Just off the Valor on 1/24

[tess18]

Tess18, I am going to post my excursion info. soon, I promise.

No rush - I have time

Thanks

[chukeee]

First Cruise Elegant Night:

Friends, Gary and Amy

Friend Cheryl and granddaughter Amanda

Me and my Bud-man

 

We stopped bringing a suit this time due to checked bag fees. There were people in all kinds of dress from formal to slacks and dressy shirts for the women and pants and collared shirts for the men. I was not offended by how anyone dressed. I do as I see fit for me and it doesn't bother me that anyone else does the same. What would bother me is if someone had really bad behaviour at dinner, not what they are wearing. I say go with what you feel comfortable with and enjoy!

Tonight was lobster night for me and several others. Some also had prime rib. I thought the Lobster was better than on the Triumph last year. I really think this was because our servers were on the ball. Last year we waited, and waited and waited. The food was obviously sitting somewhere but not on our table. This year when it was brought up, it was served. Yeah!

After dinner, we took some pics or "Elegant Portraits" for the fancy people and headed to the theater for the Night Club Express show. I just came across the lead singers names. they were Aimee Gallagher and Trent Webb. As I said in a previous post, I thought they were much better than any on our three other cruises.

We attended the 12:00 adult comedy show by Percy Crews and liked him again. Didn't get real raw until about the last 10-15 min. Carnival should really rethink having a midnight show when the next day is an early 8:00 am port day. They could have just as easily had this show on Sunday night.

Wrap up of the day: Don't know really where this day went. I totally missed the deck games, didn't hardly spend any time on deck, played bingo once, and hardly gambled, but the day flew by. I forgot to mention that we hit the burrito bar and buffet for lunch. Didn't really have anything on the buffet that stood out except for the chicken burrito with extra guac., yum!

Off to bed at 2 a.m, morning would come early and so would Cozumel!

 

Good night all!

[chukeee]

Bermuda C: Were you the Wine people who were singing to their waiter the last night? If so, you looked like a great group having a blast.

[dst]

Ok, so we leave the hotel by 10:20, get to the POM by 10:30-10:40. Let me tell you, by getting to the port this early, you see a lot of sad people just off the last cruise standing on the curb waiting for rides. (Ugh, that will be us in a week! :eek:)

We entered the port and there were very few people there, probably 2 doz. or so. There were no lines so up we went to check in. Everyone in our group of 16 got checked in within 10-15 min. Except for us......... To back up a little, our granddaughter had a friend that was going with us so she was booked in a cabin with DH and the friend was booked with me. The friend backed out and a friend of mine took her place, but this didn't happen until the middle of Dec. We paid the $50 for a name change and knew we would have to switch room on the ship.

We told the rep. this and she originally said we would have to wait until we got on the ship. Then she left for the longest time and came back to tell us she could take care of the switch at this time. Everything was switched, we put cash down on our account, and cash down on granddaughter's account and she printed our cards. When she got to DH and friends' cards, she could not print them. After several minutes spent with her supervisor, she gave my DH and friend a paper and told them to take it to the purser's desk on the ship and they would issue him his card after having his photo taken when boarding. During this time, they began boarding platinum guests and announced that people should look under their seats for an early board pass for their group. Hardly anyone was seated yet, but a lucky family did get to board at that time. We just went to take a seat to await our boarding time when a woman came and told my DH, DF and our family to come with her. She said she was letting us on early so DH and DF could get their cards. Woohoo:D! so up the steps we go, waving at the rest of our group (who got on within 10 min. anyhow) got our picture taken and boarded. We get on the ship, they take my photo, and husband gives them the paper. they tell him he has to go to the purser's desk first so off we go. We are on the ship at 11:30. Amazing!

We went right to the purser's desk. (FYI the purser's desk is now called Guest Services.) There is no line so we think we will get this over with quick when they tell us the computers are down and won't be up until 12.

We decided to wait because i knew the line would just get longer and longer. We probably ended up waiting about 35 min. but it was worth it. When they opened, we got our issue straightened out, put cash on our S&S account and cash on the GD's account. They still couldn't get the picture taken for DH and DF and told them to check back throughout the day or to get it taken in the am before leaving the ship.

 

I am going to stop here:o for a moment and try to get the picture thing figured out.

 

 

We were on the Valor with you :D My sister had the same thing happen with her s&s card! It was taken care of quickly but seems they had a bit of a problem with the cards that morning.

