Valor Review 1/3/2010- 1/10/2010

[CruisingSoon88]

Because of the snafu, we were about 15 minutes late for dinner. I hated it because it was our first meal at the new table. Our friends were there when we arrived as was one of the other couples. They were very nice. Our waiter greated us and both he and his assistant introduced themselves. This was more like it. The fourth couple ended up being about 45 minutes late. They had gotten the show time at 10:45 that night mixed up with their dinner time. At least we weren't the only ones that were late. LOL Our service was much better. I even asked for a different appetizer when I didn't like mine. Our server was happy to get it for me. The only issue I had was that it took us forever to get out of the dining room that night. We were one of the very last to be served our dessert. Most people had already left by then. I attributed it to the fact that both we and our tablemates had been late. It was still better service than what we had with Stephen.

 

We didn't go to the show. To be honest, we are just not really show people. I have tried, but I just don't enjoy them. As usual, we headed to the casino again. We played for a while and then headed to our room. It had been a long and stressful day.

[daddybuff]

Keep it coming:)

[CruisingSoon88]

SS I have a sick little one so I haven't had much free time to post. I'm determined to finish this review. I hope I haven't bored you guys too much.:)

 

We woke up on Thursday in Belize. The whole ship was enveloped in fog. It just looked like like rain and fog everywhere. Surely the excursion we booked had been cancelled. For the past two days we had been devastated when our tours had been cancelled. Now we call the front desk to confirm that ours was cancelled and they say that no tours have been cancelled that day. HUH? How do you snorkel in rain and fog? Figures that the one that we aren't sure that we want to go on is the one that happens.

 

We went and grabbed a burger and fries before we left. I thought the burgers were ok. Not great, not bad, just OK. Off to the disco we went to meet for our excursion. Everyone there was in a somber mood. No one coould believe that we were still going. Someone even asked if we were going to look for the Loch Ness monster. After a few minutes, we headed down to get on our boat for the trip.

 

The boat was pretty full. It was kind of chilly and everyone was quiet. We all seemed to be thinking about how cold we would be coming back wet. DH and I brought our own mask and snorkel. I'm no germaphobe, but the thoughts of someone else "sucking" on a snorkel that I have no idea how it was cleaned grosses me out. DH said that he saw them just putting the equipment in Dawn dish washing liquid. Like I said, I'll just use my cheap Wings equipment. We arrived at the reef and they said that experienced snorklers could go ahead and inexperienced people could stay on for further instructions. We have been a few times so we went to jump off the boat.

 

DH asked the crew girl if the water was cold. She said you jump and tell me. Actually, it wasn't cold at all. I was pleasantly surprised. We were able to see quite a few fish. After a bit we were having fun and glad that we had done the excursion. We were out about an hour and then headed towards the boat. The rest came in behind us shortly. We then started towards the island for the beach portion of the trip. The free rum punch was served and everyone seemed to be in a lighter mood even if the sky wasn't.

 

We went to Bannister Island. It was such a beautiful place. So small and kind of primitive, but still had all of the basic necessities. There was a bar and restaurant as well as restrooms and changing huts. They had palapas that had chairs and even hammocks. I wish that we could have seen it with clear skies and blue water. We were almost ready to leave when we realized that they had a monkey in a cage. Everyone must have seen him at once because we were all there taking pictures. He was so cute. I did feel sorry for him because his cage was so small.

 

The ride back to the ship was much more animated. It seemed that many had a few drinks at the bar on the island as well as some more rum punch on the boat. We had singing and dancing and everyone enjoyed themselves.

 

Third time was the charm. We finally got to go on an excursion!:D

[CruisingSoon88]

After we were back onboard, we had to grab a quick shower and a bite because we had a spa appointment. I decided to try the burrito bar because I hadn't had those, yet. We really were pressed for time, but the line wasn't very long. Of course there was someone there that ordered three different burritos and only one cook so it took forever. I practically swallowed it whole. It was good. Again not great, but good.

