Valor Review 4/17 - 4/24

[normalman]

My Valor Review (4/17/2011)

 

Embarkation

 

We drove to Miami and used Premier Cruise Parking (booked through Unitedairportparking.com) and not to be confused with the other Premier Parking. If they had more shuttles running, this would be an outstanding service. It's garage parking, it's close to the port, and it's less than half the price of the port parking. The one downside is that we waited 30 minutes or so to get taken to the boat and on return we waited about 50 minutes (and 2 phone calls) to get picked up. If you have the time, it still may be worth it. I'd suggest calling though as soon as you get off the boat and act like you've been waiting for a while so they actually break out another van.

 

Once we got to the terminal, we gave our non carry-ons to the porter and started the multiple lines Carnival makes you go through. Ok, I understand security, but then there’s the kiosk you go to check in at, then you get on another line to get your sign and sail card, then there’s a final wait where the ship takes everybody’s picture as they go onboard (for identification, they also take the cheesy backdrop photo too). Now really, couldn’t they combine all this into one stop – check in, give you the card, take the id photo?

Anyway, we’re now on board. Our room’s not quite ready but we drop off our carry-ons and head for lunch. Thanks to this board, I go straight to the fish and chips on the mezzanine above the Lido. I don’t have fish and chips but instead have an excellent watermelon sushi and a ceviche full of shrimp, mussels, eel, etc.

 

For departure, we get a couple of drinks of the day and hit the serenity area. This is a nice area but in spite of great weather, we constantly seem to be heading into the wind and it’s always windy here. I’m not a huge fan of the drinks of the day but this first one is a decent value since it’s loaded with alcohol.

 

I tried to get anytime dining but that’s overbooked so we’re given early dining. I request to switch to late but for the first day we’re on early. Dinner is just ok and it’s slow service. Now, I normally go on a cruise expecting Applebee’s quality so I’m usually pleasantly surprised by the food and while this first night was the weakest of the week, the service will be slow throughout, even when we switch to late dining and another table. I don’t think this is the wait staff’s fault though. I just think the ship is huge and if there’s an area I notice that maybe Carnival’s cutback on, it’s the dining staff.

 

Later that night, I come in second in Turbo Trivia and get a medal. To my embarrassment, I lose because I forgot that rum is made from sugar cane. My youngest son also wins a medal for best 9-11 boy dancer in camp carnival. We stick around a little for the opening night show but it drags so we head out. I take my youngest to the freezing pool while my oldest gets to do the late night circle C activities. A second complaint (or maybe a third) is that the hot tubs don’t open til later the next day and they never really get hot.

 

Sea Day

 

I do another trivia contest and tie for first, winning a ship on the stick. DW and I try the fitness center which is nice but surprisingly crowded. Both breakfast and lunch at the Lido are quite good. It’s formal night and dinner is maine lobster. Knowing how a cruise works, I order two, they’re both great. DW and I go to the broadway style show which is fairly cheesy (Carnival could save themselves some money and ditch the silly robotic couch). We also see one of the comics’ late night show (Frank Something or other – I wish I could remember, because he was excellent).

 

Grand Caymans

 

This is a tender port and we dally around, eat breakfast in MDR (very good) hoping the line will have died. No, it’s gotten longer. However, it moves fairly quickly and we’re soon at the terminal. Thanks to these boards we now save some more money. We walked a couple blocks off the terminal to the bus depot. Buses here are actually minivans. We pretty much had a private driver to Seven Mile beach (she picked one person up and dropped him off along the way). She dropped us off right at the public beach.

 

Of the beaches I saw on this cruise, I thought this was the nicest. The snorkeling was really weak but the water and sand were nice. The public beach is next to Calico Jack’s – drink prices there made the ship look cheap. I bought coconuts from the guy on the beach instead and we drank them. Kids mostly played in the sand but got in the water some. Only downside was I forgot to put lotion on my feet and got pretty nicely burned. When we were ready to go, we crossed the street, picked up another bus right away, waited a few minutes for another group and went back to the port. Price was $2.50 a person each way, about half a cab. Good way to go.

 

That night, we booked a meal at the steak house. I know I’m going to be in a minority here, but this may have been my biggest disappointment of the cruise. Whereas on the rest of the ship, I’m expecting Applebees, here, I really expected something first rate. While it wasn’t bad, I’ve had plenty better. My porterhouse was good. DW’s lamb though was tough – in fact, she liked the lamb she got the next night in MDR better. Appetizers and desserts were good but nothing special. Service was good.

