Valor review May 25th

Was going to try for a quickie review..but it is not ending up that way and I am practicing putting in pics so this ought to take a good long time...sorry..if you don't want to wait, in short, it was a fantastic cruise, loved the valor and I have no complaints (well a few, but nothing to deter from a fantastic vacation!)

Saturday, May 24th-Arrived in Ft. Lauderdale...had a car waiting for us...service was wonderful and Seth (the owner and operator) was great. we found it through Craig's List in Fort Lauderdale! You can email him at Seth@personaldriving.com. He charged us 50.00 each way..reasonable and convenient and on the return trip took us to the airport first so we could store our bags then took us to the beach, no extra charge; needless to say we tipped him nicely!...He took us directly to a Winnefred pick (Holiday Inn Port of Miami)...good pick Fred and others..thank you! We requested a room facing the port and ships; first gal we spoke to said this would be a long wait and was not exactly a poster child for a welcome wagon; we said we would wait since we were there so early (our flight came in at 10:00 and we were there at 11:00 a.m.) We came back at 1:30 after walking around Bayside for shopping, drinks and lunch at one of the Cuban restaurants on the water; can't remember the name of it; food was forgettable, but view was lovely.

We went back to the hotel, talked to another woman at the desk who said a room was waiting for us and even upgraded us one floor more to the sixth floor when she found out we were HI priority members. Room was fine; we paid premium for the room ($140.00) because it was Memorial Day Weekend; but we already knew that and were prepared..we weren't finding anything better for any less this weekend. After we rested (for a couple of hours) we went back over to Bayside, taking in the sights and sounds of early evening fun. We decided to take a ride on one of the boats (the Pink Lady) for a Harbor cruise and a look see on Millionaire row....

It was kind of hokey (they said things like "this is where Liz Taylor "used" to live" and "behind all those those trees is where they shot Scarface" etc.) but we laughed about it and enjoyed just being on the water.

Patience is not my biggest virtue but I will try;) Picture reviews IMO are definitely worth the wait. Looking forward to the rest....

However, then the weather turned wild and we had a torrential downpour halfway through the trip (in fact we got to see a water spout..kinda scary...but again...laughed our way through it as it was just great to be away!). After finishing this, we came back to eat dinner at Bubba Gumps. I can't say that the food was all that great but our waiter was fun to talk to and the atmosphere was fun. I loved the movie, so I did some reading about it (on the wall) while we waited for about 20 minutes)... After eating, we had to go to a liquor store...thanks to my cruise critic friends, I knew to just walk up a few blocks (maybe 4) to Flagler, turn right and halfway down, a convenient and friendly liquor store! Great place, but at night a little shady to be walking the street; girls don't walk alone...I had big bad hub who took care of me though) We bought some rum, vodka and mixer for my magic bullet and we were ready for the ship! Came back to the hotel where we promptly went to sleep anticipating our next day's adventures. (sorry no pics of Bubba's or Hotel...)

Sunday, May 25th- Got up and at em early as we were so excited to get on the ship....had to wait of course to even think about it, so hubby went to get us coffee...we just sat and watched the port and bayside goings on for awhile and actually saw our ship come in!...so to speak:)...the day was shaping up beautifully..a little cloudy...but not for us!

We finished packing up our stuff, walked out, past the lines downstairs (as we had nothing to do but leave the keys on the desk), through the door at about 11:00 a.m. and into the waiting cab who took us to our Valor...Wow..what a beautiful ship...We gave our bags to a very nice porter (LOL..just kidding..don't think he really even saw us); handed him the dutiful $2.00/bag (we had 2 to check..stuffed full of clothes (and a little libation) and went into the building where we it would be quick and easy...though there were hundreds of people already there, the line moved quickly and painlessly. We then were told to "sit over there" until they called our number (6). Well lo and behold, I kid you not; after spending about 15 minutes in line, we spent about 3 minutes waiting for # 6 to be called. My hub came out of the bathroom, laughing saying that was the shortest wait he'd ever had!...We went up the escalator to the glass walkway to the entrance to the ship!

