My Carnival Valor Southern Caribbean review!! With 2 days in Old San Juan !

[PS1818]

I don’t remember everything we did this day, but I know it involved a lot of laziness, a lot of ice cream cones, and some naps. One nap in particular lasted about 3 hours. After that nap we decided we’d better start getting ready for our first elegant night.

 

I am a super organized person, I’m left handed, and I make lists. But even with all those things in my favor, I still sometimes make mistakes. Very rarely, but it does happen. One of those mistakes was discovered when P put on his suit and discovered I didn’t pack him a solid colored button down shirt. He just had the jacket, vest, and tie. Oops. So we improvised and had him wear a short sleeved back polo golf shirt. It was unnoticeable as long as he left the jacket on. Of course he couldn’t do that. You’ll see.

 

We made our way down to the Proportrait backdrops. They had some good ones and the lines only had a couple people in them. The photographers were hilarious with their poses. It was actually pretty fun.

 

After that we had a drink and then made our way to dinner. I ordered the Prime Rib which was ok, not great. I forgot to take a pic. P had the shrimp and lobster. I tasted the lobster and it was SO salty. I forgot to take a pic of that too.

 

Officer meet and greet in the casino bar

 

Sea Day Selfie!!

 

 

All spiffed up

 

And without the jacket….

 

After dinner I think we probably went to donate at the casino and then to bed.

 

Coming up...Barbados and our cruise with Calabaza!!

[bda73]

Love "nap time" code word perhaps hehehe..just kidding...great review so far, we are doing same cruise but on liberty in july...cant wait to hear more

[PS1818]

Correction....the picture I posted that says "aft pool" is not actually the aft pool. I cant find a pic of it but it really wasn't too crowded.

[Texasgalsa]

Which night did they have lobster in the MDR?? LOVE your review so far! 42 days and counting for my turn! 😊

[PS1818]

I *really* hope that my question doesn't spur an unnecessary sidetrack to your wonderful thread.

 

:)

 

How did the "do not reserve deck chairs" policy actually play out on your cruise (especially on the Sea Day)? Were there may chairs with just towels on them? Were there often available chairs whereever you went? Did you ever actually see any personal property or towels removed by pool attendants and taken to the towel hut?

 

(Notice that I've attempted to avoid any perjorative words, in hopes that this question doesn't spur some debate in the midst of your excellent review!)

 

:)

 

Haha no worries! No place was actually that crowded. I did see chairs with towels but there were always chairs available any time we were at the pool. I never saw any thing removed by attendants. There was only one group of people saving chairs for a long time that no one was using. But we were able to find a spot so it wasn't an issue. And we never had to resort to the upper decks...every time we wanted a chair we were able to find some really close to the pool. Hope that helps:)

[PS1818]

Which night did they have lobster in the MDR?? LOVE your review so far! 42 days and counting for my turn! 😊

 

They had it on the first elegant night. Tuesday night, sea day. I don't recall if they had it on the second elegant night.

[PS1818]

Love "nap time" code word perhaps hehehe..just kidding...great review so far, we are doing same cruise but on liberty in july...cant wait to hear more

 

Haha! You are gonna have fun!

[kmarie10531]

So since you are left handed does that make you always right ?? Haha

 

somone once told me " You will get sick of cruising " I smiled and said

" Only when I'm dead "

[PS1818]

So since you are left handed does that make you always right ?? Haha

 

somone once told me " You will get sick of cruising " I smiled and said

" Only when I'm dead "

 

 

Haha yes! And in my right mind :) .

[AimeeAndJoel]

Which sailing will you be on? We're going in June on the liberty as well! :-)

 

Same as you - 7th of June. I recognise your username from our roll call haha

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mjonis]

Haha thank you but I used the same one that you have.... Olympus Stylus Tough 850. I don't think it was me, it was just that clear and pretty. I was really happy with that camera though. It was my first time using it.

 

Sweet, I was hoping you'd say that! Awesome review, again, and thanks so much! Keep the pics coming. I'm getting very excited. 58 days

 

--Kevin

[amp282]

Coming up...Barbados and our cruise with Calabaza!!

 

I can't wait to hear about your experience with Calabaza. Thank you for your wonderful review. We cruise on the Valor in March.

