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Thanksgiving Valor review

tuscandream

By tuscandream,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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tuscandream

tuscandream

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Prior to our sailing I did a lot of planning and research on these boards and got some valuable information. So I would like to share with others our cruise experience so that I may hopefully help someone else that is planning or in the research stages. Myself, husband 15 yr old daughter, 18 yr old son and their friends 19,16 traveled with us. We drove from Pittsburgh to Fl. It was a long ride needless to say but saved us a lot of money in air fare. Our cruise was 11-21-10 thru 11-28-10. The night before I did rent 2 rooms at the Hampton Inn in Doral Florida by the airport. It was about 15-20 mins away from the pier. It was a gorgeous hotel that offered a complimentary hot breakfast in the morning. They do offer a park and shuttle to the pier however we opted to drive and leave our car at the pier. The cost for parking I believe was 10.00 a day. We arrived at the pier between 10:30-11:00 the process was very organized and within 45 mins we were on board. They did say the dis-embarking process was behind or we would have been on there sooner. I would recommend arriving at the pier at this time, as the time went on it became more crowded. The ship is really beautiful. Once on board we did head up to the lido for lunch. The food was very good, alot of variety. They did have a deli, burrito bar, Fish and Chips,(which I do recommend trying the sweet pepper chile sauce up by fish and chips, it was a sweet sauce with a kick, it was excellent dip for Chicken fingers from the grill) and I believe a mongolian grill for stir fry. Pizza Parlor and Scarlet's steakhouse which we did experience and I do recommend it. Very nice atmosphere and a romantic evening. Excellent food. They did have sushi on the promenade deck (limited hours). At 1:30 you can get into your rooms. We had 2 inside cabins on the verandah deck 8 room 8235 and 8231 (great location close to elevators and right beneath lido deck which is very convient) This was a 7 day western caribbean cruise departing from Miami. Our ports of call were to be in this order sea day, Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel and sea day. When we were boarding the ship we were given a piece of paper that said due to logistical reasons(whatever that means) they switched the order of ports (Roatan and Cozumel) were reversed. Thank God I read the paper since I had booked excursions via Island Marketing for those 2 islands. So needless to say I had to make my way to the intranet cafe to email them of the change and hope this wouldn't be a problem since one of the excursions was to Nochi Cocum in Cozumel which takes only 100 guest to this all inclusive beach. The intranet cafe was rather pricey, I opted for the .75 per minute since I was just trying to notify them of the switch. I did receive an email confirmation within 24 hrs saying this wasn't a problem. We had early seating for dinner in the lower level of lincoln dinning room. The food was really good, the dinning room service was not fantastic. We had a table of 10 and our waiter was Elmer and he had a female assistant which I can't recall her name. The 1st night he told us to make sure we arrive to dinner on time since the kitchen gets backed up which would delay our dinning experience, our party of 6 was on time when the doors opened the other 3 guest at our table arrived within 5-10 mins later daily. I don't blame the waiters, I feel maybe they cut back in the dinning room service and gave the limited waiters more tables to service. Couple of things that were lacking were slow service in between courses, empty plates sat for awhile before they were picked up, empty drinks had to always ask for more water. My daughter never got her cesear salad one night, my husbands baked potato was cold before I had to ask for the fixings to put on it. Never was offered fresh ground pepper, however other tables were offered and their waiter was very attentive. Did this impact us from enjoying the cruise not at all. Just some things I observed that carnival can do better at. However the bar service on the lido deck and lounges were always plentiful making sure they sell, sell, sell you drinks. This service should be as efficient during your dining experience. All the staff works very hard, they were all very friendly and always cleaning. Our cabin attendant Manni was wonderful, did a great job keeping our room spotless. I did appreciate all their hard work and services. Our first day at sea I woke up at 8 am to head to the lido deck to stake out 6 chairs, there were plenty available at that hour however as time went on they did fill out fast. Yes I am sorry I was one of those chair hogs, my party didn't join me until 2 hrs later (sorry) There were a lot of wild kids taking over the pools. Some were very inconsiderate I did get in the pool several times just to cool off since the weather was so hot. I am one of those people that takes a shower and fix my hair to layout for the day, crazy I know but what can I say. So when I get in the pool it is just to dip my body up to my neck and get out. I wasn't looking to get my hair wet. This big kid decides he is going to do a cannon ball right as I was got in the pool. Yes I realize if I am getting in the pool I can expect to get wet but these pools aren't very big to begin with & there were a lot of people in them at that time to decide to do a cannon ball. ERRRRR I wasn't a happy camper, he did apologize. I did not venture back to the adults only pool to check out the atmosphere back there during sea days. The sea side theater was nice, they did play music and concerts during the day and at night showed newer movies. Which I did not partake in them. I believe some of the movies shown during the week were alice in wonderland, The last song, The Eli Book (I think that was the name of it) just to name a few. That night we were advised that there was a passenger on board that needed medical attention and they needed to get him to the mainland due to this medical emergency. The closest port to drop him off was Cozumel, during the night he was dropped off and due to deviating from our course we didn't get to go to Grand Cayman they substituted it with Costa Maya. I have been to both and didn't have any excursions planned for this day so I was fine with it. However other passengers weren't too happy. One couple of board I over heard was to be getting married in Grand Cayman. I felt so bad for her. She did purchase the insurance so hopefully she will be reimbursed for the wedding expense preparation that didn't take place. Since I have been to Costa Maya before we made our way to the taxi's once of the ship and I asked if they had any all inclusive beach. I am not certain what the name of the beach was however it was about 10-15 min taxi drive to it. It was by Tequila beach. The water was very pretty, you got a beach chair and unlimited drinks both non and alcoholic drinks. The weather was in the middle to high 80's all week, blue skies no rain. The kids rented a jet ski and had a blast. 