Valor review: October 5-12, 2014

[LHARTWICK]

Arrived in San Juan one day prior - stayed at the Hotel Miramar. Would definitely stay here again. Staff was great; AC worked VERY well; Italian restaurant next door was great; room was large and clean.

 

Embarkation: Arrived at cruise terminal at 10:30 AM; boarding began at 12:30 PM; we were in Boarding Group 3 - on board at 1:00 PM. There is very limited seating in this terminal - it was standing room only by the time our group was called.

 

Cabin 9200: Only 2 of these on the ship; large with a panoramic window (cat 6K). We discovered quickly that the AC worked much better if we kept the window shades down during the afternoon. Bed was very firm. After the first night I asked the steward to place a mattress topper on the bed which helped a lot. Slept well after that. Room had the old style safe that requires a card to open/close. Inconvenient - we prefer the number type. Thermostat was digital AND in Celsius. I never could get it to change to Fahrenheit. I just kept hitting the down button until some cold air was produced. Room was very quiet. This room will get you spoiled quickly! I had pre-ordered our cabin to be decorated for our anniversary through the CCL website about 3 weeks prior to sailing. When we arrived, the cabin was bare. We gave them a few hours, but still nothing. Later that evening we went to the Guest Services desk. Long story short, the rep resolved the issue. For our trouble, she also gave us extra free drink coupons. We were pleased. She was very helpful and sweet. Our anniversary cake was delivered on the appropriate day - delicious!

 

Anytime Dining: We always choose this option on cruises now. We used the main dining room 4 out of the 7 nights. We asked for the same table/server each night since we really liked him. (Juan -table 102 in Lincoln DR) I never noticed a very long line for Anytime Dining. Food was very good. I'm not a vegetarian, but I ordered the vegetarian dish on 2 nights - very good! The smoked duck is always very tasty as well - we wish it was on the menu every night!

 

Scarlett's Steakhouse: We ate here for dinner on sea day since it was our 25th wedding anniversary. It was wonderful, but not as good as the experience on the Dream. Still lovely though!

 

Breakfast: We ate in the MDR for breakfast 4 times. Service was great for 3 out of the 4 mornings. One morning was just painfully slow. We almost left when the food finally began to arrive. Other tables were waiting as well. We really enjoyed the Brunch on Sea Day however.

 

Lunch: For lunch we usually hit the pizzeria, the grill, or the deli. We only used the buffet for dessert. The pizza was great, however, you will have to wait for it to be made. They never had any made up waiting for someone to eat. It only takes about 5 minutes, so it's worth it to be fresh. We have just never seen it done this way. Other passengers made the same observation.

 

Entertainment: We really enjoyed both production shows. I especially enjoyed the Far From Over show since it was a tribute to the 80s. I am a child of the 80s! :) Marcus Anthony was VERY good! He sang a lot of Motown songs. Could have listened to him all night! We enjoyed all of the comedians in the Eagles Lounge. Be warned, however, the late night adult comedy shows are VERY much adult oriented. CCL makes this very clear. Stay with the family friendly versions if you are easily offended. We enjoyed the Cruise Director, Felipe - "Woo Hoo"!

 

St. Thomas: We've been here several times, so we slept in, had breakfast in the main DR, and then went to a few of the shops near the terminal. We weren't there long since it was so very hot. We then went back to the ship for lunch and a nap.

 

Barbados: Same as ST - been there, done that.

 

St. Lucia: Used James Tours - really enjoyed James! Unfortunately for him, the other 6 people who had reservations with him were no shows (why do people do this?? So rude.) We were the only 2 on the tour. James seems to be such a genuinely nice guy. The locals are very aggressive when trying to sell their items in St. Lucia. This is the only negative. St. Lucia is gorgeous!

 

St. Kitts: Used My Island Tours (Javin) - Enjoyed this one as well. There were only 4 of us on this tour. Again, the locals are very aggressive when trying to sell something. A beautiful island nonetheless!

 

St. Maarten: Same as ST - slept in and then visited a few shops near the port. Again, too hot to stay out very long. We had planned to make our usual trip out to Maho Beach to watch the planes come in, but it was just too hot.

 

Disembarkation: We had group 7. Our number was called at 9:45 AM to leave. After picking up our luggage and going through Customs, we didn't actually exit the terminal building until 10:45 AM. A lot of waiting in lines.

 

Pros: Dining room food was always good; staff was very friendly; good sized ship -not too large or small; loved our cabin; no tendering :); great pizza; Muster Drill doesn't require you to take your life vests with you; Serenity area at front of ship - absolutely wonderful at night!!

 

Cons: Too many announcements as usual. People should be able to read what's going on by looking at the Fun Times. Announcements were made as late as 10:00 PM. The speaker outside of our cabin was very loud. This is the only con I can think of - we choose to focus on the pros when cruising. :)

 

In summary, we really enjoyed our cruise. We especially enjoyed the 6K cabin! We've also come to appreciate a very empty ship when we stay on board while others go into port. :) It's so very quiet. The only bad part about our cruise was that it ended. :( If I can answer any questions, just ask.

