Just off the Valor on 1/24

[Fyly]

How do you find out how many ships will be in port on a certain day?

 

on this website:

http://cruisett.com/ports.php

[bam7058]

Argghhh, are ports but Roatan will have 3 ships. We will be solo at Roatan. This is for Valor leaving 4/25/10

[jks336]

thanks for a great review, wish i could see the pics, could be my work pc lol. i'll have to check on mine at home. been checking your review everyday. we dont sail till Oct 24 ! but it's getting closer everyday!! :)

[Mary521]

Friday, Jan. 22

Hello Grand Cayman, it's my birthday, it's my birthday, woohoo!

Today we were not docking until 10 a.m. and it was kind of nice to have more balcony time, extra time to get ready and a leisurely breakfast.

The 4 ports in a row were kind of exhausting. It would have been nice to have a sea day in the middle, but I guess it is a sign I'm getting old. The tender tickets were being distributed in the Invahoe theater at 9:30. By 10, they started calling numbers and with number 11 we were called about 20 minutes later. We were on the pier by 10:30.

Anyhow, this was the ONLY port in four cruises that we did not have a private tour scheduled. Last year, when we visited, we had booked a stingray tour for 25 of us. It did not turn out to be the best experience. The main issue was that in addition to the ocean being very rough that day, the catamaran we were on did not, in my opinion, do a very good job. When we got to the sandbar, we could see people standing in waist deep water and having a great time. He stopped the boat about 75 yds. further out and none of us could stand. We had to fight the current and most people just got back on the boat and sat there. Then he made a nasty remark when one of the kids accidentally splashed him when they were getting back on the boat. It just was not a good excursion.

I really wanted to go back to stingray sandbar and have a better day because I have read so many wonderful reviews. We didn't want to do the two reef stops. After many emails and realizing that we were the only ship scheduled for that day, I decided that maybe we could just grab an excursion when we got off the ship. There was only going to be 6 of us so as soon as we hit the pier, the guides were out trying to get our business. We found a company that wanted $45, talked them down to $25 and ended up negotiating an island tour afterward for $10. Our friends Gary,Amy, Barb, and Bill were just looking for an island tour, but when they heard the price, they decided to go with us for the boat ride although none of them had swimming stuff with them. This was the first port in 3 days that Bill felt well enough to leave the ship so the boat ride was relaxing for him.

Enjoying the boat ride on the way to the sandbar!

Our new friend Juan Carlos. He was the photographer and is a wonderful person. We had a great talk, exchanged info. and hopefully he will be visiting us in PA. some day. He says not in the winter though, lol.

Notice the depth of the water, now this is what I'm talking about!

We took some pics with a disposable underwater camera that turned out really well, but I don't have a scanner so can't post them. I did buy a disk from the tour and I will try to post a few of them.

 

 

Chukeee,

 

Enjoying your review! Can I ask who you used last time that did not go very well? We will be sailing there on the Valor in April. Not everyone is our group is a strong swimmer, and I don't want to book the wrong tour!

 

Thanks!!

Mary

[NewYorkDenise]

I'll be on the 7/11 cruise and really looking forward to your review and pictures.

[NewYorkDenise]

Just finished reading your review. You are so funny and wrote a terrific review. We will be stopping in all of the same ports.

[Kruzergrl]

Heyyyyyyyyyy Chuck!!!

Any decision yet on MY cruise? hehehehe

 

Brenda

[pcrum]

Thanks for the great review. We are trying to decide between Liberty and Valor for a cruise next spring and your review helps!!

[pcrum]

Oh, no, it can't be over...I was waiting for the comparisons of the Valor between the Miracle and Triumph, both ships we have been on. Do you have any comments as to which ship you enjoyed more?

 

Thanks.

[chukeee]

Lol, my review is not quite over. Just had a terribly busy weekend and didn't get back to it. I am looking to finish up in the next 2-3 days and I will be doing comparisons between ships, giving all my tour information and all the general info. I can think of.

Kruzergrl, we are still looking at cruises but may be narrowing it down to the 10/24 Pride sailing.

Mary521, I don't mind telling you at all. Last year we used Buccanneer catamaran. I read many good reviews for them on these boards. However, this was the ONLY time I have had a much different experience than most others and the ONLY time I was not completely satisfied in booking my own excursions, not through the ship. In a total of 13 ports on 4 different cruises, I have yet to book through the ship and have always been more than pleased with my picks. This one would have even been ok for experienced snorkelers but I told them before we even booked what we were looking for and that we were not experienced and several had health problems. They assured me we were in great hands and wouold have no problems. They were only interested in getting us in the water, taking our pictures, and selling us the discs.

[chukeee]

Oh nooooo! Our last fun day at sea. I can't believe the week is over. I woke a little late (for me) and enjoyed a coffee on the balcony before DH started stirring. It occurred to me that on this cruise, with 4 ports, the balcony was somewhat of a waste. I just don't know if I could bring myself not to book one, but may have to rethink it if we ever book another with so many ports. I finally heard DH stirring and went inside to hurry him up. He has this ridiculous notion that vacations are for relaxing and I have the idea that we need to do as much as possible. Probably the difference is I am retired and he is still working. I have the rest of my life to rest, when I am on vacation I want to go, go, go . After what seemed like forever, he's ready to go get breakfast. So off to the buffet we go. We got our food and were about half way through, when it occurred to me we had not had breakfast in the dining room one time on this whole cruise. WTH, I LOVE breakfast in the dining room. Now that is another reason to book the next one. We decided to hang out on the deck awhile, took some pictures and decided to go lose our last $20 in the casino. Well, 5 minutes later we are looking for something else to do. The casino was not our friend. Good thing we only gamble about $20 each per day. That includes my bingo addiction so if I bingo, then I get to watch him in the casino, or we share a bingo card and only spend $10 each. I am always amazed at how much people can spend between drinking and gambling, but to each his own as long as it ain't going on my sign and sail card.

