Valor Review 12/25 - 1/1

[TravelGirl79]

We just got back from our trip on the Valor and it was amazing! I was so nervous about this trip because the last few reviews were not so positive but the experience was great. Sorry this is going to be so long, but there's so much to talk about.

 

We were a group of nine with four cabins on three different decks. My family had two on the Verandah Deck aft, another was on the Upper deck mid ship, and the thrid was on the Main deck forward. The two cabins on the Verandah deck were right over the pool on the Lido deck and the cabin on the Upper deck was under the casino and in both cases there wasn't a lot of noise coming from up above.

 

Embarkation: We had flown into Ft. Lauderdale the night before and used Larry's Limo (highly recommend them. they called the night before to confirm pick up time and were early and we waiting when we got off the ship) to take us from the hotel to the pier. It took about a half hour to get to Miami. We got to the terminal at 11am. The porters took our bags and told us we'd see our bags in three hours (since 5 of us had cruised before we though yeah right but I'll get to that later) and directed us to the terminal to check in. Since it was Christmas we expected the lines to be long but to our surprise there was no line to get through security. We got on the fun pass line at about 11:20 and had to wait ten minutes for the agents to start checking people in. They opened at 11:30 and the line moved fairly quickly. We were headed upstairs to get our Sign and Sail Cards by 11:45. We got our cards along with the usual letter that says that the cabins won't be ready until 1pm. However, much to our surprise the ship was ready so we got our cards and headed up to the ship. There wasn't a line to take the identification pictures and at noon exactly we were standing in the atrium. The whole embarkation process took a record 30 minutes!!! We were in shock and happy to get started with our vacation.

 

Cabins: The cabins are slightly bigger then I've experienced on other ships. You definately don't have that closed in feeling and you're not tripping over others just to move around. We had plenty of storage with three closets and the suitcases fit under the bed. I had a big suitcase and a small suitcase and they both fit under my bed. The beds are so comfortable. There was also a couch in the room and the standard bathroom. But I have to admit the bathroom didn't bother me and as small as the shower was it wasn't a problem. My only complaint about the cabin was the when the waves were rough my cabin (and just my cabin the other people in our group didn't have this problem) squeaked, and it wasn't the usual hangers clanking in the closet it was coming from the wall across from the beds. It was loud and annoying but we knew there was nothing that could be done about it. Other then that the cabins were fine. The balcony had enough space to strech out and stare out at the sea. The cabins were very clean. Our cabin steward was very nice and did a great job.

 

The ship: The ship is huge but easy to navigate. The third and forth decks are not through decks, it's not a big deal and you learn that very quickly. The theme of the ship is heros. The tiles on the lobby floor make american flags while pictures of the heros of our country boarder the wall illuminated in red, white, and blue complete with eagles. The shop selection is smaller than I thought it would be for a ship of this size but has the standard selection of stuff from alcohol to jewerly. The set up of the main pool was a little funky for my taste. The pool is smaller then I've experinced on past ships right behind the pool are the hot tubs and then a small stage. One thing I liked was how there was stadium lounging. There were outside tables on either side of the deck and then rows of lounge chairs and then there were tiered areas with comfy blue chairs and then more tiers with lounge chairs. It was cool. Behind that was another pool and hot tub and the bottom of the slide.

 

Dining Room: We had a table for nine in the Washington Dining Room. Our table was actually a table for eight with an extra seat at the end. But we were right by a window and no one had a problem with set up. Our head waiter was the best! His name was Fransisco and he was extremely accommodating. We asked for pitchers of iced tea the first night and then every night after we were served iced tea without having to ask for it. Another member in my party did not like anything with onions. After being a questioned about something on the menu one night from there after Fransisco made sure to tell the person which items were oniony. My sister had ordered prime rib one night and it was too pink for her so away it went and came back much better and he came to check on her several times that night to make sure it was ok. We were very impressed with the attention to detail. The overall selection was pretty good. The food was also pretty good. There were special holiday menus Christmas and New Years but the selection never suffered. I highly recommend the scallops in the au gratin sauce with the potato ring. Amazing!!!!!!! I also recommend for desert the flourless chocolate cake and the bitter and blanc pudding.

