Carnival Valor From Galveston Review With Pictures and FUN-TIMES! :)

Information About This Cruise & Me: This was my 12th cruise and my first time to cruise on the Carnival Valor. This cruise was June 22-26, 2017 and it departed from Galveston to Cozumel.

About My Review: I am going to post all of my written review here as I write it. I try to do the review in parts, by day. However, I will be posting all of my photos, FunTimes, and paper handouts on my personal cruise blog first and then I will upload some photos here. I am running out of internet data so I have to be careful at how much I post until the calendar month is over! This is essentially the same way I have done my reviews here on Cruise Critic for the past several years.

Here Is The Review, Photos & Fun-Times:

http://www.embarkandaway.com/carnival-valor-4-day-caribbean-cruise-review-2017.html

Note: I will be sharing the same written information from my blog here too, but I will share some extra information that I didn't written in my blog here! It is also easier to view everything on a desktop or tablet computer, not a mobile device.

I Will Begin Sharing The First Parts Of My Cruise Review Soon!

Feel Free To Ask Questions You Have! I will answer questions as quick as possible!

Thanks for your review. I look forward to more. I always look forward to reading your fine reviews.

Following

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Thanks for what you've posted so far. I enjoyed your pictures on your blog and look forward to reading more. I'll be on the Valor next month - 13 days away!!

Following. I'm cruising from Galveston later this year and it will be my first cruise out of Texas. Thanks for posting the alcohol tax letter. I didn't know Texas taxed incoming booze. I thought it was like all my cruises out of Florida where you could get a bottle and not be taxed.

Did you use any of the on-board wifi packages? If so, how well did it work?

Thanks for your review. I look forward to more. I always look forward to reading your fine reviews.

Thank you! I will post more as soon as possible!

Following. I'm cruising from Galveston later this year and it will be my first cruise out of Texas. Thanks for posting the alcohol tax letter. I didn't know Texas taxed incoming booze. I thought it was like all my cruises out of Florida where you could get a bottle and not be taxed.

Unfortunately for many, the law in Texas got changed 2 or 3 years ago. Onboard the ship you can ask questions and get more information about the TABC's rules. Honestly, the law is kind of confusing to me.

Also, the bar menu is different for the first day in Texas due to laws. The cover will say something along the lines of Texas Bar Menu.

Did you use any of the on-board wifi packages? If so, how well did it work?

Yes, I bought 1 day of the social media plan for $5.00. It worked only 1 time and took about 20 minutes to load the login page for Facebook. After that I waited over a half hour to load Facebook and it never came up. Some man trying to use the internet at the same time told me he was able to login easily at 4am when everyone on the ship was asleep.

I am unsure if the more expensive plans work better.

Personally, I would not purchase internet again unless Carnival further upgrades the internet equipment.

Following along.

Wow! What an amazing review you do!

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Wow! What an amazing review you do!

 

 

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Thank you!

Very nice format for a review, thanks!

Thanks for the review.

Bringing cheap chocolate wine in galveston on valor. How much tax on this $8 bottle?

Thanks. :cool:

Some clarity on the TABC and alcohol tax.

Cruisers aren't taxed for alcohol carried from here aboard the ship for consumption. According to Carnival's policy each cruiser age 21 or over can carry one 750ml bottle of wine aboard.

When you return to Galveston TABC has a desk just past US Customs where they are collecting the duty for importation. Here is the press release explaining the enforcement. This wasn't a new law; it's been around for decades, they only decided to begin enforcement: http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/home/press_releases/2013/20131220.asp

Here is the link to the actual fee schedule: http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/poe/tax_rates.asp

In a bunch of cruises since the enforcement went in effect I've seen the attempt to collect generate few takers. I'm not suggesting or encouraging one to stop and pay the tax, just an observation.

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Did you use any of the on-board wifi packages? If so, how well did it work?

Yes, and they worked great for me. At peak times in the evening hours it was a little slow, but for me working on my business a few minutes during the business day I had adequate speeds.

I also used Outlook to compose email offline. Then I logged on and pushed mail up and down to make it easier to use.

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Very nice format for a review, thanks!

Thank you! Glad you like the format!

Thanks for the review.

You're welcome!

I just wanted to apologize for being so behind with getting everything online. It has been hard balancing writing the review, working, and all the other things I have to do in life.

Day 1

​Weather Delay Due To Tropical Storm Cindy:

​ Unfortunately, the Carnival Valor was not able to arrive in Galveston on-time the morning of our cruise. This was due to the Port of Galveston being closed to marine traffic because Tropical Storm Cindys was creating high winds and rough seas. Although Galveston was not directly hit by Tropical Storm Cindy, the high winds and waves created dangerous conditions that were not safe for the ship to dock. When I saw Carnival's text alerts come across my phone I was disappointed, but I knew I would still have a good cruise no matter how bad the weather turned out to be (spoiler: the weather got much better). When the first text alert came across my phone, we were on our way to Galveston. The original text alert essentially told cruisers the Port of Galveston was closed and Carnival had no information on when check-in & boarding would occur since everything depended on the ship's arrival time. Carnival's alert said an update would be provided no later than 10am.