We saw both comedians’ adult shows that night. June Jones was pretty good. Frank (I wish I remembered his last name) was great again. This guy should be getting much better gigs.

 

Roatan

 

We had booked a south shore zipline and private driver through Chris’ Tours ($250 for 2 adults and 2 kids). In Roatan, Carnival’s a little tricky. They’ve built themselves their own private beach and port area so anyone not taking their tours has to walk a literal half mile thru the complex and up and down a hill to where the non-carnival tours are. We find our driver, who annoys me by detouring us to some shopping complex first. We make it clear we’re uninterested in any shopping and we head for the zipline. This may be the highlight of our trip and if you don’t suffer a fear of heights and aren’t tremendously out of shape, I can’t recommend it highly enough. You’re soaring hundreds of feet in the air looking down on some incredible rainforest going for hundreds of feet.

 

Driver then takes us to Bananarama. I originally wanted Tabayana but he points out there’s a fee for sitting there while Banarama is free. (I think that’s where he wanted to take me). In future, I’d insist on Tabayana and pay the fee since the beach area is nicer and less crowded there and is directly opposite the best snorkeling. However, Banarama winds up having very good reasonably priced drinks and there’s a platform right in the water for the kids to play on which they do most of the day (until our youngest breaks his glasses). If you turn left, walk a hundred yards down just past the pier, you can also swim out and snorkel. The fish were pretty good, but I got too close and brushed some coral. I came out with a nice swelling on my chest.

 

Back at the pier, the Carnival Dream is also in dock and I get to listen to my kids go on about how much bigger it is and how much bigger their water slide is (never mind the price was nearly double).

 

That night we see a magic show in the main theater. Nothing spectacular about the tricks but the execution was very nice and the magician does some good comedy with volunteers from the audience. Later, we see a smaller magic show with the “ship” magician, Rakesh. He does some nice card and rope tricks.

 

Belize

 

For Belize you have to get a number and wait to be called for the tender. We get there early but they’re already on group 9. Fortunately, the wait isn’t too bad. It’s also a longer ride from shore than Cayman and we later find out talking to our waiter that for some reason, the tender company isn’t very cooperative and Carnival always has problems with them.

 

We scheduled a cave tubing trip with cavetubing.bz (not to be confused with cavetubing.com). We chose them because the reviews were good, the price ($50/person) was reasonable, and they included lunch. Unfortunately, we screwed up directions and wound up exiting the terminal at the wrong place. We were immediately accosted by hoards of cabbies and guides. Fortunately, they took no for an answer and a couple of them directed us to the right location.

 

The drive out to the caves takes quite a while but there are some interesting sites along the way. While Belize City is no Paris, it’s not Beirut either and it’s interesting to look at from the van. In the country, our guides explain the native fauna, some of which is quite interesting (such as the spontaneously combusting plants). When we arrive, we get our floats and haul them quite a ways to the caves. It’s a neat ride through 2 large caves (I should have saved my film though as the second cave had much more interesting formations) and then a brief ride down the river back to base. We then pack up and leave. On the way back, we stop at their base of operations for a lunch of rice, beans, chicken and rum punch. It’s simple wholesome fare, and after ship’s food, it’s a very nice change of pace. We also get to taste the cashew wine (Napa has nothing to worry about). They do have an ulterior motive in that they have stands for selling souvenirs. DW ends up buying a handmade bead bracelet and necklace set.

 

This is the second formal night. Food is good but not quite like the lobster earlier. There are new comedians on board too. The family friendly show really isn’t that family friendly but the comedian does great sound effects and impressions so the kids are amused. His adult show is also pretty good.

 

Cozumel

 

We don’t rush to get off since we don’t have a tour and we don’t have to worry about tendering. We take a cab to Paradise Beach (set price is $13 for up to 4). For $12 each the kids can play on the giant blowup water toys and for $2 each, DW and I can use the chairs and the very nice pool. I would have bought lunch there but the service was really poor. They were busy with Good Friday but it wasn’t that packed, so I’m surprised they didn’t do better, otherwise the place was quite nice. The beach itself was kind of shelly and the parts away from the club property weren’t that nice, so if you go to this beach area you kind of need to go to a club area. We walked to Playa del Mia (I think that’s the name, it was the closest club). It wasn’t nearly as nice.

 

That night, we decide for speed and went to the buffet on the Lido. Big mistake. Breakfast and lunch there had been very good but dinner was very weak. I wound up getting a deli sandwich and then we went to the MDR for cappuccino and dessert.

