sight to see, especially in person, so much better than pictures. It was busy with all the ports, but I prefer a port heavy itinerary. The atmosphere on Valor was just so relaxed and our fellow passengers on that cruise were a more laid back crowd so it was also pretty relaxing and a lot of fun. I hope you have the same experience.

[pghsteelerfan]

I like it except in low light areas. The pics just are not very sharp. I could be the camera operator! My husband mostly uses the rebel t5i. It has too many buttons for me. I did order the Olympus 840 underwater a few minutes ago.

 

We do take a great deal of pics. On our 18 day interior Alaska/Alaskan cruise trip 4 years ago we took over 4000 pics. I know we will be taking a great many on this trip. I am so looking forward to getting up really early and taking the pics coming Into port.

 

 

 

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I did not see your other question, we are in the December 28th cruise, so we will celebrate the New Year on board. We will arrive in San Juan on December 26th.

 

I would like to schedule a cruise for 2015, but the daughter is getting married in June in Cancun, so we will be doing an all inclusive vacation next year.. There are so many ships I want to sail and so many ports to see! Maybe 2016 will be another cruise year.

 

I don't have the best luck in low light areas with any of my cameras either. The Canon Power Shot D20, which is my water proof and excellent for snorkeling, looks to do well in low light out of the water and the pictures look great on the display but appear grainy on our computer. I know there are cameras out there that do well in low light, but I'm not looking for another until my Kodak point and shoot stops working.

 

I took over 3000 on our Valor cruise. :D If we did an Alaskan cruise, I'd probably have over 4000 pictures too. Haven't been yet, but from pictures I've seen, it's gorgeous. We'd love to do one some day. My parents did a few years ago and loved the scenery, but my DM isn't into cruising. It was their first and only cruise. She likes to be on her own schedule and that isn't always possible on a cruise. On our Valor cruise, that was on of my favorite things...enjoying the balcony and getting pictures as we were approaching and passing islands. I'm not positive how it will be for you, but I've seen other Valor (and Victory before she was replaced with Valor) reviews from Oct. - Feb. and there have been some wonderful pictures where there were very, crystal clear views of the islands and of other islands that will be more visible. Once you leave St. Lucia, there are many more islands that that you'll pass or see from islands on Valor's itinerary, that are pretty close together.

 

The trip to Cancun sure sounds nice to me. :D We know several people who have been at the all-inclusives there and they've loved it and that's another place I'd love to see one of these days. We went to and AI in Negril, Jamaica, which is along Jamaica's Seven Mile Beach and loved it and we love cruising. I do know what you mean about many ships to sail and ports to see. That would make a great T-shirt, with the addition of "I'd rather be cruising".

[Arizonagirl14]

True... About the logo! We still both work.. I get a great deal of PTO but I have children that live in Balitmore (DD) and San Francisco (DS). So some of the time off each year goes to seeing them, plus my family in Georgia; I have a sister that we lost 4 times and she was brought back to us 4 times about 18 ,months ago, so I try to see her as often as possible. The good thing is she is doing well now and she and her DH will join us in Cancun for the wedding.

 

 

I want to do the western Caribbean, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Alaska (again)! Always a list of places to see....

 

 

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[pghsteelerfan]

True... About the logo! We still both work.. I get a great deal of PTO but I have children that live in Balitmore (DD) and San Francisco (DS). So some of the time off each year goes to seeing them, plus my family in Georgia; I have a sister that we lost 4 times and she was brought back to us 4 times about 18 ,months ago, so I try to see her as often as possible. The good thing is she is doing well now and she and her DH will join us in Cancun for the wedding.

 

 

I want to do the western Caribbean, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Alaska (again)! Always a list of places to see....

