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Day Four - Cozumel

Our Cozumel day landed on our anniversary, so we decided to do something special. I'd found The Cabana Beach online. The reviews and prices were good, so we decided to try it. From what I understand, it's a relatively new offering attached to Chankanaab. There are nine cabanas available, sectioned off from the rest of the park. Each cabana accommodates up to four guests. You reserve your date and cabana choice online, and pay a flat fee plus a per person cost. The fees cover your cabana rental, entrance to Chankanaab, towels, snorkeling gear, and a complimentary plate of fruit and either salsa or guacamole with chips. Other food and drink is available for an extra cost. This turned out to be a good choice, because EIGHT other ships were in Cozumel at the same time, and venues were packed. We got in a cab easily enough and drove the ten-ish minutes to Chankanaab. There are signs for Cabana Beach, but our cab driver dropped us off at the front entrance of Chankanaab. The employees manning the front gate had to radio to the Cabana Beach to verify our reservation. This was the biggest hiccup we experienced. When we booked, I received a notification of payment from PayPal, but no confirmation number or acknowledgement from the Cabana Beach. Other reviews stated they just walked up and their name was on a list. Getting dropped off at the wrong spot and not having a confirmation number meant we had to wait a bit at the entrance. However, an employee from the Cabana Beach came to us personally at the gate, apologized for the wait, and led us across Chankanaab to the Cabana Beach. (It's at the opposite end of the park from the entrance.) It was perfect. With the limited occupancy, it was quiet and there was no jostling for space. Each cabana is contained in a little fence of greenery. While you can certainly see your neighbors, there's enough privacy to make the place feel luxurious. I also can't say enough great things about the staff. Everything was clean and comfortable, and we never had to lift a finger. Anything we wanted was there almost as soon as we asked for it. There's plenty of sand around the cabanas, but the beach itself is less a beach and more a rocky dropoff. There are a set of metal steps that lead down to the water (water shoes highly recommended). It's very deep right off the steps, and the water is cold, thanks to a cenote that meets the ocean a few yards away. We acclimated quickly, though, and loved the swim. There is coral spreading out from the shore, and while it's not in great shape, we were able to watch blue tangs and fan coral while we snorkeled. When we got tired, we went back to the cabana to rest on the loungers and drink pina coladas in the sun. Cabana Beach offers wifi to guests, too, which gave me a chance to download another book for our last sea day. When it was time to leave, which came all too soon, our waiter called a cab for us and let us know when it had arrived. This time, we didn't have to walk across Chankanaab. We got back to port, picked up our requisite vanilla, and went back to the ship. It made for a wonderful anniversary.

Day 3 - Costa Maya

We pulled into Costa Maya fairly late, around noon. We hit up the Blue Iguana for breakfast burritos and watched the approach to the pier from the Serenity deck. Costa Maya is an easy port to navigate if you want to explore without a ship excursion, and from experience, the beach massages are cheap and relaxing. This time, we chose to stay within the port confines. Because it was built specifically for cruise ship passengers, it's one of the nicer ones to hang around in. There is a nice pool with a swim up bar and music, complete with sand "beach" and chairs. The shops are arranged in a Disney-fied version of a marketplace. It's artificial, but nice to walk around in. We don't do a ton of souvenir shopping as a rule, but I found a pair of leather sandals that I couldn't do without. Having been home a couple of weeks, I have no regrets; they're cute AND comfortable. Mid afternoon, we were hungry, so we went to El Faro, a beach bar and restaurant perched right on the shore. It's under a huge palapa and all the tables are in the sand overlooking the water. It was pricey, especially considering prices outside the port, but we both wanted fresh seafood. We ordered a margarita, a Coke, and some shrimp ceviche to share. The margarita was essentially sugar water, and not worth it at all. The ceviche, on the other hand, was absolute heaven. A single order fed both of us easily as a full meal, not the snack we were expecting. We know now that it's a must-do in Costa Maya. We did a little pool wading, then headed back for an evening onboard. We gave the MDR a miss in favor of eating on the deck and hanging out with new friends on the Promenade.

