valor 5/15 review

We were on Valor 5/15 Western. Overall we had a blast... can't have a bad cruise!! Here are the high and lowlights!!

First... we are married, 32 and 37. No kids, so we go travel alot, go out alot, eat out alot, etc... our 4th cruise... 3 on carnival, the last one on Navigator, Royal Caribbean.

We arrived around 2, so embarkation was a breeze. We were in cabin 9285... interior. We like the lido deck!! To our surprise, we had a handicapped room... which had an enormous shower which was awesome, and we were steps away from the entrance to the main pool... loved the location.

Had a quick snack and started exploring. The decor of this ship is not my favorite... rust is the color that keeps coming to mind. But the ship is pretty none the less... and clean and well kept. People cleaning everywhere all the time!!

Welcome aboard show was a disappointment... i think once you've been on cruise with john heald (spelling??) it's all downhill from there... the comedian we didn't find to be funny either, so we skipped his later shows. The cruise director, what's his name? brent i think... yaaaaawwwwwwnnnnn. A nice guy to be sure, but not too funny or charismatic. In his defense he's young, so hopefully he'll grow into his job!!

We laid in the sun awhile, then muster drill etc. Back to the cabin... and we missed sailaway!!! I think i was expecting the horns to go off, but never happened. Oh well.

That night the first show we went to was a nightclub review type thingg.. enjoyable, but it was emceed by a giant talking velvet couch??? Wacky!!

Then off to the casino. Wait ...i'm skipping dinner. We prefer to eat on our own schedule, so we skip the dining room and snack around. food at buffets in my opinion was REALLY lacking, both in variety, quality and temperature!! That being said, we certainly didn't go hungry. We really liked the fish and chips, and of course can't go wrong with burgers and pizzza. Sushi was good too, but i would definitely recommend hitting it early in the cruise as quality seemed to decline as cruise went on due to freshness. But vegetable rolls are a safe and yummy bet all week! Also, sushi is open 5;30 to 8:30... so it's available when alot of the other stuff is "between meals."

Back to the casino... a great selection of slots! We didn't win, but honestly, we about broke even and really enjoyed ourselves playing. And in the casino bar area we discovered "Flashy" our favorite onboard music. One guy, one guitar and some miscellaneouus electronics. We loved him... and the comfy seating opposite the casino is nonsmoking so it's not ttoooooo smoky there, even though the bar is right there.

Then to the disco ... danced and drank the night away and logged some time sleeping on the bathroom floor to pay for it ;-) the disco was packed first night... everyone was ready to cruise!! Had an absolute blast there.

next day sea day... finding a chair was tough as i had to sleep in to compensate for previous night's antics. Finally found a spot waaaaayyy up top. Dinner was again nothing special via buffet, then off to the piano bar. We got there early, and early on, it's like "piano bar lite." NO x or r-rated lyrics, which is fine for me. Although a very vocal crowd was demanding "the pussy cat song" (and you know what THAT is) ed rocks said no, that was after midnight material. So, good to know that you can bring the wife or parents or whomever early. Then to karaoke across the way at Paris Hot. Very fun!! Packed every night and drew the crowds. A tip: this place will not be open the last 2 nights of your cruise (at least it wasn't on ours) so don't wait till the last minute to visit or sing!!

Next day was Belize... we went with Coral Breeze and did the Caye Caulker excursion. Loved it!! Hopped a little boat, saw manatees AND dolphins on the way!! A treat even for this florida girl! Then dropped off at the Caye where we walked the little town then flopped on the beach. Paradise!! To be fair, the beach there is not spectacular, but the quiet and solitude is. Would love to go back and stay there a few days.

I think this night we went to the hypnotist show... enjoyable!! then more casino $$$$$!!!!

Next day, Roatan, and here is my BIGGEST gripe of the whole cruise. We didn't plan any excursions for this trip as we just wanted to relax and stroll and beach and shop etc. So we're getting off the ship, and i see the carnival "Super Shopper." I say, it's ok to just head into town on foot, right. And she says yes, and i say, what kind of shopping is there in town, and she says no shopping in town, but you can go to the cameo factory (a preferred carnival vendor), i say, what? no shopping at all? she says, honey, this is NOT your shopping port. I say, so there's no shopping at all, none, and finally, she reluctantly says, welllllll, there are a few vendors here and there. LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!!!!!! We proceeded into town on foot, and yes, the town is poverty stricken and dirty etc. But hey, if i wanted the sanitized version, i wouldn't be there. And there are TONS of shops. Sure, some of them had junk, junk, and more tshirts and junk. But i bought beautiful handmade cards (i'm a stationery fiend, but these are so beautiful they could easily be framed) for $1.50, we got a giant wooden carved turtle for $30. This at Yabba ding dings, who by the way would NOT budge at all. While there i found a cool map of honduras, $24... couldn't do it. Good thing as i found it for $12 about 200 feet down the street!!! TIP: price shop yaba ding ding for sure!!! They also had beautiful photo albums covered with palm fronds for like $10. In retrospect, i wish we could have arranged a tour as well... but i wanted time to explore on foot. ALSO... super shopper told us a cab to the west end was $15 per person, and that SHOULD cover us roundtrip. A local vendor, a lovely woman who ran a little store in the indoor shopping strip, said we would have to bargain vigorously as their is a local and tourist price, but if we could get it for $5 , that was a good deal!!!!!