 

 

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DH still works and his schedule can sometimes be tough to work vacations around. I'm a homemaker, but not the couch sitting, bon bon eating, soap watching kind. :D This was a decision about quality of lifestyle for us since we live in one of the worst traffic congestion areas in the country. I worked 30 miles from our home and it was an hour each way when I first started there. When that one hour each way became two hours each way and neither of us had "quality of life" since weekends were spent doing housework, errands, grocery shopping and everything else that goes with owning a home, we both agreed that I'd stay home. I do things DH would normally do so on the weekends we have time for family, friends, ourselves. The lawn is his "baby", so I don't touch that because he doesn't think I'm capable of doing it as well as him. Little does he know. ;)

 

I am so sorry about your sister, but so relieved and happy for you that she was able to be brought back and pull through and that you have more time with her. That must have been an awful time. I hope you have a wonderful and enjoyable time with her and all your family making many happy memories at your daughter's wedding that you will cherish forever. I'm sure it will be very beautiful. I lost a DB a few years ago, suddenly, and will always wish for just one more day. Life does go on and we don't dwell on it, have had great support from family/friends and are so thankful for the many happy times together but he is missed and always will be. We can finally laugh about some of our antics as kids/teenagers...we weren't bad kids but were certainly ornery.

 

There are also so many more cruises we'd love to do, in addition to some AI's and also planning more trips to North Carolina's Outer Banks with our friends. NC is fairly close and very convenient for us to get to and we always have a wonderful time. The only problem is finding the time but I think that is very common with most people these days. At least we have the opportunities to do so. :)

Edited September 21, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[Arizonagirl14]

So sorry to hear about your brother; it's never easy no matter the age or cause.

We are fortunate to still have her with us; life is so precious.

We are also looking at a vacation inThe outer banks! My sisters's son and DIL are stationed at Virginia beach and my DD and future SIL are in Baltimore, so we are thinking about renting a home next fall.

 

 

 

 

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[pghsteelerfan]

So sorry to hear about your brother; it's never easy no matter the age or cause.

We are fortunate to still have her with us; life is so precious.

We are also looking at a vacation inThe outer banks! My sisters's son and DIL are stationed at Virginia beach and my DD and future SIL are in Baltimore, so we are thinking about renting a home next fall.

 

 

 

 

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Thank you. Never is easy, but we all will experience loss and as they say, it IS a part of life. We LOVE the Outer Banks and have been going to the Nags Head area (Kill Devil Hills, actually) with my family all through the 80's and with friends several times after that. We're trying to plan another trip, but everyone has just been too busy with other commitments. Fall is a good time to go, weather and water are still warm, but less crowded. I'm pretty sure I posted the pictures in this review (maybe not), but we actually flew right over Nags Head on our return flight from San Juan. Where we are located in Virginia is right between Baltimore and VA Beach. :)

[Hogladyrider]

What a lovely review and your photos are amazing.

 

I am now looking at this route for 2015 on Liberty.

 

We sail on Liberty Oct 11th doing Eastern. We live about 60 minutes from Port Canaveral and it will be our first cruise on Liberty. We have cruise on Carnival many times.

 

We have splurged this time around on an aft wrap balcony since we spend a good bit of time on our balcony.

 

I enjoyed your writing style and the interests you and DH have on a cruise are very similar to ours.

 

We don't get off the ship in Nassau, in St. Thomas we have discovered a lovely small quiet beach at Secret Harbor where we go if we do not go over to St. John. In St. Maarten we have a private excursion on the water booked for the day and we LOVE sea days.

 

If we like the Liberty we will more than likely do Southern on her next year out of San Juan and fly in a day early as you did.

 

San Juan is only a two hour flight from Orlando and pretty reasonable on Southwest.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write this review you have a gift hope to read future reviews after you cruise.

[pghsteelerfan]

What a lovely review and your photos are amazing.

 

I am now looking at this route for 2015 on Liberty.

 

We sail on Liberty Oct 11th doing Eastern. We live about 60 minutes from Port Canaveral and it will be our first cruise on Liberty. We have cruise on Carnival many times.

 

We have splurged this time around on an aft wrap balcony since we spend a good bit of time on our balcony.

 

I enjoyed your writing style and the interests you and DH have on a cruise are very similar to ours.

 

We don't get off the ship in Nassau, in St. Thomas we have discovered a lovely small quiet beach at Secret Harbor where we go if we do not go over to St. John. In St. Maarten we have a private excursion on the water booked for the day and we LOVE sea days.

 

If we like the Liberty we will more than likely do Southern on her next year out of San Juan and fly in a day early as you did.

