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Just Back from the Valor June 5th-12th


Cyt4SoreEyes

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Ok have to say getting on the Valor was and easy process but getting off was a nightmare. First let me say the ship is lovely. The crew was very friendly and did a great job. I have to say the Casino Staff was by far tops. The Casino host Eva was the best right up there with Brett who has retired recently. Eva will be leaving the Valor soon and going to the Pride. We also lucked out and seen a favorite Bartender from main pool bar Seberine who was on the Glory with us Last yr. She will be going to the Liberty to help train as she did for the Valor and its new crew.

The ship was very well maintained...seen where people were just setting cups down anywhere and everywhere but the crew got them cleaned up. Some folks just don't think..you would think they would know better. The Shows were great especially the 80's tribute....That was by far the best show I have seen. I was told though the First showing of that was better than their second time doing it for the late seating. I think it might have been because it seemed to take alot out of the dancers and singers doing it the first time. It is a not to miss thats for sure! Few of the comedians were good really it was hit or miss for us.

The food was good I have had better on the Glory back in June 2004. They have taken alot of the better desserts off the menu and they have them available only at the option to pay restaurant..Like the CREME BRULEE! That dissapointed me very much being that it is one of my favs. We were unable ot get a dining time suitable for us for Scarletts so I miss out on getting any this time around. Lets see what else...oh yeah the Bed linens were so much nicer. Our Room Steward did a great job as well. Our Waiter in the Dining room was great as well..have had better but he did very well.

The Cruise Director well all I could say was he was whacked. I had a few conversations with other cruise mates and they all pretty much agreed that he was to young for the job and his material was lame. The morning show he does on the TV is whacked thats for darn sure. Umm we had a few times where the ship had to stop..once for mechanical and other for medical emergency.. we were told the Passenger had Heart Attack and is now ok and resting in hopsital in St Thomas..we wish them well. We had a couple of mishaps more than I have seen on one cruise..People make sure you get back to the ship before it leaves the Stops!!!!!!!!!!! Dont get left!!!!!! I know I am jumping around but trying to remember this all off the top of my head so when something pops into mind I am just typing away.

The casino was nice but be careful when walking by the samurai men I got a few scratches on both arms from them. The casino pretty much stay busy and open till 3 am . Had alot of PPl do well on the 3 card poker...had one guy who had never played hit 3 straight flushes and 3 of a kind..the 3 of kind and 2 straight flushes were all back to back. Seen that pretty much happen a few times to some other lucky folks (ROLGUS) Lucky Lucky guy!! We met some great folks in the casino the first night and pretty much had friends before going home all over. Was a very pleasant cruise the people were great and the crew as well. The wait staff in the casino some of the best will mention a few ALIS and Simon..I have to say ALIS is a looker ladies..I almost brought him home with me..but hubby wasn't having it..lmao!

The Captains Officers and Engineers were also some great people very friendly as well. We seen them a few nights at the Casino bar before going into the dance club. Slots arent that great onboard..I only heard of a few big hits highest was 1600.00 on one of the wheel of fortune machines. I myself had fun playing the 5Cent machines Big Tippers and Winning Bid..there also was a good sheep game that was to the left of theWinning Bid machine..seemed to ay pretty good too. The Garfield games weren't that great. They look neat but that was about it. Well I need to take a break I am getting a cramp..pretty much used my hands alot thru out cruise playing slots and this typing is not helping any..LMAO!

If you have any questions feel free to ask away..All the Ports we stopped at had great weather by the way...couldnt have been and better! Oh yeah one more thing that just popped into mind...if you go to St Marrten don't forget to go to Orient Beach and Visit Adny and Cheryls restaurant on the Beach..its amercian owned and they have the best FOOD around the WHole Island!!!!!!!! And its at a great price! Plus you have the view of the pcean right off the back porch!! Just look for the NJ signs and license Plates!! Ok I am out for now..Cyt

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We were onboard with in 45 minutes of waiting in line...its always better to get to the Port early than later. Try going at 10 am or 10 15 am for those planning cruise on Valor reading. I have to agree with the OP the people thru out that whole terminal there were some rude and some nice. And just from reading her comments I know exactly which lady it was who was giving her hell about one sitting..she gave me hell because I din't want to give my kids their Birth Certififcates while waiting to approach the Customs Ppl..I still had a long ways to go till reaching them and wasn't gonna take a chance on my kids ruinging any of them. Disembarkaton is what I called welcome to hell! Was the worst I have ever been thru and I have been on about 9 cruises maybe ten. Also wanted to mention the porters who take your bags to the bins as well..one guy was in such a rush he rolled right over my ankle bone with one of the largest suit cases I have ever seen..that pretty much put a damper on the first part of my cruise as I was in some pain and the elevators werent turned on yet excpet for one..which was a pain in the Butt as well

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Glad you had a great cruise.

I am assuimg that you were on the eastern route. I was wondering about getting off the ship at St. Thomas and immigration? We are debating on whether to book excursions through the ship or go on our own. But I am hearing that it takes hours to get through the immigration line. There will be 4 of us and the guys want to golf. Booking through the golf course on your own is cheaper than going through the ship but they are not sure what time to book it for since getting off in a resonable amount of time maybe up in the air.

Thanks for the help.

Toni

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It was a Breeze getting off at St Thomas.. no long waiting lines the line moved rather quickly. We did all of our sight seeing tours on our own since we have been to the Islands many times. But we did see alot of folks doing the ones they booked thru Carnival getting off early.

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Nice review. It sounds like for the most part the cruise was rather nice. You mentioned u were with your children. If you don't mind what were there ages? I'm traveling with my 5 and 9 yr old and I 'm tryign to find someone with kids as young as mine to see how you went about handling it with them. This will be the kids first cruise (my 2nd) so I'm curious to see what they will think and how it will work.

