Another valor Review - March 7 2010

[scsagh]

Great review so far. Thanks! In Roatan, did you do the Clip'N'Zip right near Mahogany Bay, or which zipline did you go to?

[CRUISE0825]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the zipline in Roatan! I plan on doing it next month.

[Fyly]

Great review so far. Thanks! In Roatan, did you do the Clip'N'Zip right near Mahogany Bay, or which zipline did you go to?

 

yes it was clip and zip. We wanted time so we didnt go far and i had read on the boards that the tour was good;

[Fyly]

the photos from the Roatan day

 

-getting in the channel, the beach is on the right-

 

-in the jungle-

 

-a long line-

-braking -

 

-the bar and the ship-

 

-Mahogany Beach-

[Fyly]

Day 5 - Belize

We were up at 7 am in order to be in the Ivanhoe Theatre by 8:15 for our tender and tour of the Xunantunich ruins.

We ordered room service, for some reason the menu was not hanging by the door the night before so I called as soon as I woke up. I can’t say that we were very impressed by our room steward. During the week, I found that the room could use some dusting (on the lamp shades, on top of the VCR…) , after using the door hanging menu we never got a new one. I know he was mad at us one day because we left the room very late in the morning.On the last day we didn’t even get a towel animal…

Funny thing happened on the phone. I ordered toast and ask for marmalade, since we had it before. The girl tells me that they don't have any. I guessed they somehow ran out and enquired as to what kind of spread she had. “we have jelly", ok, what kind of jelly I ask...and guess what they had orange jelly! Later we ordered again and asked for marmalade and there was no problem.

When we arrived in the theatre by 8:10 they were announcing that the tender was ready for our group. Belize is a long tender ride away from the ship. They have to give tickets to ease the process. On the first day Big Tex made fun of the fact that someone was going to complain about the way they do it.

I remember the morning to be really hazy and humid. The balcony was wet and sticky...We could guess there was land out there...but it was just a guess.

-very hazy-

We had bought the carnival excursion to Xunantunich. I liked the fact that there was a long ride, so we could see more of the country. During the excursion talk, Big Tex pointed out that it was a poor country and many people would not be used to the scenes out there. I can’t say that we saw flagrant poverty…some houses looked really shabby but nothing I wouldn’t see in some areas around Pittsburgh… I also guess there is no point on keeping your house in a good shape if it's gonna be destroyed by a hurricane or flood every year.

By 9 we were on the bus. There was 36 of us. Our guide talked to us about the country. I was sitting in the back and it was sometimes hard to hear him.

-arriving from the tender-

-the ruins are on a 2 dollars bill-

TBC....

[Fyly]

We are still in Belize, it was a very long day.

The ride went by quite fast. The scenery and ecosystems we were passing kept changing.

-outside-

We passed by some military patrol. They check for possible immigrants travelling to Mexico to try to get in the US, but they are also there to protect the tourists… from what? I forgot to ask. We saw many many shools and students wearing uniforms displaying the school colors. it must be very hard to go to class when it’s so hot. I did see a class taking place outside.

-It's a very colorful country-

To get to the ruins you need to cross a beautiful river on hand cranked ferry. They can’t build a bridge there because the area is too often subject to flooding.

-the ferry-

-the river-

As soon as we got off the bus, people were trying to sell us Mayan calendar. They were stalls displaying local crafts. I love fabrics and made a point to get some on the way back.

I was very excited to see the ruins. I chose the itinerary to visit a Mayan site. On site I didn’t think the guide did a great job. He went to much on crazy explanation about 2012… I loved that we could climb up the pyramid. I got a little scared up there, the view was really impressive.

-the view-

As planned I shopped quickly (too quickly) for a tablerunner and 2 scarves. I did my first try at “negotiating”… I got the three items for 30 bucks… when the runner was announced at special price of 25. My friend got the same and I am sure we could have had a deal for all 6 pieces for 50.

We stop in a small town for lunch…that was a very short stop! Lunch was more than OK. I wish I had a bit more chicken and plantains. I was disappointed to see our tablemates not even trying the plantains. We tried the Belikin beer : very refreshing and needed !

We got back for one of the last tender back to the ship.

We got ready to go to the “far from over” 80’s show. OMG! That was so good! We loved it. We kept cheering, clapping… I am a big fan of the signers. It was an elegant night again. I didn’t like the Baked Alaska. We were tired, we tried to go to the club to dance but no…too tired to stay.

[Fyly]

more photos from Belize, from the bus:

 

 

 

- that's a cashew tree-

 

[Froufie]

I loved that we could climb up the pyramid. I got a little scared up there, the view was really impressive

Can you tell me more about the 'climb'? Were there 'dedicated stairs'? (to the side or back?) or did you climb the actual 'front' of the pyramid - how long did it take? how difficult? (have you climbed any previous 'ruins'?)

 

We did the Altun Ha/River Wallace excursion with Carnival and it was great - but I was a bit disppointed in the actual 'climb' which was not that challenging (having already climbed chichen itza and lamanai). May consider doing xunatunich on a future cruise?

[Fyly]

Can you tell me more about the 'climb'? Were there 'dedicated stairs'? (to the side or back?) or did you climb the actual 'front' of the pyramid - how long did it take? how difficult? (have you climbed any previous 'ruins'?)

 

The climb was ok to me. I live in an appartement on a fifth floor with no elevator. What was annoying or made it difficult was : the heat, and the narrowness of some stairsways.

-You first climbed the wide front steps up to the 10 big stones.

the guide explained that they were very high steps on purpose because the mayan leader were taller than their people. A leader would invite a commoner to climb with him and the commoner would soon be out of breath when the leader was not hence proving that the leader was a semi-deity.