 

San Juan is only a two hour flight from Orlando and pretty reasonable on Southwest.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write this review you have a gift hope to read future reviews after you cruise.

 

Thank you and so glad you enjoyed it. If you do end up doing the southern itinerary out of San Juan, then I hope it can help you in some way. I do love taking pictures and took over (cleaning throat and whispering) 3000 pictures on this cruise. Going through and editing down to put in albums and for this review took quite some time. It's funny, when looking back through the pictures I realized they did not do the beautiful scenery on this itinerary justice.

 

Your Liberty cruise is coming up very shorty...single digits!!! I'd be so excited. We also did an eastern on Glory four years ago and really liked it. Next time in St. Thomas I'm thinking I'd like to try Secret Harbor since we've been to Magen's Bay and Sapphire. We liked Sapphire much better than Magen's Bay. We've also been to St. John and would love to do that again, but on our own. We have yet to experience Paradise Point. As you can see from this review, that was our plan this time after Sapphire but it was closed when we were there. Next time in St. Thomas, I'd love to try Secret Harbor and will just hope that Paradise Point is open because that will be a must. AFTER we finally get to Paradise Point, a trip back to St. John will be a must.

 

I think you'll really like Liberty and so happy you got the aft wrap balcony. Some of our table mates for dinner on our Liberty cruise had one and took all of us on a grand tour of it....NICE!!! The said it was great on sea days, they could lay out in the sun in loungers on their balcony and not have to worry about trying to find an empty lounger on the Lido or Panorama Deck 10. I hope you do get the opportunity to go on the southern itinerary out of San Juan. This was probably one of our favorite cruises, along side our honeymoon - very similar itinerary out of San Juan. DH and I are a little different than most cruisers in that we LOVE port days and we try to go for port heavy itineraries. I would love to do this same cruise again sometime. There is just so much to see and do and it's impossible to do everything in one cruise.

 

Thank you again for your kind words and I'm so happy you enjoyed my review. Please let me know what you think of Liberty when you get back. :)

Edited October 2, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[Hogladyrider]

Our first cruise to St Thomas we went to Sapphire Beach, right after the hurricanes hit there and I have a framed photo I took on Sapphire Beach hanging in our home.

 

I too enjoy taking photos and adore the walls in our home with framed photos from our travels, we have Colorado, St John and several others.

 

We have done St. John on our own twice, first trip we spent the entire time at Trunk Bay 2nd time we took an island tour for $25 each there were a group of six of us we met on the cruise and we were dropped off after the island tour at Trunk Bay. Great day. The island tour was so worth the money and so informative.

 

I think you would enjoy Secret Harbor, the snorkeling is great and the Tiki Hut bar is amazing, the drinks and food are out of this world and reasonably priced. When we were there last September we spoke with several of the employees and small world they had all relocated from the mainland to St. Thomas and they informed us how expensive everything is in St. Thomas even the cost of electricity. I truly enjoy talking and meeting people when cruising. Secret Harbor is one stop before Sapphire Beach.

 

I too use Shutterfly to make books from the photos I take and calendars each year as well.

 

Cruise Critic is a great site not just for information but for meeting people as well.

 

Look forward to reading your next review whenever you cruise.

[pghsteelerfan]

Our first cruise to St Thomas we went to Sapphire Beach, right after the hurricanes hit there and I have a framed photo I took on Sapphire Beach hanging in our home.

 

I too enjoy taking photos and adore the walls in our home with framed photos from our travels, we have Colorado, St John and several others.

 

We have done St. John on our own twice, first trip we spent the entire time at Trunk Bay 2nd time we took an island tour for $25 each there were a group of six of us we met on the cruise and we were dropped off after the island tour at Trunk Bay. Great day. The island tour was so worth the money and so informative.

 

I think you would enjoy Secret Harbor, the snorkeling is great and the Tiki Hut bar is amazing, the drinks and food are out of this world and reasonably priced. When we were there last September we spoke with several of the employees and small world they had all relocated from the mainland to St. Thomas and they informed us how expensive everything is in St. Thomas even the cost of electricity. I truly enjoy talking and meeting people when cruising. Secret Harbor is one stop before Sapphire Beach.

