Carnival valor review with photos - pics of 9a, too

[cruzy-sue]

To summarize: We were on Carnival Valor May 10 - May 17, 2009 - highly needed and anticipated cruise - We had a party in our 9A (7440), we ziplined in Roatan, Stingrays in Cayman, Snorkeling in Belize , fell in love with a blackjack dealer, rode the trolley in Key West, met some GREAT people, and generally HAD A BLAST!

 

Embarkation:

[cruzy-sue]

I am not good at attaching the pucs, so bear with me - Here are some photos of our room: 7440 - Deck 7, aft corner:

[cruzy-sue]

I also don't spell so well.... I meant pics..... Anyway the last pics were of the room - We really enjoyed it very much - The 9A has plenty of room - no couch - but we really didn'y need it. There are two LARGE picture windows and a door to get outside. When I say the balcony is HUGE - IT is HUGE!!! We guessed it was at least 50 feet in length. We had a party and invited a few of our friends:

 

Joe and Bobby

Billy and Ryan

Max and Andreas

Cece and Gary

My sister and myself

[cruzy-sue]

Some more pictures of the room:

[Kcarp]

We will have our first Aft wrap coming up. Thanks for sharing!

[cruzy-sue]

Our first stop was Grand Cayman - We had booked www.stingraysailing.com as per Spencer from our roll call. The water was absolutely beautiful - like a swimming pool. There was not a lot of actual "sailing" involved - we motored out to the stingray sandbar - which took quite a while - I was concerned about the water temp - but it was really great - a tiny bit cool for the first second - And since I only stayed in the water for a total of 3 minutes (SCARED OF THE STINGRAYS) - it was fine! My sister loved th stingrays (so she says) and she stayed in the water - Here are some pics of our day in GC:

[cruzy-sue]

The next day was Roatan - we were nervous about possibly missing this port due to the "civil unrest" from the previous week - but we did stop there - and am I glad we did! I am kind of skittish about things - but we booked ziplining with ??? (sorry can't remember) - But it was quite the experience - I don't have any pics of ME actually zipping - but, believe me, I did! I took most of the photos. Once we got all harnessed and geared up, I took one look at the guide and said, "I'm not doing this" (bless his heart) a 16 year old named Frank said to me, "I'll take care of you, Mama": and he did - he stayed right with me through the zipping - if it wasn't for him I might be laying at the bottom of the Roatan jungle:

 

After the zipping - we went to Fosters Beach (West Bay) -snorkeled for $10 - a local dude - and it was really beautiful

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We had 2 sea days during this trip - so here are some random pics around the ship - By the way; One of the girl bartenders at the Lobby bar makes the BEST Cosmopolitan in the world! I think we became known as the Cosmo sisters - But our favorite hangout was the Casino Bar - Jeff was the entertainer ther -a guitarist, pianist and vocalist - who should be in the PIANO bar - anyway, enjoy the pics!

[cruzy-sue]

ANd now for BELIZE - ANd , yes we thought it was un-BELIEZE-able! We pre-booked a tour with www.coralbreeze excursions.com - We booked snorkeling and lunch at Caye Caulker. Let mejust say that we almost decided NOT to do this because we had already snorkeled in Cayman and Roatan - but that would have been a huge mistake!!! I felt as if I was swimming in an aquarium.... The pictures do NOT do this beautiful location juswtice - Our guide, Mark, who we also fell in love with was terrific! If you go - have the burrito at Caye Caulker - it was delish!!! The color of the water you see here - is truly how it is - even better in person! Absolutely gorgeous! I would book a land tour to BElize - there is so much to do - and - did I say - gorgeous?

[cruzy-sue]

ANd then there was Key West - which was a substitute for Cozumel - It was better than I expected (Really wanted to go to Cozumel) - We had lunch, tooked the trolley (hop on hop off) - Did some shopping ($12.00 sandals at Kino's) - worth a look, people! And took some pretty good photos:

[maxamuus]

Wow looks like that was a fun cruise. ;)

[cruzy-sue]

OK so that's about it - Except for - the food c- We had dinner at Scarlett's - to die for - the lobster was the BEST! And you MUST try the desert I had: It was a combo dessert of 4 diffferent delicious tastes - Also - in the Washington dining room - our head waiter (I think his name is LEvi) - but we named him "CUTE-GUY"... Very great - did tricks and things - We liked him so much we tipped $20 each extra - as did everyone at our table. I hope you liked my mini-review - Hi, Max! Here are some additional pics: (SOme of these are just "inside jokes" - Jen, just be glad there are no feet pics!!!!!

[cruzy-sue]

Wow looks like that was a fun cruise. ;)

 

 

HEY YOU!!!!!! We are thinking about RCCL NOS for Dec 12 - New Years!!!!! Come along!

[scrappinannie]

Thanks for the great pics, especially of your 9A wrap. We're in this same room on the Freedom (7440, I think they are mostly the same) and I'm so drooling over that balcony! WOWZA!!! Can't wait for January to enjoy mine. Glad you had a great cruise...looks like it was fun!

[floridacruzin]

Thanks for the review---exactly what I need to pass the days!

[dclark]

WHat was the dinner menu like when you were in Roatan? I am thinking that would be a good night for the supper club for us, especially since we have early dining (we cruise 6/21).

Also, what was the entertainment like?

[penetangjudy]

Sue thanks for posting the pics and the review!!!!

I can't wait for my turn on the Valor :D

[iwannacruznow]

What a wonderful review, looks like you guys had a great time. Wish we could of been there with you... oh yeah we were. Any way you and Jen were so much fun to cruise with, we should try and do it again someday.

[iwannacruznow]

this guy sure was popular;)

[cruzy-sue]

WHat was the dinner menu like when you were in Roatan? I am thinking that would be a good night for the supper club for us, especially since we have early dining (we cruise 6/21).

Also, what was the entertainment like?

 

Roatan night would probably be a good night for the supper club, since I can't remember how the food was in the dining room. But for the most part, the food there was good - not great - have the chocolate melting cake every night, tho!

 

As for the entertainment - do you mean in Scarletts? If so, it was non-existent. Around the ship hmmmm..... We didn't care for the piano bar singer - thought the Casino singer would have been a much better fit there. We went to 10 minutes of a production show - thinking we were at the adult comedy show Never did find that.... Karaoke was ridiculous we basically made our own entertainment with our new buds.....