We walked into the Lobby level. Piano was already playing and people were dancing and drinking!! It was cruise time!! I looked at hub and said we should go check out our room..so to the elevator we went to the Empress Deck where we looked down and saw

We then moved on to Cabin 7408 [/url](our new home for the next 7 days!) and ran into Joseph, our room steward!..He was SO sorry our room wasn't ready and I said we were the ones sorry that we were trying to sneak in early...he laughed and suggested I leave my bag in the closet and he would get to our room right away...what a relief..I didn't have to lug the bag around and I quickly got out of Joseph's way. Out we went and to the Lido from the elevator right around the corner from our room! How convenient is that? We went to 9 and turned to our right and there it was! The Aft pool. Wow...it took about 20 seconds to get to from my room. SOOO easy and right to the bar I went to get my first Strawberry Daquairi. Hub and I roamed the ship for the afternoon, getting to know it (a little...we never quite "got it" all, but what I did get was that we needed to always go to deck 5 to walk all the way through..weird but I expected it from reading reviews. We again did our duty reporting to our cabin and getting our first glimpse off our first balcony!!! We were SO happy to have a balcony this trip and it did not disappoint! I know that others say they wouldn't do without an extended..but I have to tell you, the regular balcony was good enough for me! (this pic was taken later in cruise, but it was one of few of balcony..lol)

On to Muster where we laughed and talked to some ladies about how disgusting some kids were who were spitting on deck...we ignored after I did ask them not to spit anymore. They spit some more, tho'..just goes to show that some people are just disgusting..anyway...did not detract from having fun...we let it go!

Sorry..some pics dark..don't know why...

Patience is not my biggest virtue but I will try;) Picture reviews IMO are definitely worth the wait. Looking forward to the rest....

sry this is really going to take awhile and I will have to finish tomorrow as I just made a date with friends and need to leave in 15 minutes!

Friends schmends. We want pics! LOL

Thank you so much for doing this! Loving the review so far!

Finally!! Sail away arrives...a beautiful day and time to get on with our cruise! I love leaving from Miami!

and I love love love leaving and seeing South Beach!!

We had gone to the Washington Dining Room to meet with the Maitre De, to no avail at about 2:00 p.m. He did not make himself available and I was bummed because we found out our table was hidden in a corner with only 2 other people..we love to meet new people and wanted a larger table. Anyway..there was no way to talk to him and we were told we had to wait until dinner..eeek..thought that wasn't so nice, but ah well..we are on a fabulous cruise...on to more exploring and a few more cocktails, then got ready for late dinner (we definitely prefer late seating and I can never imagine how anyone gets to dinner for the earlier seating!). OK...VERY sorry for the dark pics again!..I Have to do something about this camera or my shooting!...anyway...wanted to show this as the table in forefront is the Captain's and we ended up getting seated at the table you see directly behind. Anyway...back it up a few minutes prior to getting seated at that table! Stood in line to speak to Maitre De...Let me tell you this is one of the ONLY issues I had with this cruise...He was just not very nice tonight (I say tonight because he partially redeemed himself later on in the cruise!)..Anyway, he was sarcastic to the people ahead of me chastizing them for not wanting a table for 2 by the window...he says "Well..you are the only people i have ever known who do not want the window for 2. The older couple said they just felt like they were too far away from everything ...I felt bad for them...Ok..onto me next...he again is sarcastic and very nastily wonders why I cannot be happy with the table I got. He eventually says "Fine, you can be with those people over there at (I cannot remember table (248 maybe??) and then says..."they are older couple, one of them". I said this would be fine (I just wanted to get away from him)..l am so glad we moved...we had GREAT table mates and had fun all week with them!

Hope they don't mind the pic on here..they were delightful table mates! and here is a pic of a yummy from the dining room a little fuzzy but you get the idea...food was good for most part..some issues..like cold soup...but nothing that couldn't be overlooked.

Great job!! Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise (and pictures) with all of us:D

Monday, May 26th I cannot believe I am into my first full day at sea. I began the day with my first of seven room service coffee. Sitting out on our balcony in my robe for the first morning was heavenly. I do not think I can go back now. We slowly made our way awake so that we could go to my husband's favorite thing...breakfast in the Washington dining room where we can chit chat with fellow passengers. After Breakfast, we made our plans...heavy as they were (sit on deck, enter the slot tournament later, sit on deck some more, make some drinks to bring on deck, sit on deck some more, cruise the ship, you know...the rough life). Though it is very windy, it is warm and I keep trying to lay down on the Aft deck to get some rays; but that was not to be...This was a crazy day (for cruising anyway). There was an emergency on board. A passenger fell ill?? had a heart attack?? stroke??? Don't know...never did find out..but because of it, the ship was turned around and we had to travel for hours in the direction of Tampa where we would eventually meet up with a helicopter and they could airlift the individual from the ship. It all took hours to go through from clearing the entire back end of the ship, closing off the aft pool with it's roof, getting passengers away from the back half of the ship, picking up every single chair...(Might I add, the entire crew was professional about the move, and everyone was excellent at executing all aspects of the airlift). So I had to move toward the middle of the ship.

