Valor Review - 9/30 - 10/7

[IrishGirl1230]

Hi all. Sorry it took so long to write a review of our trip on the Valor 9/30-10/7, Western Caribbean. We were a party of three women, 26,31 and 59.

 

Flights were arranged by Carnival. We had a 6am flight leaving from Newark to Miami. No problems and we left on time. We arrived in Miami and had our luggage shortly after 9am. Carnival reps were waiting by the luggage claims and told us where to meet. We were told that the busses would be there between 11 and 11:30 but actually showed up about half an hour early. Our whole crowd was able to get onto the Greyhound bus. It was a short ride over to the pier. Once at the pier, the porters handled our luggage from there.

 

Since it was only after 11am, the lines at the pier were not too long. It is set up weird, where you are at one counter, up one floor, back down.. very long walk.

 

We were on the lido deck having lunch by noon.

 

Our room was on the lido deck, number 9274. Overall, it was a good location. It was convenient being down the hall from the buffets. However, we were right across from the elevator, where we heard the dings from the elevator. It was a short hall because it doesn't go all the way through, so there wasn't much foot traffic. The room was nice, on the small side. We had an unobstructed balcony.

 

We had requested later dining but were assigned 5:45. We went to see the maiter d to request to have it be changed. However, almost all other passengers must have requested late too, because we were denied. All the maiter d did was give us our own table.

 

Room steward was ok. Nothing great. The samples were scarce and never replaced. We had to ask for toilet paper.

 

Food was ok. I was slightly disappointed. However, the appetizers were great. I highly recommend the crab cakes, the mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers. I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner where I had roasted chicken. It was delicious. I am not a big dessert person but I did try the warm chocolate melting cake. It can be best described as a small piece of cake, floating in a warm chocolate sauce. A little too chocolaty for me. The buffet had food from different countries each day. One day for lunch, they had a taco station set up. The pizza was really good. If you like pickles and order a sandwhich, they have them behind the counter. On other ships, they had them at the end of the counter. On another day, they had the chocolate buffet set up... all sorts of gourmet type chocolate cakes, pies, etc. Room service was great. I had a BLT. We used room service for breakfast by putting out the card the nite before our early excursions, which arrived right on time. I really enjoyed the breakfast from the buffet.. scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, potatoes, toast, fruit, cereal and an egg station for fried eggs and omelets.

 

The ship was nice. It was set up a bit weird, because a lot of the floors do not go through. We were in Washington dining room. Our room was forward and this dining room was at the back, so it was a hike to get there. The public areas were nice. Didn't do too good on the slots. Won maybe $40.

 

Our wait staff were awesome. Ariel and Elmer. They were so attentive and friendly. They remembered our names and never had to ask for anything!

 

We went to two great shows. The first one was a singing and dancing show of different types. The second was an 80's tribute. It was amazing.

 

Our first port was Grand Cayman. It was a very short tender ride and we were greeted by a rainbow over the ship. We had the Hell, sting ray and turtle farm excursion. Grand Cayman was beautiful. Hell is a tiny little tourist place with a gift shop and post office. We were very hot so didn't walk around the turtle farm too long. We were only allocated 30 min's there. The sting rays were awesome. We took a boat ride about 20 min's out. All of a sudden, the water was crystal clear and waist deep. Everyone was able to get out and the sting rays came to say hello. They are so sweet and friendly. They happily swam among everyone.

 

Next port was Roatan, island off Honduras. We booked the pirates, bird and monkey excursion. We boarded a bus for a 30 min ride to the nature park. Very beautiful country. This was a great excursion. Our guide was an informative young man named Ryan. He walked us through the park, showing and explaining all the plants and flower, told us about the history of the pirates. We then had to walk over a SWINGING bridge over the water. Only 5 people were allowed at a time. It was scary because the bridge swung. Each step I took, I thought I was going to go over. Once we reached the other side, we got to see the birds and monkeys. Both came and sat on your arms, head, neck. The monkeys were friendly and mischievous. They steal whatever they can and love to eat gum.

 

The third port was Belize. We were going to go cave tubing but could not get up early enough to go. Muscles were hurting from all the walking the day before. We opted to get up later and go shopping. The tender ride was about 15 minutes. There is a ton of shopping at the pier.

