LIVE from the Valor....

Hello again Cruise Critic's!! We are on the Valor on our balcony writing this. If you look at the web cam... you will see us hanging off the back of the ship from our balcony on the Empress deck.

Embark:

We arrived at the port around 10:30AM. We proceeded to the check-in desk with 5 other cruise critics that rode in the limo with us. Security went very quickly and we stood for about 20 - 30 minutes once finished with the security check point. We proceeded upstairs to sit for another 20 or 30 minutes. Soon enough we were onboard the Valor (around 12:00PM). We proceed to our cabin even though we were advised it would not be made up. Sure enough, it was almost complete. Once we dropped our baggage, we went to get a bite to eat at Rosies dinner. It was great. We had roast beef with ajus, chicken breast with cheese and spinich, seafood pilaf. They also had a variety of pasta salads. Their desserts were to die for.

We are now on our balcony with Fun ship specials in hand. It is a wonderful ship.

Next step: we are going to explore more, attend the muster drill, and finally go to our cruise critic get together / party.

We will keep you updated..

Ryan & Carine

Enjoy your cruise!

Did you get gold sail&sign cards.

Break her in good for us!:D

Weather looks crappy in Miami today as per the video link to the ships!!

have a great time :) i can't wait to go in 2 months!!! so, you bought the internet access in your cabin? that's neat.

Kodiac, What cabin number are you...we're in 7446, aft balcony, empress deck leaving Jun 5...have a great vacation....btw...looking at the live cam...is that a foo foo drink in your hand?

Ryan & Carine... We are very envious!! Hope you have a great trip. Enjoy yourselves. Have a Hurricane for us.

Have a great time! Can't wait until I'm on the Valor myself!

VERY JEALOUS!!!! Going on the Valor July 10th First timer!!!! Have a great time..Weather didn't look to good in Miami this morning...Hope it gets better!!!:D :D

Hi

Can someone please tell me where I can look at the ships from the web cam?

Thanks :)

They must be having a blast -- still no post from Kodiac...

Live AGAIN from the Valor.

I already told you how embarkation was – wonderful! We ended up meeting with many cruise critics at the meet and greet. Alpha, Nancy, Jane, Chris, and James rode in the limo with us. We had a blast on our way to the port.

Again, the meet and greet was cool. After the meet and greet we went to our first dinner. I had salmon, salad, and lamb. So did my wife. We ended up getting a table for 6 in the Lincoln dinning room (317) with our parents, brother, and his fiancée. Our dining staff is WONDERFUL. Food was excellent, and we could not complain about service at all. This table was by the window so we were able to see out. We attended the welcome aboard show which actually blew us out of the water. I can not believe the comedian was ACTUALLY funny. Our cruise director is not Josh anymore… it is Brent Mitchell. He is funny but has somewhat of a dry attitude and does not like Belize City for some reason. After the welcome aboard show my wife and I cruised down to the Karaoke bar where Carine decided to sing a few songs. It was very smoky in this bar so we did not stay more than a few hours. My wife and I talked for hours and explored the Valor in the evening. There is a LOT of party / night life on the Valor. So those that want to party ----- it is on!! We did not end up in the cabin / bed until about 2:30AM. Tonight we set our clocks back 1 hour… or so we were suppose to 

I woke up this morning to a wonderful sunrise on our balcony as this will be our first day at sea. Little did I know, it was only 5AM when I woke up my wife. By this time we were already wake and there was no going back to sleep. We cruised up to the lido deck for breakfast. I had an omelet and a few other goodies to start the day. Once we were done with breakfast, we headed directly to the hot tub and got a chair by the pool. There was not a lot of chair hogging / saving even around noon. We then proceeded to the topless deck for a full body tan. Our first day at sea was great. Lunch was Indian at the buffet and not spicy at all, but very good. We did attend the art auction but we did not purchase anything even though we saw some nice paintings. Maybe we will get another one later this week. After the art auction we explored again and used our balcony. Soon it was ready to get ready for our first formal dinner. The captains cocktail party was excellent. There was dancing, food, and unlimited drinks. The wait staff had new drinks on the table before the old ones were gone. We asked for “custom drinks” – not just the ones off the tray  Dinner was FABULOUS!! Lobster, prime rib, and many other things were served. The steak was only warm but the lobster was excellent. For dessert we had tiramisu. The show tonight was a Las Vegas style show and NOT TO MISS!!! This show was probably one of the best we have seen yet! They did YMCA, Cher, a ballet, hip hop, Frank Sinatra, western style dance, and many other great acts.

