Back from Valor 27 Feb 11 sailing

[retiredAF]

This was our 3rd cruise and first on Carnival. We were traveling with friends and had a great time! We arrived at the port about 10:45 and were quickly in the "holding area" waiting to board.. I think we were on board just before noon. It was a quick and painless boarding. We headed up to the buffet area and enjoyed out first drinks and meal on board. Our room was ready by 2 and our bags were there before the muster drill. Muster drills are a necessary evil but it was frustrating that a large number of folks ignored the numerous announcements and the rest of us had to stand around and wait about 30 minutes before starting as these folks either leisurely made their way or were "escorted" to their muster stations.. After that, vacation began!!

We were in a balcony on deck 7 (7344) and the room was very comfortable and quiet. Our stewart was great and had some of the best towel animals yet! The ship is easy to get around and the food was very enjoyable.. We ate breakfast and lunch most days at Rosie's and the other options in that area (fish and chips, etc..) but did go to the main dining room for breakfast a few days. We did late dining and while the food was excellent most nights, my dh and I definitely prefer "anytime" dining.. The chocolate melting cake was one of the best desserts I have ever had.. I had that more nights than I care to admit :)..

We found most of the inside bars too smokey for our taste but did enjoy the atrium bar area a few times.. Liked the music there also. We spent much of our on board time in the deck 9 aft bar/pool "adult only" area and enjoyed the fact you could converse there.. the mid pool area with the large screen TV was way too loud for us..

The serenity area was very nice but after walking around the area 2 early mornings it was dominated by chair hogs so if you want to use this area, get there very early..

The out door track area was pretty heavily used early in the day but most folks were pretty considerate..

We only planned excursions in 2 ports. We have been to Grand Cayman previously so did some shopping and enjoyed a few drinks and people watching on the second floor deck at Breeze's.. Tendering in Grand Caymans was easy. We walked off of the ship in Isla Roatan. The built up Carnival area was nice but a real contrast to the rest of the island. We did a bus tour and beach excursion organized by the group we were with. It was a relaxing and enjoyable day. It was also entertaining to watch the last minute partiers at Fat Tuesdays run towards the ship at the last minute.. I can only guess that a few didn't make it because the first tender that arrived in Belize actually had cruisers returning to the ship! Arriving in Belize was interesting and fun to watch from our balcony because of navigating around the barrier reef. Folks with excursions had priority tendering here so we waited until close to 11 and got off then. The tendering was not as bad as I had read.. it took about 15 minutes in a catamaran... It was a nice ride.. Did a little shopping in port here and returned to the ship.

Cozumel was a blast.. we walked off here and walked around the port area until our 10 am excursion. We signed up for the Mexican cooking class and highly recommend this excursion. Chef Luis and his team were fabulous! They did the tedious prep work in advance and we were entertained throughout . We prepared an excellent meal which we all enjoyed prior to some relaxing beautiful beach time. Unlimited drinks were included which was a bonus! There were a few repeat attendees in our group and I know why.. we really had a great time!!

We did the express luggage thing so did not see our bags until we arrived at our home airport.. It worked perfectly..

All in all, a great trip! I am happy to answer any questions if I can..

[oncruisecontrol]

I was on the Valor back in Oct 2010. I was slightly disappointed with the food in the main diningroom as well as the Lido buffet. In comparison to my two immediately previous trips on Carnival (on the Miracle and Freedom), the Valor's food was not up to par. I realize that it could just have been that the kithcen was "off" on my sailing. And, not everything I tried was bad, but there were many items on the Valor that I also had had on the Freedom and consistently the Valor items were not as good. I still enjoyed my trip immensely, though.

 

For perspective, I sailed on the Valor also in 2005, and the food was outstanding.

 

I am just wondering (in detail) what you thought of the food? Did you eat in the main diningroom? If so, what dishes stood out as favorites? What dishes did you not like?

[retiredAF]

We ate in the MDR 6 of the 7 nights. The most disappointing was the meal I was most looking forward to... the lamb chops... they were so over cooked I actually did not eat them... We thought the lobster was cooked excellently and my dh love the fried chicken in the MDR.. Our table mates loved their prime rib but we did not have that... One morning in the MDR I had the poached eggs and the yolk was way over cooked.. the second time they were perfect..