After arriving in Galveston, I used my phone to begin watching the Carnival Valor's online tracker. When the ship started moving at a slow speed, I had a good feeling it was going to be able to finally come into Galveston! I continued to watch the tracker closely and when the ship got close to docking, I went outside by the Harborhouse Hotel to get a view of the ship. Since it was pouring outside, I had to watch from a covered area to keep dry and protect my camera. The ship was being assisted by a tug because of the weather. Here are a few pictures I took of the ship arriving in Galveston:

The temperature standing outside was cold and I got a little wet running back to the car. I anticipated Carnival's alert to come any second, but it seemed to take forever. Finally, I looked at my email and found an email alert was sent that told cruisers the ship had arrived and boarding times were pushed back by one hour. Carnival ships out of Galveston now operate on a staggered check-in system. While completing online documents and paperwork, each stateroom is required to select a check-in window. These time windows indicate the time a stateroom's occupants can begin arriving at the cruise terminal to check-in. The goal of this process was to reduce crowding and lines. All cruisers were told to add one hour to this originally scheduled time. However, the cruise terminal did not strictly enforce the staggered check-in times due to the ship's delay. Regardless of the delay, I was excited the ship was docked and I would still be able to get on. This was my 12th cruise on Carnival, but first time sailing on the Carnival Valor.

Parking and Arriving At The Cruise Terminal:

There are several parking lots to choose from that are located in the area surrounding the cruise terminal. For this cruise, we used Lighthouse Parking and paid $50.00 in cash. The parking lot had a shuttle that took us from their parking lot to the cruise terminal. The Carnival Valor was docked at the Port of Galveston's Cruise Terminal 2. All of my other Galveston cruises had used Terminal 1, so it felt different using Terminal 2. After being dropped off by the shuttle we crossed pick-up and drop-off traffic to check-in our luggage. The area surrounding the cruise terminal was crowded because several of the ship's previous cruisers were waiting for transportation and incoming cruisers were trying to drop off luggage. After ten minutes of standing in the middle of confusion, a luggage porter came with a cart and took our luggage. I do not blame Carnival or the port for this confusion because I understand the ship's delay complicated the entire process for the cruise terminal. In order to check-in our luggage we had to show our boarding passes.

Following the check-in of our luggage, we proceeded to the opposite end of the cruise terminal to signs that read, "Check-In". Two ladies were standing outside the doors telling everyone to have their boarding passes and travel identification ready to show inside. After walking through the cruise terminal's doors, we proceeded into a large room that had passport scanners and security machines. The first area of the process was passport scanners. We had to show our boarding passes and get each of our passports scanned. The machines were a little slow so this took longer than I anticipated. However, there were several machines going so there was virtually no line. Following getting our passports scanned, we were directed into a large room with several check-in desks. We did not have to wait in line to be helped. The lady that checked us in was extremely friendly. She looked at our boarding passes, collected our health questionnaires, and gave us our Sail & Sign cards. This process took no more than 5 minutes. Following this part of the check-in process, we followed the terminal staff members' directions to go up an escalator. The escalator brought us to a large area filled with chairs. The area was segregated into numbered zones. Our boarding pass was stamped with a zone that we were supposed to sit in. The priority guests and Faster to the Fun guests sat in their own zones, away from the regular cruisers. Since we were not traveling with a priority cruiser this cruise, we sat in the regular cruiser section. Our zone for seating purposes was Zone 1. The waiting area had vending machines as well as restrooms.

​Embarkation and Boarding:

​ After waiting in the terminal for a little over an hour, a lady came over the cruise terminal's intercom to let us know boarding was about to begin. She explained the boarding process and what to expect once onboard the ship. After making announcements, she initially called for priority guests and then shortly afterwards called for Faster to the Fun guests. Following all of the guests with early boarding privileges, our seating area zone (zone 1) was called. We raced to get our Sail & Sign card scanned and then were directed to the gangway. Guests that wanted an embarkation photo taken could do so before entering the gangway. The photos would be available for sale in the ship's photo gallery. We did not get our photo taken because we were starving for lunch and wanted to make up the time we had already lost on the ship due to the weather delay. Here are some pictures I took walking up the gangway to get on the ship:

The Ol' Fashioned BBQ line was located on the second deck level (Deck 10) of Rosie's. For those that have previously sailed on the Carnival Valor, this is where the Fish & Chips used to be. The upstairs area of the lido buffet had several tables as well as a drink station for those that wanted to eat upstairs away from the crowd. There were no other cruisers getting BBQ when I walked upstairs. All items were served from behind the counter at this buffet line.

Great review so far, looking forward to the rest.

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