60.00 for a half hour. The drinks were plentiful and service was excellent. The miami vice drinks were excellent here. I did pay 20.00 for my husband to have a massage on the beach. This was his first and he enjoyed it. They did come around often to sell you stuff on the beach, such as cigars, jewlery, massages, braid your hair, purses etc. Right off the pier they do have a nice area of different shops and bars/grill to eat at. The next day was Cozumel we took a taxi to Nochi Cocum which is about a 25 min ride. This excursions was absolutely wonderful. All inclusive 49.00 per adult unlimited drinks both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. 3 course meal, beach chair and use of their facilities which included swimming pool with swim up bar, hot tub. Nice beach, I did rent a beach float mat 7.00 for the day, the kids did a bannana boat ride which they had a ball. The boys snorkeled off the beach and saw a barracuda, small stingray by the pier and some other fish.It was another beautiful day. The lunch was excellent, they give you a lot of food, you get to pick and appetizer, entree and dessert. The 6 of us asked if we can get 2 appetizers instead of a dessert and they did allow us. They had tortilla soup as appetizer, some seafood soup, mozzarella sticks, nachos, wings, fries. For entree I had the tacos which were pretty good. They do bring out complimentary chips and salsa. The next day was Belize I booked excursion thru island marketing online. We did Goff's Caye snorkel/beach break. This island you do tender. I would recommend being one of the first one's off since this is a long process, they do dock some ways out from the pier. If you book excursions thru the ship you would be granted first access to the tenders. I was worried about missing the excursion since there were many trying to leave at the same time. However we made it. The excursion consisted of a 25 min boat ride to a small island 1.3 acres in the middle of the ocean, crystal clear waters it was absolutely gorgeous. The tour guide Ian was very informative and the crew on the boat was excellent. They do a fantastic job. Once at the island they let you get off and those that aren't interested in snorkeling you can remain on the beach the rest they take you on the boat out to the reef and you snorkel off the boat for about 45 mins. After that they bring you back and serve complimentary rum punch and water. This island is very natural, there are no chairs maybe a couple of picnic tables, they do have a grill and they serve some food, grilled lobster, chicken and rice and beans. they do have a couple of tables set up of souviners. The only bathroom looked like a port a potty. Some of the beach there are a lot of rocks stay to the right side of the pier no rocks. Crystal clear water and you can go out some distance rather shallow. Someone found a sea cucumber off the beach, sand dollar. My son and his friend went snorkeling off the beach found a conch shell with a crab inside, someone found a hermit crab, and a crab scurrying across the sand. I did inquire about bannister island and I was told it was damaged by the hurricane they weren't certain when it would re open. They did get you back to the pier in a timely manner and you had 45 mins or so to shop before you have to be back onboard the valor. I did go to the pharmacy at the pier and picked up retinae (acne cream for a friend) $12.00 no prescription needed. The next stop was Roatan, I was excited since I was never at this island, we were due to dock at mahogany bay however due to heavy winds we had to dock at coxen hole. We did the west bay beach break via Island marketing. The taxi ride was about 25 mins, our guide Unis was very informative. She stayed with us at the beach and said when we were ready just look for her and she will take us back. This excursion did include a beach chair, a complimentary drink from the bar and the prettiest beach and soft sand. This was my favorite port. Water was crystal clear. I had 2 fantastic drinks from the bar one was called a monkey La La which was baileys, vodka, kaluha and coconut cream. Very yummy. I asked for a melon colada which is normally a pina colada and add midori (melon liquor) however here I think they made the pina colada and added watermelon and blended it with ice, very good. I took my hubby's free drink. I would love to go back to this destination again. Very nice port. On the last day I was packing and I noticed my oversize suitcase was damaged. Which before boarding it was in tack and had both wheels on it, however from that time it got damaged in transit. The wheel was ripped off and shoved up inside the hole that was left there. I was't too happy since this was fairly new in which it came in a set with 4 other pieces, this was a nice big piece of luggage. I called the purser desk to inform them of this, within 15 mins they came up to inspect the damage. I was asked if I was planning on doing self assist to get off which I was, however due to this I couldn't wheel this piece for fear to further damage it. Ana the crew member from guest services said I will file a claim and I will get you tickets to be one of the first ones called off the boat. She said she would give me a letter in regards to the claim, she did apologize and informed me they didn't have any luggage repair on the boat. She recommended when I get home to take it to see about getting it fixed and call carnival's customer service back to see if they will reimburse me. So I am curious to see how this is going to work out. We were off the ship by 7:30 quarter to 8, customs was backed up. If you are traveling with someone else's kids please make sure you get a signed notarized letter from their parents, during customs they did look at it and did ask the child questions. This was my 5th carnival cruise, and overall 10th cruise to date. We really had a great time, the kid's friends this was there first cruise and they loved it. I loved the ship, the food, entertainment was great. I don't feel the cruise director was that personable, I believe his nick name was goose. He wasn't as energetic as others in the past. I am already trying to get information for next year cruise. Would like to try the dream doing the same itinerary and try to get a group of friends together to go. I hope you found this helpful, I wanted to give a highlight of what experience I had. Things to mention, there was a hairdryer in the room, there is only one plug by the desk area, bring a power strip if you need multiple ones. I did buy a travel clock which I found handy since we had an inside cabin and at night the room is pitch black. Try not to over pack like I seem to do every year. If you like the sun you will be in a bathing suite and cover up daily, Inner mix outfits to save storage space. Take comfortable shoes when getting off the boat. Make sure you have sunscreen sun was strong. I would recommend aqua shoes as some of the beaches were rocky and full of broken shells it was hard on your feet, I did cut my foot one day due to this. Remember you are on vacation, everything may not be perfect, but hey make the most of it, be pampered and have fun. If you have any further questions please let me know. Sorry it was so long thanks for taking the time to read, hope your trip is/was as wonderful as ours.