 

The clock at the spa said that we got there with one minute to spare. We had asked to have our treatments in the same room. I was excited for my 5 steps to heaven. After going through the separate locker rooms, DH and I met in the treatment room. Our ladies were very nice and I was pleased with the overall experience. They did give us the whole presentation afterwards for products, but I just said we're not interested one time and they were fine with that. I had told DH to be prepared for them to be pushy, but they weren't at all. I was a happy camper.

 

Unfortunately, we realized that the Far From Over 80's show was that night. It was the one show that I wanted to see. We didn't get out of the spa until 15 minutes before it started at it was elegant night. It just wasn't possible. Somehow we got ready in record time and managed to get in about 15 minutes before the show ended. Unfortunately, it reaffirmed that I just do not like shows. We left early. Nothing against the show. Its just not our thing.

 

Dinner was obviously forgettable because I have no idea what it was. I do remember being hungry later that night.(more on that later) Everyone at our table was on time, but we were still among the last to leave. They actually turned the lights on bright before we left. I felt that 2 1/2 hours was just too long. We spent most of our time waiting. None of the other tables around us had that problem. It had to have been our waiter.

 

By the time we got out of dinner, it was time to head to the Eagles lounge for a comedy thing called the Liar's Club. It had one crew member hosting and then Big Tex and two other crew members participating. Basically the host said a strange word and the three crew members tried to convince you that their crazy definition of it was the correct one. It was terrible. Many people got up and left during it. I wish we had.

 

After some time in the casino, we decided to head to the lido for some food. As usual there was slim pickings. We were in the line getting our food when they put the dreaded 'this line is closed in preparation for the next meal' sign out. Keep it mind that we did not walk around the sign. It wasn't there when we started. However, as I was going to the next item, the lady behind the buffet suddenly starts yanking the tongs away from everything in front of us. DH was looking at a dish and they walked up and turned the light out. No one was behind us. You mean that they couldn't wait for 1 more minute for us to go through? They were so rude! In fact, I never had anyone smile or be pleasant anywhere on the Lido in general. It was the only negative comment that we made on our surveys. We made do with what little we were able to get and went to our room.

 

 

The captain had said that they were expecting sun the next day in Cozumel. That was reason for excitement. We hadn't seen the sun once so far during the cruise.

[Buckeyes1998]

Great review!! Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts about your cruise.

[Luke gs Daddy]

What time did your ship arrive back into Miami ? We are on this same trip next week and we have an early flight out of FLL. How was disembarking ?

 

Thanks.

[CruisingSoon88]

What time did your ship arrive back into Miami ? We are on this same trip next week and we have an early flight out of FLL. How was disembarking ?

 

Thanks.

 

We were there when we got up at 7 so I have no idea when we actually arrived. Disembarking was pretty bad as I will write about later. We didn't get through customs until about 12:45. :(

[CruisingSoon88]

We awoke in Cozulmel to a foreign sight. It was the SUN!! Yay!! It was the first time that we had seen it all week. Since we didn't care that much for braekfast at the buffet or room service, we headed out to do some shopping. After browsing the shops around the port, we went downtown for DH's required Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. I was upset that it took so much time because we had reservations at Nachi Cocom.

 

After dropping off our goods on the ship and getting into our suits, we got a cab to Nachi Cocom. It only took about 15 minutes and we were there. I was so excited because we had heard so many great things about it. It sounded like paradise. When we got there, a girl had us put on sombreros and took our picture. We never saw the pictures and no one ever said anything about them. Basically we went to the front "desk" and the lady checked our reservation. She said that there were almost 90 people there that day. From what I understand, it is unusual for them to be that full. I think that was the reason for most of our problems.

 

We were introduced to Manuel and he said that he was our waiter. He took us to the far right and told us that a palapa on the third row from the water was our spot. We stood there for about 10 minutes before a young boy drug a chair to us. It took a little longer to find the second because all the chairs that were empty were broken. Finally, we had two chairs, but no sign of Manuel. He came a few minutes later with a tray for a big group on the front row. They obviously had been there for a while because they were pretty drunk. Manuel came over to us and we each ordered a drink. I also asked for the menu because we hadn't eaten anything. Many people had said that they had great food. I wish we had eaten on the ship.