 

 

- then you were almost half way you had to go to the back to continue climbing, the narrow steps were there.

you can see a staircase on the right

 

 

- the top "floor" was small.

to go back down there was an other set of steps. I didn't like that part because the stones were very slippery...

 

side of the pyramid:

[Fyly]

Colors from Belize

 

 

[Froufie]

Thanks for the info about the Xunatunich climb! I deflinitely want to try that out - looks somewhat challenging.....but I agree heat does not help (when we climbed Lamanai it was very very hot out and I remember finding a small bush halfway up and trying to 'climb' under it for a moment of shade! :D). Good job!

[Vianky]

Thank you for taking the time to do a review! We will be on her in July and can't wait!

[cjkumbaya]

Can you tell me about how long it took you to go through the zip line in Roatan? Did you have a reservation or did you just walk up? Did the zip line circle around so that you ended back where you started? Thanks for your help - your review is very nice - really love the photos!

[Fyly]

Can you tell me about how long it took you to go through the zip line in Roatan? Did you have a reservation or did you just walk up? Did the zip line circle around so that you ended back where you started? Thanks for your help - your review is very nice - really love the photos!

 

We didn't have reservation. We were out the ship by 1pm i think and went straight to the clip and zip hut. We signed the mandatory form, paid, got into the harnesses. We were able to leave our beach bags there for free (we tipped). We were done around 3pm. We had to wait a while to get to the start line. And during the tour, it slowed down at one point...i think they were missing a guy or something.

[BarJen]

lovin the review and pics, keep it coming! :)

[CocoaMom]

Loving the review, we sail in June. The table runner and the beautiful cloth in your photos, are things like that for sale around the pier? I know you bought yours further away, but I'm wondering if you maybe saw them nearby.

[Fyly]

Loving the review, we sail in June. The table runner and the beautiful cloth in your photos, are things like that for sale around the pier? I know you bought yours further away, but I'm wondering if you maybe saw them nearby.

 

i didn't see them at the port but it doesn't mean there were none. We didn't have much time.

For sure i do remember the fake designer purses everywhere!

[Fyly]

Day 6 – Cozumel

I know that the cruise is coming to an end because that’s our last stop.

If my first impression of Belize was heat and haze for a blury sunrise, my first impression of Cozumel would be bugs!

There were many many bugs on the balcony ! I got bitten on my ankles…

We met our group for the horseback riding tour (thru carnival) in the pier area. It’s a good time to mention something I find interesting in a cruise: there are 3000 people cruising with you but somehow you always notice the same people. Some of the noticeable people were with for the tour. My friend and I love making up stories about people.

The idea of the excursion came from my friend. She loves riding, she has a horse and it was for her the highlight of the excursions (for me it was the ruins). I had read reviews that were not enthusiastic about the excursion. Here is my personal take on it. We boarded a bus with the guide, who would also be our guide during the ride. That’s a plus. He told us that we would have free drinks at the end of the ride. I didn’t expect it : an other plus J The drive to the ranch was neither long or short…we could see a little bit of the coast, I noticed some places people refer to sometimes (Mr Sancho, Nachi cocum…). The guide was pleasant and OK funny.

Once on site we picked our helmets (mandatory for American tourists apparently, I didn’t dare asking not to wear one since I am not a US citizen…). We were separated into 3 groups: never rider (me) or very few times, sometimes rider, and experienced riders. I was in group 1 and my friend in group 3. We were paired with some horses. Mine was well suited for a beginner: I didn’t have much to do, she would follow the group. My friend was VERY happy with hers, her horse responded very easily and quickly to her request. My friend told me that I had to be in control and make sure the horse knew it and it did work … sometimes! I managed to trot a few times and at some point we could go left or right, everyone went right and I made my horse go left. I felt very powerful ;-)

We were escorted by the ranch dog... It was one ugly dog but a fun one. he kept chasing after the iguanas, at one point an iguana rebelled and they fought. the iguana lost and ran away.

The ride itself was over an hour, we saw some Mayan artifacts. They were copies of what was found on the property. We also stop to visit some caves.

After the ride we got some coronas, it gave us time to visit the little stores. I bought a very nice box for 9 dollars marked 20…

When we got back to the pier, I did more shopping in the 5 soles store. I am a big fan of potteries and I wanted (should have) bought more. I spent a lot of time there. I tried to get a silver and turquoise bracelet in a jewelery store. I got very annoyed with the seller and him with me. I was going to pay with my crdit card which got declined… I used it before and after…I suspect that the store did it on purpose to get me to pay cash, which I didn’t.

TBC

[Fyly]

Back on the Valor, my legs were itchy and the bugs on the balcony were still there…at this point it didn’t matter, I sat on the chair to watch the ballet performed by the smaller and larger boats in the harbor. There were a few glass bottom excursion boats down there… One was having a weird type of animation… they were pretending that the boat was taking water.

Except: it was.

It took me a while to realize what was going on. The small boat was getting full of water. Someone was trying to get the water off the boat but the sea was rough and the waves were quite large. People had their life jacket on and swam to an other boat. Everyone made it… The snorkel equipment was floating around…the boat never really sank entirely. Someone came to pick up the equipment and eventually let his bounty go. At one point another boat came to pull the small one out of there.

Later, I tried to watch for runners back the valor : none to be seen. I now remember that there were a few when we were in GC. People screamed at them “get a watch” when they boarded…

Evening : we didn’t go to the buffet, but I can’t remember what we did.

photos from the "event" :

 

 

 

[scsagh]

Wow, glad I wasn't on that excursion! Good pictures of the sinking boat.