Our Carnival Valor Cruise out of Miami Review August 2012
Pre-Cruise
* OK… here’s my disclaimer for this blog... well, the next 2 or 3. It’s a review. Probably not as humorously told as some of my other stories… but I will include my little opinion from time to time. My only hope is besides letting you laugh at my expense that some of the information actually helps you out :)
We left DFW airport on Thursday to fly to Miami. (That’s a blog :) We stayed at the Marriott in Biscayne Bay. The hotel itself was beautiful! We had originally booked our room through Priceline, but we found out we did not have a room with a view. You can’t go somewhere like Miami and not have a room with a view! (What am I saying? I get pissy if we go to Galveston and I don’t get a room with a view… clearly it’s just how I roll.) So we ended up cancelling that reservation and booked directly through the Marriott. For $20 more we could have a room overlooking the bay. It was WELL worth the $20!!
Here is the view from our balcony. It overlooked the Port of Miami and we were able to wake up to the see the beautiful Carnival Valor from our hotel room.
We were hungry after the long day of traveling and airport fiascos. We decided to go downstairs to try out the hotel’s restaurant, “The Catch”. (We love seafood and eat it all the time, but Mark has this crazy thing that he must always try “seafood” when we are near the “sea”. He thinks it will be so much better… usually he is disappointed, but it doesn’t stop him in his search for the freshest and most perfect seafood ever). The Catch was very pretty, the atmosphere was nice and offered dining outside with overlooked the bay. This seating choice was full so we were given a table inside. After bringing out the complimentary appetizer, (sort of like chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant), it took a rather long time before they came back to get our initial food order. It took another 30-45 minutes or so for our food to finally arrive and we were able to ask for drink refills… as no one had checked on us the entire time. The food was only average tasting for their prices. (All entrees averaged $26-34) After we finished eating we had to flag our waitress down again and ask for a desert menu… and a drink refill. It then took an additional 20 minutes for our dessert to come out. The food and service definitely do not live up to the atmosphere and prices. We were rather disappointed. By this time we had been there so long we were exhausted and just wanted to go to bed.
The next morning for breakfast we knew we wouldn’t be eating the breakfast buffet ... which is located in The Catch. We searched on the internet and found Enriqueta’s Sandwich Shop that was not far. It promised authentic Cuban food, which we wanted to try. Taxi ride was $8 each way. The taxi driver stopped in the middle of the road… not even up to the red light and says “Is right here ok?” “Ummm… No! Where exactly is it?” He points to the little house like building on the other side of the street. We said … “you think you could pull over there… oh say… in the parking lot and let us out?” Thankfully he obliged. Strange I tell you. The atmosphere inside was awesome and the food was great and cheap! Special breakfast (2 eggs, bacon or ham, bread, coffee and OJ ) was $5.35! The bacon was different (thicker) and the coffee was an experience :) We were, I believe, the only people in there in which English was their first language. For the majority I don’t think English was any of their language. It was an awesome experience. If you get the opportunity you should give it a try.
That afternoon, while randomly walking around the hotel, we found a connecting door from the Marriott that led over to the Doubletree Hotel. There are several shops and salons in between. There was also a small bar, convenience store, pharmacy, liquor store and steakhouse there. The liquor store was perfect for last minute smuggling opportunities. This little strip in between the hotels was a true hidden gem. We ended up having lunch (pizza and sandwiches), dinner (steakhouse) and breakfast (a la cart, hot breakfast, fruit, muffins) there. All the food was much better than The Catch and reasonably priced. The shops were fun to walk through.
Friday we took a taxi to South Beach. Being from Texas we could not imagine traveling all the way to Miami and not going to South Beach. We let Trenton play in the ocean for a while, showered off on the beach, walked through some of the shops and then found a little Cuban restaurant where we could sit outside and see the ocean. Not knowing what to try or even what half of the stuff on the menu WAS, we just ordered the appetizer sampler to split and a couple of Mojito’s. Trenton drank his fruit punch, took one look at the sampler platter and passed on the food :) General consensus… I am not a fan of Cuban food. There were some odd things on that plate. *What we learned the hard way … gratuity is automatically included. :/ If we hadn't consumed 3 $12 a piece mojito's we probably would have seen that on the bill.. but alas, we left a nice tip on top :/ (Sure was an expensive "snack" on the beach) No wonder they kept coming back to the table after we paid trying to get us something else!
I don’t recommend renting a car in Miami. The drivers there are crazy! We actually rented a car and returned it the very next day. If you don’t have huge lengths to travel, I believe a taxi is the way to go!
That night Mark and I went down to the little bar between the hotels. There were just 2 bartenders and a couple of patron’s. Mark LOVES to talk and always tries to find people with a different point of view than the “tourist” picture that is painted. We found out several people actually LIVED in the hotel… like an apartment. They were regulars… Mind blowing for people from Texas. We had an awesome time!
We decided to walk outside and take a stroll beside the water. The weather was gorgeous! The gate leading out to the boat slips was open… so we just made ourselves at home and walked on through. Down at the end of the pier sat a HUGE yacht… the biggest boat I have ever seen … next to Carnival. As we were admiring the yacht a young girl (not likely 21) and 2 equally young boys walked by. Mark jokingly says “You guys like my boat?” The girl snarls up her nose and says “That’s MY boat.” Sashayed past us in her 8 feet tall heels and climbed on board and sure enough... they took off. “Oops”. Not the friendliest of individuals.
That certainly didn't deter us and pretty much summed up the majority of people we met in Miami... ridiculous heels and lacking in Texan hospitality :)
TBC...
