Valor 1/16/11 - 1/23/11...Review!

[cherylwillow]

Ugggghhhh...currently 3am in a Miami hotel. Can't sleep and have some chest cold that I probably picked up from shaking one two many hands on deck. Glad it just hit me yesterday though!

 

I hadn't planned on doing a review, but I had seen little out there on the Valor and had been a touch concerned that it wasn't up to par -- so thought I would share my personal thoughts.

 

Last thing first -- the rescue at sea on the 22nd was pretty cool. If I ever figure out how to post pics, I'll add on here.

 

 

General thoughts:

• Cigarette smoke on the ship -- I had read that it was quite bad on the Valor. I just can't agree. In fact, if I was still a smoker, I'd be a little put off on the availability of smoking areas. Casino -- smoky. Dance Club -- smoky. Cigar Lounge -- blech smoky. But other than that -- no problem.
  
• Service -- no complaints here. But I don't require much either. Don't be a jerk and we're good.
  

Woops...sorry...going to have to come back. Testing a pic of wating for sail to see if I know how to do it:

 

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/ribbon96/trip009.jpg

[magic&buddy]

Ugggghhhh...currently 3am in a Miami hotel. Can't sleep and have some chest cold that I probably picked up from shaking one two many hands on deck. Glad it just hit me yesterday though!

 

I hadn't planned on doing a review, but I had seen little out there on the Valor and had been a touch concerned that it wasn't up to par -- so thought I would share my personal thoughts.

 

Last thing first -- the rescue at sea on the 22nd was pretty cool. If I ever figure out how to post pics, I'll add on here.

 

 

General thoughts:

• Cigarette smoke on the ship -- I had read that it was quite bad on the Valor. I just can't agree. In fact, if I was still a smoker, I'd be a little put off on the availability of smoking areas. Casino -- smoky. Dance Club -- smoky. Cigar Lounge -- blech smoky. But other than that -- no problem.
  
• Service -- no complaints here. But I don't require much either. Don't be a jerk and we're good.
  

Woops...sorry...going to have to come back. Testing a pic of wating for sail to see if I know how to do it:

 

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/ribbon96/trip009.jpg

 

 

Hope you feel better soon! With any luck you are not returning to a very cold place - we live in Toronto and it is minus 24 degrees!!!!!

 

Please continue with your post when you can.....we are booked on the Valor in October and I agree.....not a lot of recent reviews.

 

I checked the link to your picture and just the sun in the picture made me feel warmer. Get better!

[djmaine]

nice start to the review, looking forward to the rest.

 

I've never posted a pic here but if you add to the beginning and [img/] to the end it might show the pic without clicking on it.

[mara93]

I see you're using Photobucket. Just copy the link that says IMG & your pictures will display here.

[BaskGal]

Keep the review coming! We set sail in March!

[lcbandt]

Yay - a Valor review! Sailing on her in a bit over 3 months and would love to hear more about your trip!

[Carolinagirl82]

Looking forward to the rest of the review!

[cherylwillow]

Thanks for the tips -- I'll try that on this one and see if it works!!

 

Well, back in Milwaukee this afternoon...hard to believe just yesterday I was on a ship. It's snowy and cold and my dogs didn't adjust well to us being gone and work has piled up and strangely no one has cooked me a delicous dinner or brought me a towel animal or even offered me a drink of the day...and...and...and.... So what am I doing?? I've locked myself in my office with the space heater and am going to dream about the last week!!

 

Okay, so back to my General Thoughts:

• I had worried about the Seaside Theater (first time I've been on this class). Felt like I get ENOUGH noise and tv at home -- don't want to listen to it on Lido! Turns out it was great. The mornings have somewhat of a weird concert that feels a lot like a bad VH1 "Where are they now?", but that's over by 9 or 10am. Then moving forward it's just soothing under sea pics. I assume during a big football game or something, majority rules and that's played.
  