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tuscandream

tuscandream

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I am sorry this was my first review and your right it is hard to read. My bad. Next time I will put it in paragraphs. I was just typing away. Goffs Caye I didn't snorkel but the boys did and yes they saw fish right off the beach. Also out by the reef they saw more fish.

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rjhollan

rjhollan

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We were on the same cruise. I'm going to piggy back off your review a bit...

 

Prior to our sailing I did a lot of planning and research on these boards and got some valuable information.

 

Me too - I booked ALL our excursions directly (Captain Marvin @ Grand Cayman, Dolphin Discover @ Cozumel, Vitalino @ Belize, and Victor Bodden @ Isla Roatan). In general we booked private excursions (just our family) with the exception of Dolphin Discovery. All were very accomodating about switching dates & times when we got the pre-board letter at the terminal (I used my phone's 3G and my Mac to contact them all via email). I heard later that the logistical change was actually made 2 weeks prior to sailing - an email blast from Carnival would have been nicer than a letter at the last minute; maybe they're trying to encourage people to book on-ship in the future?

 

We arrived at the pier between 10:30-11:00 the process was very organized and within 45 mins we were on board.

 

We had the same experience. They've done this a time or two, so I'd expect it to be pretty smooth, and it was.

 

The intranet cafe was rather pricey, I opted for the .75 per minute since I was just trying to notify them of the switch.

 

I bought the 250 minute package for $104 when we boarded. They threw in an additional 20 minutes for buying on the first day. That let me make last minute itinerary changes, research ports of call, upload our photos to Facebook each day, check email, and let the kids check in with friends periodically. We had about 40 minutes to spare at the end of the trip.

