full review CARNIVAL VALOR 2/7 - 2/14 with PICS

[jsteinberg]

Day 1: Saturday Feb 6th

 

We drove down from Jacksonville, FL. It was myself, 27 and my girlfriend 25. This was her 1st cruise, my 9th (3rd on Carnival). Miami was crazy when we got down there since the super bowl was the following day. We went to the Aventura Mall to some store my girlfriend wanted to go to before sailing.

 

After leaving the mall, we drove back up to Boca Raton. I have some friends from college we stayed with, since hotels were $300-$400/nt due to the big game. We went to Mississippi Sweets for dinner there, it was very busy but I wasn’t a big fan. I know BBQ, and this place was just ok….

 

Day 2: Embarkation day Sun Feb 7th

We went to a jewish deli in Boca Raton for breakfast, I was craving a Bagel with lox and cream cheese, its in my jewish blood and I cant find it in Jacksonville. We ate, then jumped on I-95 south. We drove down to Ft. Lauderdale to meet up with another friend of mine who was driving us to the port.He was about 15 min from the port, so it saved us $140 in parking by leaving my car with him (I brought him some rum cakes back for the favor!).

 

We arrived at the port around 11am. Porters grabbed our bags, went through security (with 2 bottles of wine, no problem) then to check in. Everything smooth. They weren’t boarding the boat yet, but started about 15min after we were ready to board and we on by 11:40. Not bad.

 

We went straight to the lido, and had the Mongolian grill for lunch. IT was very good and not busy yet. After lunch, we explored the ship (rooms not ready until 1:30). Here are a few pics from day 1

 

 

We eventually went to our room and our luggage was there around 4. I know theres lots of talk about new security in Miami for liquor and other items, we had no problem getting our drinks on. Yes we bought some drinks on the boat as well.

 

That night was super bowl Sunday, lots of people were out on the deck watching on the seaside theater. It was a little cold (60s and windy) so people were bundled up. We watched about a half and then went to dinner.

 

After dinner we went to the welcome aboard show, and checked out the dance club, piano bar (Larry the piano guy is not good on the Valor, he is getting off soon. I’ve seen negative reviews on him on these boards and they are accurate).

[jsteinberg]

Day 3: Sea Day Monday Feb 8th 2010

Weather was great. Mid 70s, no clouds, sun was out in full force. Deck was full, we were out there at 10:30 and the chair savers were very active on this ship. We found 2 chairs together on deck 10 toward the front of the ship. Chair saving is one of my biggest problem with sea days, I wish there was more enforcement on it. 1 out of 2 chairs was empty with a book, towel, or suntan lotion bottle on it.

We spent most of the day just hanging out by the pool. We ate at the buffet every day for lunch, never made it to the dining room. Dinner we went back to the dining room, it was 1st formal night. I had the prime rib AND lobster, it was great. More on the food later.

We went to the show before dinner this night, Percy crews was the comedian and great.

 

Day 4: Grand Cayman: Tuesday Feb 9th 2010

We planned on going to 7mile beach and then to Eden Rock to snorkel. The beach was great, not too busy considering 5 boats were in port. Weather was low 80s, mostly sunny. We caught some rays for a few hours, then went to catch the bus to eden rock. We jumped in, and some people were already going to cemetery beach to snorkel, so we changed our plans to go there instead. This turned out to be a bad idea. I had done a lot of research before leaving and read mixed reviews on cemetery beach (for the snorkeling) but decided to just try it instead. The water is not that clear and the reef is 100% dead, its not good snorkeling. The beach is pretty decent but since there is no snorkeling there, the public beach access at 7mile beach is a better place to go. Here is a pic of 7 mile beach

 

 

We then caught a bus back to the port area to do some shopping for some rum cakes and so forth before getting back on the tender to the boat…heres a panoramic of the island after getting back to the ship

 

We went to the dining room for dinner, had some drinks, then headed to bed

 

Day 5: Hondoras: Wednesday Feb 10th 2010

 

Our favorite day of the trip. We had booked a driver through Rony’s Tours for the day. (I highly recommend them. We had Alonzo, he was Rony’s cousin) I found another couple in our roll call to join us (made it cheaper) before leaving, they were in their late 20s as well and it worked out great. We went to the new gates at Mahogany Bay (about a 10 min walk) and met our driver.

