Hello fellow cruisers. Thought I would offer my two cents on our just completed Valor cruise (Feb 23 - Mar 2). No photos for the moment as there are tons, and I'm not sure I'm savvy enough to post them here anyway. Yes, long. But the good news is I'm giving it to you in it's entirety, rather than in drips and drabs. When you're semi-retired, you can do stuff like this.
Background: I am the DH. Actually, I've been called that once or twice when it didn't mean "Darling Husband," but I digress. DW and I have cruised a grand total of only five times, including this one. The vast majority of our winter vacations have been week-long stays on various Caribbean islands, but we enjoy cruising on occasion as well. Comparing cruises to island stays, and comparing the islands to each other is definitely comparing apples and oranges (and bananas and pineapples and guava). But we enjoy the diversity of a nice fruit salad. Last year and this we cruised with a group that has been doing an annual winter cruise together for the last 8 (?) years. Admittedly, we did have some trepidation cruising with a group, but very quickly realized this is the way to go. We did many things together but at the same time, everyone was able to do their own thing when they wanted to. And for many things, there is strength in numbers. More on that later. This year's group was 39 folks that all went to the same high school in Arlington, VA. Graduation years ranged from about '73 to the mid-80's give or take, making the age range 40's to "pushing 60." Some of us were spouses or significant others but for the most part, we all walked the halls of the same school at one point in our lives. If you were on this cruise, we were the ones in the Kelly green T-shirts. Carnival doesn't appear to recognize you as a group per se, as we booked through a group agency. It's that agency that does everything for you from obtaining group rates (if available) to securing particular cabins to getting on board credits. I don't know many details beyond that, but I guess it's OK to mention the agency we used is Cruises Only.
Pre-cruise: Several of us arrived in San Juan on the Friday before for "warm-ups." First case of strength in numbers, hereafter referred to as SIN. Is that acronym a coincidence?!?! Hmmmm . . . . . Our coordinator (one of our group who does a stellar job putting things together - thank you Terri!) got us a group rate at the Doubletree in the Condado area. Not beachfront, but very nice with a great pool area. This hotel has a reciprocal agreement with the nearby La Concha which is beachfront, and allows you to use their facilities and chairs if you like. Walkable, depending on your point of view. 15 minutes or so, but heat can be a factor. Most importantly (to our group anyway) a 24 hour Supermax grocery store is right across the street. Great for stocking up on "supplies" for the cruise. More on that later too. The group kinda went their own ways while in SJU with some just beaching it, and others going on the Bacardi tour, hiking in the El Yunque rainforest, or walking around Old San Juan. Something for everyone for sure.
Embarkation: Despite what you'll see in the cruise docs, boarding does start around noon - at least for us in this case. But I suppose this can vary a bit from cruise to cruise. We did not all check in together. Group members arrived and boarded at varying times. Plenty of time for that on this cruise since departure is not until 10 PM. DW and I were among the earlier arrivals and had some concerns when we saw passengers from the prior cruise still disembarking at 11:45. Turned out to be a non-issue as we were on board and having lunch by about 12:30. We did purchase Faster to the Fun (as we did last year) and will likely continue to do that when cruising with Carnival. Since we were early, check in lines were not long, and those without FTTF were checking in at about the same pace as those with it. The real payoff comes at boarding time, as you are given a card that says "Priority" rather than a zone number. And then the most important benefit (to us anyway) is that your cabin is ready the minute you board. We waltzed right through the doors to cabins with the sign on it that says "do not enter -cabins not ready" (or words to that effect). Cabin was fully ready (balcony; 9257 mid-ship). Vacation on! Backing up a bit, the process of embarkation has a slightly different order to it in SJU than at other ports, at least Miami. You will check in and get your S&S cards before security. Security doesn't happen until actual boarding starts. I seem to recall security before check in at Miami. There is very little seating available as opposed to the big lobby at MIA, so keep that in mind if you're there too much before boarding time. You go through security just before getting on the gangway to board the ship. Most of our group would fit in very well in the old days of the Caribbean. Many of us are "smugglers." We'd have been great rum runners! And all were successful, with most "supplies" coming from the aforementioned Supermax grocery store. The methods are wide and varying, and I don't want to start that age-old debate here. Rum runners/bladders seemed to be the going away winner. Sufficed to say, if you want to bring your own bar, it can be done. As I read other reviews, I wasn't clear on the process if you were caught with unopened bottles. Remember - anything opened is disposed of. Turns out the "Adult Beverage Collection Desk" (actual name) is right on deck three of the ship as you board, whereas security is way back in the terminal building. I did not see any type of communication happening between those two posts, so I guess you're on your honor to drop off the bottles that were detected 500 yards back and out of sight of the desk. Nuff said. Other points of interest for this particular cruise are muster and dinner the first night. Dinner is open seating for all on departure night from 5:30 - 8:30. Here comes another SIN. If you are traveling with others and want to have dinner with them, you should arrive at the dining room together. Otherwise, empty seats at your table will go to whomever may need them. Meeting new friends at dinner is certainly a positive aspect of cruising, but meals is about the only time our group would be together (mostly), so most of us stuck to that even on night one. Though it was an opportunity to sit with others in our group we wouldn't be with during the rest of the dinners. All aboard is 9PM, and muster was at 9:30 and took a bit more than 30 minutes to complete. Fear not - sail away did not happen until we were done, and we made it to the pool deck in plenty of time for departure festivities. Can't say for sure departure doesn't happen until muster is complete regardless of time, but it felt that way.
