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

[Bontongrl]

After having a bite to eat at Rosie's, we headed back out to the Lido Deck for the

"Hairiest Chest" contest........

 

There were 6 or 7 contestants, of all ages and hairiness,,,,, and one, who had no business even being there,,, I don't think he had even 2 hairs anywhere to be found, but he wanted his 15 minutes of fame...... lol

 

It was all in fun,,,,,,;)

 

There were 4 women judges, who got the thrill of running their hands over all the guys, in judgement of their hairiness,,,,,,,Those lucky women !! lol

 

 

After voting for their favorites, the 2 finalists were, affectionately nicknamed,,,

 

2 - Tone,,,,,,

 

 

and Chewbaca, lol

 

 

 

 

They asked for everyone to form a conga line and follow their favorite around the deck, and, the winner was,,,,,,,,,,, <drumroll>,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

It was a tie, so they both won !!!!

 

Everybody had a great time,,,,,,,,,:D

 

 

[amybeth4]

Damn you for showing a picture of grits. So hard to get in NY!

[Bontongrl]

Damn you for showing a picture of grits. So hard to get in NY!

 

Lmao,,,,, amybeth,,,,,, I LOVE grits, and was surprised to find they had them, and they were yummy good too !!!

[cmlmich]

Hiya cmlmich,

 

This is what we used,,,,,http://www.rumrunnerflasks.com/

but don't tell anyone I told ya,,,,, ;)

 

Thank you very much for the tip....I book marked it for later!

[Bontongrl]

After the contest, we relaxed at the pool for a while, did some people watching then decided to explore the ship a little more........

 

 

Went to the back of the ship, which we hadn't explored yet at that point,,

The ship makes a mighty big wake, lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found the basketball court,,,,the jogging track, the pizza station, and the adults only pool. There's lots more I'm sure we didn't find. I know by the end of the cruise, we still hadn't seen everything. It's a big ship and never seemed to have enough time to do and see it all,,, lol

 

 

then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. We had the early seating and this was the first Elegant Night.

[ilovethesun]

I'm really enjoying your review. I'm going on the Valor for my 30th birthday with my husband and my best friend from high school and her husband over New Year's and I can't wait!!!

 

Love the pics - keep 'em coming!

[Relayer]

Bontongrl - Thanks for the wonderful pics! We have sailed Valor before and are booked again on her in October. Your pictures have brought back many wonderful memories and increased the anticipation for our next voyage. I just burned 30 perfectly good minutes out of my work day!

 

A'int cruising great? We have always enjoyed the sail away from Miami as you exit the causeway. Many people in boats and waving from the condos. South Beach is stunning even without the closeups!

[Bontongrl]

I'm really enjoying your review. I'm going on the Valor for my 30th birthday with my husband and my best friend from high school and her husband over New Year's and I can't wait!!!

 

Love the pics - keep 'em coming!

 

Thanks ilovethesun,,,,,,,

 

What a way to celebrate your birthday AND New Years,,,:)

You will have a GREAT time !!

[cbressler1976]

Thank you for your review!! We are taking our boys (3 & 6) on their first "real" cruise (Valor) 02/07/10... (they have been on the day cruise to the Bahamas)... My son saw the picture of the arcade and now is extremely excited... I have to remind him that we have to wait 6 months!! :( Thanks for taking the time and showing us!! It's very helpful!

[cruisingbajan]

Great review so far. Keep it coming...keep it coming:D.

 

We are on her next April...by the way where is the basketball court?

[Bontongrl]

We headed back to our room to start changing for dinner,,and,,,,,

Lo and behold, we had a card under the door telling us that they had switched our dinner to late seating,,,,,,,,We were now going to be in the Washington Dining Room. YEAHHHHHHH !!! Now we were REALLY happy !!!

 

I hate to have to come in early from the pool area, or from excursions and rush right off to dinner. That is why I've always liked late seating much better than early.

 

Now we had a chance to relax in the room,,,,, watch a little tv and catch up on some news,,,sit on the balcony with a drink and enjoy the setting sun and then leisurely get ready for the evening.

