Live from the Valor

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

Your review so far is great! I love the little details. A question, is Wendy with you for the evening activites like the comedy show or when she heads back to the cabin does she stay in? Have you two checked out the Disco at all? How does this itinerary compare to the Western Caribbean?

Your scuba experience sounds great! I got certified about 6 years ago and I never really go because of the money. Now that I am done with college though and actually have a job- and hearing you talk about it- I really want to go again!!!!

 

JerseyGirl: My friends and I were on The Valor last year. We spent just about every night at the disco (One Step Dance Club) It was an awesome time. We will be cruising on this ship again in May.

[Catrin]

Fred, by the time you read this, you will be home.....

 

Hope your journey home was a safe and fun journey.

THank you for your daily reports! They were very enjoyable and informative!

 

Sounds like you had a wonderful time!

Catrin

[bgmtrans]

Thanks Fred for all the wonderful updates .. It has been great hearing about your experiences ..cannot wait for our Valor sail in Dec!!

 

Thanks again

[MIsharona]

Do You Know How Much A Bucket Of Beer Costs On The Valor

[wanderingjew]

Did you have priority tender and what other perks ?

 

I'm both CVC and Platinum.

[abc312_98]

Thanks Fred for all of the posts I'll be on the Valor 3/26/06 I have read them all. I am looking foward to a porterhouse.

[cruisenk]

Fred,

 

Thanks for sharing your vacation with us. I think it has helped with my PCD! I can't wait to read the rest.

[kelz66]

Enjoy your day at sea!!!!!:D

[adesmone]

Fred,

 

Thanks for all the updates from your cruise. We're going on April 30 on the same itenerary. My husband also has a 20D and was wondering if they asked you to remove the lens to have the camera swabbed inside, which allows moisture inside the camera, when going through airport security or customs. We've had problems like this before with previous cameras, and he's trying to decide if he will take his. Thanks for the response, and great show pictures!

[Hootsie]

thanks Hootsie! What did the excursion include? Just transportation to and from the beach? Did you go diving in Belize and if so was it a good place to dive?

 

I think it included punch and/or water plus your lawn chairs. They had food out but I think that was for purchase. It was honestly our favorite tour of all four ports. For Belize everything was sold out right away so we just took a cab tour of the area and stopped at the National Handicrafts Center. Really cool handmade things like baskets, tropical wood carvings, etc... and the artists support their families off their sales. I've heard the diving is awesome in Belize tho.

[Mack704]

Thanks again, Fred. DW and I will be on the Valor tomorrow. YEA!

To abc312_98: Come meet with the roll call on the Valor tomorrow after the drill on the Lido deck by the Aroganot Bar.

 

Harvey

[abc312_98]

I'll try and find you. I am in my hotel by the Columbus right now because We are suposed to be at the airport by 4:45 am.

 

I'll see every one on the cruise

 

Adam

[Merc]

Hi adesmone, My husband and I are also on the Valor 4/30. I have loved the posts Fred has been giving us. Really looking forward to this cruise, and Fred made it sound even better. Deb

[kelz66]

Have a safe trip home Fred!:cool:

[Myke729]

Thanks Fred for all of the GREAT information you have shared! We are honeymooning on the Valor 4/30 and have a wrap around balcony room on deck 7! Did you get any pictures of these cabins?

 

Thanks!

[brwneyez424]

Fred your review everyday was wonderful. I came home every day to read your what you did and how it went. I'll be on the valor on May 7th and cant wait... did you get the menu from Scarlett's to post to us? At Scarlett's can you get more then one appitizer? I know only one entree. I hope you and Wendy had a safe trip home and waiting on the last of your review's for us :) again Thank you so much :)

[jenischmeni]

I, too, am excited for Fred to get home and post his final thoughts. I feel like a great novel and the last chapter is missing!

 

Thanks Fred, for entertaining us!

[Wennfred]

Hello Everyone, We made it back to San Diego around 11pm, it was a long day, I will post the last of my Review later. Thanks for all the cool Comments, in the next few days or weeks I will post various topics with pictures on here, will try to make the subjects easy enough to be searched. Time flys when youre having a great time.

 

 

Brwneyez424:

Yes, Someone finally gave me a nice copy of Scarletts Menus, I will post that here soon.

 

 

Adesmone:

Never had a problem with my Canon 20D fogging up or having to remove the lens at the Airport, It went with my Carry-on and went pass every xray machine, no problems found. You really should take your Canon 20D with you to take the best pictures possible. If you are leaving soon let me know so I can email what setting I used for the Shows while in the dark.

 

 

Wanderingjew:

I had priority Tendering because of our excursions, but the Valor did very good getting people that didnt have excursions off the ship. Some were off before me, just go down and get a Tender Sticker, you will be off the ship in no time. Extra Perks I used with CVC was booking my Scarletts with them on day one, and the 2 VIP parties. Self Assist will be called before any tag color or VIP, if you can take off your own bags take advantage of it.

 

 

MIsharona:

Sorry I saw many buckets of beers and forgot to ask how much they were.

 

 

CrusingKathy0522:

That beach bar/resturant was called Las Brisas, I mis-spelled it up above, I also have a picture of the sign, I will post that soon.

 

 

nikita:

I only saw just 2 golf carts in Costa Maya the whole time I was there, and they were next to the Terminal, not sure where to rent them from and how much but yes, they are safe to ride around.

 

 

Just want to let everyone know that even thou I got 100 minutes, as you can see I didnt post much and when I did it was a quick Log-on Copy/Paste my review and Log-off quickly. They take about 5 extra minutes each time I noticed. Also posting pictures take longer on Cruise Critic, so if you buy the plan, make sure you do it the first day to get the extra 20 mintues free.

