Valor Review - 5/8/05

Great cruise and a great ship. Will do this in parts with this being Part 1. Will have good and bad points but overall, the good far exceeded the bad. As a back ground, I am 67 years old (one of those old codgers on every ship) and this was our 7th cruise. I was accompanied by my wife and some of these points are hers.

Getting on is terrible! It is the tipical 1 to 2 hour wait in many lines. Have learned to live with that. We drove to the port and the Port of Miami has this great idea of directing your car into the line for a different Carnival cruise ship before you get to the Valor line. Got to give them credit on that one.

The cabin (1429) was located Aft. There was little vibration but we had calm seas for the entire cruise. The tallest waves were 5 footers which is nothing. The only problem with this location is that it is 10 cabins from the rear (aft) of the ship. That means the theater is over 200 cabins forward and our assigned dining room was over 100. Think we didn't do some walking (not that that is bad on a cruise ship).

The ship, itself, is very difficult to navigate (I guess this is a pun). You are constantly trying to figure out aft from forward. (You'll see). It would be nice if they had signs on the bulkhead with "A" for aft and "F" for forward. The best deck to use is Deck 5 (Promenade) to get from place to place. It goes the entire ship on one side only. The next deck to use if Deck 9 (Lido) which does about the same. The other decks, other than the stateroom decks, have blocks every where. The little deck card they give you makes it look like all the decks are usable to go from Aft to Forward. Not true.

The room is very good size. You can fit 6 suit cases under the bed which is high enough to accomodate even a 28 incher. There are 3 closets (his and hers and one with shelves). In addition, there are many other shelves. For 2 people, you have all the room you will ever need. We had a window cabin which I consider a must. The suggestion to bring an extension cord is a good one. You will need it just to charge the cameras. The lighting is excellent and bright. The bed was king size and a firm (no problem at all). I also like the Duvet cover.

The shower is very small (smaller than I remember on other cruises). It always looked like it was going to flood but it never did. Strange!

The TV did not have a clear picture and was fuzzy. Might just have been our particular set. Depending on where you were, there could be many channels. Movies were few.

Parts of the ship are very smoky. It is very difficult to breath in the Casino. It is ridiculous! Thank God only some lounges are allowed smoking. Will they ever learn? (No)

That's about it for part one. Have to go to work but will continue when I get back.

thanks so much for taking the time to post your review. will be looking forward to hearing the rest as soon as you have time. :)

Can't wait for part2 Rich! :D Mamaparrothead, gettin' close to your sail date!!

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Parts of the ship are very smoky. It is very difficult to breath in the Casino. It is ridiculous! Thank God only some lounges are allowed smoking. Will they ever learn? (No)

That's about it for part one. Have to go to work but will continue when I get back.

i agree about the casino and smoke, it definaetly helped me not spend much time there, so I was able to come out ahead on my gambling!!!!

It was so bad it was bad just walking through to the lifts. and the drinks even smelled like smoke! Open a window geeez!

Our assigned dining area was the Lincoln Room. We had a corner table at the very back of the room and it really was out of the main stream of the dining area. Then next to us was a staircase so that blocked more of the view. I would rate the food as "Very Good". Not excellent since there were a few dinners that could have had a better cut of meat but as a whole, the food is very good. Like many of the other reviews, I would say the lobster was a bit rubbery and I have had better. The Lido deck is good although when at sea, it is not unusual for the dishes to run out and you have to wait for a newly washed supply. The desserts, on the other hand, were perfect. I was also surprised that in addition to their other drinks, they served Hot Chocolate and it was outstanding. One complaint about the Lido deck is that you have a hard time trying to reach some of the food when you use the buffet line. One poor lady really hurt herself when she tried to reach for some thing and hit her lip on the plastic shield.

I was not impressed with the Oriental food station and the portions were very small. You would need to ask for a second scoop to make a meal. Pizza was outstanding as every one will tell you. The fish station was very good although it seems the menu stays the same for the entire week. The Deli was OK although I hate to be the only one to say this but the Rubens were just OK. I have had better.