Ship: Last year's cruise was on the Glory, and the Valor is in the same class. However, the 2.0 upgrades have not been done on Valor. If I had not previously experienced the upgrades, I truly believe I wouldn't have known the difference, nor cared. I did miss Guy's Burgers, though there is certainly not a lack of food options on Valor. The Grill on Valor is the alternative, and is actually pretty good (more under meals). Fish and Chips is available, as well as the deli, Mongolian Wok (never tried it; always crowded) and 24 hour pizza just like on Glory. I also missed the Red Frog and Blue Iguana bars which are situated on either side of the pool on Glory. No bar directly on the pool deck on Valor. There is one right behind the the pool, but it's not the same. Nice to grab a stool at the bar in the shade and not leave the pool deck, but somehow we muddled through. The pool layout is different too. I guess not bad, just different. From the "upper deck" of chairs on Glory, you're looking at hot tubs slightly elevated from the deck, then some space, then the pool in full sun. On Valor, the part where hot tubs would be on Glory is another chair deck. Then deck space, then hot tubs, and the pool behind them. Point of all this is to say the main pool on Valor extends partly under the covered area over the deck, and some portion of it is always in the shade. Everything else about the same between the two as I recall. Another adults only pool aft, and a small one right next to the water slide. Serenity deck in the same place as Glory with it's own hot tubs. Room names are different of course, and the Valor theme is "American Heroes."
Meals: Wide and varying opinion on this topic, I know. Opinions in this category are strictly my own, and the other 38 in our group would be likely different. Breakfast for DW and I was strictly room service. Going that route you can only get a continental breakfast, but we're just fine with cereal, fruit, muffins, juice and coffee. No extra cost, other than a couple of bucks to the delivery person. Hang the order tag outside your door before hitting the sack (not sure of the deadline, but it goes into the wee hours), and voile! You can request a delivery time range which was spot on every day but one (10 minutes late). Breakfast this way allows for a more leisurely morning, and we could sit on the balcony with breakfast still in our nighty-nights watching arrival and docking. Doubt we'll ever use the buffet for breakfast ever again. Exception was the Sea Day brunch. Again, if you're with a group, go together to be seated together. They will not hold the seats for members of your party that haven't arrived. Starts at 8:30. We got there about 9 and had no problem getting a table for 10. Brunch was pretty OK. Chocolate chip pancakes for me. Steak and eggs seemed to be the popular choice for our table. Both breakfast and lunch items are available. If there was a comedy show preview, it must have happened after we left. Did not have any lunches on the ship due to an excursion every day. We did visit the grill on occasion after re-boarding to grab a chili dog or burger. Fries were pretty good I thought. On boarding day, I did patronize the deli for a pastrami sandwich. Not New York City, but quite acceptable. Both hot and cold sandwich choices available. In a nutshell, dinners were very good (reminder - MY opinion). And here's where there's going to be more great debates going forward. if you're following the trials and tribulations of Carnival in general, you know that there is experimentation/testing underway to revamp both the dinner menus and the dining room decor on two ships (I think), one of which is Glory. I've seen some copies of the new menu posted here and frankly, I'm not excited. Definitely not a foodie in any way, but the new menus look much more limited. Thankfully, Valor menus remain "old school," offering a very nice variety. Interestingly I asked our head waiter about