Valor Cruise Review - Not much sun, but better than work!

So we used Faster To The Fun (FTTF) for the first time to sail on the Valor, loved it. The only issue experienced with it, is we did not get our luggage early as it states we would. We did love getting on the ship as soon as we checked in (11:15AM) and the short Guest Services line (really loved this), most the time I went to guest services the line was 10 to 20 people long. Either there was only one person in line or no one in line at the FTTF line. Also, going straight to your room and dropping off are carryon bags was fabulous!! There are signs at the doors to the hallways leading to the cabins saying the rooms are not ready, but we just went in and straight to our cabin, all the while trying to stay out of the way of the hard working stewards. Our Sail & Sign cards were in our mailbox when we got to the room.

The ship’s exterior is really showing its age as you could see a lot of rust spots, as a matter of fact while in Cozumel her sister ship Freedom was docked next to Valor and you could see the rust spot on her as well in almost the same areas as the Valor. The Freedom’s deferred maintenance led to a funny sighting as it departed from Cozumel. As the ship was departing when it was dark out the lit up Freedom sign with the R burnt out it now said Feedom . It is interesting that both these ships built 2 years apart showing the same signs of exterior deferred maintenance; make one wonder if these ships are getting ready to be retired or maybe it time for a dry docking. The interior of the ship was in pretty good condition for her age and did not see anything that I would make note of. Our cabin was an aft wrap around, which has a huge balcony. I mean you could fit 15 people on there easily, almost seem a waste of space for just the two of us. Cabin was in good order, plenty of shelf space in the restroom. There were not enough hangers in the closet. We asked for 6 more and our steward brought us 15. He kept our room up very well and always kept our ice bucket full as we requested. Also we were having trouble with the two twin beds pushed together that made up our bed, kept separating. We requested a mattress topper and boom he had it on and did not have another issue with it. Our room steward was great his name was hey you, that is not the way it is spelled but it is how he pronounced it.

We did not eat at the MDR so no report for that. Buffet was limited on the choice of food, but they did have the other stations such as the seafood shack, the Mexican food, Guys (loved guys), deli, I had a great pastrami on rye (also omelet station in the mornings) and pizza, which in my opinion was just okay. Oh yes the BBQ station which is upstairs from the buffet, had some pretty decent BBQ. Pulled pork, beef and chicken. You can have all three on the same plate if you as for it. My favorite was the pulled pork, very tender and juicy and this is coming from a guy who lives in Kansas City (we have over 100 BBQ restaurants here). BBQ beans not so great. Room service food for the one time we did it was not so good. I order a BLT and it had 3 slices of bacon, thin tomato slice with a one inch thick lettuce slice.

Went to see the comedian, OMG they were good!!! Ge there early it fills up fast. We did not go to any of the other shows; we are not big show people. Alchemy Bar was excellent, great drinks and service. Tell them what you like and they will make a drink from what you tell them. My wife and I go out to a dance club every other weekend to dance (freestyle) usually with a DJ, I know not bad for being in our mid-50s . So we did frequent the disco (One Small Step), I get the name since it is set up like you are on the moon, but not really a good name for a place you dance. Best DJ ever there. I asked for a couple of songs, couple of songs later he played one, then came on to the dance floor while we were dancing to asked me again what the second song was. He then played that song right after the one we were dancing to. Never had a DJ do that before and we dance a lot. This ship had some of the best bartenders I have experience in my 9 cruises. They remember your drink and name after just getting one drink from them.

One of our favorite places was the serenity deck (it has two levels) on the top level are two hot tubs with a great view, no kids at all!! Overall we had a very good cruise. This was over New Year’s Eve and we had an epic celebration. Being out on the Lido deck with most of the other ship passengers at the stroke of midnight was amazing!!! This also was our most relaxing cruise, as we did not do any excursions. We have been to Cozumel before and will be there again in a year. Progreso did not interest us and stayed on the ship, which seem to be the case with a lot of people as the ship was pretty busy for a port day. Unfortunately we only had one day of sun on our 5 day cruise and on our last sea day we headed right in to a cold front moving into the Gulf of Mexico with 35 mph North winds and 11 foot high seas, temp was about 40°, wind chill was really cold. They had the sea sick bags out at the elevator lobbies, but we did not need them. My wife and I were eating lunch on our last day and there were a few people walking out on the deck with coats on and hoods over their head. I asked my wife “Is this what an Alaskan cruise looks like?”

Debarkation was very smooth, but it was a long line to get out.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Glad you had a good cruise! How late than expected did you get your luggage?

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Thanks for the review

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Thanks for the review.

Thanks for the feedback.

Sounds like you had fun. We went on the valor in November and enjoyed it too. My sister paid for FTTF and got all the perks except on debarkation, we were in our cabin instead of in the lounge so we ended up getting off with the crowd. Serenity deck was quiet ,it's times with plenty of chairs. Which comedians did you see? We didn't enjoy the ones in October and didn't make any shows in November.

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I enjoyed your review/report.

Keith

Leaving on Monday, so thanks for the info. Don't expect sun, actually expect bad weather, so instead of bring shorts, bringing sweats. How's the library--this is usually my first stop? Do you know checkout procedure--grab and go, check out sheet or staffed?

Thanks.

I'll be heading out on the Valor on Monday. I'm hoping we get at least SOME sun.

Leaving on Monday, so thanks for the info. Don't expect sun, actually expect bad weather, so instead of bring shorts, bringing sweats. How's the library--this is usually my first stop? Do you know checkout procedure--grab and go, check out sheet or staffed?

 

Thanks.

The library wasn't staffed. It was not open when we embarked, either, but I didn't go by after dinner to see if it opened later that first night.

I didn't see a check out sheet ... but that doesn't mean there wasn't one. Pretty much every time we went by, there were tons of people in the library playing board games.

The inside of the ship was a comfortable temperature - for once, I didn't freeze in the dining room, even in a dress! Outside, I wore jeans every day on board, and then shorts while in Mexico.

Glad you had a good cruise! How late than expected did you get your luggage?

 

 

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We were told our luggage would be delivered 4 hours after we handed it to the luggage handlers, but it was more like 6 hours. We saw a lot of luggage that did not have FTTF stickers on them being delivered long before ours, but it was not a rel big deal.

Sounds like you had fun. We went on the valor in November and enjoyed it too. My sister paid for FTTF and got all the perks except on debarkation, we were in our cabin instead of in the lounge so we ended up getting off with the crowd. Serenity deck was quiet ,it's times with plenty of chairs. Which comedians did you see? We didn't enjoy the ones in October and didn't make any shows in November.

 

 

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Sorry I can't remember their names, probably too much alcohol ;p

Leaving on Monday, so thanks for the info. Don't expect sun, actually expect bad weather, so instead of bring shorts, bringing sweats. How's the library--this is usually my first stop? Do you know checkout procedure--grab and go, check out sheet or staffed?

 

Thanks.

Check out was smooth, no check out sheet. Didn't have to wait but a couple of minute at our assigned debarkation area, but then was funneled in to a big line of people. This took about 15 minutes in line with people and their big luggage. Not sure why they didn't to self debarkation.

I try to stay away from libraries when I am on vacation:D, so we never made it by the library.

We were told our luggage would be delivered 4 hours after we handed it to the luggage handlers, but it was more like 6 hours. We saw a lot of luggage that did not have FTTF stickers on them being delivered long before ours, but it was not a rel big deal.

Thanks!

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Thanks for the review, we are going in April ⛴️🌞🚢🍧

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Thanks for the review. Setting sail on the Valor in May!

Thank you for your review.

Keith