 

I too use Shutterfly to make books from the photos I take and calendars each year as well.

 

Cruise Critic is a great site not just for information but for meeting people as well.

 

Look forward to reading your next review whenever you cruise.

 

I'd definitely like to try Secret Harbor next time in St. Thomas. On our way to Sapphire, the driver showed us the stop for Secret Harbor but most were going to Red Hook or Coki/Coral World. We were the only ones getting off at Sapphire. We definitely love to try different areas. When we went to St. John, it was the Trunk Bay snorkeling excursion through Carnival. With the time it took getting there and back, and the snorkeling, we only had a few minutes of beach time, which I spent getting pictures. I'd love to do that on our own sometime, getting off the ship first thing and definitely an island tour then Trunk Bay...unless we saw another beach we wanted to spend time at.

 

I didn't realize it was so expensive, but it definitely makes sense. Funny you mentioned the people living/working there are from the USA. At Sapphire Beach, the guy who ran the place we rented loungers from is from Texas.

 

I have several of my pictures that I printed off 8x10's and the one I have hanging now is of Charlotte Amalie from the ship - I really loved the colors that morning. I need to hang a few others but I've got pictures from Beaufort, SC, up now and am waiting until I need a change in scenery. LOL!!!

 

I love Shutterfly and wish I could figure out how to get the pictures from Shutterfly into CC. Someone explained how and when I tried, it worked but when I went to do my Liberty review, I couldn't get it to work so I used Photobucket. I love the Shutterfly photobooks and have made one for most of our cruises. I haven't tried the calendars yet...great idea, thank you!

 

Believe it or not, "met" several people through Cruise Critic from my reviews or their reviews and are still in touch. We haven't actually met yet, but I feel like I know them. The one couple did a Valor review last October that I also loved and got beautiful pictures. We've been in touch and they got screen shots from a webcam in Cozumel of Liberty, when we were on her, and shared them in my review. I saved them an put them in my photobook. That was so nice of them to do for me.

 

I'm looking forward to doing another review because I'm really looking forward to another cruise...whenever that may be. Hopefully sometime soon but none planned yet. I'd love to do the southern out of San Juan again, but DH wants to try something different. We'll see. :)

[Rochmom]

Love Secret Harbor - a friend of ours actually used to own one of the condos there, and he recommended it to us. It was so quiet and uncrowded - we had a great day there.

 

Another nice one (at least on our last visit) was Emerald Bay Beach. Similar to Secret Harbor - not crowded, good food/bar, pretty good shade and relatively calm water.

 

We'll be in St. Thomas again in a few weeks, but we're doing St. John this time - island tour, probably not much beach time. So looking forward to this!

[pghsteelerfan]

Love Secret Harbor - a friend of ours actually used to own one of the condos there, and he recommended it to us. It was so quiet and uncrowded - we had a great day there.

 

Another nice one (at least on our last visit) was Emerald Bay Beach. Similar to Secret Harbor - not crowded, good food/bar, pretty good shade and relatively calm water.

 

We'll be in St. Thomas again in a few weeks, but we're doing St. John this time - island tour, probably not much beach time. So looking forward to this!

 

I think you and Hogladyrider have me sold on Secret Harbor next time we get to St. Thomas. :D We are definitely hoping to do the Skyride to Paradise point and in order for that to work, we'd be spending the day in St. Thomas. We loved Sapphire Beach but we also like to try different areas and Secret Harbor sounds like it's right up our alley. I've also heard about Emerald Beach but don't know where it is, is it on the same side as Secret Harbor (eastern side) or closer to where the ships dock? Thank you so much for the input and I'm always open to different ideas of places to see.

[pghsteelerfan]

Our first cruise to St Thomas we went to Sapphire Beach, right after the hurricanes hit there and I have a framed photo I took on Sapphire Beach hanging in our home.

 

I too enjoy taking photos and adore the walls in our home with framed photos from our travels, we have Colorado, St John and several others.

 

We have done St. John on our own twice, first trip we spent the entire time at Trunk Bay 2nd time we took an island tour for $25 each there were a group of six of us we met on the cruise and we were dropped off after the island tour at Trunk Bay. Great day. The island tour was so worth the money and so informative.

