Carnival Valor Review! Southern Caribbean Dec 15th with PR and Island Itineraries :)

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

My first review on Cruise Critic! Pretty excited to share our trip with you. I used this site EXTENSIVELY to plan for two of our cruises - this one (Carnival Valor) and a cruise we took last year on MSC in the eastern mediterranean. Maybe not surprisingly, I’ve also used this site for land-based trip planning, too, since it’s a great resource consisting of people who love to travel and share tips and tricks. Hopefully this review will help someone else the same way others helped me in the past. :) I thought about calling out some of my favorite reviewers, but honestly, there are too many to mention. I'll use this first post as an intro on the trip and will post more details as I go.

 

So! My husband and I (both mid 30's) travelled from Washington DC (our home) to Puerto Rico (PR) on the Friday before departure. We spent the weekend in PR and then headed out on the cruise. We absolutely loved the cruise. A major highlight on the ship is that we had splurged for an aft balcony and ended up with this amazing secret balcony that not many people know about. On the Valor (and probably other Carnival Conquest-class ships), there are two aft balconies that are exactly the same price as the others but have NEAR DOUBLE the space. (Ours was cabin 8457.) We felt like royalty back there! I’ll be talking more about this in the review and sharing pictures.

 

This trip was also fun for us because we became “red” in the VIPF club. That definitely doesn’t compare to the tons and tons of cruisers already well on their way to the upper levels, but I have to admit we felt pretty cool with our red badges (made us feel less like Carnival-noobs). Our first Carnival Cruise was on the Dream a couple years ago - which frankly - may have been one of my favorite vacations ever.

 

You’ll notice that my posts will be more about what we did during the day than at night… even on vacation, we tend to be early risers, go out and explore, and then take it easy at night. I love being on the Carnival ships because it gives me the option to have fun at night, too, but after a long day in the sun, I tend to get a little tired after dinner!

 

Here’s a quick summary of our days, so you have an idea of what to expect:

 

• Puerto Rico (Fri): We flew in the Friday before our departure and stayed at the La Concha. Absolutely fantastic hotel and we really enjoyed the location. We spent that evening relaxing at the on-site beach and exploring downtown on a Fri evening.
   
  
• Puerto Rico (Sat): We joined a hike and tour of the El Yunque National Forest and ended the day by kayaking in the bioluminescent bay in Fajardo. The latter part includes kayaking through a tunnel of mangroves - super cool. This was an amazing experience.
   
  
• Puerto Rico (Sun): We taxied to and boarded the Valor early in the day and had a very seamless embarkation process. It was super easy. Once we walked through the ship and grabbed some lunch, we headed back out to old town PR. We toured the fort and ate all kinds of PR specialties (like mofongo!)
   
  
• St. Thomas (Mon): We took a public taxi to Secret Harbor and did some stand up paddleboading. This day didn’t go as smoothly as we had hoped - will talk more about that later.
   
  
• Day at Sea (Tues): The highlight here was joining the “Behind the Scenes” tour. It’s pretty interesting to see the inner workings of the ship.
   
  
• Barbados (Wed): We took a private tour via taxi with other cruisers. We ended the day at a beach with just about the clearest, most beautiful water I’ve ever seen.
   
  
• St. Lucia (Thur): One of the most amazing days ever. We took the Herod’s tour and saw the whole island by land and water. Jalousie Beach may be one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been.
   
  
• St Kitts (Fri): We rented a car and drove the circumference of the ENTIRE island. Saw lots of interesting sights. Our whole itinerary will be in the review.
   
  
• St. Maarten (Sat): Another island tour - but this time we ended up at Orient Bay Beach and kayaked to Pinel Island. When we got back, we shopped a bit and made a stop at the Guavaberry headquarters. This may have been my second favorite day (next to St. Lucia).
   
  
• San Juan (Sun): We had a VERY late flight and had the entire day to spend before departing. We rented a car and drove all the way to the east coast - stopping at the Arecibo Observatory and then continuing on to Rincon to see surf spots.
  

 

Overall, it was a great cruise and only made us want to go on more as soon as possible. :D

 

Here's a picture of the Valor at port in St. Lucia. And more pictures to follow!

