Carnival Valor Review - 10/1/10

[Geek Squard]

A few more pictures from Belize:

 

 

 

 

 

Bye bye Belize

 

Next stop Cozumel and Xrail Adventure to Jade Caverns!

[Geek Squard]

To break up the island hopping I wanted to add a bit of what we did onboard.

 

We had late dining and ate in the dining room every night except Friday and Saturday.

 

The selection and service in the MDR was great. All of those who worked our table were pleasant, helpful and very efficient. I thought the food selection was very good. Although I didn't order multiple dishes I did compliment most of my meals with a baked potato. No eyebrows raised and all was good. The table opposite us always took the cheese desert as a pre-appetizer and again this was not an issue.

 

We did get dressed up for the formal, sorry, elegant nights ;). I know that Carnival is fairly relaxed about this but when in Rome and all that. There's a pic of us in our 'posh' gear. I thought the photographers onobard were very good. They weren't pushy if you didn't want a picture but if you did they did a great job with the posing.

 

 

On Friday night we went to Scarlett's. OMG!! What a great meal. I am lucky that on some business trips I have gotten to eat at some great places; Gordon Ramsey's in NY, Gibson's in Chicago, Citronelle in DC, Capitol Grille, Del Friscos to name a few. Now, I don't mention those to show off but to offer comparison. The meal in Scarlett's was right up there with the best, if not better. We got a table at the back of the dining room and it was very intimate. We were given all the time we needed to decide, chit-chat, change our minds and decide again. The food was exquisite. Again, lot's of schools of thought on CC as to whether you should give up the food you've paid for to go to a restaurant that charges. All in we spent about $100 for the meal, wine, etc and it was worth every penny! Highly recommended.

 

On Saturday we ate at the Lido. Good choice of food and something to suit most if not all tastes. Again, recommended.

 

We also tried the sushi bar, Fish and Chips and the Pizza; all good offerings.

 

We had room service too and thought that the Roast Beef sandwich was delicious.

 

Reading this, it's no wonder I put on a few extra pounds!! ;)

[Geek Squard]

Cozumel

Our excursion in Cozumel, again through Island Marketing was the Xrail Adventure to Jade Caverns. We’re off the ship at a leisurely pace given we aren’t meeting until mid-morning. Our meeting point is outside Margaritaville so we agree on a price for a cab ($7 for the two of us) and off we go. We meet our guide, hand over our cash and we are taken in a nice air-conditioned van to the Xrail HQ. We get a safety briefing and off we go. If you do this tour, prepare to get very, very dirty! There are mediocre changing facilities at the tour location and if you’re a contortionist you might just about manage. The dust is everywhere and they sell bandanas inside for $2 each which I thought was a great price given the captive audience. It was also a must purchase! There are a few water splashes along the way that you can go through at a crawl if you’re not keen on getting messed up. However, in for a penny, in for a pound so we took them at full throttle! The ride is very bumpy but my, what a hoot.

 

 

Having fun yet? You betcha!!

 

 

Mirror, signal, maneuver

 

 

 

 

 

How cool do I look? Answer, not very!

 

 

The dark black strip on my shirt is from the seatbelt. The rest, well that's dust!

[Geek Squard]

The first stop is at a cave heavily populated by bats. Don’t be put off by the apparent color of the water, it is a reflection from on high. I took a swim in there and in a word, it stunk!! High amounts of sulfur! Once my nose had adjusted it was a good refreshing swim. There is a ledge about 20ft up that you can jump from – do it! It was a blast. So if you’ve taken a dip in this cave and decided not to go through the water splashes at speed you’ve made a misguided attempt to get dirty. You’re now wet and the dust is going to cling to you.

 

Back into your buggy and off to the Mayan caves. Again, knowledgeable guides with a great deal of information that tells you how proud they are of their heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Geek Squard]

We planned to do some shopping at the port but were so dirty we had to head back on the ship and take a shower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 mins later we’re in Ron Jon’s buying souvenirs and gifts for the kids before hitting 3 Amigos for the mandatory, beer, cocktail, margarita, nachos and tacos.

 

 

 

 

Cozumel was the most amusing port for watching the Partiers. I’m not casting aspersions; without a tour I’d have been in the same (or maybe worse) state than most of these folks. The staggering, balloon wearing embarkation process was hilarious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rain started just as we left Cozumel

[loan_girl]

Great Review! Thanks we're heading out in a couple of weeks, Praying for warmer weather!