the new menus and what he was hearing about possible changes on Valor. He was absolutely clueless about new menus or testing them on other ships. Makes sense really - I'm sure most crew members operate on a "need to know" basis. I did not take pictures of the menus but if you've cruised Carnival before, you can expect a lot of the same things. BTW, late seating for most of our group. Not sure how many folks care about others' menu choices and opinions, but I'll throw out a few highlights anyway. Starters for me (not necessarily in day order) included egg rolls, french onion soup, corn chowder, alligator fritters (tastes like chicken!), shrimp cocktail, Thai chicken tenders, and crabcakes. Some of these were two at once, since as you know you can order any and all at dinner. All were good, but know that the size of the shrimp in the cocktail resembles it's name. Order two. Entrees were fried shrimp (very nice, with a slightly spicy dipping sauce), grilled pork chop (a little too tough), lobster tail and shrimp (elegant night; ordered double with no issue), sliced jerk pork (very good), chateaubriand (excellent - may have been best meal), filet mignon with short ribs (filet very good, short ribs not so much), and prime rib (a thin slice, but received as ordered and very good). Desserts were all over the place. Ready for some blasphemy? Warm chocolate melting cake is only just OK for me. Had it twice and there was more melting than warm than I would prefer. Lately, it's been coming out as warm, uncooked brownie dough. Could be a matter of leaving it in the oven just a tad longer. Also had cheesecake, Black Forest cake, an amaretto torte, and tiramisu. All good. We also stopped by the Taste Bar on occasion on the way to dinner. It's just that - a little taste of something the chef has whipped up that day. Can't remember all we had there, but memorable items include a short rib croquette and pepper pot soup. Strangely, none of the items were to be found on any menu anywhere on the ship, including the steakhouse (which we did not frequent). If you're a little early for dinner, definitely stop there for an interesting pre-appetizer. Final dining thought regarding decor and decorum. That Carnival is considering a more casual approach to dinner should not be surprising. The "no table cloths" change has many in an uproar I know, but many diners arrive as if this were Denny's. No table cloths there either. From a cost perspective, I get how much money could be saved by not washing umpteen table cloths, and the labor saved by not having to put them on and take them off every night. Elegant nights are far from it these days. Even on those nights, the dress code as stated in the Funtimes is absolutely not enforced. Admittedly, I don't wear a tie on elegant nights any longer, mainly because I found myself very much in the minority. When in Rome. I think, as a market demographic, Carnival cruisers have made their bed, and we're about to lie in it.
Ports: This is definitely a port-intensive itinerary. Opinions vary among our group, but I think the consensus was that one more sea day might have been nice. That said, we still took advantage of each and every port visited, and grass had no time to grow under our feet. All excursions were non-Carnival. Lots of debate here as well among Cruise Critic folks, but our excursions were well researched, and all had very positive reviews either here or on Trip Advisor. Technically, always a risk to go outside of ship excursions, but we never gave it a second thought. SIN also came in very handy in booking the excursions. Four out of five were completely private tours which we were able to customize in advance, and change along the way. Want to stop at a store and pick up snacks? No problem. Unscheduled photo stop? No sweat. You can save some dough this way too. I highly recommend strong consideration of independent tours. I'll also post these individually on the ports board.