 

Enjoying your review - we too had a wonderful time! One of my favorite cruises to date

[chukeee]

Tuesday, Jan. 19 Cozumel:

Up early, about 4:30 anticipating a wonderful day in Cozumel and was not to be disappointed.

Before I start on that, let me bring up something about my room location. I never in 4 cruises experienced such smooth seas, felt no movement hardly at all in my room or, for that matter, anywhere on the ship. However, I have been on the 7th deck once, the 8th deck twice and the 9th deck once and NEVER did I experience so much noise. It wasn't from the hallway, or the laundry 2 doors down, or the neighbors, or the folks below us. It was as if every night from midnight or so Carnival hired an army to move the chairs and tables on deck 9 back and forth for the entire night. I mean, pounding, banging, dropping, running...whatever noise they could make. It would really get bad about 4 or 5 which didn't bother me as I was already up. I did hear alot of our group and other folks around us talking about it all week. It got so I would turn the TV on in the room so it would drowned out some of the noise for DH (He is used to sleeping in front of the TV. Anyhow, it didn't ruin our cruise, just wanted to let the people know who specifically pick their rooms.

DH woke up to the knock of room service at about 6. DD came from her room, we had our coffee on the balcony, showered, woke up DF Cheryl and GD and headed to breakfast. At least, Cheryl, DH and I did. Daughter headed back to wake up the BF and GD requested us to bring her something as she just got up and spends an hour in the bathroom. That set the tone for the week. Bud, Cheryl and I eating breakfast and then carting some back to the room for the princess. Oh to be young again, and partyin' on the ship with my peeps until the wee hrs. of the morning. (Just kidding, I am really glad she made friends with a group of great kids)

Now Cozumel: As soon as they announced that we could, we got off the ship. We had booked the all-inclusive at Mr Sancho's for the day with some more of our group. There were 22 of us in all. Mr. Sancho's opened at 9 so we agreed to shop for 45 min., meet, get taxis and head out.

We purchased some bottles of vanilla, sterling jewelry, t-shirts etc. and headed back to meet the rest of the group.

 

Can someone please tell me why my pictures are showing up so grainy? They do not look like that on the computer, only when I post them here.

So, we all meet up to catch the taxis for Mr Sancho's. Now my one friend and I always try to negotiate the price of everything. And this we did again. Just a little tidbit, don't even bother with these taxi drivers. They have their rates posted. I walk up to a guy ask him the price, he tells me and I say, "No, how about this price?" He says no and takes me over to point out the sign. We had 8 people for 2 cabs and 6 in the third. The amount worked out to $4 each for the ones in the 8-cab and $5.50 for the ones in the 6-cab. Now, up comes Lori to "negotiate". She says "We'll give you $3.50 for each person. Another guy says OK and takes us all to 3 waiting cabs/vans and in we go. We drive about a block, my driver says "The cost is $32" I say "NO, they told us $28 for 8". He says no, I say yes, He says NO, I say "YOU LIED, it's $28" He rolls down his window, motions to the other 2 cabs, we turn around, go back to the curb and he says "GET OUT!" So out we go, all three cabs of us. Everyone is just looking at me and the ones in the 6 person cab says lets just pay it. I say to Lori "So much for you trying to save us 50 cents". We laugh like fools and decide that if we are ever going to get to our beverages at Mr. Sancho's, we should just get back in the cabs. So back in the cabs we go and we're off! This was hilarious, we are still laughing about our "negotiations" in Cozumel.

We get to Mr. Sancho's and there are only 5-10 others there. It got busier but was not crowded by any means all day. In fact, I loved the fact that we all had plenty of lounges and our own group of tables with umbrellas. We meet our waiter Mario and some assistants?. and the fun began.

This place is beautiful!

Our group at Mr Sancho's

 

Restaurant/bar area at Mr Sanchos....look at the cool swings.

They also have a small pool which is very nice. We didn't use it but some kids were taking advantage.

The ocean was so clear and smooth on this day. It was wonderful. there were thousands of little fish. We had taken some cereal and They went crazy. They would even come up out of the water. I mean LOTS of them. We had a blast with them. My friend got snorkeling equip. and we shared for a while, it was amazing. I took some pics with a disposable waterproof camera. I will post them if they turn out but haven't gotten them back yet.

