Great family vacation!!

Item: Carnival Valor
Rating: 4
Author: DanH1

Carnival Valor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

DanH1

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 0

Helpful Votes: 44

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Exotic Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 22, 2011

Ship: Carnival Valor

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 13 years ago

Review summary

This cruise exceeded my expectations greatly. My wife and I took our kids and both of our parents for a family vacation. The food was good, not fabulous as far as the adults were concerned. The kids loved the around the clock kids cuisine, especially the unlimited dessert and ice cream cones. The steakhouse was fairly priced though the meat portions were ridiculous(who really needs a 24oz porterhouse?). The ship was great! Rooms were quite comfortable, the housekeeping staff was extremely polite and helpful, and the ship was meticulously cleaned multiple times a day. Camp Carnival was fantastic! The kids met several friends and had a blast the entire trip. We all found the entire Carnival staff to be exceedingly pleasant and willing to assist any time. The fitness center was more than adequate and my wife loved the spa. We found the abundance of morbidly obese people to be troubling, though most of them were cordial and polite as long as the buffet line was unobstructed. I had initially thought Carnival would be a lower end cruise, but I was very pleasantly surprised and would definitely cruise with Carnival again.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Alot of decent food, nothing extraordinary.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

The evening shows we only ok. Activities during the day were numerous for both kids and adults and proved to be both entertaining and fun

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

One of the trip highlights! Carnival understands that happy kids means relaxed adults willing to spend money!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The staff was totally fantastic

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

I was amazed at how clean and well maintained this ship was!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

1 out of 5

Felt like impoverished third world country once you left the first few blocks. Coki beach should have been called joky beach. It was small thought the fish were abundant and the water clear. The $126 taxi ride was a bit much there and back for the 7 of us. You are immediately hustled by the locals once u get off the taxi to rent barely functional snorkel gear and run down beach chairs.

Thumbs Up 0

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5

Very clean and easy to see the entire island. The beaches were fabulous though a little more rocky than half moon cay. Margaritaville was a blast and the flow rider excursion was a real blast(though tougher than it looked)

Thumbs Up 0

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

What a great city! I only wish we had more time in port. Local food was great, ziplining was fun and my wife and mom enjoyed the horseback riding thought the hour long van ride was tiring.

Thumbs Up 0

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5

Great beach with lots of fun for the kids. The tender process was much simpler than I thought it would be.

Thumbs Up 0

Pros: Tons for the kids to do aboard the ship

Cons: St. Thomas

Recommends Carnival Valor? Yes!

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