St. Thomas: Most had been here before, but most had not been to Magen's Bay. A absolutely beautiful spot as most of you know. Last year we did a day sail on New Horizons out of Sapphire Marina, and they recommended Duncan Conner as the taxi driver to get us there. His son Sean also works with him. So I contacted Sean this year about getting 24 of us to Magen's for the day, working in some touring and photo stops along the way and back. An absolute pleasure to work with these guys. Sean was the main contact this year, and unfortunately we didn't get to see Dad. The taxi vehicles on STT are bench seats in a pick up truck that hold 25 or so, so we only needed one. Sean met us at the pier right on time at 8:30 and we were off. Stopped at Drakes Seat for photos, drinks and souvenirs, then on down to Magen's. Sean provided great commentary along the way. The plan was to make a beeline for the beach before the masses arrived, which worked out pretty well. Weather was spectacular by the way. There are food and drink concessions on the beach, but most of us had pre-ordered sandwiches from the Gourmet Gallery located right on the pier in Havensight Mall. We had contacted the proprietor by email in advance with our orders and they were ready for pick up when we got there. A very nice store you should check out whether you order sandwiches or not. Spent a few hours at the beach chillaxin'. Snorkeling not the greatest here, but there were a few fish to see. All sand and no coral, so place for fish to hang out. Walking along the entire stretch of beach is a must. I think Nat Geo got it right calling it one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. On the way back we stopped at Mountain Top for banana daiquiris and more souvenirs, and got back to the pier in plenty of time to patronize one of the bars, and do some last minute shopping. The cost of this tour was VERY reasonable. I'd rather not quote it here as your rate may vary depending if you're on your own, and or part of a group. I can tell you that our per person cost was in the neighborhood of what you see on Duncan and Sean's website for their Magen's Bay tour. http://www.duncanandseantours.com/about.php
Sea Day: Chock full of the standard activities and entertainment Carnival usually provides on these days. Another amazing weather day (let's get this over with - weather was perfect for the entire cruise) and our group mostly just hung around the pool sunning and sipping and watching ice carvers, drink mixers and hairy chests. May have been a bit of deck dancing here and there as well. All music is DJ provided on the pool deck with the exception of the St. Kitts afternoon when the casino band played for about an hour. We think it was to compete with the P&O ship docked next to us that had live music on it's deck. P&O is part of Carnival if I understand correctly, so perhaps no surprise that the bands' sets were coordinated and they did not play at the same time. We were docked close enough to hear each others' bands, so they danced to ours and we danced to theirs.
Barbados: The problem with today's excursion was that three more had to come after it. Probably the best of the lot, and also the best use of SIN. Having done that day sail in STT last year, we wanted to do something similar this year somewhere. Having sailed with Cool Runnings in the past (Barbados has been one of our week-long stays), we thought the group would enjoy it. All but two of our group was interested, making a private charter very possible. So 37 of us "bought out" their 55 person catamaran for the day. We chartered the cat for 5 hours which included round trip transport from the pier (a ten minute ride on a private bus), three snorkeling stops (sea turtles, ship wreck and a beautiful cove), a gourmet lunch and full open bar. Of course they provided snorkel gear and floats. The service provided by Captain Gregory and his crew of Ryan, Kevin and Brian was over the top. The first on board were having their first drink before the last got on. This is the classiest day sail I've ever been on. Plenty of room, given our number was about 20 less than capacity, and plenty to eat and drink. We were able to craft our own menu from a wide variety of choices and it included barbecued chicken, grilled king fish, Mac and cheese, potato salad, green salad and carrot cake for dessert. They had previously passed around some banana bread for our morning snack. When the sails were hoisted, some of us got involved. It ain't easy. Trust me, none of us will be leaving our day jobs ay time soon! (Though we all want to!). Music played throughout, starting out mellow and low key, progressing to some serious calypso and soca to dance to on the sail home. There had been enough rum punch served by then to loosen all of our achy muscles and bones. Did I mention the service?!? As an example, we had one group member that has had a bit of difficulty moving around lately. We let the crew know that up front just to be aware. When we arrived at the turtle spot, one of the crew- without being reminded or asked - took her gently by the hand and guided her to a spot on the cat where she could see and take photos of the turtles after he enticed them closer to the boat with some fish. Incredible. And then of course there were the dance lessons on the ride home. One crew member in particular - Ryan - can move his hips in a way I'm not sure God intended. He insisted we all get up on the front deck and give it a try. The ladies did slightly better than us guys, although I think some ladies were doing more watching of Ryan's hips than actual dancing. Many we're glad to hear I captured some video of this young man's dancing capabilities. Our cost was slightly higher per person than what you'll see on the website for this excursion, as there was a set charter cost that we split between us. More people equals less cost. If you're cruising this itinerary, definitely save your day sail for Barbados and Cool Runnings.
