Valor Review - 4/1-4/8

[wolfpakfan]

I was part of a group of 10 that sailed on the May 1 voyage of the Valor. We all had the best time. We are all in our early to mid 30's and had several cruise vets as well as several rookies (me included)

 

Embarkationi - took about an hour - no problems here. About what I was expecting. As soon as we got on board we booked a Tuesday night dinner at Scarletts then hit the pool deck for food and drinks.

 

Food - Overall, very good. Breakfast at Rosies - standard bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast, and bagels. Some fruit, cereals, etc. Nothing special. It all tasted good but nothing out of the ordinary. Sometimes the lines were long, other times, no lines at all. I never actually had lunch at Rosies, usually just had pizza, hot dog or burgers or went to the deli which had some killer ruben sandwichs. The desert bar was pretty good as well. Pizza place was open 24/7 and made for good late night snack or breakfast alternative.

 

We had Washington room late seating. Steak first night was not that good, every other night food was very good to excellent. On several occasions I had more that one app, entree, or desert. Our waiter Peter (spelled Piqtor I think) was very entertaining.

 

Scarletts - Very much worth the extra $30 bucks. We all enjoyed tremendously. It is obvious that Carnival puts the most attractive and experienced members of their wait staff in this restaurant. Meals looked like works of art and tasted even better.

 

We also tried the sushi bar every night before dinner - usually the ladies while men gambled and everyone loved it. Coffee bar was also good and reasonably priced but usually only had one person working so you had to wait a while.

 

Bar Service - Excellent most nights. Had to wait some in the Casino and sometimes at the Pool bar but otherwise drinks were stiff and cold!

 

My wife and I stayed in inside cabin - Verandah Aft. Very cozy. Our steward Justin was excellent and remembered our names all week. Kept my ice buckets and beer cooler filled with ice all week (I did tip him an extra $10 for this) Room service was usually very fast and pretty good. I would reccomend the chicken fajita roll up and the chocolate cake.

 

Sea days - we had no problem finding 10 chairs together both days. First day ladies got up at 7:00 to reserve chairs near the pool and last day we just found some chairs together on the side away from the pool. We could have gone to topless deck on both days and got 10 chairs together but the ladies didn't want the men staring too much! This is actually a cool deck to visit because you can see everything that is going on around the ship.

 

Tuesday - did X-stream cave tubing - very smooth experience. Our guides Star and Thomas were very knowledgeable about the ships schedule and got us back on time. I will say that this is the dry season so the river was a little slow - we had to paddle a lot which didn't bother me, but they said in the wet season you would coast down the river w/ no paddling at all. At the end of the trip you can buy a $5 bbq chicken plate that is awesome. I also reccomend the Belizean Beer.

 

Wed - did Tabyana beach. Beautiful beach. We set up at right side of beach away from most people - near the small dock. Just a few steps away you could buy 3 beers for $5. Cheaper than the $3 beers the tabyana staff tries to sell you. Also, if you walk about 60-70 yards down the beach there is a little restaurant with some killer Honduran food and some of the coldest beers I've ever had for $1.50. Less than 50 in the water is some excellent snorkeling. I was snorkeling for the first time and spent most of my time here in the water checking out the fish.

 

Thurs - Cayman - did 7 mile beach. We would do this different if we could. Too crowded. Just ask your cabbie to take you to a quiet/secluded beach if that is what you want. 7 mile had way too many people. They had a small grill and the food was OK. You also got a free watered down drink with you admission. Cabbies can also offfer free beachs. Snorkeling here was also awesome, you just had to swim a little farther out. Say several sea turtles and many more schools of fish but the reefs were not nearly as good as Tabyana.

 

Fri - did Mr. Sanchos beach. Again just OK. Pretty beach and not too crowded but would have done differently. Heard Sanfrancisco beach was better. Sanchos had good food and good drinks. No snorkeling though. I'll continue this post ....

[wolfpakfan]

Be sure in Cozumel to visit Fat Tuesdays. It was the highlight of our visit to Cozumel. Great music, dancing, and craziness.

 

I cannot say enough good things about this ship. Great time on the ship and at the ports. Staff was very outgoing. Even though I have read many negative reviews I would say, don't let the things you can't control ruin a good time - ie, long lines, tendering (which was painless), no deck chairs around the pool, etc. If you look hard enough, there is something for everyone on this ship.

[MamaParrotHead]

thanks for taking the time to write your review. so looking forward to our trip on her!

[Marcys]

wolfpakfan, since you did an independent tour in Belize, can you tell me how early you got off the ship and any tips for getting an early tender? We are on ther CC group cruise on June 12 and have a group of 20 goign cave tubing in one van through Wet N Wild. As soon as we can get off the ship, the van will leave for cave tubing. we want to leave as early as possible so we do't have to feel rushed. Thanks!!

[wolfpakfan]

We were at the tender desk by 8:00 ship time and told the guy there passing out the tickets that we would need to be off the ship soon because we had booked thru an outside agency. They (the carnival people) were very accomodating. As soon as you get off the ship, just find your company - there will be 30-40 tour operators trying to sell their tours so make sure you know who you are looking for.

 

I will admit that I was a little leary about booking thru an outside group, but like they told me in their email - this is what they do for a living and if people missed their ships, they would go broke. Trust them and have fun.