[cbressler76]

Great review!!! My family and I will be sailing on the Valor in 10 days!! We live in South Florida, so I don't do cold very well.... Was it very cold at any of the places you visited? ---

 

I was wishing/hoping for a review soon!! Thank you so much!! :D

[Geek Squard]

Great review!!! My family and I will be sailing on the Valor in 10 days!! We live in South Florida, so I don't do cold very well.... Was it very cold at any of the places you visited? ---

 

I was wishing/hoping for a review soon!! Thank you so much!! :D

 

I live in Michigan so that should add some perspective on how we view cold :).

 

It wasn't tropically by any stretch but it was certainly warm enough to wander around in shorts, swim in the ocean without thinking it was freezing cold. We had some cold cover some of the time which cooled things down but it was comfortable. The pictures make the sky look a lot darker than it truly was.

 

Grand Cayman - walked along the beach at 9:00am in just shorts.

Belize - Cave tubing in a fresh water without discomfort.

Isla Roatan - Very warm!

Cozumel - Hot!!

Day at sea #2 - windy but warm enough to lounge on the Lido deck in swimgear.

 

I think we had some freakish weather in the US before we left. Things got warmer for us. We came back with a nice tan! I wouldn't say it was cold.

 

Hope this helps

[cbressler76]

I live in Michigan so that should add some perspective on how we view cold :).

 

It wasn't tropically by any stretch but it was certainly warm enough to wander around in shorts, swim in the ocean without thinking it was freezing cold. We had some cold cover some of the time which cooled things down but it was comfortable. The pictures make the sky look a lot darker than it truly was.

 

Grand Cayman - walked along the beach at 9:00am in just shorts.

Belize - Cave tubing in a fresh water without discomfort.

Isla Roatan - Very warm!

Cozumel - Hot!!

Day at sea #2 - windy but warm enough to lounge on the Lido deck in swimgear.

 

I think we had some freakish weather in the US before we left. Things got warmer for us. We came back with a nice tan! I wouldn't say it was cold.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

Thank you so much! My boys and DH can take cooler weather, but I'm a whimp! lol

[Geek Squard]

Thank you so much! My boys and DH can take cooler weather, but I'm a whimp! lol

 

No problem. Hope you enjoy your cruise! If you have any other questions, just let me know and I'll do my best.

[bumbles]

You guys are a gorgeous couple...congratulations on your marriage!!

 

We can't decide what to do in Belize - was looking at cave tubing with Major Tom...do you remember how much time after the excursion you had left?

 

Thanks again for the review!

[Geek Squard]

You guys are a gorgeous couple...congratulations on your marriage!!

 

We can't decide what to do in Belize - was looking at cave tubing with Major Tom...do you remember how much time after the excursion you had left?

 

Thanks again for the review!

 

Thank you so much! We are very happy.

 

We got back to port with about 1 - 1 1/2 hours to spare until the last tender. We had time to do some leisurely shopping at the port and to drink a local brew or two. Last tender is at 4:15 (ship time). BTW, Major Tom will make sure that you get back to the port ontime. We had some zipliners in our group and their tour was running late. He almost sent our bus without them as he has a secondary vehicle there to take back any strays.

[bumbles]

Thank you so much! We are very happy.

 

We got back to port with about 1 - 1 1/2 hours to spare until the last tender. We had time to do some leisurely shopping at the port and to drink a local brew or two. Last tender is at 4:15 (ship time). BTW, Major Tom will make sure that you get back to the port ontime. We had some zipliners in our group and their tour was running late. He almost sent our bus without them as he has a secondary vehicle there to take back any strays.

 

Thanks a bunch! My daughter's a shopper so we wanted to have some time in port to look around...and I'm sure my husband will be drinking some Bellikins while we do that... :)

[kcjbo3535]

Great review!!! My family and I will be sailing on the Valor in 59 days!!

after reading this just got me even more excited to get on the boat

[oregon3373]

Just my 2 cents worth on Belize. Last time we were there ( March of 08) we did the combo Zip Line and Cave Tubing with extremecavetubing.com. They were great, and it was fun to combine both of these since they are so very close to each other.

 

The town of Belize is really not the best place to just go out and sight see. We are heading out on the Valor on June 20th and this time in belize we are going out to Caye Caulker to snorkel with coral breezes. They also have a trip that looks fun with you piloting your own boat through the mangroves... that looks pretty cool as well.

 

Your review was great...

[cruisingbajan]

Great review and great pics. Looks like you guys had a great time.

[BrooklinNorth]

Great review thanks , we're on the Valor on Sunday !