 

It just took a few minutes to realize that Manuel was the ONLY waiter working the entire beach. Poor guy, he looked exhausted. Our food arrived pretty quickly. No wonder. It wasn't much. I ordered the chips and guacamole. It was OK. DH ordered the nachos. They were just chips and cheese. Nothing else. My entree was quesedillas. They were just the shell with melted cheese inside. No meat. Nothing else. DH ordered the club sandwich. It was pretty good. He was the smart one for not liking mexican food. We were never offered dessert. It was hard enough to get a drink, much less anything else.

 

The place was very beautiful. It did help that it was our first sunny day. We tried the pool, but it was ice cold. The hot tub wasn't even warm. We decided to rent jet skis since we weren't able to get them in Grand Cayman. They were in use so we were told to come back at a certain time. We got in the ocean, but there was a lady sitting in the water throwing up so we tried to stay "upstream" if you know what I mean. At our designated time, we went to the rental shop. After a few minutes we were riding out in the ocean. It was so much fun! The bad thing was that we took some pictures on the jet skis after the guy waved us in because our time was up. We came back to our chairs and dried off. I checked the clock and 30 minutes hadn't passed since it was our rental time. Remember that they gave us a time because they were in use so I knew exactly what time we left. This even included our picture time and walking back across to the other side and drying off. Obviously they ripped us off on our time. Beware!

 

We spent some time relaxing in our chairs. At least we had two good ones. The couple that came after us had to use a broken chair. I tallied that we had 5 drinks between us the whole time that we were there. Not exactly the service that I had envisioned. Some said that we could have gone directly to the bar. Maybe, but the sand was so hard to walk in and we were so far away. That was part of the appeal was that we would be waited on hand and foot.

 

I left feeling very disappointed. I didn't feel that we got our money's worth at all. Maybe they should lower their maximum because 90 was obviously too many for them to serve with one waiter. Who knows, maybe someone called in sick. I probably wouldn't go back. Especially since we would bring our kids next time. I'm no prude, but they are young and don't need to hear people screaming and cussing. They also don't need to see someone so drunk that they need to sit in the ocean and puke. I'm not judging anyone, I've been there done that. I just don't think it was a place for small kids. Nachi was a thumbs down for me.

[cruisingbajan]

So sorry to hear about your bad experience at Nachi:(. Were there alot of ships in port that day?

 

I hope it is nothing like this when we visit in April:eek:

[CruisingSoon88]

So sorry to hear about your bad experience at Nachi:(. Were there alot of ships in port that day?

 

I hope it is nothing like this when we visit in April:eek:

 

 

There were 4 ships total in port that day. I didn't think that was too many for Cozumel. Like I said, maybe someone called in sick. There have been way more postitive reviews than negative. We must have been there on a rare "off" day. I'm sure you will have a much better experience.:) I just wanted to let people know that it may not be perfect so they can temper their expectations. I had read so many wonderful things that I think I expected too much. Not that this excused what happended to us, but it may have been less of a letdown.

[cruisingbajan]

There were 4 ships total in port that day. I didn't think that was too many for Cozumel. Like I said, maybe someone called in sick. There have been way more postitive reviews than negative. We must have been there on a rare "off" day. I'm sure you will have a much better experience.:) I just wanted to let people know that it may not be perfect so they can temper their expectations. I had read so many wonderful things that I think I expected too much. Not that this excused what happended to us, but it may have been less of a letdown.

 

I get you 100%. The reviews on Nachi are usually gushing but like you suggested I will temper my expectations a bit in order to avoid a big let down.

 

Great review by the way. You and your husband are real troopers...I don't know if I would have handled most of the adversity you experienced on this cruise as well as you did.:( I am glad you came out of each experience with a positive.:)

 

I look forward to the rest of your review.

