Back from Valor(WCaribb. Jan.23/05)

[mayrashke]

Hi everyone, All the tips I learned here at this site(and the other one I frequent) were very valuable. Hyatt 2 nights precruise and 1 postcruise from Priceline=can't complain!!

I will definitely book another IS Quad Guarantee as we were upgraded to the best OV level( #1104 on Spa deck) with floor-ceiling windows. Perhaps people who feel queasy with boat movement might not want to be up front of the boat. Lots of extra room under those windows. The sofabed & pulldown bunk were also comfy my daughters said. LOVED that everything was so new!! Would go for a newish ship again. Embarkation was a bit of a pain:too many lineups!

Food was fairly good;a lot of fancy type things if that is what you like.Asked for large table ,6:15 but got booth for 4 at 5:45 in the Washington Dining Room.Coffee was not the best, but I survived! Only had a few Drinks of the day-they all kind of tasted similar though! Loved room service for breakfast one morning!

Camp Carnival was not very busy as I think there was approx. 150/170 kids total on board. My youngest(7) went a few times and the oldest(13) went more times. Scott from Scotland for the 12-15 age group was very nice. It seemed a lot of the more unruly kids would ge dropped off more often. Our girls went on all of our excursions with us. We did sneak a couple little cereal boxes off the ship each day for them to snack on. We had bought some water in Miami before we left. Tip:had problems finding the 24hr icecream at odd'er times. It seemed like at the back of the boat, starboard side by the Prometheus pool was where we finally found it. Normal times it is near Rosie's/Lido both sides.Bought the girls each an insulated Carnival mug onboard;the oldest loved filling hers up with the lemonade-which we thought was quite tasty.

Only went to shows on:Sun.night,Mon.night,Thurs.night was the excellent 80's singing/dancing show,Fri.was the one-show-only Mexican Folkloric Show-which we found excellent too. At Camp Carnival Fri.morn they had a Carnival dancer come and teach the kids a short dance. My girls liked that.

Belize:highly recommend having your tours booked in advance either Carnival or with a reputable tour company.We went to Goff's Caye with an inside-the-compound Tour Operator and there was tons of people from the various ships;we got dropped off right back at the Valor. I guess the same advice for Roatan.We went to the Orphanage with some stuff and then to Half Moon Bay for snorkeling which was okay. GC you HAVE to do stingray city-we did it with Cptn.Marvins and then just took the local(blue license plates) minibuses around. Cozumel-taxi to whichever place you choose. Chan.Park was a very good choice for us,it was not too busy I thought and the snorkeling was pretty good.

If you have further questions, please ask. I have made a longer 3 part review on the other cruise msg. board(Carnival section and I posted it Feb.2) I frequent also. Time differences:Belize-you definitely put your clock 1 hour back. After that don't ask me, as we got mixed up in Roatan!!

We may cruise again in a couple of years once we save up more money. Disneyland later this year. Valor was a nice ship, crew was fine. Wished the pools were warmer though!! I am sure all who take the Valor will have a nice time on the new ship! Ran out of time to do all that is offered onboard!!!

[Mrsdeedee]

I want to read your other review. I booked a 6a quad I wonder if they'll upgrade me. I know on my last cruise they did. It seems like you enjoyed yourself and that's good. So how do I find your other post?

[mayrashke]

I am not sure if we are allowed to post other site links. But remember we are on cruise "CRITIC", the other one is more 'friendly'-like "MATES". Hope you can find it!! If you booked an OV Quad Guarantee-hope you get upgraded. I could not believe we got upgraded from an IS to an OV!! I hope you and your family have a great cruise-whioch I am sure you will! If your kids are in Camp with Scott from Scotland-he is great!-tons of patience dealing with that agegroup!, easygoing,nice guy. I unfortunately did not get much time talking to him and my eldest is quite quiet, so she did not ask many questions about him, etc. Have a great cruise;feel free to ask any other questions!

[Oren]

What are the details about the orphanage thing you did. Is there a web site? I think it would make my kids more humble to do something like this. Any details would be appreciated.

[gatorclaw]

Thanks for the great review.

 

How were the tenders in Belize and Grand Cayman? Chaotic? Organized? How long did it take you to get off the ship at each port? etc....

 

Purpose of my question: I have tours booked outside of Carnival. Do you feel it's a problem to get off the ship in a reasonable timeframe?

