Another valor Review - March 7 2010

[Fyly]

Your cast :

Céline, French, 36 and her Friend 30, american.

Background :

We are best friends since 1998 when I moved to Pittsburgh and since I moved back home 2 years ago we decided to create occasions, such as a girl cruise, where we could see each other.

 

Day 1- Sunday

We had arrived in FLL on friday to 1/recover from jetlag 2/go shopping at the sawmill grass

We rented a car in FLL that we returned in MIA thru alamo. Alamo has a shuttle to go to POM. The rental for the day was 50 dollars.

When we get to the harbor our ship is the first stop. A guy is picking up our suitcase and off we go in the building to check-in. We are the only one in the VIP line and we are quickly processed. In less than 20 minutes we are on the ship. We proceeded right away to the lido and Rosie’s for lunch. We decide for the fish and ships and it’s quiet there. The food is fresh and good. The green decor is special, not what I would call nice but it really works in this place. There were French people in line behind us.

 

Afterwards we went downstairs for coffee and dessert. We managed to sat right next to a fellow cruise critic ! Cakes were REALLY good.

We walked around: we took the elevator to the top deck and visited the spa, took stairs to the sports desks and then walk down the stairs to each floor where ever we could walk.

 

We went to the excursion desk to register for the behind the floor tour. The girl behind the desk was uber pretty.

When the room (9205) we ready, off we went to discover our home for a week. Being located at the end of the hallway makes things really easy to find! I had read bad things about this room. We first looked at the front deck to check what people would see in our cabin…we are not worried. People will have to want to come and why would they look in? It’s not that easy to look on the balcony. And then, we went in! First impressions: it looks spacious. I like the coral and orange color. The balcony is not as small as I thought. We looked around, got some sun on the balcony: it was really warm.

Before the drill we went for some coffee. The jetlag was kicking in and caffeine was needed. I tried the ice cream… not my favorite but good. They even made the announcement for the drill in French!

Right after the drill we started moving. I was in the cabin and everything started to vibrate. The ship was getting ready to leave so we made a run for the deck and found a spot close to the railing to enjoy the views of the Miami skyline. It was time for an umbrella drink. Or at least for a drink because when my glass arrived the little umbrella flew away... it was indeed very windy.

Later we went to the casino to get the lanyards to carry our “sign and sail cards” around. The casino manager was there waiting for passengers to ask for them and she gave us a lesson on how to play the slots. She was very nice. Her lesson paid off the next day. I played a 2 cents game and won 10 dollars! I cashed out right away :-)

We continued touring the ship: we located the library. We liked the so many different looking lounges. We grabbed some sushi to bring back to the cabin, we ate them looking at the sun set on the balcony.

Dinner time... let's start by the meal was great and I was glad my appetite was back (I kind of lost it with the jetlag), I knew I would get the ribs. We sat down at a table for four. We were the first ones. I have to admit I was worried about who would seat with us. After much debates on the CC board about dinning etiquette, I didn’t know if we would get religious people, drunk people, people who talk about politics... but I wanted to have the experience to sit with strangers, practice my English with someone else than my friend and just discover new people. Only during the day did it occure to me that something else could happen. I had heard many people speak French... what if they (being Carnival) assumed that both my friend and I were French... Yes our tablemates sat down and were French. It’s mean but I was really bum about that. French people on vacation, in a foreign land can be very annoying. And I think that we don't know how to make small talk the way American people do, we just tend to complain and bitch. Well, here we were sitting, I told them right away that I would understand them, but my friend spoke no French. I have no idea why they decided to come on a cruise beside it being cheap. They had no idea of what to do, and at first they asked me many question, I sort of felt like a baby sitter but eventually the waiters came and took care of them. Well I have to add that I the end of the week we were good friends. I really enjoyed them, we would talk about our days for a little bit, one would practice her English with my friend and then we would both have our own talks.

Well as I said dinner was really good. I had gazpacho and the ribs. I love ribs and it's not easy to eat that in Paris (the hard rock café is the place to go in case you are wondering)

We headed to the welcome aboard show. It was OK. The singing was much better than the dancing; I didn’t get all the comedian's jokes but he was really a comedian in the fact that it was making great faces and his body language was awesome.

best part of the night : big Tex was talking for a while about the ship, the cruise, the people and he asked a little girl to come help him out; he asked "are my jokes funny" the girl replied " i don't know you have not made any"...except he had… sort of.

Talking about people on the ship, my friend and I felt left out. Big Tex asked who was there celebrating birthdays anniversary honeymoon, with family, with spouse but no kids, single, on spring break... but no girl friends leaving the husbands home... is that frowned upon ??

