laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 #1 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Hi guys! My first review (be kind!) it is a little bit late - sorry! Myself and my husband flew to America from Australia to see a bit of your beautiful country & to do a cruise on the beautiful Carnival Valor. I figure seeing as it was in October, it might be better to just upload photo's instead of going into a lot of detail - that and I seem to take quite a lot of photo's! hehe On the plane from Melbourne, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand - our first flight a quick 4 hour one Our plane from Auckland to Los Angeles - was not looking forward to that 12 hour flight - but it was going to be worth it in the end An hour out from landing in Los Angeles, I felt wrecked hehe - it's too hard to sleep on long haul flights - was so excited to get to our hotel in Miami to sleep! Relaxing at Venice Beach with the 12 hour layover that we had in LA Out for dinner at Bubba Gumps the night before the cruise in Miami I loved waking up to this view from our hotel room .... more to come soon!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayesktrm Posted February 26, 2011 #2 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Great picture from your hotel room! Can't wait to hear more. We went on the Valor in July and loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllyCat81 Posted February 26, 2011 #3 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Where did you stay in Miami? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #4 Share Posted February 26, 2011 All ready to go!! Just waiting to get picked up from the hotel. just waiting to be let on... was a long wait ahead of us... it was taking a fair while to get everyone from each zone on, but then one of the escalators broke down...we got there eventually! YUM! Was looking forward to a cocktail when getting onboard! At the Mongolian station for lunch, I was looking forward to it - and it was very tasty - I made sure to back a bit during the week! Also the Burrito bar!! YUM YUM .... more to come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #5 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Where did you stay in Miami? We stayed at Hilton Miami Downtown, it was our 2nd time there and we had quite an enjoyable time :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #6 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Main dining room Main dining room again Java Cafe - even though it was an extra charge it was worth it very delicious! aw they got married - about 3 other couples did too it was lovely Entertainment Crew doing their thing it is so pretty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #7 Share Posted February 26, 2011 The Liberty Of The Seas leaving the Port.... We were late.... did not find out why, but we eventually got on our way at about sunset was a lovely view at dinner to see the sun setting as we were eating dinner. crumbed chicken bits sweet and sour prawns with noodles. Now I understand what all the fuss is about - this cake is AMAZING!! the next morning hubby playing the poker machines... he won $160 so that was a bit of extra shopping money for me hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #8 Share Posted February 26, 2011 YUM we loved the burger/hot dog bar that they had for lunch/afternoons on the Valor. hubby enjoying my cocktail. was a nice touch that it can also be used as a money box after you are done drinking.... i was such a sucker for the drink of the day! poor boy... 3rd from the left in the Aussie board shorts - got kicked out of the hairy chest contest first round With the Captain out the front of the Casino at Formal Night Pumpkin Soup Minestrone Soup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #9 Share Posted February 26, 2011 YUM!! Lobster was so amazing Found out on cruise critic that you could order banana split was really yummy .... Next up - Grand Cayman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #10 Share Posted February 26, 2011 waiting for the tender boat to take us over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #11 Share Posted February 26, 2011 the ship! had something to eat at Hard Rock before we went on our tour for the day... had something very small before we left the ship, but because it was so early didn't feel like too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #12 Share Posted February 26, 2011 On the way to Stingray City On the catamaran on our way out The water is so beautiful I was so scared when I saw the stingray! I just had images of being 'stung' like Steve Irwin did because I had never seen one before! But we were fine, it was just initially so scared, but i did it! it was so slimey!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #13 Share Posted February 26, 2011 hubby having a turn with the stingray having a bit of a kiss! snorkeling We booked our tour to Stingray City through Carnival... & we could not speak highly enough of the tour guides, anytime any of us wanted 'extra' time with a Stingray they would go and get one for us and help us if we were scared or hesitant at all.. They also explained a lot to us, we found it quite helpful. When we got back to the port, we had a couple of hours before we needed to be back on the ship - we were planning on having a drink or two at Margaritaville.... That didn't happen, the water was shocking and the tender boats were having a real rough time getting us all to the boats - the line ups were insane, the boat left around 2 and a half hours late (due to the choppy water). Previous night the Captain sent through a note for us (with the Fun Times) that Hurricane Paula may be causing us trouble as it was in the Gulf Of Mexico. Before we left, the Captain said over the loud speaker that he was not going to risk anything, and we were skipping Isla Roatan, Belize and Cozumel. We were not too concerned, we were still aiming to have a great trip. Instead of those 3 ports, we were having an extra day at sea - then off to Ocho Rios and Nassau before we headed back to Miami Also for our inconvenience, we've got a 20% off our next cruise (which will be handy, we are looking at doing a back to back on the Carnival Magic in October 2012) - we were aware when we booked that this was a possibility, but we weren't going to let it ruin our holiday and it didn't - we had a fabulous time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Fun Bunch Posted February 26, 2011 #14 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Enjoyed your review. Great attitude about the missed ports!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature person Posted February 26, 2011 #15 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Enjoyed your review . :) We are going on the Valor in April. I really hope to see your beautiful country some day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magic&buddy Posted February 26, 2011 #16 Share Posted February 26, 2011 We will be on the Valor in October this year...........loving all the pictures. What cabin were you in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #17 Share Posted February 26, 2011 vodka pasta ribs waiters having a dance cheesecake went to try brekky in the main dining room... pancakes yum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UATLB Posted February 26, 2011 #18 Share Posted February 26, 2011 looks like u had a great time thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #19 Share Posted February 26, 2011 hubby was excited to get eggs benedict .... next ocho rios! There aren't very many photos here of Ocho Rios - because we aren't really that keen on Jamaica... we personally find the people there very pushy, we had a quick look around, nothing was open, people were doing their thing of trying to get us to hop into their taxi... so we made our way back to the ship and enjoyed the rest of our time on board. Next time we do a cruise, it is going to Jamaica - we'll just do a tour because we will be able to be shown more. Either way, we had a good time & next time we will too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #20 Share Posted February 26, 2011 YAY for being on vacation :) it was quite tasty here apparently the carrot cake was amazing (i didn't have any), the strawberry was awesome - i should have got more than 1 hehe went to try the sushi bar - it does get quite busy there... but the sushi is great, tastes very fresh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #21 Share Posted February 26, 2011 chicken pieces in sweet chilli sauce turkey apple pie battle of the sexes battle of the sexes again... i'm pretty sure females won Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #22 Share Posted February 26, 2011 fried mozarella.. we hadn't had that before, was so yum rack of lamb liars night with the entertainment crew tiramisu yummy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #23 Share Posted February 26, 2011 conga line start of the mexican buffet i love the detail that they go to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #24 Share Posted February 26, 2011 our group on the Behind The Fun tour our group with the Captain me & hubby with the Captain while going through the kitchen area, all the females were given a turnip flower chocolate buffet yum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenpie Posted February 26, 2011 Author #25 Share Posted February 26, 2011 he did a wonderful job prawn cocktail yum these prawns were delicious hubby had this - its still too alive for my liking hehe choccy cake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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