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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

June 23 Valor to Eastern Caribbean Part One

Valor Eastern Caribbean from Miami June 23 through July1 2012, Ports of call: St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortolla and Nassau.

Full Review

PRECRUISE:
Although the cruise departed on June 23 we arrived in Florida a week early to enjoy some down time in the Orlando area. We are not big Disney fans and have done the theme park extravaganza before but instead enjoyed a lot of time around the resort pool and lazy river. Seaworld had a two for one offer that gave two day admissions for one day price AND with my Southwest Airline Rapid Reward card received another 20% off the price. If you are a roller coaster fan, they have one called the Manta which is the best that I have experienced. You are basically suspended face down on the ride and are whisked through corkscrews and loops for a couple minutes. A good case of jelly legs once you put your feet back onto the ground.

After the fun week in Orlando we drove down to Miami on Friday afternoon and stayed at the Doubletree Biscayne Bay. We were given a beautiful mini-suite with a balcony which overlooked the bay and had a good view of the cruise terminal. The Doubletree occupies a few floots of an older, residential highrise. It is clean and comfortable and I found the hotel staff to be very friendly. The only downside to the Doubletree is that the walls are thin and light sleepers could be frustrated by the noise. Also, bayside rooms are above a bar which plays music well into the early morning. Still a good night sleep.

SAIL AWAY DAY, Sunday June 23:
I woke early and watched the Valor Come into the cruise terminal under a threatening sky and nearly an hour later the Liberty also came into port; a double feature. The forecast was for a 60% chance of rain and about ninety minutes after the Valor tied up, the sky opened up with a downpour which lasted at least 30 minutes. Who cares, right? After all a rainy day on a cruise is better than a beautiful day at work.

The rain had stopped and we grabbed a cab from the hotel about 10:20 and were at the cruise pier in 10 minutes for an $11 fare. We left the bags with the porter and went to check in. There were no lines and we walked right up to the counter, got our sign & sail cards and were directed up to the waiting area. The room slowly began to fill but at 11:00 they boarded a couple wedding parties and then at 11:15 the staff began boarding guests in the waiting area. We boarded on deck three into the American Lobby. Beautifully decorated earth tones with rustic red white and blue tiles clustered flag-like in the flooring, an inviting lobby bar and comfortable cushioned chairs. Great first impression.

By 11:40 we were checking out the lunch offerings of the Lido buffet. We settled for the Burrito Bar, a location my son would visit every day of the cruise for a couple beef burritos. Pretty good burritos, made to order that went very well with an ice cold beer. After lunch is when I like to find a good perch and watch the parade of arrivals on the pier. There now is a constant flow of traffic dropping off passengers below and the checkin line snakes out to the street briefly at times. I don't know how but I missed the cabin ready announcement but still went to the cabin shortly after 2:00 and everything was ready.

The muster drill was completed more quickly than I remember my other recent cruises which was a good thing. It gets rather hot and stuffy with five or six rows of people stacked together on a muggy day. Released from the drill off we go to the Panorama deck to get a good rail side location for sail away. It isn't long before the horn blows and the long shoremen begin releasing the lines and the sun begins to peek through the clouds once in a while. As we slowly begin to cruise past the Liberty the bridge crews blow the horns to each other. First the Valor and then the Liberty would answer for a couple rounds. Cool start as it was clear to see that both ship's decks were full of fun people ready to get away. The Liberty followed us out the channel about five minutes behind us. There was no calypso music but there was plenty of reggae music played as we sailed out to sea. It was a very nice sail away and finally, after months of anticipation, the cruise vacation had begun

After freshening up at the cabin, a mid-category aft balcony on deck 7, Empress deck, we went to dinner at the Your Time Dining on deck 3 of the Lincoln Dining Room. There was already a line to check in but we were still seated in less than 10 minutes. The Lincoln decor has a lot of pink tones to it but with very warm inviting feel to it and the chairs were very comfortable. Maybe it was the first night or that the wait team trio were just getting to know each other but dinner this night took a bit longer than it should. The team was very nice but their timing between courses and each other was off leading to a rather slow pace of the meal. My son had been asking me to try Salmon for dinner so my order tonight was the Atlantic Salmon off the every night menu so we would not be wasteful if my son did not like the dish. The Salmon was a hit so we shared his steak and my salmon. I must say that the salmon was cooked perfectly and the portion was just right as it left a little room for desert.

When we finished our 2 1/2 hour long dinner, we took another walk around the ship to get more familiar with it. We ended up at the mid ship pool/seaside theater on the Lido deck and settled for a while aas the kids got a second desert, the soft-serve ice cream. We sailed I think a day before tropical storm Debby blew through Florida and the winds at sea this night were very strong. An interesting event occurred that I never heard what had happened, maybe the strong cross winds or maybe a brief glitch in the stabilizers? For a couple minutes the ship listed a couple degrees toward port, so much of a list that the water from the pool began to run out of the pool across the deck. It was interesting to watch guests scatter as I just lifted my feet. It was an interesting thing to observe but I did not ever find out what caused the list. Either way, it was only a couple minutes and nothing close to that happened again.

Check out the Sail Away Fun Times Cover page, Page 1, Page 2, Page 3


SEA DAYS, Sunday June 24, Monday June 25 and Friday June 29:The sea days were perfect opportunities to sleep late (for me, 7:00 AM) and lazily stroll up to Lido for breakfast. I never go farther than the made to order omelette station at the grill poolside. At the omelette station is also a variety of breakfast items such as a potato dish, oatmeal and grits, either hot cakes or waffles or french toast, bacon and sausage as well as an assortment of danishes. Plenty to fill the tanks for the day.

The cruise staff put on a number of trivia contests, an extra bingo session and activities around the pool for those who wished to participate. The band played over the mid ship pool in the noon to 3:00 pm timeframe and the pool area was very busy. I did not observe any issues with chogs (chair hogs) and had no problem finding a table and chair somewhere around the pool. The waterslide was open until 6:00 pm and the kids, and a number of grown ups, all seemed to enjoy it with no too large of a line. The two bars in this pool area were pumping out the drinks. I was going to try and count for a few minutes how many drinks were sent out from the bar nearest me but quickly lost count with all the distracting activities on deck. I love people watching and get easily distracted by the humanity show.

Check out the Sea Day 1 Fun Times Cover page, Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Check out the Sea Day 2 Fun Times Cover page, Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Check out the Sea Day 2 Fun Times Cover page, Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

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