I had para sailed before and suggested this for my GD. About 6 of the group did this and LOVED it. That was a separate price as well as massages, a snorkeling trip, horseback riding, etc. The snorkeling at the beach was included as well as floats, kayaks etc. We didn't use them. I have to pause here to give my perspective about something. I loved this place, don't get me wrong. I would and will go back there in a heartbeat. However, I was planning to go horseback riding and went to do so. Now I had horses in my younger day and love them. We road horses in the ocean last year in Ocho Rios and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I would NOT and did NOT ride at Mr. Sancho's. the horses looked very thin and unwell. It made me very sad. I took some pics because i intend to write them and address the issue. I don't want to post them here. they make me sad. I mentioned it to one of the gentleman in charge and would appreciate it if you would do the same. That is, if you have the same opinion I did.

I did get my first massage and it was intense. Wonderful, but intense. I was sore for 2 days. I negotiated this down from $35 or $40 to $20 for 1/2 hr. However, a suggestion, take a towel to lay your head on. The sheets they used looked very clean, the area under the tent was clean, the lady and man very very professional...but the sheet stunk, yuk! I was expecting aromatherapy with my massage, but not this kind :0

I booked this excursion directly through Mr Sancho's and can give you the guy's name I dealt with if you are interested. They do not skimp on the food or drinks. They just kept coming, and coming and coming. And everything was delicious! The guac was the best I have ever had and I LOVE guac. Our waiter was there always to get fresh food or drink. There is no limit, you can eat all day if you wish. Well worth the money! We gave our waiter a nice tip as he was constantly there to bring us whatever we needed.

There are some nice shops there and they will negotiate. I told the one guy, when buying a ring that my husband was cheap and he wouldn't give me any more money So he named him Cheapo Filipo. We had a good laugh about this and I still call him that once in awhile. I did negotiate a great price on a sterling silver ring for my younger granddaughter at home.

It is of good quality and was alot cheaper than I found at the pier. As you enter Mr Sancho's, to the left is a girl with a cart filled with jewelry and some other cool items. She was willing to deal and my friend Amy bought alot of really nice stuff from her. I purchased 2 changes purses from her that are really cute. For those of you in my age group, you may remember the chain links we used to make with gum wrappers. These purses were made from candy bar wrappers using the same technique and were really cute and sturdy. I think there were $8 and I got them for $5. Her stuff was nice so check it out.

 

We left Mr. Sancho's at 3 since there was more shopping to do. Got taxis back to the pier (paid the price they asked, no negotiations) and shopped until it was time to board the ship. GD was buying stuff at each port for her sister at home and ended up purchasing her a Sombrero. It was beautiful. At first they wanted $45, we got it for $25....ahhhhhh I still have my skills

Here's the sombrero!

 

Sorry to leave you Cozumel, I will be back.

[Bermuda C]

Chukeee... No that wasn't our group, but they were next to us. They were having a blast. We were a group of 11 (big round table) with 4 kids..

[realtrip]

Me, my love, a balcony, the ocean, and family and friends nearby. I am blessed :)

 

I love this! What a positive outlook!

Can't wait for more, we're going in a few weeks! Yeah!

[chukeee]

Good bye Cozumel

 

Cheapo Filipo and the free hat from Ron Jon's

Some thoughts on our wonderful day in Cozumel:

 

Last year we went to Passion Island on the Twister Boat, it was a perfect day.

This year, we did Mr Sancho's, again a great day. I would probably pick Passion Island between the two if I could still book the twister boat, but the only way to book this now is through Carnival. I just don't want to travel with a group and with their time restraints.

Food was great at Passion Island, equally as great at Mr. Sancho's (guac was better). It was nice to be served on the beach at Mr. Sancho's...Passion Island you served yourself and they were more watered down IMHO.

Cozumel is great for shopping, you can usually really negotiate...except for taxis :).

Go to Los Cinco Soles for vanilla, ornaments, wraps, hot sauce, etc.

Pick up some nice silver at the port shops or at Mr. Sanchos.

Enjoy the ocean......the water is clear and perfect.

Take some cereal for the fish at Mr Sancho's if you want a great time and photo op.

contact me for info on how I booked Mr. Sanchos

 

So long Cozumel.. for now. I will return and love you even more than I do now.

[barbnbrian]

We'll be on the Valor sailing on June 27th. How can I get more information about booking Mr. Sanchos'? How much did it cost per person?

 

I was considering booking Nachi Cocum resort, how does Mr. Sanchos' compare to Nachi Cocum for anyone who may know.