Well, it was time for bed after watching the very end of the Oscar ceremony.

[songbird1329]

great start to your report!

[luvz2cruze22]

Can't wait to read the rest! Keep it coming! :)

[cruisingbajan]

Thanks for posting fyly. Great review and nice pics, can't wait for the rest.

[Fyly]

one word about packing and what I packed:

 

we each had one bottle of wine, no problem

my friend had taken a portable steamer, no problem

I had a hair straightener. I had a note saying that my luggages was search because it showed signs of containing something forbidden, but my hair straightener was still there.

[Fyly]

Day 2- Sea Day

-sculpture by the washington DR-

Also known as “let's eat” day.

-view from my bed-

We started off by having breakfast in the Washington dining room; of course we had eggs benedicts. They were good. I am writing all of that on Tuesday (third day of the cruise) and already I can't remember what we did on what order. We sat down on a deck to get some sun. It was very crowded on the sunny sides. If I remember correctly the starboard side was quite windy. I wanted to get down the slide but the line was too long. Lunch was light because we had planned to go for tea. As a matter of fact, lunch WAS supposed to be light until we stopped at the dessert table. They had a wonderful strawberry cake. We hit the gym after lunch. Whoever designed the gym is a moron. Why can’t we see through the windows!

At 10 in the morning we went to the excursion show. It was great to hear about the behind the fun tour when we already had our tickets. AS Big Tex had advertised for things we really needed to know about transportation on shore, tips and so on, I expected more than a sales speech for the excursions desk… Well he did make us excited about going to shore, but yes he was mostly selling the excursions. I think he went on for 2 seconds about not renting mopeds and the currency rate. He also said, if I remember correctly, that there excursions had one guide per 10 pax… not true.

We stopped for a while at the casino. I put 10 dollars on my account and after a few tries on a 2 cents machine I won 10 bucks ! By the end of the trip I would have played and lost only 30 bucks. But I played a for a long time I like the games were I get bonuses and can choose something on a screen. I make me feels “in control” while knowing that I am not. Yep, I am weird that way.

Tea was OK. Sandwiches were very good, but the tea was just bags. We sat with girls/women named Alex and Erin. Very nice time. I wish I had taken more sandwiches.

It was the first elegant night.

For cocktail hour we went to Jeanne (cosmo and martini) and headed off to the show. It was the nightclub express. I hated the couch. The singer Amey is great! Some of the dances were good. I realize that dancing on a moving stage must be challenging. Overall we had a good time.

There were people dancing in the lobby.

After dinner we stopped for formal portraits: what a great fun. I had never done that before. I am happy to report that the photo were great and I bought some…even made extra for mom, my grandma, sister and so on J

While re-reading my notes from the day it seemed that we did not much…yes indeed and yet we never got bored !

During the day my friend discovered something I rellay enjoyed during my first cruise : seating on the balcony watching the flying fishes.

[Froufie]

Bonjour Fyly - j'iame beacoup vos commentaires. And if I were sitting with you I would want to practice my French too :D. I was actually asked to come up on stage by Big Text during the past guest party as the gentleman who won was French and did not speak English so I got to translate!!

 

I don't think it is frowned upon for women to leave their husbands at home and have a girls cruise - but I guess it is not considered to be a 'special occasion' like a birthday or anniversary (but those of us who do this definitely know how special it is!).

 

Awaiting more info on your cruise (see the link below to my recent cruise on the Valor!)

[Fyly]

Coucou Froufie,

 

don't worry i have read and re-read your review many times befire leaving :-)

I was surprised at the number of people from Quebec and even from France on the ship.

we were sitting next to another French people table...i wonder if they try to group those.

 

 

By the way : they have menu in French when needed.

[luv2gonow]

Enjoying your review...also curious how this cruise compared to HAL??

Thanks

K

[Fyly]

Enjoying your review...also curious how this cruise compared to HAL??

Thanks

K

 

The people I talked to on the ship always asked me that question.

It doesn't compare because the circumstances were soooo different.

I think I didn’t like one more than the other…but let me think of it.

+++CCL : I had a better time on that one. I preferred the excursions. I preferred the price.

+++HAL : I thought the dining room on the Westerdam was nicer. I preferred the suite privileges. There was an elegance to the Westerdam I didn’t find on the Valor (the china was much nicer).

Somehow writing all of this and even with the +++ I give to the Westerdam, I would say I preferred the CCL Valor cruise.

