Valor 8-20 Review

[cruisejunkie15]

Valor – Western Caribbean Review

 

In order to put my review in perspective, here is a little bit of info about me. I believe that not everyone likes or dislikes the same things, and age, sex and expectations has alot to do with that. Read the review, and put it in perspective with your needs and wants, so that you can take the best from the review as it is. I am 23 years old, Female, Accountant, and my expectations for the cruise was to relax and have a good time, as well as give my boyfriend a good birthday to remember. Also, important to note, I did the same itinerary last year. I don’t have kids, and like my alone time.

 

Embarkation: Steven and I arrived at the pier at 11 am. It was sprinkling outside, and I was worried that the line would be outside since I did not want to get wet. Last year I arrived at the pier about the same time, and the lines were horrendous. However, the line was inside and it moved rather quickly. We were on the Valor, enjoying our lunch by 12. Can’t beat that!

 

Cabin: I was so happy because this was our first balcony, and we were on the 8th deck. We were towards the back of the ship. Not a problem regarding the view or the movement of the ship. We only had one or two nights that were really rocky, but that was mainly the ship moving so fast trying to get to the other ports, I don’t believe it had anything to do with how high we were. However, I would NOT recommend getting the 8th deck to anyone. Not because of the noise, we did not experience noise with the deck chairs up on the lido, in fact it was noisy out in the balcony but other than that it was not bad. However, the room smelled like French fries!! We were under the grill, so you can see what I mean. We asked our steward if he had any spray (my boyfriend would not let me take spray on the luggage, saying that the rooms never smell….guess who was right?) and he did not, so he wiped the walls and that helped out with the smell, but we put that behind us and did not let it ruin our cruise. Other than that, loved the cabin, think they were the best!!!!!

 

Service: First and foremost I would like to say that I was spoiled on our last cruise on the Valor. My cabin steward was the best, and always was on top of everything I needed. Therefore my expectations were high, but I accommodated them rather quickly. The first day I got there, as soon as I was able to go to the room I went and asked for Ice, because my boyfriend brought a bottle of champagne and we wanted to keep it chilled for the sailaway. Well, the Ice never came….we waited and waited (4 hours) called different stewards, and nothing. They were not prepared at all for the new cruisers; they were behind schedule I guess. So I ended up drinking my champagne that night like at 10pm. That was disappointed, but I am sure it happens often, they made up for it by always keeping ice for us, and kept our other wine bottle cold for the night I wanted it. Other than that, I think everything went well. The ship was always clean, people were going around everywhere to make sure that no plate or cups were left hanging around. It was really clean, and they were a lot of kids (to my surprise, since school has started).

 

Food: the food was not that good….and honestly whoever said that the BLT of room service was good….must not have had really good BLT’s before! Also, room service took 2 hours, so order it when you can wait for it in the room. but that’s ok, I had had the food last year, therefore I know it is not the best. My favorite is the fish and chips and the oriental. The buffet I never had, its not my favorite food, I think it always taste soggy. Breakfast at the buffet was not that good either, it is your regular cafeteria food….the pancakes and the tater tots and the French toasts are always undercooked, and soggy because of the heat lamps. But its not something that I eat a lot of, it is exactly what cruise food at the buffet always is, so I don’t want to say that it was really gross, its just how I expect it to be, they have to cook so many for so many people and then it sits out under the lamps, so its not always the best. I personally rather have the sit down, but that only happens when I have time to spare, like when we are not in port in the morning, if we are, then it’s the buffet. The omelets are great, so I would recommend to always get that, and the bagels along with the croissants. Dinner was good for me, I like my meat medium-well, so I never had a problem with the meat. Now if you liked it more pink or rare, then I saw many at my table never get it to their liking, it would always come too cooked. I did not have a problem. If you like bitter and blanc dessert though, forget about it, they changed it and now its too dry, no longer my favorite. I liked the dinners though, they were like last year, and I got to meet great people, some whom I am keeping in contact with. J

 

Scarletts: I loved it, this is where I took my boyfriend on the last night for his birthday. I ordered the cake, which was one of the best cakes I have had, and the dinner was amazing! I do recommend this to anyone, for $30 you will never be able to eat so well! :)

 

Shows: I loved the shows, I always do! The comedy shows were not that good, except for one comedian the rest were actually kind of bad. but the Las Vegas style ones were the best. The ventriloquist I did not go see, its not really my thing, therefore I can not give an opinion on that one.

 

Ports:

 

Grand Cayman: I did a snorkeling and stingray city tour with an independent company. I loved it. The whole operation went smooth, and we did two sites for snorkeling. The boat was not crowded, and we each got time with the stingrays to get pictures and massages. There was a videographer on board, and I purchased the video, it was awesome. I liked the port a lot more than other times. I bought all my liquor and the rum cakes here as well; I feel they offer the best prices.