During the dinners, they would announce the standings of a contest held between different sections of the dining room (Red, White and Blue). Later in the cruise, I learned that you could win points for your team by winning a bingo or some other contest. By the end of the cruise, the points had accumulated but for the life of me, I could not figure what they would be used for. I think it had some thing to do with a deck party on the last day of the cruise that I missed. Turned out to be a waste of time for me and Carnival could work on this to make some sense out of it.

I was surprised how many young people there were on the ship (20 to 40 years old). Another observation was that there were very few young children. During one of the shows, about 25 kids were seated in the front seats and that was about all the kids on the ship. Being May, the schools are still in session. The kid count will really change in June and July.

The Ivanhoe theater is probably one of the best designed theaters in the Carnival Line. Almost all the seats are good even on the second and third deck. I played bingo before each show and if you were there 30 minutes before the show began, you could have front row seats. It was never crowded beyond capacity even though I had heard figures of 3,500 passengers. By the way, the normal passenger count is just under 3,000 passengers but it can be exceeded by the 3rd, 4th and 5th passengers in a cabin. We were in that situation. Surprisingly, the ship did not seem over crowded except when we were at sea and you were taking a meal in the Lido room.

The Library is probably one of the smallest of any of the Carnival ships. There is about 3 tables and 2 cabinets of books. That's it.

The Bingos go for $10 a card and 3 for $20. Never even came close!!! A new thing on the ship is that they have about 3 or more "Cheapo" sessions where the cards go for $5 and 3 for $10. Sure helps the pocket book. They also have a new computer screen on both sides of the theater that shows all the numbers played and other data. Really neat. During the games, they also sell the $1.00 scratch cards. The only problem with them is that you seldom hear any thing about who won what with them.

By the way, we brought on board a bottle of wine, 12 diet cokes and 5 of those 99 cent liquor bottles (like on the air lines). No problem what so ever.

For the Eastern iteniery, you can take out 5 liters of Liquor per person. We bought 9 bottles in St Thomas and the bill can out to about $125 duty free. (2 Baileys, Vo, Godiva Chocolate, etc). The ship has really lowered prices and they say they will match any shore prices. They have a good choice but not as good as on shore.

As for the ship store, they have specials that change every day. Make sure to buy your T-shirts on the last sea day for the best price. Prices were not bad and the selection is good for some items. You do have to shop and know your prices.

Part 3 will be about the ports visited.

i am enjoying reading your review as my brother and sister in law were on this sailing...

glad you had calm seas...was wondering about this as there was talk on the boards about a storm in the caribbean that week...

looking forward to the rest of your review!!! :)

Marsha

Just remembered some thing strange about the safe in the cabin. It only opens with the original charge card. You can not use another card with the same account number to open the safe. So with a husband and wife joint account, only the original card will work. I don't remember this on other ships.

Another strange thing I observed is that there is a loud engine noise (or some other cause) about cabin 1385 to 1389. As you approach those cabins, you can hear the noise build up even as you pass by in the passageway. Maybe one of those pods is under those cabins (in the old days, we would call them propellers).

Brent Mitchell is the new Cruise Director. He is new and learning. He will be OK but needs a few more cruises under his belt to get more confidence.

As for the ports, we went to Atlantis in Nashau. I would strongly recommend the visit. Take the land taxi from the dock and it will cost you $4.00 each and they will take you to the very doors of Atlantis. If I recall, this hotel was originated with the monies of Merv Griffin (past TV host). It is magnificant. To give you some idea of the granduer, the Pent House Suite costs $25,000 a day and they will only accept a 4 day reservation. Sounds fair to me. The atrium has marble floors with massive pillars and murals in the domed ceiling. There is a dining area (a breakfast starts at about the $20 range) so you may need more than your sail and sign card. On the sides are room size tanks filled with thousands of gallons of salt water and fish that can be in the 200 pound range. It is probably one of the best aquariums in the world. Now you can see about 1/3 for free or pay about $25.00 a person more and see the other 2/3. But if you want to keep the expenses down, just pay the taxi and that's it.