[Froufie]

Wow - that sounds awful! But as mentioned I will be lowering my expectations but our initial visit to NC in Nov 08 was NOTHING like that! What time did you get there? (I thought they only opened at 9 am?).....or is ship's time not the same as Cozumel - hence many people already there (and drunk 1st thing in the morning???).

 

I will ask when we check in how many are expected and how many waiters are around? (and can be please have chairs that are NOT broken! :D)

[CruisingSoon88]

I get you 100%. The reviews on Nachi are usually gushing but like you suggested I will temper my expectations a bit in order to avoid a big let down.

 

Great review by the way. You and your husband are real troopers...I don't know if I would have handled most of the adversity you experienced on this cruise as well as you did.:( I am glad you came out of each experience with a positive.:)

 

I look forward to the rest of your review.

 

 

I hated to say anything bad about Nachi because everyone seems to love it. It was just the truth about what happened to us.

 

Thanks for the compliment. I'm trying hard to finish it. DH and I have learned that the crazy things always happen to us. We got married in Hawaii and it rained the whole week that we were there. Everyone there said that it was the most that it had rained in 2 years.:( We went on a cruise for our honeymoon right afterward(DH had it booked before he met me) and it rained that whole time, too. This time I had to have galbladder surgery 3 weeks before we left on this cruise.:rolleyes: We have just learned to expect the crazy things to come and make the most out of them.

 

I always see you on the Valor threads.:) Have a great time on your upcoming cruise and congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

[CruisingSoon88]

Wow - that sounds awful! But as mentioned I will be lowering my expectations but our initial visit to NC in Nov 08 was NOTHING like that! What time did you get there? (I thought they only opened at 9 am?).....or is ship's time not the same as Cozumel - hence many people already there (and drunk 1st thing in the morning???).

 

I will ask when we check in how many are expected and how many waiters are around? (and can be please have chairs that are NOT broken! :D)

 

 

It was probably a little after 11 ship's time so it would have been 10 Cozumel time. That means that they had been open not much more than an hour. Those folks had been doing alot of drinking in that hour!:eek: I heard one of the guys say that he had lost count at 15 drinks.(this was later in the day)They must have hung out at the bar. It was funny because they were not young college people. The youngest in the bunch looked to be in their early 40's. I'm sure they paid a heavy price for their day of fun! Its harder to do when you get older! :p

[CruisingSoon88]

We came back to the ship and showered and got dressed. I know its awful, but we really wanted to go up on deck and watch for runners. Our friends shared our morbid sense of humor so we set out to get a good view of the dock. The Conquest was docked right beside us and they had lost of people on their balcony watching also. They didn't leave until after us so there was a lot of people on the dock to get back to Conquest. We weren't able to see our gangway from the side so we went up front through the secret doors. Deck 6 forward was the perfect place to see everything. The side where the glass stops was low enough for me to see the people directly below us. We were not disappointed. There were two people who came running at the last second. The last one they had to re-lower the gangway for him to get on. It was great because everyone from our ship and the Conquest applauded when they got on. It was also fun waving to everyone on the Conquest as we left.

 

All of us were starving after that so we decided to grab some sushi. It was yummy as usual. I really just didn't want to go and do the whole dining room thing that night. It took too long and I wasn't in the mood. DH talked me into going. Despite being among the last to leave again, it was a pleasant evening.

 

They had the big deck party that night. By the time that we finished diner, we had to get to the casino for DH to play in the second blackjack tournament. I hate that we didn't get to join in any of the festivities that night. Unfortunately, DH didn't make the finals this time. He was close, but just a little short. We stayed there and played for a while.

 

Once again, we were a little hungry so we went to our room and ordered room service. I had the shrimp salad sandwich and DH had the BLT. It was very good. This was the second time that we ordered(other than breakfast) and I forgot to mention it. The first time I ordered the roast beef and brie. It was pretty good, but they only put a tiny strip of meat and even tinier piece of cheese on the sandwich. I was kind of disappointed because I have seen pictures on here that looked much different. I did also order lemon slices and salt with our first order and they obliged. I'm sure you can figure out what we did with those.:D

 

I was sad that night because I knew that our trip was almost over. We should have spent more time on the balcony that night because it was impossible the next day.

