Live from Valiant Lady 8/21 Fire and Sunset

[jon81uk]

53 minutes ago, KKB said:

Have a good deal for another one on Radiant Lady. 

Is it just going to be the same thing again?

Resilient Lady has 3-4 different shows compared to Scarlet/Valiant.

 

VV Insider has a good list of what shows are on each ship.

https://vvinsider.com/on-board/events/

[Steelers0854]

5 hours ago, KKB said:

My only question...it seems like the activity offerings don't change. Am I wrong?

And admittedly, their Caribbean itineraries leave something to be desired.

Have a good deal for another one on Radiant Lady. 

Is it just going to be the same thing again?

I feel like it’s comparable to most other lines. Royal for example has their 1 big stage show that is consistent on a ship. Here is basically the same thing but as Travel and See said even the same show has variations. Miss Behave which we saw last night structurally was the same but both the host and assistant were different so it added variety for us. I would also agree with others that Virgins shows are a cut above. Duel Reality is amazing. I think it contends with Royals aqua and ice skating shows. It was a downside for us. We have only been on the Valiant lady. We have 3 more booked on the Valiant lady. We are trying to secure our DBE status as quickly as possible and the Valiant is the only one doing short itineraries frequently. But the other ships have different shows. 

 

5 hours ago, Eric&Pam said:

 

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who's left Princess for Virgin. We sailed with Virgin 6 times since October of '22, and have 5 more on the books so far. I don't think I could ever eat at the Crown Grill or Sabatini's again after experiencing the Virgin's dining options.

I can’t eat anywhere on any other ship. MDR or specialty nothing we have sailed on has come even close to being as good as Virgin. I have some small gripes on the galley (I do wish there was more variety each day, especially with the desserts) but I do appreciate what they do have. Also for DW with her allergies this line is amazing. All the lines have treated her well but here there are numerous things she can eat with little to no modifications. We have never had to order in advance here and we always have to order a day in advance on every other line. Plus they have real sorbet on board here. Princess is the only one we have found to have sorbet consistently but have also found recently that they will call something sorbet when it has dairy so we have had to be careful. 
 

massive Kuddos to Virgin for having great food option all over the ship without some of the most common allergens. I can’t say thank you enough to them. 

[Steelers0854]

We got up and headed to the thermal spa for a little R&R before the day started. It was busier than I expected right around 8am. We were there about 45 minutes then headed up to the Galley for DW to grab some breakfast.

 

We got ready and were off the ship by 10:30. We headed to a local coffee shop right next to the port. Highly recommend  Cuban Coffee Queen, the coffee there is delicious and if you e never had a true Cuban coffee you should definitely try it although they make it with 2 sugars, I would ask for 1. DW got the espresso and I got a Cold Brew.

 

 

After our caffeine fix we headed to the Southern most point to check our tourist box. I was gonna wait In the 30+ person line so this was as good as it got.

 

 

I had a number of places I wanted to try here. We hit the Southernmost Point Bar and the Seaside Cafe at the Mansion.

 

The southernmost point bar had a frozen mojito I had heard about and I love mojitos. We got there right when they opened around 11 and snagged a seat in the shade. They have these huge fans there which helped with the heat. The drink. 10/10. Cool, refreshing, made to order and perfectly balanced. Highly recommend.

 

 

 

The Seaside Cafe didn’t open til 11:30 which worked out fine as we just finished at the SBP and walked right across the street. This place has an incredible view. The Lobster pizza was on my list from here. Oh man, was this thing good. Good amount of lobster and perfectly cooked crust. Lights out and totally worth the $32 IMO.

 

 

 

 

DW had started to get peckish so we headed to the Moondog Cafe. We scouted this place in advance as they had a gluten free vegan key lime tart. It was pretty busy when we got there so we decided to get them to go. I got a slice of regular key lime pie. We weren’t sure if they would let us on board with them so we headed back to the coffee shop as they had nice indoor seating and we wanted to buy some whole bean coffee to take home as well. DW said hers was very good but a little on the sweet side. She did say she would get it again. My key lime pie was excellent, perfectly balanced between tart and sweet. Definitely a win in my book.

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the ship and DW grabbed a salad since she can eat their balsamic dressing. We headed to the thermal spa for a bit and it was surprisingly busy. We didn’t stay long as it was crowded and headed to shower and change.  The weather quickly went downhill and as all aboard time approach it started to pour rain and was windy as all get out. 
 

