Valor Cruise Review 8/29 - 9/5/2010

[tw67]

Here is my review of our 8/29 – 9/5/2010 Valor Cruise. I always talk too much, so I also write too much! I will break it down into sections to make it easier!!

 

I will be glad to answer questions, but I do not have copies of capers, menus, etc. I also took very few pictures from around the ship. I really meant to since some of it is very striking, but I never got around to it. There was me and my husband and our two boys, ages 7 and 12. We were also cruising with friends who have two girls ages 6 and 8. We were in balcony cabins on the Spa Deck, port side.

[tw67]

We arrived on Sunday the 29th. Weather had been iffy all morning. We had spent a few days in Orlando before the cruise and had some bad weather driving to Miami in the morning. By the time we returned our rental car at the airport the bad weather seemed behind us. We rented from Thrifty and they had a free transport to take us to the ship. That was great to know. We didn’t have a problem with it, but friends of ours who arrived an hour or so later did have to wait for one. On the transport we met another family from NJ who had a son who was 12 and a daughter who was 13. My 12 year old spent a lot of time hanging out with these two in the teen club during the week.

 

It was already crowded at the port. Usually we arrive bright and early and try to be one of the first ones on the ship. With having a long drive down that wasn’t happening this time. I had two bottles of wine with me (two adults, one bottle each) in my carry on. No one asked any questions. Friends of ours had put theirs in their luggage, they didn’t realize it was to be in the carry on, but they also didn’t have a problem. They said they did see a lot of larger size bottles that had been taken from people.

 

We used the kiosk to check in. Besides a long line, it was painless. When we boarded the ship my 7 year old’s card had been deactivated so my husband went to guest services to work on getting him a new one, and I quickly checked in at Lincoln Dining Room to make sure we had a table for 8 with our friends. All was fine.

 

We went to lido deck to see the buffet. We saw “Rosie” and the sign for Fish and Chips. So we walked up there and found a lot of seating in a quiet area! We decided that would be our meeting place for the rest of the cruise. If we said we were at Lido Deck, we knew where to meet each other. My husband was happy to see the Mongolian Buffet. The lines there all week were horrible. He sometimes had an hour wait. My 7 year old had the fish and chips and loved it. When our friends boarded they met us up there also.

 

We showed up at the muster, but know from previous experience not to be the first to show up. My kids have some issues, and standing for a long time crowded in the heat shoved in the back is not the best for them, so when we got there we were in the first row. The 2 cruise staff members working our station were great, and we saw them a lot during the cruise. One was an entertainer (singer/dancer) and the other was part of activities.

 

When we went back to the cabin our luggage was there, the next few hours were a blur of unpacking and looking at the ship. We do late seating for dinner. Sometime before dinner we had to register my kids for their Camp Carnivals. We had already completed the paperwork, so it was painless. My older one was in the teen camp, I think it is Cicle C. It was for 12 to 14 year olds. He had a ball. He loved the ability to come and go as he wanted to. Megan was the person responsible for the group. She was great with the kids. I cannot say enough about her! She was great with my son. Sometimes he has a hard time adjusting to a new setting, but she made all the kids feel comfortable. My younger son and our friend’s daughters were in the 6-8 year old group. My son loves it in the camp, and would actually prefer to be with them than to hang with us!! He would beg to eat with them and not with us in the dining room. The staff in the room seemed friendly whenever I we would run into them in ports, on ship, etc… but whenever I went to pick him up or drop him off in the actual camp whoever was working the gate was always a little strange. I never quiet picked up why, but my son had a great time so I guess that is the important thing!

 

First night after dinner I was exhausted, and headed to bed. My 12 year old wandered in after us, and laughed that he could stay out later! He was very chatty about the teen’s area, and at that point we knew he was going to have a great time with the kids on the ship.

 

There were a number of comedians on the ship throughout the week. They would usually do a family friendly show early and adults only later in the night. We caught a few of the shows throughout the week.

[tw67]

The first full day we were at sea. The day is a blur. I know I did BINGO, and the younger three played laser tag at some point. They loved it. The laser tag was a $5 per person per game. Kids were happy to play it once, and never even thought of playing it two games of it.

 

I think this was the first formal night. Lobster tail for dinner. I never went to the Captain’s cocktail reception, and I never went to the past guest welcome back party. I believe that drinks aren’t free any longer at them, so that may play a part in my decision to miss it! I think we were just so busy that we didn’t fit it in. Actually I never even met the captain on this ship the whole cruise …. Tex was the cruise director, he was ok. I really liked the assist cruise director, Dan the most. He was from Australia I believe. He was really personable, and was all over the ship. He was really friendly and would go out of his way to talk to you.

[tw67]

First port was Grand Cayman. Grand Cayman is one of my favorite ports. My husband and 12 year old went on the snuba excursion. They loved it. Our friend Jeff went diving, and my friend Stephanie and I took the 3 younger ones on the Pirate Encounter. I have done it before with my younger one. This time there was a much bigger crowd for it, so it was a little bit more fun than last time. The workers are good with the kids, and you get to go snorkeling and swimming off the boat. You could either climb a ladder to get into the water, jump off the ship or “walk the plank”! Afterwards we met up with my husband and 12 year old at Margarittaville. My kids love going on the slide there. There is always a lot of entertainment there, and I received a few free shots…which then encouraged my friend and I to go jewelry shopping for an hour or so while my husband took the 4 kids back to the ship!

