Carnival Valor

Hi Guys

Just returned from the Valor sailing on 1/2/05. Hate to disappoint anyone but ask and I will tell. Carnival is Carnival.

:confused:

ok, that was pretty cryptic. How about just giving us some thoughts - good and bad? With such a new ship many of us are anxious to hear how things are going. I get the impression you weren't too happy - how about some specifics?

Here is another example of a negative post by someone with only 2 posts under their belt.....it's the usual thing.

My only sailings have been with Carnival and I've totally enjoyed them all...what exactly weren't you happy with? Help us to understand your post.

Remember: life is 10% of what happens to you...and 90% of how you react to it...

good day,

Esmerelda :)

Alright, I'll bite....what didn't you like?

Please explain - we'd like to hear the good and the bad.

Im sorry...I thought the Valor was terrific!

Does it really matter how many posts u have????

I've only been on the Carnival board for a few months, but I'll try to explain why I think the number of posts is important to some. Apparently there have been several instances of people posting negative reviews on their first postings to the board, then many times disappearing. They just sign up to dump on Carnival and then disappear. They weren't on the board before their cruise to learn about the cruises and gather information - they just signed up to be negative then leave. I don't know if this is the case with the person that started this thread; however, it has been over 12 hours since they posted this and stated they would answer questions. There have been several specific questions and we haven't received any answers. Just makes you go hmmmmmm.....

Sorry guys I am not here to dump on Carnival and disappear. I just found the boards prior to my sailing on Carnival. We went on four cruises in 2004, two on MSC, Sun Princess and RC. Needless to say we are Princess people. However, MSC had its good and bad and we would go back again, have another MSC cruise booked for this year. We have not been on Carnival in years, thought a new ship might be great.

The ship is new, clean and certainly over done with the American theme, but thats my thoughts. Entertainment went from super great to terrible, as we walked out of a show thinking how terrible, we heard all the others complaining about the same thing. The major productions shows (two) were super.

The food is just ok, never served a hot meal at night, even complained and the answer was to serve us hot soup first and then the appetizer. The wait staff was extremely friendly and wanted to be helpful, but they certainly have their limits of what they can and cannot do.

I spoke with one of the casino hosts who told me carnival is for the first time cruiser or those that want a wild time. Its certainly a young crowd.

Boarding was an unbeleivable experience two hours from us arriving at the pier until we boarded the ship. Getting off was even worse--they lied to the passengers and told them if anyone gets off with a different color than called, Customs will put you in a room and make you wait until the end. Trust me guys, from experience on Sunday that was far from true.

I will gladly answer any individual questions. It was an ok cruise, but remember we are not Carnival people. Been on worst and certainly been on better.

Sorry guys, one more important piece of information. On sea days, all deck chairs around the pool and the sun levels are taken by 7:30am. People are tying towels around 2 or 3 chairs or putting a sneaker on each chair. I found one chair on a sea day at 7:50am with all the others around me taken. It was a group of 14 people who did not show up until after 11am. This was very typical for each and every sea day. So before I went to the gym i would put a towel on a chair at 7am and then by 8am i was ready for a day of sun with a chair in my choice of location. My wife and daughter went to the back by the childrens pool for chairs, until others realized it was there towards the end of the week.

Sorry to hear that your experience was not the best. Even as stated many times before, there can be so many different opinions on the exact same sailing. What you enjoy may not be the same as another family. My DH and I chose Carnival for the 3rd time specifically for the piano bar, pizza and itinerary....(pizza being the #1 reason for DH!) Some people might say those are ridiculous reasons, but they were important to us. So, a few questions...

Did you try the supper club?

Did you try the lido for supper?

Is there any chance of getting 2 deck chairs together after 8am that are not located in Siberia?

Did you venture into the piano bar? If so, how was the entertainment?

Thank you in advance for answering my questions and for giving us your 2 cents worth.

Hi Molly

I think you need to get deck chairs super early in the mornings, especially sea days. I enjoy the sun and enjoy being near the pool. I tried to get a chair on one of the levels--the only time i did find one was at 7am in the morning before I went to the gym.

We did not go to the supper club. It would have been $100 for us and my daughter eats like a bird--she wanted us to go without her and her husband-no way.

We enjoy the piano bar, however, be advised he does not play show tunes. He is more into current music, Jimmy Buffet, Billy Joel. One passenger took over the piano bar each and every night, buying Ron drinks, throwing money, and the rest of the crowd was kind of left out. We did enjoy sitting there, but not as much as on other ships.

let me know if you have any other questions.

Molly

I realize each passenger is looking for something different and looks at things different. Thats why there are so many cruise lines. We went on the Valor, since it was a new ship and we have not been on Carnival for years. I think I can sum it up by saying Carnival is Carnival. There certainly is a Carnival crowd and there are other cruise line crowds. althought it was not a bad experience it was not an experience we will repeat in the near future. To each his own. Perhaps some of the Carnival people on here certainly would not be comfortable on a Princess or Celebrity cruise.

Thanks for getting back to my questions so promptly.....I have experienced the "takeover" in the piano bar before. She was a college girl who had way too much to drink and would try to climb on the piano and make eyes at all of the men. The piano player finally asked her to leave and she screamed profanity at him and with a few finger gestures was on her way out!

I'm guessing I'm a bit younger than you from the sound of it...32 here. We enjoy the Billy Joel, Elton John songs and when we were on the Adventure of the Seas last year, all we found inthe piano bar were show tunes....complete opposite of you!

