Attn LIBERTY & VALOR cruisers: Detailed Review of Valors Last Cruise from Puerto Rico

[deladane]

HA! I'll be doing the second half of your B-2-B, and the next cruise. 4-17 and 4/25 for my B-2-B. See you aboard!

Can't wait to read the rest of your review of the Valor Deladine! How was the entertainment?

 

"SKY"

 

I will talk about it in more details once I get to that part of the review, but I thought the entertainment was a little lacking. It doesn't really matter on this itinerary because we spent so much time off the ship, and I was exhausted and ready for bed fairly early each night, but there weren't a ton of entertainment options. They had 2 big production shows (one was great, the other was blah), the comedians were mostly great, the piano bar was okay, but they didn't have as many shows on the non-formal nights as I am used to seeing. They had one night where a lady came on board to sing, but I missed that show. But it seemed like the other nights they filled with the Legends show and the Marriage show where they usually fill it with more individual performers. More details about all of that to come :)

 

 

Thanks for doing this review! My husband and I will be doing this itinerary in September, and all of the ports are new to us except for San Juan and St Thomas. Also, I'm stealing your candy jar idea :)

 

You will love this itinerary! All of the ports are beautiful and have tons to offer :) Let me know if you think of any questions as you plan for your cruise.

Edited March 25, 2015 by deladane

[deladane]

enjoying the reiveiw so far. I really like the candy idea and plan on using this with my son. Thank you

 

Thanks! I have no idea what made me think to do the candy countdown but it became a fun ritual to work our way through the jar as the months passed. I told J we need to find something new to countdown for so I can make another jar :)

 

I'm so glad you're doing another review...of my favorite itinerary!!! :) I really enjoyed reading both of your other reviews and am looking forward to reading this one. We don't have another cruise planned, yet, but I do enjoy reading reviews so I'll definitely be following. Thank you for taking the time to do another one.

 

Hey!! I'm glad you found the review since I know how much you love this itinerary :) I don't have any other cruises planned now either, but I look forward to reliving my cruise as I write this review :)

[deladane]

Off to a great start! I can't wait to read more. :)

 

Thank you! :) I will try to post a bit more tonight!

[deladane]

Cant wait for those photos too

 

They're coming!! :)

 

Taking this cruise on the Liberty this December, so I'm so excited to keep up with your review.

 

Thanks for reading along :) I hope you pick up some good pointers to help with your planning!

[deladane]

love your reviews! Can't wait to read more! Love the countdown candy idea too, too cute!

Aww thanks!! :)

 

Our little group of five will be on the April 5th sailing of the Liberty. I really appreciate you taking the time to do another one of your awesome reviews!

 

We leave in 9 days to fly to San Juan and cruise in 11 days. When we booked (over a year ago) we had no idea we would be boarding the ship on Easter Sunday. Our flights were close to $650 per person and we will have to pay for luggage, so I think you got a really good deal!

 

Looking forward to reading more, and thanks again!

Yea, everyone always talks about how expensive it is to fly to PR. We got really lucky in finding such affordable flights. I think I paid closer to $700-$800 for my flights when I went in 2012 :eek: I hope you have a fantastic cruise!!

[kesham13]

Subscribing! Can't wait to see pictures of the Valor, I'll be sailing her May 30th!

[k9_Cop]

Doing this cruise again in about 3 weeks. Did it the first time last year for my my honeymoon. Very port intense but a great cruise.

[deladane]

Doing this cruise again in about 3 weeks. Did it the first time last year for my my honeymoon. Very port intense but a great cruise.

 

This was also my second time doing this itinerary... I feel like we are so spoiled from seeing these islands! I am so un-motivated to try a different itinerary because I am obsessed with the Southern Caribbean haha I found that it was interesting to repeat it on a different ship this time around so at least something was new and different haha

[k9_Cop]

This was also my second time doing this itinerary... I feel like we are so spoiled from seeing these islands! I am so un-motivated to try a different itinerary because I am obsessed with the Southern Caribbean haha I found that it was interesting to repeat it on a different ship this time around so at least something was new and different haha

 

 

I agree. When we did it last year we had the valor and we had just gotten off the Liberty the day prior for our wedding in saint Thomas. So it will be nice to get back to a great itinerary on an even better ship.

[deladane]

Thursday, March 11 - Vacation Time!

 

The day had finally arrived! After a full day at work, and a quick gel manicure for me, we were officially on vacation!!!

 

 

We went out to dinner at a local pizza place, then headed to the San Jose airport for our redeye flight to NY. Neither of us sleep well on planes, so it was a long night, but the flight was otherwise uneventful. We pulled away from the gate 10 minutes early, and landed in NY 30 minutes early. My TV was broken (as it nearly always is), and the flight attendant gave me a $15 voucher as compensation... which I accidentally left in the seat-back pocket on the plane. Oops! I guess whoever sat in that seat after me will get a surprise if they check the pocket haha I didn't sleep at all, but at least I got to watch a few episodes of House of Cards and Girls that I had loaded on my iPad.