• Complaint on Lido -- the bands are TOO LOUD. And I'm no wuss. The piped in music is enjoyable, the bands are so loud you literally can't hear the person next to you. We tried to sit in different places, but nothing helped. I would say it actually hurt my ears.
  
• Weird smells -- now, bear in mind that it was only in one area (right outside our room, but never apparent IN our room). My husband thought it smelled "delicious" (puke). It was some constant seafoody-onion-dishwater smell. Gross. But no problem either -- barely notable. But thought I would since I've heard about the "smell" on Valor. Trust me -- no big deal. You'll just go "ohhhhhh....THERE'S the smell!".
  
• Food -- good enough!
  

[cherylwillow]

We were a group of 12 adult friends and 5 of our kids. Adults ranged from early-twenties to mid-forties, 2 under-10 kids, and 3 teenagers.

 

Everyone made their own travel arrangements; my family of four (2 of the teens, my husband and me) flew into Daytona Beach on Friday night so we could spend a day with DH's Grandparents. We woke up early Sunday morning and made the 4 hour drive to our BEAUTIFUL SHIP!! Arrived about 11am.

 

I had rented a car from Alamo so we could have the free shuttle. DH dropped the kids and me off at Port w/ our stuff and headed to MIA. Took him about 40 minutes or so round trip to get back to Port w/ the Alamo shuttle. No fuss, no muss, and free. Recommended.

 

While we waited, we ended up seeing our entire party! We sent most of them on their way to the ship -- no need to wait for that DOD!!

[lgerrish]

Can't wait to see and hear more. We're a group of 22 sailing on the Valor in April.

[cherylwillow]

Quite honestly, I don't remember much. Can I just write awesome???

 

I know we were on early, hung out w/ our frosty drinks and buckets-o-beers, and had a bite to eat....went to muster...back to our rooms to unpack. We ate in the MDR (first of only two times!!). Pretty sure we went to a Martini Tasting and then out to the dance club.

 

Trying the pics (hope it works!!). Jeannes' Bar has a great Martini Tasting for $15. You circle which martinis you want on a piece of paper and get a few ounces of 4 different martinis. (My husband and I are on the left, forward)

 

THEN....you can pick your fav and order a monster size one for $25! (no one says you HAVE to share, but we did...)

[cherylwillow]

DD 14th Birthday and a SPECIAL surprise at dinner.

 

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather. It doesn't take much to please a WI girl in January. You could pretty much put me anywhere and play anything and do whatever -- if it's sunny and 80 -- I'm in.

 

Oohh -- sidenote (sorry). Our room was 1412. Lowest you can go. Loved it. I am NOT a balcony person -- we are truly never in our room. Love the extra space of the OV, though.

 

 

Fortunately, the ship was great though! I woke up early and went to the internet room. Little tip you might not know -- if you set up an account on Carnival Funville and provide your friends/family at home w/ the info, you can write to them for free on the ship. I just gave my sister the info and then had her send an email to a bunch of people by cut/paste. Nice way to stay in touch and it eased my worries about home and my four legged family.

 

We spent the day chilling by lido. I drank WAY to many DODs, and supplemented with my Bon Voyage booze. I'm not much of a drinker at home b/c of my job, but when I'm on vacation....

 

Saw the Hairy Chest Contest, napped a bit on Lido, swam, laughed... If i could bottle that day...ahhhh...

 

 

 

Got dressed and went to the Elegant night in MDR. Our friend asked his girlfriend to marry him!! She said yes!! Great joyous start to our evening (and I was GLAD to be out of possesion of that rock!!).

 

We changed, went to the Family Friendly Comedy Show (Smiley Joe Wiley -- FUNNY!!!) and then caught the later 18+ show. LOVE this comedy thing!

 

Then we headed off to the club...again!

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow...Grand Cayman!!

[lcbandt]

Loving it!! :)

[navybaby1113]

Aww...that's so sweet about the engagement. How did he do it?