http://www.coolrunningsbarbados.com/
St. Lucia: 29 of us opted to take the beach break tour with Spencer Ambrose. This was the only excursion not a fully private tour, though we did have one boat completely to ourselves, while some of us shared another. Spencer is well known here on CC with mostly very positive reviews. Lately, there have been some less than positive comments, but we plunged ahead. The not so great comments have been mostly about the organization of the tours, or lack thereof. Unfortunately, this was a bit evident on our tour, though I would still recommend Spencer. I think things like CC have served to give great exposure to folks like Spencer, Cosol and other independent operators on other islands. But it also gives rise to the problem of maybe being a little too popular for what they can actually handle. I've noticed that these tours are rarely "full," and there's always room for one more. Remember, saying no to one of us is saying no to money and I can't blame them for trying to make every bit of hay while the sun shines. If you know going in that there could be bumps along the way, you'll be fine and you'll enjoy these tours. It's all about expectations - keep them a little lower when touring in the Caribbean and you'll be fine. Our group described our day with Spencer as a slow start with a great finish. Took a lot longer to get started than we would have liked, standing around in the heat on the street waiting for Spencer to arrive. He did have a couple of reps there to meet us. Turns out he had one of his drivers call in sick and he was scrambling all morning for a replacement. Once finally started, things went OK. Unfortunately, our delay got us to the beach a bit later than he he can usually do, and chairs available to non-resort guests were pretty much gone. Some of us dropped $20 for chairs associated with the resort (Sugar Bay), but still not the best the resort had to offer. Those were mostly for their guests, but they'd rent them to you with an umbrella for some exorbitant cost I'm not sure of. Jalouise Beach is gorgeous situated between the Pitons, and the off shore snorkeling was very good. Another negative - Spencer has very little snorkeling gear available to lend you, but some of us had our own and we made it work. Lunch (chicken, rice. Plantains, salad) and drinks (rum punch, beer, soda and water) were included, but the drink cooler didn't get to the beach at the same time we did, so a little waiting there too. And remember, he has land tour groups that end up at the beach to eat and drink with the beach tour, so the numbers can get pretty large. For about an hour, our area of the beach looked a little like Coney Island in its heyday. Lunch was good (but not Cool Runnings) and despite initial concerns, there was plenty of food to go around for both the land and sea people. We did run him out of rum punch (we weren't the only ones there!), but he did manage to bring in a couple more jugs after a modest wait. The wait might actually have been a good thing as this rum punch packed a decent wallop! The ride back (his boats are high horsepower outboard "cigarette" type boats that seat 20) was very good with lots of sights to see from the water. His website shows the details. http://spencerambrose.com/. Communication with Spencer in advance to plan the tour was top notch. Incredibly responsive to emails (island time - give it at least a full business day). Despite the "issues," I wholeheartedly recommend Spencer Ambrose. As said, once we got started everything was great and he was a stellar host. Just relax and take a deep breath if things don't go exactly to plan. How bad can it be? You're in de islands Mon!
St. Kitts: Most of us had not been here, so this was the day most difficult to envision. Based on CC and TA reviews, we went with Island Paradise Tours and Rosevelt Taylor. This was also a private tour in a very nice air conditioned bus. You'll see pics of it on the website. There were 20 of us on this one. Rosevelt was at the pier to meet us, but delegated our tour to Terrence. We were not disappointed. He was excellent. His appearance and knowledge were very professional. We got a slightly discounted rate for the tour we wanted versus what you'll see on his website given our numbers. http://stkittsislandparadisetours.com/index_new.cfm. We did a combo island/beach tour, driving through Basseterre with nice commentary from Terrence, with stops at Romney Manor and Caribelle Batik. We did get a great demo of the batik making process, and almost all of us bought some form of batik wear. We slowed down along the way to just look at an old sugar mill as we drove by, but SIN won again when we asked Terrence to let us out for a little exploring and picture taking. Also turned out to be a good rest room stop, and there was a lady there with a cooler full of drinks available for very reasonable cost. This was at about 10 AM and I'm pleased to say (but maybe not so proud) that I was the lady's first beer sale of the day. Hey - it was hot, and it's always 5 o'clock somewhere! By the way, as these were private tours, we packed snacks, lunch and drinks on every one. And by drinks, I mean those previously mentioned "bladders" came along for the ride. We then stopped at Timothy Hall for some tremendous views (Atlantic and Caribbean come together here) where there were more snacks and drinks available from local vendors, as well as the guy with the monkey he'd put on you for a pic and a tip (couple bucks). Needless to say, the "get this monkey off my back" jokes were numerous. Our group is just so damn clever! We then made it to Friar's Bay Beach and were dropped off at the Carambola Beach club. Very nice there, but a bit crowded. The plan all along was to get to the Shipwreck Bar that sits further down on the same beach. We walked without too much difficulty, but all agreed we would have preferred to have been dropped off there in the first place. I think it's accessible, but my guess is they don't want to take the bus down that dirt road, and the marketing guy in me is fairly certain there's a deal in place with Carambola to drop us off there. But we made it to Shipwreck which is more Gilligan than resorty, which we loved. Good food and drink, and less expensive than Carambola. Chairs were available at $10/pair including a thatched palapa. Snorkeling very good, and shelling is excellent if you're into that. While snorkeling I saw a small octopus and a rather large starfish. Coral was beautiful. Walked back to Carambola at the pre-arranged time, and made it back to port in time for a little shopping. Another highly recommended tour and company.
