Carnival Valor- Southern Caribbean Review and Pictures 3/8-3/15

[Texasgalsa]

Hey guy's! I'm not big on giving reviews but I wanted to share what I did on this cruise and share my pictures albums with you guys!

 

I can't say much about the actual ship because we didn't do too much on it. It was clean and beautiful of course! And the service and food was AMAZING! There isn't one bad thing I could say about our experience on this ship. We literally just ate, slept and gambled. My 10 year old daughter went to camp on our 1 sea day and she loved it!

 

So our first port was San Juan, unfortunately my fiance had a stomach bug which left him in bed for a couple days. :(

We didn't book anything on this day since Danny was sick. So Hannah (my daughter) and I ventured out into old San Juan to explore on our own. Apparently it was 'National Dog Day' in OSJ which we absolutely LOVED! There were HUNDREDS of dogs walking around with their owner or being pushed around in carts....and lots of them were dressed up! TOO CUTE! We walked all around the streets and went to Fort Cristobal which was beautiful! And of course we had to stop at Barrachina for some Pina Colada's!

 

** When we came back from the cruise we spent another day in San Juan (My birthday!) We mainly relaxed in Old San Juan and went to eat breakfast at Cafe Mallorca for coffee and Mallorca's, Toro Salao for tapas and drinks for lunch and then Punto De Vista for Puerto Rican food and drinks for dinner. I love food. :) **

 

Here's my San Juan Picture album...

 

[mrpayroll]

Enjoyed the pictures. We will be in San Juan on May 3rd. Leaving on the Liberty. We love old San Juan.:)

[Texasgalsa]

Next port is St. Thomas. I had booked "David's Fun Tours" for a private 6 hour tour with David. It was a fun filled day for sure! He usually has a set schedule for the tour which you can view here below. He was a JOY to be booked with! (http://www.davidsfuntours.com/)

 

Since it was just my daughter and I, I asked if we could change up some of the places we went to. Hannah is 10 and doesn't really care too much on the history side of island tours. (Visiting old buildings and what not.) He was more than happy to do whatever we would like to do-- it was "our" time as he loved to say. :)

 

David gave us a tour of the whole island, we stopped at about 4 different beaches for picture taking and then spent a 2 hour beach break at Magen's Bay which was gorgeous! He took us to every look out point and up to Mountain top for a some very scenic views and some wonderful banana daiquiris! We went to a local fruit farm and sampled some delicious juices that they bottle and make themselves. He took us downtown to do a little shopping and we bought some fresh fruit smoothies that were being made by an older gentleman-- they were delicious! After that we headed to David's favorite spot for lunch (Trenchtown Rock). It was Jamaican/Caribbean food which I nor my daughter have ever had. What a treat it was!! We asked David to order for us and we took our chances... he ordered us Ox Tail and Curried Goat. O M G -- it was sooooo good! I would have never picked out something like that on my own. And then the sides that came along with it are great as well. If you are ever in St. Thomas that's a must go to restaurant!

After we ate we did more exploring and then it was time to go back to the ship. It was a very memorable day with David, such a sweet man and great tour!

 

Photo Album below...

 

[volmoma]

Pics are great!!!! [emoji4]

[Texasgalsa]

Next stop- Barbados!

 

We had an excursion planned with "Thriller Ocean Tours" for a 3 1/2 hour snorkeling/speed boat tour!

 

You can find them here...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147263-d2259174-Reviews-Thriller_Ocean_Tours-Bridgetown_Saint_Michael_Parish_Barbados.html

 

Stephen and his daughter, Kim were our captains. A great father and daughter duo for this trip! We went to three snorkeling stops-- first was to swim with the sea turtles and then two other stops for fish and ship wrecks. The turtles were awesome! I have always been very fond of sea turtles so to be able to swim with them was a dream come true! I had my GoPro for the whole trip and took TONS of videos... eventually I will post them on here after I edit them!

 

Stephen provided plenty of drinks, beer and rum punch (Which I have to RAVE about! It was a bottled rum punch and by far the best one I have ever tasted. Kim added bitters and nutmeg on the top of each one. To die for!!) He also provided some yummy snacks!

 

All in all this was a great snorkeling trip for all ages!

 

Pictures below... (Sorry there aren't many pictures- I took more videos than anything) :)

 

[dawnvan]

Great pictures!! enjoying your review!:)

[Texasgalsa]

Thanks guys! Glad you all like them! MrPayRoll, you will have a blast!

[Jenny in TX]

Thank you for posting this review! We will be on the Glory in April and can't wait to stop in Puerto Rico. That is probably the stop I am most looking forward to even though we have not been to any of the ports on this cruise. We were planning on having a Mallorca at Café Mallorca, but weren't sure where to eat dinner. I just looked up the restaurant you mentioned for dinner and I am sold. It has rooftop dining, wonderful reviews and the food looks delicious!

[pghsteelerfan]

We were on Valor in May 2013 on the southern itinerary out of San Juan and LOVED it and it's our favorite itinerary, so I just love reading reviews and seeing pictures of that itinerary. Glad you had a nice time on Valor on that itinerary. Your pictures are absolutely stunning and look professional...they are so good! Thank you for sharing and hoping you have more. :)

[Texasgalsa]

Glad I could help you out Jenny! If you have any questions, just ask!

 

And steelerfan... Photography is my hobby! This cruise was perfect for beautiful picture moments. I'll be posting more in a bit! 😊

[Cruisegirl6]

Thank you for making me more eager for my upcoming Valor trip, glad to hear the food is good too! We also do the same, eat, drink and casino lol.

[Texasgalsa]

Next port was St. Lucia! I absolutely loved this place! It's breath taking! We decided on Spencer Ambrose tours and it was a great mix of everything! We were met at the cruise ship and then taken away by a speed boat to Castries for the land part of the tour. We planned on seeing the volcano since we didn't want to do the mud baths. It was a nice stinky experience. LoL

After we went to the volcano we went and did a couple different stops for pictures and then went to one of their beautiful waterfalls. My daughter chose to go in but the smart adults decided not to. The water was freezing!!! Next was lunch at a local restaurant in town, we were served buffet style and it was really good! Next stop was back to the boat and off to Sugar Beach between the Piton's- my favorite part of the tour! As you'll see in the pictures this place is just beautiful! The snorkeling is great here too. We stayed on the beach for a couple of hours and then it was time to go. We finished off the tour by sightseeing different areas by boat, you really get to see a lot of the island with this tour! Spencer, his daughter and the rest of his staff are AWESOME! Please check him out if you ever go to St. Lucia!

 

Pictures below...

 

[rzyjzq]

Thanks for sharing what you did in each of the ports. Great pictures! Sounds like you all had a good time. 30 more days till I sail!!

Susan

[Jennifer925]

We booked land and sea with spencer the week before!!! We loved him and st lucia!!! That chicken was delicious!!!

[trippingpara]

We're doing this same itinerary in May on the Liberty. Your photos are gorgeous! I can only hope to get as good of photos as you did!