 

 

[deladane]

Friday, March 13 - Friday the 13th is no joke!!

We spent the morning with my parents during our layover. I hadn't seen them since the fall, so it was nice to have a few hours to catch up (and any chance I get to have a NY bagel makes me happy!!) They drove us back to JFK and we found out our flight was delayed by an hour. Originally we were supposed to get to PR by 1:15pm. Then it got pushed back to a 6:15pm landing. Now we wouldn't get there until nearly 8pm. Definitely a crummy way to start our trip, especially considering we didn't sleep at all on the redeye last night. After a few hours, we noticed they kept pushing our departure time later and later, one hour at a time! Long story short, the plane we were originally scheduled on was delayed by 2 hours from leaving Tampa due to mechanical problems. Once it finally took off, it was diverted to Richmond, VA because one of the runways was closed at JFK so there was no where for it to land. Our flight ended up being delayed by over 4 hours, and we didn't end up landing until 10pm. So much for our plans to get some mofongo and mojitos for dinner at Punto de Vista! I bought an over-priced sub-par salad from the airport for dinner. In total, it took us over 24 hours to get from San Jose, CA to San Juan, PR. We had our fingers crossed that we wouldn't have any more problems on this vacation. This is the reason you should never fly in the same day as a cruise!!

 

We landed in Puerto Rico at 10pm, quickly hopped in a taxi to Old San Juan, and arrived at our hotel by 11pm. Taxis in Puerto Rico have regulated prices based on zones... it cost $19 for the taxi, plus a $2 surcharge for gas, plus $1 for each of our suitcases (we held our backpacks on our laps and were not charged for them). We prebooked a room at the Hotel Plaza de Armas a few months before the cruise. It was a good thing our flight didn't get cancelled since I prepaid for the room and it was nonrefundable if you don't cancel with at least 24 hours notice! I called the hotel from JFK airport to let them know we would be arriving late, and they reassured me that someone would be available to help us check in whenever we arrived. The hotel was a quaint boutique hotel in a great location in a plaza in the middle of town. It was walking distance to both of the forts and all the restaurants and hotspots in Old San Juan. We could have even walked to the cruise ship port if we didn't have luggage to drag behind us! The hotel was a bit old, but it was clean and had both an air conditioner and an elevator (two must-haves for our hotel!) The one strange thing was that the hotel had a large open layout between the floors. I have stayed in Embassy Suites hotels with the same open layout and never had a problem, but I guess the walls are thinner in the Hotel Plaza de Armas because we could hear people talking in the halls of every floor, and we could hear people slamming their doors on every floor... all night long! We tried to use the fan from the air conditioner to dull the hallway noise, but it was definitely noticable. We were so exhausted from not sleeping on the redeye that we both slept through the night, but it is something to be aware of if you are a light sleeper. I am very disappointed in myself... I never took photos of the hotel room!! I usually try to take room pictures when I first walk into the hotel room or cruise cabin, but I was so tired from the long day of travel that it slipped my mind. Sorry Cruise Criticers!!

[deladane]

Saturday, March 14 ~ Do they have pie in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico for Pi Day?

 

After a comfortable night's sleep, we woke up ready to enjoy a full day of exploring Old San Juan, Puerto Rico! We left the hotel and walked 4 blocks east to have breakfast at Cafe Mallorca. When we arrived at around 10am, it was busy, but there was a table available for us to be seated immediately. I loved that they had a guy playing a trumpet at the front of the restaurant... such a quaint atmosphere!

 

 

We both ordered mallorcas with eggs and cheese. While the waiter was quick to take our orders and bring us our food, we had very slow service in waiting for our bill, and then we had to wait in a slow-moving line to pay at the register in the front of the restaurant.

 

 

 

We left the restaurant at around 11am and walked a few blocks to San Cristobal fort. With little white puffy clouds dotting the sky, the views from the fort were amazing! We spent a little over an hour walking around and taking lots of photos.

 

 

 

The view looking back towards the cruise pier... tomorrow, the Valor will be docked here and waiting for us to board!!

 

[deladane]

 

 

 

Looking west towards El Morro fort

 

I found a fun app that lets you edit your photos with lots of different effects. I really love how these turned out....

[deladane]

After we finished at El Cristobal fort, we spent 20 minutes walking through the city to El Morro fort. The walk was mostly flat with a few moments of uphill climb, and there were narrow sidewalks the whole way. I love the cobblestone streets and how colorful all of the buildings are!

 

 

 

 

This must be the most beautiful cemetery in the world!

 

It was very windy as we walked across the huge lawn to the front of El Morro (notice my hair blowing in the wind!) There were lots of people flying kites and enjoying a picnic with their families on the lawn. If I lived in San Juan, I imagine that I would spend a ton of time out here too!

