A Valor Review...

[cdm]

VALOR REVIEW - FEBRUARY 20 - 27, 2005

I’m warning you …this review is long.

 

We flew into Miami from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada the night before. Minus 31 Celcius to 75 F – a great beginning. Our flight schedule had us arriving at 11:30 at night, so we didn’t get to see much of Miami. Knowing this and the fact that we were basically going to the hotel to sleep, we couldn’t justify an expensive hotel. That said, we booked a room at the Best Western ChateauBleu. It’s in Coral Gables. This hotel is definitely not a 5-Star but the room was clean and it had a free shuttle from the airport and to the port. I would recommend it again. If fact, many of the people we spoke to on the port shuttle had the same opinion.

 

 

Embarkation: We requested the early hotel shuttle and set out for the port around 10:30. The port was an absolute zoo! The traffic was chaotic. Anyway, we finally got dropped off at our terminal around 11:30. Left our 5 pieces of luggage and a tip with the baggage guys and headed into the terminal. We lined up to pick up our Sign & Sail cards and then waited until almost 1:00 in the port lounge to board the ship. There was a TsunamiRelief Luncheon on the Valor that afternoon which I believe held up the embarkation process. Once onboard, we went straight to our room (which was already ready) to drop off our carryon and then to Rosie’s (Lido deck) for lunch. Once lunch was over, we went back to our cabin to change and headed for the deck. If I got to do it over again, I would have relaxed around the hotel pool and then boarded the ship around 4 in the afternoon – probably would’ve walked right on and avoided all the line ups.

Overall Ship: First impression of the ship is outstanding. The detailed woodwork, sculptures, décor, etc. is exceptional. It’s a very beautiful ship. The ship's layout however, could be improved. All activity is focused in concentrated areas and when you have 3000 + people onboard, it seemed too busy.

Cabins: We had a cat 4b, inside room which was on deck 2 – Main – Cabin #2294. The cabin rooms are well designed. Even with 4 people, we had lots of room to hang and store all our stuff. Our luggage fit under the beds. I did bring an extension cord which was well used – I was able to style my hair in the bathroom (there is no plug in the bathroom) while others dressed, etc. If you want to do the same, bring your own hair dryer as the one provided in the room is secured to the desk. Also, a small alarm clock is nice to have as there is no clock in the room. Good shampoo, soap and body wash are provided – no hair conditioner. There is an in-room safe free of charge. Bring a non credit type card (needs the magnetic strip) as this is what the safe uses to lock/unlock. You will need to carry this card with you or hide it in your room somewhere. Our cabin steward was great. She surprised us every night with different towel animals and even left cookies for each of our kids some nights. Although we made out quite fine with an inside cabin, we should have spent the extra money and gotten a balcony or an inside for the kids and an outside for us.

Dining: We were assigned a table for four (just prefect for our family) at the 8:30 seat time in the Lincoln dining room. I requested a late seating but would have preferred the 8:00 time. I tried to have this changed, but was unsuccessful. The 5:30 or 6:15 would have been too rushed for us as we liked to go back to the cabin or sit on the deck for a bit before getting ready for dinner. Lots of time, I saw people dressed for dinner and we were just getting back from a port. As it turned out, our wait staff were excellent and this made up for it – Sandy from Australia and Carlos from Columbia. They had our kid’s chocolate milk in wine glasses waiting after the first night. The food was good but not excellent.

The menu was quite varied and we sometimes had trouble deciding. One night Sandy noticed my husband wasn’t eating his fish and insisted he order something else, which was brought to our table immediately. Another night, lobster was on the menu, we ordered two each and they never thought any thing of it. If you don’t see something on the menu that you want, just order a steak. The desserts were great. In fact, I don’t think I have ever eaten so much dessert. Even with the late, late seating, we were always finished in time for the late shows but I think this is due to our smaller table size. Many of the larger tables were still eating as we were leaving the dining room.

My husband and I preferred breakfast and lunch served in the Washington dining room. We were seated with different people each day which we enjoyed. In fact, one day we were seated with another couple and when the wife found out we were from Canada inquired if we used dog sleds to get to work! We laughed about that the whole cruise.

 

We found the line ups at Rosie’s too long. Our kids, on the other hand, liked Rosie’s and probably consumed their wait in pizza, fries and ice cream. The pizza was good and so were the burger and fries. The fish & chips were greasy. Never got a chance to try the deli sandwiches but they looked good. Again, the lines up were long.

Never tried the supper club, Scarlett's. If you want to, make sure you reserve early.