Day One - Departure Day, Day Two - Sea Day

Departure was fairly low key. We took our nap, got our suitcases, and unpacked. I stayed bundled in my sweatshirt because it was freezing. The tropical weather was still a ways off. We headed down for dinner.

I'm not sure if it was the five day cruise or just The Way Things Are Now, but I was disappointed in the MDR. I could find something to eat, of course, but on previous cruises, the MDR was something I looked forward to. I enjoy the experience of getting dressed for dinner and eating in a nicer atmosphere. This cruise, we actually only ate in the MDR twice. There was no lobster for formal night, only for a $20 surcharge from the steakhouse. The American Table menu was also gone, so no special drinks or foods celebrating where we were. Our last cruise was pre-Covid, so this may just be a change; maybe someone knows better than me. But overall, it was disappointing. I also missed the vibrant personalities that we were used to in the MDR. Service was curt and quick, when it arrived at all. Both meals we ate in the MDR, we saw our waiter once to take our order, and once to deliver food. It wasn't a dealbreaker; it's not like I'll never visit the MDR again. I was just a little sad that one of the things I loved about cruising was so lackluster.

After eating, we went to the Promenade deck, where we spent most of our time. The shops and casino were there, as were two great bars: the RedFrog Pub and the Alchemy Bar. This was our first time encountering the Pub as opposed to the Rum Bar. Apparently it took over the space that had been the kids club on the Valor. It was a large space with lots of seating, foosball and air hockey tables, a dance floor and small stage. The drinks were great, and the guitarist they had playing for most of the cruise was very good. It got loud when there was live music, but if you're the type to play cards or board games, it's a great spot.

The Alchemy Bar is mine and my husband's favorite, and we had amazing bartenders. Miguel, Marina, and Dexter were phenomenal the entire week. Despite getting incredibly busy, they were always kind, chipper, and upbeat. We loved talking to them and drinking their personal concoctions.

Just around the corner from the Alchemy Bar was the Piano Bar, Comedy Club, and Dance Club. We spent a little time in the Piano Bar, but quite frankly, the aggressive drunks ruined it. I know that interaction is the name of the game, and I like the chatter and singing along. But there's no need to shout the entire time, throw paper, and laugh loudly at your own dirty jokes. The poor performer did all right. He was new to the Carnival circuit, and did what he could to de-escalate. There were just a few guys that felt entitled to literally steal the show, and they made the Piano Bar unpleasant for everybody else.

I can't speak for the Comedy Club. We intended to go see a show, but never wound up going. The Dance Club we went to a couple of times. Neither of us are great dancers, but it was more full than I'd ever seen before, and there's safety in numbers. It stayed pretty full for the entire cruise.

Neither of us are big gamblers, but I guess this cruise was the one that just Hit Different. We had fun playing a few dollars every time we walked through. Whatever the magic number is that gets you casino cruise rates, we missed it, more's the pity. But we had fun, and hit enough that we didn't leave worse off than we came in.

Day two was a sea day, and I'm afraid the play by play is fairly boring. We went to the Seaday Brunch, which in my opinion has the best steak outside the steakhouse. Certainly no disappointments there. This was our first solo vacation in a few years, so we did a lot of things that we don't have the luxury of doing that often. We took naps, we lounged on the Serenity deck, I read a book, we played in the casino here and there. It makes for bad storytelling, but it was glorious to have time that went slowly, doing nothing much of anything. We met a group that we jived with at the Alchemy Bar in the evening and wound up spending a lot of time with them, just talking and laughing. By the evening of day two, we'd escaped the chill and we spent some time on our balcony, watching the waves. I'll go anywhere, but the ocean is my happy place.

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Long time listener, first time caller! I love vacation planning, and I always appreciate people who give detailed reviews. Not only do they help me plan, I like to live vicariously in between trips! So here I am, sharing the love. Hope this helps my fellow planners/vicarious livers!