 

[Cruisegirl6]

I reading I want more more lol never enough lol

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Back to the review! On our first day, Friday, we caught a (very early) direct flight from DC to San Juan. We arrived in PR a little after noon and were already peeling off our jackets as we waited in the line for the taxi stand. Getting a taxi was easy - there was a constant flow. The costs to hotels were pre-established, so we knew what we would be paying even as we sat down. If I remember correctly, it was around $20.

 

After some pre-trip debate, we decided to stay in the Condado area. (We also talked about staying directly in old town, but wanted time to hang out downtown, too.) We choose La Concha and couldn’t have been more pleased. IMHO, it was the best hotel to stay at in Condado. It appeared to be one of the only hotels with a large on-site beach access (plenty of chairs and waiter service) and had really pretty pools and hot tubs.

 

We got there before our room was ready, so we had a bit of a shuffle as we changed into our swimsuits in the lobby bathroom (those stalls aren’t big enough for a suitcase so I was one of those people unpacking my things right in the lobby ha). We left our bags with the concierge and headed to the beach.

 

My husband was brave enough to jump right into the water but it still looked chilly to me. I laid out on a lounger and ordered our first round of drinks. :) After getting some sun, we headed to the hot tub and enjoyed chatting with some other hotel guests.

 

A few hours later, we were notified our room was ready and we really lucked out!! We had a room right on the corner with a big view of the ocean.

 

This post isn’t going to have as many pictures as the next ones unfortunately - I’m realizing we didn’t start our massive picture taking until the next day…guess we were still warming up to vacation!! There are a couple pictures from our balcony at the bottom of this post.

 

After checking out the room we went back into town. We had dinner at Budatai which is one of the area’s best restaurants! We liked it but it was a little quiet (so perfect if you want a quiet romantic atmosphere) - but as we were walking around Ashford Avenue that evening, I realized I might have preferred to eat outside at one of the great sidewalk restaurants and people watch. In particular - I really recommend Yerba Buena. We didn't eat there but it looked so fun! It had a great menu and was really lively.

 

It was fun to walk around Ashford and see people having a good time at the clubs and restaurants.

 

Here's the view from our room - the beach below with the chairs is for La Concha:

 

 

Here's me having a coffee:

 

 

And here's a panoramic:

 

[cruisexlife]

Loving your style of writing and detail. Just booked this cruise on Liberty, really excited to see your pics and continue reading! :D

 

 

Sent From My iPhone

[Cruisegirl6]

Yes I agree loving it

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review and your nice picture taken in St Lucia. Love that port.

[rzyjzq]

Looking forward to the rest of your review and pictures. Going on the same itinerary in April so this helps make the time go by a bit faster. Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us!! :D

Susan

[JulieMcCoy]

Looking forward to your review...I'm on the Valor in three weeks!

[Dirkgun]

Great start to your review. We love this itinerary... we just got back from it as well....Jan 18th - 25th (our 3rd time on this itinerary) We loved it and will also be writing a review. Subscribed to yours so keep it coming. Thanks for writing one.

[trippingpara]

My favorite itinerary! This was our first cruise on the Victory and will be doing it again in May on the Liberty. Great review so far! Thanks for taking the time to do this so the rest of us can experience it through your eyes.

[Stinger-pr]

Hmmm....I see that the ususal suspects are gathering 'round to enjoy another Valor Southerm Caribbean review. Awesome!!! Looking forward to your impressions and your pics!! About your cabin, I gotta tell you that you found a needle in the haystack. I had #7434 for my trip which is one of 6 cabins on the ship with an extended balcony for a regular balcony price. I LOVED it!!!

[pghsteelerfan]

I will definitely be following! :) We did the same itinerary on Valor in May 2013 and it was one of our favorite cruises ever and what I think is the most scenic itinerary Carnival offers. I love reading other reviews on this itinerary because #1, I love reliving the experience and #2, we WILL do this itinerary again, it's just a matter of when and I love getting ideas for things to do that we didn't on our Valor cruise. I'm also happy that you're including your pre-cruise stay in San Juan. I just love San Juan and there is so much to see and do. I'd love to be able to spend a week there some day. For our cruise, we flew in one day early, but that was only due to DH's vacation time. I'm really looking forward to reading your review and thank you for taking the time to share.

[Jenny in TX]

I am really looking forward to your review. This cruise out of PR is on our list of cruises we want to do in the next year or so.

[Texasgalsa]

Great review so far!!!