[chukeee]

People will say you cannot book this directly through Mr Sancho's website but you can and I did. Through Oliver. I got it for a price of $40 per person but there were 22 of us. I think you will probably pay $50 for a couple or singles. It was well worth it to me. We had a few big eaters and drinkers and they definitely got their money's worth. I did also and it was so peaceful and uncrowded. I don't know about Nachi Cocum.

[chukeee]

So we're back on the ship and are thinking about skipping the dining room due to our free eats all day at Mr. Sancho's. After a smuggled drink, waving goodbye to Cozumel, showering, dressing we decide to check it out anyhow. By this time we LOVE our waiters and don't want to miss one night with them. I can't remember what I had, but think this was the night I had broccoli soup and really liked it. Beef something that I didn't like (unfortunately, this set the tone for the beef the rest of the week), and butter pecan ice cream that I really love but couldn't eat because I was too full. We checked out a few pics, listen to the music of Two's Company in the American Lobby for a couple minutes, and headed for bingo in the Invahoe. Two's Company was awesome and we listened to them from time to time throughout the week. There were always some couples dancing to them and we enjoyed watching them also.

Now, you make ask why I even bother with this bingo. It's expensive, you usually only play one game, it's over quick and your money is history. I have played for 4 cruises and never won anything. DH, on the other hand, who only plays when I nag him, won $1199 last year on the Triumph,

woohoo! Tonight was the show "More Than Magic". Wanted to watch it but just could not stay awake. DH felt the same way so we headed back to the room, stopping by the casino for a few minutes. There was variety music with "Rise Up" and they were pretty good also. We lost a little in the slots and called it a night. (For some reason, we can usually keep playing on the slots for the week without spending much money. This cruise was not the case. They were awful! It didn't matter when we tried, would just put in $20 and into the machine it would disappear and two minutes later we were wondering what happened. Alot of others thought the same thing and we didn't hear of anyone winning anything until the last night right before the final show, one of our group was right next to a lady who won $24,000. Good for her!)

We called it a night, spent a few min. on the balcony and headed to bed.

Tomorrow we would be waking up in Belize!

[chukeee]

Is anyone even interested in reading this review? No one has even looked at it today.:(

[stanner2009]

I am really enjoying it - on my subscription list - patiently waiting for more - we are on the valor in March and I am loving it .....keep it coming!Thanks

[almostaswayne]

Your review is nice. Keep going. I'm enjoying it and can't wait to go in about 50 days!!:):)

[pooh4cruise]

I'm definitely enjoying your review! We will be on the Valor in June with a group of 13 for my parents' 50th anniversary. We have all cruised before, but this is the first time for any of us with Carnival. Thanks so much for all your details! :)

[hawkette64]

I've been enjoying your review also (but rarely post lately). I'm trying to decide between the Valor and the Dream in the fall. Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise and I look forward to reading more.

[chukeee]

Ok, Just didn't want to be wasting anyone's time.

 

Wednesday, Jan. 20 Belize:

 

Belize is a tender port and we were arriving at 8:00 am. They announced that they would start giving out tender tickets at 8:30. So at 8:15 we headed to the Eagle lounge and received tickets #4. At 8:30, they began calling and probably within 10 min. We were heading to the tender. Now this tender is a long ride to the pier. They say 15 min. and it was every bit of that and a little rougher than Grand Cayman I had booked the Captain Your Own Riverboat tour for 16 of us and as soon as we were off the tender, we took a short walk to the left to the Wet Lizard Bar and Restaurant. I booked through Coral Breeze Tours and we were to meet up with a rep. from Hammerhead Water Sports. As soon as we get to the Wet Lizard, we see a little booth off to the left and there is Hammerhead. I give him our info., paid the rest of the money (I paid a deposit on line) and he tells me it will be a few minutes.

Not being the most patient person in the world, I wait about 15 min. and ask him again. He says they will be there in a few min. So another 15 min. later I ask him again. He says they are on their way. Now when I have the responsibility of 15 other people and have made the arrangements for them to have a great excursion and it doesn't seem to be working out, I begin to become less happy. My nickname for years has been "Chuckie" because of that little murdering doll in the movie. He is the one that takes over my body when I become agitated. Well he wasn't ready to appear yet, but I could feel him stirring.

