My Valor Points of interest/observations 5day Galveston/Cozumel/Progreso Feb 25-Mar 2

Hi all, I'm writing this quick review to point out some highlights and changes that i've noticed since I last cruised.

Hope it helps! Feel free to ask any questions.

Day 1: Muster stations have changed a bit. You don't need to take your jacket but you definitely need to get to the right spot. Staff will ask for 1 card per stateroom and swipe it thru their hand held tablets to check you in. If you're not in the right muster station, they'll know and move you. Also, if you manage to sneak out of attending this, note that they make an announcement of all people who they couldn't find (name and room number) and ask them to please proceed to the theater for the full muster station drill!! yikes!

The ship sailed away after the muster drill instead of during the drill, which always irked me in the past.

We had the "choose your own time dining" which worked great. Note that if you show up between 7-730, you might have to take a pager and wait in the lobby for a few minutes, since this is their peak time.

Day2 : At sea. Blissfully uneventful. If you go to the show on this night, note that the cruise director will speak for

about an hour before the show starts since he has you cornered basically. He goes over everything a first-time cruiser

would like to hear but others will cringe at the level of details of ship and port life.

Day 3: Cozumel. Very important to note that as of today, Cozumel is the ONLY place you can find liquor near the ship

because Progreso's Cinco Sol's liquor store is out of business. More on that later. We visited Playa Mia and it was a good experience. For 3 adults and 1 child, we spent: $20 cab to go (tip included), $161 entrance (includes buffet but not open bar option), and $20 cab ride back (tip included). The beach there, like in all of Cozumel, is very coarse and not the powdery stuff you'll see on brochures. It was clean though, as was the entire facility. They offer massages and have a large play area for the kids. I took a pedal boat out a couple times and it was great. The food was pretty good I thought. Lots of guacamole, chips, lasagna, taquitos and sides. Note on drinks: the drinks included are basically ice cold punch (orange, apple, grape). If you want a Coke or a mixed drink, those are for sale (unless you bought the open bar option). The cab ride there was easy: basically go off the boat and forward then left to find the cabs. Cabbies were waiting at the front of Playa Mia we left to come back. Its a 10-15 minute ride.

Day 4: Progreso. We've been to Progreso a bunch of times and have previously done the Discotel package which includes a ride to the resort and open bar and food and beach use for around $35. This time around we chose not to. To our surprise, the only liquor store just off the boat is out of business! This would be the round building that you walk up to first.

Definitely get your liquor in Cozumel or get to the ship's store early. I heard the person working the ship's liquor store

say that a few things were already sold out since people realized there wasn't gonna be any booze to take home from

Progreso. The other shops there are all the same. Clothing that's over $10 is negotiable if you play nicely. Walk thru the entire area before buying anything because they all sell pretty much the same thing but prices vary a couple dollars from place to place. If you stay on the ship, you basically have it all to yourself on this day.

Day 5: At sea. Back in the day Carnival used to have 2 open bar parties. After a few years, they changed it to a "returning guests only" party where you had to be Gold level or above to be invited. I'm not sure if its different based on ship, but the Valor has neither of those parties and instead has a "Platinum and Diamond only" party on this day that is open bar and free snacks. Everybody else, buy your own drink! lol. Also note that in this party they have added a few games like "guess the jellybean count" and "match the baby picture to the ship employee". I wasn't sure what the prizes were but they looked like picture frames. The 80's show on this night was pretty darn good. The breakdancers were awesome.

Other notes of interest:

Download the Carnival Hub app before you leave port otherwise you will have problems downloading it while at sea. Its free to use and shows the daily calendar. Keep using your paper calendar of events though because we found discrepancies between the two. Sometimes one showed more detail than the other: movies being played at night are on the paper calendar but not the app.

The BBQ station is unfortunately hidden at the very top, very back of the ship. Its delicious and hardly ever busy. There's also lots of seating up there when the rest of lido is packed.

Free lobster and Chateaubriand are off free the dinner menu! They have added a $20 fee to some premium items that are listed in the bottom right of each dinner's menu.

All Gold and Platinum guests get a free 1L bottle of water on the first night of their cruise which comes in handy if you

don't wanna drink tap or pay for the in-room bottle.