[tw67]

Second port was Roatan, Honduras. We had decided that we were going to Mahogany Bay right there at the port, and then before the end of the day my husband and 12 year old would go Zip Lining right there by the port. Before our cruise I had checked the schedule to see if any other ships would be in port when we were. We were the only ship listed. The Dream had an itinerary change due to the tropical storms/hurricanes so instead of going Eastern they were sent Western, so they were in port with us. They were there at least an hour before us. I could have bought a package through Carnival for two unlimited chair rides to the beach, two lounge chairs, a raft each and a shell on the beach. Since I wasn’t sure how my 7 year old was going to be on the beach and didn’t know if I was going to stick it out, we didn’t do it. This was a big mistake on our part. If I had known that Dream was going to be there with us, I would have done it just so that we would have gotten chairs with some shade. The only chairs left were in full sun, we could not rent a shell on our own because they were sold out, and we could not rent any rafts, body boards, etc since they were sold out. This put a big damper on our day. There were so many rafts up at the table to rent, but they couldn’t rent them to you since they wanted to save them for the people who had packages through the ship. The beach could have handled one ship without a problem, but with two ships being there it was crowded. The water was very crowded and many people were complaining about how crowded it was in the water right by the beach. At one point we wanted some drinks and food at the restaurants right there on the beach. Service was very slow. The servers seemed overwhelmed with the amount of people. Part of the problem is that when you have an itinerary change due to weather you don’t have time to make excursion plans on your own, so it was just easier to hang at the beach, so that is what the people off the Dream did. I am sure that if one ship was there it would have been a much nicer day. Don’t get me wrong, we made the best of it, and had a good time, but it could have been better. My husband and 12 year old did go zip lining before getting on ship. They loved it. It was the first time they ever did it. I managed to do a bit of shopping at the stores right at the port.

[tw67]

Belize was the next day. It rained a little in the morning. My 12 year old and husband did cave tubing with cavetubing.com. They enjoyed it. My 12 year old liked jumping off the cliff. They said the country was beautiful. Jeff once again went diving, and Stephanie and I put the younger three in camp and did a spa package. Then we tendered to the port to do a little shopping, and then tendered back for lunch. For those who like spa time, negotiate! There was a package that was $120 for 80 minutes, and you got to choose about 4 or 5 items off it. The package wasn’t supposed to be for that day, but we did get it for that day, and had another treatment thrown in also!

[tw67]

Cozumel was a lot of fun. Our ship was the first of 4 that day to arrive. We got off the ship and grabbed a cab to Paradise Beach. $2 for a chair rental, and $12 for a bracelet to play on all the water toys. The kids had a great time. I got my pineapple drink so I was happy! I had a few more beach drinks, and was even happier! We ordered a little food to tie us over for the day, then a cab back to port. We would have liked to have more time to go into the city, but we just shopped at the port. Everyone agreed it was a great time! My family had been there before, but this time was even better!

[tw67]

Overall we had good service. Room Stewarts were terrific. At dinner we had to wait for drinks a few times. We also went to the steakhouse one night. It was just the 4 adults. It was good, but we wished we had picked Tuesday night to go and not Wednesday night. Dinner choices in the main dining room (we had Lincoln) were not as appealing to us on Tuesday night, but we would have liked Wednesday night. Whenever possible I tried to eat breakfast in the dining room. They usually served until 10. If you show up at 9:45, don’t expect too many refills of your coffee!! I am usually an early riser. When we didn’t have to be somewhere early I would get up early and go walking up on the walking deck. I would then either bring coffee back with me or have room service deliver it with some fruit. If my younger son would wake early I would give him fruit and maybe boxed cereal to tie him over until we could convince the other two that we needed to get up for breakfast!

 

My biggest complaint about Lido Deck was the long lines after excursions got back on port days, and pretty much all the time for Mongolian. I think they are going to have to put in an additional Mongolian Buffet, people do not want to wait in line an hour to eat.

 

 

Please feel free to ask questions. I will answer what I can! If I think of anymore, I will add it on!

[gapearl]

Cozumel was a lot of fun. Our ship was the first of 4 that day to arrive. We got off the ship and grabbed a cab to Paradise Beach. $2 for a chair rental, and $12 for a bracelet to play on all the water toys. The kids had a great time. I got my pineapple drink so I was happy! I had a few more beach drinks, and was even happier! We ordered a little food to tie us over for the day, then a cab back to port. We would have liked to have more time to go into the city, but we just shopped at the port. Everyone agreed it was a great time! My family had been there before, but this time was even better!

 

Great review! I'll be in Cozumel in 3 weeks and I'm looking at Paradise Beach. How much did you pay for the cab ride? How did you like the beach overall?

[nytraveller53]

Good review! I left the Valor as you were boarding - lucky! I am surprised about the Mongolian BBQ, the line was never more than a 5 minute wait on my cruise! Feel free to check out my review too, in my signature! :)

[tw67]

Great review! I'll be in Cozumel in 3 weeks and I'm looking at Paradise Beach. How much did you pay for the cab ride? How did you like the beach overall?

 

 

For 8 of us in the cab I think the price was $28 each way. Right near the cabs the prices are all listed to all the beaches and other places of interest.

 

I love Paradise Beach! All the beaches on that side have the same type of beach. Very little waves, great to play and swim in. Paradise Beach really goes out of their way to make sure they keep it in good shape and clean.

 

Terry

[tw67]

Good review! I left the Valor as you were boarding - lucky! I am surprised about the Mongolian BBQ, the line was never more than a 5 minute wait on my cruise! Feel free to check out my review too, in my signature! :)

 

Thanks! I started your review, and will read the rest latter. I am so surprised how buffet lines can be so different cruise to cruise! I see what you did when you boarded and grabbed a table by fish and chips!!

 

Terry