 

 

 

We stopped 1st at the monkeys ($5) to get in. It was worth every penny, highly recommended

[jsteinberg]

We had some school supplies we took and wanted to drop off, and our 2nd stop was at an orphanage. We stopped and were there maybe 10 minutes. Then we were off to Tabyana beach, via Bananarama resort. Our original plan was to snorkel from shore and spend several hours on the beach but Alonzo asked if we wanted to go out on a boat to snorkel the reef, it was better. He said he could arrange it for another $25/each. We thought about it and said no thanks. He then said he could probably do it for $15/each since we had our own snorkel gear, and we said ok sounds good.

 

When we got to the beach there was a small boat waiting for us. It was us 4, and Enrique (he didn’t speak very good English but spoke enough)…it was just us headed to the reef (only about 10-15 minutes each way). We weren’t worried about going out and not having a ride back, as we didn’t pay a dime to Alonzo till the end when we were back at the boat. The snorkeling was GREAT. This was such a steal and we had a blast.

 

 

After about an hour of snorkeling, we went back to shore. We hung out on the beach for a few hours, caught more sun, and drank some beer. Had Barena, one of our favorite beers of the trip. The locals were out in full force trying to sell us necklaces and cigars, but wasn’t too bad. Here are a few more pics.

 

[jsteinberg]

 

 

 

Alonzo came back and met us on the beach, we took a tour of the rest of the island and went back to the boat. We stopped on the way at a newly built lookout point and took some great pics. He dropped us back at the boat about 45 min before we had to be, it worked out perfectly and was a great day.

 

We went to the steakhouse this night, more on the food later

 

Day 6: Belize: Thursday Feb 11th 2010

We booked a snorkel tour through Coral Breeze tours. It was very good. They were on time, 2 snorkel stops and lunch on Caye Caulker. I would book them again in a heartbeat, they were very safe and thorough in their policies and educated us on fish and the area. The guides were great in the water. There were 13 of us snorkeling, they had 4 crew on board. The captain, the lady who checked us in and 2 guys who educated us on the boat and in the water. A much better ratio of crew to passengers than the cruise linebooked excursion. Here are more pics from Belize

 

[jsteinberg]

 

The snorkel trip was 5 hours all together, and after getting back to the port we went shopping a bit and tendered back to the boat. We went to dinner in the dining room, then relaxed in some bars before Cozumel

 

 

Day 7: Cozumel: Friday Feb 12th 2010

 

We caught a taxi from the pier to Chankanaab Park. Taxi was $10, entrance $19/person. We rented life vests for $5, and had our own snorkel gear. There were fish EVERYwhere, but not a whole lot of reef. It made for some good pictures with the fish. The weather was great while we were there but got cloudy later in the day. We snorkeled for an hour or so, then spend about 2 hours laying in the sand or in the hammocks there. Pics:

 

[jsteinberg]

 

We left after about 3 hours there and went to lunch and shopping downtown. We went to Casa Denis (recommended by the locals) for authentic Mexican food. It was great! The salsa is spicy, be careful! (I learned the hard way)

 

 

 

We walked around the shops, it started raining for about 5 minutes and then stopped. We shopped for an hour or 2, then headed back to the boat.

 

At dinner, the boat was really rocking and we were moving in circles (about 2 hours after leaving cozumel)

 

Big Tex the cruise director came on and said they thought they saw a distress signal from another boat and we were looking for it. I went up to the top deck between appetizer and main course and saw 2 life rings in the water! 20 minutes later we found out it was a fishing vessel with no power and sinking, and we rescued the 1 person who was on the boat. He was American and had a free cruise for a day and a half until we got back to Miami!

 

 

Day 8: Sea Day: Saturday Feb 13th 2010

 

We hit the cold front from the US this day. It was cloudy and in the low 70s, and windy. IT felt 60. not many people out on the pool deck. We had breakfast on the lido, and spent over an hour in the hot tub. We watched the ice carving demo this day, and just relaxed around the ship. We went to dinner, then the Carnival Legends show

 

Day 9: Debarkation: we were #19. All I can say is it was the smoothest debarkation ever. Off the boat at 9am, we found our bags and wee through customs in 20 minutes. It was 60 degrees, and we met our ride and were back in Jacksonville by 4pm

 

 

Overall, it was a great cruise. Here are a few random things

 

FOOD: we went to lido deck for breakfast/lunch every day. Omlets are great, Mongolian grill is very good, burritos just ok in my opinion. Pizza made for a great snack. Did not try deli or fish and chips.