 

 

We had early seating for dinner in the lower level of lincoln dinning room. The food was really good, the dinning room service was not fantastic.

 

We had late seating in Washington. Service was awesome; the kids really bonded with Noel & Iputu, our waiters. I hated late dining though - a lot of activities were only offered at 7:30 or 8:00 which meant we had to miss them, or miss dinner in the dining room to attend them. The shows for late seating started at 10:30pm -- pretty late for this old fart and his kids. Next time we'll book early dining, but otherwise I had no complaints about the food or wait staff.

 

Our cabin attendant Manni was wonderful, did a great job keeping our room spotless.

 

Roberto was our steward and was very friendly, but not in my face the entire trip. This was only our 2nd cruise, so I wasn't sure what to expect... on our first cruise our stateroom attendant was ALWAYS in the hallway and always stopping us to chat. Friendly, but not great when you want to get somewhere. Roberto would always acknowledge us with a "Hello" or "Have a good time" on our way past, but didn't stop us to chat unless we initiated the conversation, which was very nice. The room was SPOTLESS, constantly clean, and he made great towel animals. If we didn't see him periodically, I'd have never known he was there. Somehow he got to know us anyway... when my daughter came out of my room with her ipod (it was in my bag from the flight) a couple days into the cruise, Roberto's helper (never got his name) asked her, "You steal ipod?" and told my wife what he'd seen. We got a good laugh, but it was nice to know he was looking out for me, and knew she was in the room next door to mine, and not staying in my room. :)

 

Yes I am sorry I was one of those chair hogs, my party didn't join me until 2 hrs later (sorry)

 

We never once had a problem finding a chair. Of course, we were looking for shade to sit and read, so that may have been why. :)

 

This big kid decides he is going to do a cannon ball right as I was got in the pool. Yes I realize if I am getting in the pool I can expect to get wet but these pools aren't very big to begin with & there were a lot of people in them at that time to decide to do a cannon ball. ERRRRR I wasn't a happy camper, he did apologize.

 

That was probably my son Jack. I saw him doing a few cannonballs in the pool and chuckled that he'd even try in a pool the size of a hot tub. Check the link at the end of my post to my photos and let me know if it was him. At least he apologized, if it was him. Gotta expect some wild kids in the "family" pools, IMO. One lady told my kids they had to be accompanied by an adult in the hot tubs (my wife & I were on the same deck at the time).

 

Later, we went over and read the "rules" and nowhere did it say that, so I let the kids know they could provide directions to the adult-only pool & hot tub if it happened again. They've got just as much right as the adults to be in the "family" pool & hot tubs. I did make sure they knew where the adult areas were, so they would stay out of them (and so they could provide directions to inconsiderate adults). :D

 

 

That night we were advised that there was a passenger on board that needed medical attention and they needed to get him to the mainland due to this medical emergency.

 

We heard from a nurse who was on board that they gave the guy 2 pints of blood from crew members; they were looking for O- donars as well, quietly. Apparently he'd had some kind of major surgery and left the hospital on Wednesday then got on the ship 4 days later... pretty inconsiderate if you ask me. My kids were heartbroken - the reason we booked this itinerary was for the Sting Ray City excursion. :angry:

 

One couple of board I over heard was to be getting married in Grand Cayman.

 

I bumped into them down at Guest Services; one of the supervisors was talking to them in the lobby, outside that area away from all the other passengers, trying to figure something out. They were pretty upset, which put my kids' disappointment into perspective. I don't know what kind of compensation they got.

 

One thing that was annoying was when I checked in at Guest Services around 5pm after we'd obviously changed course, they swore up and down we were still going to Grand Cayman, even though the ship was headed in the OPPOSITE direction. The captain didn't make an announcement until 9pm. I realize it probably took some time to make the Costa Maya arrangements, and maybe they held off until they had some "good news" to temper the bad, but I'd have much rather known EARLIER rather than LATER that we were changing itineraries, so I could notify our tour providers during business hours. Luckily, they were all very understanding and didn't charge us any cancellation fees, etc.

 

The kids rented a jet ski and had a blast. 60.00 for a half hour.

 

They overpaid. :) We got ours for $30 and I heard a range from $25-45 walking along the beach. We settled on $30 for the wave runner and $15 for an hour snorkeling trip. Showers, shaded tables, and a guide made it all worthwhile. My daughter asked if it was okay to hold a star fish if she found one, and he said yes but to be careful. When we got to the reef, he dove for awhile until he found one for her, and let all the kids hold it.

