First time Trip Report - VALOR - 5th - 12th

[Bontongrl]

There was an ice carving exhibition going on, on the Lido Deck,,,,,, Wow, its amazing what they can do with ice, isn't it ? and all I can ever think to do with it, is use it in a DRINK !! lol

 

 

 

and the final product,,, a beautiful swan !!

 

 

 

 

 

It had been announced earlier in the day, that there would be a galley tour for those who are interested. Everyone was to meet in the Washington Dining room at 3:30.

We all went,,,,,, I was excited to see the kitchens !!

 

 

The maitre'd talked for a bit about what it takes to feed 3,600 on a full cruise. The statistics of just the food information is really amazing. Over 20,000 meals per day. Us cruise passengers sure are a gluttonous lot !!! They spend over $250,000 per week JUST on food. And here I thought MY grocery bill was big. I will never complain again,,, lol

 

After the talk, they led us through the kitchens. By this time it was almost 4:30 and the first seating was only 1 1/2 hours away, and the place was spotless, and I mean spotless. I have NEVER seen a cleaner kitchen !! I don't know how they could do a tour and still manage to get all that food ready in that short span of time. They must have some MAJOR size microwave ovens in there, <wink>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bontongrl]

Some more galley pics,,,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought this was soooooooo cute,,,,,, lol

 

 

Just SOME of the storage facilities,,,,,

 

[Bontongrl]

Enjoyable trip report, I enjoyed your report on the playa website also.

 

 

Thanks DiverDownAZ,,

 

We had a great time In Playa last year,

and that was the first time I wrote a report,,,,,;)

 

There's also a short Mardi Gras report on the same site if you are interested in some Mardi Gras stuff.... :D

[Texas-Ben]

Could DH please contact me at FWFCBen at aol. I have some Cozumel questions I would like to ask and don't want to hijack. If not just let me know and I'll start a new thread about my questions. It's all about getting my fins wet and the information given to you guys about the reefs after Wilma (the hurricane, not Fred's wife).

 

Thanks!

[Bontongrl]

Could DH please contact me at FWFCBen at aol. I have some Cozumel questions I would like to ask and don't want to hijack. If not just let me know and I'll start a new thread about my questions. It's all about getting my fins wet and the information given to you guys about the reefs after Wilma (the hurricane, not Fred's wife).

 

Thanks!

 

Will do Ben,,,

 

I'll let him know :)

[lindasuej]

I know somewhere in this wonderful review you posted a link to your other reviews. So I dont' have to scroll through every page again to find it, would you be so kind as to repost this link.

Thanks

Linda

[Vacationjunkie4]

Texas-Ben,

 

I was looking at the Humble Dive shop web site last week and noticed that they were going to Cozumel. I think they went last week. They might be able to put you in contact with the right people down there.

[Vacationjunkie4]

Texas-Ben,

 

Here is the site. I assumed you knew I meant Humble, Tx. But, just in case likn is below. If it doesn't work google Humble Tx dive shops

 

http://wwdive.com/

[Bontongrl]

I know somewhere in this wonderful review you posted a link to your other reviews. So I dont' have to scroll through every page again to find it, would you be so kind as to repost this link.

Thanks

Linda

 

Thank you Linda,,,,,,

 

Here they are,,,,,,

 

The first is for a trip to Playa del Carmen last summer. It's also kinda lenghty,,,,and it got hijacked for a bit , you will see,,,:D, so be ready for another long read, lol

 

 

http://www.playa.info/playa-del-carmen-forum/43654-first-time-trip-report-playa-rpdc.html

 

and if you are interested, this is a much shorter report to Mardi Gras this past February.:)

 

http://www.playa.info/playa-del-carmen-forum/49748-mardi-gras-new-olreans-feb-2009-a.html

[Bontongrl]

After doing the Galley Tour, we went to Rosie's and got a lil bite to eat...

Didn't want to ruin our last dinner,,,, lol

 

Had to stop by and see my favorite Grillmaster !! He still has the sweetest smile,

amazing for someone working 9 hours a day, with barely a break, !