 

Our last port was Cozumel. We took a taxi to the downtown area where we did not do much shopping, although there are a ton of stores. I felt they definitely take advantage. I understand Spanish pretty well and understood when the clerk at the jewelry store was saying in Spanish 5 more. I said I understood what he was saying and walked out. We then took a taxi to Paradise beach club. It was absolutely beautiful. There were plenty of chairs. We had the best quesadillas and chips with salsa. I had my hair braided for $25. They also offer massages and wave riders. Wrist bands are $9 each to use the water trampolines and water icebergs. The pier has great shopping. This is where we did most of our shopping. They have good prices on their stuff.

 

The weather was VERY hot for being early October. I got a bad sunburn. It rained leaving Miami but we left with a rainbow. The seas weren't too bad but I was sick the first two days with being dizzy. I recommend taking over the counter Meclazine. It significantly helped.

 

There were not many kids on the ship. There were a bunch of honeymooners.

 

We did have one negative experience. Each of us had purchased Bon Voyage gifts for the others. In our cabin, there were slips saying we would receive our bar and drink coupons on the first night. Nothing was mentioned about the cake ordered. However, the canape tray, fruit basket, cooler with Corona, strawberries were all delivered without problem. First nite came and went and no drinks. We didn't have a chance to get down to inquire until the 4th nite. We went to the pursers desk and were told the Bon Voyage person would contact us within 24 hours. No one did. The next night, we went back to the pursers desk and spoke with someone else. They had the dining room hostess come out, but she was from the other dining room. She had the hostess for our dining room come out. The hostess had the tickets in her hand. She said she didn't want us to be mad at her but she had them. By this point, we no longer wanted them, because we would feel rushed to use them. She said we couldn't be refunded, because it would come out of her pocket. She said she tried finding us but wasn't able to because we weren't at our table. We explained the table was changed by the maiter d. I should add the cake was delivered on nite 3. She said she looked in the computer and found us to have the cake delivered. She would not give us an answer when we asked why she didn't look us up the same way to get the coupons to us. The woman was very rude about it and very patronizing. We told her we would complain about it. She encouraged us to do so but she would send an email first so they knew her story. I have not received my credit card statement so I do not know if I have been credited.

 

Funny story though - I had been given a small cooler with 4 Coronas and a very nice beer mug. I had used it through out the week. One night, I noticed it was gone. We figured it accidentally went out when the room was cleaned. I left a note asking the steward if he saw it. He wrote back no. However, we got a call from the pursers desk stating we would be credited for that gift due to the lost mug.

 

Debarkation took a good while. Carnival is now using a number system. We were number 20. People with early flights were called to the lounge. The first set of numbers went quickly. Then the time between numbers grew. We were not off until about 10am. Everyone was sitting on the stairs because we had to vacate our rooms. We were in the new terminal, which is very nice. Immigration was quick, didn't see anyone being stopped. Everything was well organized. We found the busses to the airport and they were arranged by airline. We were on our way in minutes. We had a 12:40pm flight out of Miami. Flight was fine.

 

Overall, it was a great trip! It was very adventurous.

 

If anyone has questions, please ask and I will answer the best I can :-)

[wwakla]

That is to bad about the drink coupons. I have read on here that you receive them the first night at dinner. I think I would have inquired about them alot sooner.

[butterflyamm12]

Do you think the excursion you picked in GC was worth it? I have the same one booked now and there is still time to change.

 

Thank you,

Ashley

[IrishGirl1230]

Hi. Yes, the excursion in Grand Cayman is definitely worth it. Youre in a small group, maybe 20 people. Our driver was very informative and gave us a lot of information about Grand Cayman. Lots of photo ops. He took us to Hell, where we made about a 15 min stop. Not a lot to see there! Then we stopped at the Rum store. We had a little while at the Turtle Farm. Its very nice there. Then we were driven back towards the pier to a canal where the boats were waiting for us. The sting ray adventure is something not to be missed!!! You have quite a little while out in the water. Our crew took pictures of everyone holding and kissing the sting rays. You dont realize how big they are. They swim right in the middle of everyone and give "kisses" to anyone who might smell like food. They love the squid they get fed. I definately recommend this excursion! It was the highlight of my trip!! :D