 

They did come around often to sell you stuff on the beach, such as cigars, jewlery, massages, braid your hair, purses etc.

 

Wife hated that, but the kids loved it. One daughter had her hair braided for $8 (vs. the $20-$30 they started off at), and all the kids ended up buying some trinkets for souveniers ($1-2 bracelets, etc).

 

Right off the pier they do have a nice area of different shops and bars/grill to eat at.

 

We ate at Senor Frogs unfortunately. I about choked when I got the bill - it was almost twice what I expected. They were charging $7 for a coke (I guess to cover the free shots of tequila they were giving out), and no free refills. $30 for a plate of 3 tacos. It was over $100 for 5 of us; normally we can hit a steak house back home for half that.... and then they argued that the conversion rate was 10 pesos to the dollar, not 14 as the ship published. Chalk that place up to "lessons learned" I guess. We won't be back there!

 

The next day was Cozumel we took a taxi to Nochi Cocum which is about a 25 min ride.

 

We caught a cab to Chankanaab for Dolphin Discovery. The kids loved the Royal Swim; we had 8 people in the tank with 2 dolphins, so there was a lot of contact with the animals. We snorkeled with stingrays and nurse sharks as well, had lunch, enjoyed the pool. Next time we'll try their snorkeling as well. The dolphin experience was wonderful and all three kids loved it!

 

The next day was Belize I booked excursion thru island marketing online.

 

We booked a Cave Tubing trip through Vitalino (the .bz one). He's an entemologist and I asked for some extra "jungle time" and he assurred me his guides all knew a lot, which proved true. Miguel was our guide. We had a private tour (5 people) for $300, which was ~$100 less than the carnival price for 4. Miguel gave us a LOT of information about the area on our drive to the caves. When we got there, he picked up another guide to help (so we had 2 guides for 5 people) and they offered to carry our tubes, etc. The kids were troopers and didn't need any help though.

 

We stopped a lot on the way to the caves to learn about local medicinal, poisonous, and edible plants. The kids & I ate some termites (minty with a carroty after taste -- quite good though!), and he coaxed a tarantula from it's burrow for the kids to hold. It was an amazing experience, and one the other tubers didn't get as their guides hurried them along the trails. We went all the way to the end and ran 4 caves. Toward the end when the river got a little calmer, our group was the only one on the river allowed to "break up" and bob on our own to the rope. Our guides spent time knocking down all-spice leaves for us to taste along the river, picking begonia stems to try the natural "thirst quencher" (they open your salivary glands), etc.

 

At the end of the day, Vitalino's wife served us a home cooked meal of chicken, beans, and rice. It was one of the BEST meals of our trip including anything we got on the boat. She's an incredible cook!

 

I would recommend being one of the first one's off since this is a long process, they do dock some ways out from the pier.

 

We asked about this at Guest Services the night before and were told just to head down to 0-forward. When we did that, they told us, "No, you have to go to 5-aft and get a sticker first".... great. Luckily we were in group #3 even with that, so we were on one of the first couple of tenders to leave.

 

If you book excursions thru the ship you would be granted first access to the tenders.

 

Our tender was half ships excursions, half people like us just getting off on our own....

 

The next stop was Roatan, I was excited since I was never at this island, we were due to dock at mahogany bay however due to heavy winds we had to dock at coxen hole.

 

I like Coxen Hole better than the hike out of Mahogany Bay to get to our cab anyway. :) We booked with Victor Bodden -- a private "Best of Roatan" tour. Our tour guide Andrew was born & raised on Roatan, and was an excellent source of knowledge. He gave us a great tour, took us wherever we wanted to go. We let the kids zip line at Victor's place (double lines for safety, guides, no gloves or brakes needed, etc -- it was very safe and they loved it), and they got to spend some time with Victor's Monkeys. We also stopped at the Butterfly Garden on the way back, and Andrew took us to a few "hidden" spots where we got some great deals on souvenirs. Andrew stayed with the van and our stuff whenever we got out to do something. We felt Roatan was one of the best places we stopped - beautiful island, very clean, and everyone seemed to take pride in their island homes there, even in the poorer areas.

 

We were off the ship by 7:30 quarter to 8, customs was backed up.