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Hi - thank you lyndmar, cruisexlife, PathfinderEss, rzyjzq, Julie McCoy, Dirkgun, trippingpara, Sinter-pr, pghsteelerfan, Jenny in TX, and Texasgalsa for following along!!

 

It's so fun to see your comments and even to see names I recognize and who (unknowingly) helped me in planning this trip :D

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Our first day full day of vacation! We had a lot of ideas of what to do (and scoured this site and Trip Advisor) and chose a full day tour to see El Yunque National Forest and the bioluminescent bay. El Yunque is the only rainforest in the US Park System - so how cool is it to say you’ve been there?! We went on the “Bio Bay & Rainforest Tour” with Kayaking Puerto Rico. It was pricey, but afterwards, we really did feel like it was worth it. I loved the whole tour and the Bio Bay portion was INCREDIBLE!

 

(P.S. On Day 3, “tomorrow,” we’ll board the Valor and I’ll start to talk about the ship! This was our only full day in PR and I wanted to share what we did. :) )

 

The tour picked us up right from La Concha’s lobby. The guide had a mini-bus which felt new-ish and was comfortable. We picked up other guests afterwards (that part wasn’t as fun since Ashford has constant traffic), but everyone was nice and it was a great group of about 25 people. The ride to El Yunque was about an hour (maybe a little less). Since it was December, the driver played upbeat Spanish Christmas music and it felt festive.

 

Our first stop was the Information Center. We watched a short video and looked at forest maps. The welcome center also has bathrooms, a concession area if you needed a snack, and a gift shop (which we of course visited…you haven’t been somewhere if you haven’t visited the giftshop!just kidding!)

 

Next up was the hiking. The trail was mostly paved and it was only about 2 miles worth of walking. Parts were uphill (some people grumbled about that), but if you like to walk and hike, you will think this it is comfortable. You stop at a beautiful waterfall (La Mina falls I believe) and many people swim. For me, the water was DEFINITELY too cold. My husband, of course, as the native San Diegan who grew up surfing, again jumped right in. He was one of those guys standing directly under the falls laughing. (While I sat up on a rock wearing a sun hat and fanny pack haha. I tried to bring the fanny pack movement back on this trip - it didn’t work. I ended up converting back to a regular bag later.)

 

Here is a picture of the waterfall:

 

 

And here is a picture of my husband under it:

 

 

Then you hike back out and drive to the “Yocahu” Observation tower. That was a nice stop. The steps aren’t too bad and there are very pretty views from the top. Finally, you drive out and stop at the “La Coca Falls” - aka the “Fountain of Youth.” The falls are right next to the street, so you don’t have to hike there. More adventurous people climb over the rocks to drink the water. You probably already guessed that my husband was one of the first people out. I finally got the nerve to go right as everyone was leaving, but the rocks were a little slippery so I didn’t go all the way to the falls. But my husband sipped the water and then kissed me, so by my count, I had the water. (The jury is still out on whether it’s the fountain of youth.)

 

Here is the tower:

 

 

And the view from the top:

 

 

And the "Fountain of Youth" (my husband is wearing the blue shorts)

 

 

Everyone was STARVING at this point. Thankfully lunch was next. The restaurant was a little different than I expected - it was a regular restaurant standing alone in a nondescript area. (I had been hoping for something really local feeling, maybe small, maybe near some shops.) The meal was very good though. Each group had their own table and the food was ready when we got there. We chose our main dish (steak, chicken, fish, or vegetarian style) on the drive to the forest, so what we ordered was presented. You could also order inexpensive alcoholic drinks and we got a couple beers. The portions could have been a little bigger…we were all so hungry and the food went fast. There was a good mix of the main dish, rice, beans, sweet and fried plantains, and salad. The meal is extra, and you pay the restaurant directly, it was around $12 per person.

 

Then we headed to Fajardo for the biobay kayak. All of the kayak companies (there were more than I expected!) take off from a cute city square with some little shops and restaurants. We were directed to our kayaking guides who asked us to sign waivers, sized us for life jackets, etc.

