Carnival Valor Western Carribean Review- 3/6

When evaluating my review please note that this was my first cruise so I have nothing to compare it with. I'm going to give a rating (A-F) and a commentary for each section.

Ground Transportation- (D-) Flew into Fort Lauderdale, arrived at 11 am, we purchased ground transportation through Carnival. The Carnival Rep was friendly, but it seriously took 1 ½ hours to get on the bus, for no reason, We were just waiting there. Another Carnival Rep said they were backed up today, and wasn't very friendly. Although it was purchased through Carnival the transportation is not a carnival company. Drive was 35 minutes, got to the port at 1:30 so the lines weren't that long since everyone was on the ship already. They had a buffet on the lido deck that we missed since we showed up late.

Cabin-(A) Located on the Rivera Deck outside cabin, room was large, and the bed was super comfortable. Very smooth sailing, couldn't even tell we were moving at night. This was the lowest deck but you couldn't even tell and glad I didn't spend the extra cash on a different room. One concern is that they page people to the pursers desk at like 5am, it comes in the hallway's but it woke me up on numerous occasions.

Décor/setup-(B+) the theme of the ship is hero's/ Patriotic. The floors are marble in the shapes of American flags. All the lounges/ dining halls/bars are named after famous people (Lincoln Dining Room/ Winston Churchill's/Eagles lounge/ One Small Step etc..) I think the variety of bars/clubs were great, and the ship looks really nice since it's new. You have to check out the piano bar, the singer and piano rotate around the bar. Most of the ships décor clashes, I really don't know what the designer was thinking. The dining hall has pink walls, pink florescent lights and red carpets, it looks really bad. The main areas have a lot of red, white, and purple, looks strange. Also, you have to hop different elevators depending upon where you want to go on a specific floor. Gets very confusing and I got lost a lot.

Staff ( A++) Every staff member was very well trained and accommodating. They all went out of their way to make sure you had an enjoyable cruise. I can honestly say I've never experienced the level of service as I did on this cruise.

Outside-(A-) Main Lido pool had a reggae band playing every day and there was also one other pool. Small pools for the amount of people on the boat but people usually just take a quick dip. On days at sea all chairs were taken at the main poll by 8:30, try not to get stuck on the panorama and higher decks, too windy. Tons of bars outside and the drink waiters were always around.

PORTS- (A) Belize was very hot, 90 degrees, we took the Baboon Sanctuary and City Tour through Carnival. The city tour was great because the guide was very knowledgeable but I wasn't impressed with the baboon sanctuary, you basically walked around and there were 5 monkeys on one tree. Heard good things about cave tubing and canopy tour. I would have gone on those, but do to certain circumstances we had to do the one we chose. There's not that much to do in Belize City, no beaches etc...

Roatan Island was beautiful. We took a horseback ride through http://www.barriodorcasranch.com/. They can't come into the gate at the port so you need to meet them outside. They pick you up at your boat; a guide takes you out and you ride on the beach and all over then end at Fosters and get a free drink. Fosters is on the West End, it's a beautiful beach with bathrooms, food, quickie mart very close. I would recommend it.

Grandcayman- port closed, they couldn't tender due to choppy waters. Reimbursed 25 dollar port fee

Cozumel-get off the boat and shop. Buy your booze and stuff from the big duty free store, best prices. We went to a beach, cant remember the name, 14 dollar cab rid. Wasn't that busy, had a bar and facilities. After that we got a ashiatsu oriental bar therapy massage from a lady Sally http://www.barefootincozumel.com/. It was a great massage at a good price. She was very professional and knows what she's doing. I would highly recommend a massage from her. She’ll ask you how deep of a massage you like, if you like a deep tissue tell her. I would advise against buying a excursion for this port, because shopping is right there when you get off the boat, why bother be on someone else's time.

Casino-(A) Great Staff, very good variety of games. Larger than I thought it would be. Odds on the craps table aren't that great, relative to Vegas. Drinks aren't free! The casino was never packed so you could always play something. Be careful because they let you use your Sail and Sign Card for chips.

