AMAZING!!!!!

Carnival Valor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 47

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Carnival Valor

7 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 04, 2014

Ship: Carnival Valor

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 9199

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

I had an amazing experience for my first time cruising!! I loved this itinerary because we hit 5 ports in 7 days so we were always busy and waking up to amazing views! Our first port in St. Thomas was fantastic, we booked a snorkeling excursion with shoreexcursionsgroup.com on a 65ft sailboat. There were only about 14 of us total, they served us lunch, all you can drink frozen cocktails, and took us to 2 different spots to snorkel, one which we swam with a Barracuda! Day 2 we were pretty fried, our winter skin couldn't quite handle the multiple layers of sunblock and Caribbean Sun so we took this day to explore the boat. Food was great, service was top notch, every time you turned around, a new server was there with beverages. Day 3 in Barbados, BEST BEACHES EVER! Sand felt like baby powder. We did a snorkeling excursion here, left on a pontoon with about 8 other people, and were face to face with turtles! Best experience of my life (as I am a turtle fanatic!) They also served lunch and all the rum punch you could drink! Afterwards, we met a great taxi driver who took us to a great beach where we rented jet-skis (Yeah I know, sounds terrible right ;)) Day 4 in St. Lucia, we grabbed a taxi and headed to the nearest beach where we lounged with umbrellas and beach chairs and swam in the beautiful blue waters and were served BOGO drinks by the nearby resort staff! Day 5 in St. Kitts, we were planning on shopping here (as I had heard there wasn't much else to do here) but we ended up taking an open air taxi with about 15 other people and took a 2 hour tour of the island. We went through a gorgeous botanical garden, stopped and got pictures at a scenic view where the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans meet (they were also selling 3/$5 Caribe beer there!) We did run into a big rainstorm on the way down the mountain which didn't bother any of us being that it was 80 degrees out! Day 6 in St. Maarten, had another snorkeling excursion planned but due to bad weather, it was cancelled. We decided to take a water taxi ($7 for all day travel) to the center of town and did some shopping, got my hair braided by a local, and just sat on the beach until it started raining. All in all the trip was fantastic, I would love to go back to those islands, everyone was so friendly. The cruise ship was awesome as well, comedians were hilarious, the magic show was pretty entertaining, lost some money at the casino (boo!) and watched a movie under the stars. TAKE THIS CRUISE, YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED! :)

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Never went to main dining, buffet and grill were great!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
loved watching the ice carver and the dancing

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Comedians were our favorite

Children's Programs

3 out of 5
not sure, didn't bring kids!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Customer Service was amazing

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Needs some updating but overall great!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Scenic Oceanview Stateroom, floor to ceiling wall to wall windows, fabulous!!

Ship tip

Book a room on the Lido deck so you are closer to everything (its not noisy!), must have a burrito at the burrito bar (only open for a short time during lunch!), comedy club is a must!, magician was funny and entertaining, serenity deck is a must for 21 and over, very relaxing!! Try the rum punch!!

Ports of call

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5
Wish we would have spent more time here, looked like a fun place!

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5
Snorkeling in the beautiful Christmas Cove of St. John!

Bridgetown, Barbados

5 out of 5
GO TO THE BEACH! Baby powder sands and turquoise waters FAVORITE!

Castries, St. Lucia

5 out of 5
Great beach and swimming, check out the Volcano

Basseterre, St. Kitts

5 out of 5
Open-air taxis are a great way to see the islands, check out scenic area of Atlantic/Caribbean Oceans

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

3 out of 5
$7 water taxi ride for all day travel to see different parts of the island
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