 

Pool: The pools were incredibly small and due to this mainly occupied by kids. On the “at sea” days, finding a lounge chair around the pool areas was next to impossible if you didn’t save one at 6:00 a.m. We ended up on the higher decks which we actually preferred because it was quieter and there was an outside shower to cool yourself if needed. The waterslide was closed quite a bit.

Entertainment: The Vegas Show the first formal night was fantastic. The comedian the first night was so-so (Josh, the cruise director was funnier), and we never stayed up late enough for the midnight comedian. The show the second formal night was good, but not as good as the first. The band by the pool was loud but OK. The jazz band in the Winston Room was good, however, it was too smoky for us. The band in the Eagles Lounge was also OK. We are not gamblers, but the casinos were packed at all times.

Excursions: We did all our excursions through independent tours or own our own.

In Belize, we just tendered in, shopped a bit and had a few beers/sodas and people watched.

In Roatan, we walked past all the tour people (who will try to discourage you by claiming the drivers further on “might” not get you back in time, etc.) to the taxi stand and secured a cab for $20 to Foster’s Resort. The arrangement was that we paid him only when he brought us back to the ship, so there was no real threat. Besides, we asked to be picked up with plenty of time to spare if he didn’t show up and we had to secure our own transportation back. He stopped a number of times for me to take a picture. Foster’s is a nice resort. You could rent a chair for $5 and cold beers and pop were $2 & $1. There was also locals (who were not pushy) on the beach selling their crafts. We have our own snorkel equipment, so we walked a short way down the beach and were able to do some good snorkeling. We brought a few bananas with us and the fish went crazy for them – even ate the peel. Bring an underwater camera. There were also restrooms and showers to use. We did not order any food, but it looked OK. We had brought some danishes and muffins from the ship. Remember to bring Ziploc baggies for this reason. Then it was back to the ship for a late lunch. I would go back to this island in a minute.

The island of Grand Cayman was hit very hard by the hurricane and it still very evident. Many million dollar home are roofless and vacant. A shame to see the damage to what was and I'm sure still will be a beautiful place. Here, we arranged to swim with the Stingrays through Captain Marvin’s. This was the best excursion of our cruise. We arranged for the 11:15 to 1:15 tour and it was a good thing because we were a little late getting into Grand Cayman and would have missed the earlier tour. As well, the first few tenders are given to passengers who booked tours through the ship. This two hour tour ended up being almost three hours, which still gave us time to shop for rum cakes. Shopping here is quite expensive, so we did not buy much – we were saving it for Cozumel.

In Cozumel, we left the ship shortly after we docked. Cozumel has changed drastically since we were there last. The waterfront is now a mini mall - gone are the small restaurants looking over the water where you could quietly have a beer, chips & salsa. Anyway, we again grabbed a cab ($12) and headed to Paradise Beach. At this beach, there is no charge to use the chairs & umbrellas. I believe the understanding is that you purchased some drinks & food in exchange for their use. For kids, you can purchase a wrist band for $5 which allows them to use the kayaks, the water trampoline, and the walking climbing iceberg. Our kids had a blast using them. You could also snorkel right from the beach. Beers were $3 each and if you ordered a bucket of 4, you got one free. We also had some lunch which was reasonably priced. We left the beach around 5:00 and headed back to the ship to freshen up and then back out for some shopping. All in all, a great day. Note, all were asked for photo ID as well as your sign and sail card when returning to the ship.

Camp Carnival: Both of our kids signed up for the program. Although, because our kids didn’t purchased the soda card (they don’t drink pop), they were not entitled to the free lanyard card. We were told if we wanted them, we could purchase them in one of the shops. Instead, we went to the casino and they were giving them out, at no cost. Mind you, you had to be 18 and older. My husband and I asked for them and then gave them to our kids.

Our 12 year old enjoyed the camp somewhat. I found there program was not structured enough. I thought they would have had some pottery painting or hat weaving type crafts, but there was nothing like it. Mostly scavenger hunts, etc. Our 16 year old didn’t like it all – not much to do - just a hang out at the disco. According to him, the arcade was a “rip-off”.

Other: Take advantage of the professional photographers. Have your picture taken as many times as possible – pre/post/during dinner, getting on/off ship, etc. Not all of them turn out. Towards the end of the cruise make your selection. We purchased several family pictures that were great. Again, they’re not cheap, however, neither is a professional photographer if you were to go to one.

Take a small amount of your own alcohol to have a pre-dinner drink. Just pack it securely in your luggage (not carryon) and it will arrive to your cabin just fine. No need to transfer it to other bottles. I was torn with doing this, however, we purchased enough of the ship’s drinks to ease my conscience.