Food-

Dining Hall- (A-)Very good section and high quality. I honestly was very surprised on how good it was. Filet mignon one night, lobster the next etc...very good selection of starters. The chef likes to use a lot of mushrooms and uses beats as garnish on a lot of dishes. However my girlfriend is a vegetarian and felt that there were not enough vegetarian selections . We were at a 2 person table so it was very quick and we could eat in under 1 ½ hours, sometimes less.

Rosie's-(B) Buffet style breakfast lunch and dinner. Lunch was good, mixture of salads, main dishes etc....Breakfast was basically the same thing every day and not that great, except if you go to the omlette guy. Dinner, only ate there once and it was good. They also have fish and chips upstairs, sandwiches and a grill. Also, have 24 hour pizza right around the corner, was descent.

Scarlett's- (A-) super club 25 extra per person. Very good and worth the money. Nice décor, and a band plays while you eat. Exceptional presentation and quality of food. I had the surf and turf, a sushi appetizer and some other things. It is 25 dollars extra to eat there and well worth it.

Sushi Bar-(F) Salmon was actually cooked smoked salmon, maki rolls were also cooked sushi, not great. They need to improve the quality of fish, but I guess it's hard to keep raw fish fresh on a cruise ship.

Entertainment-(B+) Las Vegas style show was ok, didn't think the comedian was that funny. The dance club was ok, and array of music. The Paris Ho t and Eagles lounge were also great, they really had a great variety of bars and lounges.

GYM-(A) awesome, steam and sauna room overlook the port side of the ship. All the machines are brand new and a good size room. I heard it gets busy early in the morning but who wants to work out every day on vacation. Also have a track on a deck that I ran around a few times.

Internet Room-(C+)about 10 computer, slow service go during off peak hours because its very slow when everyone's on the pc's. expensive, 100 minutes are 55 bucks, or 75 cents a minute

Winston Churchill's Cigar bar-(A-) great leather seats, good jazz music, ok supply of cigars.

Odds and Ends- Go to the captain's cocktail hour, free drinks.

Use a porter when going through customs, you cut everyone in line.

Usually have morning drink specials (bloody Mary’s, etc) and a daily drink special, a lot cheaper

Can only get bagels and lox at the dining hall

Bring a highlighter so you can highlight the things you want to do for the day.

They don't check you for alcohol.

No clock in the rooms bring an alarm clock

They give you nice beach towels so don't bring one!

Spa treatments go on sale the last day

The soda card is around 40 dollars, you get unlimited soda, but only one at a time, just get one for your whole family and go to different bars to get it.

Overall (A-) I thought this was a great first time cruise. I read a lot of bad reviews before I went on the trip but I honestly don't know why. I think the two major things I look for in a cruise would be good food and service, and they were both outstanding. I never had an issue with one waiter/steward/ etcc. During the whole trip and I'm usually very picky. Another thing I liked about this cruise is that there weren't many spring breakers on it, I think they all do the eastern Caribbean cruise, plus it's a little more expensive so it wasn't in their budget. I'm now afraid to try another cruise because I cant see how the food and service can be as good. I would highly recommend the cruise, I really enjoyed the ports , even though we didn't get to stop in Grand Cayman.

Looks pretty good to me. I'm on the Mar 19 Valor sailing. Thanks! Other than the Grand Cayman thing, I'll be delighted. Hopefully we'll make it in to GC.

The $25 is a standard credit for missing a port. Not exactly a complete refund of what you pay for port charges. I wasn't happy with airport to ship transfer I purchased from Carnival one (and the only) time.

Great review! Not bad for a first-timer. ;) I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise.

So now for the important question - how long until you book the next one? :D It only takes one cruise to start the addiction (trust me, I know :eek: ).

Great review! Thanks. Good format - short and to the point. Our family will be the March 20th sailing (4 days to go!) This will be our third (all on Carnival) but this time I choose not to use Carnival's bus service because they tend to wait till the buses fill up and other flights to arrive. So, for a few dollars more we're using Larry's Limo (which I got from members on the boards) so I'll let you know we make out.

Thanks for posting the review!

Thanks for the review, it sounds like you had a wonderful time. :)

your welcome, let me know if you have any questions....Aside from the transportation and sushi it was a great cruise.

