Valor 6/21 Review & Q/A

[cruisingbajan]

Oh Yeah:)

 

Keep the review coming. I am living vicariously through these valor reviews while I wait for my turn in April next year.:(

[carla1183]

Day 3 - Roatan

 

We were the first Valor ship back to Cozumel after the swine flu, and we also got to go to Roatan before the news of the coup hit (although it seems they aren't suspending this port anyway at this point).

 

Unlike in Grand Cayman, I trusted all you CCers and did my research on Roatan. My parents have done some diving there before with Anthony's Key and they were disappointed with the diving and visibility. (But when you annually dive Cozumel and Grand Cayman a lot of places are disappointing!) So we decided that in Roatan we would do a day of relaxing at Fins and Flippers.

 

Port time is 12p-7p in Roatan so decided to get up at a leisurely time. The night before, my husband had looked the capers and insisted that I get the "Top to Toe" treatment at the spa. Oh what a rough life I lead with my husband forcing me to book overpriced massages! Hehe. I made my appointment for 10am so I could get in and out before we docked. The treatment included a 60 minute massage and a facial for around $130. It was wonderful! The massage included the hot stones, which I never had before and I was very pleased. Very relaxing and the therapist did a great job with it. She did do a quick sales pitch at the end where she showed me all the products she used on my face, but a simple no thank you ended the pitch.

This massage was the biggest charge on our sign and sail card by far, but it was really great, especially up against the big window watching us come into port in Roatan. Worth it if you want to splurge! And it seemed like one of the better daily deals throughout the week.

 

We had lunch at Rosie's before getting off the boat. I think I remember the buffet not being open but the grills/pizza/fish n chips were all available. Roatan isn't a tender port so we just walked right off the ship where there was a band playing and people selling every excursion imaginable.

 

Overall we thought Roatan was great - but I don't think it's one I would try to do on your own without a plan. We didn't get to see much of the island, but there were street vendors lining the walk from the dock to the small dock where we headed to FnF. All the people seemed very nice!

 

It took us about 2 seconds to find the guy from Fins and Flippers and he led us straight to their boat and handed us off to someone else who took us on a quick 2 or 3 minute ride over to the Fins and Flippers island. We paid $20 per person plus tax, and the website says you have to have a reservation for that price. We had one, but they never asked for it, and everyone paid $20 plus tax (I think it was $22.40 each)

That price includes access to their pool and bar area, beach, and the jungle.

 

They are in the process of transitioning it from Fins and Flippers to "Mayan Key" where they are trying to recreate the ecosystem of Honduras on the small island. We took a tour with the island vet where he showed us the Mayan temple replicas they are building as well as all the animals they've rescued (they had a jaguar, an ocelot, monkeys, birds, sea lions, nurse sharks). Very cool if you want to see the animals, but the tour was kind of long. My husband loved every second, but I probably would have prefered to walk out and see them on my own and then head back to the beach (which you are allowed to do).

 

The pool area was very nice, and very clean. Plenty of shade under umbrellas around the pool and a great bar. I had an "island special" which was some kind of rum and fruit juice frozen drink, it was very good. And my parents had some cheap local beers that they said were good. We didn't eat anything, but they have a full menu of food as well.

 

After the tour we rented snorkel gear (we had our own masks so I think we paid $6 for fins and snorkel but it was $8 for the full set). and snorkeled some on our own. If you snorkel make sure you get out over the wall. At first it seemed like the snorkeling was kind of blah and VERY shallow, but follow the string path under the water and go out to the edge and when you come up past the wall it's really pretty and there is a lot more to see. They do have a snorkel guide out there if you need anything, but it's fairly easy to navigate on your own.

 

We didn't have any trouble with sand mites on the beach, but we bought some of the Avon skin-so-soft Bug Guard sheets and wiped ourselves down with them on the way over to the island. Either the mites weren't biting or the bug guard worked. And the Avon sheets have Picardin which is a much milder alternative to Deet so you aren't spraying yourself with that scary 98% Deet spray that people talk about.

 

We took our time and headed back to the ship about 20 or 30 minutes before they said we needed to be back on. The people at Fins and Flippers said they always alert everyone that they need to go back and take a final boat taking people back to the Valor, but we didn't stay long enough to hear the announcement.

 

After that was dinner and a show, but I don't remember which ones! I'll look on my capers tonight and see what I can find.