[matt20971]

Do you recall what types of beer was available on board? What about bucket prices? Do you remember if they had landshark later?

[cruiser fanatic]

any Funtimes?

[cherylwillow]

Aww...that's so sweet about the engagement. How did he do it?

 

They were so adorable! He had thought about doing some big grand something but ultimately simply turned to her and got on one knee...

[cherylwillow]

Do you recall what types of beer was available on board? What about bucket prices? Do you remember if they had landshark later?

 

 

I'm sorry, I don't. Miller Light all around w/ our group! Didn't pay much attention to the bucket prices on that... I think it ended up around $5.50/beer?? But really don't know.

[cherylwillow]

any Funtimes?

 

Yes! I have them all except the first day. My scanner's on the fritz but I can answer any Qs.

[Oompaland]

Well, back in Milwaukee this afternoon We were on the Valor January 2 - 9 and also from the Milwaukee area...sucks to be home. Cold and dreary compared to warm and sunny!

Weird smells -- now, bear in mind that it was only in one area (right outside our room, but never apparent IN our room). My husband thought it smelled "delicious" (puke). It was some constant seafoody-onion-dishwater smell. Gross. But no problem either -- barely notable. But thought I would since I've heard about the "smell" on Valor. Trust me -- no big deal. You'll just go "ohhhhhh....THERE'S the smell!". We know exactly what you are talking about! Not sure where it was coming from but it was a funky onion smell mixed with something.

 

 

 

Can't wait to read the rest of your review!

[Half Pint]

We're sailing on the Valor on Feb 13th (also from Milwaukee area), so thanks for the review. Looking forward to more!

 

My son's 14th birthday was also January 17th. :)

[cherylwillow]

We woke up early, about 6am to ready ourselves for the 7am arrival in Grand Cayman. Having been to GC before, I was aware of the tender crush at arrival. Crabbos trying to be first off the ship. Not worth it. We all had breakfast separately then met in front of one of our rooms and had a stress-free walk off the boat at about 7:30.

 

Georgetown Grand Cayman is a comfortable port of call. Feels a little bit like a Florida beach town. The port area has nice clean bathrooms and a bunch of organized excursion companies under tents. Easy and nice.

 

We all met with our excursion company, Nativeway at about 8:45. We were booked on the Rays, Reef, and Rum Point tour -- about $65/pp and included lunch. Highly recommended.

 

We loaded up on our awesome old bus and headed off on a 15 minute or so ride to the boat launch. The boat ride to the Sting Ray Sandbar was beautiful.

 

Few notes: this was my second trip to the Sting Rays. The first time was very choppy -- many tours cancelled but the government hadn't closed so that particular company chose to continue. It was really too much. We enjoyed it (ish) because we got to experience it, but in hindsight, it was too dangerous. The waves were so strong that we would get lifted up and then land 5 foot away -- potentially on a ray. It was one of those mom moments that I regretted having put my kids in a potentially dangerous situation. We had decided this time that we were only going if the waves were calm -- fortunately they were.

 

Second note: this time we bought, in advance, semi-dry snorkels. I think we paid about $40/ea for the mask/snorkel set. Was a good choice for a few different reasons... The ones supplied on the boats are (wet?) ones that are

just a "J" and don't keep water from getting in. These ones did -- they sort of shut off or something so you don't take in any water. Also, they were great to have on beaches the whole week so we didn't have to rent.

 

Back to the boat...we arrived at the sting ray sandbar. Very calm and super cool. Tons of rays all around us. Our guide showed us how to handle them and what to watch out for. We had an opportunity to feed them and one of our group got a "love bite". Uhhhh...that'd be a huge raised suck welt that broke the skin -- no thanks. I say let the dude next to you feed them -- get a smilar experience w/o the risk of a "love bite". If you're considering taking this or a similar excursion and not crazy about getting in the water -- no problem. Three of our group never got off the boat and still had a blast. You stay right next to it.