We took too many clothes. Don’t worry about wearing the same thing twice. With so many people on board, no one will notice. Quite a few times, I felt overdressed and that was just with a sundress for dinner. A wrap (sold in the shop on the ship for a reasonable price) may come in handy. Although we had great weather, the theater got kinda chilly in the evenings.

Bring travel mugs. In the morning you can use it for coffee and later on you can fill it up with your favorite drink and it stays nice and cold.

Don’t worry about seasickness. Take a Dramamine (available at no cost from the information desk at no cost) every night before bed, whether you need it or not. If nothing else, you will sleep well.

Captain’s Cocktail Party. Go EARLY to get a seat. If you don’t like what the wait staff are serving from trays, order directly from the bar.

Disembarkment: Chose to self disembark - simple and fast.

Although we had an OK time, having now done the cruise thing and having previously done many land vacations, both non- and all-inclusive, I prefer the land vacation and probably won’t cruise again. There were just too many line ups and too many people. I hated hearing other peoples conversations and it was next to impossible not to. Just my two cents worth….;)

 

Any questions?

[avid]

Posting this from cabin 8450 balcony via wifi on my own laptop.

 

It was a GREAT cruise...will post a detailed review as soon as I get home..(am almost out of internet minutes) meantime checkout these pix

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/275463724TnYQtl/0

 

 

 

Boarding last Sunday was effortless considering the number of folks cruising that Presidents Holiday week..The ship was pretty easy to get around on considering its size. I really think its much better laid out than the Legend or the Victory, though the only decks with bow to stern access are Lido and Deck 5 which had the Casino and The Ivanhoe Theater (what’s with that whole medieval theme, I don’t get it) the free Sushi bar...great just before Dinner and all the clubs/pubs clustered in the Deck 5 AFT. The 2 dining rooms are on Deck 4 with Winston’s (as in Churchill) Cigar Bar nestled in between (by far my favorite for great Jazz an after Dinner Cognac and a good smoke). Our stateroom was 8450 a category 8C AFT cabin right next to the suite with the wraparound balcony but I think ours was a much nicer wider and more amenable to party. it came with a chair and half reclining lounge and a table but given the room left over, I went up to lido via crew stairs right next door and brought down a regular pool deck lounge chair which fit right in and I still had plenty of space left over for my travel hammock (see the pix at link above).

 

We joined the Cruise Critic Feb 20th Roll Call at the top of the slide during Miami sail away and got to meet Quinn and a few others (hey folks, I have a couple of mpeg video clips to share if anyone knows where I can post them. As you can see from the pix, our 4 Carnival web site booked daily excursions were very enjoyable....(everywhere but Grand Cayman where we went to 7 mile Beach at Marriott Resort which like so many other Georgetown resorts is still closed for renovations due to Ivan’s destruction last fall....so access was free and all the staff who provided food and drink service directly on the beach were very customer service oriented). The food was great and we found dinning room service impeccable except at Scarlett's which was rather amateur, though the food was well worth the surcharge.

[poolplayer]

Had a great time on this large ship.

 

I will post add a couple remarks from above

 

Prior

We flew in night before and stayed at Marriott Courtyard. Boat show was going on so busy everywhere. Enjoyed the evening at bayside walkable from the hotel but I would not go out too late at night in that area

 

EMBARKMENT

Took a cab at 10 from the hotel arrived at 10:20 at the ship to wait in line. Boarded 1st call at 11:30. The red cross was there as they told us every sunday for 1000 guests. they boarded before us at 11:00. Went to our room and put in our carrying on and headed to Rosie's for Lunch.

Again almost first in line so had time to eat and do the 12:30 tour of the ship.

SHIP

There big help was 2 and 5 can go anywhere. So were we got lost always headed to 5.

 

ROOM

Our room was near elevators on 8 friends had a wrap around. They did not the noice from above at night from chairs and the ship docking. But had a great balcony. Our room bathroom was the best laid out yet. Had enough room for another suitcase. Loved the duvet. Finally got a handing monkey towel yes they are cute

 

DINING

Had the worst waiter every DAnny Boy and helper was Laslo who was good but just learning (3 weeks on the ship) Danny rarely got it right. Food was normal Carnival. We had the 5:45 Lincoln room The table was for four looked at the gallery cleaning up the mess. The couple beside was very compatabile with us. Had sushi most nights before dinner

 

CHOCOLATE BUFFET-get there early they close it at 1:55 and it is almost gone

 

