Valor July 2013 plus Vieques - Take 2

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Sorry for the duplicate post, but due to changes in my photo hosting site, all of my photos are missing from my original review. Have had some requests add them back in. So here goes...

 

Haven't been home even a week and am constantly longing to be back on vacation!

 

In between work, "the real world" responsibilities, and editing vacation photos, I decided it was time to work on my review of our fantastic trip!

 

First, a little background. Both me and DH are in our late 40's and have cruised several lines over the past few years, but primarily with Carnival. I have been on this same itinerary a couple years ago with two DS on Victory. DH and I also sailed RC AOS our of San Jaun (loved it).

 

Even though I requested my vacation time last August, I was having a very difficult time getting my boss to actually approve the dates. Therefore, instead of having the 4-6 months I usually dedicate to trip planning, I only had about six weeks! Yikes! :eek:

 

Last year we did an awesome land vaca, ...two weeks driving down the California coast on Hwy 1in a convertible. DH, who does zero planning says, "something like that would be good." Maybe if I had a few more MONTHS to plan! Anyway, the easiest thing was to book a cruise on an itinerary we both love and make as many plans as possible before we left. No brainer, Southern out of San Juan it is!

 

 

My first priority was to contact Gina with Calabaza Sailing in Barbados to see if by some miracle she had availability. I emailed her before I even booked the cruise. We had done this sail before and it was so awesome! Much to my surprise, she emailed right back and said she had one spot left (they only take 12 per trip), but would email everyone else and see if they would mind just one more.

 

While I waited the few days for her answer, I went ahead and booked the cruise and air :eek:. Geeze, I wish the price for flights to SJU were less! At least it was a nonstop from Houston to SJU.

 

When I went to book our cabin, I was shocked to find 9293 available. It is the first balcony cabin past the lido pool on the starboard side. I was a little concerned about the noise, but couldn't pass on the convenience of the location. We had stayed in similar location on another trip and loved it.

 

Well, it turned out to be pretty great! Literally steps from the lido pool and movies under the stars, and just a short walk to Rosie's, the grill, and the pool bar. I have to admit it was a little noisy during the deck parties, but we only had neighbors on one side and felt pretty secluded most of the time. Overall, it was pretty close to perfect. In the future I would probably pick a cabin a just a few doors back from ours.

 

About a week later, Gina emailed me the great news that we were good to go for Barbados!:D

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We both had a little over two weeks off work so we planned an extended stay in PR after the cruise. Since we have been San Juan before, we knew we wanted to get out of the city, but didn't really have any idea where to go. So, I spent every spare moment for the next few weeks researching. I was interested in a bioluminescence tour and read that the one in Vieques was the best in the world. Did a little research on the island and decided that would be were we would spend our 5 post cruise nights. Much more on that later.

 

On my two previous visits, I had used Priceline and was very happy with the results. So, about two weeks out, I went to PL, selected four stars and bid $92. I was awarded the Caribe Hilton. Had stayed there before, so was pretty pleased.

 

 

After hours of research, I finally had "something" planned for each port, made steakhouse reservations, and had all flight and hotel reservations made.

 

I used a couple different apps to store and organize all my travel plans. Trip It and Trip Case both work great. They both store all important information like confirmation numbers, addresses, and phone numbers. It was extremely helpful during a mix up on our excursion in St Lucia. For an electronic packing list, I used and app called Saving Grace.

 

Finally, the day had arrived! We were up early Saturday morning and headed the 100 miles to Houston for our 10:13 flight.

I had decided to use Park/Sleep/Fly to leave the truck and stay one night at the end of our trip because our flight would not arrive late (we just didn't know exactly how late at the time, Lol).

Decided on Baymont Suites and the price for the night and 14 days parking was only about $20 more than the cost of parking at an economy lot.

 

We arrived at the hotel, checked in our reservation, and waited about 10 min for the shuttle. United flight was on time and was pretty uneventful. Ds snapped this photo during our flight. I took it as a good sign :)

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Absolutely no wait for the taxi to the Caribe Hilton. Check in was fast and simple. However, the trip to our room was a little adventurous. The directions from the desk clerk sounded easy...not so much! It literally took us about 20 minutes, around corners, up the wrong elevators, back down and around different corners. I was getting a little frustrated when we finally found some one to ask. Cross that street, up that ramp, around that corner, then up to the fourth floor. Where the heck were they putting us!