 

Roatan: I did ziplining and Tabayana beach through the ship. I loved it! Ziplining is very action oriented, and its scary for me, I hate heights. You have to carry your own weight, because you have to lift yourself up to be zipped to the line, but it was great. I feel that it was one of the best things I have ever done, and will do it again when I go to Roatan again. Tabayana beach is the best beach I have ever been to! It is so clear and its definitely somewhere I would like to live. I love this port, it is my favorite port of the whole trip.

 

Belize: Last year I did cave tubbing, and loved it. This year we did the jungle buggy and cave expedition. It was amazing! First they take you from the ship to the port on a tender with people doing your tour only. Once at the port they take you to this big truck looking car, its cool, but I don’t know how to describe it. I guess the best description is like the trucks they have at Animal Kingdom in Disney. You get an tour of the city on this truck, and then you get to the jungle. Wear old sneakers and comfortable clothes (this is just a word of advice) there is a lot of mud, and you will get dirty. then you walk through the rainforest for like 20 minutes, and then you get to drive the range rovers, if you know how to drive stick. The roads are very muddy and wet….so you will get dirty again in the car. Also, drive carefully, the range rovers do flip! You then drive to a cave, and you explore the cave, but its small, its not a big cave. Then you continue your drive in the rover, and this is when the road gets the worst. Our rover actually flipped in one of the side roads, (we were the only ones that flipped!!!) and that was scary!!! But fun at the same time, since nothing did happen to us, except me freaking out thinking I was going to drown. Then they take you to a house in the woods, where you get rum punch (tastes great!) and you can purchase food for $5, which was amazing! Then you go on a high speed boat ride down the river and then to your ship. Well worth the money, I think you do the most on this tour. I think it gives you the biggest bang for your buck.

 

Costa Maya: I HATED this port. I went to Cozumel last year, we did Tulum, I LOVED the port, the people. Everything. I HATED Costa Maya. The port is the only place I will go if we have to stop here again. (I sure hope I never stop there again) the people are scammers, everyone is lying and trying to steal money from you. I am Hispanic, I have no problem with people trying to earn their money, but I have a problem with dishonest people. We booked a snorkeling tour, $10 a person with OLINCA (do NOT book with them, this is only advice if you want to like the port). It was 4 of us (we made friends from the dinner table). The tour was for noon, so we were at the beach, the one that brings drinks and food for $20, one word, don’t do it. The drinks were only mixer, we had like 20 drinks, not even a buzz, and they tasted like (bad stuff). The tour never got there, it was 12:30, I don’t mind waiting, but tell me that the ship is late or that there was a problem, instead they did not tell us anything, they kept saying wait it will be here. I speak Spanish, so I understood them saying that the ship was far away. Then one little boat came, and they packed so many people there it looked like it was going to flip, I asked for my money back because we did not fit in the boat, and he would not give it to me. He said I had to go back to pier to get the money I had given there, but that would have taken 2 dollars for a taxi over there, and then 3 dollars to get back to the ship. After saying he lost my receipt, and then finally finding it when I cussed him out in Spanish, our group decided to stay at the beach until the time came to go back to the ship, because there was not going to be anyone at the pier to give us our money back. Well we get back to the pier, and all the booths were empty, but we saw the Olinca people as they were about to leave, needless to say we got our money back. The pool at the pier is better than the beach itself. A lot better. The drinks there are better, but not as good as the drinks and the food in Cozumel. I have had authentic Mexican food before, but the food at the Costa Maya was overpriced and tasted like taco bell. :( Have I mentioned that I hated this port?

 

Overall: I loved my cruise! I had our cabin decorated for my boyfriend birthday and he loved it. I loved the people I met and the memories we shared. We did not let bad ports, or bad service, or bad food get in our way of good fun. I LOVED the piano guy! He was the best. He kept making fun of my group because we were all drunk, and he would sing perverted songs for us! :) that was my favorite part!!!! :) Cant wait to do it all again !!! remember, a cruise is what you make of it. :)

 

I will be on the Liberty in Dec.

[scejas]

I'm the boyfriend if you have any questions feel free to ask...

 

The cruise would have been perfect if not for Costa Maya... I was rather saddened by stop...

 

aside from the drinks being weak and the bad experience with the tour operator -- I tried to enjoy the beach but I couldn't because of the smell of gasoline from the wave runners...

 

I walked the city some and decided to eat at Tapas... save the money eat onboard .. it's horribly over priced for the region... same prices as your local chilis ...

 

I love mexican food... my father was raised by a foster mexican family and i loved it... the food was eh... d+ to c- for that price in mexico i expect a hardy meal... sigh i'll post pictures latter...

 

I can't praise enough the zip line / tabayana beach excursion (roatan) and the land rover one in belieze...