Carnival Valor Review – May 21, 2005 to May 29, 2005

[MizzouMary]

There were seven of us on this cruise. My husband and I (38 yrs. old), my sister and her husband (52 yrs. old), their two daughters and a boyfriend of one of their daughters (in their 20’s). This was our (my husband and I) fourth cruise, all with Carnival, and their first. We had a 9A cabin (#6452). The others in our group had inside cabins right across the hall, #6444 and #6446.

 

We left from the St. Louis airport on Sat. May 21st for Fort Lauderdale. We flew non-stop on Southwest Airlines and, as always, arrived early and without incident. SW is our favorite airline, so I am glad we got to start our trip off on the right foot.

 

I made prior arrangements to have Las Palmas shuttle pick us up at the FLL airport. They asked that I call when we arrived at the luggage pick-up area. They were there to pick us up on time and were very friendly. We stayed at the Holiday Inn-Bayside in Miami since our cruise left from Miami the following day. The driver did not know where the hotel was and since this was our first time staying there, we were not really sure either. All we knew that it was across from the Bayside Marketplace. After several trips around several blocks (all of the streets around there are one-way), we finally made it to the front of the hotel. There was not a pull-in drive at the Holiday Inn for the driver, so he had to let us out on the street, which was a little scary since we had so many bags. We checked in. I had requested two rooms close together on a higher floor overlooking the cruise port. Our rooms were on the 7th floor but were on opposite ends of the hallway. We could see the port pretty well. Although a view from a higher floor would have been much better. It was fine. We had two rooms with queen beds. One room had a queen sofa sleeper. The rooms were adequate, nothing fancy. We walked over to the Bayside Marketplace and ate at Bubba Gumps. We decided to sit outside. It was really warm and they put 7 of us on a picnic table, so it was a little bit uncomfortable. We noticed the flies or something kept biting our legs, so I would recommend eating inside. I had a BBQ burger, which was very good. The fries were a bit soggy. Everyone else was very pleased with their dinners. We took a few pictures and ventured back to our hotel to get ready for the next day.

 

On Sunday, 5/22, we got up early. We had the Best Breaks rate with breakfast included for four people. Basically, they give you a voucher worth $20 each and you can use it however you see fit. The buffet was fine and it costs around $10 each. We got there around 7:00 a.m. and there was no one there. It was very nice and relaxing. We checked out around 9:30 a.m. and had the taxi pick us up around 9:45 a.m. to take us to the port. I called Yellow Taxi and they sent a van that accommodated all 7 of us so we could ride together. I am glad we left early. We arrived at the port and found only a few people in line ahead of us. We went through the check-in. It is important to have your Bahamas information filled out ahead of time and your Fun Pass completed. It really saved a lot of time. My husband and I noticed our Sail and Sign Cards were gold rather than the old blue. I was told that all past guests get the gold cards now. I am not sure what that means or if it was supposed to have made us feel important. I do wish Carnival had a better rewards system in place for loyal customers. We then waited in line for about 1-½ hours. At around 11:30 a.m., they opened up the floodgates and ran us through the security x-ray machines. We then got into another line and waited again for about another hour or so. After that, it was fairly easy. We had a long walk up escalators and down a long moving sidewalk and then onto the ship. It was great being among the first people on the ship that day. We immediately got in line at the Purser’s Desk (Information Desk) since a few of us used cash for our Sail and Sign card. Their systems were down, so we decided to grab some lunch. (Note: Once the systems were back up, one of the girls only put $70.00 cash(to cover her tips) on her S&S card.) I went to the deli first and got the Reuben Sandwich. It was great as always. My husband and the other guys ordered the fish and chips and said the fish was much better than on the Conquest. The chips were a little soggy at times. The pizza was very good. Also, the diet cakes at the buffet were really good. Even if you are not on a diet, make sure you try them.

 

After lunch we checked on our cabins. A large group of travel agents were taking a tour of the ship, so it was pretty crowded. We were told by our room stewardess they would be ready around 1:30 p.m. and to come back then. I asked if she could take the contents out of the refrigerator for us. She said we would have to take it out ourselves. She was not friendly at all, but I understood the pressure they are under to get the rooms cleaned in time. I also asked if she could put the beds together in the two inside cabins for our group.