 

 

 

then walked around the decks,, for one last time,,,,,,

 

Funny, we knew about the adult pool in the back of the ship, just never seemed to make it there during the week. We should have,,, it was a lot quieter and more room in the pool,,,,,

 

The only time we really made it back that far, was going for pizza really late a few nights,,,,,,,I wasn't a big fan of the pizza,, but that must have been just me, because DH and DFs liked it. So did lots of others, because there was always a line of people waiting for pizza !! lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and while I did this,,,,,,,

 

 

 

 

DH was back at the rail doing this,,,,,,,,he could never get enough of just looking out over the ocean,,,,

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, that's all I have time for now,,, but I promise there IS an end to this report,, lmao

 

Bet you all have been saying, OMG, will it never end ?

 

Yes, it will end. I plan to finish it tonight !!!

[Lovharvey]

After doing the Galley Tour, we went to Rosie's and got a lil bite to eat...

Didn't want to ruin our last dinner,,,, lol

 

Had to stop by and see my favorite Grillmaster !! He still has the sweetest smile,

amazing for someone working 9 hours a day, with barely a break, !

 

 

 

then walked around the decks,, for one last time,,,,,,

 

Funny, we knew about the adult pool in the back of the ship, just never seemed to make it there during the week. We should have,,, it was a lot quieter and more room in the pool,,,,,

 

The only time we really made it back that far, was going for pizza really late a few nights,,,,,,,I wasn't a big fan of the pizza,, but that must have been just me, because DH and DFs liked it. So did lots of others, because there was always a line of people waiting for pizza !! lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and while I did this,,,,,,,

 

 

 

 

DH was back at the rail doing this,,,,,,,,he could never get enough of just looking out over the ocean,,,,

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, that's all I have time for now,,, but I promise there IS an end to this report,, lmao

 

Bet you all have been saying, OMG, will it never end ?

 

Yes, it will end. I plan to finish it tonight !!!

 

 

We don't want it to end!!!!!!! I know you don't want it to either.

[cbressler76]

I just can't wait until I can put the boys in the kids thing they have and then go to the "adult" pool and not have to worry about my 3 year old running off....lol....I have never had anyone watch my kids(3 and 6) while I got to play....ever....so I'm soooooo excited!!

[Bontongrl]

I just can't wait until I can put the boys in the kids thing they have and then go to the "adult" pool and not have to worry about my 3 year old running off....lol....I have never had anyone watch my kids(3 and 6) while I got to play....ever....so I'm soooooo excited!!

 

Go for it Cbressler,,,,

 

If you have NEVER had someone watch your kids while you got to play, then you wholeheartedly deserve it !!!

 

Have fun !!! :D

[Bontongrl]

Decided to head back inside, and walk around the ship again for a bit,, and get a few more pics

 

Actually some that we hadn't gotten before,,,, amazing lol

 

There was a band playing in the Atrium Lobby. We sat and listened to them for a while, then moved on.

 

 

 

 

 

If you look really close on that far wall, you can see the picture gallery, with thousands of pictures lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found the sports bar next to some of the gift shops.. I don't know why we hadn't seen this bar before, but if you want to keep up with sports, this is the place to be. It was the cutest lil bar, all done up in a baseball motif...

 

 

 

 

 

Stepped outside for a few minutes ,,,,,,,,this is the perfect area to take a peaceful nap, as some people were doing just that...

 

 

 

 

 

 

then back in and down the promenade once more,,,

 

Passed the Sushi Bar,,,, and strange thing is, this was the first time the entire cruise we had seen it open for business,,, lol,,,,,,,,, I guess its only open during the day and we were rarely inside in this area during the day

 

 

 

 

 

 

All I needed was a bunch of bananas, right, ? Just had to be a little silly lol

 

 

 

[sanmarcosman]

Chuck from Toronto is the winner for entering the correct number of lols used throughout this review. There are 602 lols. Congrats to Chuck, your ship on a stick will be mailed to you this week.

[Bontongrl]

Then headed back to the room to dress for our last dinner,,,,,

 

 

I'd say we ate at least 5 out of 7 nights in the dining room. We took full advantage of the wonderful dinners,,,,, its not often you get to eat like that for a full week.

 

Here's a pic of the crowd waiting outside the dining room. It was like this every night,,,,so, as I said before, big hint,,,, Don't even show up for the late seating till about 8:10 or 8:15. Otherwise you will be packed in like sardines and it gets hot :D

 

 

 

We enjoyed our last dinner in the dining room,, and made sure to thank our wonderful waiters with a lil sumpin extra,,,

 

The staff then serenaded us all one more time,,,,,,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more thing,,,,, the cappuchino is FREE in the dining room !!!.

