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ConshyCruiser's Amazing Carnival Valor Souther Itinerary adventure!

conshycruiser

By conshycruiser,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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conshycruiser

conshycruiser

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In planning my vacation, I read so many peoples reviews of their trips on the Valor and/or their experiences with the Southern Caribbean itinerary. I felt responsible to do one of my own, so here goes!

 

My boyfriend (29) and I (26) first cruised in August 2013 on a whim - we saw really cheap prices out of Baltimore, and we live in Philadelphia so we didn't have to book a flight, so we figured why not! After that trip, we were hooked! I had cruised with my parents on Princess, but not since 2002, so this was like a whole new experience.

 

We loved the Southern Caribbean itinerary, and I am a teacher so when I realized last Spring that we would have an extra long Christmas break (13 days) since New Years Eve fell on a Wednesday, we figured this would be the perfect time. Eric works for his family business so he was able to take off as well. The prices were a little steep compared to our first cruise, so we booked an inside cabin at about 800 a person. The flights were what really hurt, thankfully we had enough points to cover is one way down, on the way home we flew nonstop from San Juan to Philadelphia for about 400/each. We had major issues on both flights, more about that later!

 

Like I said before, I did my research before the trip and I was ready to go! Inspired by another CC review, I created a binder that had a page for the flight info down, hotel info, plans for each day, and our flight home. I ended up tearing the pages out as we went and putting them in our book bag, so we could tell the taxi drivers exactly what we wanted to do.

 

So, our cruise was Sunday December 28th to Sunday January 4th. Part of the reason we loved this itinerary was because it left from San Juan, and we both wanted to go there. I was always mesmerized by the pictures of the forts and old buildings in Old San Juan, so we decided to fly down on the 26 and spend two days there before cruising.

 

We had a great Christmas with our families, but we were really itching to go on vacation! With price drops and a great travel agent, we ended up having a ocean view room and 200 in OBC. Our room was 1301. I was hesitant about being on the first floor, but it was wonderful. It was actually very convenient because we had to just walk one floor down and could walk off the boat, since none of the ports required tendering.

 

Cheers program: We went back and forth with buying the package. My boyfriend Eric drinks more than me, but neither of us are big drinkers. Our last cruise had 3 sea days, and we ended up just breaking even. We ultimately decided that we would be on islands 6 out of 7 days and would rather spend our money on the islands. We met a fabulous couple that did buy it, and they treated us to drinks throughout the trip, which was awesome. We spent about 660 on the boat, including tips, drinks, a night at the steak house, some Bingo, a few souvenirs, and some time in the casino. I probably had 2 drinks a night, and Eric had 3 or 4 on that tab. So it was a good call for us to not get it! It really depends on you and how much you will be drinking on the ship.

 

Now to begin the review! My plan is to post one post a day, that details one day of vacation. I hope you enjoy, and feel free to ask questions. I am a little corny, and I made Eric and our friends share the "peak" and "valley" of their day every evening, and I will share them here as well :)

 

Day 1: Travel to San Juan

 

We were traveling to San Juan from Philadelphia, with a layover in Atlanta. Our flight left Philly at 7:30 and we would be in San Juan by 3:15. We booked at the Hyatt House in San Juan, which was about a 10 minute ride from Old San Juan. It just opened in October 2014, and we got a good deal for it being a brand new hotel!

 

We were at the airport and through security by 5:00, grabber breakfast, and we're hanging by the gate around 6:00. We were supposed to board at 6:55, and at 6:30 we were hearing people talking about a possible delay. I started freaking out, since we had to catch a connecting flight! I went up to the gate and it said nothing about a delay, so I sat down. Then I saw the line at the Southwest counter getting longer and longer, so I went to get in line. When I got in line, they made an announcement that our flight was delayed three hours, all connecting flights were going to be missed, and to get in two lines ( two different counters) to re book. I quick ran to one line and was third in line. The two people in front of me took OVER AN HOUR and by the time it was time for me to get help, there was no luck. The person at the counter asked if I could get to Baltimore, but I would have to rent my own car and if I missed my flight it was on me. Obviously, I said no. He then said he couldn't get me to San Juan until Sunday, which I said was unacceptable since I did not want to risk bad weather, ect. He then said he could get me to Atlanta, and then I could fly out to San Juan early Saturday. I was disappointed, but what choice did we have? We did each get a LUV voucher from Southwest, but it didn't help how bummed I was that I wouldn't be exploring San Juan as planned. Plus, my hotel was non-refundable, so I would have to pay for my San Juan hotel and one in Atlanta.