 

So, in case I haven’t said it yet - the whole adventure of kayaking in the bioluminescent bay was AMAZING!!! It wasn’t just the bay, it was everything that led up to it. In fact, my favorite part was kayaking through the incredible mangrove channel to get to the bay. We left around 6:00pm which was lucky, because we could actually see what we were doing on the way out there. We saw birds and fish, and a HUGE iguana hanging from a tree. Our guides were hilarious and close by all the time, I never felt nervous. It was like you were in a secret channel. Once we got out to the bay, it was dark. All the kayaks were pulled close together so the guides could talk about the bay. So, not sure if you realize this, but you can’t actually see bio colors jumping around. You have to move your oars about, put your hands in the water, and stir it up, etc. to see it. But when you do - WOW!! It’s so awesome. It had gotten really really dark at this point so you could really see it. We had about 10 minutes to kayak around on our own, and we played with moving our oars in silly directions and tried to make as big splashes as possible to see the lights.

 

Anyway, eventually, they used a certain light to indicate we needed to return. Here’s the crazy part - on the way back - it is COMPLETELY PITCH DARK. You cannot see your own arm. And now, you’re going back through the channel, and you can’t see anything! You’re hitting other kayaks, hitting the trees, it’s funny but kinda like - huh? - at the same time. I asked our guide how he knew where he was going and he just laughed and continued singing to himself. Luckily for me, my husband brought a waterproof flashlight that I held over the side of our kayak. It made enough light so we could see. I was worried it was bothering other people, but when I turned it off, the woman behind us said, “oh no! please turn it back on!” so then I used it for the rest of the time.

 

Afterwards we had about 30 minutes in the little square. It was enough time for us to see the shops, share one beer, and then hop on the bus. When we got back into town, traffic was absolutely horrendous. We were at the beginning of the city center … and a few people hopped off to walk to their hotel. I had heard mixed reviews about safety so I really wanted the bus to take us directly to the hotel (it was night, we weren’t right in the hotel district yet, etc.). But other people decided to hop off and walk in the same direction we were going, so we all walked together. (Turns out they were other cruisers also spending the pre-weekend in PR!)

 

With that said - the safety around Ashford, right around La Concha, felt fine. We’re pretty careful about these things and pay close attention to our surroundings, so I think you’re ok as long as you take normal precautions.

 

Next up - we get on the Valor!

[deladane]

Oooh yay! Another Valor review! I did that same rainforest/biobay tour from Kayaking Puerto Rico when I took my Victory cruise in 2012. It was definitely a unique experience! haha It looks like you had a great start to your vacation, and I look forward to reading the rest as I finish my planning for my Valor cruise in March :) Thanks for taking the time to write everything up for us!!

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Thanks deladane! You'll have a great time on the Valor. :)

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

Time to board the ship!

 

Our taxi dropped us off DIRECTLY in front of the port. We hopped out of the cab and were immediately walking down the long covered walkway to the terminal. (It’s a bit of a cluster with people leaving, people coming, people everywhere, but just keep your eye on the goal - get to the terminal!) Be on the look out for the baggage carriers…we missed them and took our luggage directly to the ship. Embarkation was very easy but our room wasn’t ready so we drug our bags along to Rosie’s Diner.

 

You enter the ship in the Deck 3 Atrium. Isn't it so fun walking into a ship and knowing you're at the very beginning of an awesome week?!? I had seen pictures of the Valor and knew what to expect. It was bright and colorful..very clean and there are little surprises if you look closely (tile patterns, wall designs, etc.) Over the course of the cruise, signs of wear became more apparent in certain areas, but that did not take away from the trip at all.

 

We headed to Rosie’s to grab lunch. I had read mixed reviews on the food, and overall, was pleasantly surprised and there are plenty of options. I never did get to try the Mongolian BBQ though, lines were too long the entire cruise. (I’ll probably talk more about food in other posts.)

 

Our room was ready around 1/1:30pm. It was great - maybe a little dated, but clean and had storage. Everything was functional it just wasn’t brand new. Our favorite part was the balcony. I mentioned this in my intro - we splurged for an extended aft balcony on the Verandah Deck, cabin 8457. The only drawback is something I anticipated from reviews…there can be noise overhead. The first few nights, we heard chairs scraping on the deck above us. It wasn’t bad enough to complain or to switch rooms. About halfway through the cruise, we noticed it much less. If you’re a light sleeper or sensitive to noise, you may want to get an aft balcony on a lower floor.

 

However, having that balcony was a highlight of the cruise!!

Here are pictures of our balcony, and one of the ship! And then in my next post I’ll talk about old town PR!

 

Here's the balcony from the back of the ship:

 

 

The balcony fit two loungers and two chairs!