Great review! Thanks. Good format - short and to the point. Our family will be the March 20th sailing (4 days to go!) This will be our third (all on Carnival) but this time I choose not to use Carnival's bus service because they tend to wait till the buses fill up and other flights to arrive. So, for a few dollars more we're using Larry's Limo (which I got from members on the boards) so I'll let you know we make out.

Small world. Me too (on Valor). 19th is when I'm flying to Miami. Only 3 days!

I am the girlfriend. Wow, wish I were there again, it goes too quickly and then your back to work and you forget all the relaxation you just had! As for the vegetarian food, if your a vegetarian, make sure to ask your waitor for the menu for the next night so that something special can be prepared (they are totally willing to do this for you) otherwise if you decide that night you don't like what they have to offer, you can only get pasta (which was still good).

Great review, only one more day of work. I'm leaving for Miami on the 18th! Can't wait to see the ship.

Great review !! Going in 18 days on the Valor. What did you mean when you said about not being checked for liquor. Did you check it in your bags or carry it in? Also is there a basketball court on the ship? How was the cruise director?

Thanks

Great Review can't wait for our Valor cruise this year!

and you did a great, thorough job. :D all of us "future Valor cruisers" have been dying for some info! only 67 days for me, WOOHOO!

Hey Cruisen4alvin, I'm sure we bumped into you several times. Just to let you know why the theme in the dining hall has the color scheme it has is because Washingtons house had similar colors. Someone who designed the dining halls did their homework. I really don't like the colors either but I understood.

Your review was right on the money except the sushi. My DW is half Japanese, so I have to trust her opinion.:D

Check the Roll Call out for the Valor 3/6/05. I post a couple pictures there from the trip and hope to have more in the Photo Gallery soon.

Great review, Thanks.

Calvin, We were in the same cruise. Whats up with the port charge refund? I did not see that. I agree with your comments. "Cool Runnings" the lido deck band needed a little more of a music selection, but overal was good.

When evaluating my review please note that this was my first cruise so I have nothing to compare it with. I'm going to give a rating (A-F) and a commentary for each section.

 

 

 

Ground Transportation- (D-) Flew into Fort Lauderdale, arrived at 11 am, we purchased ground transportation through Carnival. The Carnival Rep was friendly, but it seriously took 1 ½ hours to get on the bus, for no reason, We were just waiting there. Another Carnival Rep said they were backed up today, and wasn't very friendly. Although it was purchased through Carnival the transportation is not a carnival company. Drive was 35 minutes, got to the port at 1:30 so the lines weren't that long since everyone was on the ship already. They had a buffet on the lido deck that we missed since we showed

up late.

 

 

 

Cabin-(A) Located on the Rivera Deck outside cabin, room was large, and the bed was super comfortable. Very smooth sailing, couldn't even tell we were moving at night. This was the lowest deck but you couldn't even tell and glad I didn't spend the extra cash on a different room. One concern is that they page people to the pursers desk at like 5am, it comes in the hallway's but it woke me up on numerous occasions.

 

 

 

Décor/setup-(B+) the theme of the ship is hero's/ Patriotic. The floors are marble in the shapes of American flags. All the lounges/ dining halls/bars are named after famous people (Lincoln Dining Room/ Winston Churchill's/Eagles lounge/ One Small Step etc..) I think the variety of bars/clubs were great, and the ship looks really nice since it's new. You have to check out the piano bar, the singer and piano rotate around the bar. Most of the ships décor clashes, I really don't know what the designer was thinking. The dining hall has pink walls, pink florescent lights and red carpets, it looks really bad. The main areas have a lot of red, white, and purple, looks strange. Also, you have to hop different elevators depending upon where you want to go on a specific floor. Gets very confusing and I got lost a lot.

 

 

 

Staff ( A++) Every staff member was very well trained and accommodating. They all went out of their way to make sure you had an enjoyable cruise. I can honestly say I've never experienced the level of service as I did on this cruise.

 

 

 

Outside-(A-) Main Lido pool had a reggae band playing every day and there was also one other pool. Small pools for the amount of people on the boat but people usually just take a quick dip. On days at sea all chairs were taken at the main poll by 8:30, try not to get stuck on the panorama and higher decks, too windy. Tons of bars outside and the drink waiters were always around.