 

Lido Dining: I was a little disappointed here. Every day was themed with a taste of the nations and the selection wasn't so good. The one day they had the American theme we were in Mexico and missed lunch. Oh well. The individual stations were good though. The deli has great sandwiches, the grill has hamburgers and the most addicting fries, the asian station has a good mix of stuff, the pizza was good, and though i didn't try it some of the people in my group loved the fish and chips (the fish and chips is located on the second floor of Rosies away from everything esle).

 

Grand Cayman: Our group decided to split up. Some of them went to the seven mile beach while others went on an island tour. The group that went to the seven mile beach said it was ok but they were disappointed that the facilities weren't better. This was my second time to Grand Cayman and since the last time I was there I only did a glass bottom boat thing I decided to go for the See and Sea tour. Unfortunately the waves were pretty rough so the sea part was canceled. However, we didn't find that out until we got to the pier and we had to find out from the shore excursion guy from the Miracle because the Valor person was no where to be found. The guy from the Miracle was nice enough to track down our shore excursion guy who then told us our options. We could still to the see part of the tour or be fully refunded for the excursion. We opted to do the see tour. First we went to hell. Hell was cute. It's definately a tourist trap but one of those things that you have to see. Then we went to the Rum factory. You can sample every flavor of rum under the sun and of course you can sample rum cake. From there we went to the turtle farm. The turtles are huge and you can actually hold one. The tour took about two hours so it left plenty of time for shopping.

 

Roatan: My group opted to do the monkey and parrot excursion and since I am not an animal person and nothing else really appealed to me I decided to stay on the ship and take advantage of some down time. The island itself is very run down and they tell you not to get off the boat if you're not on an excursion. I do not recommend this excursion though. The name of this excursion should be called when animals attack. There isn't a handler to help people with the animals or to give instructions when the animals nip at you. The animals have free range and run and fly all over the places in their respective areas. The parrots come first and they can hurt. My sister's arm was all scratched up. Another person in my party was bitten by a bird. The bird bit him so hard it drew blood and he had to go see the ship doctor when they got back. The area itself was very pretty but the animals dangerous.

 

Belize: We book the cave tubing through Carnival only because there were issues prior to the cruise and we ran out of time to book independantly. Never again!!!!! There were 41 people to one tour guide who really didn't take care of the group. The bus ride to get there was 90 minutes and then we had to wait another hour just to get the tube. After the hike the guide jumped into his tube and wasn't seen again until we got to the end of the river. it was not the experience we were hoping for. When we got back the entire tour went to complain. We got 25% refunded. I'm sure the cave tubing is everything i read about prior to cruising, but don't go through carnival.

 

Costa Maya: My favorite stop. We did the Jungle Beach break. It was amamzing. The beach was beautiful and there were plenty of lounge chairs to go around. It took about 40 minutes to get there. Once we got there we were greeted by the beach host and off we went. There were kyacks and peddle boats available and at an extra cost you could participate in the dolphin encounter or rent a wave runner. There also was a gift stand, which came in handy if you wanted to maximize beach time instead of running back to shop. The area by the ship was built up pretty nicely and had lots of shopping.

 

Tendering: We did not have a problem. Since we booked excursions through carnival we did not have to go through the general tender process. we were off early. Coming back wasn't too bad. The boats were pretty big and for the most part things went smoothy. They had a hard time tendering in Cayman and actually had to stop for 45 minutes because the waters were so rough. All in all it wasn't bad.

 

Days at Sea: I am one of those people that will get up with the sun to claim my lounge chair for the day. I'm glad I did. By 9am most of the chairs were gone. People were saving like 12 chairs at a time. It was a little silly. The mornings we were at sea were a little chilly before the sun broke through the clouds and it was funny to see the people asleep on the lounge chairs wrapped up in blankets. A little advice. People do not be rude. If you see an area where all the chairs have been taken do not wake people up to move their chairs so you can fit two more chairs in. it happened to me. We were on one of the tierd areas, (which aren't really big to begin with) and the chair next to me belong to someone in my group but they ran inside to get something so I was on the end technically and I had just gotten comfortable and dozed off when I felt a hand on my foot shaking me. When I opened my eyes I expected to see someone I knew but it was this woman waking me up to see if i would move my chair over. Thankfully the crew member that was with her told her she could stick more chairs in but I was not happy with her. Anyway, the band by the pool was pretty good and very entertaining. There were plenty of activities going on all over the ship. It was impossible to be bored. The hairy chest contest was amusing and it's too bad the pool wasn't big enough to do the belly flop contest. From the Art Auction to Bingo there was stuff going on all over the place. In fact at times it seemed like there was too much to do and the day went way too fast.