 

We then hung out around the aft pool and had some ice cream, which was very good. Later, we went to our cabins and they were ready. However, the beds were still apart, so instead of bothering the room stewardess, we moved them ourselves. Also, the cabinets where the refrigerators are were still locked. I called the housekeeping and was told the person was on break and to call back later. We asked for some ice since we could no longer help ourselves to ice (on the Conquest, they had self-serve ice machines). Again, we were told that our room stewardess would need to get it for us and she would be available later in the afternoon. I completely understand that they need to have time off, but I feel Carnival needs to have a replacement person to help guests when the room stewards are unavailable. My husband went and found a guy who was handling laundry who was gracious enough to get us some ice. He acted as if he would get in trouble if anyone saw him helping us. He was very nervous but very nice. Finally, I got someone to come and unlock the cabinets and we removed all of the items from the refrigerators. My niece is a diabetic and needed the refrigerator for her insulin. However, her refrigerator did not work. We called and requested someone to come and look at it, but no one came.

 

We stayed in a 9A cabin with an extended balcony. It was very nice for our large group. We hung out there for a while and then went to explore the ship. The ship was very, very clean. We noticed people cleaning and painting all week and I never noticed any trays sitting in the hallways for very long periods of time. I was extremely impressed with the cleanliness of this ship. We went through the muster drill and then went back to our balcony to get ready to depart. It looked like it could rain all day, but the sun was shining brightly as we sailed away. We had the late dinner seating (8:00 p.m. in the Washington Dining Room-aft). Dinner was very good the first night. Roxana and Enrique were our waiters for the whole week. They were very good and extremely friendly. They had some trouble remembering what we had ordered a few times, but for seven people who ordered multiple entrée’s, etc., they did a great job. That night, I contacted the information desk and asked that they please fix the refrigerator in my niece’s cabin. They brought a new refrigerator and replaced it. I was very impressed.

 

Monday, 5/23, we arrived in Nassau, Bahamas. We usually started our mornings out by sitting on our balcony enjoying coffee and juice while we arrived in port. I made the mistake of walking out onto our balcony barefooted and stepped on a sharp piece of glass that cut my foot open. What a great way to start off the week! Luckily, my niece is a RN and had some antibiotic cream and waterproof bandages with her. So, a word of advice if you have a 9A aft cabin, make sure you wear shoes on your balcony. I was told the decks above are washed off and unfortunately, our deck happened to be the one where the debris landed. We did notice ashes being flicked from above and cigar butts on our balcony too. This is so annoying, I don’t even want to get started on that subject! I called the Purser’s desk to let them know I had glass on my balcony and that I cut my foot open. They instructed me to go to the infirmary on the 1st deck. I told them I took care of it and that I would not need to see them. They were really nice about it.

 

We decided to take a water taxi to Paradise Island and then walk to Atlantis and then onto Cabbage Beach. We left a little late since we were all tired from the previous day’s travel. The water taxi left 30 mins. later than what they told us, so we sat and waited until it was full. BTW, the water taxi is located directly across from the straw market. They packed us in like sardines, which was a little uncomfortable, but hey we’re on vacation, right! The gentleman on board, who works only for tips, gave us some great information on sights along the way. Once off of the water taxi, we walked to Atlantis. I thought we would never get there. There is quite a bit of construction going on so there is a detour to get to the resort. I have a disability in addition to my injured foot, so it was a little difficult for me to walk that much, but I made it. Once at Atlantis, we walked through the stores and then through the casino (which was very nice). We proceeded on to the famous gold chair where we took some photos. We then walked to the hotel/restaurant area and walked down the stairs and viewed the incredible aquarium. It was awesome. We spent at least a half hour marveling at all of the sea life. There was a diver in the aquarium as well. After that, we walked back up the stairs and went out to view the grounds. It was just breathtaking. I would definitely love to go back and stay at Atlantis sometime. We then left Atlantis and walked back to the water taxi since we did not have enough time to go to Cabbage Beach and made our way back to the straw market area. The guys went on over to Senor Frogs for a cold beverage. We spent a short time at the straw market since it was very hot inside the building and there is so much stuff. It seemed everywhere you turned someone was grabbing at you to look at their wares. It just got to be too much. We walked over to the Senor Frogs to join the guys. We spent some time there overlooking the water enjoying our beers and then walked through the Senor Frogs store on our way back to the ship. We walked down the street and went into several shops, many of which offered free samples of the liquor they sell on the island. We made it back to the ship in time to leave. We went up to grab some lunch. We were all beat and I decided to go see the doctor’s at the infirmary for my foot. It was still bleeding and I was worried that I still had some glass in it.