 

 

 

PORTS- (A) Belize was very hot, 90 degrees, we took the Baboon Sanctuary and City Tour through Carnival. The city tour was great because the guide was very knowledgeable but I wasn't impressed with the baboon sanctuary, you basically walked around and there were 5 monkeys on one tree. Heard good things about cave tubing and canopy tour. I would have gone on those, but do to certain circumstances we had to do the one we chose. There's not that much to do in Belize City, no beaches etc...

 

 

 

Roatan Island was beautiful. We took a horseback ride through http://www.barriodorcasranch.com/. They can't come into the gate at the port so you need to meet them outside. They pick you up at your boat; a guide takes you out and you ride on the beach and all over then end at Fosters and get a free drink. Fosters is on the West End, it's a beautiful beach with bathrooms, food, quickie mart very close. I would recommend it.

 

 

 

Grandcayman- port closed, they couldn't tender due to choppy waters. Reimbursed 25 dollar port fee

 

 

 

Cozumel-get off the boat and shop. Buy your booze and stuff from the big duty free store, best prices. We went to a beach, cant remember the name, 14 dollar cab rid. Wasn't that busy, had a bar and facilities. After that we got a ashiatsu oriental bar therapy massage from a lady Sally http://www.barefootincozumel.com/. It was a great massage at a good price. She was very professional and knows what she's doing. I would highly recommend a massage from her. She’ll ask you how deep of a massage you like, if you like a deep tissue tell her. I would advise against buying a excursion for this port, because shopping is right there when you get off the boat, why bother be on someone else's time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Casino-(A) Great Staff, very good variety of games. Larger than I thought it would be. Odds on the craps table aren't that great, relative to Vegas. Drinks aren't free! The casino was never packed so you could always play something. Be careful because they let you use your Sail and Sign Card for chips.

 

 

 

Food-

 

 

 

Dining Hall- (A-)Very good section and high quality. I honestly was very surprised on how good it was. Filet mignon one night, lobster the next etc...very good selection of starters. The chef likes to use a lot of mushrooms and uses beats as garnish on a lot of dishes. However my girlfriend is a vegetarian and felt that there were not enough vegetarian selections . We were at a 2 person table so it was very quick and we could eat in under 1 ½ hours, sometimes less.

 

 

 

Rosie's-(B) Buffet style breakfast lunch and dinner. Lunch was good, mixture of salads, main dishes etc....Breakfast was basically the same thing every day and not that great, except if you go to the omlette guy. Dinner, only ate there once and it was good. They also have fish and chips upstairs, sandwiches and a grill. Also, have 24 hour pizza right around the corner, was descent.

 

 

 

Scarlett's- (A-) super club 25 extra per person. Very good and worth the money. Nice décor, and a band plays while you eat. Exceptional presentation and quality of food. I had the surf and turf, a sushi appetizer and some other things. It is 25 dollars extra to eat there and well worth it.

 

 

 

Sushi Bar-(F) Salmon was actually cooked smoked salmon, maki rolls were also cooked sushi, not great. They need to improve the quality of fish, but I guess it's hard to keep raw fish fresh on a cruise ship.

 

 

 

Entertainment-(B+) Las Vegas style show was ok, didn't think the comedian was that funny. The dance club was ok, and array of music. The Paris Ho t and Eagles lounge were also great, they really had a great variety of bars and lounges.

 

 

 

 

 

GYM-(A) awesome, steam and sauna room overlook the port side of the ship. All the machines are brand new and a good size room. I heard it gets busy early in the morning but who wants to work out every day on vacation. Also have a track on a deck that I ran around a few times.

 

 

 

Internet Room-(C+)about 10 computer, slow service go during off peak hours because its very slow when everyone's on the pc's. expensive, 100 minutes are 55 bucks, or 75 cents a minute

 

 

 

Winston Churchill's Cigar bar-(A-) great leather seats, good jazz music, ok supply of cigars.

 

 

 

Odds and Ends- Go to the captain's cocktail hour, free drinks.

 

Use a porter when going through customs, you cut everyone in line.

 

Usually have morning drink specials (bloody Mary’s, etc) and a daily drink special, a lot cheaper

 

Can only get bagels and lox at the dining hall

 

Bring a highlighter so you can highlight the things you want to do for the day.

 

They don't check you for alcohol.