In St Thomas, we took the Godfrey tour (not from the ship) for $20 a person. It's another bargain. Godfrey will do all he can to show you the island, get some shopping done, a 2 hour visit to any of 3 beaches and a stop at the highest point of the island for pictures. The only bad news is that getting off the ship at St. Thomas has become almost a joke. The line starts at one end of the ship goes to the other end and then again for several decks in the same manner. It all has to do with Customs. Becuase of that, we ended up 45 minutes late for the second of 3 tours.

St Thomas is great for jewelry although picking a shop from the hundreds available can be frustrating. Some of the companies have one location at the dock, another at the beginning of a street and a third at the end of the street. They all seem to work on the 3 price system so never accept the first price even if they say that is the final price. You still have 2 more prices to go. It is all a game they play. Also buy your liquor here since it is about the best price in all of the islands.

St. Marten is nice with mountains every where and properties owned by many US movie stars. Their downtown area is turing into a minature St Thomas and again jewelry is fast becoming an important commodity. We did not take any tours here since we did that on previous cruises. It is a beautiful island but small.

All and all, I would rate the cruise at about a 93 out of 100. I have about 150 pictures taken and they are posted on HPPHOTOS. If you want an invite to view them (you don't have to join any thing then) just send me an E-mail with your E-mail address. My web address is: richfret@comcast.net

If you view the pictures, go to the bottom of the picture and pick "full screen". It really makes a difference especially with darker colors.

Hope this helps the future Valor cruisers.

thanks for your honest and infromative reveiw! we found many of the same things you did.

some experiences were more intense.

i too dislike the custom challenge at st. thomas!

and one of the more amazing features is the Ivanhoe. the cruise director claimed it was a 30 million dollar theater. now when I say that people look at me disbeliving? do you remember what they said it cost?

thanks!

I don't know the cost of the theater but it is worth every cent. Having been on several other cruises, I can tell you the Ivanhoe is the best.

About the shows. They are fantastic and you can't ask any more from the dancers. They are really dedicated. How they can do 2 shows in a row like that amazes me.

Now the bad news. First of all I am not a prude but with children in the audience, there is absolutely no reason for the gals to be wearing thong outfits for 2 of the numbers. They don't need to do that since the shows would be excellent with normal outfits. Now if Carnival wants to rate some of the shows as a "R" rating then fine. At least, they have warned parents what to expect but I get the impression Carnival wants the cruise to be a "family" experience. So make it that! Again, I am not a prude but what can you expect from a 10 year old child when confronted with public nudity as if it is acceptable because it is on a stage.

I wonder if I am the only one who feels this way or are there others? I would hope that Carnival gets the message if we are in the majority.

Remember, I did say I am a 66 year old codger but "I have been there and done that" so hence my 2 cents.

The shows are fine the way they are. My wife and I enjoyed the all the shows. Carnival states that they are Vegas style show. There they would be in thongs and also be topless. So these show are set up for family. You can see as much if not more on a lot of beaches in the U.S. In different countries I know that you can see more on a beach. Parents need to be responsible for there kids when it comes to what they see or don't see. Just like parents need to control there own kids when they are on the ship. If parent go on a cruise and simply turn their kids loose. Then the parents can't complain about what the kids might see.

I don't know the cost of the theater but it is worth every cent. Having been on several other cruises, I can tell you the Ivanhoe is the best.

Now the bad news. First of all I am not a prude but with children in the audience, there is absolutely no reason for the gals to be wearing thong outfits for 2 of the numbers.

Remember, I did say I am a 66 year old codger but "I have been there and done that" so hence my 2 cents.

it is very impressive theater, and ,my comment is I think they should get more use out of it. By offering other events, activities in it more during the day!

Movies comes to mind, even day shows. sometimes its just REALLY hard to stay up late enough to take everything in at night.

I felt that they had toned it down enough to consider it family oriented!

Did you watch what people were wearing arounf the pools, a heck of a lot less than the dancers!!!!! lol