 

Monday night was our first formal night. All three of the guys rented tux’s from Carnival and all four of us ladies wore formal gowns both of the formal evenings. It made the formal nights at dinner extra special. Because we were a little tired from the day, we decided not to have formal pictures taken that night. Instead, we went to the Captains Gala Party at 7:15 p.m. It was very fun. We drank Miami Vice’s (half strawberry daiquiri and half pina colada). My niece was interviewed by the Social Host on board and ended up on the Travel Log Video for the cruise, which we bought at the end of the week ($25) at the photo store. Dinner was excellent as always. It was so much fun seeing everyone try the dishes for the first time. We knew which ones we liked and have tried them all since the menu was almost identical to the Conquest’s, so we made recommendations. Everyone had a great time. We went to the Night Club Express show and it was excellent. I would highly recommend it.

 

Tuesday, 5/24, a day at sea. It was nice sleeping in and just relaxing. We went to the hairy chest contest, which was good for a laugh or two. The girls toured the spa and then we went to the gym and worked out. The only thing I did not like about the gym was that there were too many Carnival employees (mostly dancers) working out so there was not enough available equipment for the guests. They really should have their own work-out facility. We sat in the dry sauna and then the steam room. We then sat in the warm pool with the waterfall and then proceeded to the hot tub by the gym. It was very nice and not crowded at all. My niece and I also entered the slot tournament in the casino. It was $20 to enter. We ended up with the lowest two scores so needless to say, we didn’t win any money. It was still really fun. My husband and I attended the past guest party before dinner that evening. Make sure you sit close to the entrance and arrive early for a seat. We sat over by the bar and by the time the snacks arrived to our side, they were gone every time. Dinner was wonderful, as usual.

 

Wednesday, 5/25 we arrived in St. Thomas. We had to go through U.S. Customs before we could leave the ship, so we stood in one line at the Eagles Lounge for about 1 hour and then another line. It was very confusing. At around 8:30 a.m. we finally made our way through to receive the sticker you must wear when departing the ship. We caught a taxi to Red Hook ($8 PP each way) and made our way via ferry ($3 PP each way, barely catching the 10:00 a.m. over to St. John for the day). We caught an open-air safari bus ($4 PP each way) to Trunk Bay for some snorkeling. The driver was very nice and gave us sight-seeing info. along the way. Make sure you sit on the left-hand side (facing forward) on the way to Trunk Bay so you can take photos when the driver pulls off at scenic points along the way. We arranged for a time for the driver to pick us up that afternoon and off we went. Trunk Bay is very beautiful. We paid our $4 each park entry and proceeded to the snorkel equipment rental shop there. They do require a credit card or $100 in cash for a deposit for the equipment. We spent the afternoon snorkeling along the trail. At around 1:00, the driver picked us up and we asked if he could take us to Cinnamon Bay so we could just to see it. He was very cordial and took us there and said to take all the time we needed. We walked down to the beach, walked through the archaeological building on site and took a few pictures. I managed to snap a photo of Peter Bay, where Kenny Chesney lives (I am a huge fan!). His home faces Cinnamon Bay and the beach where he and Renee Zellweger married was right across from us. It started to rain, so we walked back to the taxi and made our way back to Cruz Bay. The driver didn’t even charge us any extra for taking us to Cinnamon Bay, so we tipped him well. Let me warn you. This was our first trip to St. John and the roads are very curvy and steep. It was quite harrowing at times. The taxis honk around the curves. There is so much construction going on in St. John that many dump trucks are using the same narrow roads. I have to hand it to our driver though. He was a real pro. He not only was eating a hamburger and fries while he was trying to shift and drive, but he managed to hold his soda too. It was a little scary, but we made it back alive! We had some time before the ferry left for Red Hook, so we walked over to JJ’s Texas Coast Café and relaxed for a while. There are chickens and little baby chicks running around. We had iced tea and a couple of beers. Two iced teas in small plastic cups were $6, so be prepared. The beers were $3 each. I bought a really cute hat for $15 there. We caught the ferry back to Red Hook and took a taxi back to the cruise port to grab some lunch on the ship and change. Our driver in St. Thomas was Sherman (eastendtaxi.com) His phone # is 888-484-TAXI. He was excellent!! Very polite and courteous. I sat up front with him and noticed he had Kenny Chesney’s new CD playing. I told him that I was a big fan and he told me some stories about him. He was very interesting and answered a ton of questions. We loved St. John so much that we are planning a week-long vacation back there in the fall. It is a must see if you are going to St. Thomas.

 

We went shopping and then walked over to the Paradise Point entrance. We heard on the Cruise Critic that after 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday’s that it was free to ride up to the top. I inquired about this and was told, “NO, that is not true!”, So, we decided to walk back to the ship. A couple of us didn’t really want to ride in the tram up the hill anyway. We stopped off and bought a Powerball ticket along the way. There was also a cute little open air drink stand along the road where we got some Miami Vice’s. They were excellent! We made our way back to the ship and sat out on our balcony and fed the seagulls some crackers. We must have had 20 or 30 of them around our balcony. It was great that our ship did not leave St. Thomas until 8:00 p.m. We watched all of the lights come on in St. Thomas and then went to dinner. What a wonderful day!

 

Thursday, 5/26, we arrived in St. Martin. We caught a taxi to Orient Beach ($6 PP each way). We asked the driver to take us to the Pirate Bar based on a recommendation of a fellow Cruise Critic Member. The driver did not know where that was, so we just go off at Bikini Beach. We walked down a ways and a young man asked if we had chairs yet. We noticed a great deal of empty chairs (we were told May is the slow season). He was charging $15 for 2 chairs, a table, an umbrella and 2 drinks. I explained that the Pirate Bar only charged $12 for the same, so he gave us the same deal. The name of the place is “Cool Corner” right next to “Sexy Fruits”. As most bars on the beach, they have comfortable cushioned chairs and nice big umbrellas. The price also included beers and sodas, not frozen drinks, and the restroom facilities. I have to say that St. Maarten, specifically Orient Beach, was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The sand was so soft and the azure water was spectacular. I had heard that Orient Beach gets very crowded with cruise passengers, but there were only two ships in that day. There was hardly anyone there at all (except for the nudists from Orient Bay Resort!). Upon arrival, the guys set out for a stroll on the beach, yeah, right!! They made their way down to Orient Bay Resort where there is total nudity on the beach. We stayed in the water and swam while several nude men and women strutted by in front of us. There were also several topless women swimming with their children in our area. My sister and I were curious what the guys had seen. They said there were all men, no women. So we walked down there as well. When you think of a nude beach, you think of beautiful, rock-hard bodies, kind of like Baywatch, right? What an eye-opening experience! I saw every type of body shape, size, age. Some were bending over, eew! The guys were right. There were mostly middle-aged to older men lying nude on the beach. However, we did see several women who were totally nude and in very strange positions. I have to say my first time at a nude beach will never be forgotten!

 

I took two water loungers along and we rented jet skis from Paradise Sports for only $40 for two people for ½ hour. There is another beach on the opposite end of Orient Bay where we saw around 8 or 10 horses. We were told they were not wild, but they were running freely along the beach. It was neat! We were told that if we would have stopped at Paradise Sports first, the chairs would have been included with the jet ski rentals. BTW, the Pirate Bar was just down from where we were, so we went down there for drinks and lunch (The BBQ ribs were GREAT! The breaded fish sandwich was also very good). I had a Guavaberry Daiquiri (just o.k.) and several Pina Coladas (excellent!). Glenn, the bartender, is just wonderful. Make sure you stop there for a drink or two. David, a Frenchman who works there, is also very nice. We left Orient Beach around 2:00 p.m. and asked the driver to drop us off downtown so we could go shopping. There were lots of great bargains. My husband got a very nice Nike sports watch with a heart monitor at Diamonds International for a great price. He got an additional 10% off since we talked to the manager and also, since we were Carnival passengers. My niece also bought a Caribbean tanzanite ring there at an excellent price. She also got the 10% off. There were several casinos in the shopping district and we got some great deals on liquor. There was a little bright yellow beverage stand on the corner that had $1 Budweiser’s so the guys bought lots of them while we were shopping. We caught a water taxi back over to the ship and then the skies opened up and it started pouring rain. It actually felt good after spending the day in the sun. We were soaked by the time we reached the ship. The air on the ship was so cold we were freezing. We went up to change and then grabbed some lunch. We were too tired to dress up for dinner that night so we ate in the buffet. The pizza on board was excellent as were the hamburgers and fries. Make sure you ask for fresh fries. We hung out in the casino the rest of the night. On Friday, they have a laundry special where for $15 you fill a bag and give it to your cabin steward and they return your clothes laundered and folded by that evening. So, we were going to take advantage of it because who really wants to do laundry on their vacation? When we received the bag, it was so small we would have needed at least 5 bags or more and you are limited to one bag per cabin. So, my husband who is a very early morning person decided to get up early the next day and start the laundry. What a guy!