St. Maarten: Another private tour, this time with Noel Tours. http://noeltours.com/
22 of us on this one if I recall correctly. This tour was slightly customized as well to include the Oyster Bay area, a couple of hours at Orient Beach, a ride through Grand Case and Marigot on the French side, and ending with a stop at Maho Beach to have a bite and watch the low plane landings. Noel himself met us at the pier, and conducted the tour himself. He provided a cooler full of beer, soda and water. We packed up a few of those beers to take on the beach with us. Near Oyster Bay, we stopped for a visit with the "Urchin Man." There's a guy there that has a display of some interesting shells, as well as some live specimens of urchins and conch you can touch and hold if you like. Good photo opportunities (great view of Orient Bay from here), and of course the Urchin Man has a tip box, which no one minded at all. All kinds of ways to make a living in the Caribbean. We got to Orient Beach and were met by another glorious day. Amazingly, one of our group spoke to someone who said they had spent the whole past week on St. Maarten, and it had rained every day but this one. Sometimes great luck wins out over planning. Everyone seemed to enjoy Orient and I think would have preferred to spend the whole rest of the day there. But I continued to insist seeing the planes would be worth it, so we departed after about two hours. Noel has an arrangement with La Playa - one of the many beach bars and restaurants on Orient - to provide an umbrella, two chairs and two drinks (rum punch or fruit punch) for ten bucks. As deals on Orient go, this was a good one. As you probably know, Orient is on the French side where topless bathing is de rigur, so be prepared if you go. Participation not required. The far south end is the fully nude beach which can't be seen unless you make an effort to walk down there. The curious are welcome and do not have to participate, but staring and photo taking are frowned upon - greatly. Security guys will enforce the photo ban, and have been known to confiscate phones and cameras. Lots of water sports available at Orient too, not to mention massages, some of which are available right at your beach chair. I'm tellin' ya, life is rough on Orient! The planes at Maho Beach delivered as scripted, but it was crowded and more time at Orient could be easily substituted next time around.
Ship Service: Mostly exemplary, with the exception of our cabin steward. Nothing awful, but far from over the top. Met expectations I would say, but definitely didn't exceed them. Emptied the mini bar reluctantly, and left some things in there taking away from our fridge space. Didn't seem to go out of his way for anything at anytime. Room always clean and serviced when it should be, but it was tough keeping the ice buckets full, and getting him to understand when we were there and when we weren't. On other cruises, that part seemed like magic and the stewards have always known when to stealthily make their way in and tidy up while we were out. They certainly know when everyone's dinner time is (any time dining excluded). Our guy didn't seem to be around much. Even if not in our cabin, it always seemed we'd see our steward in the hall and we'd be greeted by name with a smile. Not so with this guy. It was just about irritating enough that I almost went to guest services to have the steward gratuity removed. But thought better of it keeping mind it's a large source of their income, and his assistants might be unnecessarily impacted. Please view this as an observation, not a complaint. The cruise was still fantastic, and lack of knock your socks off service by the steward caused no real harm. Then again, our head waiter (Warren, from Guyana) was superb. Everyone at our table of 8 was greeted and addressed by name from the second night forward. All food (to my knowledge) was delivered as ordered, and Warren was always smiling and helpful. Same for his assistants, whose names escape me. Of course there was some sort of waiter song and dance every night. All other crew members were helpful and cheerful from bar staff to entertainers to officers. OK - the blackjack dealers could have a been a little kinder to us with the cards they dealt! I will say that the Cruise Director, Felipe, was essentially invisible throughout the cruise, except on those incessant activities videos that always seem to be playing on the big screen at the pool (mostly in the mornings and early afternoons). And it seemed his various announcements were nonstop. I realize there are a lot of things to "sell" on the cruise, and it's his job to get us to the venues, but please give us a break. And you could tell the announcements were annoying to other crew members who would be in the middle of an activity - say, moderating the mixology contest - only to be interrupted by Felipe. And all other microphones and PA's go dead when Felipe speaks, so no choice but to stop the presses til he's done. I never once saw him wandering around or mixing with guests other than when he was hosting an activity or show. Maybe that's just the way it is these days, but I seem to recall more interaction with other CD's on other cruises.