 

We went to the Captains Reception party, which was in the Eagle's lounge,, and got to meet the Captain. He was very gracious and handsome. Italian through and through and I loved his accent, especially when he would say the word "safety".

He pronounced it with 3 syllables,,, like " sa - fe - ty". I thought that was so cute. lol

 

 

 

We strolled along the Promenade Deck,,, taking pictures,,, people watching,,,and then

headed for the dining room and were there for 8 pm and had to wait at least 20 minutes until they opened the door. We found this to be the case for the rest of the trip,,, The doors were never open at 8, we always had to wait at least 15 to 20 minutes, so after learning this the first few nights, we adjusted our dinner arrival time and never went down until at least 8:15. Otherwise, you are stuck in a huge crowd of people waiting to get in and it gets warm with all those people in that close space.

 

It's such a pretty dining room..

 

 

 

 

Ahhhhhhh, a few food pics.........

 

Lobster,,,,,

 

 

 

Prime Rib,,,,,,

 

 

I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the desserts <smacking self> but my favorite of all the nights was the Creme Brulee. Yummy !!

 

Now, a word about dressing for dinner each night.

 

This was Elegant Night, so, yes, WE dressed up. I wore a long gown, and my DF wore a short cocktail dress and the guys wore suits. I did not feel out of place wearing a long gown and she did not feel out of place NOT wearing one. We saw all varieties of dress,, long and short and for the most part EVERYONE was dressed nicely.

 

 

 

Personally, I love to dress up,,,,, you don't get many chances in your "real" life to do so, so when the opportunity arises, I jump at it. lol

 

 

 

 

In fact,,, the funniest thing is,,,, yes, OMGGGGGG ,,, I saw 2 other women wearing the same dress as I was wearing. OHHHHH the HORROR of it,,,,,,, !!!!!!

 

Just kidding lol I thought it was funny and I hoped at some point to see them again and we could all get together to take a picture. I think that would have been hilarious. lol The way I see it, that's bound to happen when there's a good sale at Macy's and so many people are together at one venue.

 

After dinner, we headed over to the Ivanhoe Theatre to see the show.

This was a better show than the first night and we really enjoyed it, and then headed to the Adults only comedy show with Eddie Capone. He was so funny,,,,,,, but one word of advice. He does involve the audience in his show, so,, if you don't want to be called on, do NOT sit close to the stage...lmao

 

After his show, we headed for the room and bed, because the next day was our first port of call, Cayman Islands and we needed to be up early. It was a great night !!

[Bontongrl]

Bontongrl - Thanks for the wonderful pics! We have sailed Valor before and are booked again on her in October. Your pictures have brought back many wonderful memories and increased the anticipation for our next voyage. I just burned 30 perfectly good minutes out of my work day!

 

A'int cruising great? We have always enjoyed the sail away from Miami as you exit the causeway. Many people in boats and waving from the condos. South Beach is stunning even without the closeups!

 

Your welcome Relayer,,,

 

Any time I can help you get through a work day, I'm glad to to do so, :D

Honestly, who really wants to WORK at work ? ;)

 

I do love cruising, and after having been away so long, I think I'll have to do it more often now :D

[Bontongrl]

Thank you for your review!! We are taking our boys (3 & 6) on their first "real" cruise (Valor) 02/07/10... (they have been on the day cruise to the Bahamas)... My son saw the picture of the arcade and now is extremely excited... I have to remind him that we have to wait 6 months!! :( Thanks for taking the time and showing us!! It's very helpful!

 

You welcome cbressler,,,,,, glad to help out,,,,

 

Your boys will have a wonderful time. There were LOTS of kids on this cruise, but, it was also summertime so I'm sure that had something to do with it. ;)

 

There's plenty of things for the kids to do. and, without it being so crowded they won't have to wait in line to do things. ;)

[Bontongrl]

Great review so far. Keep it coming...keep it coming:D.

 

We are on her next April...by the way where is the basketball court?

 

Hi Bajan Keith,,,,

 

Thanks, :)

 

The basketball court is on the TOP of the ship, at the highest point.

