Just off the Valor! Review from 6 night 2/26 - 3/3

[kellyrnh]

Since we had a day at sea, we figured it would be a good day to try out the dining room for breakfast. We got sat at a large table (which we were asked if it was okay) of 8. Met some nice people and breakfast was pretty good. I ordered eggs benedict, and I've never seen them prepared quite this way before. They broiled the sauce after putting it on the egg (I think anyway), the taste was there, but it was just a little odd. (Side note - at the buffet the next morning I saw the same eggs benedict there). All in all it was nice, but for the time it took we didn't bother with the dining room for breakfast again. It was nice chatting with new people though.

 

We really did a lot of relaxing in the sun that day. It was a bit difficult to find a good deck chair in the sun - those got snagged up by people and chair hogs (meaning we saw a towel on a chair and nobody in it for hours). We bounced around a bit until we were able to grab chairs in a spot we liked. They did the hairy chest competition and a bunch of other activities that we didn't take part in, simply due to just enjoying our books, etc.

 

Nice day at sea... lots of people put their towels down and folded the chairs down to claim them. Sigh. Proud to say we did not partake in this.

 

That night was our first elegant night. We got dressed early and went to the lounge area near the casino. It was a blast hanging out there and seeing everyone dressed up. My group the girls wore cocktail dresses, the guys wore shirts/ties and dress pants. The crowd that we saw mostly was cocktail dresses to longer dresses, with a few ballgowns or pantsuits for the women, and lots of suits, shirt/ties, with a few tuxes here and there for the guys. The ship crew had a guy walking around with a camera and interviewed my group. Later we found out this was put onto the TV and even the large outdoor screen for all to see. We found this out when someone came up to us a few nights later and asked if we were from NH, we had no idea how she knew, and then she said "oh, we saw you guys on tv!" pretty funny. We got a shot of them playing the video on the lido deck the last day at sea.

 

Us on the big screen, lol.

 

In the dining room that night, I had the escargot for an appetizer (YUM), and the lobster tail & shrimp for my entree (YUM). Tried the ever-famous chocolate melting cake for dessert. It was good, but unfortunately for me was a bit overcooked and not melting.

 

After dinner we checked out the Lindyhop Piano bar. It was a little slow in there, but the piano player is entertaining. The Eagles Lounge had karaoke where people were trying out for the legends show. Some people really were pretty good!

 

After I jumped into the internet cafe (you need to go through Winston's) to check in at home. I followed the tips from other CC members and created a thread on the "cruisers onboard" forum on the Carnival site. This let me go online and check in for free at home. Worked pretty good. My mom had difficulty figuring it out at first but she did eventually. I learned that going to the internet cafe after dinner was best, never a wait for a computer.

 

Then we went to bed, next stop Grand Cayman!

[littlec943]

Thanks for this review! We sail this same itinerary exactly one month from today, so it is getting me SO excited!!!!!! Can't wait to hear the rest!

[avenger71]

 

 

 

After I jumped into the internet cafe (you need to go through Winston's) to check in at home. I followed the tips from other CC members and created a thread on the "cruisers onboard" forum on the Carnival site. This let me go online and check in for free at home. Worked pretty good. My mom had difficulty figuring it out at first but she did eventually. I learned that going to the internet cafe after dinner was best, never a wait for a computer.

 

 

Loving your review! Thank you!

Have to ask though, how do you do the "cruisers onboard" forum? I am not familiar with that?

Oh, and I HATE chair hogs myself, I wish Carnival would monitor that and if the chair is left for HOURS unattended they should remove the towel. IMO!

[kellyrnh]

Loving your review! Thank you!

 

Have to ask though, how do you do the "cruisers onboard" forum? I am not familiar with that?

 

Oh, and I HATE chair hogs myself, I wish Carnival would monitor that and if the chair is left for HOURS unattended they should remove the towel. IMO!

I just went to Carnival.com, went to the user forums, and you'll see one called "currently onboard". I created a thread here with a unique name (you need to register with the site to do it, as does anyone you want to participate in communicating with you) so any of us just had to search the boards for our name to bring up the thread. You can access the Carnival site for free on board so it helps avoiding the extra cost to go online which I hear is expensive. Let me know if you have any other questions!

[avenger71]

I just went to Carnival.com, went to the user forums, and you'll see one called "currently onboard". I created a thread here with a unique name (you need to register with the site to do it, as does anyone you want to participate in communicating with you) so any of us just had to search the boards for our name to bring up the thread. You can access the Carnival site for free on board so it helps avoiding the extra cost to go online which I hear is expensive. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Oh, I gotcha! So it doesn't give you access to anything outside of the website i.e. Facebook or anything. Interesting though!!! Thanks for the inside info!!

[mustardgirl]

thank you for the review!! will be doing this in a month, and love looking at the pics! :D

[abisha]

I'm enjoying your review. I'm doing same itinerary on Valor's sister ship the Freedom next month. I would love to go on the Valor as well to do Southern 8 day...it's on my list!

[schakfoo]

Excellent review and tips so far! Thank you! Did you have the chocolate buffet on your cruise? We had one on a 7 day Liberty cruise Dec 2009 and we LOVED it! Thank you!!

[likewine]

Thanks for the information and tips! We'll be sailing in May and will be seeking out that extra large martini!!

[IGottaP]

more plz:D

[aSiAnRiCk]

Nice review and thank you for the pictures! Will be on the Valor for Memorial Week! Looking forward to it :)

[likewine]

Just got off of the Valor 6 night Western Caribbean (2/26 - 3/3). To sum it up, we had a BLAST! I had cruised once before on Royal Caribbean 5 years ago on a very small ship for 4 nights (Empress of the Seas). This far surpassed that cruise. We are all in our mid-30's, and my boyfriend and the couple that vacationed with us had never cruised before, they all loved it.

 

Day 1 - Miami:

 

Left Boston and had smooth, easy flights to Miami. We got the shuttle to the Red Roof Inn with no issues. On check-in they stated they had 14 people for the shuttle to port the next day already and would have another shuttle at 11:00 (they usually only run at 1:00) and would let us know which we were on the next morning. I had heard absolutely HORRIBLE things about the hotel, and must say was pleasantly surprised. They just renovated, and all the rooms were updated and clean. Now, they are by no means luxury, they were basic, clean rooms. The pool looked nice, and it was all gated in. Felt safe unlike what I was warned. We walked over to the BP station and got our allowed wine and non-alcoholic drinks and went to bed.

 

Day 2 - Embarkation:

 

Had the continental breakfast at the hotel (nothing great, bagels, fruit, toast, coffee, etc, but hey it's free :)) and were told that we were on the 11:00 shuttle. Shuttle was on time, and a pleasant ride to the port. Got there and breezed right through check-in, no waits! They didn't bat an eye at our wine or drinks, and will admit we all decided that we'd grab some alcohol at the next port because it seemed too easy. Got on the ship by 12:30 and enjoyed lunch on the Lido, we were all enjoyed the buffet. Got my drink of the day and we explored the ship a bit before we could go see our rooms and drop off our carry-ons. The ship is beautiful! The decor was nice without being obnoxious. Everything was super clean, and seemed easy enough to navigate. We got into our room at 1:30, we had an inside room on deck 8 (Verandah) forward. The room was a good size, plenty of storage, pretty nice sized bathroom. I was worried that we'd feel too much motion being so forward, but we had no issues with it. Loved that location actually. After we dropped off our bags, we sought out one of the "secret decks" to watch us leave port - we went to deck 10. Loved the view and only a handful of people on there with us. Thanks for the tip on that CC members!

 

We had the 8:15 seating in the dining room and were put in the Lincoln upper, booth for 4 that overlooked the lower. Loved it! Atilla and G waited on us and their service was great. We really enjoyed the food in the dining room. This night was the only night I didn't like my main entree (the broiled salmon - very overcooked, a shame, it was a nice piece of salmon). Enjoyed the spring rolls as my appetizer, and was impressed with the creme brulee for dessert.

 

We explored the ship a bit more and had a couple drinks and went to bed to get up for Key West the next day.

 

 

I'll post more later, and hopefully I'll load my photos on and put some of those up too!

 

 

 

Was there anyone on Deck 10 serving drinks?

[deborahjo]

We did the Valor also January 29th thru the 4th of Feb. It was chilly til we got out into open water but this is a great ship. Glad to see more reviews on her. Ready for a longer one on her at some point.