 

No clock in the rooms bring an alarm clock

 

They give you nice beach towels so don't bring one!

 

Spa treatments go on sale the last day

 

The soda card is around 40 dollars, you get unlimited soda, but only one at a time, just get one for your whole family and go to different bars to get it.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall (A-) I thought this was a great first time cruise. I read a lot of bad reviews before I went on the trip but I honestly don't know why. I think the two major things I look for in a cruise would be good food and service, and they were both outstanding. I never had an issue with one waiter/steward/ etcc. During the whole trip and I'm usually very picky. Another thing I liked about this cruise is that there weren't many spring breakers on it, I think they all do the eastern Caribbean cruise, plus it's a little more expensive so it wasn't in their budget. I'm now afraid to try another cruise because I cant see how the food and service can be as good. I would highly recommend the cruise, I really enjoyed the ports , even though we didn't get to stop in Grand Cayman.

 

Thank you so much for posting your review. Sounds like a wonderful trip. We have been on 2 cruises and the Valor on 4/24 will be our 3rd. There is nothing as special as your first cruise. We were in awe of everything.

I agree food and service are important but I like entertainment too and am glad you enjoyed that part also. We are taking my 16 yr old daughter with us. Were there many teens on your cruise?

I took this picture in Cozumel at Passion Beach. This was the only excurssion we did with the ship and it was great. You get an all you can eat buffet of local food, open bar and an increadible beach. It is only about $58 per person. If you have the chance, do it!:D I posted this on the Roll Call as well.

Great review !! Going in 18 days on the Valor. What did you mean when you said about not being checked for liquor. Did you check it in your bags or carry it in? Also is there a basketball court on the ship? How was the cruise director?

Yeah there's a basketball court and around it is the running track.

cruise director was josh, he was a funny guy. I thought he did a pretty good job, was always on the PA with announcements but i guess that is his job.

I agree food and service are important but I like entertainment too and am glad you enjoyed that part also. We are taking my 16 yr old daughter with us. Were there many teens on your cruise?

the valor actually has this caboose club that caters for teenagers your daughters age. they have get togethers, dances etc.....i guess she can check that you. there were a good number of teens but mostly older, and some spring breakers.

I was on the Valor with you. I have to say I had an amazing time and I will post a review this weekend.:D

Good review. I am happy to see that you did the horseback riding through barriodorcas as well. We did this cruise in February, and we too did the horseback riding with Shirkie ( The extended ride). It was a lot of fun, and I had a great horse named Trigger ( a white one) that liked to run. I can't wait to go back to Roatan and do it all over again. One of the best horseback riding experiences I have had, and I have been riding since I was 5.

The beach at Foster's was wonderful as well. Roatan was definately the highlight of the cruise.

Luckilly we were able to tender into Grand Cayman, we had never been there before. It was a nice island, even though there was a lot of damage due to the hurricane last summer. We did Stingray City, which was really neat. We had a good time, but we enjoyed Belize and Roatan more- we like the rugged, off the beaten path type of ports.

I agree with most of your grades for the cruise. The Carnival shuttle service did suck. We got there at 11 am as well, and it took forever to finally get on the bus and get going....we just stood around the baggage claim area for about an hour. Next time we're going to figure out a different way to get to Miami from FLL. I think there is a shared ride limo service, and with the amount of people cruising out of Miami on any given Sunday, I am sure there are a lot of people to share a limo with.

We didn't try the sushi, so I can't really comment on that. It didn't look that great, and with the 24 hour pizza, which is SO good, we were never hungry enough to get the sushi.

I didn't mind the pink in the dining room, but I like pink. For those who don't like the color, they probably wouldn't like the decor in the dining room.

The comedians that we had on our cruise were hilarious; Anthony Acosta and Jim Brick.

So, glad to hear that you had a nice cruise. It seems that there are a lot of mixed reviews out about the Valor, but as far as I have read, most people enjoyed their time on her.

When evaluating my review please note that this was my first cruise so I have nothing to compare it with. I'm going to give a rating (A-F) and a commentary for each section.