Just 3 more sleeps :D

 

Lori

[thecarneys]

Keep it coming! This is a great review, thanks for taking the time to post!:)

[GranthamMommy]

Thank you for a great review, the pictures and the shore excursion information. I'm guessing things will really "warm up" for our June 27th departure.

[KCMarie]

This is no doubt my favorite review to date! Although my crew has a long time to wait yet, we are booked and planning our excursions. Major Tom's Cave Tubing in Belize is already on our list too.

 

Thank you SO much for taking the wonderful pictures and taking the time to post such detailed reviews. I can almost see myself there already.

 

Hats off to you Mr Geek Squard!

[sharkaymon]

How is it inspiring? Because now I am making excursion appointments with Island Marketing for Grand Cayman (waverunners) and Roatan( Resort day). Have always been reticent in joining excursions not sponsored by Carnival. I was getting ready to spend big $$$ on a Beach Cabana at Mahogany Bay on Roatan, but now I'm saving big$$$ by going to the resort offered by Island Marketing!

 

Y'all really seemed to be having fun

[minncruisers]

Hey! It's DH and I off to the left there in the gray and blue jackets! Too bad you got my bad side. LOL!

Back to the Lido deck to set sail and off we went!

 

 

Great review and pictures! You guys sure picked some adventurous excursions. They looked like a lot of fun.

[worldbound30]

Great review, and congratulations on the marriage!

[Geek Squard]

Hey! It's DH and I off to the left there in the gray and blue jackets! Too bad you got my bad side. LOL!

 

Great review and pictures! You guys sure picked some adventurous excursions. They looked like a lot of fun.

 

Wow. We were so close to meeting someone from our Roll Call without even knowing. Maybe a good job as we may have wrestled you for the coats!! :)

[Geek Squard]

Fun day at Sea #2

 

We’re all done with our excursions and looking forward to day at sea despite the fact that we’re heading home. Our itinerary was jam packed and we’re feeling a little tired! On Saturday we don’t really do a lot, head to the Lido deck in search of a sunbed so we can chill and enjoy the sun. Despite it being quite breezy the Lido was packed and it was difficult to find a bed. I would say that of the beds reserved, about 2/3rds were occupied and the rest were empty with books, shoes, etc reserving them. It was nice to relax and watch the play-offs on the big screen. Saturday night was no blow out for us – early start on Sunday and a long trip home.

We didn’t go to any of the shows onboard, nor really participate in any organized activities. We wanted to go to the Adult comedy show but it was at midnight on the nights before we got into port early and had to be off for our excursions. Especially Grand Cayman where we got in at 7:00am. This I did not understand and I hope that Carnival rethink this.

 

Debarkation and homeward bound

 

 

Our towel animal collection, missing the Stingray who was MIA

 

 

We get our debarkation zones and we’re something like zone 1456034 or maybe it was 24. Our flight to Detroit via Cincinnati leaves MIA at 1:05 and we figure we have plenty of time. We eat a leisurely breakfast, bid farewell to our stateroom and head to deck 5 where we sit, contemplate what a great time we’ve had and play some cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They zone numbers are being called really quickly and we figure we’ll be off in no time. By 10:05 I’m starting to get a little uneasy as we still haven’t been called. I know it’s a short ride to the airport but we’ve got customs and the dreaded immigration to navigate. As a Green Card holder negotiating immigration can sometimes be a little time consuming so we’re keen to leave. We luck out; just as we go down to Deck 3 to ask when we might be called Asst CD tells us that she is clearing the ship and we’re free to leave.

 

Our bags are on the carousel and we engage the services of a porter to assist. Our immigration line seemed to be taking longer than others and when we got there we found out why. Now the guy was just doing his job but it felt like an interrogation to me. In the last 5 years I have been in and out of the US about 15 times and this was my worse immigration experience ever. He asked a lot of questions as to where I was from, where I live now, where I have travelled to internationally and did insinuate that we had bought more stuff back in than we declared. I have nothing to hide and could answer honestly and I know this guy was doing his job but it was very uncomfortable. The only people ALLOWED into the US are US citizens; the rest of us are here at your discretion.

 

Eventually we get through and we’re off to the airport. Despite a minor delay in Cinci and a long, long wait for our bags in Detroit our journey home is pain free although a little tiring.

 

So there we have it. I’ll put my pen down now. This was my first cruise ever and it will not be my last. We had a fantastic time, purchased our future cruise certificate onboard and are looking for next years adventure as we speak. I liked Carnival, I didn’t find it stuffy, nor did I find it too relaxed. It was the perfect vacation with perfect company.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed the review and if there are any questions, please, drop, me a line and I’ll do my best to help.