Valor Western 04/02

[CrusingKathy0522]

Okay, so we did get sick on our cruise, which definitely put a damper on things. There were some things that we were impressed by on the ship and the cruise.

 

First off, the ship is more like a building than a ship. This is the new design of ships to allow more balconies which obviously people want. Having the rooms all the way out doesn't give any walking around room. So, to get from the front to the back you have to either use deck 9 or deck 5.

 

The good news is, the design allows for very spacious public areas. The casino was just huge. It never felt crowded, there were always slots available, from 2 cents to $1, and it was easy to walk thru the casino. Also the dining rooms and lounges were a nice size.

 

Since we did get sick we honestly didn't see al the different areas. Never did catch a show (I know, shame on us, but we just wanted to relax), didn't hit the karaoke or disco, altho we loved the cigar bar. My husband bought himself a Cuban in Grand Cayman and we drank our B & B's there after dinner.

 

We were in cabin 9207 on the Lido deck. Very close to the front. That ship is so stable there were times I wondered whether we were actually moving! In Roatan, the water was literally like a bath tub. It did get rough in Costa Maya (port was closed) with a little rocking going on, but even being sick with a bug I never felt seasick.

 

Lido deck was very convenient to the buffet and to the pools.

 

I was expecting a kind of rowdy crowd but didn't see anything like that. If you wanted peace, it was easily found. If you wanted excitement, ditto. This is a huge plus.

 

The food was good, above average I'd say. Our last cruise on RCCL was a food disappointment. The dining room was particularly good. Buffet was ok, breakfasts weren't that good on the buffet but we were too lazy to use the dining room for either lunch or breakfast. We missed the fish and chips as well as the sushi and the oriental. I didn't care for the pizza but it was abundant. Grill was good and also the deli. A nice variety of foods.

 

Staff was definitely above par. Cabin attendants and also the wait staff were very friendly. And one noticeable thing was that there was so much staff. Most of them behind the scenes, like cleaning the trays from the tables at the buffet. Everything got cleaned up very quickly.

 

Ports: this was definitely "exotic". Grand Cayman was nice. We did a tour of the island plus the turtle farm. Fyi, they make it sound like they are conserving turtles, etc. and then it turns out they are slaughtering them for food and the shells. That was a little strange. Roatan was pretty, but like any 3rd world country it was very poor. Police carried big guns. If you do a beach break in Roatan, make sure you bring bug spray. The sand flies are vicious. I had hundreds of bites. Thank God they never itched, and faded in a few days.

 

Belize was pretty. We did the Altan Hua ruins. It's over an hour ride on a bus with little a/c. It included a tour of the city, which pretty much consisted of "there's some low income housing", "there's a bank that used to be a prison" and "there's more low income housing." Not overly exciting. The ruins were nice, but by then we weren't feeling that well. Luckily we did a little shopping in Belize because we missed Costa Maya due to rough weather.

 

We did have to visit the infirmary the first day because my hubbie forgot his BP meds. They charged $60 to take his BP and another $30 to replace his meds. I thought that was a little over the top, plus the doctor was probably the one staff member who wasn't too friendly.

 

We're not huge cruising people, so I'm not sure we'll do another week long one. Maybe in Europe. That kind of sounds nice. Otherwise, the rooms are too small to spend a week in, and we only had two in our room. I can't imagine more than that.

 

If I can answer any questions feel free. I'm hoping to post some pics later.

[Caribbean Dad1]

Thanks for the review. Sorry to hear that you were ill.

 

 

Otherwise, the rooms are too small to spend a week in, and we only had two in our room.

 

I am surprised to hear this. IIRC, Carnival offers the largest standard cabins in the cruise industry. I know that C-Mom and I have always found the space to be more than ample, and Valor 2/26 was no exception. But then again, we spend very little time in the cabin. If space is an issue, perhaps you should look into the CAT 11 or 12 Suites. Just a thought.

[nikita]

Thank you for the review. Hope you are feeling better!

[jerseygirl3]

I don't think $60 for an office visit on a ship and $30 for B/P meds is a bad price at all. You say they just took your husband's blood pressure, but I'm sure they had to get a history on him and process him as a patient. People are used to paying co-pays these days...25 years ago when I had my first child it was $35 just to walk through the door.

 

BTW, if you have travel insurance, they will reimburse you the doctor's visit. I had to see the doctor on the Caribbean Princess ($120 to be seen, no meds given) and I was fully reimbursed by my travel insurance company.

[monton2]

I also just got back from the 4/2 Valor cruise. I had no problem with the cabin size (and my DH and I spent lots of time in there ;) ). We had an ocean view, and it was more than enough room.

The only thing we really didn't like on the cruise were all the drunk teenagers. Some were quite young staggering down the halls.

Besides that, (which, I'm not saying is carnivals fault) we had an amazing time.