 

The person at the counter helping me really wasn't much help, and I figured I would go to the other desk and see if they would at least put us up in Atlanta. Within 5 minutes, the new guy said he could do one better. He could get us to San Juan, but it would require us an extra layover in Orlanda, and we wouldn't get in until around 11. Although we still lost he day, we were so excited to be able to at least wake up in San Juan! We called our hotel to let them know we would be late, and they said there was no problem.

 

So our journey began. Since we had decided to stay in Atlanta, they had already re tagged our bags to stay in Atlanta. I was worried about losing them, and we had a 6 hour layover in Atlanta. We decided to claim our bags in Atlanta and check in again.

 

Fast-forward to about 12:00 San Juan time, and we landed, claimed our bags, and were in a taxi on our way to our hotel! We were exhausted but so happy to be in San Juan. The hotel clerks were so friendly, our room was clean and comfy and just perfect, and we fell right asleep in preparation for our big day of touring!

 

Sorry I don't have any pictures from today - not much to take pictures of! I promise I will be adding plenty of pictures throughout the posts!!

 

Tomorrow: Our jam packed day in San Juan!

Edited by conshycruiser
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Jennifer925

Jennifer925

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Excited for your review!!! I hate southwest! They are the worst airline! We watched our flight to Orlando take off without us (we were early!!) they apparently had issues w their computer and couldn't assign us seats!

 

 

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deladane Great Review Rare

deladane

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Yay! So excited to read the rest of your review! Thanks for taking the time to write it up :) I am booked in room 1301 in March... do you have any photos of the cabin? If so, I can wait until you get to that part of your review if you don't want to post them early and out of order haha Do you have any comments or complaints about that cabin? Could you hear any noise from the deck below you? I assume it is some kind of crew space, but I really hope it's not a loud area where they make noise at weird times. Hopefully you can ease my concerns :)

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pghsteelerfan

pghsteelerfan

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I always enjoy reading Valor reviews (and Victory before Valor) from San Juan on the southern itinerary and am so happy that you have one in progress. We were on Valor out of San Juan in May 2013 and I was also inspired that the southern itinerary out of San Juan would be our next cruise when I read a Victory review (same itinerary out of San Juan) from January 2010 almost a year after it had been posted. The pictures are spectacular and wanted to "see it for myself", so we eventually got to book Valor and so glad we did. It was one of our best cruises ever.

 

I can't believe the fiasco with the flight down (I'd have been upset too), but so glad you got into San Juan. Thank you for taking the time to do a review and I'm looking forward to the rest.

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stobe1

stobe1

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Excited for your review!!! I hate southwest! They are the worst airline! We watched our flight to Orlando take off without us (we were early!!) they apparently had issues w their computer and couldn't assign us seats!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

They couldn't assign you seats because Southwest doesn't assign seats. It's open seating.

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conshycruiser

conshycruiser

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I am so glad everyone is enjoying my post! I will be adding pictures for this post later today. Enjoy!

 

Day 2: Old San Juan

 

Eric and I are definitely early risers- we were up by 6:30 most mornings on the cruise! So imagine our surprise when on our first day in San Juan we looked at the clock and it was 9:45! Our hotel had free breakfast, so I scrambled down and grabbed us a bagel, coffee, and some juice to hold us over before we tried all the wonderful food in Puerto Rico. We showered, got ready, and we were downstairs asking for a taxi around 12:00. We took the free map from the hotel, and asked our taxi driver what we should do. She suggested Café Puerto Rico for lunch, and to do the forts, which we had planned. She also gave us the most helpful tip in Puerto Rico- there is a FREE shuttle that takes you around the entire city of Old San Juan! More about this later.