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Great review. I'm leaving on Sunday, June 19th on the Valor for the same ports. I have been to them many times and still love going there. Can't wait to get on the Valor.

 

Is Andy and Cheryl's easy to find? Last year our taxi driver recommended another place. It was good, but I would like to visit the one you recommended.

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My kids are 10 and 13 and brother 15 there is always something to do on the ship. They were alwasy gone having a blast. I also heard the camp carnival program was awesome for all ages on the ship. The staff was very friendly with all the kids it seemed. They should have a blast and not to worry I am sure the ship will be full of kids ours was had over 1k on there of just kids.

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Ok if you are getting a Taxi you need to tell them Orient beach right at where the NUde and Optional Beach meet. Their restaraunt is right at the Sign for the Nude Beach Colony there. To make sure you get to the right end of the Beach look for the Parasail boat that has Parashoot that looks like giant YELLOW SMILEY FACE ok. They are parked right out front of Andy's and Cheryl's. Also forgot to mention..They have a young man who works the beach chair area for them named Adrienne you get a chair free umbrella and table and free drink for 7.00 and bar service as well. Make sure you ask for Adrienne when arriving to the beach they will have the light colored rainbow looking cushions on their beach chairs. Just Holla Yo Adrienne LOL..It works!!! Hope you have a wonderful cruise and great time at all the ports!!

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We were on the same cruise and also agree that embarkation was very easy. We arrived at the ship a little before 11:00am and were on the ship in very little time. As far as debarkation goes, while getting off the ship only took minutes (sitting on the Lido deck at 9:45 and off the 'ship' by 9:56. The long line begins when you are actually off the ship and in the terminal because that's where the line starts for customs. Personally we didn't find it any longer wait than any of the other many cruises we've been on (from Lido deck to off the ship with luggage in hand, about 1hr13min.) We left the ship and were at MIA by around 11:30am.

 

Myself, I did not care for the layout of the ship. Halls blocked off, couldn't get from one place to the other without going up then down. I prefer the layout of the Lido deck where the pools are closer to each other without all the stadium type seating in the middle.

 

The food was ok but I have had much better. While I didn't like the layout of the ship, it was a very pretty ship and not near as 'loud' in colors as it looks in the brochure. Very nice rooms, good size.

 

We flew into FLL and spent 4 days in the Keys deep sea fishing and enjoying the sights before we went into Miami on Saturday (flew out of MIa). I would be glad to answer any questions you might have.

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I was also on this cruise. Easy getting on - 20 minutes!!! I arrived a little before 12:00 -- the problem was the traffic getting to the ship, the usual. I agree about debarkation -- it is always a chore.

 

The immigration line at St. Thomas moved very quickly and I have experienced it before so it was not a big deal.

 

Our dining room drink waitress Olga was the best! She wa super friendly and would ask me each night what kind of drink I wanted the next night. Then it was waiting at the table for me. She made some drink recommendations that were fabulous!

 

The food in the dining room was good, not fabulous. The desserts are not the best, although the apple pie (with a scoop of ice cream) and the cappucino pie were very good.

 

I really liked the Prometheus pool area. We had deck chairs out there, then you could just sit and relax in the tiled area around the main pool where the water would slosh up and keep you cool.

 

Did some great shopping in St. Thomas and went to Marigot in St. Maarten where I had a fabulous lunch.

 

Only complaint was cabin #6227 was directly over the Ivanhoe Theater. I could hear them rehearse every afternoon during prime pre-dinner nap time (4:00-6:00) and couldn't go to bed until after the late show was over due to noise. The last night, the drummer kept practicing for an hour after the show was over and kept me awake.

 

The 80's show was great!!! However the guy singer did not have a great voice. The girl was good.

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I was on the same cruise and I'll have a detailed and oprganized review coming soon. I will say, though, that embarkation took 25 minutes and debarkation took 45 minutes from stateroom to taxi. VERY good on both areas. I was impressed.

 

Also, PERFECT weather every day! :)

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We flew into FLL and spent 4 days in the Keys deep sea fishing and enjoying the sights before we went into Miami on Saturday (flew out of MIa). I would be glad to answer any questions you might have.

How did you travel from FLL to Miami? DH and I are looking for an ecnomical way to do the transfer (for the 2 of us).

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Here is my Pics I have dwn loaded form the cruise if anyone wants to check em out.

 

http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi?action=viewall&albumID=369501685&ran=24733

 

Wow that was fats getting off the ship TheJman what time did get off?? And were you self assist? Or did you do Relaxed?

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Since we were going to be in the Keys for so many days we rented a mini van and drove to Key Largo then turned it in Saturday late afternoon in Miami. I saw a number of people taking the Super Shuttle, but I can't recommend it since I've never done it. It's actually a very short drive from FLL to Miami.

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Well I have no idea how ..but my pictures are lost in lala land. I will have to redo the whole thing and as soon as I get my email confirmation I can start again which probably won't be until tommrow. I really thought the third time was a charm when I was trying to get those pictures posted..obviously it wasn't.

 

Hey Jman were you busting on me when you said organized and detailed...I know mine was thrown together..wish I had taken the time to do it better. Are you going to be posting any pics too? If so put a link here ok..would love to check them out.

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I saw a number of people taking the Super Shuttle, but I can't recommend it since I've never done it. It's actually a very short drive from FLL to Miami.

I called Super Shuttle and they don't have a contract to pick-up at FLL. She said they can only drop off passenger there. I'll keep looking. :)

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OC MOM, if you're traveling into FLL a day before the crusie, why not rent a small car and drive down to Miami (you can turn the car in later in the afternoon or early the next morning). Unless your flight arrives late in the afternoon and then I suppose that's not very practical. At National you can rent a car with no deposit and low rate.

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