Activities and Shows: Our group was primarily all about the comedy. There are two sets of two guys that get switched out around Barbados. You can actually do this full cruise embarking and debarking there. The first set was better according to our group consensus especially one guy Happy Cole. I did not get to see it, but apparently his adult show had everyone rolling in the aisles. The subject was sex and only sex, and of course none of his jokes are repeatable here. I think some of us went to the Motown review which got good reviews. Much of our gang enjoys gambling, so many late nights were spent in the casino with mixed results. Our august cruise coordinator went up $1200 on two different slot pulls. Most everyone else got out alive, but no closer to retirement! And just about all of us went to the Legends show on the final night and here's why: yours truly made it into the show as Frank Sinatra. If you're not familiar, the karaoke spot has "auditions" just about every night looking for impersonators of various famous singers from Frank to Elton to Elvis to Madonna to Garth. I took a shot at Frank while everyone else in our group was at the comedy show. Not much competition to be honest - only me and one other guy. And you don't have to be American Idol material to make the show. I think the biggest factor is guts! The decision is made by audience applause as judged by the karaoke girl, who also ended up being in the show as Sonny Bono. I squeaked through by one or two claps, and right about then was sorry I don't have our group with me for additional hoots and hollers (which likely would have cost me a few drinks). They gave me an MP3 player to "rehearse" with, which had the song I was to perform on it (My Way) as played by the actual orchestra I'd be singing with. I had to go to a full rehearsal for the show, which includes the actual ship singers and dancers, as well as us rookies, and had to be fitted for a costume (tux and matching black hat - what else?!). Everyone was made up and dressed to look like their character, and we had to learn a few simple dance steps as part of the show finale. "Compensation" was the cruise voyage video, and a group photo of all of us with the Valor singers and dancers. This show won't be headed to Broadway any time soon, but it was a blast and I would definitely do it again if given the chance.
Debarkation: It's always over before you know it, and this is always the toughest part. Not the debarkation itself of course, but looking at others about to get on experiencing that same great feeling of anticipation we all had just a short week ago. As FTTF 'ers we were allowed to self assist, meaning we didn't have to put our bags in the hall the night before, and were permitted to drag them off ourselves. A bit unwieldy, but better than waiting/hunting for bags in the terminal. And we debarked leisurely. No one was harassing to get out as we've experienced on other cruises. We were all packed and ready to go, but left our bags in the cabin at about 7:30 and went to the buffet for breakfast. No room service available (I don't believe) on debark morning. So we got off about 8:30 and pretty much sailed (pun intended) right through customs. Grabbed a cab at the curb. Works the same as the airport - see the dispatcher for a ticket as soon as you exit, and find their counterpart at the curb to get the taxi for you. Don't be swayed by anyone else trying to get you in the cab. The "official" taxis wait until summoned by the dispatchers. We were at the airport just after 9 for our 1:15 flight. The Southwest counter wasn't even open yet. They showed up about 10:30. As a side note, you'll recall I mentioned Arlington, VA as the place where our high school is. Most of the group still lives in that area (metro DC). A snowstorm that was anticipated for Monday - and actually did materialize - "stranded" many of us in San Juan for a few extra days after the cancellation of several flights. What a pity! Even more's the pity as our flight back to Denver was on time and uneventful. Kidding aside, not all that glamorous for those that had to deal with it. Many could not afford the time, and one of us had a family funeral to get back to. So folks were grabbing any flight they could to anywhere. Some rented cars and drove to DC from as far away as Charlotte and Atlanta in the storm. You do whatcha gotta do, and thankfully everyone eventually got home safely (except for one couple still sipping margaritas is San Juan as I write this).
All in all, a tremendous vacation with a fabulous group of people. Good ship, great itinerary, and very nice excursions. Weather could not be beat, and as a result of my pre-cruise praying and promising, I will now have to go to church on Sundays for the rest of my life (which I realize would not be a bad thing)! Despite this being so long - winded, I suspect there may be other questions which I would be happy to answer if I can. Our group will take just enough time to unpack and and take a deep breath, then let the planning for next year begin!
Cheers,
Bruce