First cruise ever, not too bad

Carnival Valor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5
Carnival Valor

5 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 05, 2018

Ship: Carnival Valor

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 7203

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Everything about this cruise I would do again except the spa encounter (which I really hope to hear from someone) I will recommend this cruise and excursions, except the spa, to my friends and family.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Embarkation was a breeze, a bit lengthy, which is understandable but extremely easy and seamless. The staff is friendly and courteous and there to help. It made a great first impression.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
The food was great, plenty of variety and enough that you can't possibly be hungry. And ice cream!!! You can't go wrong with ice cream.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Washington Dining Room

5 out of 5

The dining room was great, service was excellent. Our first time on a cruise so my wife and I weren't comfortable sharing a big table on our first morning, the wait staff accommodated us and breakfast was good. After we got acclimated with the routines we sat with groups and had a blast.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
The shows were great, much more than what I expected to be offered on a ship. There was always something to do and fun to be had by all.

Spa Carnival

1 out of 5

This was the part of the cruise I will not do ever again. I scheduled our appointment on-line and pre-paid through the Carnival website (as I was recommended to do by our Carnival agent) for 11:30am on the day we were docked in Progeso, the morning of we received a phone call from the spa that we "needed" to change our appointment to 3pm because of the ship traffic? And my wife was told "you can keep your regular appointment if you'd like but you'll just be sitting here waiting." I was quite upset but trying to maintain a positive attitude for our first cruise. We show up at 3pm and was greeted by a young lady and a young man that did little less than look down their noses at us, I felt very uncomfortable and as my wife explained to our group later "I felt like white trash sitting in the Ritz Carlton" in other words not very welcome and completely out of place. Fast forward to the massage, which was ok, but I at that point really was no longer into the experience and would've just rather been somewhere other than there, it didn't last 55 minutes like it was supposed to, more like 40-45 minutes at best. We were then told that we could get dressed and the ladies walked out, I was about halfway dressed when one of the ladies opened the door and just stood there with the door opened while I finished putting my clothes on and then we had to sit and listen to the "sales pitch" on the products they wanted us to buy and I was more overweight than I should be and should see some other guy in the spa for a weight consultation. Finally I was asked to sign our bill, which was more than what I originally paid on-line including 2 gratuity charges that I was told was included with all pre-pay charges I already paid. Although the original payment was credited back to our room account, the new amount was charged and no one including customer services could explain to me why??? WORST EXPERIENCE EVER AND A HUGE WASTE OF MY MONEY!!! I would honestly like to have a full refund on this particular activity and would appreciate someone responding to this please.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The shows were great. We had an excellent time and will definitely be cruising again!!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
The staff was beyond words, everyone smiled and was courteous, friendly and helpful. I would especially like to thank our stateroom steward Dewa, he was very accommodating to our needs. He always called us by name and made us extremely comfortable. Give that man a raise ;)

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
The staff was always cleaning, never standing around or goofing off. Always busy cleaning, washing, wiping, sweeping and smiling the entire time.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
I liked this cabin, although we can't compare it to any other cabins (first cruise) I would recommend this cabin and location to at least the first timers.

Ship tip

I was very nervous about a cruise, after getting aboard and getting familiar with everything it was the best vacation I've been on. My advice is relax and enjoy.

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
Cozumel was the best. We did the swim with dolphin excursion, I would recommend it to anyone and will definitely be doing it again.

Progreso (Merida), Mexico

3 out of 5
We did not do an excursion and wasn't planning on getting off of the ship but due to a scheduling issue onboard, my wife and I decided to do some site seeing. I wasn't impressed with the shopping and site seeing, however everyone we talked to that did excursion in Progreso had nothing but good things to say.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Disembarking was as easy as Embarking. Although a bit lengthy getting through customs and TABC all in all it was another seamless part of the experience.
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3 Comments

cbyron3    6 years ago

If you tell them upfront you don't want a pitch at the end, they will tell you that they have to mention your options, but then your provider will just write something on a card for you and not say anything. Based on several encounters.

kimichele11    6 years ago

I love the spa EXCEPT at the end... they try a little too hard to make a sale.😉

scottasp    6 years ago

Hate the hard upsale at the spa.

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