My husband and I don't really enjoy the broadway style shows...we would never pay to see them and aren't big theatre or opera people when we are here at home. Our idea of a fun night out is a nice dinner and a movie. Neither one of those happen much anymore w/a 9 month old! So, Carnival is about the right "fit" for us. You can find us in our cabin watching a movie some nights after dinner. We like to be lazy and enjoy the down time together....my husband is a police officer and works crazy schedules and will often go several days w/o seeing me or our daughter. So, we like to re-connect on our cruises. Well, enough about me.....thanks again for your info.

Thanks for the review.:)

Sorry guys, one more important piece of information. On sea days, all deck chairs around the pool and the sun levels are taken by 7:30am. People are tying towels around 2 or 3 chairs or putting a sneaker on each chair. I found one chair on a sea day at 7:50am with all the others around me taken. It was a group of 14 people who did not show up until after 11am. This was very typical for each and every sea day. So before I went to the gym i would put a towel on a chair at 7am and then by 8am i was ready for a day of sun with a chair in my choice of location. My wife and daughter went to the back by the childrens pool for chairs, until others realized it was there towards the end of the week.

For a seasoned cruiser I'm dumbfounded that your surprised by the art of 'chair hogging'. The extent of it may vary from week to week but it happens on all cruiselines including Princess.

I too am sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise that much. Not all lines are for everyone, just as I would be bored on a Crystal Cruise, a Crystal cruiser might be appauled by Carnival. I do however, plan on trying Princess one of these days. I'm 29, so Carnival is my line! ( for now)

Another thing to consider, this is only one of the first few sailings, the crew needs time to gel, and get their act together. I will be sailing on the Valor in a month, and I am sure by then, things will be better.

However, I am sure there will be no stopping the chair hogs, no matter what!

A question I had about the sushi bar..... what kind of variety do they have, and does it cost extra? I noticed that it's located on the same deck as the coffee bar / bakery place, and I know there is a "nominal fee" for that, I am thinking that the sushi bar is the same thing.

Oh, and I am sorry we were assuming that you were a first time poster who just wanted to bash Carnival. It just seems that we have seen that a lot on these boards.

Thanks for an honest review.

Thanks for the review. Good or Bad it all helps.

Sushi is included

I just wanted to give an honest review of the Valor. We were excited to try a new ship and keep hearing about all the changes and upgrades that Carnival is doing. However, all I can really say is Carnival is Carnival.

The sushi bar is locted near the java stand. They do not charge for it, it usually opens for a few hours around 5pm. I did see plenty of people eating it, however, my son in law who enjoys sushi and was looking forward to the sushi bar would not part take in the sushi after his first attemt. I did read one review they considered the sushi budget sushi. I have no idea since I dont eat sushi.

Also, its not available all day or for a long period of time. It seemed to us its available around dinner time.

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Hi! We are sailing on march 27, 2005 on the Valor. We sailed in 2003

on the new Conquest with our two children , ages 6 and 9. Previously

we had sailed on Royal Carribean and Celebrity. Loved Royal Carribean,

did not like Celebrity due to an old ship that was not kept up well. I had

heard many negative things about Carnival but thought if we tried a new

ship it would not be that bad. We had a great experience, and are going

again because my kids have been asking to go again since! They spent

the entire time by our sides, and we loved it. They loved the pizza and

ice cream, pools and slide. We made a point of eating in the formal dining

room every night, and my 9 year old ordered off the adult menu. The

steaks were very good. Our waitstaff was excellent, and they catered to

our two children. The ship was loaded to capacity, but never really

seemed crowded, except for poolside. There did not seem to be the

"young" party crowd we always hear about, mostly families like us and

older people. No problems with smoking, like I have read. We found

Carnival to be the best value when taking our family along.

I was also on the Valor on 1/2/05 and did have a better experience than Longtime Cruiser (see my review). However, I do agree with the comments about chair saving, although I am pretty sure this is not limited to the Valor or even Carnival. The problem is that you have 3000 people and only a limited number of chairs that are around the pool. One tip I have is if the reason you like being by the pool is to be able to jump in to cool off while sunning, there are outdoor showers located at various locations on other decks that would serve the same purpose. I like to sun in a little quieter location than right at poolside so the idea of being on another deck with access to water to cool off in was appealing. Just a thought. :)

Hi JCH,

I have to agree with you...we just got off Valor on her first Western itinerary. Our room was the greatest...beds had beautiful down fluffy comforters! The service was outstanding. The ship is beautiful...filled with beautiful Cherry hardwood crown molding..The shows were decent.

The food was good..There was so much...and so much variety. If you didnt like one thing...dont complain...go find something else! Scarlettes Supper club was the best meal we had ever eatten.

The tendering was awful...would never do a tender port again! Weather couldnt be helped..we had rain every day..but it was rainy season in the caribbean.

We have four kids...all ages...they all had a blast. Little things went wrong...a squeaky elevator..DVD player in room didnt work...wifi was down for two days..etc. The ship over the holidays was at capacity..other than the carnival tenders..getting their tours off first...and the long waits to tenders..it caused all kinds of hard feelings between passengers...and in individual families too...We loved the ship...loved the staff who worked so hard...and love Carnival for family cruising! We had a wonderful time!

Longtimecruiser: Thanks for all your information. I think that your review was very informative. I really agree that Carnival is Carnival and if you've been on before, the expectation should be the same. I'm looking for a new ship, and they certainly aren't going to change "who they are" for one ship. We're taking this cruise for our own reasons and I appreciate the information.

As far as the cruise itself, other than the decks on sea days, did you feel like there were 3000 people there, or were people spred out? Did you participate in the casino at all? Was it crowded?

Do you by any chance have the deck plan map that you could could scan in and post somewhere? I've been trying to familiarize myself as much as possible.