Carnival Valor Review May 10, 2009

[Takemetoaspa]

This was my first Carnival Cruise. I went with my husband and four girlfriends. I had a wonderful time.

Ship: Americana. I really liked the decor. We did have a hard time with the layout, but we aren't good with directions. We had a balcony cabin. The inside of the cabin was nice, but we could hear noises from below and in the hallway. We were in room 6348 above the casino. It was not so bad as to keep us awake since we were exhausted each night.

Food: We enjoyed the food. They had a good variety even for a picky eater like me. Pizza was really good. We ate at Scarlett's Super Club and felt it was worth the extra money.

Entertainment: Our group enjoyed watching movies on the Seaside theatre a few nights. We also watched Karoke in the Eagles Lounge (non-smoking). The 80's show and Legends show were great. Comedian Allyn Ball was a hoot. Our friend got called up on stage during the Magic Show and became famous around the ship afterwards.

Ports: Grand Cayman-We did the Cayman Shore Snorkel. Snorkeling was OK-most of the fish were right when you entered the water. We saw a fish huge tarpin fish. Lunch at the onsite restaurant was good. Not enough lawn chairs or sand.

Isla Roatan Honduras. Our favorite port hands down. We did the Tayana Beach Break. It was a beautiful sand beach with palm trees for shade. Clean bathrooms. Snorkeling was the best we had ever done. The coral was beautiful and schools of colorful fish everywhere. I even got a half hour massage on the beach for $25 which was very good. They also had food and a bar available, but we didn't use them.

Belize: Altun Ha and City Tour: The city tour was a real eye opener, but interesting. The ruins were neat. I got lots of great pictures and my husband climbed one of the ruins. Very hot this day.

Key West: (Substitute for Cozumel) This was the only day our whole group stayed together and we all had a geat time. We did not book a ship excursion. We purchased the Old Town Trolley and Hemingway house pass. It is a narrated trolley tour that lets you stop at nine different points around town. This worked out great. We toured Hemingway House. We went to the Lighthouse. Climbed to the top for a great view. We also stopped at the Southernmost Point for pictures. Lunch was at a restaurant on the beach across from the Southernmost House. Great food with a great view. I defintely reccomend it.

Overall: Would I book another Carnival Cruise? Absolutely. :D

[Takemetoaspa]

 

Room 6348

 

The seaside movie screen.

[kathlyles]

Thanks taking my 7th cruise in Oct. 2nd on the Valor. I love it, You make me wish I was there now

[Takemetoaspa]

 

 

 

Taken from the beach in Grand Cayman

[earlethepearl]

Thanks for the review. I will be heading back on the Valor Sep. 20th.

[Takemetoaspa]

Carnival's Cayman Shore Snorkel Excursion

 

 

[Takemetoaspa]

Isla Roatan. It was the most beautiful port that we docked in. You could see the coral in the water from the ship. There was also dancers and drummers at the port.

 

 

 

 

[Takemetoaspa]

 

 

 

 

[trini_ras]

Thanks for the review, loving your pics too.

Keep it coming, i'll keep reading

[Takemetoaspa]

We took the Carnival Excursion Altun Ha & Belize City Tour.

 

 

On the bus they passed around the Belize flag, an informational book and some Belizean money.

 

 

The lady in the red shirt is our tour guide. She was pretty good.

[Takemetoaspa]

The two pictures below were taken by my husband from on top of one of the ruins looking down.

 

 

This is some type of special tree that looked neat.

 

They had a bunch of little huts selling jewlry and wood carvings. I bought a pretty necklace for $5. By the way, the only food they had for sale was bags of chips and bottles of pop. I was glad they had this as I was starving.

[Takemetoaspa]

As I mentioned earlier we took the Old Town Trolley. This is a great way to see the town if you have never been to Key West.

 

This was "Sponge" bob standing outside one of the stores.

This was taken outside of the Art Museum. We didn't go inside, but outside the museum they have a bunch of neat statues.

This is outside one of the Key Lime Pie stores. This baker looked like he was trying to throw a pie at our bus! We didn't eat here. Before we got back on the boat some of them had to try the Key Lime Pie covered in chocolate on a stick. My husband and friend who love key lime pie said it was wierd tasting. Not good. I opted for peanut butter chocolate ice cream in a waffle bowl. That was yummy.

[cruzy-sue]

I was also on the May 10 sailing of the Valor.

 

I noticed your screen name - Did you use the spa onboard the ship?? Just curious,

 

I am waiting to upload my photos and also plan to write a review.

[Takemetoaspa]

 

This was our tour guide. He was quite the character. He even drank out of a flask and smoked a cigarette during the tour. We didn't ask what was in the flask. He did a good job though.

 

Ok here are the infamous 6 toed cats. I think there were 46 of them at the house. It was wierd to be on a historical house tour and see cats just laying around everywhere.

 

[Takemetoaspa]

When you get to the Key West Lighthouse there is a very nice giftshop with nautical items. If you want to climb the lighthouse and go in the museum the cost is $10. There is not a whole lot to the museum, but it was worth it to us to climb to the top of the lighthouse and get some neat views and pictures.

 

If you wanted a good picture of the lighthouse you had to pay to get into this area.

 

This is my husband and I standing at the bottom of the lighthouse.

This was taken from the top of the lighthouse.

[Takemetoaspa]

Our group at Southern Most Point

 

This was the view while standing in line to get back on the boat.

 

This was taken from our balcony. A US Coast Guard boat going by.

 

These are pictures of the main show lounge, the Ivanhoe Theatre. This was right up my husband's alley since he goes to the Renaissance Festival.

 

[Takemetoaspa]

I was also on the May 10 sailing of the Valor.

 

I noticed your screen name - Did you use the spa onboard the ship?? Just curious,

 

I am waiting to upload my photos and also plan to write a review.

 

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to use the spa on the ship. Originally I booked a massage online, but when they switched the sea days I couldn't get a good appointment time. I did get a massage on Tabyana beach in Roatan which was pretty good. It was my first massage on the beach. It wasn't very private, but my husband was sitting nearby so I felt safe. She did a good job and the price was much more reasonable than on the ship.

[floridacruzin]

Thanks for sharing! I am getting excited to leave...reviews are helping!