SCARLETTS -did it one night. Friends thought it was great. Just a normal restaurant to me. Presently the food nice. Will be better when wait staff have a little from tours behind there belts. Gave me the wrong appetizer told me I was wrong then appolized they were wrong. Wine guys are great

 

WINE-We did two wine tastings they were excellent, and knowledgeable. Tried Opus one for first time

 

PUB CRAWL-Husband won the pub crawl and won many prizes but did not get his plastic ship as he was hoping for. Won two excusions free in Caymans, frame, gold bracelet, much more more

 

POOL: We enjoyed the band at the pool loved the music. It was hard to get a chair and many people save with a shoe for hours without ever using

 

FITNESS CENTRE: Yes i used it a few times. Good equipment. The treadmills had television on they that had more stations that the rooms. Take your heads phone to get hooked up

 

ENTER-Did much nights. Usually cruise ship stuff. Did one midnight comic. He was great it was all about women and men's yearly exams but a hoot

 

EXCURIONS:

BELIZE-riverafting was okay but too long. Ruins were wonderfull. Guys did gabling and loved it

 

ROATAN-did beginner scuba a anonthy's key. What a great place and great dive site for beginners. They take you to Tam beach and you dive 20 feet and see wonderful sea life. Four in a group to one instructor You can spend the rest of the day at the beach and take the bus back at your leisure

 

CAYMAN-at our free tour of the stingrays had a small boat instead of the larger one last year. It is easier to get off and on the boat. It seems like less stingrays this year. Also got a snorkeling trip free was nothing compared to scuba the day before but seeing waterlife is still cool

 

COZUMEL-did the mountain biking in the jungle. Not great bikes. Very humid was dress. It was very rough terain lots of rocks. Had do it in Jamaica and it was much better there. Went to Ron Jon's at the prior for the normal junk

 

PHOTO-agree that the pictures are great deals. When do you get a formal picture taken that they don't care it you buy

 

COCKTAIL PARTY-husbands wanted beer they got it no problem

 

REPEATER's PARTY-same as cocktail party just more free drinks

 

OVERALL-Nice clean boat but would prefer a smaller with less passengers. Like the pubs all close together

 

DISEMBARK- Stayed near the shops when they called could go was early in line. At the airport by 10:15 in Miami with a cab for 22.00

[CrazyMums]

This one is long too - sorry.

 

Our transportation to Miami was by bus so the morning started around 4:30 a.m., left home at 5:00 to be at bus pickup by 5:30. The bus arrived promptly at 6:00, made one 20 minute stop, and was at the port by 10:30 a.m. We had made prior arrangements for wheelchair assistance at the port for my Mom and were told to just flag down a Carnival rep. Couldn't find one anywhere! A gentlemen who appeared to be overseeing the porters got a chair for my Mom, ran off to find a wheelchair, and brought us into the building, right up to the counter for special needs to register. He was fantastic and refused a tip. My DS went running after him with the tip money and he waved him off with a smile. Fantastic start to the day.

 

When a Valor crew member (Neil) became available to bring us through to the S&S line and the ship, we were off - what a mess! There were lines everywhere, none of them moving, and no one seemed to know what anyone else was doing. We asked the same question to at least 5 different port employees and they all had DIFFERENT answers. We were also told that embarkation was being delayed because of a luncheon. When they told us to go through to the elevator, a customs employee stopped us and said she had not been told yet that we could go through. We pointed out the person who sent us and there was another big commotion. And then they announced that the escalators had broken down with THOUSANDS of people waiting in line to board. For some odd reason, you go to level 2, then up to 4, then down to 3, or something like that. I wish all the ships sailed out of Port Canaveral. We've always have problems with Miami.

 

We finally did make it on board and Neil brought us right to our cabin. He was new to the ship and to this port and was fantastic. After a quick check of the cabin, we headed up to Lido deck for lunch. Had no problem getting a table and waited in line in shifts so we wouldn't lose the outside table. I am a smoker and there weren't a lot of outside tables on the starboard (smoking) side. We thought the food was good, sat for a bit and then went back to the cabin to wait for the dreaded muster drill. DS went off exploring.

 

MUSTER DRILL: This was another disaster. This was our 7th cruise with Carnival and we definitely know the routine. My Mom was having problems walking so we headed to the elevator. She has handicap status but we opted to not keep the wheelchair during the cruise (won't do that again). The announcer had said the elevators would be operating for the handicapped only for drill purposes and after the drill, to go to the information desk to make sure they were aware of what cabin you were in if there was a real emergency. This was fine with us until we were stopped at the elevator. This PERSON was in my face, telling me no such announcement had been made, she'd been working for Carnival for 10 years and we could NOT use the elevator. We stood our ground and I told her that after 10 years, you would think that she had learned to listen to the announcements. It ended with my Mom and DS going back to the cabin and I went down to the drill. I wish I had caught her name.

