MistyRo76

My favorite ship is the Breeze - is she considered a Dream class ship? Seems like she's kind of a bridge ship between Dream and Vista classes. I also love the Conquest class ships!

We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Ybor city....it was walkable to alot of shops, restaurants, bars, etc. Nice location at the end of Ybor so it wasn't super noisy. They have a shuttle that will take you anywhere within a certain radius (I think 3 or 5 miles). We had them take us to a grocery store to buy wine and sodas to take onboard with us. Then it dropped us off for lunch somewhere in the area. We could have called it to come back and get us, but it wasn't a far walk to the hotel. It would also take you to the port - but we preferred to Lyft/Uber there since we had a large group and wanted to leave at a specific time. The fare for Lyft was only like $10 or so (if my memory serves me - it was three years ago!).

A couple questions/comments now that I'm caught up! Is it just me or do the tables/chairs in the main dining rooms on these newer ships look very cheap. I am getting like cafeteria vibes. I used to think the main dining rooms always looked very elegant! Maybe this is by design to make them less appealing and drive more traffic to the for-pay venues??? Is the LimeLight Lounge really as small as it appears in Patti's photos? It looks tiny - other than the Trivia and PG comedy shows you mentioned, what else is this space used for? I am digging those fun plates at Rudy's SeaGrill! I have always been a MDR gal (late seating FTW!), but not cause I don't enjoy trying other venues. On the contrary, we have occasionally eaten at the steakhouse and did the Chef's Table on our last cruise and loved it! But now seeing your detailed experiences at the Teppanyaki and SeaGrill, I'm thinking once I finally get on MG or one of her sister ships, I won't be dining at the MDR much at all! Can't wait to read about (and see) the rest of your journey!

As a kid who grew up on sodas and then became an adult totally addicted to them, we are striving to keep our kiddo off them as much as possible. I finally gave them up my self 2 and half years ago! So we don't keep them in the house at all. At home our daughter drinks milk, apple juice, lemonade and water mostly. We allow the occasional Sprite or something when we go out to dinner, at a special occasion or go on vacation. But she does love a good "kiddie cocktail" (i.e. Shirley Temple). On our second cruise with her when she was 3, I have the cutest picture of her sitting on a bar stool at the Blue Iguana bar drinking a kiddie cocktail with a tropical umbrella in it! lol I still don't think it would be worth it to buy Bubbles for her. We would probably just elect to bring on some Sprite for the cabin instead. Way cheaper!

I definitely plan on writing a trip report - In fact, I've started a Word Document detailing how the cruise came to be and our (my!) planning efforts. Second time on the Valor for me, but it's been years. But this will be our first sailing out of NOLA! So that will be a fun experience!

Man - Those sail-a-way pics have me totally aching to get back on a cruise ship again! Only 155 days to go!

YES! That would be amazing! 😁

They must be REALLY clean as three or four people have mentioned that on here! LOL

Well, now I'm REALLY intrigued! 🤪😜

I have never heard of Buc-ee's....what is this place? And what makes everyone rave about it? 🙂

Yay! You're back! I have some catching up to do on your review already...but luckily it's a slow work day! 😉🤪

Hi! Our cruise this October stays in Costa Maya until 10PM. Probably do a beach club during the day. What fun things are there to do in the evening in Costa Maya? Restaurants for dinner, bars for drinks, dancing? We’re up for anything!