Valor Review! Toddler and Baby on board! (W PICS)

(Guys... I tried to post this review in the member reviews, but it wouldn't let me. They emailed me and told me to post it here... but wouldn't tell me why??

lol!!

Oh well. Here we go!)

Winter Break Cruise 2016!

Western Caribbean

Carnival Valor!

Me, wife, toddler Landon, baby Avery.

It all started on Friday FEB 19.

As soon as school was over, (I'm a teacher), we rushed to the airport and headed south to Orlando. Then it was a smooth shuttle ride to Cocoa Beach to the Comfort Inn. We stayed in the south tower up on the 4th floor. We even had a view of the Atlantic Ocean from a private balcony! and a separate living room! Lots of cruisers at the hotel, along with some NASCAR fans who were in town for the Daytona 500!

Sat Feb 20 Port Canaveral

Sunny today and 70's

After hitting up the breakfast buffet (which was crowded, but good), and the Walgreens for some last minute supplies, we called for a taxi and headed for Port Canaveral! Easy and cheap! ($20 for a family of 4) We were on board the ship by Noon! We headed up to our room... Deck 11 Spa Deck with a balcony! Very nice! Thanks to turning Platinum, our room was ready. Then it was off to the Lido buffet! and Fish and Chips. Good food!

We did some more exploring, went to the boat drill/safety briefing, and got ready for the sail-away party!

Turns out that the cruise director and I have mutual friends through Carnival, which was cool. Dinner tonight was Lido Buffet... (Late seating diner is too late for a toddler age 3.) haha

After putting kids to bed, my wife and I took turns checking out the various venues around the ship. Loved the Piano Bar! This was our ritual every night... except for 2 formal nights.

SUN Feb 21: Fun Day at Sea

Sunny and warm!

We were early risers every day thanks to the kids. :-)

Every day for breakfast, we had room service deliver coffee and fruit before 8, then got ready and went to Lido Buffet. French toast was good!!

Today was great! Our toddler went to camp Carnival, and I went to the gym! Then we headed up to Lido Deck to relax and listen to music. The Steel Drum guy played every day! He was great! We took turns sitting in the shade with baby Avery, and before you knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner! Elegant night! And luckily, we got our dining time switched to Anytime dining. Lobster Tail! Yum!

THEN we took kids to the theater for the Production Show. They LOVED the singers and dancers. (Until they both fell asleep!) haha We went again on the other formal night.

MON Feb 22: Cozumel

Sunny and Warm!

Today we decided to book a ship excursion!

All Inclusive Power Catamaran to Isla Passion!

(Kids under 5 FREE!)

This was a GREAT Tour!

Catamaran ride up top in the sun = SWEET

Beach at Isla Passion = GORGEOUS!

Mexican Buffet with Fish tacos and Guac = AMAZING

Playground and toys and hammocks = FUN

Water trampolines = GNARLY

This may have been the best part of the whole cruise!

TUES FEB 23: Belize

Sunny and REALLY Warm... 85?

Not much to do with the kids here... but we decided to ride the tender boat over to Belize City and look around. The boat ride was fun! The water was blue! The air was warm. The sun felt good!

We drank coconut water! (or milk?)

Then headed back to the ship for Lido lunch. Then it was play time on the ship! Mommy and daddy took turns on water slide, and toddler Landon enjoyed the kiddie pool and jacuzzis!

After dinner on Lido, we did our normal evening routine. (Which now included getting popcorn every night from Lido where they showed movies!) haha

WED FEB 24: Isla Roatan, Honduras

Sunny and HOT!! 90'S

I had been here a few years ago, and knew we didn't want to risk taking the kids on a taxi ride across the mountains to Tabyana beach... so we planned on staying on the ship. UNTIL>>> We saw the new port! Mahogany Bay is beautiful! We quickly made plans to walk through the tropical gardens to the beach they have there! So Hot! But we loved it! We knew it was cold and snowy back home that day! haha So many flowers blooming, We saw birds, geckos, and an Iguana. The beach had perfect shade for our little family! We really enjoyed the beach for a few hours.

