Valor Review - 12/26 Part II

Well, I stopped last night on food, so I thought I'd elaborate just a bit more on that before moving on! My kids loved the pizza and deli a lot. It was always available (at least the pizza) and the variety was great. Veggie, meat, goat cheese, whatever you like..and they even had veggie burgers at the grill..Something for everyone. The 24 ice cream was a big hit too. My 2 year old nephew even figured out how to get there himself...

Speaking of my nephew, here's our take on Camp Carnival. They signed him up on the morning of the first sea day. After being registered they gave my BIL a beeper to keep for the rest of the cruise. After signing him in they waited to see if he was ok and the staff let them peek in to check. Most days he was ok after a brief period. On the last sea day he was more upset (no sleep the night prior due to his party animal status for New Years Eve!) and they asked my sister to call in 20 minutes to see if he was ok and had calmed down. He had. Generally speaking they only used it during the morning period when waiting to get off the ship in port or after breakfast and before lunch on sea days. My 6 year old nephew didn't want to go and didn't use the camp at all. The teen program (15-17) was flexible enough to include my somewhat younger niece as well, and she, her sister and my 15 year old daughter had an incredible week. They met tons of kids and to be honest we never saw them except at dinner and when in port. I think they mostly hung out at Club O2@ The Caboose, or just outside there on the leather couches, but they did have a few activities that some kids participated in.

My older boys (17 and 19) mostly hung together and finally found a group of kids to hang with. They had an ok time.

The weather was nothing to write home about and that affected what we did in port. I had planned nothing prior to leaving (except diving in Roatan), and I must say I'm, glad I didn't. My family is not to keen on being scheduled and though some days were a bit chaotic, it worked out fine. Belize was windy and cool and the tender process was a real pain in the you know what! We had intended to take the water taxi over to Caye Caulker, but found it ran quite irregularly and by the tiome we got off the ship it didn't make any sense. We hired a van and driver on the street ($75 total) and went out to the ruins at Altun Ha. It was very interesting and the ride through the country side was terrific. My kids learned about the political situation in Belize and how the local politicians build the bus shelters as part of their campaigns! He tried to take us to a local church built by slaves, but it was closed. The area at the dock is typical island tourism, but just outside the gates, there isn't much to do. We walked a bit, and didn't feel particularly unsafe, just bored. My sister and her family hired a car and went to the baboon sanctuary. They enjoyed that as well. Tendering back wa fine.

In Roatan the next day the weather was overcast and wet. My kids and BIL left early to go to Las Rocas dive shop next tp Fosters West Bay Beach. I had booked a 2 tank dive for them with equipment for $55. Due to being late and the choppy seas they had to go around to the other side of the island to dive and ended up only doing one tank. The cost was reduced to $35, including equipment. Other than the really rough ride to the site the kids said the dive was great. We however had planned to wait for them next door at Fosters and spend the day on the beach. The best laid plans went awry when 15 minutes after arriving it started to POUR....we waited it out, my nephew played in the sand and we headed up to the bar! What wonderful people run this place. They gave my sister access to a bungalow to change my nephew since an outdoor shower in the rain was a bit of an oxymoron.. We had a drink and something to eat with our taxi driver, Jensen, who had come to retrieve us. If the weather had been good, we would have spent a great day on the beach, had lunch and relaxed. It was $5 to rent chairs and there were bathrooms, the aforesaid outdoor showers, a bar/restaurant and a gift shop. We'd return in a minute if the sun was out! More later....