Platinum guests get a drink coupon that can only be used on the last day of the cruise and only during breakfast, brunch, or lunch.

Gold guests get a drink coupon that can be used "anywhere on the ship after 5pm on the last night of the cruise"!

We stayed on the 2nd floor and it was perfectly quiet and calm each night. No sounds of other guests or ship noises bothered us.

If you're driving into the port and get forced to pass the designated area by the pushy cops and porters, don't even try to back up. They are ruthless and have no problems yelling at you to MOVE FORWARD. They don't want to hear your excuses anymore than you want to hear the life choices that landed them directing people who are definitely happier than they are. If you've never cruised, I don't recommend going into the terminal at peak times. And if you do pass, don't try making a quick u-turn thru the road that the shuttles use, they will also tell you to go out and all the way around thru traffic again.

Cost of doing that: 20 minutes or so.

This trip was the first one where we used the "indoor cruise parking" which is to the right about 1/2 mile before the

terminal entrance. It looks like an old red brick building. The cost was $72 for the 5 night cruise for inside. They offer

outdoor for $10 less. I liked this more than I thought for a couple reasons. 1. Its indoor so your car won't get punished

by sea spray for a week. 2. As our shuttle returned us, the driver politely said "your cars have been sitting inside our

facility for a week, sometimes their batteries or tires get low so if you have any problems, let us know and we can fill

your tires or jumpstart your car if you need it." It's a nice touch. Thankfully our car fired up and had no problems.

The gluten free items list is growing it seems which is nice if you have celiacs disease. They can modify most any dinner item to be gluten free, all you need to do is ask your waiter for tomorrow's menu and let them know what you'll be wanting.

The Valor celebrated Mardi Gras! They had a mask making session (free) and a big party for Fat Tuesday. I had no idea when I booked this cruise so that was a nice surprise.

I wish the photographers on board would be a little more patient when taking pictures. My daughter took a few pictures with the Cat In The Hat mascot and every picture's focal point was the background. That means the wallpaper was crisp while the mascot and my daughter were heavily doctored to try bringing back the sharpness. If there's one thing to know about

photography is that there is NO cure for blur.

Finally, be careful on the freeways. I saw a bunch of state troopers waiting to ruin your trip. Thankfully they didn't ruin ours.

Thank you so much!! We are on this exact cruise next month and you gave me so much information!!!

Have had the pleasure to enjoy:

Carnival Celebration 07

Carnival Victory 16

Carnival Valor 17

Thank you I was on the valor for the 4 day and I did not see the bbq. Now I feel bad I went to guest services and explained that I did not get my coupon for my drink. The man did not ask any question just printed one out. Now after reading other post it only on 5 days or longer. Oops going back in May if he is there will appolize for my error.:D.

Thank you for your feedback.

Thank you very much!

I was on the Valor just this past week (right after you) and the movie titles were listed in the app. Don't know if they fixed that glitch for the next cruise, but they were there!

Thanks for your thoughts.

BWAHAHA! I just laughed at the Troopers are there to ruin your week! They are there to save lives. If you get stopped in Texas, you deserve a ticket the way people drive. I drive the speed limit and have been passed on the berm a lot of times.

Thanks for the review. Be onboard next month

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Thanks for the info. We just got home today from 7 days on the Breeze and head out in 32 days for the 4 day cruise on Valor over Easter weekend.

Not sure when you last cruised, but the last cruise I was on that required you to take the life jacket to muster drill was in 2005. On the Breeze, our Muster Drill was held in the Ovation Theater. I believe the dining rooms were also used. Both hubby and I had our cards scanned as we entered the theater. They weren't asking for only one card per cabin. Before we were dismissed they made an announcement for those passengers that missed the Muster Drill to head immediately to the Library. I don't remember any names or cabin numbers being mentioned.

You mentioned gluten free.. do you know if guys burgers had a gluten free bun option?

Have had the pleasure to enjoy:

Carnival Celebration 07

Carnival Victory 16

Carnival Valor 17

Thanks for the input we are going on our first cruise on the Valor on 08/20/2018. i can not wait.

Thanks for your review. I especially enjoyed your "blissfully uneventful" sea day. That's my favorite part of a cruise.