 

She dropped us off at Plaza Colon, and we were instantly taken in by the beautiful sights- Old San Juan was exactly as I had pictured. This is where Café Puerto Rico is, so we checked out the menu. It looked good, so we decided to do some sightseeing and then head back for lunch. We walked around a few streets, and then up to the forts. We pass La Perla, but didn’t go down. It looked desolate, we weren’t concerned at all about walking by. We got to the Castillo de San Cristobal fort, and it was $5.00 each to enter, and that would also allow us to enter El Moro. We walked around exploring for a good half hour. We are both history buffs, and we loved it, but it was HOT. Thankfully I had filled up our water bottles at the hotel. We then waited for the trolley. If you look around the city of Old San Juan, there are large numbers on purple/red street signs, and it seems like the trolleys come around every 10 or 20 minutes. The trolley stops are also noted on the free maps of Puerto Rico that you can find in pretty much every store/restaurant. We jumped on the trolley with plans of going to El Moro, but I am embarrassed to say that it was so hot, we decided to stay on the trolley, skip El Moro, and see the city that way. It was a nice way to check out all the plazas and see what we were going to do next.

 

We took the trolley next to Plaza Colon, and went to Café Puerto Rico for lunch. We ordered the shrimp in garlic sauce with rice and beans and fried plantains, and then an Yuca Mofongo with a salad. We shared everything, and it was delicious. Those two entrees plus a mojito for me and two beers for Eric was about $50.00, so pretty reasonable. I would definitely suggest going there!!

After lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel and hang in the pool. We read, relaxed, and then around 6:00 we showered and headed back to Old San Juan for dinner. We were feeling touristy and decided on dinner and drinks at Senor Frogs. I know I know, so not authentic! But we had a good time. We then walked around the city, visited different plazas, had some frozen yogurt, and then around 11:00 we decided to head back. Old San Juan has a vibrant night life, and the bar scene looked fun! Lots of people were dining outside.

We headed back to the hotel in anticipation of the cruise beginning!!

Tomorrow: Carnival Valor arrives!

Edited by conshycruiser
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dapaddo

dapaddo

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Thanks for writing this review. We are on her in May and I love reading about the ship before I go....

 

I do have one question did you have the small blow dyer in the drawer for you hair, I know it is not great but better then nothing.

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conshycruiser

conshycruiser

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Thanks for writing this review. We are on her in May and I love reading about the ship before I go....

 

I do have one question did you have the small blow dyer in the drawer for you hair, I know it is not great but better then nothing.

 

I am sorry but I honestly don't know, I brought my own full size dryer.

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conshycruiser

conshycruiser

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Yay! So excited to read the rest of your review! Thanks for taking the time to write it up :) I am booked in room 1301 in March... do you have any photos of the cabin? If so, I can wait until you get to that part of your review if you don't want to post them early and out of order haha Do you have any comments or complaints about that cabin? Could you hear any noise from the deck below you? I assume it is some kind of crew space, but I really hope it's not a loud area where they make noise at weird times. Hopefully you can ease my concerns :)

 

We loved 1301! Our steward was Otama. He was great. We didn't hear anyone above or below us. I was worried about hearing people getting off the boat every morning, but we didn't. I was also concerned about the bottom of the boat rocking more than the top, but it didn't at all. It was a great room and you will enjoy it! Have a blast, what I would give to go back for a week!!

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pghsteelerfan

pghsteelerfan

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Thanks for writing this review. We are on her in May and I love reading about the ship before I go....

 

I do have one question did you have the small blow dyer in the drawer for you hair, I know it is not great but better then nothing.

 

Yes, there are small blow dryers in each cabin and I think all the Carnival ships have them. It should be inside one of the drawers in front of the mirror in the cabin. You're right, it's not great but it works for my needs.

 

Conshycruiser, hope you don't mind me answering. :o

Edited by pghsteelerfan
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