It was fun (if not a little pensive) people watching and watching the sea while we all waited for what was going to happen next. As I was walking into our cabin (couldn't find hub for awhile),I find him on the balcony taking pics of this . For those of you who don't know; The captain did not take away one of the ports; instead our itinerary was reversed; so tomorrow it is Cozumel, not Grand Cayman...eeek!! I planned a party day for our last port day...guess it'll just have to be our first port day! Tonight was Captain's night and we dressed for it ; however, we were a little frazzled...had a few too many daquairi's made by my magic bullet and topped off with some good ol' Captain Morgan's...my lordy but what a day! On to Cozumel!!!

The next morning we awoke early, drank our coffee and made our way to breakfast on the Lido. Honestly, the eggs kind of scare me (if they are real, they don't look it), but everything else from the bacon to the french toast was delightful. Satisfied, we made our way to the pier where we were to meet the Catamaran for our Catamaran sail, snorkel and beach party excursion! What a great time we had today!!!!! The captain sailed our catamaran with precision and safety in mind!

Loving your review. Can't wait for the next part.

I truly believe that we were supposed to have alot more people on this excursion but they may not have known that we were in Cozumel! Honestly, the night before we met a couple at about 8:00 p.m. who had no idea that we were changing course and would be in Cozumel the next morning. It made for a fabulous excursion anyway...the day was clear, not crowded; a fun crew (we did the excursion through Carnival). I would not have changed a thing for our first time ever snorkeling! Look at that water! It was amazing!

We have found a new hobby!!! WE LOVED SNORKELING!!! (but we need to get better cameras with faster shutters...lol...all are pics are grainy and of only one fish..I swear there were 10 there a second ago!)"]

The coral was wonderful!

hope everyone's not sick of this yet..cause I have 5 more days to go and I haven't finished with Cozumel....We got back onto the catamaran after snorkeling and all of us downed enough Margarita's and beers to sink the ship!! But we hung on until we arrived at the beach for the party where I layed out on a floatie and hubbie laid on one of these

The garbage can doesn't look all that inviting in this pic, but believe me, the beach was terrific and though the food not that good (costs extra), the drinks kept coming and the bartender slipped some more tequila in when I asked (I gave him a nice tip of course)! We left the beach, back on the catamaran and they whisked us back to the pier...so I could do some shopping!!! Aren't those colors wonderful??? The shopping here is so modern and clean and the vendors were not pushing me (I hated that in Jamaica!) so I got to buy some beautiful tourquoise pendants (3) and a mayan calendar for our friend...I am not a big shopper, but it was fun to mill around. Next we were off to Senor Frogs (I don't look happy, but really I am!!)"] where we ate nachos and they plied us with alcohol...when they were pouring it down people's throat's they weren't charging..(this is not me, as you can see...but doesn't she look like she is having fun??? but BEWARE...if they come to your table, you will be charged $7.00/shot for a kamekaze! (and they won't tell you they are charging ahead of time)...ah well..live and learn...we had a yard of daiquari and got killed on the kamekazi's....Oh yea..and I forgot one piece...I had to leave hub at Senor Frog's, go back to the ship, get our card because we had spent all our cash earlier..lol...I took one of those bikes back to the ship the first time because I was in a hurry (where they ride you down the pier)....they do it for tips..I gave them $5.00...he was great! All in all a great day in Cozumel!

I'm loving your review! Keep it coming. I'll be on the Glory this time next week - I must read reviews to keep myself from going bonkers. lol

I wanted to throw this in before I carried on to Belize as I believe this was taken in Cozumel..The evening after Cozumel was funfilled at the Casino where I raked in a good $40.00..lol..course that was all gone in a NY minute!!!