 

There was a blackjack tournament in the casino. I watched for a while and then on the very last round I decided to give it a try. I bet very aggressively the first couple of hands, got lucky and wound up making the finals. In the finals, I again bet aggressively and had some decent luck. Going into the last round, I was a close second with the guy in third, fairly well back. This time though I bet a bit too conservatively, while the person in third went all in and got a blackjack taking the $500 prize. Still I got a hat and t shirt for a third place finish.

 

Last sea day

 

Tried a few more trivia contests but never got really close. We let the kids build stuffed dogs. We worked out and used the still not hot enough hot tub. Chocolate buffet was cool to look at but tastes was only so-so. Dinner’s good. We then see one of the new comics who’s not bad but not great. Next, we stop in to see the final show where fellow cruise members come out and try to perform as various famous singers. Nobody’s very good but it’s still fun. Finally, I may have a tip I hadn't seen mentioned before. I don't know if they always do this or if it's the same on each cruise but if you drink and gamble it's worth noting. On the last day of the cruise, I saw signs that you could turn in your receipts for any classic cocktails (long island ice tea, mojito, etc) and receive a $5 match play coupon for each purchase. I did it, and won the bet with the coupon (of course my earlier luck was now gone and I then gambled away my winnings).

 

Embarkation

 

We wanted off quick so we hauled our luggage and got off a little after 8:00 then had to wait too long for pickup. It was a long drive home to South Carolina but we finally got back a little before 10:00 pm.

 

Summary

 

While there were minor complaints here and there, all and all we had a great time. I’ll probably do it again in a few years when I’ve saved enough money.

 

I’ll post pictures soon.

[fey51]

Glad you had a nice time on the Valor! :) Now you have to recover and catch up after vacation, that is always the hard part. We just booked the Valor for May 2012, and I would love to see any photos you might have.

[Ms. Fun Bunch]

Enjoyed your review! Brought back memories of my Valor cruise!

[spideyfam]

Great review! Looking forward to the pictures.

[megmno]

Thanks for the very detailed and balanced review.

[wadethegringo]

Nice review. I have sailed the Valor twice. Loved it...:)

[LBumb]

thanks for posting review.

[Miracletobehold]

Great review. I am looking forward to seeing your pics.

[Miracletobehold]

Great review. I am looking forward to seeing your pics.

[normalman]

Embarkation

 

Standing on the lines

 

 

 

Eating in the Fish and Chips - it's more than Fish and Chips

 

 

Miami in the background

 

Heading out

 

[normalman]

Room looks messy but considering there's 4 of us and it's really small, we manage to keep thing under reasonable control. Note that we took advantage of the ability to carry on our own sodas.

 

 

Tendering ashore at Grand Caymans

 

 

 

On the dock. We left here to walk a short distance to the buses depot

 

[normalman]

Grand Cayman was the nicest beach in terms of sand and water quality

 

 

Panama Jack is where the crowd was

 

 

You could use the water toys here for $12/hr. We passed, the ones at Paradise Beach in Cozumel were cheaper and better.

 

[Texalana]

Thanks for posting your review! And I really appreciate the photos!!! My DH and I are sailing on the Valor this Sunday. Would love to see your photos from Roatan, as we are torn between Infinity Bay (between Bananarama and Tabyana) or renting a cabana at Mahogany Bay.

 

BTW, we have eaten in Carnival's supper clubs twice and were not impressed either time. We are trying again on this sailing. Hopefully, #3 will be good! :)

[sharecruises]

The comedian is Frank Del Pizzo...he is great :)

 

http://www.frankdelpizzo.com/

 

 

I agree about the "Couch" in Nightclub Express...that show itself is pretty worn out too IMHO

 

I liked the Valor (sailed May 1) but felt the entertainment had been cut back a lot. The night you went to Steakhouse you didn't miss anything, they cheezed out by putting on the "Newlywed/Not so Newlywed" Game in the main theater instead of having a real show

 

I also liked the food ok in Lido for lunch BUT I was puzzled to see the same food at all buffet stations and so much repeats...Italian 2x, American 2x, Caribbean 2x and 1x French. What happened to Greek, Indian, etc?

 

I thought the food in main dining room was good, but servers seem to be pretty overloaded and no time for anything extra.

 

I did like the Punchliner Comedy Club and never really had trouble getting seats there. Frank Del Pizzo was a treat LOL