 

There's only one show on the last night of the cruise and its at 10:30 in the Ivanhoe Theatre. Since there's only one show, it was pretty packed. This is the show with the contestants from the karoake audtions from earlier in the week.

 

They all did a good job,, better than I ever could have,,,,,

You couldn't pay me enough money, or ply me with enough liquor to do karoke,,,, so any brave soul that can get up there and do it, gets my applause !!!

 

We went to the casino to try to win back SOME of the money we'd spent during the week,,, but,,,,, no such luck,,,, Oh well,,,,, we had a good time trying <eg>

 

Went to the Lido Deck for ONE more ice-cream. I will say, we ate more ice-cream in a week than we have in 6 months !!!

 

DH is even considering buying his own personal soft serve ice-cream machine lol

 

Then off to bed,,,, we still had to finish packing and be up early for disembarkation.

 

 

 

[Bontongrl]

The next morning we woke up to see this,,,,,,,,

 

 

We had docked .....

 

We had put out our luggage the night before,,, so we didn't have much to do, but pack up our carry bags and head out the door. We were told we have to be out of the rooms by 8:30,,, so we went to the dining room for a last breakfast. (Even though it was MY first breakfast all week in the dining room )

 

 

I FINALLY got my eggs benedict !!! I realized I should have been going all week. I love eggs benedict !!

 

We had a while left to wait until they called our area to disembark, so just strolled around again, getting last looks at everything.

 

The Ivanhoe Theatre

 

 

 

The Lobby

 

 

 

The lobby piano,,, quiet at last,,,,,

 

 

I was sad to go,,,,

 

 

but it was time,,,,,

 

Our area was finally called, and off we went. Didn't take long to pick up our luggage and then get in that long line to go through customs. Even though the line was long, it went fast, at least for us. Our DFs were not so lucky, and got stuck for quite a while longer than we did...... we thought they'd never get out of there.. <eg>

 

Then off to the airport, where we had another 2 hours wait for our flight, and then finally on the plane and home by 5.

 

We had a great time on this cruise. Like I said in the beginning, DH and I had not cruised in 18 years and our DFs NEVER had. But I don't think we'll be waiting too long until our next cruise. !!!!

[sports-mom]

Awww, such a great review. :) I really enjoyed reading it every day. :D

Sad to see it end, but really glad you had such an enjoyable cruise.

 

Thanks for posting it and all the wonderful pictures.

[Vacationjunkie4]

OK, now that it is over, post all 2000 pictures all at once.:D

Great report. We did have a good time. I think we could build a scaled down replica of the Valor by using all of the pics we took. If we had only gone to the bridge. That area is top secret.

 

Next report.... Halloween, Mardi Gras, Wal Mart trip this weekend? Don't keep us waiting, clear that digital camera and get to snapping.:rolleyes:

[phinfan63]

Wonderful review. The pictures were great too although I've wondered several times who was taking the pictures??? It seems we have alot of pictures of our friends or us but not together.

[ssca]

Great Review!!! We leave on the 9th I can't wait.Wish I could think of a question but you covered just about everything. I hope the weather holds out for us!! Loved all the pics too!!! I didn't look at the towel animals though,thought I would leave that as a surprise.

[Bontongrl]

Awww, such a great review. :) I really enjoyed reading it every day. :D

Sad to see it end, but really glad you had such an enjoyable cruise.

 

Thanks for posting it and all the wonderful pictures.

 

I'm sad too sportsmom,,, :(

 

but we did have a great time :)

 

and I still had lots more pictures,,,,, but that would make it a never ending report,,, :D

[Bontongrl]

Wonderful review. The pictures were great too although I've wondered several times who was taking the pictures??? It seems we have alot of pictures of our friends or us but not together.

 

 

Phinfan63,,

 

We either asked someone else to take the pics, and they were always accomodating, or, I used the self timer flash,,, most cameras have them :D;):D

[luv2cruise777l]

I really have enjoyed reading about your cruise this past week! It helped me get into the "cruise mode"! I am sailing on the Destiny Oct. 19, and I can't wait!:D:D

[gee-gee]

Thanks Bontongrl for the great review. I couldn't wait every day to relive the experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm glad you had a great time. Thanks for the memories. :)