Valor 11-4-11

[Irish708]

Was on the Valor in September also Eastern LOVED HER ! So much in fact that I booked the Western route for next year ! Wish it were sooner :)

[Chigirlcruzin]

Was on the Valor in September also Eastern LOVED HER ! So much in fact that I booked the Western route for next year ! Wish it were sooner :)

 

Thinking of doing the same. Either that or the Legend. The big drawback to the Valor is sailing out of Miami:rolleyes:, although I think I can deal with it.

[RocHed11]

Wednesday St Thomas:

I woke up late again to get real good pics of the sunrise but I was up before we sailed into port. I got some pics of some of the Islands we sailed by and watched as we made our way to the dock. RCCL FotS had backed in so when we pulled in we were aft to aft.

 

We had a simple tour scheduled "The best of St Thomas" wich was pretty much a drive arround the Island which included three stops The Guest House or Captain's Corner and another stop we made was the Home of the World Famous Banana Daiquiri with the first I think was a Historic Hotel of some sorts and the latter Gift Shops with a bar and both of them having beautiful view of the back side of the Island..

 

We pretty much made a loop around the Isle and on the way back to the port we did make another stop allowing us to get pics of our ship and the Queen Mary 2 in a different port.

 

The vehicle we were in was like a big pickup with a Pod of a bank of open air seats in the bed. Covered of course but no glass windows. This was important because it made for better pictures without the reflection of the window. Taking pics from a moving vehicle has it’s own challenges. Since there normally is a lag, you have to be really good at anticipation when taking pics through the trees. Believe me, I was unlucky a lot more than lucky.

 

Another thing to consider, our tour didn’t start until 11:30 am so we were in the tour during the hottest part of the day. I believe the Island time was one hour ahead of the ship’s time.

 

We were pretty drained at this point so we went back to the ship. We Hung out at the aft pool for the rest of the afternoon while a rain shower approached. We Got a bit of rain so I went up top and saw the rainbow. Didn’t have camera with me though..

 

Tonight was out trip to Scarlett’s at 19:30 hours. We got there on time and were treated wonderfully. It was a fantastic experience. We weren’t rushed at all. It was amasing. I had the Filet Mignon and DW had the Surf and Turf. The Filet was Excellent. Perfectly cooked. I had the Grgich Hills Cabernet 2003 or maybe 2002 which is a wine to be savored. It was tasty. A bit pricy by the glass-$15.00. But was it good. It did things to my palate that I cant describe- maybe that’s too much info-lol.

 

After dinner I think we went to the Casino or Disco. I should have written it all down.

 

More Later,

 

T

[RocHed11]

Addendum to the above post. As we were waiting for the sun to go down, I think Cannival had about 2 anouncments over the loud speakers. On the other hand, the RCCL FotS had at least 8 or 9 anouncments I could hear clearly. Just a FYI.

 

 

T

[RocHed11]

Thursday St Maarten:

 

Today we had an early tour at 08:30 hours. This time it was an air conditioned Bus which was good and bad. Good for comfort and bad for Pics. This was called the best of St Maarten tour and pretty much was a trip around the Island. We made a couple of shopping stops We bought a couple of things.

 

Pictures were no so great as St Thomas cuz I had to take them through the windows. We made our tour and when the tour was ended we had the option to be dropped off downtown. We did so and made our way to a restaurant which I forgot the name of but it was on the beach side of the street. I was a very famous Hotel B&B and very good. It was the oldest hotel in St Maarten by reputation I think. We had some expensive fish there which was good then we took a walk down the street past and in the shops. We Made our way to the Water Taxi area and took it.

 

We go back to the Pier area, shopping area and hung out there for a while. DW Bought an Ice Cream and I bought a small bottle of Absolute Vodka. I also Bought two bottles of Ginger Ale and put them all in the same bag. They all made it through X-Ray and I was able to bring on board. I never opened the bottle so what’s the difference . Anyway I was able to smuggle a 375 ml bottle of Absolut on board. Oh Well

 

We had a great time. This was my DW’s B-Day and I sneakingly told our server Mark from India that it was her B-Day and she got a Happy B-Day song from Our servers. The Cool thing was is that she was the only one that night that got a song for her B-Day. The next nights there were three or four each night.

 

Any way it was all good and maybe we went to the Disco- My memory is failing.

 

The last couple days are next.

