First cruise ever, not too bad
Carnival Valor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
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
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Washington Dining Room
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Spa Carnival
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
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
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.