Valor Review 11/12/2006

[Agocruisin]

Valor review Western Itinerary November 12, 2006

 

Background: we are 2 couples traveling with a toddler each; this is our 7th cruise, 6th with carnival. Overall this rates as the best cruise for us, fantastic itinerary, However our favrite ship remains the Carnival Legend.

 

Getting there: we flew JetBlue from Burlington VT to Fort Lauderdale Saturday night, stayed at the Days Inn FLL airport. We arranged our own transport to the Port of Miami and this saved us a lot of money and time; most shuttle services were charging over $20 pp; for all 6 of us (4 adults, 1 3-year-old and 1 18-month-old) the cost was $65. Driver picked us up around 11h15 at the hotel and we got to the pier around noon.

 

Embarkation: smoothest we ever experienced; we lined up at noon and we were on board, in the Lido restaurant (Rosie's) by 1pm. Not sure if the funpass speeds things along, but this was by far the fastest we ever got on board. We got to our stateroms by 2pm where our bags already were waiting for us, another record, so we were unpacked by 2h30.

 

Stateroom: We had an inside cabin on the Riviera (lowest deck); our friends had a window across the hall. The room was small but well organized, lots of closet space, and we surprisingly did not bump into each other too much. Our 3-year-old ended up sleeping with us the whole week because she did not want to climb into the upstairs bunk bed that lowered from the ceiling. The window room was (seemed?) much larger, and we probably will get a window next time (we usually splurge on a balcony but took a cheap deal this time around); however you get great sleep when you can't see outside!

 

Ship: the decor was not too subtle, standard Carnival fare. Rosie's is pretty eclectic (green retro colors) but it grew on us all. A lot of people complain about the layout, however as long as you remember to do your crossings on the 5th floor, you're ok. The smell of smoke was much worse than on other ships, and kept us away from the casino.

 

Camp carnival: Our timid 3-year-old would not go without us, but they did let us in to play with her at quiet times, it is also open to under-two's on sea days from noon to two. The playroom was beautiful and well laid out.

 

Food: our waiter team was quiet but extremely efficient; the kids' food always showed up pronto, and the menu had changed since our last cruise (2004) which was a nice surprise. You can get alternate selections every night (ribs, chicken, fish) if the entrees don't please you. You can get the unbelievable melting chocolate cake every night; no problem getting more than one selection on any course. We have found that most of the staff makes less of an effort since the tips are on the sail and sign account, but that is ok as long as the service is good. We got our capuccinos no charge every night. Pizza is as good as ever; deli sandwiches always great, almost no waiting (at Rosie's). I recommend the roasted pepper, cheese and tomato sandwich. Asian counter is ok (also Rosie's). We did not eat at the supper club. Mexican buffet is at 11h30pm Thursday night; Grand Gala buffet Friday night. Formal nights are Mon-Fri.

 

Shows: we went to a few of the shows, a couple of Vegas reviews, a magic show (by the cruise director) and a hypnosis show (which was funny but I am a bit suspicious...). They were ok but nothing to write home about. The cruise director is ok, a bit on the dorky side, but adequate. All the talks (travel, shopping, debarkation) are on tv constantly so don't cut into your day to attend the talks if you are enjoying something else...

 

Day 1: at sea. We swam at both pools, the pool in the back is much quieter (noise) and the pools are great places to hang out before noon; the middle pool had the band playing or loud music; way too loud to carry on a conversation. Another quiet spot is the very front of the ship decks 6-7, right above the crew deck. Good spots to run around with 3-year-old or take a quiet drink.

 

Day 2: Grand Cayman; if there is anything we have learned, it is that Carnival overprices all excursions by a least 50%; since we are with toddlers anyway, we did not do a tour thing. Took a nice van to the beach (Sea Grape, 3rd stop); cost was $5 one way, 10$ return per person, vans run all day no problem. 7-mile beach is beautiful, water was great, no problem getting back either. We had wanted to go to Rum Point, but the ride was 45 minutes long and 75$ to go there one way.

 

Day 3: Roatan; here, the cruiseline really tries to scare you out of going on your own. not many cruise ships here, so the cabs are eager. Since we are traveling with kids, we do not have time to haggle better prices, so I am sure in any port with enough time we could have saved a few bucks here & there. We went to West end beach for $10 pp return, the cab driver actually waited for us a few hours; this island is beautiful; the beach was ok, nice shallow water for the kids. The roads are lined with lush trees, and you can see it is starting to develop. The driver showed us a couple of resorts with cabanas on stilts in the water, it looked like paradise.

Day 4: Belize. No beach to speak of here that you can get to. The boys watched the kids while the girls went cave tubing with the folks at cave-tubing.com. Although we left late, we had time to do the beautiful hike in the rainforest and go down the two caves. Everything was as advertised and the value was great (45$ pp vs $99 with Carnival). we got back a little on the late side but made it in enough time to get back on the ship...obviously.

 

Day 5: Costa Maya. Loved it. Took a bus to Mahahual ($3 pp to go, $2 pp to come back); beautiful beach town, little restaurants, music, a lot of people selling stuff, massages, hair braids, but a simple no thank-you and they go away. We went to a litle bar called Maya Bar where Miguel took great care of us, a little quieter than the other places, music, a table and some shade right by the shallow water that is basically a wading pool. $10 buys you 6 coronas, had a nice plate of nachos as well. Safe, a lot of poilce presence and tons of brand-new cabs and buses.

 

Last day at Sea: A lot of wind today, so we spent some time at the pool and spent some money at the shops.

 

Debarkation: we had an early flight (12h50) out of FLL and made it in plenty of time; the self-debarkation started before 8am and we were out and cleared by 10h00. We negotiated a cab ride back to FLL for $60 (some taxis wanted over 75$).

 

A great time was had by all, and we are already planning the next cruise!

[Donna n Francis]

'Welcome Home and Thanks So Much' for sharing your wonderful review....a group of 21 of us leave in 159 more days:D....we are really looking forward to our cruise on the Carnival Valor.

[excalwop]

Thanks for the write up. Will be leaving tomarrow for Miami and the 26 Nov. sailing.

Will do a review on our return

Paul