 

[deladane]

We spent another hour or so walking around El Morro and taking photos. There were brief periods of light rain, and very dark skies in the distance, but it was tolerable and there were plenty of places to seek cover from the rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruisertommyboy]

Just a quick question, if you could only do 1 fort which would you do. We are on the Liberty at the end of August and very much enjoy your report

 

Tom

[deladane]

Just a quick question, if you could only do 1 fort which would you do. We are on the Liberty at the end of August and very much enjoy your report

 

Tom

 

Thanks for reading along :) I think it would depend on where you are coming from and what you are doing for the day. The forts themselves are very similar, so the difference is in location. El Morro has the benefit of being on that huge green lawn with views of the edge of the ocean, and it is closer to some of the other historical sites on the east side of town. On the other hand, El Cristobal has better views over the city and is much closer to the port, so if you are coming from the cruise ship, that would be more convenient. If it were me, I would pick El Morro, but I think it depends on what else you are doing that day. Let me know if you think of any other questions!

[uprivermama]

It looks like you sat at our table in the back corner! LOL--when we cruised last year on the Valor out of San Juan we sat there and had a lovely conversation with an older local gentleman who said he was there every morning (probably earlier than 10 am though). I loved the mallorcas there!

 

I always enjoy your reviews, and look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

[deladane]

It looks like you sat at our table in the back corner! LOL--when we cruised last year on the Valor out of San Juan we sat there and had a lovely conversation with an older local gentleman who said he was there every morning (probably earlier than 10 am though). I loved the mallorcas there!

 

I always enjoy your reviews, and look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!

 

That's so funny that we had the same table! There were only 2 tables left when we arrived, both next to each other in that back row of tables. It looked like nearly everyone was a tourist when we were there, so we must have missed your local guy. I can totally see eating my breakfast there every day if I lived in OSJ haha He's a lucky man!

[deladane]

 

Check out the amazing view from the women's bathroom! haha

 

By now, it was 2:30pm and we hadn't eaten since breakfast so we were starving. We considered walking across the city to Punto de Vista (where we originally planned to eat dinner last night but didn't get to because of our delayed flights), but we knew it would take at least 20 minutes and then we would have to walk back to the west side of the city to continue touring. On the way, we past a restaurant called El Patio de Sam on Calle San Sebastian advertising their trifongo. The menu looked good so we decided to eat there instead. We were seated on their beautiful enclosed patio:

 

 

The menu was a little pricey for lunch, with $15 each for chicken mofongo and trifongo, but we were on vacation and knew we wanted to try the local cuisine, so we ordered it anyway. Both dishes were excellent and totally different! We had never tried it before and didn't know what to expect. While both are made from mashed plantains, the mofongo is has the consistency of lumpy chunky mashed potatoes, whereas the trifongo is deep fried and crispy. I had read a few reviews where people mentioned that the mofongo is only good with a sauce on top, so we got the creamy garlic sauce for both dishes and it was delicious! I seriously wish I could have that for dinner tonight haha

 

Trifongo:

 

Mofongo:

 

While the food was excellent, the service was verrrrrry slow. We were there for over an hour and a half! I was starting to get the feeling that it wasn't as much the individual restaurants providing slow service, but rather a cultural difference. We were tourists with things to do and places to see. We didn't want to spend half the afternoon eating lunch. I think the Caribbean and Puerto Rican culture is more leisurely and slow-paced, so to them, it is normal to leave us alone and let us enjoy our meals. Unfortunately, we were hoping to eat a quick lunch and get on our way to continue exploring the town. I guess we weren't quite relaxed and in full vacation mode yet!

 

Anyway, once we left the restaurant, we out through the old city gate:

[familyfuncruise]

Great review so far, looking forward to more!

[Cruisegirl6]

Love the food in PR, when we dock in PR until the night time we go to the Parrot Club for dinner. Great food.

[Dirkgun]

Glad I found your review. I was hoping you would do another one. Love the dry erase board with the candy jars.. awesome idea for passing the days. Even though we just went in January it seems like forever ago. I am subscribing and waiting anxiously for more. As always great job so far....

[deladane]

Great review so far, looking forward to more!

Thanks for reading along!

 

Love the food in PR, when we dock in PR until the night time we go to the Parrot Club for dinner. Great food.

I was so impressed with the mofongo that last night, I googled Puerto Rican restaurants near my house so I can have some even when I'm not in PR haha I'll have to remember to try the Parrot Club next time I'm down there (since there will DEFINITELY be a next time!!)

[deladane]

Glad I found your review. I was hoping you would do another one. Love the dry erase board with the candy jars.. awesome idea for passing the days. Even though we just went in January it seems like forever ago. I am subscribing and waiting anxiously for more. As always great job so far....

 

Thanks for reading along! I found your reviews to be very helpful in my planning process so now it's my turn to pay it forward :) We have been home for 5 days and the cruise is already starting to feel like a distant memory... guess that means I need to plan another cruise soon! haha