 

Entertainment: The traditional Welcome Aboard show was tailored for Christmas and they never inroduced the staff so that was a little disappointing but other than that the entertainment was good. The comedians were very funny and the hypnotist was hysterical. The eighties show, far from over, had great music and the dancing was pretty good. The piano bar is also a fun place to hang out. It's anything but an older generation sitting around singing showtunes. There's a list of 50 songs to choose from and the pianist tends to make up his own lyrics. It's a blast.

 

Staff: The staff was very friendly. I tihnk we got our luggage in record time. We all had our luggage by 2pm and were unpacked by the mandatory muster drill. The cruise director Rebecca is annoying and hardly appeared. She was not at the sail away party, the mexican deck party, or the new years deck party. Nor was that Brian guy people were talking about in other threads. I saw him twice and he wasn't that amusing either. I couldn't tell you the name of the one social host that was the best and she was everywhere because the staff was never intorduced. Her name was either Michelle or Tina. She was the most personalbe and friendly of all the social host crew.

 

Disembarkation: The saddest day of the week. We had a 1pm flight from Ft. Lauderdale. Anyone who had a flight before noon in Miami or 1pm from Ft. Lauderdale had to be in the Eagles Lounge by 8:30am. We hung out there for 20 minutes. It wasn't a big deal because you know that just because you have to be there by 8:30 didn't mean that at exactly that time you would be taken off the boat, some people didn't get that. Anyway at about 8:50am Tina or Michelle (the fun social hostess) popped up on stage and said a nie good bye and then led us off the boat a different way. It was just a different path to the lobby, but the crowds were not bad at all and it only took us an hour to go through the whole process. By 9:30am we were in the shuttle going to the airport.

 

All in all it was a great week. There were 3900 people on board but you would never know it. There wasn't that over crowded feeling and the lines for food on the lido deck were the expected long lines but they moved pretty quickly. Yes we encountered some problems with our excursions but we weren't going to let it ruin our vacation. We had a great time and the time went way too quickly.

[salty dingo]

Thank you for the nice long review. I enjoyed reading it. Looking forward to the experience myself in just under nine weeks!

[TravelGirl79]

One thing I forgot to mention.....New Years Eve was amazing! Big party up on the Lido Deck with two screens one counting down and the other tuned in to NBC to watch the ball drop. At midnight the ship's whistle blew and everyone went nuts! It was awesome!!!! I think I got everything and I'll be happy to answer any questions. :)

[missliad]

Thank you for the review! I too have been reading a lot of reviews on Valor about the lack of activities and I'm glad to read a positive about activities!

[Scoutcat]

Just a quick comment regarding Rosie's--the buffet restaurant on the Lido deck of the Valor. It took us a couple of days to realize it (we were on the Dec 18-25 sailing....so maybe it was preholiday haze, LOL)....but there are two distinct sections to Rosie's. The forward section was the one that served the Taste of the Nations buffets, but the aft section served a variety of other goodies. We had discovered the aft version first, since the elevator bank closest to our cabins let us off right by that entrance. However, when I went there a couple of days later intent on having the Indian Taste of the Nations buffet, what I found was definitely not Indian....so I went exploring and found that, indeed, the forward section was serving the goodies I was seeking.

 

 

Sure wish I was still cruising!

 

Carol

Dayton, OH

[GoinCruisin]

Great review!!! Really made me miss the Valor!!!! Tina was great!! As was Michelle (she is supposed to be in our area next month and we may see her again!!) We thought both of them were fabulous, and really got everyone going! We didn't have Rebecca as the CD, thank goodness...haven't heard much about her that was anything I'd want to encounter :D So glad you had a great time!!!

[Caribbean Dad1]

Thanks for your review. It is so refreshing to see something positive being said about Valor. I can’t wait to check her out for myself. (Just to clarify: I meant the ship... not Rebecca. :p :D )

[Bobby400]

I was on your cruise and I loved the week. This was my sixth cruise and I always felt that the cruise director had zero impact on my enjoyment. As a matter of fact it amused me when I read posts about them. Well Rebecca changed all that. No enthusiasm, no personality, no visibility and you'll be shocked-no good. She could have enhanced the cruise but either could not or would not. It's a shame when you hed a good time in spite of the cruise director.

[snowy owl]

Hey I have a few questions:

Who was the Captain and was there flourless chocolate cake?