We had to tender into Belize City from the ship...It was a long tender ride (maybe 20 minutes or so)...it was shaping up to be an ok day, but with scattered showers in the forecast. As we drew closer, we could see the photogs start to get ready for us; "] the port itself had several shops both more modern looking (and had some great deals I might add) as well as some more local looking shops with goods. We had originally planned a "Beach Break" excursion, but after yesterday, we had decided to cancel it and see what Belize City had to offer....mistake!! Well at least until we came back to the port. Went outside of the port and started to cross the street to go to the "Flea Market". Immediately we got bombarded by several cabbies waiting to take people somewhere...It didn't occur to us that we were the only ones who had ventured outside the port area at this time. We went across the street anyway (mostly to rid ourselves of the one cabbie who was truly harassing my hub). We walked around the deserted flea market (which is probably pretty cool when it is going) and went back to the street where that same cab driver was waiting to pounce. Hub was not in good humor and I was not going to spend my entire day with him being unhappy so I steered us back to the port area and we ended up getting onto a boat to go snorkeling again...we knew we would enjoy that...well..live and learn again...this excursion was a down grade from yesterday's but still very enjoyable and the snorkeling was even better here...Maria was our dive guide who dove for conch shells to take to sell and the captain here never said a word. The guide (Albert) was very informative actually and very nice...the team was a good one I suppose, but they allowed us to get too far from each other in some pretty rough water which probably wasn't so good for some of the beginners (like us)...we did see some amazing coral though and we ended up on another little caye that tho' not fabulous was relaxing and enjoyable nonetheless. We went back to the port in time to shop a little (got some cute skirts cheap cheap cheap!) and got back on a tender and back to the boat early. We relaxed awhile on deck then had a fun night losing at the casino again!

Do you see what big spenders we are??? and this is the extent of my big winnings...$40.00 worth of nickels...lol

Well..I had truly been looking forward to Roatan after reading how unscathed by tourism it was and it did not disappoint! Roatan is really very beautiful (very poor, but very beautiful). To begin with, we awoke and stood on our balcony around 6:30 a.m...sun was just coming up and we heard what we thought was people partying...when it dawned on hub that it was roosters...dozens, maybe hundreds of them cock a doodle doodleing for about 15 minutes...It was amazing; we scrambled to get ready to begin our day; what originally had been planned for 11:30 (since we were not to dock until 11:00 prior to our changes, turned into us needing to be on the dock at 9:30 for our excursion. Today we go to Gumbalimba Park to (yes) snorkel yet again and see monkeys and flora and fauna:) We waited on the dock while some locals danced and played for us until they led us to a line up of what appears to be 1960's busses from my primary school!

Yes, we boarded one and embarked on a crazy ride up up up to the hills and to the other side of the Island...This did not hurt the beauty of Roatan however and we enjoyed the scenery all the way.

Then we arrive at the park..."] lol..ready for a nappie...

Our tour included Clear Kayaks, snorkeling..(yeah!!) and the park. First the kayaks...I loved it..hub could have done without it; but...we managed and the guide kept telling us we must communicate well to ride so well...after we managed to stay with the group and not get caught up on the coral (as some did...they really should have guided us better..that coral is taking a beating in Roatan from the boats!! I didn't like that that was happening especially after long talks from our other two guides about the importance of not touching the coral so that we do not impact the environment so much...hope they do something about that)..

Next we snorkeled once more and this time if possible, it was even more beautiful than the first two times. This time we were sooooo close to everything and we really felt like we were in an aquarium. The fans (or whatever they are called) were absolutely beautiful! I know these pics are a far cry from the best, but bear with me cause it was just so wonderful for us! the coral was so close and I finally got a pic of more than one fish. And this little one and I really bonded too! I cannot wait to do this more in the future!! We ended our day at Gumbalimba in another torrential downpour (a true rainforest it was) BUT we wanted to see the monkeys and birds and flora and fauna the park had to offer, so we trudged on!

First it was Peter the monkey with whom we both fell in love!!!

Friends schmends. We want pics! LOL

 

Thank you so much for doing this! Loving the review so far!

loved the friends schmends comment...and thanks for the encouragement...I think I got a little lengthy and I haven't even finished yet!

Next it was the birds...

Alrighty...onward to party night on the ship!! Or may be not! I believe tonight (this is where my memory gets fuzzy) is when I got really tired and ill (from so much partying and late nights I think) that halfway through dinner I had to excuse myself...I was sooooo grateful for turn down service tonight! Poor hub had to carry on at the casino without me...and he truly enjoyed the show, the comedian and the adult comedy show without me...lol...I am sure he didn't suffer too much! Actually all the shows were done very well, I thought, though I do have to say that when they did the 80's review show, I believe it was the exact same one they had on the Imagination last year....do they do that? Travel the shows I mean??? it was weird...the exact same show!

We awaken the next morning and you guessed it....onto the balcony and some coffee....Now you must know that each day we returned from port, I went to the aft deck for some rays, a cocktail and wind down...it was all very nice indeed and I can't seem to shake the need for a Strawberry Daquairi....hmmmm....what can that mean??? Tonight I say good night...and will finish up tomorrow my antics in Grand Cayman, day at sea and Fort Lauderdale...thank you all for reading and your patience and for actually looking at all of this!!!!