 

Friday, May 27th, another sea day. What a great day to sleep in. We ate breakfast in the dining room. They have excellent French toast. The pancakes were kind of cold each time I got them. The eggs benedict are very good. I would recommend eating in the dining room at least once during the cruise. It is so much more relaxing than the buffet. We really enjoyed it. My husband got up very early and did laundry. The machines on the 6th deck were not working, so he had to go up to the 7th deck. The machines took almost an hour to fill up with water. I went to keep him company and to help him carry the clothes back. It took almost three hours to wash and dry our clothes. We spent $10 doing laundry and we brought our own detergent.

 

We spent part of the day just relaxing by the pool and playing in the casino. They finally opened the slide so we did that a few times. Beware, the water is very salty and it hurts when it goes up your nose and in your eyes. That aside, it was a real blast though. We also spent some time in the arcade. I know that sounds funny for a 38 year-old to be playing games in the arcade, but it was a real hoot. We played air hockey and sat in this virtual ride machine. It was really lots of fun. The guys enjoyed the golf game. We also spent some time at the preview for the art auction where they had some excellent deals on Thomas Kinkade art. There was a gentleman with a British accent (who was kind of rude) at the preview who could look up the opening bid for each painting. Just be careful if you do buy a painting. Some you must carry off the ship and find your own way to ship it home. We also spent a lot of time looking at our photos in the gallery and in the on-board shops. I was hoping they would offer a galley tour, but I watched for it all week and never did see it listed in the Capers. We really enjoyed that on the Conquest.

 

Friday night was our last formal night. We all dressed in our formal wear again. We took lots of formal pictures that night before dinner. Dinner that night was excellent again. My brother-in-law had a dozen red roses delivered to the dinner table since it was his and my sister’s 32nd anniversary. He also bought a cake and had it delivered for dessert. It was beautifully decorated. It was vanilla and it left a lot to be desired. It definitely looked better than it tasted. We all ended up ordering off of the dessert menu. We went to the Far From Over show after dinner and we all agreed that we liked it even more than the Nightclub Express show on Monday. My brother-in-law is a real night owl and was the only one who went to the mid-night adult comedy show featuring Jim Brick. He said it was very funny, but the comedian did get pretty graphic about dr.’s office exams for men and women. So, if this is the type of comedy that might offend you, it’s probably not for you.

 

Saturday, 5/28, our last sea day. We dined in the buffet for breakfast since we all were pretty tired and ate on our own. We spent the morning gathering our stuff and packing some things. We checked out the photo gallery. The formal photos turned out great and it was so hard choosing which ones to purchase. We each bought two or three. Our travel agent gave us a Carnival coupon book for each cabin that included a coupon for four free wallet size pictures (a $5.00 value) with a purchase of an 8 x 10 (which are $19.99 each). The coupon books are really useful since there is one coupon for a drink in a souvenir glass for the cost of a regular drink, and the guys got nice vests for free to go with their tuxedos. My niece bought a Carnival cookbook and got a free Carnival drinks recipe book along with it. I bought a nice photo album with a picture of the Carnival Valor on the front. I believe it was $24.00 at the gift shop.

 

