The Southern Caribbean has always been high on my cruising wish list. When my boyfriend announced, after finally getting his passport, that he wanted to (a) leave the country for the first time and (b) take a relaxing vacation, I jumped at the chance to plan a cruise for the both of us. I am not a fan of repeating ports, so armed with my favorite travel research sites, I selected a few voyages that have off-the-beaten path itineraries in the Caribbean during this particular week in May. The Carnival Valor sailing was an immediate front runner and really, the others had no chance. I was slightly concerned about sailing on Carnival (not because of negative press recently more so because I am not a fan of raucous deck-parties and hairy-chest contests that one hears about being main-stays on the line) and about the one sea day (hate being exhausted from a vacation), but after reading a number of reviews raving about this itinerary, I pushed those doubts to the side and booked then spent the next six months waiting not-so-patiently for embarkation.

Finally, the day had come for us to leave for Puerto Rico. We had a non-stop flight on Saturday morning, and spent the night at the La Concha resort in the Condado. I really wanted to stay in El Convento in Old San Juan, but they require a two night stay. Anyway, I was happy with La Concha - its a very pretty resort and Id recommend it. The rooms look like they have been somewhat recently renovated, which is always a plus.

On Sunday morning, I woke up early, anxious to get to the ship to drop off our stuff. I knew we couldnt really get there until around 10, so we took our time eating breakfast and getting our stuff ready to go. We grabbed a cab and were at the port in 10 minutes. We dropped out bags off with a porter, checked-in in record time (about 10 minutes), and were told we could board around 12:30. We walked around by the port area for a bit then grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant overlooking the ship Punto de Vista. I made my boyfriend try mofongo (one of my favorite foods ever), and this restaurants was excellent try one with shrimp and garlic sauce. Yum! Read more