Pt-3 Okgirl 5/11 Valor Review

[okgirl]

OKGIRL 5/11 VALOR PT-3

Monday (Sea Day / Formal Night) One of the reasons Donna and I like to cruise so much is because we never have time to read anymore. Donna almost never gets off the ship, as we have been in most of the Caribbean ports many times. On sea days we are very relaxed and spend most of our time either on the Lido at the fantail, or if it’s too hot we retreat down to the Promenade somewhere close to the Casino and read and people watch. This day was no different other than I did take a nap out on the balcony, because I had been in the Casino very late the night before. The Casino was very good to us this trip and I won several smallish jackpots but won $1000 on a single spin of the Wheel of Fortune bonus wheel.

Donna was also coming down with a cold, so she just rested and kept quiet all day. As I said earlier, it was formal night but we ate in Rosie’s. Apparently some of the younger folks got pretty wild at the end of this evening and broke one of the panel’s’ of the sliding skydome over the aft Lido. It had to be closed and the port side of the Lido was closed most of the next day.

Tuesday (Grand Cayman) I wasn’t going to get off the ship but the gift shop didn’t have a very good selection of OTC cold stuff and we didn’t want to go to the ships doctor, so I got off just long enough to walk down to the pharmacy which is about 4 blocks from the pier by the post office and bought some stuff. I did stop at the Hard Rock, for an adult refreshment (it was a long walk and I was thirsty)

Wednesday (Isla Roatan) This is a fairly undeveloped port right now, but progress is being made. We were there several years ago and as I remember there was a “straw market” type of mall where all the vendors were selling their wares. Lots of lovely carved exotic woods. They are currently under construction at a new pier facility, which when finished will be a 2 story, 3 building connected by walkways which will house shops and restaurants and a nice large patio area. I think it will be kind of like (though not as large or fancy) the shops at St. Maartin. We purchased some small cherry wood boxes to put spices and salt and stuff like that in. I expect when we’re back in this port in September it will be finished.

Thursday (Belize) This is a long tender port but we really enjoyed it. The tender ride is 20 minutes. You can only barely see the shops along the shoreline. Plenty of places to shop, cheap drugs both prescription and OTC. I went through the mall and out the back fence where there are other vendors, because I saw a building that said Flea Market and I really wanted to go there, but the vendors outside the fence were so aggressive that I just went in the back gate of a restaurant and sat on their patio for a drink and some chips/salsa. We were on more of a speed boat type of tender back to the ship and it was fast 10 minutes it was very bumpy. This is not for the faint of stomach. BTW, this is the 2nd formal night.

Friday (Cozumel) We were in port with my beloved Conquest this day and it was great to get to see her coming into port from the perspective of my balcony. We had intended to meet some Conquest Crazies at Senor Frogs, but it was really hot and phones weren’t working so that meet never happened. But we did spend an hour or so at Senor’ Frogs and had the Yard Margarita and some Nacho’s. It’s a loud and wild place with lots of whistles, Jello shots, swings a dance floor and a dj that really keeps things hopping. We had our picture made out on the patio with the Valor and Conquest in the background, the picture w/ 2 smaller one’s in the corner plus a cute frame was only $28, not bad I thought. This is the place to buy Aha Toro if you’re a tequila drinker like our crazy BlasterDave, but be careful of the hand blown bottle and the cork, they tend to leak.

I think that if you are choosing the Express Luggage option (which is absolutely worth the $15/pp) you have to have your paperwork turned in by noon on Friday. More to come about this later……

Saturday (Final Sea Day) What can you say about this day. We wander around taking last minute pictures, paying tips to all of those that have gone out of their way to make our cruise a great time. Get packed, and trade business cards with all of those we want to keep in touch with. And our last ritual late on Saturday night which on this trip was around 1:30am on Sunday, was to have one last piece of pizza and spicy Bimmie’s.

Final thoughts coming soon……….YES, DEBARKATION WAS AS BAD AS I'VE EVER HAD IT.

[kansas kruiser]

Great review janey!! can't wait for part 4!!:)

[dommer573]

Nice review, is there more to come? I see were sailing at the same time, but different ships. Have fun and maybe We'll see you at sea.

[Drew B]

She's posted the rest of the review - parts two and three - as separate threads...