 

A few pictures from Roatan

 

 

 

Yes, we're one of the suckers who paid this guy a couple of bucks for the pic. We wanted to donate to the band too because we were enjoying the music.

 

 

Of course we needed a picture with fun ship freddy!

Tip - if there are only two of you and you want pictures of you together, find someone else in the same predicament and offer to take a picture of them and they'll return the favor. We always try to do this a few times, otherwise we end up with 50 pictures of just my husband!

[hoop4321]

Thanks for the review...it's great so far! I always like the reviews with the pics....i get to cruise vicariously with everyone:D

 

We canceled a cruise with RCCL.....Liberty of the seas because we have been to the ports before and we wanted to dive. One of the reasons that we have picked Valor is because of Roatan. Why do your parents not favor it?

[carters4usm]

So do you really recommend FnF? We're leaning toward that excursion for next June and sounds like they may have some new additions by then. May not get a real feel for the island, but looks like a very relaxing day. Looking forward to Cozumel, so keep the reviews coming, really enjoying it!

[carla1183]

One of the reasons that we have picked Valor is because of Roatan. Why do your parents not favor it?

 

I think they said they remember the visibility not being great, but I think they only dove there one day on a cruise at some point, so it could have just been a bad day. And like I said, they're used to Cozumel visibility so everything else is sub-par to them :)

 

We dove Cozumel, GC, and my parents dove (and loved) Belize. So if you're looking for a diving itinerary, this one on the valor is really great.

[carla1183]

So do you really recommend FnF? We're leaning toward that excursion for next June and sounds like they may have some new additions by then. May not get a real feel for the island, but looks like a very relaxing day.

 

We really liked it. I wish I had gotten more pictures while we were actually there! There weren't very many people there so it was a perfect little beach day getaway. They said they are opening as Maya Key this month, so by next June it will definitely have all of that part of the island open.

 

I'd definitely recommend it!

[CaribbeanBlues]

Ramon and Iketut, our waiters in the Washington dining room were just perfection. Thanks to that, we ate in the dining room every single night, and I have a feeling we'll be sitting at our dining room table tonight staring at each other and wondering when Iketut will bring the bread basket.

 

My wife and I were on the Valor in May and also had Ramon and Iketut for our waiters. I think in all the cruises we have taken they were the best we have had. Really enjoying your review. Keep it coming.

[moviejunki]

So Carla, my wife directed me to your thread because we are going on the Valor in 11 days(I am currently logged on as her). And we are hanging on every word, great narrative. During the day 2 pics I said to the wife they area from tx, he is wearing a rangers shirt. Then in the day 3 pics...a TTU shirt and "guns up" on the deck. OMG They are from the town we are from. If you are in the LBK email me(shadley77@hotmail.com). Love to talk to you first hand about your trip.

[dclark]

I was at F&F the same day as you (I was on the 6/21 Valor). I left my wife and older daughter at the beach (they sat at near water line) and went snorkeling. I came back and asked my daughter what she was looking at. She told me that was watching a crab walking in the water. This thing was the size of my hand, just chugging along at 1' deep water. We also saw large fish splashing at the water 40' from shore. The wildlife there was just breath taking. The gift shop was also impressive. Did you notice the smell? I think the wooden floors were made of cedar; the place smelled like it. Prices were good, I got some good coffee there for $1.50 less than the stores at the port. Plus, it is pretty fresh. I roast my own beans weekly (I am very picky about my coffee!) and this is good coffee.

Also, the bathrooms were immaculate, clean with lots of marble, comparable to what you'd see at the Bellagio. The food smelled good and I really, really wanted to try the $6 fresh shrimp platter, but wife.com told me that I shouldn't as I was going to the steak house that night!

[megnsamsgracie]

Is the water really aqua color or is it more greenish? Just curious as we want to go to FnF too!

[dclark]

Is the water really aqua color or is it more greenish? Just curious as we want to go to FnF too!

When I got past the coral and looked into the dep area, the water was the deepest blue I have ever seen. I took a lot of pictures and video, but I have a feeling that when I print, it just won't look the same. The water in the shallow areas is as clear as clear can be. Even from the cruise ship, if you look down, you will see lots of fish swimming around the dock.

[carla1183]

It was very clear. Here are a couple of pictures I have from snorkeling at FnF. (It's obviously in the shallow part before we went over the wall since we're standing - and I might add that we only stood where we could find the placed cinderblocks marking the path. There is very little sand to stand on and please don't stand on the coral!)