 

A little out of breath, we finally found our room 7405.

 

 

Open the door and...

 

Wait, are you sure this is our room? For $92?

 

 

 

They had given us an upgrade to the Villas! Our view was gorgeous and the balcony was huge! Needless to say, I was a happy camper at this point!

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We both showered, relaxed and enjoyed the view while we contemplated our dinner plans.

 

We wanted something within walking distance, but off property, so we took the advice of the concierge and walked over to the Condado area to Casa Lola. It was a very pleasant 15-20 min walk.

 

We were seated at a table by the window and enjoyed a great dinner and the best sangria type drink I have ever had.

 

Can't remember the real names of our dishes, but I had a type of pineapple-coconut chicken and rice and DH had a huge pock "chop". It was really, really good.

 

The sun was setting on our way back and it made for a really pleasant walk.

 

This is a view of the Caribe Hilton, and our Villa room, from across the bay.

 

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We could see our room from the Condado bridge, so decided to head up a side street to see if we access the property from there. Guess what? There is an entire lobby just for the villas! Just a short distance from our room. I asked if we could check out and get a taxi there the next day..."yes, of course". Score!

We were not quiet ready to go to bed to we went to the main lobby bar, got a drink and headed out to the pool/beach area. I hung out in a hammock and enjoyed the sea breeze and sound of the surf.

 

I was so excited to actually be on vacation after all the planning that there was no way I could sleep in. I was up with the sun. Here is the view from our balcony.

 

 

DH was not quiet as enthusiastic about being awake, so I left him to go and explore the resort on my own.

 

The property has a beautiful garden area, complete with peacocks, swans, koi fish, and even a turkey!

 

 

 

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Looking closely into the shrubs, I saw several baby iguanas!

 

 

Then, strolling across the lawn, I found this guy.

 

 

Finally, DH is up and moving around.

 

They have fish feeding off a peer, which is just really left over breads from breakfast. Not sure how good that is for the fish, but that's what they use. It was pretty cool though.

 

Check out was at 11:00, so we gathered our stuff, headed to the new-found lobby, checked out and was in a cab on our way to the pier within 10 minutes!

 

Next up, Carnival Valor!

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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.

 

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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

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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.

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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.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruisedrew]

Awesome! We sail Valor on 4/20!

:-)

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We swam all the way out on the right side of the bay until we could see another beach around the rocks. Then was saw deer standing on the beach! What? I never even thought of deer at the beach!

On the way back I could tell DH was trying to show me something.

 

Where?

 

What?

 

Oh...sweet!

 

 

Back to the beach for a little rest and a look around. These flowers were blooming on the trees everywhere and were all over the ground, so I borrowed a few for a photo opp.

 

 

As the day went on, the other end became a little more crowded, but our little corner was nice and quiet!

I think it was around 1:00 that we decided to head back to the ferry landing.

 

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Walked around a little, then decided to head back.

Boarded the ferry and said "goodbye" to St John.

 

 

 

 

Back in the port area, DH was very patient while I looked around in a few stores.

 

I'm not really a shopper, but maybe a could "use" a new sundress...

 

 

 

$20? Yeah, that one works just fine!

 

 

A few free liquor samplings on the walk back. Not sure exactly what time it was that we made it back, but was plenty of time to grab a slice of pizza and hit the shower before time to watch for runners.

 

We were tired and hungry by the time sail away was over. We had anytime dining and decided it was time to give it a try.

 

I know that anytime dining poses challenges for the waitstaff, but it was really, really slow. They were running their tales off, but just had too many tables. The food was okay, but not really great. However, we did not go hungry.

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So, on our only sea day I did my best to sleep in. Around 10:00 we went down for my first ever brunch at sea. It was the perfect opportunity to use our past guest drink coupon. I had a Mimosa and DS a Bloody Mary.

 

 

 

Sorry for the glare on the menu.

 

 

 

 

That last one is Funnest French Toast :confused:

It's french toast coated in your choice of cereal, then fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with warm syrup!

 

Unfortunately, no room for dessert :(

 

Brunch will be added to my sea day favorites!

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DH decides it's a good time for a nap. ???