 

I think you would enjoy Secret Harbor, the snorkeling is great and the Tiki Hut bar is amazing, the drinks and food are out of this world and reasonably priced. When we were there last September we spoke with several of the employees and small world they had all relocated from the mainland to St. Thomas and they informed us how expensive everything is in St. Thomas even the cost of electricity. I truly enjoy talking and meeting people when cruising. Secret Harbor is one stop before Sapphire Beach.

 

I too use Shutterfly to make books from the photos I take and calendars each year as well.

 

Cruise Critic is a great site not just for information but for meeting people as well.

 

Look forward to reading your next review whenever you cruise.

 

I noticed the link to your Shutterfly pictures but didn't have a chance to look at them since we had company from out of town this weekend. They left this morning and I finally had a chance to sit down and look through your pictures and just had to come back and let you know how much I enjoyed them. You have a lot of really beautiful pictures. Thank you so much for sharing the link. You don't have much longer for your turn on Liberty and I hope you have a wonderful time on her with beautiful weather. :)

[Hogladyrider]

Thanks for taking the time to look at my photos on Shutterfly.

 

When my mom and I did a land trip in Alaska this summer I took over 750 photos.

 

We got hooked on Alaska via a cruise on Carnival in 2009 and my mom, who is 86 and very active, wanted to go back and do a land trip. Our land trip was 2 years of planning and the BEST trip ever!

 

I am going to look up Emerald Beach as I love learning about new places to visit in ports.

 

I started packing today and will put the everyday clothing in the suitcases Friday night and we will head to the port Saturday morning around 9 am.

 

One trick we learned is NOT to arrive at the port at least Port Canaveral at noon time as the union workers are at lunch and will NOT let you unload until their lunch break is over. I wish I had that luxury in my own job.

 

Last night we had our pet sitter who is also our friend over for dinner and a visit so we know our fur kid will be well looked after while we are away.

[pghsteelerfan]

Thanks for taking the time to look at my photos on Shutterfly.

 

When my mom and I did a land trip in Alaska this summer I took over 750 photos.

 

We got hooked on Alaska via a cruise on Carnival in 2009 and my mom, who is 86 and very active, wanted to go back and do a land trip. Our land trip was 2 years of planning and the BEST trip ever!

 

I am going to look up Emerald Beach as I love learning about new places to visit in ports.

 

I started packing today and will put the everyday clothing in the suitcases Friday night and we will head to the port Saturday morning around 9 am.

 

One trick we learned is NOT to arrive at the port at least Port Canaveral at noon time as the union workers are at lunch and will NOT let you unload until their lunch break is over. I wish I had that luxury in my own job.

 

Last night we had our pet sitter who is also our friend over for dinner and a visit so we know our fur kid will be well looked after while we are away.

 

I tried looking up Emerald Beach on Google maps and the only thing I can find is an Emerald Beach Resort in Charlotte Amalie but it's not really near a "beach", although it is near the water. I'm wondering if there is another name it's known by. I've definitely heard of it though, seeing it mentioned here in CC. I really should go to the Port of Call section under St. Thomas. I loved your pictures of Secret Harbor and it looks like there are some really nice views and snorkeling and I could easily spend a good portion of the day there.

 

Your Alaska pictures are absolutely gorgeous! It's so nice that you and your mom got back for a land trip and had a great time and the memories with it. I'm at the stage where I'm seeking warmer (hot) weather but we'd love to do an Alaskan cruise one of these days and that one would be for the scenery. I'd be sure to take plenty of memory cards for my cameras. :D

 

Thank you for the "heads up" about Port Canaveral at noon. Must be nice, huh? When I worked in a queue line as part of my last job for a major hotel chain in the payroll tax department, we had to arrange our lunch schedules so that a good portion of our department were in the queue line.

 

We had our neighbors across the street watch our four "fur kids" (cats, aka "the boys") while we were on our cruises. We know them, we trust them, and most of all they are very good with our "boys" and we can tell by the way our "boys" react to our neighbors, they really seem to like them. Definitely peace of mind for us. :) I just wish we could be going on another cruise soon. None planned yet, but there will be more. :)