Absolutely loving your review especially all the pics. Keep it coming, and no, you are not getting too lengthy. ????Did you worry about the monkeys biting? We saw some in Coz and when I started to pet it I envisioned fangs coming out and biting me and being in quarantine the rest of the cruise so needless to say, I walked away w/o petting. But, in Roatan we are gonna do the tour w/ Victor and go to his house to see the monkeys.

Great review--keep going--you have fans that you must not disappoint! We'll be on the Valor in *only* 573 days, so take your time, lol.

Sorry about your itinerary being flipped (I, too, am looking forward to ending in Cozumel), but how exciting to get to see the helicopter land on the ship! My dh would be in heaven with that kind of excitement.

Absolutely loving your review especially all the pics. Keep it coming, and no, you are not getting too lengthy. ????Did you worry about the monkeys biting? We saw some in Coz and when I started to pet it I envisioned fangs coming out and biting me and being in quarantine the rest of the cruise so needless to say, I walked away w/o petting. But, in Roatan we are gonna do the tour w/ Victor and go to his house to see the monkeys.

Peter was absolutely wonderful and too cute to even think about biting...lol..however, there was a spider monkey that was chained up there...because he bites..hub was not afraid though and fed him (with the blessing of the park guide, though). I did not go near.:)

Great review--keep going--you have fans that you must not disappoint! We'll be on the Valor in *only* 573 days, so take your time, lol.

 

Sorry about your itinerary being flipped (I, too, am looking forward to ending in Cozumel), but how exciting to get to see the helicopter land on the ship! My dh would be in heaven with that kind of excitement.

Tell dh that it never landed, it actually was a lift...they had the person precariously hanging there in a basket while they pulled them up to the helicopter...exciting a little scary...some people got some wild shots (we actually have several little videos, but I am not sure how to get that onto here without taking forever!)

P/S...I am so jealous you have the Valor to look forward to...I would go on her again in a second!

By the way, a couple of things...according to the captain, the person had emergency surgery and it was successful (still don't know what happened) and the itinerary change worked out really well..better than I missed port I suppose, though I could have done without Belize and enjoyed a day at sea...but we were just grateful all worked out ok and it didn't mar one thing (lol..except I was a little worse for wear after all the margarita's and beer!)

Like I said, I think I have goofed up some evenings here..But let me talk a little about our dining room staff...Made (pronounced MaDay)..our head server...boy was he trying too hard throughout most of the week...but we all ended up bonding by the end! He just kept telling us that he was here to serve us...but then forgot stuff. Oh yes, on lobster tail night we (four of us) decided to order 2 meals...Carnival is ok with this right???? Well, Made kept making us feel guilty..kept saying "I cannot serve your second meal to you with your first meal" and "Your second meal will be served right away" and everyone else needs to "wait, until you get your "second" meal"...I mean, he really laid it on...we (the four of us) just laughed hysterically and started talking about how bad we were to have second meal and what pigs they must think we are for having a second meal. then we had to go dancing to work off our second meal"...All in fun, but when I tried to order 2 apps one night (I just so wanted to try), Made did lean down and say "he doesnt like us to serve more than one at a time, but I will try to accomodate you" (the he he was referring to was the Maitre De)...Anyway, was wondering if they are getting tighter on the food...which is fine, I do not need to be gluttonous...but maybe they can let us know in the capers or something..lol...Gilbert, our "bread man" was a hoot and he loved doing the show and gave us a good one every night!

Ok..on with our last port day...Grand Cayman...now, we had been here last year on the Imagination and I absolutely LOVE the beach so it was a no brainer for me...no excursion, just lots of beach time....too bad it was cloudy, cool and misty most of the day...but did that deter us??? No, indeedy!!

We tender into Cayman...ok ok...this is not the shot from our Cayman tender..it is from the Belize tender..but I did not get this in in the Belize section..so am slipping this in...this is the day we tendered to GC. and this

When we get into town, we decide to do some looking first before beaching it as it is early...so we go to the shops...no deals here that I see..I don't know why so many people want to buy gems there as the exchange rate is not in our favor for sure! But I just had to get a pick of hub and the Big Black Dick~lol...some people don't want to stand beside him...we LOVED him..he was all over town! Isn't hubby good?? He is carrying my heavy bag with him...all over town and on the beach too!