[molly361]

I also just got off the Valor 3/19/06 cruise and had a fabulous time- looked on the lido deck after muster drill on embarkation day but could not figure out where the cruisecritic party folks were- sorry we missed you guys-

[RICKO]

Thanks for all the great info. Does the Valor have VCR/ DVD Players?

[Wennfred]

Formal night, The night we left Costa Maya. After a wonderful day there, We came onboard and took a nap. We got up and got ready for our Formal Pictures and Dinner, We actually saw a guy that came to dinner in a t-shirt and it looked like PJ Pants. I only wish I could of taken a picture, his wife also wore something like you would wear on the beach. I couldnt believe it, My only guess was he was making a statement or lost his luggage. They ate in the Upper level of the dining room.

 

On this night I was totally out of it, forget about the show and the Midnight Buffet, I just needed to relax and get some sleep. The Carnival Confort Bedding system makes you just lazy. I feels so good. I have their flyer with their bedding prices.

 

Day 7 Sea Day

 

We slept in an got up around 9:30am, went up to get some breakfast then we got 2 Bus Transfers to Miami Airport from the Pursers Desk, each ticket cost 12.00, alot less then taking a cab. I went up to the Photo area and picked up a copy of the Travelog, its a DVD of what went on throughtout the whole cruise, I dont think we are in it, I just want to see what all of the excursions looked like for next time. This Travelog DVD also came with a free Ships Bridge & Engine Room DVD. At 11am we went to the Disembarkation Debrief, Cruise Director Brett Alan talked about whats going to happen tommorrow and also about Self Assist etc. We filled out both comment cards and also a survey about Belize since they will be building a massive pier there, they wanted to know what we think about Belize and if we would return.

 

Now its Noon and its time for the famous Chocolate buffet, Very nice, I was watching everyone floating around on cloud nine as they were chumping on different types of Chocolate deserts, Ice Creams, Shakes, Fudge, and toppings, you name it they had it, I took picture of it all. By then I was time to head back to the cabin and

take a nap before dinner. Dinner went very well, I took pictures of Elena and Babalito our waiters and gave our Maitre'd a tip, if was one of the first times I have ever tipped a Maitre'D, he was very nice and came to visit us every night, and would call peoples cabins to make sure they were ok when they didnt show up to dinner. We said farewell to everyone, took last minute pictures and said good by to our cool table mates.

 

Headed up to our cabin to pack so we can go to the Legends show which is done by the passengers, and hope we win the free cruise raffle. The show started at 10:45 because the bingo game took that long, Bingo started at 10pm and it was a cover all. The show was ok, funny at times, The singers dressed up like Britney Spears and a few others.

We didnt win the Free Cruise nor any Bingo games. Its 11:30pm and time for bed.

 

Disembarkation Day

 

The Valor arrived and docked around 6am, We were up around 5:45am and started to get ready, We didnt eat breakfast and we had all of our luggage with us. We were waiting right outside the Disco and they called Self Assist can debark now, Deck 3 (Lobby) Starboard side

 

We were able to leave the ship at 6:45am and waited on the bus for over 45 mintues as other passengers boarded, we arrived at Miami Airport at 8pm, American Airlines use computer check-in, we tried to get an eariler flight and selected a 8:51am flight but it showed up as Standby, then we selected a 9:45am flight it also showed standby so we selected it and it didnt give us our checked baggage tickets. The person helping us told us to check in again but use Bags only, we did and it told us we were unable to selected that feature, it was late to receive bags for this earily flight, now the self checkin computer was locked up and wouldnt give us any other options. Once again the American Airlines ticket person was able to do in manually but told us all standby are sold out. I told her to just give us our regular tickets and we were off to Gate A. We stopped at Burger King to pick up some breakfast. Gate A is a long ways away. Once at Gate A we went through Security and also the xray machines, We had to show our boarding passes 5 times going into the gate and again past the xray machines. Finally the last person told us we wouldnt have to show them again. We arrived at Gate A-12 at 9:30am. We dont board our flight till 3:45pm, almost 6 hours from now. No Wifi here at this Airport so Im finishing up this Review and also picked up 2 magazines to read. We wont arrive to San Diego till 10pm tonight, So I will sign off now.

 

Within the next few days I will be posting various Threads on various Topics separately like onboard laundry, Camp Carnival and ports with lots of Pictures etc.

 

This Concludes my Review Live from the Valor 19 - 26 March 2006

 

Fred

[justme_123]

LOL fred I wanted to pick up that travel log, but found it was too expensive. I only wanted to pick it up because i had my 5 seconds of fame at the end at the deck party.. I am the nut jumping up and down in a baige shirt! lol

[Adam185]

Fred, Thanks so much for the entertaining posts over the past week. You have really kept up the excitement level for my group. We cannot wait to leave (just over 10 weeks from now). If you have the ability, I'd love to see the most recent Capers. If you can post them, great. If not, I've got a toll free fax number. Thanks so much again.

[excalwop]

Thanks Fred,

 

been taking notes and have a long list as of now waiting for your follow up.

Keep up the great reports.

An ex cal. from Santa Cruz, now in Maryland:eek: !!

Paul

[Crusintogether]

Hi Fred,

I have been following your awesome review. You are very kind to take so much time from your vacation to do this. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your adventure. I promised DH I would ask, we are about to enjoy the Valor ourselves in just a couple of weeks. He wants to know if, on the chocolate buffet, whether or not there was a chocolate fountain, for dipping fruit, etc? He is hoping beyond belief that they do have one....... the way he acts it seems to be on his life 'to do' list. So, if you have a chance and remember, I look forward to hearing from you and seeing all those great pictures. Glad you had such a wonderful vacation. Thank you again for sharing with all of us. -Amanda