[rajones007]

No update from the OP since the 8th of March.

 

Did the Valor make it to Grand Cayman or what? I just need some closure, that's all.

[kellyrnh]

Hey guys - sorry for the unfinished review! I came back and work and life just exploded, and things are finally calming down so I can finish up my review. Thanks for the patience!

 

 

 

Day 4 - Grand Cayman

 

We got up early this day and decided to try out room service since we wanted to get off the ship right away and we had to tender to Grand Cayman. Room service was on time, but food was just okay. Coffee was good, they brought a carafe with cream/sugar, but only brought 1 cereal when we indicated 2, and just thought it was a bit lacking overall. We didn't repeat. Maybe if we had a balcony, but not much fun with an inside room.

 

Tendering was pretty simple, wait was not long and ride quick.

 

So, my boyfriend is an avid (still) skateboarder, even owns a skateboard company, so when we decided on this itinerary, there was no way he was going to Grand Cayman without visiting the Black Pearl Skatepark. It is the 2nd largest skatepark in the world and he's always wanted to go there. Just so happens that our friend that came with us is also a skater and wanted to go as well. So our plan was to let the guys go skating, while us girls went to the beach. From there the other couple was renting a moped to cruise around the island and we were just going to play it by ear.

 

So my boyfriend and his buddy shared the moped to the park (they'll kill me for putting this shot up lol) which of course we got a kick out of.

 

My friend and I decided to try the bus to get to a free local beach. I have to say, buses on Grand Cayman are the best! They don't look like your typical bus, more like a shuttle. For $2.50 (American) they'll bring you to your destination. All of the drivers are super friendly and helpful too. If they see someone walking down the street they'll toot the horn to see if they want to be picked up. There isn't many real bus stations.

 

We went to Sea Grape, it was a great spot! Gorgeous water, a beach bar/restaurant right there. We rented a float and an umbrella and relaxed while waiting for the guys.

 

The guys came back and our friends took off to explore with their moped. (They loved the skatepark btw - just REALLY hot). We went over to the beach bar and got a couple of Caybrews and conch fritters. Both great!

 

We then decided to explore and headed to Hell. It took about 2 minutes for us to grab a bus and about a 15 minute drive to Hell. We got there and had the place to ourselves. Not a whole lot there but seeing why they called it hell was pretty cool.

 

We hung out for a bit, then grabbed a bus to head back towards port. Once there we explored, did some souvenir shopping and grabbed a beer at a bar next to the port.

 

Getting back to the ship took longer than getting off. We got there about an hour early and had a good wait in line, but not nearly as bad as others. Luckily lots of friendly people around to chat with.

 

Once back on the ship, we headed to the Serenity deck for a dip in the hot tub before getting ready for dinner. At dinner I had steak from the everyday menu and it was really good.

 

After dinner we went to the comedy show in the Eagles Lounge. We opted for the adult version, and it was hilarious! We laughed the whole time and my only complaint was the show could've been longer. Definitely recommend! Wish I could remember the comedian's name but can't think of it now.

 

Tonights towel animal:

 

Tomorrow: Jamaica

[kellyrnh]

Through the trusty Cruise Critic boards and other online searching, we had decided to hire a tour guide in Jamaica. We are big fans of Bob Marley, and wanted to see his birthplace/mausoleum. Considering the tour guide, shuttle, price, etc, we decided to book Courtney Taylor for our tour. It was $120 for a nice, air conditioned shuttle with either him or one of his guides to Bob Marley's (about 1 1/2 hours each way) plus any stops we wanted to take. This is the only planned excursion we had made, so we were really excited about this. Our friends opted to go to Reggae Beach for the day so we were on our own.

 

After a nice breakfast at Rosie's, we headed out as soon as we were able to. It was raining when we walked off the ship, but by the time we got to the parking area for the tour guides, the rain had stopped and sun came out.