The water was a clear aqua in the shallow part and this deep gorgeous blue in the deep part. And again, I have to say go all the way past the coral wall and swim along side it. The coral and fish are just beautiful out there.

 

 

[megnsamsgracie]

Thank you!!

[h20cruzer]

I AM really into coffee. You said pretty good coffee at F&F and less than in town. do you remember the brand of the coffee. I hope its whole beans. Any chance you remember how much it was.

Thanks

We are leaving on Sept 27 on the Valor. Like others I am hanging on to every word about the ship and ports.

[pugsley_45]

I'm enjoying your review! We're going on our first cruise in Sept on Valor. I'm so excited! Thanks for all your input It's nice to know what to expect.

[goLC]

We are also schedule on the 9/27 sailing! i am enjoying this review so much - it's the best I've read by far! Thanks for taking time to do this!

[mommiejaxx]

GOLC- We are on the 9-27 Valor sailing as well.. Can't wait!

[jlevitt92]

I will be sailing on 7-12!!

 

Did you see a table in the Washington dining room that can fit 11 people?

 

If you still have your capers can you e-mail them to jlevitt92@comcast.net

 

Thanks

[Cruise_Q]

@Allen1914

Hi Frat... my DH (which is your frat too) will be going on conquest on the 26th.. too bad it is not the same boat as you...have fun...

[Cha Cha]

We were right there with ya! Great sailiing and great time overall. This was our second time on Valor in seven months. I am posting a full up review in the near future that will cover both sailings.

 

We were in the Washington for the late seating too and shared the cheese with you!

[cmlmich]

We have a long time until we cruise too, but I love reading your review.

[lollylew]

I will be sailing on 7-12!!

 

Did you see a table in the Washington dining room that can fit 11 people?

 

If you still have your capers can you e-mail them to jlevitt92@comcast.net

 

Thanks

 

Gonna hijack this thread and say that the probability of you having all 11 people at the same table will probably be nil. I think the biggest tables only hold up to 8 and we had a big family group so we were split up into tables of 8 (2) and one table of 6.

[cruisingbajan]

More Carla...More:D,

 

I am really enjoying your review.

[carla1183]

Sorry about the delay!

 

Day 4 - Belize City

 

Despite every diver I know telling me we HAD to dive in Belize, we decided to book a Mayan ruin tour in advance. My husband is a history nut, and we love stuff like that, so we decided to do it for something different.

 

We booked the Altun Ha tour with belizecruiseexcursions.com. Cost was $42.50 per person which included transportation, a tour of belize city, a tour of Altun Ha, and lunch. We booked a month or so ahead of time, and they have you pay a percentage online with a credit card and then the rest in cash in person. We had no trouble with the online booking, customer service was great.

My brother and sister decided a day or two before while we were already on the ship that they would like to go with us, so they emailed the company from the ship's internet cafe, and received an email back saying they were full. More on that in a bit...

 

Now on to the day-of. We decided to not to leave ASAP on the very first tender out that morning, because we were set to meet our tour guide at 10:00 Belize time and we didn't want to have to kill several hours after getting off the ship (there is a two hour difference so 10 am belize time is noon ship time! We had a hard time finding out this information, I get the impression Carnival doesn't want to say the local times very much and get people all confused. It's not on the capers anywhere and we finally went to Guest Services and asked and she was hesitant to even tell me, and kept reminding me Ship time ship time ship time!)

 

After breakfast we got ready to go to a tender, but unlike Grand Cayman, you can't just walk down to Deck 0 and hop on a tender. We had to go to the Eagles Lounge and get a number and then sit around for a few minutes and wait for them to call your group down. We only waited about 10 minutes or so after getting our numbers and then another 10-20 minutes of walking the hallways and waiting in line on 0 to get on a boat. Belize City is surrounded by reefs so the ship had to park really far away, the tender ride is much longer than for Grand Cayman. My dad complained quite a bit about the process for the tender here. In hindsight it seems like it was actually fairly organized, but it would be easier if they had a few more tenders. My instinct next time would be to go up and get a number early, then go eat breakfast and then head down to zero. We were in group 17 but there were lots of people from earlier groups getting on with us.

