Valor Review (Western Carribbean) Short & Sweet

[lizardhowson]

Valor, Western Caribbean, June 24 to July 1, 2007

 

Embarkation: Although we arrived at the port an hour late due to flight delay (Arrived at noon instead of 11 AM), embarkation went smoothly except that two out of group of 9 had to be switched to different cabins because of past guest discount placement by our PVP. This took about 20 minutes longer, but we were on the ship in about 1 1/2 hours. Once on the ship, we went to purser's desk to get correct sign & sail cards and discovered the changes which the check-in agent made were wrong, so about another half hour to get everything fixed. (Not sure I would switch people around in cabins again to get past guest discounts)

 

Valor was in real good shape and has been kept that way so it looks good.

 

Room Steward: We had a good room steward, but I have had better. He did his job, kept the room cleaned, switched the towels and kept our ice bucket 3/4 full. On the first day, I asked him to remove the items from the mini-bar and stuffed some cash in his hand, but when I returned that evening, it had not been done. The next day I grabbed him in the hall, and made sure he did so (he was really hesitant to comply, not sure why)

Other than that one issue, he did his job and we were satisfied. (Tipped a little extra).

 

Food: Ate all evening meals in the dinning room. Had a decent head waiter (not really friendly) but he got the food orders correct and brought us everything we wanted. I even got a plain lettuce wedge salad several days when it was not on the menu. Our assistant waiter was fantastic. She was very friendly and personable. She was employee of the month and she deserved the honor. We liked her so much, my mother left her rose bouquet for her on the final night. We tipped extra (same amount to both head and assistant waiter). Food quality was so-so. We eat out allot, so we are used to upscale food. I had a couple of items which I didn't care for and a few which were delicious. As far as the food at Rosie's, it was typical cafeteria style and was adequate. We were able to get real eggs prepared at the omelet station which was nice. The fish & chips were good. Only negative at Rosie's are the rude people who refuse to wait in line. I wish Carnival would try and control that more, but you get that everywhere.

 

Shows: Went to 3 or 4 and they were enjoyable. Only negative with shows was that my father is hearing impaired (WWII vet) and Carnival assured me they had audio devices on the Valor. As it turned out, they finally found a device, but the system didn't work and none of the engineers could fix it. The purser's desk was nice, but kept making excuses and promising it would be fixed any minute. It never did work so my father couldn't hear the comedians, magicians, etc.

 

Ports: The ship arrived on time or early at all the ports. We kept busy with excursions and enjoyed them. It rained part of the day at all 4 of our ports, but we suffered thru. And it was HOT !! Worst experience was tendering back to ship at Belize. It took forever and the ship left late due to this problem.

 

Disembarkation: We self disembarked and all went well. The ship was cleared by Customs early, so disembarkation began early. We were down to the lobby deck in about 10 minutes.

 

The worst of the trip was American Airlines lost all 3 of our bags on the way home, so we were without our toiletries for a day. Just glad it didn't happen at the front end of the flights.

 

Overall: Everyone should enjoy the Valor. It is a good itinerary and the ship is in good shape. As with all ships, the deck plans are screwy, but thats cruising.

 

Enjoy !! :D

[Wennfred]

Great short and sweet review. We also enjoyed the Valor.

 

Do you remember your Waiters names?

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Fred

[lizardhowson]

Great short and sweet review. We also enjoyed the Valor.

 

Do you remember your Waiters names?

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Fred

 

Mark & Florence

Lincoln Dining Room

[C-shells]

I have too agree about the rude passenger behavior on the Valor! We sailed the Legend last year and the Imagination the year before and never experienced behavior like that. I agree the crew could have done more too keep "order" in lines. We did find the ship somewhat confusing. It seemed like it had secret passages. The ports were great despite the rain. Our head waiter Michael and his assistant Guillermo were great. I don't think we will sail again on the Valor.:cool:

[pacerzfan]

Great review, lizardhowson.

[jervid]

thanks for the great review...

we leave for the Valor in a couple of days...

any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.???

[jerick]

jervid - Be sure to check out the piano bar. If the performer is good it can be a lot of fun. Also, when you get into Rosie's, don't worry if you don't see a free table - most of them are toward the stern, along with a second Grand Buffet. Be sure to check out all of the food stations - there are several, including one (fish & chips,etc) station on the deck above.

 

Have fun!

 

Jeff

[tammymacb]

Exotic Western June 8, 2008. We can't wait! Thanks for the review. :)

[lizardhowson]

thanks for the great review...

we leave for the Valor in a couple of days...

any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.???

 

Hummm..

 

24 hour ice cream machine at the rear of the ship, by the aft pool.

 

Check out the wide deck at the front of the ship above the bridge. Go to the very front of the ship on deck 9, you will see a door on left side, it can be very windy out there. Usually you have the entire deck to yourselves (unless one of the bridge officers is taking a smoke break) It extends out past the sides of the ship, so the view is what they see from the bridge.

 

You can get real eggs cooked any way you desire at the omelet station in Rosie's for breakfast. Chocolate milk is available for all meals at Rosie's even if it's not set out. Ask for it.

 

If you want real juice (orange, tomato, pineapple, apple and some others) do breakfast in the dinning room instead of Rosie's

 

Check the front and back cafeteria lines at Rosie's. Sometimes there are different items on the front and back sections.

 

In the 3rd closet, farthest away from the door to your cabin, you can hang up clothes or pull down about 3 shelves to stack folded clothes.

 

Watch for the dolphins swimming beside the bow of the ship especially going in and out of ports. There are also "flying fish" which jump about 30 feet across the water.

 

Enjoy your cruise. :cool:

[rebeljohn]

Enjoyed your review..............short and sweet...........thanks for posting it.......

[BULLOCH12]

enjoyed the review, we will be sailing oct.21