No way, I have not even explored the ship yet!

 

He naps, I explore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I really liked the decor of this ship compared to other Carnival ships.

We take the stairs as much as possible during the week to help reduce weight gain.

 

Below was my favorite stairwell art.

 

 

Then more random ship photos...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Missed this one on the brunch photos!

Another reason we couldn't eat dessert! We, and by we I mean DH, ate all of this!

Okay, I may have eaten the banana bread...

 

Went up to deck 10 and found the "secret door" to the area above the bridge.

 

 

That's were I ended up pretty much every morning as we pulled into port!

I was the only one there.

 

Went back to the room and DH was still sleeping.

 

No problem. I walked the short distance to the lido bar, ordered a Miami Vice, made a recliner from balcony chair and table, and enjoyed the lido music out on our balcony. (It was just loud enough)

 

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I had made steakhouse reservations at 7, so we made it a point not to eat after brunch. Good call. There was so much food and it was great! The service and the atmosphere were also excellent. I'm really more of a salad and app's kind of person, but DH loves meat. He had the New York strip and I had the lamb chops. I found a new Carnival favorite in the wilted spinach and portabella mushroom salad. The only thing that was not spot on was dessert. It was caramelized apples in a pastry, but we just didn't care for it. No worries though, because we were really stuffed!

Wouldn't you know though, that was the only time in the two weeks we were gone that neither of us had a camera on us! :(

 

Although I didn't want to miss anything, we were both tired and wanted to be up early for Barbados in the morning, so we sat out on the balcony for a while, then went to bed.

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As you may remember from earlier, Barbados was the port I planned out first!

Gina was so awesome to work with us to get us on Calabaza!

 

My insomnia was working overtime, so I was up early, parked in my peaceful spot on deck 10. What is that? A big dark cloud over the island? Was keeping my fingers crossed it would clear up for our tour. Well, things started looking up...

 

 

 

Most of the clouds cleared by the time the pilot boat was out to meet us. :D

 

Turns out that we were going with one other large family group from the ship and one other couple that was on a land vacation. (Thanks to all of them for squeezing us in)

 

After a short drive, we were on the boat meeting the crew. Gina greeted us then gave us the sad news that she would not be sailing with us for the day, but the boys would take care of us. Awe...

but take care of us they did! :D

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So we met our amazing crew, Andrew, Fabion, and Danny, received the safety chat, got a rum punch (yes it was 9:30 in the morning), and found a place on the front of the boat. It did start sprinkling of and on, then raining a little harder, but we were gonna get wet anyway, right? Besides, we were munching on homemade fish cakes and drinking rum punch on a fabulous catamaran off the coast of Barbados. How can you really complain about any of that!

 

 

 

 

Just as we pulled into our first spot, the rain stopped and the sun shined...for the rest of the day!

 

 

As we are entering the water we overhear Andrew say something about a stingray. Really, I may see turtles AND a stingray! I'm the first one in the water!

 

DH and I both have cameras ready!

 

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Yes! It was the stingray!

 

A huge, awesome stingray!

 

 

 

 

 

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Next stop, we go to a sunken ship wreck. Of course, we the guys are in the water with us, pointing out cool stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That last one was an accidental shot of a swim fin, but I thought it turned out cool!

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After a nice long snorkel, we were called back on board for the best meal of our entire trip! (Including the steak house)

 

Gina prepares all of the food fresh each day! So much to choose from...

 

 

This pic doesn't include everything, but you get the idea.

 

After an excellent meal, we swam to a nearby beach for a photo of the boat...

 

 

 

Time for the sail back to the ship...

 

On the ride back, the seas were a little rougher!

 

I sat on the seat at the very front of the boat and rode the waves. So much fun.

 

Sadly, we had to say good-bye to our new friends and head back to the ship...

 

We could not have had more fun, friendly, entertaining hosts...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sailed past the Valor on our way back in...

 

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Back on board, grabbed some pizza and relaxed on the balcony and watched for runners.

Lol, the only runner turned out to be the illusionist for the show that night!

 

 

Went out on deck for sail away.

 

 

 

Found a quiet spot and enjoyed the beautiful Barbados sunset.

 

DH crashed! I watched a movie under the stars, then went to the late show for the illusionist. The show was pretty neat.

 

Up next, St Lucia...