They also had volleyball.

 

Here's a picture,,,,

 

 

[cruisingbajan]

Hi Bajan Keith,,,,

 

Thanks, :)

 

The basketball court is on the TOP of the ship, at the highest point.

They also had volleyball.

 

Here's a picture,,,,

 

 

 

Thanks. One more question before I let you get back to your great review.:) You can access it from the lido right?

[Bontongrl]

Thanks. One more question before I let you get back to your great review.:) You can access it from the lido right?

 

Yes, you can access it from the Lido Deck. We went up the stairs from the pool, behind the musicians area, and I think we actually had to go up one more deck to find it. ( I'm not too savvy on my ship lingo yet, lol)

 

If you walk around the jogging track, you will find it :D

[Bontongrl]

 

We were up early the next day,, ( and I mean early, lol... all that, "ship time" vs "island time" got us a little confused, so we got up a good bit earlier than we had to,,,, lmao ) Oh well, we got to see the sun rise over the ocean, which we didn't see for the rest of the cruise,,, so I guess it was fate !

 

 

This was Tuesday, and our port of call was The Cayman Islands.

The day started out cloudy and overcast and we were hoping the sun would break through soon.

 

 

We took a 10 minute tender ride to the dock and then met up with the group we were going with.

 

We had done a lot of research for the ports of call, and had decided to do things independently from the Cruise excursions. You can save a lot of money doing it that way.

 

We had booked a Stingray city tour through someone we found on another board and we were very glad we did.

 

It was a 43 foot sailing catamaran and there were about 24 people booked along with us. It wasn't crowded at all, and we had a nice ride out to Stingray city.

 

 

It took about 45 minutes to get there from the marina. By the time we got to Stingray City, the sun had broken through and it was beautiful !

 

 

 

 

[sun prairie cruisers]

Great review. My wife and I will be on the ship October 25th. One question did you happen to see the cost of cigaretts or what the cost of there specials were?

 

Thanks.

[kebhouse]

ooh- I love your dress! So pretty. No wonder two other women had it. :)

[cruisingbajan]

Yes, you can access it from the Lido Deck. We went up the stairs from the pool, behind the musicians area, and I think we actually had to go up one more deck to find it. ( I'm not too savvy on my ship lingo yet, lol)

 

If you walk around the jogging track, you will find it :D

 

Thank you so much.

 

I am refreshing my page ever so often looking for a new post on your great review and pics. Keep it coming.:)

[luvncruisn]

I love your review! I am going on this cruise in March (darn--why do I have to wait soooo long?!?) and I am wondering who you booked your catamaran trip with? We will be a group of 20, so I would love to book this for our group. I have been to stingray city twice before, but most of the group has not. This looks like a good way to make it something different for me, while still doing the stingrays everyone else doesn't want to miss. Thanks again for taking the same to write this awesome review!

[jackdhouse]

 

Bontongrl we went to see the Sting Rays the same day. See those three wave runners in the background and that group gathered to the left, that was us. Did you feed one? It was great experience having all those Sting Rays swimming around you. The water was crystal clear.

[poochierebelbear]

Great review! Look forward to reading the rest.

[Bontongrl]

Great review. My wife and I will be on the ship October 25th. One question did you happen to see the cost of cigaretts or what the cost of there specials were?

 

Thanks.

 

Hi Sun prairie,

 

Yes, the cigarettes were cheap cheap cheap compared to the States prices. I think they were either $22 or $24 per carton.

 

and I believe they had a 5 carton special for something like $95, if I remember correctly.

 

Problem is, you can only bring back one carton per person,,, but I've heard there are ways around that. Seems like someone said they have to be brought back sealed, so if you open each carton and take out a pack, then they aren't considered sealed. I don't know about that, just what I heard :)

[Bontongrl]

ooh- I love your dress! So pretty. No wonder two other women had it. :)

 

Thank you so much.

 

I am refreshing my page ever so often looking for a new post on your great review and pics. Keep it coming.:)

 

Great review! Look forward to reading the rest.

 

Thanks everybody,,,,,!!! Starting on more now :D