Dinner that night was sad. We grew very fond of our waiters. We took lots of photos with them that night and they signed my photo album. There is a place to put their photos with their signatures in the back. Roxana even gave us her e-mail address so we could keep in touch. She worked on the Conquest back when we sailed in November and knew of several Carnival employees we met then. We gave each other hugs and said our good-byes. When we got back to our cabin, we checked out our bill for the week on the interactive TV system. We noticed we were charged $130.94 for the contents of the refrigerator. We thought we needed to return everything the next morning, like we did in the past and have our room steward check the inventory. On our last cruise, our room steward actually came and took everything out when we arrived and did an inventory then. He took it with him and returned it on the morning we departed. I had no idea what I was in for. I called housekeeping to see if our room stewardess (whom I never did get her name) could come and do an inventory and lock the refrigerator so we could get the charge removed. I was told she was off for the night and that I would have to wait until after 8:30 a.m. the next morning to have this taken care of. I explained that we had an early flight and would need to get off of the ship early. She told me to contact the Purser’s desk. I called them and was told to contact housekeeping again. I called them again and was told that only the Purser’s desk could help me. I called the Purser’s desk again and was told they would call someone in housekeeping and have them call me. After 45 mins. I received no call. So, I called the Purser’s desk back again and the very nice lady (I think her name was Irene) there told me that someone would be down to do an inventory and lock the refrigerator. A young man came down about 20 mins. later, who by the way, had the worse body odor I have ever smelled, did an inventory. He came up one tiny bottle of Bacardi Rum short. We explained that we did not consume any of the items in the refrigerator. We brought our own water and soda. He locked up the fridge, said he would need to input the info. and left. I had to air out the room to rid the room from this guy’s odor. It was terrible! You would think Carnival would address personal hygiene with their employees. About an hour later, the charge was still on there. We waited a little while longer and then at midnight, the system shut down so we could not see any charges. So, we went down to the Purser’s or information desk to talk with them. After about 20 minutes, they came back and said they took the charge off. Thank God!! We spent a good three hours of our last night on the ship dealing with this while the rest of our group was off having fun. We had put cash on our account and wanted to close it out before the next morning. What a nightmare. So, make sure if you use the refrigerator in your cabin that you: 1. Have the room steward take everything out and do an inventory at the beginning of the cruise and 2. Make sure he or she does an inventory and lock the refrigerator before you leave for dinner or you will have the same problems we did. Can you believe the measly stuff in the fridge is worth $130.00? That just seems outrageous to me. We only slept a few hours since we were upset by this whole ordeal.

 

Sunday, 5/29. We got up really early and gathered our things. Our group ate breakfast in the dining room. It was very good, as always. We went back to our cabin to grab our bags and make our way up to the Ivanhoe Theatre. My husband and I were out on our balcony and my niece was in our room. Our room stewardess came in and started yelling at my niece about the refrigerator issue. My niece told her that she was yelling at the wrong person. I really couldn’t believe this. Our group tipped her an extra $30 in addition to her other tips we gave her and she was somewhat rude all week long. I did not ever see her smile. She was very hard to understand, but I could understand her when she mentioned several times how hard her job was. We always straightened the room before she arrived all week to make her job easier. I feel very sorry for the employees on the ship and know they work very long hours and extremely hard, but she was taking it out on the wrong person. We made our way to the theatre and waited for our color to be called. By the time they called our color, all of the other people with different colors were making their way down the stairs and it was a major log-jam. They definitely need to have a different system for passengers who have early flights or those who are on tours. We finally made our way off of the ship to the large room with the bags. We attached metallic ribbon to our bags so they were really easy to find. We made prior arrangements with Super Shuttle to pick us up at the port and take us to the Fort Lauderdale Airport. They arrived within 20 minutes and we made it to the airport on time to check in. I used my Entertainment Card to get a “buy one, get one at half price” rate so it only cost around $70 for the 7 of us.

 

Overall, this was a wonderful cruise! The Valor is a very beautiful, patriotic ship. It was so clean, and as it should be, looked brand new. The food was better than expected. We wanted to try the supper club, but decided since the food in the dining room was great and we were with a group, that we would wait until our next cruise when we are by ourselves. If you are lucky enough to go on this ship, especially the Eastern Caribbean itinerary, you should feel very blessed. We will surely cruise with Carnival again.

 

 

Please contact me at mfinn@kc.rr.com if you have any questions or comments. Thanks!!

 

 

 

[Joedog]

Thanks for the review.

[lhall85917]

We made prior arrangements with Super Shuttle to pick us up at the port and take us to the Fort Lauderdale Airport. They arrived within 20 minutes and we made it to the airport on time to check in. I used my Entertainment Card to get a “buy one, get one at half price” rate so it only cost around $70 for the 7 of us.

 

Could you share more information about this - was this an Entertainment book that you purchased for Miami?

[BettyB2]

Thanks for taking the time to write this detailed review! We are considering this ship for 2006. The info on the ports you gave were helpful as we have almost the same itinerary when we sail the Triumph this December and then a week in Nassau in Feb! Thanks again soooooo much!!