 

I was told to ask security to call Courtney Taylor when we got there. That was done easily, and we were told to wait in a spot for our van. Soon, another couple was told to stand with us. I asked if they were waiting for Courtney Taylor too, and the woman looks at us obviously VERY unhappy and says "Yes, but we are supposed to be on a PRIVATE tour". So were we, but I was in the whole "vacation mood" and not too worried. Soon, a van pulls up and one of Courtney's drivers, Orlando, gets out and introduces. Seems that since both of us planned to go to Bob Marley's place, they hoped we would share a van. We wouldn't have minded, but, the other couple (nevermind that the woman looked really angry and not fun) had planned to stop at a TON of places we hadn't, including Dunn's Falls, etc. So he said "no problem" we'll get another driver and get going. The four of us got into his really nice, clean, van and went across the street to meet the other driver. Well, since the other couple put up such a stink that they were supposed to have Courtney himself drive them, Orlando promised he'd be their driver and they'd have a great time. The other driver shows up and Orlando tells us we will be with him. I look over and said, "I don't think so." We were paying the same price as this other couple, and he wanted us to go spend over 4 hours in this 1970s station wagon that looked pimped out and wouldn't even make it to 9 mile. I explained that to Orlando, he said "no problem", sent that driver away and within 5 minutes, we had a new driver, in a nice large van. He turned out to be AWESOME! He was fun, friendly and gave us lots of history along the way. I have to say, everyone told me that Jamaica would be the least fun of the islands, and this ended up being the highlight of our trip. First we went through Fern Gully, which the road is actually an old riverbed through the mountain. Then, the next 1 1/2 hours just flew by as the drive was so gorgeous! We are the types of people who like to explore, see culture, and we absolutely got it! Whenever we wanted to stop for pictures, etc, he'd stop. I can't say enough about this trip.

 

 

The road was really narrow, bumpy and windy, but we felt safe and it made it more fun (for us anyway!)

 

 

 

Crops, mostly farm land out on our trip.

 

Rainwater catching system. How most of the country gets their water.

 

Continued to next post...

[kellyrnh]

 

When we got to Bob Marley's place, the property was enclosed in a large fence/barrier. They let our van in and kept out any of the locals that would try to sell us anything. Once out of the van, there was a small opening in the fence that the locals outside were selling "herbal supplements". If you wanted to partake, you could, but otherwise easy to walk away. We got there and there was only one other couple, so we had almost a private tour. This was probably due to us having a private tour, so we didn't have to sit on a bus waiting for other passengers. It really was the way to go! The tour was great, and the guide was pretty funny.

 

Wouldn't be complete without some good music!

 

Bob's bedroom

 

Bob's house - 2 rooms. Other than sleeping, they did almost everything else outside.

 

Path back down from his house.

 

On the way out, there were 3 tour buses and maybe 100 people in line. We realized then how lucky we were to have that tour to ourselves!

 

On the way back from 9 Mile... random donkey on the side of the road

[kellyrnh]

We stopped to pick up a couple of Red Stripes at this store.

 

One of the things I asked to do is to go to Spice Mountain. I love to cook and thought it would be fun. So we went there and "the Spice Man" came up to our van with an armful of vegetation, which he used to teach us about all of the plants in the area. He gave us samples of fresh coffee beans, nutmeg, etc. We gave him a nice tip for that and stopped at a few places on the way for souvenirs.

 

 

The other items on our list of to-dos that day were to get authentic jerk chicken, a jamaican beef patty and see the beach for whatever time we had left. Our driver accommodated all of that. Our food was great and reasonably priced, and the beach was gorgeous.

 

On the way into the beach.

 

The beach, it almost didn't seem real

 

We had about an hour and a half at the beach, and headed back to the port where we got some pictures with our driver and said goodbye. As you can probably tell we had an absolute BLAST in Jamaica and I would do it again!

 

We got back on the ship and relaxed on the Serenity deck for a bit before going back to our room to get ready for our second formal night. I can't remember what we had for dinner that night (this is why I should've finished my review when it was fresh in my mind, ugh) but I always remember enjoying our dinners. We checked out a couple of the bars and clubs and headed to bead.

 

[rajones007]

Awesome pictures!

 

I'm glad I bumped this thread, and I'm doubly glad you obliged. Thanks!

[kellyrnh]

Awesome pictures!

 

I'm glad I bumped this thread, and I'm doubly glad you obliged. Thanks!

 

Thanks for bumping it... I figured at this point it was long forgotten but glad to finish our story! Reliving it now makes me want to go back!!!:D

[cruiseclues]

Nice review with fine photos...that group of players photo could hang anywhere and be very appreciated. :)