 

I'll warn you, once you get to Belize City, have a plan in mind! This isn't a port I'd want to go wander around alone in. The actual port is inside a monitored gate, but once outside the gate the city is fairly impoverished and doesn't look very tourist friendly. One funny thing, I'm not sure what the approval process is for tour guides to be allowed inside the gates to solicit (My guess it's "pay to play!") but we did have a laugh about the poor guys reaching their arms through the fences trying to advertise horse and carriage rides. They were a hoot yelling all sorts of funny things to get people's attention.

 

BelizeCruiseExcursions.com has their own little shop inside the port. We wandered around for a while and looked for our tour guide based on the description in our email, but couldn't find them (there were a ton of people soliciting for tours around the tender dock and it was really hard to tell who was who), and then we stumbled across their shop. The girls at the desk were really nice and very helpful.

 

We asked if my brother and sister could go and they said they had two people not show up, so they signed my brother and sister up at the same price we paid. Very nice! Just before we left, those last two showed up and then we had 12 for a 10 person van. So the manager of the company took just our group of four in his SUV and we followed the van. JACKPOT!

 

Richard, the manager, was very knowledgeable. He grew up just outside of Belize City where the ruins were and has lived there his whole life. He gave us such a great history lesson on Belize (did you know that Guatemala still claims ownership of Belize?) The people there are very proud of their country and consider themselves a developing country, NOT a third world country. As I said before, the city itself was very poor, and more than anything it made me very grateful for everything we have. I forget sometimes that more of the world lives like that than like us. Outside of the city we drove through a ton of beautiful rainforest while our history and culture lesson continued from the air conditioned car. (By the way - he offered for us to grab a beer at the gas station we stopped at - you can drink in the car as long as you aren't driving!)

 

When we got to the ruins, we joined the rest of the group, and I regret to say I can't remember our tour guide's name, but she was great! Her family is Mayan in descent, so she knew a lot of great history and even showed us a picture of her mom to illustrate some of the Mayan characteristics. There are 10 or 20 monuments uncovered and we walked through and she showed us various ones and explained what each probably was. I was sad to learn that an entire city lies underneath the grass but they'll probably never dig it up because they can't prove that they'll make money from uncovering it.

 

Bring bug spray (we used the Avon SSS Bug Guard sheets again that I bought for Roatan, they worked great)

 

We climbed to the top of the main ruin, and the view was spectacular. Definitely worth braving the rickety stairs and vertigo to go up there. We got some great pictures, it's hard to believe something that old is still there for us to walk around on!

 

On our way out we passed the kids who had little alligators and asked us to stop and pose for a picture (and of course give them a few dollars). We said "No thanks" and had to laugh when the guy yelled "Everyone thinks my last name is thanks and my first name is no!" I almost wish we had gone back and given him a few dollars just for the smile we got cracking up at his joke.

 

Lunch was at a little place that I wish I could remember the name of! It was down the street from the ruin and had Maya in the name I think. The food was VERY good! Roasted chicken on the bones, beans and rice, cole slaw, plaintains, yumm! Also had a local Belkin beer, it was very good.

 

Richard dropped us back off at the port gate where we just showed our Sign and Sail cards to walk back through.

 

Back to the tender, then back to the ship!

I've totally lost track now of which show was which night. But I haven't reviewed Puck the hypnotist so I'll do that now.

He was very good - but only as good as his volunteers. We did both the regular show and the "adult" show and he had pretty good volunteers the first night and people who weren't that into it the adult night. He played it off well and found one or two who were into it. It was fun, and definitely something different.

 

 

One last thing about Belize - my parents didn't have a plan, so they stepped off the tender and found a guy with a dive operation. My dad talked to him for a few minutes and got a good feeling from him, so they decided to risk it and go out diving with him. They said the diving was phenomenal and really liked the company, so if anyone wants the rec let me know and I'll ask them. We'd love to go back to Belize some day and dive!

 

And now pictures:

 

Did I mention we went to Texas Tech? :)

 

Our tour guide with a jaguar jade head replica

 

View of some of the ruins.

[carla1183]

Sitting at the top. This was where my little sister left her water bottle. She realized later that she littered on a Mayan temple and we started to blame every bad thing that happened on her Mayan littering curse!

 

Just to give you some idea of scale, that's my husband at the bottom and brother and sister waaaaaaaaaaay up at the top! It was high!

 

Food, glorious food!

 

A view of the port from the tender boat.

 

Enjoy!