[Mrsdeedee]

o.k. I cannot pick up on any of the hints you are giving me so if you don't mind can you e-mail me at deedeewedding@yahoo.com to inform me of where to find the review. I'm also taking my children ages 5 and 9 so i doubt it if I meet Scott because he's in the older group but I am looking foward to meeting the staff at Camp Carnival. Hopefully my children will spend a little time there. By the way did your children particpate in the Captin's dinner? I'm hoping to get a chance in dressing mines up and taking them with me..

[mayrashke]

Oren: Go to the Floataway thread here at CC. There is a post always going on the official CSI Roatan Orphanage. MartiniMama from CC met me at the Hyatt in Miami and brought some more things to take. Also people from the Roll Call here at CC and the other site brought some things for us to take also. I think the website for the Orphanage is: csi.org but go to the thread to make sure.

MrsDD-I will email you shortly!! Yes ,my kids went to the Captains Party for nonalcohol drinks and a couple of appetizers. We did not stay too long. We shook his hand before we went in to the Eagle's Lounge where it was being held. Your kids will be able to 'fancy up' for the 2 formal nights:one is obviously the same night as the Cptns. Party which was Mon., and the other formal night was Thurs.

Gatorclaw-to be honest I was worried we were NEVER going to get on a tender for Belize;as I said we had #4 tender ticket stickers. If you are really anxious, I would suggest getting into tender ticket line EARLY for Belize.Belize is a long tender,approx.15 min.ride. GC we really wanted to get off ASAP, so we got #1 tender ticket#(we were actually the second person in line!) GC tender boats are large and hold lots of people.The tender ride was only less than 5 minutes! Our GC excursion was not until 11:15. I think you will be okay depending on the excursion time. What time are your tours???? I have read about people going up to the tender organizers and letting them know about your prepaid excursions booked.Or 'play dumb' and head downstairs whenever you want!!

This tender thing is not too organized ,but I am not exactly sure how they could improve it!! I loved Cozumel and Roatan where you could just walk off the ship!!!!! Have a great cruise everyone!

[Oren]

Did someone from the orphanage meet you at the dock to take you there (and bring you back) to deliver your "stuff"? I think this would be a great experiance for our "have everything" kids to appreciate how others live in the world. Can you detail what your experiance was when you visited this place?

Did you walk off the ships with boxes and bags? Thanks for any details.

[bajalover]

I am interested to find out about the canopy tours in Roatan. Did you hear anything about them? We too, plan on going to the orphanage. I think its a wonderful thing to do!

[mnsawyer]

How was the snorkeling at Goff's Caye? Were there tons of people there? Enough chairs, room, etc??

[mayrashke]

Oren: Yes, someone should meet you at the dock in Roatan outside the gated compound area with a CSI sign. But unfortunately for us, the usual fellow was off-island and his replacement had vehicle trouble so we ended up taking a taxi(about a 15 min.drive) to the Orphanage when no one appeared. Ensure you check in with the Purser's office the day before Roatan with a note saying what time you plan to leave the ship, the # of bags/boxes you plan to take off and what is in them. Also ensure when you book with Brad at the Orphanage that you specify the time:Roatan time is different than the ship time. Do NOT ask me what the time difference was....???? We carried off 2 large duffle bags, 2 garbage bags(pieces of a toy kitchen set) and 2 small bags of stuff. It was great meeting the kids. I regret not taking any photos-I was kind of destressing from the 'not meeting anyone&hassle getting off the ship' so I was not thinking well!The kids at the Orphanage are loved & well cared for, so it was not much different(a bit awkward only) than meeting someone new at their own home. Although Brad did tell us(in private) about the 3 kids who saw their Mum murdered by their Dad. I would do it again if we ever get to Roatan again.

[mayrashke]

bajalover-Sorry I do not know much about the Canopy tours. Are they only available through the ship's excursions now?? Sounds neat though!

 

mnsawyer-as you probably know Goff's Caye is a tiny isle with about 8 palm trees, 2 portapotties, drink/?food/air mattress toy rentals 'kiosk' run by some Belizean people-I just bought a pop/soda. I did not see any lounge chairs-we just had our towels on the nice sand. There was no problem there with sand fleas/flies.I found it not too crowded when we were there at all.I guess it would depend when excursions(ship's??) would come there/not. We had a private excursion and I would estimate about 40/50 people on our boat.There were other people there, but as I said- it did not seem too crowded at all!