Allison & David's Carnival Valor (3/2/14) Anniversary Adventure

[pghsteelerfan]

I am really enjoying your review and your pictures are spectacular. We were on Valor last year, same itinerary, and our trip started a year ago this weekend. It was one of our best cruises ever and I still love to see Valor reviews. Yours has been the first where someone else has gone to Pinel Island. We did the same thing and had Isabelle as our guide (she's great) but we used a different tour company because we didn't want to rely on a taxi. We were in Pinel Island on our last visit to St. Maarten, which was on our honeymoon cruise in 1992. It was on a snorkel/beach break excursion we booked through Carnival which is no longer offered. At that time there was nothing at Pinel Island...no loungers, umbrellas, restaurants, restrooms. We had to set our towels in the sand but still enjoyed it and the beauty of it and we really wanted to get back there last year. We could have done something else, but my mind was set on Pinel Island. It's still as pretty as it was, just a few upgraded conveniences. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review and thank you for sharing.

Edited May 2, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[ucfalli]

I am really enjoying your review and your pictures are spectacular. We were on Valor last year, same itinerary, and our trip started a year ago this weekend. It was one of our best cruises ever and I still love to see Valor reviews. Yours has been the first where someone else has gone to Pinel Island. We did the same thing and had Isabelle as our guide (she's great) but we used a different tour company because we didn't want to rely on a taxi. We were in Pinel Island on our last visit to St. Maarten, which was on our honeymoon cruise in 1992. It was on a snorkel/beach break excursion we booked through Carnival which is no longer offered. At that time there was nothing at Pinel Island...no loungers, umbrellas, restaurants, restrooms. We had to set our towels in the sand but still enjoyed it and the beauty of it and we really wanted to get back there last year. We could have done something else, but my mind was set on Pinel Island. It's still as pretty as it was, just a few upgraded conveniences. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review and thank you for sharing.

 

Thanks!

 

I am pretty sure your review is the one that gave me the idea of Pinel Island! I am really glad we went and can't understand why when I was reading under the St. Maarten thread, so many people didn't recommend it.

 

Luckily the day we went was also more quiet then it normally is.

[ucfalli]

Day 8: St Maarten Continued

3/08/14

 

We made our way back to the snorkel shack. When we were there earlier in the morning it was empty. Now it was bustling with Isabelle setting people up. We got our mask, snorkel, and fins and went snorkeling for the next hour or so.

 

Right under the snorkel shack you see sea life right away. There are fish and sea urchins. Isabelle said there were also lobsters, but we didn't see any. We then swam out to the first main coral area. There were lots of fish. This is the best snorkeling I have done in the Caribbean/ Florida keys.

 

We saw a lot. Even a sting ray swam by. The current however got stronger the further we snorkeled around. You constantly have to be adjusting yourself and making sure you don't swim beyond the marked ropes. You snorkel between the two roped areas. One is to keep boats out and the other is to protect you from the rocks by the coast.

 

We snorkeled about half the route. It became more and more choppy. I don't know how much it varies day to day. We are strong swimmers, but started to get tired after about an hour.

 

 

 

 

 

[ucfalli]

Day 8: St Maarten Continued

3/08/14

 

 

 

 

 

We then headed back to the Yellow Beach. We had two beach chairs and an umbrella right up front reserved for us. It was very quiet that day on Pinel, especially for a weekend. Isabelle told us it was because the Regatta was going on. We were one of the few people that day it seemed to not be french speaking.

 

[ucfalli]

Day 8: St Maarten Continued

3/08/14

 

 

The food is VERY expensive. Prices in euros. They will accept US dollars. We brought snacks with us, but ended up getting two Magnum ice cream bars that were $6 each! The food smelled and looked really good. They have nice areas to eat or you can eat at your beach chairs. They come up and take your order.

 

 

 

 

 

[ucfalli]

Day 8: St Maarten Continued

3/08/14

 

Where the ferry docks:

 

 

 

Around the corner and the other side is the other restaurant/lounger area. The water seemed even more calm on this side.