 

 

Ground Transportation- (D-) Flew into Fort Lauderdale, arrived at 11 am, we purchased ground transportation through Carnival. The Carnival Rep was friendly, but it seriously took 1 ½ hours to get on the bus, for no reason, We were just waiting there. Another Carnival Rep said they were backed up today, and wasn't very friendly. Although it was purchased through Carnival the transportation is not a carnival company. Drive was 35 minutes, got to the port at 1:30 so the lines weren't that long since everyone was on the ship already. They had a buffet on the lido deck that we missed since we showed up late.

 

 

 

Cabin-(A) Located on the Rivera Deck outside cabin, room was large, and the bed was super comfortable. Very smooth sailing, couldn't even tell we were moving at night. This was the lowest deck but you couldn't even tell and glad I didn't spend the extra cash on a different room. One concern is that they page people to the pursers desk at like 5am, it comes in the hallway's but it woke me up on numerous occasions.

 

 

Décor/setup-(B+) the theme of the ship is hero's/ Patriotic. The floors are marble in the shapes of American flags. All the lounges/ dining halls/bars are named after famous people (Lincoln Dining Room/ Winston Churchill's/Eagles lounge/ One Small Step etc..) I think the variety of bars/clubs were great, and the ship looks really nice since it's new. You have to check out the piano bar, the singer and piano rotate around the bar. Most of the ships décor clashes, I really don't know what the designer was thinking. The dining hall has pink walls, pink florescent lights and red carpets, it looks really bad. The main areas have a lot of red, white, and purple, looks strange. Also, you have to hop different elevators depending upon where you want to go on a specific floor. Gets very confusing and I got lost a lot.

 

 

Staff ( A++) Every staff member was very well trained and accommodating. They all went out of their way to make sure you had an enjoyable cruise. I can honestly say I've never experienced the level of service as I did on this cruise.

 

 

Outside-(A-) Main Lido pool had a reggae band playing every day and there was also one other pool. Small pools for the amount of people on the boat but people usually just take a quick dip. On days at sea all chairs were taken at the main poll by 8:30, try not to get stuck on the panorama and higher decks, too windy. Tons of bars outside and the drink waiters were always around.

 

 

PORTS- (A) Belize was very hot, 90 degrees, we took the Baboon Sanctuary and City Tour through Carnival. The city tour was great because the guide was very knowledgeable but I wasn't impressed with the baboon sanctuary, you basically walked around and there were 5 monkeys on one tree. Heard good things about cave tubing and canopy tour. I would have gone on those, but do to certain circumstances we had to do the one we chose. There's not that much to do in Belize City, no beaches etc...

 

 

Roatan Island was beautiful. We took a horseback ride through http://www.barriodorcasranch.com/. They can't come into the gate at the port so you need to meet them outside. They pick you up at your boat; a guide takes you out and you ride on the beach and all over then end at Fosters and get a free drink. Fosters is on the West End, it's a beautiful beach with bathrooms, food, quickie mart very close. I would recommend it.

 

 

Grandcayman- port closed, they couldn't tender due to choppy waters. Reimbursed 25 dollar port fee

 

 

Cozumel-get off the boat and shop. Buy your booze and stuff from the big duty free store, best prices. We went to a beach, cant remember the name, 14 dollar cab rid. Wasn't that busy, had a bar and facilities. After that we got a ashiatsu oriental bar therapy massage from a lady Sally http://www.barefootincozumel.com/. It was a great massage at a good price. She was very professional and knows what she's doing. I would highly recommend a massage from her. She’ll ask you how deep of a massage you like, if you like a deep tissue tell her. I would advise against buying a excursion for this port, because shopping is right there when you get off the boat, why bother be on someone else's time.

 

 

 

 

Casino-(A) Great Staff, very good variety of games. Larger than I thought it would be. Odds on the craps table aren't that great, relative to Vegas. Drinks aren't free! The casino was never packed so you could always play something. Be careful because they let you use your Sail and Sign Card for chips.

 

 

Food-

 

 

Dining Hall- (A-)Very good section and high quality. I honestly was very surprised on how good it was. Filet mignon one night, lobster the next etc...very good selection of starters. The chef likes to use a lot of mushrooms and uses beats as garnish on a lot of dishes. However my girlfriend is a vegetarian and felt that there were not enough vegetarian selections . We were at a 2 person table so it was very quick and we could eat in under 1 ½ hours, sometimes less.