[MrsPhoenix91]

Thanks for your review :) Can you describe the Hotel Miramar a little more? Were you in a 'standard' room there or a suite?

[LHARTWICK]

I think it was a standard room with two double beds. Sorry - the confirmation didn't specify. I just booked the cheapest rate that was available. When we checked in, the clerk said "we've upgraded you to a room with a better view". I think he just moved us up to the same category room on a higher floor. We had a partial ocean view. The room was very large with a microwave, fridge, small table w/chairs and a loveseat sofa. We were very pleased. The bed was very comfortable and the AC worked very well - we had to actually cut it back at one point because it got so cold. We wouldn't hesitate to go back.

[LHARTWICK]

I should have mentioned that the hot water ran out very quickly. I was only in the shower about 3-4 minutes before it started to get cold. Hubby had to take a cool shower! He said it wasn't frigid -just "refreshing". :) Our room also over looked the main street in front of the hotel. Because of that, I was awoken several times during the night by loud cars revving their engines as they went by. You might request a room away from that street. Other than that it was fine.

[Lucy&Ricky]

Thanks for the great review. We will be on the Valor in a couple of weeks. We are also doing the Javin Tour on St. Kitts. How did you like it? Did you stop for lunch on the tour? How much beach time did you get and is the snorkeling good?

[lcumpire]

We will be staying at the same hotel in Feb - did you go into old town and,if so, how did you get there? Thanx

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[MotheringInstinct]

We are on the Valor on October 26. Can't wait!! Thanks for the review.

[Buffettfan 225]

Thanks for your review :) Can you describe the Hotel Miramar a little more? Were you in a 'standard' room there or a suite?

I hope I can help n Miramar (A Marriott Courtyard property). We have stayed there three times. Twice "upgraded" and once standard. The standard room had a king and double sleeper sofa in same room. The upgraded room had sleeper sofa again, but more of a triangle room and refrigerator & microwave.

We always were lucky to be on quiet side. My parents complained of hearing late night music and cars.

-pros: price is moderate

Clean & polite

Helpful bell/ valet staff hail cabs easily

Around corner a block down is pizza,a Subway(nice for quick breakfast in am) and a local pharmacy.

- neutral: local eateries around

Easy taxi from airport, to Old San Juan & cruise terminal

The "French style" attached restaurant per my parents served a wonderful coffee, fresh squeezed OJ and pastries basket and offered to fill it up and pack a to go container for his sleeping family.

Con- never have used but a basic pool

One elevator- best to get a high floor or else every time elevator opens on cruise day it is already full for more bags. ( the time we had a 4th floor) spouse took bags down stairs & I babysat them in Lobby while rest family came down elevator.

Late night not much open for food/plan ahead.

[LHARTWICK]

I forgot about the slow elevator. It would have also been nice to have had a coffee maker in the room. Coffee wasn't even available in the lobby. I'm under the impression that San Juan residents don't drink coffee like we do in the States. Over all, we were very pleased, especially since we only paid $100 total for the room. For San Juan, we though that was very good for a large, clean room with a great AC and restaurants on the next corner. We will definitely use Hotel Miramar again. Hopefully when we return the restaurant renovations will have been completed. It was closed during our stay, so no breakfast for us. Fortunately, I had packed some snacks.

 

lcumpire: We didn't go into Old San Juan. After we checked in around 2:00 on Saturday, we went next door for a late lunch, which was wonderful. We then just went back to our room and curled up in bed for the rest of the day and watched football. When we fly into an embarkation port a day early, we always just like to relax in the room all day to get ready for the cruise.

 

Lucy&Ricky: Javin was a great host. He drove us around the main city area pointing out sites along the way. We went to the lava rocks. My husband and the other 2 people with us went down to climb around on them. I only viewed them from a distance under the shade trees. I'm not fond of climbing like that, but the area was gorgeous! We stopped at an abandoned cotton gin and then continued onto a small rain forest area where we hiked for a little while. There was no waterfall unfortunately since there had been no recent rainfall. After the hike, the picnic lunch was served out of the back of the truck on the tailgate. It consisted of punch and several local pastries. It was delicious and refreshing! We then stopped at a snorkeling sight. Unfortunately, the water was extremely choppy, so there was really no snorkeling to be had. Not Javin's fault - Mother Nature had other plans I guess! He said it's rare for it to be that rough. That only allowed us more time at Cockleshell Beach, which is gorgeous! The shoreline is very smooth - no rough rocks in or out of the water. The water was crystal clear and turquoise blue with a wonderful view of Nevis. We didn't snorkel here, but the water was so clear I'm sure it would be fine. If we ever get to return to St. Kitts, we will probably take a cab to this beach for the day. We also had several stops at overlooks for pictures. A large amount of the tour is spent driving, and most of the roads are VERY rough. Just be prepared. I hope this info is helpful.

Edited October 15, 2014 by LHARTWICK

[Lucy&Ricky]

Great info. Thanks!

[lcumpire]

Thanx for the info -we are getting after lunch times so we can go next door.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums