Valor Review 4/16 western

This review is a few weeks late but hope this info is helpful.

Against everyone's advise on CC we booked our air through Carnival (it was cheapest) and traveled from Boston to MIami on Sun AM. Our trip down was uneventful, at MIA by 12 noon and immediately greated by the buses and at the terminal by 1:30. Embarkation went smoothly, the only hold up was to get your photo taken. We were in our room by 2:30. Up on the deck with drinks in hand shortly thereafter. Very smooth process I thought.

We stayed in room 6243, a balcony cabin which was worth every penny. Fabulous to have a balcony. Our room service was good, we had 4 in the room, 2 adults and my kids, 14 and 12. There was enough room for all of us, and the room was comfortable. The bathroom is small but adequate. My daughter found a great tip on cruise critic, we went to the SPA almost nightly for our showers while DH and son got ready in room. Took our bathrobes to SPA, steam and sauna followed by whirlpool then shower. The showers were beautiful and spacious. Much better than the rooms.

The ship was immaculate, no problems with cleanliness. The only design flaw which has been mentioned is that you must go across the ship on deck 5 through the very smokey casino. I personally thought the ship was noticably smokey but I hate smoke so I may be biased. The food was great. No complaints and I tend to be picky. Went to Scarlets on Sat PM, great meal worth the extra money. The fish and chips was excellent, the bouillibase was fantasic!!!! Had many times. The sandwiches, pizza, burgers all good. The drinks were reasonable if you stuck with the drink of the day at 3.50. Just don't order it in the Carnival Souvenier glass, that brings up price to 6.95. Our favorite spot was Jeannies wine bar. They had a martini special every night from 5-8 PM. 3.50 a martini! That is a bargain. Sylvia and Anton were the bartenders and they were such a pleasure to have as servers. We had so much fun every night at 5 PM and met such nice people at the wine bar. A different flavor martini every night. We brought wine with us (no problem) and would just bring a glass to dinner every night which helped cut down on bar bill.

In Grand Cayman we did sting ray city with Carnival. I really didn't think it was over crowded and our tour guide was great. Bus left us off at 7 mile beach afterwards and we took a taxi back to port. Roatan was gorgeous. We got off the ship and found a taxi that brought us to West End Beach. A guide stays with you for the day, $20 pp, great snorkeling, kids loved this port. In Belize we did another Carnival excursion, Goff's caye. Absolutey the best. Tour picks you up on ship, boat ride about 10 miles to caye then option of snorkeling from beach or boat. Great great trip. My only complaint is that we didn't stop at Costa Maya (waves). Very disappointing to pull up to dock only to pull away. Our wait staff told us in the last 6 trips they had only stopped once. I think Carnival needs to address this.

Debarkation was easy, we did self assist and was at the airport before 9 for an 11:30 flight. Some problems with flying home in that the plane was overbooked and not everyone had seats but we all got on the plane and got to cold rainy Boston. I have lots of other info but don't want to ramble for too long so if you have specific questions I'll be happy to answer. All in all a great vacation and Carnival is comparable to the other cruise lines we have been on.

Karen

HI Karen, We're sailing on the Valor on May 28. How much does it cost to eat at Scarletts and was it hard to get the reservation time and day that you wanted? Can't wait for the trip!!

Scarletts was $30pp. We actually sent the kids to the dining room and 3 adults went to Scarletts. I booked it on the 2nd day of cruise without any problems and got the time I wanted. Call Scarletts directly or stop by. I went on Sat. because I heard the food was so good that I didn't wanted to be disappointed by going back to the dining room. Now I wish I had gone on a different day because we liked our wait staff so much it was kind of sad not being there on the last night. Also, the dining room food was very good. We went down and tipped them extra and said good bye.

Karen

Thanks for the great review Karen. We will be on the Valor in 5 weeks. We will be just down the hall from you, 63 something.

Aside from Costay Maya, how was the weather? Was the water warm enough yet in the ports?

Did you get the seating time you requested?

How was your cabin steward?

Please clarify for me about the showers at the spa. They allow anyone to go there and take a shower. Also, they allow you to use their steam room/sauna at no cost.?

thanks for your answer.

Marge

As for the SPA, anyone can go at no cost. They only charge for services. We just brought our bathrobes, towels are available in the SPA. Steam, sauna and whirlpool are free. My daughter did have an updo on formal night which was only $45. The SPA was very very nice.

As for the stops, the weather was beautiful. Even on the hot side (mid 80's+) but remember we are from Boston. The water temp was great in every port. Roatan was the warmest. I thought the ports were just great.

Our cabin steward was okay. Always available but he only worked till 12:30 and he would get a little aggravated with us because on sea days we let the kids sleep late. I think our room was the last cleaned every day.

We had the dinner time we requested (8 PM) in the Washington dining room. I like the late seating because it gave us plenty of time to go to the martini bar and get ready for the evening.

Karen

Please clarify for me about the showers at the spa. They allow anyone to go there and take a shower. Also, they allow you to use their steam room/sauna at no cost.?

 

thanks for your answer.

 

Marge

That is correct! We did the same thing last year on the Victory.

It is part of the spa/healthclub. Everything is free except for the "Spa services", which is basicly anything that requires an employee. (i.e. massage, facial, manicure, ect.)

Thanks for the great review, we go on the Valor next Sunday!!!:D

Thanks Karen for the great review.

We sail on 5/14/06 can't wait. We have not been to Belize or Roatan, looking forward to the experience of two new ports :)

We love to cruise, it gives us the opportunity to get underwater on all the beautiful reefs :)

Week away Yeah!

This review is a few weeks late but hope this info is helpful.

 

Against everyone's advise on CC we booked our air through Carnival (it was cheapest) and traveled from Boston to MIami on Sun AM. Our trip down was uneventful, at MIA by 12 noon and immediately greated by the buses and at the terminal by 1:30. Embarkation went smoothly, the only hold up was to get your photo taken. We were in our room by 2:30. Up on the deck with drinks in hand shortly thereafter. Very smooth process I thought.

 

We stayed in room 6243, a balcony cabin which was worth every penny. Fabulous to have a balcony. Our room service was good, we had 4 in the room, 2 adults and my kids, 14 and 12. There was enough room for all of us, and the room was comfortable. The bathroom is small but adequate. My daughter found a great tip on cruise critic, we went to the SPA almost nightly for our showers while DH and son got ready in room. Took our bathrobes to SPA, steam and sauna followed by whirlpool then shower. The showers were beautiful and spacious. Much better than the rooms.

 

The ship was immaculate, no problems with cleanliness. The only design flaw which has been mentioned is that you must go across the ship on deck 5 through the very smokey casino. I personally thought the ship was noticably smokey but I hate smoke so I may be biased. The food was great. No complaints and I tend to be picky. Went to Scarlets on Sat PM, great meal worth the extra money. The fish and chips was excellent, the bouillibase was fantasic!!!! Had many times. The sandwiches, pizza, burgers all good. The drinks were reasonable if you stuck with the drink of the day at 3.50. Just don't order it in the Carnival Souvenier glass, that brings up price to 6.95. Our favorite spot was Jeannies wine bar. They had a martini special every night from 5-8 PM. 3.50 a martini! That is a bargain. Sylvia and Anton were the bartenders and they were such a pleasure to have as servers. We had so much fun every night at 5 PM and met such nice people at the wine bar. A different flavor martini every night. We brought wine with us (no problem) and would just bring a glass to dinner every night which helped cut down on bar bill.

 

In Grand Cayman we did sting ray city with Carnival. I really didn't think it was over crowded and our tour guide was great. Bus left us off at 7 mile beach afterwards and we took a taxi back to port. Roatan was gorgeous. We got off the ship and found a taxi that brought us to West End Beach. A guide stays with you for the day, $20 pp, great snorkeling, kids loved this port. In Belize we did another Carnival excursion, Goff's caye. Absolutey the best. Tour picks you up on ship, boat ride about 10 miles to caye then option of snorkeling from beach or boat. Great great trip. My only complaint is that we didn't stop at Costa Maya (waves). Very disappointing to pull up to dock only to pull away. Our wait staff told us in the last 6 trips they had only stopped once. I think Carnival needs to address this.

 

Debarkation was easy, we did self assist and was at the airport before 9 for an 11:30 flight. Some problems with flying home in that the plane was overbooked and not everyone had seats but we all got on the plane and got to cold rainy Boston. I have lots of other info but don't want to ramble for too long so if you have specific questions I'll be happy to answer. All in all a great vacation and Carnival is comparable to the other cruise lines we have been on.

 

Karen

I am taking my three daughters on the Valor departing May 28th. Can you rent walkie-talkie's on the ship? Can you order them ahead of time? Can you pre-order liquor-type for the room just like the wine packages? Can you order liquor through room service? If you bring a small amount in your luggage do they screen thoroughly or can you get away with it?

These are just a few questions about the Valor so far. I'm sure I will have more as the days go by.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

thank you for the review! Do they have shampoo, conditioner and soap in the SPA showers or do you have to bring your own? Another weird question -did you walk back to your room in your robes or did you bring clothes to change into? thanks!

I don't remember anyone with walkie talkies. We would just tell our kids where we were and they would check in. It is a little bit of a problem being so used of cell phones and you can't use those at sea. As for the liquor I brought 6 bottles of wine in my carry on bag. I bought bubble wrap from the local hardware store. When we were checking in the looked at the bottles in security, I told them it was wine and they said fine and no one looked again. Very easy to bring on.

As for the SPA, they did have soap and shampoo but I brought the stuff I like in a small bag. We just wore our bathrobes through the ship. No one even looked twice at us. Towels provided in the SPA.

Have a great time on your cruise. If you are going Western I hope you get to stop in Costa Maya, that was the only bad part of the cruise.

I personally thought the ship was noticably smokey

I have to agree with you. I thought it was really smokey too. We couldn't even enjoy the piano bar because it was so filled with smoke.