[cruisingbajan]

I hated to say anything bad about Nachi because everyone seems to love it. It was just the truth about what happened to us.

 

Thanks for the compliment. I'm trying hard to finish it. DH and I have learned that the crazy things always happen to us. We got married in Hawaii and it rained the whole week that we were there. Everyone there said that it was the most that it had rained in 2 years.:( We went on a cruise for our honeymoon right afterward(DH had it booked before he met me) and it rained that whole time, too. This time I had to have galbladder surgery 3 weeks before we left on this cruise.:rolleyes: We have just learned to expect the crazy things to come and make the most out of them.

 

I always see you on the Valor threads.:) Have a great time on your upcoming cruise and congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

 

WOW...:eek: when it rains it pours doesn't it...please pardon the pun. Its always good to keep an upbeat attitude as things can always be worse and as my great aunt always told me...these things build character.:)

 

Thank you. We are really excited about our honeymoon cruise.

 

Yup...I am always on Valor threads...once its about Valor I am there...I'm a self confessed valor review junkie:D.

[Luke gs Daddy]

We were there when we got up at 7 so I have no idea when we actually arrived. Disembarking was pretty bad as I will write about later. We didn't get through customs until about 12:45. :(

 

 

 

We have an 11 :50 flight . Should I be concerned ?

[Froufie]

We have an 11 :50 flight . Should I be concerned ?

 

 

Yes you should (is it out of MIA or FLL?) - you never really know how long it will take - ....odds are you'll be okay - but as per above review - s___t happens!

[lskoob]

Froufie:

I see you are leaving soon for your Valor cruise. Any chance you will be going to Nachi Cocum while in Cozumel? If so, could you please post a mini-review when you get back? :D It would be MUCH appreciated!

 

After reading this thread, I'm a little worried about our plans to go there. I talked 3 other family members into it based on all the glowing reviews I've read here on CC. I'll never hear the end of it if it is a big disappointment. We're not expecting first-class pampering and service all the way, but we were expecting a nice beach chair and adequate food and amenities. :cool:

 

Lori

[Froufie]

Froufie:

I see you are leaving soon for your Valor cruise. Any chance you will be going to Nachi Cocum while in Cozumel? If so, could you please post a mini-review when you get back? :D It would be MUCH appreciated!

 

After reading this thread, I'm a little worried about our plans to go there. I talked 3 other family members into it based on all the glowing reviews I've read here on CC. I'll never hear the end of it if it is a big disappointment. We're not expecting first-class pampering and service all the way, but we were expecting a nice beach chair and adequate food and amenities. :cool:

 

Lori

 

Hi Lori,

 

Counting the seconds now til I am outta here! Definitely planning to go to NC - as mentioned our Nov 08 experience was excellent and I too am worried about recent reviews and the fact that they can't seem to handle a large number of cruisers (even tho it seems to be less than 100!).

 

With 7 ships in port I anticipate it will be busy there? We dock at 8 am (not sure how this will relate to cozumel time) but guess we will head out there without passing go and collecting $200 (time to shop later I guess?)

 

Will definitely let you know how it goes!

[lskoob]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1123803&highlight=nachi&page=2

 

I just found this post on another thread. The OP was at Nachi on Jan 13. and had a much better experience. (see posts # 25 & 26)

 

Have a great cruise, Froufie! Looking forward to your review.

 

:)And to CruisingSoon88, thanks so much for your detailed review.:)

 

Lori

[Luke gs Daddy]

Yes you should (is it out of MIA or FLL?) - you never really know how long it will take - ....odds are you'll be okay - but as per above review - s___t happens!

 

 

It is out of FLL. Not wanting to HJ here.

 

Being Super Bowl Sunday there will not be any trouble.

[Froufie]

It is out of FLL. Not wanting to HJ here.

 

Being Super Bowl Sunday there will not be any trouble.