This was BONUS DAY!! :-)

Then back to the ship for a late lunch and fun in the pools/water slides.

Deck party that night was fun!

Late night Mexican buffet good... but not as good as ISLA PASSION'S buffet.

This was a good day!

THUR Feb 25: Costa Maya, Mexico

Cloudy and COLD! 66 degrees!

We sailed through a powerful cold front over night to awaken to gray skies, rough waters, and a cold chill coming out of the north! We couldn't believe it! We were planning on a beach day today, or at least using the pool at Costa maya. Oh well, Yesterday at Honduras made up for today. We ended up instead taking the Mexican shuttle into town to do some sight-seeing. Then it was back to the ship around Noon for a late lunch. The sun started peeking out also, and the temp climbed up into the 70's. Sail - Away was at 2, and we all took naps! Too windy and cloudy for Lido today.... except to get in jacuzzi with my boy Landon. The Show Band singer girl was so good! I can't remember her name... something different like Luka? She sang on Lido with the guitar girl who is also good.

I think this was the other formal night. And although we ate on Lido Buffet, we did go to see the production show with singers and dancers. Another good one!

FRI FEB 26: Fun Day at Sea

Sunny! But cool... Upper 60's 70? Windy!

Today we luckily found a nice, warm, sunny spot out of the wind on Lido Deck to enjoy our last day at sea! We enjoyed the cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and fries for lunch like we did almost every day. (Although my wife usually hit up the Mongolian WOK or Mexican buffet.) haha

Today we also got to go to the Platinum/Diamond party. AMAZING!! Any drinks we wanted for FREE! We tried several frozen concoctions that we never got to try up on Lido! haha

Always sad when it's time to pack up that last evening.

But we had a GREAT WEEK!

SAT FEB 27: Port Canaveral

We got off the ship around 930 after a relaxing breakfast on Lido.

Shuttle to airport. (Orlando Airport is CRAZY!!)

Nice direct flight home to Columbus, and a stop at B-Dubs for supper!

A wonderful Winter Vacation!

Notes:

**Cocoa Beach Shuttle worked fine to and from Orlando airport

**Endang, our room stewardess, was awesome! Always around, ice always filled, she did a great job!

**No long lines for pizza! I would say that the population of the cruisers this week was older than myself... maybe they didn't want the pizza? haha

**Comedians were great!

**Classy Cassie the cruise director did a fine job! Love her voice!

**I want to go back to Isla passion on Cozumel

**Ship had a couple minor rust spots near hull that need repaired next month in dry dock, but it took nothing away from our vacation. The ship still looked great to us!

Pics: Baby Avery, Isla Passion, Ice Cream on Lido, Sunset, Isla Passion Beach

Thanks for the review.

Nice! Isla Pasion looks awesome.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

What a wonderful review. Bravo.

Keith

Thanks guys!

I want to go back to Isla Passion! We have a lot of snow today in Ohio!

haha

Great review! You and your family are having so much fun that it makes me extra-psyched to be going on my cruise (less than 80 days::D) and I love the pics! What subject do you teach and what grade? I bet you are an awesome teacher!

Thanks for posting!

Thanks for the report.

Awesome! Thanks for the report. Gets me psyched about my upcoming valor cruise! :D

Thanks for sharing and glad to hear you had a great time!

p.s. we also have a Landon! :)

I teach 4th grade!

I got them to color pictures for me to take on the cruise to decorate our cabin door!

haha

Thanks!

Drew

Great review! You and your family are having so much fun that it makes me extra-psyched to be going on my cruise (less than 80 days::D) and I love the pics! What subject do you teach and what grade? I bet you are an awesome teacher!

Thanks for posting!

Thank you Drew. Your trip sounded great. Well, all of it except for the drastic drop in temps overnight from the 90s to the 60s. Brrrr…

Great review we were on valor in nov and going on again for western in 10 days. I don't want to do the hotel shuttle crowd and want to just do taxi. Do you call the night before? Any certain one? I have fttf and want to get there early. Thanks