We are now sitting on our balcony awaiting the “R” rated comedy show at 12AM. Will we make it? Heck yes!

The Valor is a wonderful ship so far…. We missed a lot of things of course and will do a full review once we get home. Any questions for us?

You said that you were suppose to set your clocks back one hour? Thought that the ship stayed on Eastern Daylight Savings time. This will make a difference for those of us that have booked outside tours. Please keep us informed if you do set your clocks back and then will be in Island time.

Thanks for letting us pretend we are sailing with your. Our cruise is not until June so it is so much fun reading about it ahead of time!

Live AGAIN from the Valor.

 

Our cruise director is not Josh anymore… it is Brent Mitchell. He is funny but has somewhat of a dry attitude and does not like Belize City for some reason.

Could be the Riots. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=170356

Is Josh Riffe coming back??

I thought I read on one of these mayn thread that Carlo "something-or-other" was supposed to be the next CD on the Valor? weird.:confused:

Hello guys. Sorry to keep you checking CC everyday for new updates. We are on vacation, having fun, and not sleeping much to maximize our cruise experience. 

Randy – you better believe we are breaking her in… what a wonderful ship.

NFEB – we have the cabin next door to you (7448). I have spent many hours on our balcony and so has the person in your cabin 7446. You can not beat a balcony AFT… we have fell in love with this a few cruises ago. Very quiet, plenty of airflow, and nothing on our balcony from above.

Lets go back to the R rated comedy show on the first formal night… it was great. He made a few racial cracks that were funny but not appreciated by a lot of people.

The second day was our first port which was Belize. We were planning on getting off the ship to go look at property for sale in Caye Caulker (for retirement). I stood in line for about 15 minutes for a tender ticket, although I found that these were not checked so what is the point? After getting off the ship, I felt like a relaxing day and did not feel like doing much in this port as we have been here several times before. I passed on a “special deal” to 6 cruise critics that went cave tubing with Reggie. They had a blast, as expected! I heard many complaints from the people that did the cave tubing with the cruise line. There were over 500 people in the CCL group, the river was crowded, and there was not much control. Also, the lunch was only OK. The group that went with Reggie (the CC) had an EXCELLENT time. There were only 12 people total and the food was excellent. They also went through 2 or 3 caves compared to the 1 the CCL group went through. Once we were back on the ship in Belize we went to dinner (which again was fabulous) and then we were off to the show. Our comedy juggler did not get on the ship (missed his flight) so the tribute to Frank Sinatra was playing a big band special. He was not too good, so we left to go shopping, play in the casinos, and chill out in the hot tub with a few drinks. Of course the late night comedy show was canceled for tonight and will be playing the night of Roatan.

Roatan was great. We met with Paul from Salt n Pepper once we got off the ship. Paul took us to a wonderful resort which we laid by the beach most of the morning which waiting on the dive masters. Once we had all our gear up and ready, we went on a beautiful dive! This was stunning! These reefs were untouched by any of the hurricanes or tourism. I almost think this reef may be one of the best in the Carribean.

I will talk back with you all later. It is time to go eat breakfast with my wife, brother, and his fiancée. I will answer you questions in my next post.

Cheers

PS – wonderful weather this whole cruise so far. We are headed to Grand Cayman now.

U

I didn't think that Paul from Salt and Pepper was still in business? What resort did you go to? What about sand fleas, bites, etc.?

Any word about the trouble in Belize? I am curious if it is affecting tourism.

Could you guys please ask Brent if he was the CD on the Paradise in November of '03. That name sounds right for when we were on the Paradise. If he was boy do we have some increminating shots of him.

Thanks

Kodiac, I will be on the Valor May 15 with about 20 people. I love your reviews so far. I am so excited. I have an Aft 9A 8448. Are they great or what???? Do you have a favorite drink?? I am glad this ship is full of night life. I have been on other cruise lines that seem not to have that much going on at night. Did you try the disco?? Did you feel safe in Belize. Please let me know when you can break away from the Hot Tub. Have Fun!!!!!!!! Save some drinks for the rest of us!!!!!!

Kodiac, thanks for the info...we are all jealous...enjoy your vacation...I am looking forward to reading your 'post cruise' review.

Thanks.

Fred

What trouble in Belieze? We have been there and enjoyed it alot.

Love reading these "Live From....." threads!! Thanks Kodiac! Can't wait to read the follow-up!

Belize is having a little unrest right now. The people don't seem to be happy with folks in charge