 

We went to the Dining room for dinner every night (Except steakhouse one night) Food came out hot, and I enjoyed everything I had there.

The steakhouse was good but not great. I’ve been to Chops Grille on Royal Caribbean and I feel they do it better. My steak was cooked well but the salad, sides, and app just didn’t have that “amazing” factor I’m used to for the surcharge. It was still very good. It took us about 2 hours to make it through the meal.

The buffet was good, although I would enjoy more selections. I compare everything to RCCL as I have been on several of there ships, here is my comparision

 

Dining room: I like Carnival better

Buffet: RCCL, they have more variety but quality is about the same

Pizza: hands down Carnival

Steakhouse: RCCL

 

All in all, the food was good to excellent

 

CRUISE DIRECTOR: Big Tex. He was pretty good. I liked that I didn’t hear him every other hour trying to sell me something over the PA system. Butch is still my favorite on the Carnival ships.

 

 

That’s about all I’ve got. I did extensive research on these boards before going on my trip which was very helpful. If anyone has any questions for me I’d be happy to answer them for you!

[dancemom3]

Great review! Have the Valor booked for summer. Terrific pictures. What kind of camera did you use for the underwater pictures? Thanks!:)

[BarJen]

nice! thx for sharing :)

[jsteinberg]

Great review! Have the Valor booked for summer. Terrific pictures. What kind of camera did you use for the underwater pictures? Thanks!:)

 

olympus tough 6000....$215 on amazon

[NewYorkDenise]

Hey J:

 

Thanks so much for all your information. I'm sailing on the Valor in July and have been doing so much research as this is my first cruise. I'm glad to hear the food was good your pic's are awesome. It seems like you had an incredible time. I've never really tried snorkeling (I was given the equipment when in Mexico last year, but really didn't know how to use it) and didn't realize that you can go deep down in the water w/it. In New York we don't have much of an opprtunity to snorkel. I would like to try it, but not much of a good swimmer. Thanks again for taking the time to share so much.

[toolgrl919]

Great review! I'm pumped for the Valor, less than 2 months! I got some good ideas for excursions on the ports I was unsure of. Thanks! :)

[cruisingbajan]

Nice review. Great pics. Thanks for posting

[w8ing2cruz]

Thanks for the review - we are planning on going to Bananarama while in Roatan. Do you remember what you paid for Rony? There will be six of us and I'm wondering if we should just get off the ship and grab a cab or make arrangements ahead of time.

 

Also - did you experience any of the dreaded 'sand fleas' on Roatan?

[ciera123]

Great review and pictures! We're on the Valor May 30 and love reading positive feedback, thanks!

[jsteinberg]

Thanks for the review - we are planning on going to Bananarama while in Roatan. Do you remember what you paid for Rony? There will be six of us and I'm wondering if we should just get off the ship and grab a cab or make arrangements ahead of time.

 

Also - did you experience any of the dreaded 'sand fleas' on Roatan?

 

$25/person with 4 or more people....plus we added $15 for the private boat to the reef from bananarama (but thats not required)

 

i had a few bug bites on my legs but nothing major, not sure where they came from (which port)

 

we did bring bug spray but only used in cozumel

[Morebeer]

j steinberg: See where you used all independent tours. On our previous 4 Carnival cruises have always booked directly thru Carnival but that gets rather pricey but gives us the piece of mind of never missing the boat upon departure. Any comments or concerns going in about using independent providers really leaning towards doing so this cruise coming up on the Valor on May 30th. Found a Waverunner adventure at Cayman, cavetubing dot com with Major Tom at Belize and Victor Bodden tours in Roatan. Any feedback coming back from yourself is much appreciated. Thanks again.

[jsteinberg]

j steinberg: See where you used all independent tours. On our previous 4 Carnival cruises have always booked directly thru Carnival but that gets rather pricey but gives us the piece of mind of never missing the boat upon departure. Any comments or concerns going in about using independent providers really leaning towards doing so this cruise coming up on the Valor on May 30th. Found a Waverunner adventure at Cayman, cavetubing dot com with Major Tom at Belize and Victor Bodden tours in Roatan. Any feedback coming back from yourself is much appreciated. Thanks again.