We decided to head out and sit on the deck for awhile and people watch

(always interesting) , then walked around looking for anyone else in the group. It is amazing how with a group as large as ours we can manage to go for hours and not run into anyone else. We finally did hook up with Cheryl and she wanted to check out the pictures so I went with her and

DH was relieved to just be able to go sit somewhere after a stop for his four thousand three hundred and twenty seventh ice cream cone.

Now, as many times as I went to look at the pictures, you all think I spent a fortune on them. Nope, just 2. Two is my limit. I think they do an exceptional job on them, don't get me wrong. I just can't understand why, instead of throwing them away, they don't offer you a discount. Say for every 2, you would get one free, or buy 2, get half off of one. Well today, the special was if you bought the picture that was taken tonight, you would get 4 free wallets. This wasn't even elegant night so what the heck? Anyhow, let me not ramble on about the pictures, they can just throw the rest of mine away.

We checked out the shops since Cheapo Filipo wasn't along and I still didn't buy anything :). We decided to go get him and see if he wanted to grab some lunch. I had been dying to try the Mongolian grill and wasn't disappointed. It was great! The one sauce that is marked spicy, is SPICY! I love spice, but this was about my limit. I really liked it and wished I had eaten there sooner in the week. I was also looking forward to the fish and chips. This is what DH got and when I saw they had fresh made potato chips...............HELLO! Up the steps I went just to have the guy slam the trays down right in front of me and tell me I was too late. They were to close at 2:30 and it was only 2:26, but the fish **** wouldn't make an exception. He's lucky I was already full 'cause this fluffy girl would have not been happy about missing some fresh cut chips!

Anyhow, we decided to catch the Love and Marriage game but had to run back to the room first. Now this is something I have wanted to participate in since our first cruise and I had DH convinced that we should volunteer this time. On the way back to the room we ran into DD and BF so we were late getting to the theater and the game was already started. DFs Mary and Bill were in the game. Now I was really happy for them and feeling sorry for my self until I realized that Bill was not on stage and was answering the questions from behind the curtain. What's up with that? Well, we found out. They dressed the men as "Chippendales" in a pair of shorts, suspenders, and a bow tie and they had to come out and do a dance for their wives! Had Bud been picked for that show, and forced to wear that outfit, I would have been overboard:eek:. Us being late probably saved my life!!!:p Be back soon!

[chukeee]

After the Love & Marriage game, we hung around to play the 7 game jackpot bingo. A pet peeve, why do passengers who want to participate in the bingo games wait until 15 minutes after the games are supposed to start and then decide to wanter into the theater and get in line to buy their cards. This drives me nuts, and on this day, especially as we were walking in the cancer walk. GRRR. Anyhow, we play, lose again and are late for the walk but we completed it anyway. This year it was particularly meaningful, since DF Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer after last year's cruise and had a very rough year. I am so pleased to report that she is doing very well!

Mary, Auzzy(activities staff) Mary's husband Bill and Cheryl during the walk.

Some more of our group who had already finished the walk but decided to join back in and finish with Mary. Lucinda, second from left is also a breast cancer survivor.

A "hottie" I found by the pool. After a few more pics it was time to go get ready for dinner and meet the gang.

Tonight was DF Bill's birthday and we had some celebrating' to do.

Birthday Bill sporting his ribbon tie that was made out of my birthday tiara from yesterday :)

On the way to the dining room, we checked out the Eagle Lounge for the Fun Farewell that offered free drinks from 5-6. It was so crowded, you couldn't get near. I guess Carnival really saves money on these events when they don't hold them in the big theater areas. It kinda sucks if you ask me.

We lingered over dinner reflecting on what a great week we had and how we hated for it to end. Then it was time to say goodbye to Neptalie and Lucio, the best waiters ever. This is always so sad for me and by the end of the week it seems like I am leaving family behind. Oh well, I will have to come back and see them.

We told the friends we would see them at the show and headed up to the room to start a little of the dreaded packing.

I had to get to the theater early for the Legends show because this was the night I had the winning raffle ticket for the free cruise, so down we go and I was feeling so lucky about the cruise that I also decided to spring for another bingo ticket. What the heck, it's the last day and I can use the $5000 jackpot bingo winnings to spend on my free cruise!

Well, I guess greed does not pay because I didn't win bingo. I thought to myself, "That's OK, let some unfortunate person who is not going to be winning the cruise win the money".

Then, something went horribly wrong! It is time for the cruise raffle, I get already with my acceptance speech, and they call the wrong name :eek:. It's a bad mistake, but you know what, I had such a great cruise, I'm not going to put up a fuss, I just let the other lucky guy have it. Good for him! We stayed for the legends show with the usual good and bad performers, but you got to hand it to anyone who gets up there and tries. If the one who sang as James Brown or Aretha Franklin read this, you two were awesome! All in all, it was a great day, but much too short so off to bed we go after saying goodbye to my husband's old friend, the ice cream machine and a walk around the deck. Not looking forward to tomorrow.

In my next post, I will wrap up debarkation, and try to tie up all the loose ends. I'll give my perspective of the whoe cruise from the ship to the ports, to our excursions and what ever else you want to know. Just ask!