Now we have been there 45 min. and again I approach the man who tells me they definitely will be there and I need to relax that we have plenty of time. He says that us people from the states need to relax and not be so stressed. HELLO, us "people from the states" are on time for stuff! We wait about 10-15 more min. and I tell him we want our money back. He makes a phone call, and tells me they will be there in 5 min. Now it didn't help that the group was getting antsy at this point and some didn't even want to go. All of a sudden, one of their other boats load up and the big guy I was dealing with jumps on the boat and takes off, leaving a little young girl to deal with me. HERE COMES CHUCKIE!!! I tell her to give my money back. She says she has to call the boss, I say "he just jumped on the boat and left you stick with this mess so I suggest you give me my money!" She promised that we had plenty of time for the tour and to please wait for 5 more minutes. Two of my friends were very nervous about going late and missing the boat so I demanded she give them their money back and anyone else who wanted theirs also. Well what do you know, here comes our boats! The couple took their money but everyone else decided to go. And I am very glad we did. It was a great excursion and we had plenty of time. In hindsight, we did get off the boat rather quickly and they probably weren't anticipating us getting there so soon. Also people who live on the islands have a more relaxed attitude about everything but I swear to God if I would have heard the phrase "NO worries" one more time that morning, someone would have drowned!

Our group waiting "Patiently" outside the Wet Lizard.

Loading into boats to be taken to where we get our own boats for the tour.

Some sights on the way to get our boats:

The water near the wet lizard and through this river was the dirtiest, grossest I have ever seen. We saw condoms and other trash floating everywhere and a man emptying a portable toilet into the water. It was bad. Then the tour guide tells some of our group that this is the water from which Red Lobster obtains most of their rock lobster:eek:.

[rollmeaway27]

Really enjoying reading your review.

You mentioned Red Lobster.We were also told that this is where Long John Silvers get all their shrimp.Kind of Gross huh.....

[bbiggar]

Chuckie great review so far. We were on the same cruise as you and by strange odds we were part of the group that got on the boat (with the big guy)while you were waiting for your tour. We did the stingray and snorkel the reef tour at Cay Cauker and was a great tour too.:) I see our Canadian friends under the sign in your Wet Lizard picture.

[dst]

Chuckee/Biggar:

 

I was just noticing our group hanging out under the sign as well :)

 

The tour was great however, as you said they were very slow. We thought we would have time after our tour to shop around but we did not.

 

Great review, I feel like I am on the ship all over again :)

[chukeee]

Dst, Bbiggar, isn't that funny that both of you read this and both know someone in the pic? I'm not in the pic. I am the chubby short woman pacing up and down with the red face that was just about ready to blow a cork and if that big guy had not jumped on that boat, I might have pushed him in.:mad:

[azkcruizers]

My family had booked the Captain Your own Riverboat tour for our Feb. 20th cruise but I ended up cancelling this week.......

 

I was a bit nervous about getting back in time and there had been reviews with issues with boats...

 

Most of all my kids were insistent they wanted to stay on the boat so I finally gave in.

 

I was wondering if you had any more issues on the tour? Did you see a lot of wildlife? I was worried it would pour or be unbearably hot! I'm glad to hear that in the end you enjoyed your tour!

[realtrip]

Great review. I so understand your nerves with the long wait. I would have freaked out. Glad the tour ended up being fun.

How many people would you say get on each tender? Are there many tenders going at the same time ? Sorry if this sounds silly. I have never tendered and this cruise we will being doing two.

Thanks

[islandwannabee]

I am lovin your review!!!!

 

We did the drive your own speedboats, last may and the same thing happened, we waited and waited and waited, but it was a great time once we got started.

 

Can't wait for more!

 

Cindy

[chukeee]

akzcruisers: I really don't think you would have any worries. They do have boats that break down. Most of them are the inflatable boats so things will happen. However they have other boats. that is why the one my daughter was driving was different. Anytime any of us looked like they were slowing down, they could come back for us. At one point, our motor became vapor locked and they would have some one hop on and ride with us until everything was working right. As far as getting back late, they are very aware of the ship schedules and can turn around at an earlier point if necessary. I am so glad we went. The sun was intense at times. but other than that the weather was perfect. We didn't see one single bug. We saw quite a few gators, no manatees, and my granddaughter and I each just caught a glimpse of a monkey. The one guide told us that they are nocturnal and the hotter it is, the farther back in the woods they go.

Realtrip: I would say the tenders held between 60-80 people. They were using two boats at once and as soon as they pulled away there were others waiting to pull up. It went very fast actually. It was just a longer ride to the pier than most. I read a lot of negative posts about tendering and it has never been that big of deal for us.