[songbird1329]

when we sailed on the Valor, our dining compnaions were a couple from NYC. we're from Long Island. we did have a lot in common and small talk over dinner was easy.

[boaterette]

I am enjoying your review. Thank you for posting.

[Fyly]

Day 3 – Grand Cayman

We had ordered breakfast via room service and it arrived about 10 minutes before the earliest time requested.

You have to know to order exactly what you need. For example I asked for a yogurt, I thought it would come with sugar but no. and since we didn’t request any sugar for the coffee as well, none was brought to us.

Breakfast on the balcony is a great thing.

We debarked using the tender. No problem.

 

Once in town we walked around. I was hoping for a place where people live, so we roamed further from the pier; nothing exciting. To me it looked like a place with banks for people to hide their money and jewelry stores for people to spend it.

We managed to arrive at the local bus stop. (when you exit the pier area, turn left on the road by the sea and you’ll get there – 5 minutes top) The ride to 7 miles beach was USD2.5, same for hell. In retrospect we should have gone to hell (haha) to see it and then stop at the beach. We only did the beach.

 

We were lucky to get change in USD. Some people got CY dollars. Some people asked to be dropped at “the colony” on the way. The bus stop at the beach is located next to a beach bar. You can rent chairs there. The beach was narrow. We walked along the beach to find a wider and less populated area: we were successful. Water was great, amazingly great, warm and clear.

-our spot view from the water edge-

 

We only stayed for an hour on the beach. The bus comes by every 30 minutes. We stopped at the duty free for some rum. I didn’t like people asking for samples just to get free booze…

That night our tablemates tried Scarlett.

I didn’t talk about our waiters : Sown and Savo. Sowm was awe”sowm”. He has been with carnival for 10 years and you could see he was very professional. Savo was younger and at some point we wondered if he was trying to hit on us. The waiter for a table behind us was from Romania and was great too. It seemed that the group working in our area had a good time hanging with us all.

There was a show in the MDR that night. I really like that. I know there were some discussions here about that. I had the impression most of them liked it…one was a very good dancer. And it put a great ambiance in the room.

 

-table at eagles lounge-

 

After dinner we stopped by the eagles lounge to watch some karaoke. Some people were very bad, some were good. I didn’t dare trying. Christine the crew member organizing it was fun (even if I found her annoying at first). From now on, my friend and I refer to each other as “supastaaaar” as Christine was calling all the participants.

[luvz2cruze22]

Loving your review! I'll be on the Valor next month and I'm so excited!:D

[Fyly]

Loving your review! I'll be on the Valor next month and I'm so excited!:D

 

you should love it!

 

I think it will become clear at the end of the review that we didn't do any group activities on the ship. We didn't attend the gameshows, or participate in the cocktail contest. When we wanted to do nothing we were in our room and balcony reading or chatting. It was a get back together trip.

That's what I loved about this : we could do what we want, we never felt forced to do anything we didn't want. I hear people say that you are treated as cattle on a ship ... that is so not true. hoooo i love cruising !

 

I have not mentioned the cigarette smell issue yet... it's been reported many times that some places smell of cigarettes. As Apdchief reported, sometimes it was smelling in the casino : mostly for me when I was sitting next to a full ashtray. At one point it smelled in our hallway... there was a room full of springbreaker and they did smoke in. Obviously Winston smelled too :-)

[Froufie]

Coucou Froufie,

 

don't worry i have read and re-read your review many times befire leaving :-)

I was surprised at the number of people from Quebec and even from France on the ship.

we were sitting next to another French people table...i wonder if they try to group those.

 

 

By the way : they have menu in French when needed.

 

..and they even have the Capers in French!!! On one of our cruises we were quite surprised to see a french version of the Capers in our cabin - due to the last name I guess? (mon mari est francophone!).... and yes I think they do try to group people together - I usually get to sit at the 'canadian' table - and one cruise this included a francophone couple from Quebec (and I got to translate again! :D)

[HowTheWestWasFun]

Nice pics! Thanks for the report!

[bumbles]

Celine, love your review and all the pictures - especially the one of the driftwood in Grand Cayman!! Keep up the great work - so glad you had a great time!

[dancemom3]

Fyly- Great review. Thanks for sharing. We're planning a family cruise this summer on the Valor, teens and young adults: Do you recall the name of the part of Seven Mile Beach that you got to by bus? You said you could rent beach chairs; were you able to rent any water "toys"? We're looking for a place not as crowded as some of the areas used by the cruise ships, with food and beverages available for purchase, restrooms, lounge chairs/umbrellas for shade. Would this place meet these criteria? Thanks for any help!