 

DINING: We had 5:45 in the Washington Dining Room. We thought the food was probably the worst we've had on any Carnival ship in the dining room but our wait staff was the best - Daniela from Romania and Lilia from Estonia. They worked in perfect harmony with each other, always smiling, fast, efficient - just incredible. They are hoping to get assigned to the Liberty so maybe I'll run into them next year!

 

ROSIE'S: We ate breakfast each morning at Rosie's and enjoyed it very much. Also had a late lunch there a few times and found it to be very good. DS loved the pizza, the deli and the grill.

 

CABIN: We were on Deck 6, Upper, Balcony, which is where we always book our cabins. Just give me a balcony, the ocean and I'm happy. We had a couple issues with our cabin steward not having the room done but they were resolved.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: We seldom go to the shows anymore as they don't seem to vary much from year to year. I did hear from others though that they were very good.

 

CASINO: I thought the payouts were VERY bad the beginning of the cruise but people seemed to be really hitting the last night. The staff of the casino was fantastic - ALL of them.

 

PORTS: We stayed on board in Belize since we had not booked an excursion and were told it was not safe to just go off. I had been told that Camp Carnival would take the 12 to 14 year olds on an excursion in Belize and had planned on that. This was NOT the case. They took the 15 to 17 year olds ONLY. We also stayed on board in Cozumel. We are not beach people and DS had friends staying on board. In Roatan, we did the Dolphin Encounter at Anthony's Key. Well worth the $ and is something I would like to do again but for a longer period of time. It would have been nice to have more time in Roatan too. After the excursion, there was little time to do much else. The people we met were extremely helpful, friendly and very informative about their country. This is one place I would definitely return too. In Grand Cayman, we did Stingray Sandbar. DS really enjoyed this one as well. The drop from the bottom rung of the ladder to the bottom was unfortunately too far for my Mom (80) so unfortunately she could just watch from the catamaran. She did enjoy the ride and the view though. Another note about Grand Cayman, I thought the people were pushy and rude - very unlike Roatan. Would not go back there.

 

CAMP CARNIVAL: A very, MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT for this age group (12 to 14), especially during President's Week with a ship full of kids. Everything seemed geared to the 15 to 17 year olds. Again, major miscommunication. I was told by 2 counselors that the 12 to 14 years old WERE taken on the excursions. I was told by 2 others that they were NOT. Then I was told to just go to the shore excursion desk and ask for the teen group trips, sign him up for one, and bring them the sheet. Well, after waiting almost 2 hours in line, the gentlemen at the shore excursion desk said "sorry", they were for 15 to 17 year olds only. It didn't seem like anyone knew what anyone else was doing or supposed to be doing. Same problem with the Capers. It would say something was open (photo shop, casino, etc.) at a certain time and they were not.

 

PHOTOS: Photos were great. Definitely spent some $ there.

 

DISEMBARKATION: We were told to please be out of our cabins by 9:00 a.m. and when the "all clear" was announced, to just disembark at our leisure. They requested that all passengers be off the ship by 10:30. We just sat up on Lido, had breakfast, and waited until about 10:00 - then basically just walked off with practically no lines. We found a porter for our bags, breezed through immigration and our bus people spotted us right away and led us to the bus. I think this was so much easier than calling by tag color.

 

OVERALL: Out of the 7 cruises I've had with Carnival, I would rate it as one of my least favorite. Don't take this wrong - I love all my cruises, just didn't like this one as much as the others.

[JrMafia90]

Thanks for the review. Yes it is long, but VERY helpful.

[oceantravel]

Thanks for the reviews everbody. I get to experience her for myself in a little over a week.!

[asica]

Informative review - thanks , you mention just hoping a cab to Fosters for $20 - was that round trip - and I am a bit confused - was that Foster's West End or Foster's West Bay -

[cdm]

We went to Fosters in West Bay. With a short walk you were near Tabayana Beach, however, this is a private beach reserved for cruise excursions at a cost of $35 per person.

 

Our cab ride was $20 return, plus a tip. We had to walk past all the tour operators, etc. It was quite intimidating, however, I was told to walk to the bus stop and grab a cab there. Didn't even have to go that far, because when we told the locals our plans to catch a bus, their prices dropped immediately.

 

As well, the deal was they didn't get paid, until we were back at the port.

[CruiseAwayWithMe]

thanks for the review......it's very detailed. i enjoyed reading it :)