[Karen's Kruisin']

Like everyone else, great review and great reading about the cruise I will be on one week from NOW!!!!

Question please, where was the Coach store in OSJ and may I ask how much you paid for your purse? Love it!!!

[babsee101]

I simply can't wait for your review of Calabaza! We are booked with them in April. We reserved the last 2 spots over a year ago!

[utopiagal]

This has been one of the best reviews. Thank you. I can't wait to read more!

[Jenny in TX]

I am loving your review! This cruise out of San Juan is on our list to do in the next year or so. We are going to St. Thomas and San Juan on our cruise in April so I enjoyed reading about what you did in those ports, specifically San Juan.

 

Looking forward to reading the rest!

[Nate123]

enjoying the review. Sailing in 5 days!!!

[deladane]

Wow, this is such a great review!! Thanks again for writing it up :) Did you ever go to the piano bar? How was it? Was the singer any good? I'm hoping to check that out on my cruise in March.

 

Also, did you have any trouble finding seats at the comedy shows or at any of the shows in the main theater? On my last cruise on the Sunshine, we literally had to line up 30 minutes before they opened the doors (which was still another 30 minutes before showtime!) to get a seat at both the comedy shows and in the big main theater. Not sure if I will want to deal with that this time around haha

[dapaddo]

Lovin the pictures of the ship. We sail on her in May but different ports. Thanks for taking the time to write it!

 

I do have one question do they have the small ( it doesn't work so well) blow dryer in the drawer.? I only ask because on the Triumph we had some thing in the bathroom which did make it great to share. It looked like a vacume hose.

[PS1818]

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday. Yesterday was my first day back to work and school after vacation so I was a bit pressed for time. I will post tonight about our day in Barbados! Thanks for following along!

[Abi Angela]

I'm enjoying reading your review. Love all the pictures, especially the selfies. I wish someone would teach me how to do one without getting a double chin;) We are housebound with a blizzard raging outside, the review is helping to keep me warm as I dream of my February Valor cruise.

[PS1818]

Like everyone else' date=' great review and great reading about the cruise I will be on one week from NOW!!!!

Question please, where was the Coach store in OSJ and may I ask how much you paid for your purse? Love it!!![/quote']

 

Thank you! Ohhh I bet you are excited!!

The Coach store is located at 158 Calle Cristo. If I remember correctly, If you are facing the Cathedral you would turn to your right and walk down that same street. There were lots of other shops around it. It was originally priced $328 but I believe I only paid $90 after all the discounts.

[PS1818]

I'm enjoying reading your review. Love all the pictures, especially the selfies. I wish someone would teach me how to do one without getting a double chin;) We are housebound with a blizzard raging outside, the review is helping to keep me warm as I dream of my February Valor cruise.

 

Glad it could help, stay safe! Haha yeah my selfies need some work as well! But my camera has a flip up selfie screen so it makes it much easier!

[PS1818]

Lovin the pictures of the ship. We sail on her in May but different ports. Thanks for taking the time to write it!

 

I do have one question do they have the small ( it doesn't work so well) blow dryer in the drawer.? I only ask because on the Triumph we had some thing in the bathroom which did make it great to share. It looked like a vacume hose.

 

You are welcome! Hah yes, the blow dryer is in the drawer in the vanity area, not in the bathroom.

[PS1818]

Wow, this is such a great review!! Thanks again for writing it up :) Did you ever go to the piano bar? How was it? Was the singer any good? I'm hoping to check that out on my cruise in March.

 

Also, did you have any trouble finding seats at the comedy shows or at any of the shows in the main theater? On my last cruise on the Sunshine, we literally had to line up 30 minutes before they opened the doors (which was still another 30 minutes before showtime!) to get a seat at both the comedy shows and in the big main theater. Not sure if I will want to deal with that this time around haha

 

Thanks! We only went in the piano bar to look inside and it was a nice venue but no one was in there so we left. We had no trouble finding seats at the comedy shows, but we never made it to the main theater shows unfortunately. I never noticed or heard of any long lines to get into the theater shows. But there was definitely no wait for comedy shows. Sorry I'm not much help :(.