Valor Photo Review ~ January 1-8 ~ Western: Westin, Chankanaab, Bannister, Maya Key

[Aviendah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Aviendah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Aviendah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thank you so much for sharing your photos. You have a wonderful family. We want to try the Bannister Island Excursion, but the cost is very expensive.

 

I have some questions. What time did you have to meet in the morning? Those that did not want to snorkel, where they dropped off on the island first? Was it worth the money to you? What time did you all have to leave to get on the tender? Does the tender go back and forth or is it one stop only? How long were you on Bannister Island? Was the food and drinks expensive?

 

I know this is a lot.:D

 

Thanks in advance.

[tandemcruzr]

Really enjoying your photos. I too set my alarm based on the 'sunrise' times posted in the Fun Times. Enjoy the view and the quiet of the early morning. :D

[ratherbecruzn]

Thanks for posting these great pictures. Cannot wait to see the ship for myself. :D

[KRW71]

Love your review. Your pictures arejust beautiful. We will be on Carnival Legend in June with our 12 year old twin boys and 3 year old boy and a bunch of other family. Planning on going to Bannister Island also. It looks very nice. Were the extras very expensive?

[starcheryl]

Beautiful pictures!! Can't wait to be back on The Valor. :D

[Aviendah]

Thank you so much for sharing your photos. You have a wonderful family. We want to try the Bannister Island Excursion, but the cost is very expensive.

 

I have some questions. What time did you have to meet in the morning? Those that did not want to snorkel, where they dropped off on the island first? Was it worth the money to you? What time did you all have to leave to get on the tender? Does the tender go back and forth or is it one stop only? How long were you on Bannister Island? Was the food and drinks expensive?

 

I know this is a lot.:D

 

Thanks in advance.

 

We chose to get there at the earlier time so we met up at 8:15am. There are a couple of different excursions to Bannister;the snorkeling excursion takes a boat to a snorkeling location and then to Bannister. That seemed to be the busiest excursion. We chose just to visit the island so snorkeling wasn't part of the excursion agenda. We have our own snorkel equipment so we always take it with us to the beach. It was worth the money to us because we wanted beach time and didn't want to spend too much time on a tender. We left at 1pm or shortly thereafter so the excursion was a little over 4 hours. The tender does not go back and forth. We got the excursion with lunch so the only thing we bought was a couple of drinks and the pricing seemed decent for the location.

[ferfoodle]

Great pictures!

 

I noticed your pic of the jellyfish squish. Did you bring that with you or did you purchase it at Chankanaab? We are planning on doing Chank as well, and just curious. I do so hope the critters are gone by then.

[scottie2]

I love all you pics they give a real insight of the ship. We are booked for Eastern in Aug :)

[Cobra1365]

Thanks for the review.

 

I must say that the flooring on the Promenade Deck gives me pause...I'd feel like I was walking on the American Flag all day long. Poor taste IMHO. They could have gone with wall coverings or red white & blue that was not so obviously suppose to be the flag.

[Cruzinbabe06]

We chose to get there at the earlier time so we met up at 8:15am. There are a couple of different excursions to Bannister;the snorkeling excursion takes a boat to a snorkeling location and then to Bannister. That seemed to be the busiest excursion. We chose just to visit the island so snorkeling wasn't part of the excursion agenda. We have our own snorkel equipment so we always take it with us to the beach. It was worth the money to us because we wanted beach time and didn't want to spend too much time on a tender. We left at 1pm or shortly thereafter so the excursion was a little over 4 hours. The tender does not go back and forth. We got the excursion with lunch so the only thing we bought was a couple of drinks and the pricing seemed decent for the location.

 

Thank you very much.:p That's exactly what we're looking for.

[Aviendah]

Great pictures!

 

I noticed your pic of the jellyfish squish. Did you bring that with you or did you purchase it at Chankanaab? We are planning on doing Chank as well, and just curious. I do so hope the critters are gone by then.

 

Great question. My boys were worried about snorkeling for the first time; sharks and critters in the ocean you know. So I bought the Jellyfish Squish spray pen from Amazon before we left just for peace of mind. I in no way thought we'd use it! I've snorkeled a lot and never had a jellyfish sting although I've come close. Imagine my surprise when we actually used the stuff! The winds were really high because of a front that was moving through and I think it pushed these little jellyfish into the shore. I don't think this is normal for Chankanaab at all! The sting was like a horse fly bite or a sweat bee sting. If you rubbed it vigorously for a few seconds the stinging went away for the most part. I had a good sting on my foot that lasted maybe 10 minutes however.

[Aviendah]

Thanks for the review.

 

I must say that the flooring on the Promenade Deck gives me pause...I'd feel like I was walking on the American Flag all day long. Poor taste IMHO. They could have gone with wall coverings or red white & blue that was not so obviously suppose to be the flag.

 

Believe it or not it wasn't until we got home and looked at all our photos that we realized how much the American Flag was used in the decor. I think the photos give a much different perspective. While on the ship it wasn't nearly so obvious.

[Aviendah]

Bannister Island ~ Snorkeling with Starfish

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aviendah]

Roatan ended up being our favorite destination for the week. We visited Maya Key through a Carnival excursion. We loved the jungle like environment and the scenery was stunning. The snorkeling was amazing! I preferred it over snorkeling at St. John USVI. We will definitely consider another extended island stay at Roatan in the future.

 

Sunrise ~ Mahogany Bay

 

 

Maya Key ~ Carnival Excursion

 

 

 

 

 

[Aviendah]

Maya Key ~ Snorkel Pier

 

 

 

 

 

 

[a,j,&fam]

I loving the pictures, good work:)

[Aviendah]

Beach ~ The beach was a bit grassy but the boys still loved swimming there. You could also find fish swimming close to the shore and the water was so clear they were easily seen. Bring your bug spray with Deet; I did get a few bites from something and I noticed the sand flies got the ankles of several other passengers. If you can find bug spray that is safe for the reef it is highly recommended if you are going to be snorkeling. The same goes for sun screens as well. Be kind to the reef!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aviendah]

 

 

Valor ~ You can still see the ship from the shore at Maya Key

 

 

 

Howler Monkeys

 

 

[Aviendah]

 

 

 

 

 

2 Week old baby Howler Monkey ~ Rescue that I got to hold!

 

[Aviendah]

 

 

 

 

 

[Aviendah]

Baby Hummingbird

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aviendah]

Camera ~ Canon Powershot 980IS with Canon underwater housing