My husband and I decided to go on a cruise for our ninth anniversary. We had cruise credit from a cancellation, and decided to leave the kids at Grandma's and go for a few days of R&R. We live near the Oklahoma/Texas border, so we drove to Dallas on the 11th to catch an early morning flight to New Orleans. When we made our traveling plans, we wanted to spend a day pre-cruise in New Orleans, but the cost of hotels and the logistics of babysitting prevented that. However, if you're in the Plano area, the Sandman Signature is a nice stay. Driving down after work and the early flight didn't really make it feel like vacation yet, but it was nice to be traveling again, just the two of us.

Bright and early in the morning, we drove down to Love Field airport. I prefer Love Field to DFW simply because it's smaller and easy to navigate. There isn't as much "stuff," but we weren't stuck there for long. We got some breakfast and coffee from Dunkin' Donuts, and in short order we were boarded and on our way to New Orleans! It was a short, easy flight, no fuss, no drama. When we landed, we had about two and a half hours before our check in appointment. We opted to just chill in the airport, since we had our luggage with us. A taxi from the airport to the port was $36, which was a whopping $2 more than a Lyft. When it was time, we loaded up in the taxi headed to the port!

The port was crowded, but about as much as expected. Porters took our luggage so quickly we didn't even have a chance to tip them! We got in line for check in. It was long, but moved steadily. The first step was Covid checks. I kept all of our paperwork in a folder for easy access, and it was pretty quick. Make sure your test results are typed; our doctor had a form that was hand checked. I had her do a full write-up with an electronic signature just in case, and sure enough, the test results page with a handwritten check mark on the negative was unacceptable. I know the Carnival guidelines say that handwritten notes are not accepted, but I didn't know what they would do with a typed form marked with a pen. So if you're wondering, ours had to be a fully typed report. For our next cruise, I'll use Verifly; we just didn't have time to get all of our documents uploaded this time.

After the Covid check, we put our carryons through security, got our picture taken, and boarded! From beginning to end, our process took between 20 and 30 minutes. Most of that time, we were moving from one place to another.

Onboard the Valor! We walked onboard and immediately knocked out our self-muster. It was super easy. Signs were put up and crew stood by to direct people where to go. Our muster station was the first one outside the doors, which made our muster very fast. Our boarding passes were scanned to verify we'd completed the process, we were told to watch the informational video in our cabin, and we were done. I sincerely hope the self-muster process is here to stay. Within five minutes, we were done and free to relax. We wandered slowly up to the Lido. This was our first trip on the Valor, and I have to say...it's not my favorite ship. I wouldn't choose a cruise based on the ship decor, but the decor is pretty bad. The plaster faces glaring into the lobby were unsettling, the dining rooms were on the garish side, and overall, I was glad we had Caribbean water to look at instead. We had a balcony cabin on Deck 10, and it was showing quite a bit of wear. However, the blackout curtain worked great, and we very happily laid down to nap until sail time.

I'm not sure if they do anything special. My honeymoon was quite some time ago, so I'm sure it's all changed now. However, on your online check-in, there is a spot to mark celebrations and honeymoon is on the list of options.

More of an attitude recommendation: be flexible and patient. My 3 year old ADORED our cruise and still talks about it almost a year later. But there was quite a bit of crying when we left the beach and couldn't take the sand with us (I feel ya, kid). We just had to go with the flow and be okay with the occasional crying jag. If you can manage naps, it helps a lot. I wouldn't plan a bunch of excursions. A couple of highlights for our little on board were the Cat in the Hat breakfast and the Build a Bear session. He was not pleased with being left in the kid's club, although he was fine when we came to pick him up. Pack lots of sunscreen and stay positive! We're really looking forward to going on another family cruise, even with the occasional hiccup!

15 days!!! A kid-free cruise and our first with friends, on the Dream. So excited!!

The prices are comparable to BaB stores. There are also opportunities to win a free bear onboard. They feature some unique bears, like Cat in the Hat, that I haven't seen in store. Granted, I don't go to BaB frequently. My son was thrilled to get a Cat in the Hat since we did the Seuss breakfast. It was his travel buddy all week.