 

We were zone 25. Ate breakfast and waited ~2 hours to get off. The disembarkation was much more chaotic than embarkation, but we got a porter and he led us through the shortest customs line and out to the taxis without much trouble. Just a boring couple of hours on the Lido deck with 3 kids anxious to get off the boat (we where headed to Disney that afternoon).

 

Overall we had a great time. Couple of hiccups with the itinerary, but we adjusted and plan to go back to Grand Cayman another time (maybe spend a week on the island instead of a cruise). We managed to have fun at every port of call, and the kids enjoyed the time on ship with all the other kids.

 

Some pictures from our cruise are here

 

I'm really curious if that was my son that did the cannonball and splashed you. :)

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Kingtro

Kingtro

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Prior to our sailing I did a lot of planning and research on these boards and got some valuable information. So I would like to share with others our cruise experience so that I may hopefully help someone else that is planning or in the research stages. Myself, husband 15 yr old daughter, 18 yr old son and their friends 19,16 traveled with us. We drove from Pittsburgh to Fl. It was a long ride needless to say but saved us a lot of money in air fare. Our cruise was 11-21-10 thru 11-28-10. The night before I did rent 2 rooms at the Hampton Inn in Doral Florida by the airport. It was about 15-20 mins away from the pier. It was a gorgeous hotel that offered a complimentary hot breakfast in the morning. They do offer a park and shuttle to the pier however we opted to drive and leave our car at the pier. The cost for parking I believe was 10.00 a day. We arrived at the pier between 10:30-11:00 the process was very organized and within 45 mins we were on board. They did say the dis-embarking process was behind or we would have been on there sooner. I would recommend arriving at the pier at this time, as the time went on it became more crowded. The ship is really beautiful. Once on board we did head up to the lido for lunch. The food was very good, alot of variety. They did have a deli, burrito bar, Fish and Chips,(which I do recommend trying the sweet pepper chile sauce up by fish and chips, it was a sweet sauce with a kick, it was excellent dip for Chicken fingers from the grill) and I believe a mongolian grill for stir fry. Pizza Parlor and Scarlet's steakhouse which we did experience and I do recommend it. Very nice atmosphere and a romantic evening. Excellent food. They did have sushi on the promenade deck (limited hours). At 1:30 you can get into your rooms. We had 2 inside cabins on the verandah deck 8 room 8235 and 8231 (great location close to elevators and right beneath lido deck which is very convient) This was a 7 day western caribbean cruise departing from Miami. Our ports of call were to be in this order sea day, Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel and sea day. When we were boarding the ship we were given a piece of paper that said due to logistical reasons(whatever that means) they switched the order of ports (Roatan and Cozumel) were reversed. Thank God I read the paper since I had booked excursions via Island Marketing for those 2 islands. So needless to say I had to make my way to the intranet cafe to email them of the change and hope this wouldn't be a problem since one of the excursions was to Nochi Cocum in Cozumel which takes only 100 guest to this all inclusive beach. The intranet cafe was rather pricey, I opted for the .75 per minute since I was just trying to notify them of the switch. I did receive an email confirmation within 24 hrs saying this wasn't a problem. We had early seating for dinner in the lower level of lincoln dinning room. The food was really good, the dinning room service was not fantastic. We had a table of 10 and our waiter was Elmer and he had a female assistant which I can't recall her name. The 1st night he told us to make sure we arrive to dinner on time since the kitchen gets backed up which would delay our dinning experience, our party of 6 was on time when the doors opened the other 3 guest at our table arrived within 5-10 mins later daily. I don't blame the waiters, I feel maybe they cut back in the dinning room service and gave the limited waiters more tables to service. Couple of things that were lacking were slow service in between courses, empty plates sat for awhile before they were picked up, empty drinks had to always ask for more water. My daughter never got her cesear salad one night, my husbands baked potato was cold before I had to ask for the fixings to put on it. Never was offered fresh ground pepper, however other tables were offered and their waiter was very attentive. Did this impact us from enjoying the cruise not at all. Just some things I observed that carnival can do better at. However the bar service on the lido deck and lounges were always plentiful making sure they sell, sell, sell you drinks. This service should be as efficient during your dining experience. All the staff works very hard, they were all very friendly and always cleaning. Our cabin attendant Manni was wonderful, did a great job keeping our room spotless. I did appreciate all their hard work and services. Our first day at sea I woke up at 8 am to head to the lido deck to stake out 6 chairs, there were plenty available at that hour however as time went on they did fill out fast. Yes I am sorry I was one of those chair