[Steelers0854]

Todays activity list

Day 3.pdf

[Essiesmom]

Looks like a nice morning at Bimini

 

[Steelers0854]

Dinner tonight is at Pino Agave. It’s our favorite restaurant on board. We got a passion fruit and coconut aguafresca which are delicious. To start DW got 2 orders of guacamole and I got guacamole and the esquites.

 

 

For the next course I got the shrimp and DW was able to get the enchiladas. The shrimp were just ok for me this time but DW said her enchiladas were excellent. She said she may even get 2 orders next time as her entree.

 

 

 

For the mains DW went with the chili relleno and I got the cochinita pibil. DW said hers was very good and the pepper was perfectly cooked. Mine was also good but I do think the duck is the best thing on the menu.

 

 

 

For dessert DW grabbed her all time favorite dish on board, the chocolate tamale. She said it was as good as always. I got the chocolate tacos which I thought were fantastic. That’s dark cherry sauce they serve with it balances the dish really well.

 

 

 

After dinner we relaxed and listened to some of the live music before calling it a night.

[Steelers0854]

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

Looks like a nice morning at Bimini

 

that picture looks great. Too bad things what it looks like the other way!  Looks like it may rain a good chunk of the day. 

 

[Travel-and-See]

Great taste in desserts - the Green Tea Cheesecake from Razzle Dazzle and the Chocolate Tacos are my favorites!  I'll have to try the enchilada next time.

[Steelers0854]

activities guide for today. 
 

Day 4.pdf

[Steelers0854]

We are at Bimini today. We arrived at 8am and you could get off but you can’t go to the beach club til 10am.

 

We stuck to our usual routine. Coffee. Thermal spa. The spa was fairly busy this morning but we were still able to use everything we wanted.

 

We got off the ship at about 10:30. The wait for the tram ebbed and flowed. When we left our Cabin there was no line. By the time we got down there a fairly long line. But it took maybe 7 minutes before we got on a tram and headed to the club. We didn’t have any issue getting a chair and umbrella at the beach. The pool was a definite no go. Those chairs were long gone.

 

 

It’s a beautiful beach with great amenities. The chairs are comfortable and the sand super soft. It’s gets a little coarse as you enter the ocean but then quickly becomes soft again. The water was a perfect 86 degrees. We had intermittent clouds throughout the day and a nice breeze. For me it was perfect, I’m not a sunner.

 

We grabbed lunch at 11:30 when they opened. I like the concept. Go up and order anything you want. It’s all pre-plated and and are on your way. The only downside is the food is closer to Luke warm than hot. A small trade off for the other benefits IMO.

 

 

DW had no issues finding things she could eat with little to no modifications. Jerk chicken, rice (only because she doesn’t like beans), cassava (no aioli), pumpkin curry, corn (plain) and the tropical fruit salad. The chicken and corn were the best. Cassava was good but not as good as it could be because it was not fresh. Overall she enjoyed her meal.

 

 

I got the lechon (11/10 amazing), chicken (7/10 good flavor), cassava (6/10 would be better fresh) corn (100/10 best thing I’ve eaten in a while), ceviche (10/10 delicious!) and rum cake (9/10 really good).

 

 

I also wanted to try and mango salad and watermelon salad. Mango salad was just ok. A little watery and not a lot of flavor. The watermelon salad was good though. Different and had some savory tones to it.

 

 

After lunch we returned to our chairs and enjoyed the afternoon on the beautiful beach.

 

We left after a couple of hours. In our way out I found….. well everyone lol.

 

 

The ship was deserted as expected. The pool deck had little options in terms of loungers in the shade so we went to the thermal spa pool and relaxed there.

 

I was surprised that by 2:45 our cabin hadn’t been serviced yet.  We hit the option on the app to have it serviced right away so hopefully the come before dinner.

 

DW was still full from lunch but I was a little hungry. I had never eaten anything at the dock house from the open fire grill. I vastly underestimated the portion size. When I ordered I figured you would get exactly half of what was actually brought out. Mistakes were made. But i powered through at the expense of dinner because I didn’t want to be wasteful and the mistake was mine. The shrimp was solid. The octopus was phenomenal. Cooked perfectly and that sauce was super tasty. The hanger steak was also delicious in those little pita taco shells. This is a fantastic meal/snack option.  Only after I ate did I realize at 3:30 there is a back side to the menu with a whole host of Greek options to include some sweet like baklava. Oh well something for the next cruise!

