Valor Review- Thanksgiving WeeK

[maxydu]

All in all had a great time. The ship was full 3503 guests and 1150 staff!

 

Embarkment- Got to the terminal at 10:30am; easy access to everything just prior to the crowds. Boarding started just before noon and we were at the Fish N Chips station in no time. Fish N Chips is one of the Valor's best kept secrets so don't tell anyone about it- awsome! We were in our room, 8th floor balcony by 1:30pm. Dinner at 8:15pm. The food each evening was very good and there was plenty of it. Gave the waiter and asst. tips on day one which kept them on their toes the whole week; enough so to get an additional tip the last night.

 

The shows- to be honest I was slightly disappointed compared to the shows on this same ship in 2007 and they were LOUD. They started changing the times around as oppposed to having an 8:00 and 10:30 show each evening which changed my usual schedule. The legends were the gong show which is of no fault to Carnival. I hope they make lots of money off of bingo cause it sure gets lots of attention! They push, push, and push some more....All in all just above a community theatre group.

 

Day at Sea.....1st day was beautiful....happy people, lots of chairs, lots of games...I came in third in the hairy chest...Recount please!!! 2nd sea day was windy and cold; it was nice if you found a wind break! They had a watch sale, regularly $75-$100.00 for $19.99...one of the few times you knew the ship was crowded and to say the least the watches may have been worth $30.00 and came with dated accessories........

 

Excursions:

Grand Cayman- took a bus to 7 mile beach which was beautiful although the hurricanes have made them very narrow. Shopped around for some rum cake and other goodies....they aren't giving away things on that island but it is beautiful!

 

Isle Roatan- we took a taxi to the Mayan Princess hotel. This was the biggest bargain of the trip. $10.00 per person for entry into a lavish pool and beach. The grounds were gorgeous! 5 hours in a Corona commercial!

 

Belize- contracted with JaguarPaw.com to go cave tubing and zip lining.

Well they expected 2 cruise ships and 4 came to port. The place was a zoo and one cave was closed. The one we went to was dangerous as hell! The walk to the cave was downhill on wet clay and rocks; there weren't enough headlamps to go around and we didn't get to spend much time in the cave. Our kids went zip lining first and it was so crowded that they didn't have enough time to go cave tubing...then came the arguments in the office over money.....Can you say never again!!

 

Cozumel- Another beautiful excursion to Nocho's Coman. The waters were rough but all in all it was beautiful. It really is top shelf all you can drink but the all you can eat is at one time- still, very well worth it at $49.00 per head. Lot's of good shopping with Let's make a deal pricing!

 

The ship was in great condition and spotless. Crew was working hard taking care of all those people. My only real gripe is a personal issue. I have a handicap and have to walk with a leg brace and a cane. Lines and standing in them can get very uncomfortable. I asked everyone, and I mean everyone, if there are procedures in place to accomodate guests getting off at the different ports but there aren't. We had to go with the flow. This might be due to previous abuses but most folks who are truly handicapped aren't looking to take advantage of the situation. Something for Carnival to consider........

 

And last debarkment.......it sucked; they made me get off the ship!;)

[SMSACE6]

Sounds great! I also enjoyed the Valor in 2007!:)

[scooterdoxie]

We were on Valor the same time and had booked cavetubing through Major Tom. We were told the caves were closed because of all the rain-it was too dangerous. We went to Altun-Ha ruins instead.

[deeolasingh]

Nice review... I was just on the Valor in Aug and I just booked the Valor again for May 2010 I loved that cruise!! I did Altun Ha in Belize and it was interesting so much that I want my children to experience the ruins.. so they will be joining DH and I on this cruise... boy I cant wait...

[cruisingbajan]

Nice review...thanks for taking the time to post.

 

I am glad to see so many valor reviews after a bit of a drought for the last month or so.

[HockeyTown]

Nice, short review! Glad to hear that most of the trip was positive!!

 

Couple questions...since we are heading on the Valor this weekend:

 

Grand Cayman - any suggestions on where to go on 7 mi beach; who has good deal on beach access, chairs, drinks? We have our own snorkel gear; just looking for reasonable drinks, chairs...umbrella nice. We are considering Reef Grill. where did you get off the Bus? do they run often?

 

Myan Princess - how were the bar prices in Myan? I checked their website; they mention nothing of day-use; sure sounds good. How far from the Pier? is there any good snorkeling at the beach there?

 

Jaguar Paw...yours is the first negative review....i wonder how it would have been if the expected ships were in port. We are scheduled to do the zip/tube combo next week; however based on the weather, we may consider something else...i'm holding off booking as of yet; and even more based on your comments.