DId anyone try the sushi bar? Did you see a lot of people with laptops?

[K.T.B.]

Wow, incredibly detailed. Thank you! By the way, you were far more calm about your unruly room steward than I would have been....! I do hope you complained to the purser's desk about them.

[MizzouMary]

Thanks for taking the time to write this detailed review! We are considering this ship for 2006. The info on the ports you gave were helpful as we have almost the same itinerary when we sail the Triumph this December and then a week in Nassau in Feb! Thanks again soooooo much!!

DId anyone try the sushi bar? Did you see a lot of people with laptops?

 

Hi BettyB2, You are welcome. I am glad I can help. I really gained a great deal of helpful information from this site before our cruises and I like to help others when I can. No, no one liked sushi in our group, but we walked past the bar several evenings and it looked very appetizing. I could smell cucumbers (which I love) in passing. Maybe I'll get the courage to try it next time. I am not much of a seafood eater. We only saw a few people with laptops, mainly in the library. However, most probably kept them in their cabins. We are considering taking a laptop in the future so we can download our photos throughout the week. I did use the laptop at the photo gallery to download my photos since my SD card would not work at the digital photo kiosk. Have a great time in Feb.!

[MizzouMary]

We made prior arrangements with Super Shuttle to pick us up at the port and take us to the Fort Lauderdale Airport. They arrived within 20 minutes and we made it to the airport on time to check in. I used my Entertainment Card to get a “buy one, get one at half price” rate so it only cost around $70 for the 7 of us.

 

Could you share more information about this - was this an Entertainment book that you purchased for Miami?

 

Hi. No, I actually purchased several books for Kansas City. We live in a suburb of KC. There is a national coupon section in the book and it has SuperShuttle listed. Miami was one of the cities listed so I contacted them and was told the discount would work for Miami. I gave the driver 3 cards since we had 7 people in our group. We had four at full price and then three at half price. Here's the link to Entertainment: http://www.entertainment.com/. If you live near a major city, type in the zip code and then type SuperShuttle in the search box at the top of the page. It should bring back the national coupon info. If you don't, you could actually purchase any Entertainment book and use the card for the discount. You must have the Entertainment card that is attached to the front of the book to show the driver. Make sure you write who you spoke with when reserving the shuttle, the date/time and the confirmation number. There are also coupons for Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines in the book. Hope this helps.

[MizzouMary]

Wow, incredibly detailed. Thank you! By the way, you were far more calm about your unruly room steward than I would have been....! I do hope you complained to the purser's desk about them.

 

You are welcome. I felt really sorry for this lady (the room steward). She looked like she hadn't slept in days. My husband said he joked with her a few times during the week and she didn't get the joke or even crack a smile, so he thought she either had a dry personality or just didn't understand our sense of humor. Probably the latter. We didn't complain since we were in a hurry the morning of departure when she yelled at my niece and we had already completed our surveys. Maybe she just had a bad week. I am hoping that was it.

[MizzouMary]

Thanks for the review.

 

You are welcome!

[Mrsdeedee]

I too appreciate the review. Thanks so much. I'm doing the same itenary in Nov so this info helps out. I pretty much know what were doing in Nassu I want to take the kids to see the Atlantis as wel but I'm still unsure about the other islands. Maybe we'll repeat what u did.

 

I also think you handled the room steward very well. Customer Service really hits a sore spot with me. At my job they thrive for customer service and we always have to give our best so when I don't get it in return watch out. I feel for the room steward as well but in my situation when I have scraped, begged and borrowed money to cruise I want a smile. I didn't really care for my last steward. He cleaned our cabin but we never saw him and when we did he never smiled or said hello or anything. I did love my waitress so I'm hoping to get her someone like her again.

[deircouz]

What a great review! We are going on the Glory 7/9/05 with the same itinerary. Your review was very helpful.

 

:)

[MizzouMary]

Thanks deircouz!

[pacerzfan]

Great Review!!!!!!!!!!! Have a group headed out on the Valor in October and hope our cruise is as good as yours. Ok maybe without the surley room steward......LOL

[klfhngr]

mfinin, a few questions:

a) Was the holiday inn nice?

b) I will also be flying into FTL, is the standard rate for shuttle $70 each way? We have 8 in our group.

c) We will be staying in 'your' room, 6452! Was it worth the extra cost? Was the inside spacious?

 

Thanks, looking forward to your response!

 

K