 

I think as long as you do your research into reputable independent tour operators you are fine (victor bodden and rony's tours both receive very positive feedback on cruisecritic)....i've heard good things on major tom but we did a snorkel trip instead. I did see the major tom people when i got off the tender. You should be fine, and save some $....

 

if its a long excursion and a close call on time, i'd go through the boat. if you have time to spare, and the independent saves $...i'd go that route...especially on any snorkel or boat excursions, you will have less people on your boat and more personalized guidance most likely

[travelqueen555]

Great pictures!! Quick question about your Olympus tough 6000. I recently posted a review of my recent cruise on the Victory - where I had very bad luck with cameras. After losing one to the bottom of the sea, we purchased the Olympus tough 6000 in St. Thomas.

 

After using it for a few days, while floating in the ocean, received error message card was wet. Long story, but camera would not power up again and SD card could not be read, so have lost all my pictures. Someone else posted a reply to my review that the exact same thing happened to her while snorkeling in St. Maartin.

 

Olympus was great and after my sending the camera and receipt to them, they replaced the camera, no problem.

 

So here is the question: I am really hesitant now to use this camera in the water again. But after seeing your pictures, would really like to. Did you use a skin when using this camera in the water. I have seen one for sale on Amazon. Have you had any problems with water getting in the camera. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks for you input

[jsteinberg]

Great pictures!! Quick question about your Olympus tough 6000. I recently posted a review of my recent cruise on the Victory - where I had very bad luck with cameras. After losing one to the bottom of the sea, we purchased the Olympus tough 6000 in St. Thomas.

 

After using it for a few days, while floating in the ocean, received error message card was wet. Long story, but camera would not power up again and SD card could not be read, so have lost all my pictures. Someone else posted a reply to my review that the exact same thing happened to her while snorkeling in St. Maartin.

 

Olympus was great and after my sending the camera and receipt to them, they replaced the camera, no problem.

 

So here is the question: I am really hesitant now to use this camera in the water again. But after seeing your pictures, would really like to. Did you use a skin when using this camera in the water. I have seen one for sale on Amazon. Have you had any problems with water getting in the camera. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks for you input

 

we did not use any kind of case, and it worked perfectly on 4 or 5 different occasions. We did wait until after it was COMPLETELY dry before opening it to charge the battery and made sure everything was securely closed before going back in the water....as of now, no problems

[jsteinberg]

Heres a few links to snorkeling videos took with our Tough 6000

 

 

Chankanaab Park Cozumel

 

 

 

 

Hondoras

 

 

Belize

 

 

[apdchief]

Great review. We are on the Valor March 7th. I bought the olympus tough 8000 just for this trip. I take it you are satisfied with the 6000?

 

olympus tough 6000....$215 on amazon

[jsteinberg]

Great review. We are on the Valor March 7th. I bought the olympus tough 8000 just for this trip. I take it you are satisfied with the 6000?

 

so far we love it. no problems and very easy to learn to use

[momtogo]

Thanks so much for posting. We really enjoyed reading your review and looking at the pictures and videos. We have booked Bodden Tours in Roatan for the day. I noticed that you went to the orphanage. This is also something we would like to do. Can you tell me how you arranged that visit and did they tell you what supplies they needed? How was the visit? Any info you can give on this is appreciated.

[jsteinberg]

Thanks so much for posting. We really enjoyed reading your review and looking at the pictures and videos. We have booked Bodden Tours in Roatan for the day. I noticed that you went to the orphanage. This is also something we would like to do. Can you tell me how you arranged that visit and did they tell you what supplies they needed? How was the visit? Any info you can give on this is appreciated.

 

Friends of ours went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of stuff. We just told our driver for the day and he took us on the way to the beach. School has just started there so our stuff was good timing, they brought pencils, addition cards, etc...

 

I'm pretty sure anything is helpful to them there. The visit all in all was great

[magoo221]

We are on the Valor 2/28 and can't wait. Is this a strange question .....

 

When you went snorkeling, where did you keep your money/credit cards etc?

 

Did you rent the vest or do you own that as well, because we have everything but the vest.

 

Is bananarama on 7 mile beach? We were thinking of just taking the bus there. $15 for a boat trip sounds great.