 

[ucfalli]

Day 8: St Maarten Continued

3/08/14

 

 

We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon on the loungers. It was very peacefull and thankfully the sun was blocked by clouds most of the time, so it wasn't too hot. There were no mosquito's or bugs at all.

 

It really was paradise and we can't wait to return to Pinel Island again in the future. I highly recommend spending your day on Pinel! That's a lot coming from me since I am jaded living in Florida my whole life.

 

Isabelle came by and said goodbye to us before we left on the ferry. The driver who dropped us off in the morning was waiting for us and took us back the ship.

 

We did some last minute shopping before heading back onto the ship.

 

 

 

[ucfalli]

Day 8: St Maarten Continued

3/08/14

 

Back on board, we dropped our stuff off at the room and grabbed a late lunch/snack. Surprisingly the line for Pirate Pizza wasn't long. They also had the chocolate buffet still going on. The banana fritter was surprisingly good (don't like most of their deserts).

 

 

Then it was time to start packing. We got most of our stuff packed pretty quick. We headed to go through our portraits and make our final purchases. We rested before dinner on the lido deck, where they were starting Despicable Me 2 on the Seaside theater.

 

 

 

There was a halo around the moon tonight.

[ucfalli]

Day 8: St Maarten Continued

3/08/14

 

We headed over for our last dinner and said goodbye to our waiters. We at first were going to see the comedians but we just called it a night.

 

[ucfalli]

Day 9: Heading Home

3/09/14

 

We slept in till 7am! Headed down for our last breakfast in the main dinning room. After breakfast we finished packing and headed up to the lido deck to relax. After digesting a little we, got one last ice cream :D. We headed off the ship at around 10am and got through customs very quick.

 

 

We at first were going to meet up with David's family, but it didn't work out. Instead his cousin's boyfriend ended picking us up and taking us out for lunch before dropping us off at the airport.

 

The Agriculture check was very quick at the airport and we made it through security pretty quick. We ended up flying Southwest for the way home. Saved A LOT of money.

 

This was our first time flying Southwest so it was a whole new experience. I actually thought boarding took a lot longer with the way they did it.... with people finding seats.

 

We got back to Fort Lauderdale early. It was mayhem at the baggage carousel. They had like 6 flights coming in the same carousel.

 

We eventually got all our luggage and made it back to Park n Fly. We decided to drive straight home to Orlando. We got back in around midnight.

 

Back to work!

 

Thanks all for reading :cool:

 

[babsee101]

Excellent review!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to prepare and post it! :)

[FloridaLaura]

Thanks for posting your review and awesome pics! I sail on her this Sunday

(we are also from Florida) Tampa Bay area!!! Loved reading all of this!!

[oneboysmom]

Loved your review!! Thanks for sharing!! Glad you had a great time.

[SteelerCruiser]

Really enjoyed it!

[teetmo]

thanks for the review!

[ucfalli]

Excellent review!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to prepare and post it! :)

 

 

Thanks for reading!

[ucfalli]

Thanks for posting your review and awesome pics! I sail on her this Sunday

(we are also from Florida) Tampa Bay area!!! Loved reading all of this!!

 

 

Hope you have a wonderful time! :D

[ucfalli]

Loved your review!! Thanks for sharing!! Glad you had a great time.

 

 

It was a great cruise. Thanks for reading!

[ucfalli]

Really enjoyed it!

 

 

Thanks for reading! :)

[ucfalli]

thanks for the review!

 

 

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the "trip".

[cruisingbajan]

Really enjoyed your review.

 

Valor was my honeymoon ship so seeing the pics of the ship brought back some fond memories.:)

[Taters]

Enjoyed the review. Thanks so much for sharing!

[Biffer1997]

Thanks for the great review and helpful tips...will be sure to reference it as I plan for our cruise next April! :-)

[HarperSays]

Congrats on your anniversary! I remember reading your honeymoon review and loved it. This one was great! We did this cruise back in 09 and it was nice hearing what you did in each port. We loved this itinerary, specifically St. Lucia. We hope to do this same cruise again in the near future.

[portlandpete]

What a great review! You are a cute couple and I loved your dresses. I was wondering if the ship was run down? I thought it was going into drydock this year but it got changed.

 

Thanks!!