 

[Steelers0854]

After my food showed up DW got a little hungry and ordered the fennel salad and hanger steak. She said the steak was well cooked and tender and had good flavor despite being mostly plain. The salad she said was nice and refreshing and slightly sweet, exactly what she wanted.

 

 

 

We headed up to the room about 5 to pack and get ready for dinner. Our room was thankfully done.

 

Dinner tonight was at the Wake. Their bread gives extra Virgin a run for their money but I think EV still wins.

 

 

Given our snack earlier we weren’t super hungry so DW went with the filet and the polenta. Even though she isn’t a polenta fan she said this dish is delicious. Her steak was perfectly cooked and she got the chimichurri sauce to go with it.

 

 

 

I went with the salmon, creamed spinach and twice baked potatoes. The salmon was excellent. It may have been a tad overcooked but was perfectly season and fall apart tender. The beets with it were also delicious. As always the spinach and potatoes were incredible.

 

 

 

We didn’t get anything for dessert. The table next to us ordered the Tomahawk steak. I tried to stick around to see it but almost an hour after ordering it they were still waiting and we didn’t want to hold up the table. So just know if you order the Tomahawk it’s gonna be a wait.

 

After dinner he headed outside to the couches to relax and enjoy sailaway.

[Steelers0854]

Remember folks. Cool kids follow the rules. We were delayed an hour as someone on board apparently got arrested and carted off the ship. The photo isn’t of the person, just the cops at the dock dealing with the situation. 
 

[Essiesmom]

I wondered why you were still docked when you should have sailed off into the sunset…. EM

[Sherry84]

1 hour ago, Steelers0854 said:

Remember folks. Cool kids follow the rules. We were delayed an hour as someone on board apparently got arrested and carted off the ship. The photo isn’t of the person, just the cops at the dock dealing with the situation. 
 

Ah, I was wondering why it was so late and we weren’t moving yet, that explains it. 

[Steelers0854]

We got up this morning, grabbed coffee and headed to breakfast at Razzle Dazzle.

 

DW got potatoes, bacon and the watermelon. It’s one of her favorite breakfasts on board.

 

 

I got the apple croissant, and the fried chicken sandwich. I get a fried egg and bacon on the side and make it one big breakfast sandwich.  It’s amazing.

 

 

 

We headed back to the room and relaxed for a bit before we got our stuff together. We left the room at 8:40 and were at the curb at 8:47. It couldn’t be easier. It’s really nice they have facial recognition to clear customs which makes it a breeze.

 

We had a fabulous time. And while I of course wish it were longer, my fears about it feeling TOO short were unfounded. I wouldn’t want to do a 3 night, but we both felt that this was a nice quick vacation and we didn’t feel cheated at all.

 

Thank you all for following along. Have a great rest of your weekend!

[Sherry84]

Thank you for sharing, safe travels home! 

[Steelers0854]

26 minutes ago, Sherry84 said:

Thank you for sharing, safe travels home! 

You as well!

[macusr]

Thanks for doing this live from thread - I found it very helpful, especially the food reviews!  We will be sailing on Valiant in 33 days.

[ryarger]

Thanks for the thread, this was great!

 

Question - I’ve heard they don’t do the sunset bonfire on Bimini anymore. Since this sailing is literally named “Fire & Sunset” I was wondering if they still did for this one. Did they?

[Steelers0854]

14 hours ago, ryarger said:

Thanks for the thread, this was great!

 

Question - I’ve heard they don’t do the sunset bonfire on Bimini anymore. Since this sailing is literally named “Fire & Sunset” I was wondering if they still did for this one. Did they?

I wish I could tell you but we were back on board well before sunset. 

[IsItTime]

Thanks for the review!  We went on the same itinerary on the Scarlett Lady in March.  1st VV and loved it.  (Booked 2 more on board.  Going in January on the Resilient Lady out of Puerto Rico and then this Key West itinerary again on the Valiant Lady (I think) in April.)   Husband loved the length but I wished it was longer.    

[SongsInMyHead]

53 minutes ago, IsItTime said:

Going in January on the Resilient Lady out of Puerto Rico

Just wondering if you are on the January 11th sailing? If so did you see a roll call post for it?