Nest stop, Cayman... just shopping and strolling here... great woven napsacks with seashell detailing for $20!!

Cozumell..again, more shopping. Holy cow the pier area has exploded since my last visit here 3 years ago!!! Browesed here, but shopped in town... $6 for both of us. Strolled the main drag, for a few, then hit ponchos backyard, where , after a week of bland cruise food, we feasted!!! Margaritas were $9 apiece, but giant and very strong. Maybe they have a smaller size? If not you could easily split one. Food was awesome... and if you're looking for budget options, order from the appetizer side of the menus... the portions were big. And the chips and salsa....yummmmmmm!!! Quick stop at Carlos and Charlies, then back to the ship to clean up for the evening.

So we get lazy and just go to Fat Tuesdays.... wellll, it's the poor wicked stepchild of Carlos and Charlies. Yes, it eventually got packed, and wild, and loud. Heck, there were even naked dancing bald men. But it's a distant second to the magic craziness of Carlos and Charlies... lesson learned!!!

Sea day next day... i moderated somehow the night before so got up early and enjoyed a good few hours in the sun on a quiet pool deck... fabulous!!! I had an early night that night, but my husband headed out for late night snacking and reported that the casino and casino bar were mad packed and every machine was occupied. Also said disco was dead, so again, keep in mind, you wanna dance, don't wait till the last night!!!

did self debarc and were in the car at 8am!!! A fabulous way to end things.

Oh, my only other really big disappointment, Laws, the lido deck band. Really just not even average in my opinion, but honestly, not a big deal. Also did Scarletts one night, filet awesome, lobster not, some food really, really cold, but the service was sparkling.

Never saw our cabin steward, but ice was replenished. Overall, most of the service was good. I saw some people who consistently were really friendly, the girl at javas was a sweetheart. No bad service to report.

OH>>. ok, this is the last thing, Went to an art auction and absolutely positively loved it. I know, I know, sounds like a drag, but it's something i've wanted to do it home, and this cruise gave me the opportunity to indulge. Didn't buy anything, but was quite surprised at how reasonable things were.

Sorry to be so long.... if i've left anything out (highly suspect) please questions!!

Thanks for a good unbiased review. You hit some points no one else has mentioned. :D

It sounds like you had a fun time.Even with the bald dancing men at Fat Tuesdays.:D :)

So glad to see your review - this board has helped lessen my depression over being back! :D You reminded me of things that I wasn't even thinking about -Like Flashy by the Casino and the girl at Java's. She was so nice! And the sushi was definitely a nice treat. We tried going to karaoke once or twice but each time someone awful was singing and we couldn't bring ourselves to stick around. We heard there were some amazing singers onboard though. Did you try the massage chairs by Java's? We kept saying we were going to but...there's always something that slips by!:rolleyes:

I really enjoyed reading your review. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

Never tried the massage chairs, but they did look inviting. Re: karaoke, yes, there were some AWFUL singers and some amazing ones, i enjoyed the ones in between, just normal people getting up there and being silly and having fun. and the guy who emceed things made it clear no heckling would be tolerated, so that was nice too.

I did think of one other thing... the deck party after cozumel was a good time, but it did start late, so after waiting around a bit, we missed the official beginning, but it was a good time.

Thanks for sharing your Cruise experience..was a treat! I am so looking forward to cruising on the Valor in 9 more days!! I will be sure to try out those massage chairs..my son tried them out on the Glory and he said they were neat and asked why we didn't have one. He finally seen one shopping in Office Depot and asked for it. Thinking it might just be a great xmas gift for him!

tortugas,

Which one would you recommend ?

tortugas

Naviagtor or Valor

Loved ur review, to the point and all, I will be sailing the Valor March !! cant wait. Thanks again for your cool review.

tortagas .... What a helpful review and so much FUN to read! :D

OK ... so you are FOR SURE saying that after our excursion in Cozumel we should go to Carlos'N Charlies (like we have always done) instead of getting lazy and going to Fat Tuesdays? :confused:

Thanks again! Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)