hogs, my party didn't join me until 2 hrs later (sorry) There were a lot of wild kids taking over the pools. Some were very inconsiderate I did get in the pool several times just to cool off since the weather was so hot. I am one of those people that takes a shower and fix my hair to layout for the day, crazy I know but what can I say. So when I get in the pool it is just to dip my body up to my neck and get out. I wasn't looking to get my hair wet. This big kid decides he is going to do a cannon ball right as I was got in the pool. Yes I realize if I am getting in the pool I can expect to get wet but these pools aren't very big to begin with & there were a lot of people in them at that time to decide to do a cannon ball. ERRRRR I wasn't a happy camper, he did apologize. I did not venture back to the adults only pool to check out the atmosphere back there during sea days. The sea side theater was nice, they did play music and concerts during the day and at night showed newer movies. Which I did not partake in them. I believe some of the movies shown during the week were alice in wonderland, The last song, The Eli Book (I think that was the name of it) just to name a few. That night we were advised that there was a passenger on board that needed medical attention and they needed to get him to the mainland due to this medical emergency. The closest port to drop him off was Cozumel, during the night he was dropped off and due to deviating from our course we didn't get to go to Grand Cayman they substituted it with Costa Maya. I have been to both and didn't have any excursions planned for this day so I was fine with it. However other passengers weren't too happy. One couple of board I over heard was to be getting married in Grand Cayman. I felt so bad for her. She did purchase the insurance so hopefully she will be reimbursed for the wedding expense preparation that didn't take place. Since I have been to Costa Maya before we made our way to the taxi's once of the ship and I asked if they had any all inclusive beach. I am not certain what the name of the beach was however it was about 10-15 min taxi drive to it. It was by Tequila beach. The water was very pretty, you got a beach chair and unlimited drinks both non and alcoholic drinks. The weather was in the middle to high 80's all week, blue skies no rain. The kids rented a jet ski and had a blast. 60.00 for a half hour. The drinks were plentiful and service was excellent. The miami vice drinks were excellent here. I did pay 20.00 for my husband to have a massage on the beach. This was his first and he enjoyed it. They did come around often to sell you stuff on the beach, such as cigars, jewlery, massages, braid your hair, purses etc. Right off the pier they do have a nice area of different shops and bars/grill to eat at. The next day was Cozumel we took a taxi to Nochi Cocum which is about a 25 min ride. This excursions was absolutely wonderful. All inclusive 49.00 per adult unlimited drinks both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. 3 course meal, beach chair and use of their facilities which included swimming pool with swim up bar, hot tub. Nice beach, I did rent a beach float mat 7.00 for the day, the kids did a bannana boat ride which they had a ball. The boys snorkeled off the beach and saw a barracuda, small stingray by the pier and some other fish.It was another beautiful day. The lunch was excellent, they give you a lot of food, you get to pick and appetizer, entree and dessert. The 6 of us asked if we can get 2 appetizers instead of a dessert and they did allow us. They had tortilla soup as appetizer, some seafood soup, mozzarella sticks, nachos, wings, fries. For entree I had the tacos which were pretty good. They do bring out complimentary chips and salsa. The next day was Belize I booked excursion thru island marketing online. We did Goff's Caye snorkel/beach break. This island you do tender. I would recommend being one of the first one's off since this is a long process, they do dock some ways out from the pier. If you book excursions thru the ship you would be granted first access to the tenders. I was worried about missing the excursion since there were many trying to leave at the same time. However we made it. The excursion consisted of a 25 min boat ride to a small island 1.3 acres in the middle of the ocean, crystal clear waters it was absolutely gorgeous. The tour guide Ian was very informative and the crew on the boat was excellent. They do a fantastic job. Once at the island they let you get off and those that aren't interested in snorkeling you can remain on the beach the rest they take you on the boat out to the reef and you snorkel off the boat for about 45 mins. After that they bring you back and serve complimentary rum punch and water. This island is very natural, there are no chairs maybe a couple of picnic tables, they do have a grill and they serve some food, grilled lobster, chicken and rice and beans. they do have a couple of tables set up of souviners. The only bathroom looked like a port a potty. Some of the beach there are a lot of rocks stay to the right side of the pier no rocks. Crystal clear water and you can go out some distance rather shallow. Someone found a sea cucumber off the beach, sand dollar. My son and his friend went snorkeling off the beach found a conch shell with a crab inside, someone found a hermit crab, and a crab scurrying across the sand. I did inquire about bannister island and I was told it was damaged by the hurricane they weren't certain when it would re