 

 

Rosie's-(B) Buffet style breakfast lunch and dinner. Lunch was good, mixture of salads, main dishes etc....Breakfast was basically the same thing every day and not that great, except if you go to the omlette guy. Dinner, only ate there once and it was good. They also have fish and chips upstairs, sandwiches and a grill. Also, have 24 hour pizza right around the corner, was descent.

 

 

Scarlett's- (A-) super club 25 extra per person. Very good and worth the money. Nice décor, and a band plays while you eat. Exceptional presentation and quality of food. I had the surf and turf, a sushi appetizer and some other things. It is 25 dollars extra to eat there and well worth it.

 

 

Sushi Bar-(F) Salmon was actually cooked smoked salmon, maki rolls were also cooked sushi, not great. They need to improve the quality of fish, but I guess it's hard to keep raw fish fresh on a cruise ship.

 

 

Entertainment-(B+) Las Vegas style show was ok, didn't think the comedian was that funny. The dance club was ok, and array of music. The Paris Ho t and Eagles lounge were also great, they really had a great variety of bars and lounges.

 

 

 

GYM-(A) awesome, steam and sauna room overlook the port side of the ship. All the machines are brand new and a good size room. I heard it gets busy early in the morning but who wants to work out every day on vacation. Also have a track on a deck that I ran around a few times.

 

 

Internet Room-(C+)about 10 computer, slow service go during off peak hours because its very slow when everyone's on the pc's. expensive, 100 minutes are 55 bucks, or 75 cents a minute

 

 

Winston Churchill's Cigar bar-(A-) great leather seats, good jazz music, ok supply of cigars.

 

 

Odds and Ends- Go to the captain's cocktail hour, free drinks.

 

Use a porter when going through customs, you cut everyone in line.

 

Usually have morning drink specials (bloody Mary’s, etc) and a daily drink special, a lot cheaper

 

Can only get bagels and lox at the dining hall

 

Bring a highlighter so you can highlight the things you want to do for the day.

 

They don't check you for alcohol.

 

No clock in the rooms bring an alarm clock

 

They give you nice beach towels so don't bring one!

 

Spa treatments go on sale the last day

 

The soda card is around 40 dollars, you get unlimited soda, but only one at a time, just get one for your whole family and go to different bars to get it.

 

 

 

 

Overall (A-) I thought this was a great first time cruise. I read a lot of bad reviews before I went on the trip but I honestly don't know why. I think the two major things I look for in a cruise would be good food and service, and they were both outstanding. I never had an issue with one waiter/steward/ etcc. During the whole trip and I'm usually very picky. Another thing I liked about this cruise is that there weren't many spring breakers on it, I think they all do the eastern Caribbean cruise, plus it's a little more expensive so it wasn't in their budget. I'm now afraid to try another cruise because I cant see how the food and service can be as good. I would highly recommend the cruise, I really enjoyed the ports , even though we didn't get to stop in Grand Cayman.

 

be really careful about the casino, they let you insert your Sail and Sign card directly into some of the machines!! this could be very hazardous to your life!!! HA!

I was on that cruise too. We had a great time too. We had five bottles of alcohol in our check in and the couple we went with had three some in other containers some in regular bottles - nothing was taken and nothing broke - I would highly recommend bringing your own alcohol if you like to drink. We still had wine with dinner and other cocktails on board but it was nice to know we had our own.

We also received the $25 credit and I think that everyone should have received it.

Are you the guy that broke your finger right before you left? I think I saw you and your girlfriend one day - in your 20s?

I wanted to say something to you but I felt like I had been going up to everyone asking them if they were on the Cruisecritic board and everyone had said no so far so I didn't risk it!

We're getting a huge snowstorm starting tonight so I guess the cruise will be far out of my mind by then!!:(

be really careful about the casino, they let you insert your Sail and Sign card directly into some of the machines!! this could be very hazardous to your life!!! HA!

Putting your S & S card into the slots only gives you points for the Ocean Players Club. If you join the club (free), it keeps track of what you put into the machines and you get cash back on your next cruise. They give you the cash at the casino desk on your next cruise but you're not required to spend it there. Last cruise, I got $125 back from the previous year. Works for me since I'm going to spend it any way.