[Fyly]

Fyly- Great review. Thanks for sharing. We're planning a family cruise this summer on the Valor, teens and young adults: Do you recall the name of the part of Seven Mile Beach that you got to by bus? You said you could rent beach chairs; were you able to rent any water "toys"? We're looking for a place not as crowded as some of the areas used by the cruise ships, with food and beverages available for purchase, restrooms, lounge chairs/umbrellas for shade. Would this place meet these criteria? Thanks for any help!

 

The place we were dropped at was the regular bus stop. there were toys (kayak, jetskis...) but it was very crowded on the small portion were the chairs were... I especially remember how narrow it was.

looking at google maps, it think it was here :

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=fr&geocode=&q=st+george&sll=19.348734,-81.382824&sspn=0.004707,0.006341&ie=UTF8&radius=0.21&split=1&rq=1&ev=zo&hq=st+george&hnear=&ll=19.349017,-81.383168&spn=0.004707,0.006341&t=h&z=17

definitly further than the Westin.

[PamperedAshley]

Thanks for taking the time to post this Valor review with pictures :D. We cruise on her in November.

[Fyly]

I am sorry, I didn't have time to continue writing...to make you wait for the Roatan, Belize and Cozumel episodes, here are some pics :

 

the sauna

 

The arcade

My favorite

 

On 7 miles beach

 

Made to order burrito

 

Cocktail hour with sushi

 

[gemini8870]

I am cruising on Carnival Glory next week and now I am SO totally excited!!! I love the photo of cocktail and sushi, great idea!! I'm looking forward to your reviews on Roatan & Belize. My husband and I will be on the Valor in July.

[RooksWS6]

Great review! Thank you for posting!

[Fyly]

Day 4 - Roatan

The Valor was scheduled to arrive in at Mahogany bay around 12-noon. It gave us a free relaxing morning.

The island looked lovely, very lush and green. I hope to see more of it one day. At some point during our zipline excursion I felt like being in ‘lost’.

We had breakfast on the lido...something healthy: grapefruit, cereals and juice. Afterwards we went to play minigolf, it was very fun and we tied, and then before lunch (Caesar salad was ordered through room service) we stopped at the gym for half an hour. We had no idea the ziplining would suffice as an exercise!

One word on the Caesar salad: I loved it… I had mine with salmon and it was nice. I had Caesar salads many many times.

I have to admit there is one thing I didn’t like to eat/drink on the ship : it was the OJ… it was watery, pouah.

At the port we easily found the zipline attraction, we paid (40 dollars), got into our harnesses and waited to depart. First of all, I was very impressed with the guides : they always had us secured, they were patient... I liked the short walk up in the jungle... we saw an island "rabbit" (looks like a big rat/squirrel), iguanas, lost of nice flowers. To me the walk was too short, some found it strenuous. We got some water at the end of it...albeit it lasted 5 minutes!

After short demo of what to do and not what to do we started the trip down the lines. The first 3 lines were short and were relatively close to the ground... I was afraid it would be that way all the way down. But no, it wasn't. As we progressed we went higher above the trees, on longer lines and faster lines. I had a great time. I wanted to do it all over again. After a while I knew how to position my body to get some speed. I wish I could have time to practice to be crazy like the guides on the lines (go upside down and such).

On our way back to the port area, we stopped for some shopping. Got coffee and some potteries.

Before heading to the beach we stopped for a well deserved local beer. It was very refreshing.

The beach was nice enough, quite busy but we got some chairs easily. I went swimming. The water was warm, but with so many people around not very clear. People were in the water with their drinks. For a while I sat on a chair that was in the water. That was brilliant!

Back on the ship. It was too hot outside so we did our now traditional cocktail hour with sushi at Jeanne's... and we got ourselves a second serving of sushi. It was very quiet on the ship, most people were still out. As soon as we could we played at the casino and I won 40 dollars on a 1cts machine.

At dinner, our tablemates told us about their lovely dinner at Scarlett’s and good deals on jewelry in Grand Cayman.

After dinner we did a little more gambling and lamely went to bed. We realized That the ziplining + day in the sun and heat was very tiring.

Just so you know, because it was a recuing theme during the next days : ziplining can be quite an exercise for yoru abs. During the trip you feel nothing at al, but if you try to keep yourself with your legs up during the trip, or flat, or if you want to lift yourself up when you arrive on a platform : it hurts the next day, and the one after that and after… We were actually laughing quite a lot because laughing hurt ;)