open. They did get you back to the pier in a timely manner and you had 45 mins or so to shop before you have to be back onboard the valor. I did go to the pharmacy at the pier and picked up retinae (acne cream for a friend) $12.00 no prescription needed. The next stop was Roatan, I was excited since I was never at this island, we were due to dock at mahogany bay however due to heavy winds we had to dock at coxen hole. We did the west bay beach break via Island marketing. The taxi ride was about 25 mins, our guide Unis was very informative. She stayed with us at the beach and said when we were ready just look for her and she will take us back. This excursion did include a beach chair, a complimentary drink from the bar and the prettiest beach and soft sand. This was my favorite port. Water was crystal clear. I had 2 fantastic drinks from the bar one was called a monkey La La which was baileys, vodka, kaluha and coconut cream. Very yummy. I asked for a melon colada which is normally a pina colada and add midori (melon liquor) however here I think they made the pina colada and added watermelon and blended it with ice, very good. I took my hubby's free drink. I would love to go back to this destination again. Very nice port. On the last day I was packing and I noticed my oversize suitcase was damaged. Which before boarding it was in tack and had both wheels on it, however from that time it got damaged in transit. The wheel was ripped off and shoved up inside the hole that was left there. I was't too happy since this was fairly new in which it came in a set with 4 other pieces, this was a nice big piece of luggage. I called the purser desk to inform them of this, within 15 mins they came up to inspect the damage. I was asked if I was planning on doing self assist to get off which I was, however due to this I couldn't wheel this piece for fear to further damage it. Ana the crew member from guest services said I will file a claim and I will get you tickets to be one of the first ones called off the boat. She said she would give me a letter in regards to the claim, she did apologize and informed me they didn't have any luggage repair on the boat. She recommended when I get home to take it to see about getting it fixed and call carnival's customer service back to see if they will reimburse me. So I am curious to see how this is going to work out. We were off the ship by 7:30 quarter to 8, customs was backed up. If you are traveling with someone else's kids please make sure you get a signed notarized letter from their parents, during customs they did look at it and did ask the child questions. This was my 5th carnival cruise, and overall 10th cruise to date. We really had a great time, the kid's friends this was there first cruise and they loved it. I loved the ship, the food, entertainment was great. I don't feel the cruise director was that personable, I believe his nick name was goose. He wasn't as energetic as others in the past. I am already trying to get information for next year cruise. Would like to try the dream doing the same itinerary and try to get a group of friends together to go. I hope you found this helpful, I wanted to give a highlight of what experience I had. Things to mention, there was a hairdryer in the room, there is only one plug by the desk area, bring a power strip if you need multiple ones. I did buy a travel clock which I found handy since we had an inside cabin and at night the room is pitch black. Try not to over pack like I seem to do every year. If you like the sun you will be in a bathing suite and cover up daily, Inner mix outfits to save storage space. Take comfortable shoes when getting off the boat. Make sure you have sunscreen sun was strong. I would recommend aqua shoes as some of the beaches were rocky and full of broken shells it was hard on your feet, I did cut my foot one day due to this. Remember you are on vacation, everything may not be perfect, but hey make the most of it, be pampered and have fun. If you have any further questions please let me know. Sorry it was so long thanks for taking the time to read, hope your trip is/was as wonderful as ours.

 

Good review. Thanks for sharing...managed to read through all of it...It helps if you use your mouse and highlight a section at a time and read it that way...heh heh...

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nhraformula00

nhraformula00

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Posted

My family and I just got home from the Valor one week after your cruise.I have to agree,Goose was by far our least favorite CD in 8 carnival cruises. Our boarding was a little slow,arived at 11 am and finally on at 1 pm.They would not start boarding untill almost noon. Disembark started at 8am,we had #30 luggage tags,and were finally off and thru customs at noon.

We had wonderful dining room and cabin staff. Friendly,called us all by first name by the second day,never had any problems.The food was very good,prompt,hot,and they had our drinking preferences (without asking) by the third day.

We had an overall great cruise.Warm weather, with only 1 rain day in Cozemel.

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goose30

goose30

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Posted
Good review. Thanks for sharing...managed to read through all of it...It helps if you use your mouse and highlight a section at a time and read it that way...heh heh...

 

Thanks for quoting the whole post. I missed it the first time.

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