To Hell and Back: Escape from Snowmageddon (Or, The World’s Longest Valor Review, part 9)featured
I woke up around 10ish. Stephanie and Mom went walking on the track and woke me up with chocolate milk. They know me well. There was carpet being layed in the hallway outside our room and it smelled like turpentine, but I suppose it’s nice that the ship is constantly being renovated and fixed. We all went to breakfast at Rosie’s and they had these BLT quiches that Stephanie, to this day, does not stop talking about. We saw them a few weeks ago on the Dream, too, so they definitely aren’t exclusive to the Valor. And here’s a tip I’ve probably shared before but I’ll share again: if you’re not an omelet person (like me), but you don’t want powdered scrambled eggs, they’ll make you eggs nearly any way you want them. Scrambled? Over easy? No problem. Cool, huh?
After breakfast, Mom and grandma went…somewhere to do something on the ship…and Stephanie and I went out into Cozumel, where we’d already been docked for hours. The beauty of visiting ports you’ve been to numerous times before? Familiarity eventually leads to lackadaisical days where you can sleep in and then go out to leisurely explore. So Stephanie and I went commando into Cozumel. Not literally commando. You know. As in no plans, just play it by ear commando because at this point, it’s mostly all been there/done that for us. We were docked with the Grand Princess, Carnival Elation and Imagination (which was at the other pier).
We did a little shopping and then we headed to the coffee shop on the pier. Why? FREE WI-FI. I grabbed a white chocolate mocha ($4) and they say one drink gets you one hour of wi-fi…but it’s really unlimited once you have that password. So I checked in on the news and with my friends. If you have an iPhone, a program like TextFree runs on wi-fi and also has dialing capabilities, so you can make phone calls on wi-fi. Probably cheaper than calling home any other way. Snaps for free wi-fi and surprisingly good white chocolate mochas.
Stephanie and I walked around for a bit…shopping and just kind of hanging around. We bought some vanilla at Los Cinco Soles because we have to buy vanilla every time we’re by Los Cinco Soles (it’s cheap for pure vanilla and it’s fantastic). And when we were all shopped out, we headed to Fat Tuesday’s for drinks.
After we got our cerveza on, Stephanie went back to the ship and I stayed on the pier and waited for Mom, who wanted to do a little shopping. I saw our room steward, Three, who was just always super nice…and told me not to jump in the ocean. Wasn’t in the plans, friend.
Mom and I did a little bit of shopping, checking in in some jewelry stores, the pharmacy and grabbing another bottle of vanilla before heading back to the ship.
I met up with Stephanie at Serenity and we went to lunch on Lido before going swimming. Every couple days, they’ll have cupcakes at the dessert station. They aren’t Crumbs or Magnolia gourmet cupcakes, but they are super, super good. And they had tiramisu cups. Always a yum.
After swimming, we went to check the dinner menu for tonight and we didn’t like it, so Mom went up to the supper club to make reservations. They were able to accommodate us on such short notice rather easily, despite a busy restaurant tonight. Maybe being platinum helped? Anyways, we got ready early and went outside to watch the sailaway and sunset before taking grandma back to the room for her nap and heading to dinner.
The supper club tonight was excellent. They find ways to outdo themselves every time. Service was spectacular and food was superb. The amuse bouche was a spiced chilled tomato soup, which was like a viscous, tasty ketchup. The beef carpaccio was fantastic, but could have used some olive oil (which they normally offer, but didn’t for whatever reason. I didn’t bother asking). The French onion soup was the best soup I’ve ever had. Incredibly tasty, hint of sweetness, very velvety and rich. The filet, though, was a bit dry and overdone on the outside. I surrendered to the dessert. I couldn’t palate the banana one and I just had to throw in the towel. You win, chocolate sampler. You win.
The meat presentation tray
Spiced Tomato Soup Amuse Bouche
Another Amuse Bouche
Brioche and Spread Tray
Beef Carpaccio (Sliced raw beef tenderloin with shaved Parmesan cheese and marinated Mache lettuce
Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (Black tiger shrimp with American cocktail sauce)
Selection of International Cheeses
Baked Onion Soup
Sliced, Sun-Ripened Beef Steak Tomato (with gorgonzola crumbles)
Classic Caesar Salad (hearts of romaine lettuce, traditionally prepared)
Broiled Filet Mignon (9oz. for the true gourmet)
Bearnaise sauce
Surf and Turf (seared lobster tail and grilled filet mignon)
Broiled New York Strip Loin Steak (14oz. of the favorite cut for steak connoisseurs)
Cappuccino
Selection of Homemade Sherbets
Cheesecake with Hazelnut Biscuit
Chocolate Cake with Bitter Chocolate Pate
We went back to the room to change after dinner because my shoes were killing me and I was already barefoot. Someone came in to fix our shower, which I guess was broken (which I didn’t notice when I showered today, but snaps for proactivity) and then Stephanie and I watched Modern Family for awhile. The ship was rocking really hard. Like…drawers are moving kind of hard. I don’t remember waves like this in a long time. Stephanie wanted to see Quest, so we went to the Ivanhoe only to realize it was being held in the Eagle Lounge. By the time we got there, it was finishing up.
We stayed for a bit of Superstar Live, which is so fun and somewhat innovative, and even has a different drink menu for that lounge/event. We went upstairs to watch movie on big screen a bit and then went back to the room to get ready for tomorrow. This trip wore me out. Exhaustion to the max. It made for restful sleep.
Today’s Lido lunch menu
Today’s Lido dinner menu