 

After about 20 minutes or so we loaded back up and headed off to the reef to snorkel. Now, in spite of my "buoyancy" (read fatness!), flippers, and being a strong swimmer I was still terrified. Sea creatures -- not a fan. I aborted and went back to the boat for a life vest. Totally do this if you find yourself not comfortable. Honestly, I even felt more comfortable when I removed the flippers. Not sure why.

 

30 minutes or so snorkeling and we were back on the boat again. We had ordered lunch when we got on the boat initially, so our meals were waiting for us after our boat ride to Rum Point Beach. No complaints from anyone on food -- even the picky eaters were pleased. Iced tea and water were served. I'm sure there was alcohol available, but I don't think anyone from our group ordered.

 

Rum Point Beach was beautiful. It was crowded, but didn't feel like it. Plenty of seats available. My husband and I even got to enjoy a quick snooze in a double hammock under a palm tree. Pure awesomess. We snorkeled from the shore a bit and just laughed and loved life. The hour and half here felt like minutes and it was time to head back.

 

We hit some traffic so arrived back to port at about 2:45 (30 mins later than expected). Be aware -- the tender lines at Grand Cayman are C.R.A.Z.Y. And it's hot. And dudes try to skip you. Keep a happy head and it's all good -- if you buy into the BS it can be a bit of a bummer to an otherwise fabulous day. There are shops in port where you can grab a beverage on the cheap -- we decided to do just that and joked our way through the 1.5 hour stand/wait to get on a tender back to the ship.

 

 

Sting Ray Sandbar:

 

DH scoring his 7 years of good luck via kiss from a ray (thanks, I'll just pretend...)

 

Hahaha...me getting on the boat after snorkeling:

 

Rum Point Beach:

 

 

[cherylwillow]

We got back on the ship at about 4:45. I'm guessing it was no coincidence that Carnival scheduled their one-hour past guest party w/ free cocktails at 5. No match for us! We were showered, ready and at the door by 5! (I may have had a muscly assistant blow drying my hair while I did my makeup!!).

 

We had our party and met up with the rest of the group for dinner at Rosie's. Took the kids to see the family friendly comedy show (Jackson Perdue -- also funny) at 7:30 then headed off to the Ivanhoe Theater for the 60 Seconds or Less show (like the TV show Minute to Win it). Had a blast there -- would-be participants had to be "crazy" to get in the show. DH got on by taking his shirt off (thank you, past-guest-free-drinks party!) and ended up winning. His prize...the coveted Ship on a Stick.

 

We said goodbye to the children, who went off to see the movie at the Seaside Theater -- Iron Man 2 while we stayed to watch the Marriage Show. Sidenote -- the older kids really didn't hang out in the kids club like they have in years past. The young ones loved it and had to be dragged away, but the Circle C aged kids were "meh" about it. Must have been a light early teen crowd. Had more fun on their own.

 

The Marriage Show has been hilarious in past, but tonight's was just okay. Sort of uncomfortable? I still recommend the show though -- still funny that night and usually a total riot.

 

Then another night at the club, One Small Step. Good times had by all...

 

Tomorrow...Cozumel!

 

DH on stage at the 60 seconds or less:

 

His prize:

 

Random pictures of us that night that don't really belong in a review...but so fun I'm sharing anyway!!

 

 

 

 

Late night/early morning 4th meal gathering. I love this pic because of the pure happiness. Every day should be this funny.

[BaskGal]

Keep it coming! Love to see you guys having a great time! Makes me excited about our trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cherylwillow]

We're sailing on the Valor on Feb 13th (also from Milwaukee area), so thanks for the review. Looking forward to more!

 

My son's 14th birthday was also January 17th. :)

 

Oh, you'll have a blast!! Funny that our kids share the actualy same day of birth! You're not in the Oak Creek area by chance, are you?