Carnival Valor 9/23-9/30/07 Eastern

[DanusLight]

My attempt at a review:

 

Saturday 9/22 arrived at FLL via jetBlue with absolutely no problems. We had never flown jetBlue but I would do so without hesitation. We took the bus transfer (FLL is kind of spread out) over to the car rental center to pick up our car for the day. We stayed at Candlewood Suites for the night. It's a new hotel on Highway 84. Got checked in and headed for the Hard Rock Casino. We stayed several hours, played a bit in the casino, toured the grounds and then went to get ready for dinner. Since we were celebrating birthdays we had reservations for Ruth's Chris Steak House in Ft. Lauderdale. Dinner was GREAT!

 

Sunday 9/23 Left Ft. Lauderdale about 8:00 stopped for breakfast and found our way to the Port of Miami. DH dropped off DS and me with our luggage and went to return the rental car at the downtown Miami location. He did that and took a taxi back all within less than 30 minutes. We were in line ready to start the embarkation process by 9:30. There was a bit of a wait as it seems the previous cruisers didn't want to get off the ship. At least that is what we were told. Finally stepped foot on the ship about 11:15 and all I can say is WOW. We were in cabin 1026 a balcony cabin on the Panorama deck. At about 12:45 to see if we could leave our carryon's and our room steward said "Of Course!" then added that he almost had the rooms ready but it would be a bit longer.

 

Headed to the Lido deck in search of a bar! DH got his bucket and DS and I purchased our soda cards. Total price for 2 for the 7 days was $88.55. Actually break down is $5.50 a day plus 15% gratuity which is a great deal! Back to the cabin to retieve life vests for muster which is the indication that it's almost time to set sail!! Muster took all of about 17 minutes.

 

Sail Away was great. We watched from our balcony! We had all of our luggage except one piece before sailing. The last piece showed up about 6:00.

 

Monday: Nassau We got off the ship and found Starbucks ... lol Then got a taxi to the Ardastra Gardens and Zoo. This place was great. Marching flamingo show, hand feeding of the Lorry parakeets and a great variety of different animals. Taxi back to the straw market for the obligatory walk thru. Wandered back to the ship about an hour before we were supposed to sail. This was our first formal evening. Although we dressed for the evening, I honestly could not tell you the ratio of those who did or did not. After a great dinner we headed to the piano bar. Mark the piano player was very entertaining!

 

Tuesday: Sea Day Breakfast in the dining room. I have to admit I was disappointed. Our food was cold and service was slow. Getting a coffee refill was next to impossible. Played bingo later that morning. The rest of the day was spent relaxing on the Lido.

 

Wednesday: St. Thomas I WOULD MOVE HERE! We had a tour of the island, a ride up to Paradise Point where I discovered my new favorite drink: a Bushwacker! and then wound up at Megan's Bay. Absolutely amazing! I did not want to leave!

 

Thursday: St. Maarten Booked a tour through Carnival. It was the 'Best of St. Maarten Island & Beach Combo. I did not like this tour at all. According to our bus driver, the roads they are allowed to take for the tour had been recently changed and there really isn't much to see on this route. Our tour (and I use that word loosely) ended at Orient Beach. After Magen's Bay, for me, this beach was a disappointment. We walked the beach for about 5 minutes then spent the rest of our time sitting at the bar waiting for our appointed time to leave.

 

Friday and Saturday Both sea days pretty much spent like the first one.

 

We did self assist debarkation. Very painless. Walked off grabbed a taxi and back to FLL.

 

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions, I will try to answer them. I do have a price list for the excursions for Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten and a few Capers.

[cruise-4-ever]

Will be on the Valor next August. Thanks for taking the time in sharing your cruise memories.

[1gr8cruise]

Who did you use for your tour of St. Thomas???

[Charming01]

Good review! It's nice to hear about the different ships and what people did on their vacation.

[Payd]

Thanks for your review!!

 

Payd:)

[DanusLight]

Who did you use for your tour of St. Thomas???

 

We booked through Carnival. Our original plan was to rent a car and just tour on our own, but after I found this tour, we went with it. It was wonderful! It's called the Magen's Bay and Paradise Point Tour. It's listed as 3.5 hours, but it was closer to 4.5.

[2206]

What time was your St. Thomas tour? What did you do for the rest of the day in St. Thomas if it was only 4.5 hours? Thanks very much..

[DanusLight]

What time was your St. Thomas tour? What did you do for the rest of the day in St. Thomas if it was only 4.5 hours? Thanks very much..

 

Our tour met at 11:00am on the pier. When we got back we walked around the area near the pier. Lots of neat little shops that of course aren't mentioned during the Ports Shopping talk :rolleyes:. Then it was back to the ship for a nap in a lounge chair :D

 

On a side note, I'm really beginning to think that Carnival Corp owns Diamonds International .... lol