 

T

[RocHed11]

Friday: Day at sea, Woke up late and found a spot by the main pool and laid out in the sun. Took some pics. Had dinner and went to bed. I'm sorry thease days are like a blur to me. I wish I had written it down. I doo remember taking a pic of my favorite Aft pool Bar Bartender but the batteries failed. I never did go back though.

 

Saturday: Another dat at sea. Kind of a sad day, since it was our last on the ship. It always is a down day when you know it's about over as this was the case. We spent the day in the sun again. In the evening Casino and allittle Disco. I think the food was good. I don't remembering it being bad.

 

 

Sunday: Departing day. I have to tell you this was the easiest disembarkation ever. We left our bags outside our room which were gone by 11:00pm. Our departure number was 12. We waited on the lido deck until our number was called. They called our number. The time it took from that point for us to get our bags and take them through Customs took all of 15 minutes. It could have been shorter but I thought we were number 12 and that was a different carrusel. Anyway it was the easiest disembarkion I've ever experienced. After we passed through immigration, we went outside and stepped into a Taxi wgich took us to our hotel. The Holiday Inn Bayside. We Dropped our bags off at the Hotel and then went to Bayside for lunch. I finally went to a Hooters for the first time in my life- The wings were good. lol.. We met up with our Niece and Nephew and they showed us more of Miami and Miami Beach. It was a great time.

 

Next is the overall impression

 

T

[RocHed11]

Carnival Valor, 11/4-11/11-2007 overall impressions:

 

From the moment I Boarded the ship until the moment I got off I have to say I had the most fantastic time of my life on vacation. I don’t know if it was I wanted it to be true or it just was but I had an incredible time it was the first time for me in the Caribbean. I wanted this to be a great vacation and it was.

 

From the time we sailed it was tremendous. The balmy weather. The Tropical Sun. What more could you want in November. On board, I thought the ship was beautiful. The theme wasn’t jingoistic as some have stated-I believe they were looking for it to be. The Valor honored people from everywhere, not just the US. I walked past Napoleon every day. It didn’t bother me.

 

The People on board were a microcosm of habitants of this planet. None of us any Better nor Worse than anyone else. I neither saw nor heard of any fights or scuffles so I guess we all got along

 

I will never forget Sail Away, the feeling of peace, of wonderment of joy realizing a lifelong dream I had come to pass.

 

The feeling of the balmy, sometimes Hot and humid weather on board. The Humidity I never experience in the desert.

 

The food and plenty of it. Most of it very good. Where can I get that on vacation every day?

 

The Views of the Ocean, The Colors, The Smells, The Sunrises and Sunsets.

 

The look of enjoyment on children’s faces, the look of Wow on adult faces, including mine. I want to go on this cruise again. The same stops but explore different places and experience different things.

 

This was my first Caribbean Cruise and it will always be special because I waited so long for it. It was pretty much as I expected and more in a lot of ways.

 

The Ship Valor was magnificent to me. If it had carpet stains I did not notice, there was no sewer smell in the hallway. I thought the décor was tasteful throughout the ship.

 

In other words I Loved my cruise and I loved this ship. I don’t think I can say anymore than that. I am waiting to do this again and I’m hoping the next time will be at least close to the first.

 

Thank you all for allowing me to share this with you.

 

 

T

[Chigirlcruzin]

Awesome review! There's nothing like the first. I would recommend not doing the same itinerary for your next one though. I did that with my first two cruises (and only 9 months apart), and the second one was a disappointment. Not that I didn't have a great time, it just didn't live up to the expectations I developed from the first cruise. Of course, I also went from a brand spanking new ship (inaugural voyage) to an 11 year old ship, so probably played into it.

[momofzeke]

Thanks for the review ~ sounds like you had a wonderful cruise. :)

 

What did you think of the Holiday Inn Bayside? We are staying there before our cruise next March. Had you arranged for early check-in? We have a redeye flight arriving in Miami Saturday morning, and I'm hoping to get early check-in ~ haven't called them yet, though.

[RocHed11]

The Holiday Inn Bayside Is extremely convenient. Just a few minutes from the port. Across the street from Bayside Park. Music there every day. I would have liked to spend more time there.

 

It was clean but it is showing it's age a bit. We would stay there again if the occasion arose.

 

T

[RocHed11]

Shameless Bump for those doing the Eastern Carib on Valor. Hope you enjoy

T