[Cattie]

Did you fly out of Miami or FLL? I'm flying out of FLL and curious about the luggage express, if we can use it or not.

[azkcruizers]

I sailed on the Valor February 13th this year and also found the food to be not very good....not sure why either...we were the first cruise out of drydock. In spite of that we still had a great cruise and I will cruise Carnival again but I am hoping the food will be better next time! One night my mother said something to our waiter about how fast he could clean the tables and he told her he couldn't wait to finish and go get drunk....a little surprised at the comment but his service was lacking as well. Last year on the Dream we had outstanding service in the dining room so I guess we got spoiled ;)

[Half Pint]

Glad to hear you had a fun cruise! :)

[retiredAF]

Did you fly out of Miami or FLL? I'm flying out of FLL and curious about the luggage express, if we can use it or not.

 

We flew out of Miami but our friends flew out of FLL and used the luggage express with no problem. Your flight has to be after a certain time though which I think was 1 PM for FLL but I am not completely positive on the time. How early is your flight?

[cschultz]

Muster drills are a necessary evil but it was frustrating that a large number of folks ignored the numerous announcements and the rest of us had to stand around and wait about 30 minutes before starting as these folks either leisurely made their way or were "escorted" to their muster stations..

 

 

Did you have to go out to wait on deck for the muster drill? On the fascination in February,

we met at the show lounge, where they went over everything, then had us walk to the actual muster station for a minute or two, and then we were done. I get claustraphobic

standing 4 people deep on the deck for the muster drill.

[retiredAF]

Did you have to go out to wait on deck for the muster drill? On the fascination in February,

we met at the show lounge, where they went over everything, then had us walk to the actual muster station for a minute or two, and then we were done. I get claustraphobic

standing 4 people deep on the deck for the muster drill.

 

Yes, we had to go out on the deck to the actual muster station.

[Cattie]

We flew out of Miami but our friends flew out of FLL and used the luggage express with no problem. Your flight has to be after a certain time though which I think was 1 PM for FLL but I am not completely positive on the time. How early is your flight?

 

Our flight is 2:20 so I hope you're right!!

[retiredAF]

Our flight is 2:20 so I hope you're right!!

 

I just asked my husband and he said it was after 2. He said that our friends who flew from FLL had 2:30 flights.

[nathand95]

If you are flying out of FLL around 2 you want to be one of the last ones off the ship. We got off the Valor about 9:00-9:30 last year and were at FLL around 10:00. Our flight was at 3:00 and waiting until then was excrutiating. When we finally boarded and pushed back we had to wait on the tarmack for 2.5 hours due to weather and mechanical problem. We took off from FLL at 5:30ish and landed in Atlanta around 6:45,over 2 hours late.

Basically just look for an earlier flight. We book our flights between 11:15 and 11:45. Also, we do the self take off luggage thing and have no porblem getting to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

[Cattie]

I just asked my husband and he said it was after 2. He said that our friends who flew from FLL had 2:30 flights.

 

Good I hope so! Did you happen to have to get off the boat at a certain time or could you take your time and get off when you wanted?

 

If you are flying out of FLL around 2 you want to be one of the last ones off the ship. We got off the Valor about 9:00-9:30 last year and were at FLL around 10:00. Our flight was at 3:00 and waiting until then was excrutiating. When we finally boarded and pushed back we had to wait on the tarmack for 2.5 hours due to weather and mechanical problem. We took off from FLL at 5:30ish and landed in Atlanta around 6:45,over 2 hours late.

Basically just look for an earlier flight. We book our flights between 11:15 and 11:45. Also, we do the self take off luggage thing and have no porblem getting to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

 

I'm not really worried. There are 10 of us flying so we can keep each other entertained. I didn't want to get a flight to early and risk something happening and missing it. I just want to be able to do the Luggage Express.

[retiredAF]

Good I hope so! Did you happen to have to get off the boat at a certain time or could you take your time and get off when you wanted?

 

They gave you a time to be in the dining room for express luggage folks (8:15) and you really need ot be there because they process you in your group and we had a few folks missing that they had to track down before the rest of us could leave the ship..