 

Not sure about the reference to the super bowl? and no trouble? If there are no unusual 'circumstances' with docking and customs you should be able to make it - but of course you have to get from Miami to the FLL airport! (and I think if it's super bowl sunday it will be a busy place? or am I missing something?)

[vacruizer]

It is out of FLL. Not wanting to HJ here.

 

Being Super Bowl Sunday there will not be any trouble.

 

You are really cutting it close. It's about a 45 minute drive to FLL from Miami - that's assuming there are no major traffic tie-ups. You need to be at the airport by around 10am so I would aim to be off the ship by 8:30 - 9am and have transportation lined up. You may need to do self-assist and carry all your own bags to be off the ship this early. This also assumes a normal debarkation where customs clears the ship quickly and doesn't do any special inspections or anything.

[CruisingSoon88]

I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of rain pelting and the wind howling. It was like the ship was rocking me to sleep. Or was it rocking me awake? :confused: I was only semi-conscious so it didn't take long to go back to sleep. The next morning, we were once again awoken by one of Tex's tex messages. He didn't stop at just one this time either. Each time we would drift back off, he would come back on and tell us how we needed to attend the meeting about disembarking. I was so tired and I really didn't feel like getting up and going, but I figured we should go since we hadn't sailed on Carnival in a while.

 

We got there at the last minute but there were plenty of seats. So much for everyone being required to attend. Sure there were things that we needed to know, but they also didn't mention that they would play the talk on the tv 10 times that day. I could have stayed in bed! To top it off, we sat in the top tier of the theater. Somehow looking down below while the ship really rocked had made me very seasick. I was fine before we went, but now I only felt ok when I was lying on the bed. Poor DH spent hours packing while I could ony lay there. I took Dramamine and put on my seabands and they did work as long as I didn't stand up.

 

Finally after half of the day was wasted, I drug myself to the shower. I really, really wanted to go to the newlywed game, but I just couldn't make it. We met our friends on the Lido to get some food. It was about 2:30 in the afternoon and I hadn't eaten anything. The thought of food was not appealing earlier. I just wanted some soup. DH had called room service and asked if it was available for sick passengers, but they said no. I think they should have it in my opinion. You know like not have it on the menu, but its there if someone asks for it. Plain old Campbell's would have been fine with me.

 

I did feel better after having showered and getting out. I realized that I was now starving. We had decided to try anything that we hadn't yet had the chance to. I ordered a calzone to share with everyone and went to the deli to order a sandwich. The line was short, but the wait was long. I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. Its not like Subway where the fixings are there for you to see. I didn't know what kind of bread to order because I didn't know what they had. The cook was not very pleasant. He never smiled and barely ever even looked at me. I ordered the ham and cheese. I stupidly assumed that it would come with some kind of lettuce or tomato or maybe even some mayo. Nope, he just handed me exactly what I ordered, a hot ham and cheese on wheat. I asked if they had spicy mustard(it was supposed to be a deli afterall and most have this).He said no and dismissed me to go on to the next person. I said well, can I have some mayo? He grabbed my plate back and slapped a spoonful on my plate. Thanks.:mad: So the deli was not my favorite. This was another experence that led us to give the lido crew a bad grade on the survey.

 

We all tried the calzone and it was good. I personally liked the pizza better. Their caesar salads were pretty good, too. Now felt like I had sampled every venue that the Valor had to offer as far as food went. I think we were all pleased with the overall quality of the food. It was much better than it had been on Princess last time we sailed with them.

 

The second slot tournament was that day and we barely made it in time to play. Neither DH or I had any luck. The lady that ran both the slot and blackjack tournaments was named Jenny. She was so great! It was basically the same group of people that played in all of them. She knew most of our names by the end of the trip. Speaking of names, I know that Carnival is big on crew calling you by name. The only people who called us by name was Jenny and the girl in the liquor shop after we charged a couple of bottles. Not a big deal, I just know how much everyone talks about it on John's blog. Everyone for the most part was very friendly(except on the lido). They always smiled and said hello. Even the room stewards that weren't assigned to our rooms always spoke to us. Of course having a room an aft room, we walked by them alot!:p