 

 

 

And one of me and the ship :)

 

[BlueSky_ShinySea]

More on the Valor later! After we initially explored the ship, we headed out to Old San Juan. The ship didn’t depart until the evening, so we had plenty of time to be tourists. We followed a walking tour we found online. Since I can’t find the exact one, let’s rely on my memory in conjunction with google maps!

 

After leaving the terminal, we headed left on Calle Marina (the main street), continuing on the sidewalk next to the water. After a couple blocks, you’ll approach a walking area called “Paseo De La Princesca.” This area was lovely. It was an open air walking area, with no traffic, and there were tons of vendors. We also were very careful to notice the blue cobblestone streets. (Those cobblestones were apparently part of Spanish ships carrying sugar.)

 

A view from one of the side streets - the homes were so pretty!

 

We didn’t stop at many of the vendors but we did pass many perfect places for photos and people watching. As you continue straight, you’ll approach the very pretty “Paseo de la Princesa” fountain. And as you pass it, you’ll approach the outer wall of Puerto Rico. I loved walking along the outer edges of the city - it was so beautiful.

 

Eventually we approached one of the original gates back into the city. View of the gate:

 

That gate brought us to the “La Rogavita” statue and then we headed towards the Hotel el Convento. We planned to have lunch at the indoor “Patio del Nispero” there. It was very lovely there but we decided it was a bit too quiet and continued on. Our next stop was the cathedral (153 Calle Cristo) in which Ponce de Leon was buried.

 

The "La Rogavita" statue from the back:

 

And the cathedral:

 

Finally, we headed to the Castillo San Felipe del Morro fort, paid the entrance fee ($5) and explored it. Chorus students were singing Christmas carols and their voices bouncing off the old fort walls was spectacular to hear. We probably spent 30 minutes walking through the fort, and that was the perfect amount of time.

 

The fort:

 

And the view from the fort:

 

Afterwards, we continued walking along the north edge of the city and then re-entered the main Old San Juan city streets, explored, and got a little (purposely) lost. I loved walking through the beautiful streets and exploring the squares. There were so many locals out having a nice evening, celebrating, and relaxing with their friends. We ended the night at a restaurant called Cafe Puerto Rico, where we had mofongo and sangria. It was very good!

 

Finally, it was time to head to the ship. We followed other Cruise Critic reviewer’s advice and stopped at the CVS near the ship for a case of water. My husband carried it back to the ship and no one batted an eye.

 

We were back at the ship well in time for the mandatory muster drill. This part was a little odd - our muster drill was conducted on a lower level, outside, and standing up. It was very warm and we stood there closely grouped together for at least an hour. I was exhausted at this point and it was hot and stuffy, and I was wondering how others were all holding up. One gentleman asked to be excused because he needed to sit down. There was definitely some grumbling around us. (I’ve never had a muster like that before!)

 

It was pretty late at this point and when we were released from muster we headed back to our room. Popping open the bottle of wine we brought, we stood on our aft balcony and watched the Valor pull away from Puerto Rico.

[babsee101]

Great review! I look forward to following along!

[kpatterson721]

Thank you for taking the time to share! Looking forward to reading the rest! :)

[xowendyxo]

We leave 6 weeks from today!!

 

Loved your picture of you balcony from the back of the ship because I could see my balcony....aft wrap on 6! I think it is going to be *one* of the highlights of our trip :D

 

We are also staying at LaConcha the day before we leave. Did you book a balcony room or is that what you were just assigned? I booked a cityview through Priceline, but called LaConcha and upgraded to an oceanview...I don't think that's a balcony room though.

 

Looking forward to more of you review, it is great so far!!

[jmwg49]

Great start! We did this cruise in August of 2014 and was probably one of our favourites. We also spent 3 days pre-cruise in SJ and we were so glad we did. San Juan is an exciting place to stay. So much to see and do! :) The cruise itself is one of the best in my opinion with an itinerary like no other! We would do it again in a heartbeat! Looking forward to hearing about your adventure!

[ZJ13820]

We leave 6 weeks from today!!

 

Loved your picture of you balcony from the back of the ship because I could see my balcony....aft wrap on 6! I think it is going to be *one* of the highlights of our trip :D

 

I'm assuming 6483? We had that cabin two weeks ago. Best cabin EVER! :)