First time on cruise, Nice experience

Carnival Valor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

ksdragonfly73

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 40

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5

Verified Review

5 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 16, 2018

Ship: Carnival Valor

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6243

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

I expected a little more interaction from the cruise director, just saw him a couple times and heard a few announcements. Loved the dive in movies! Looked forward to those. The gym was very nice!! Very clean ship, all the staff was friendly if we needed direction. Staff always said Good Morning, which was very pleasant. I did witness a bartender that was conducting a "martini demonstration" tell a passenger that she was not invited even to watch because it was a private party. I didn't understand why because This was literally out in the open for anyone to watch. It was very humiliating, I felt bad for her. Beside this, for my first cruise, I was happy with it.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Everything was smooth, the check in process for luggage very confusing, we were not allowed in our rooms even though they were ready until 3:30 however; everything else was smooth.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

I expected more dining options, the menu was the same every day. The dining room was nice, but if you don't order a cocktail the waiters snub their noses at you.

Guy's Burger Joint

5 out of 5

Guys Burger joint was the best! We had a burger almost every day.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Not much to do after the first day but to lay out on the decks.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Not much, unless you like to join in on the little games they put together in the main lobby that sometimes seemed a little juvenile. The 80's rock show on the last day was great!

Ivanhoe Theater

5 out of 5

80's rock show was great

Children's Programs

4 out of 5

Club 02 for 15-18 yr olds was great

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

I want to recognize my room steward "I" on the 6th deck.......he did a fantastic job keeping our room in tiptop shape and catering to us. Kamal in the Washington dining room was great, always called us by our name and made us feel special. One waiter that tried to take our drink order was rude when we only wanted water, he made an awful face and a comment about he needs to make money.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

We always saw staff cleaning the ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

3 out of 5

Parking is chaotic

Thumbs Up 0

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5

Take a beach day

Thumbs Up 0

Progreso (Merida), Mexico

3 out of 5

Port under construction, take a beach day, shopping is cheap.

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

2 out of 5

very unorganized, took much longer than it should have.

6 Comments

DaveNAlison 6 years ago

Terrible how that bartender treated the passenger.

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picalo 6 years ago

Who was not invited to the martini demonstration?

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jfalke 6 years ago

Did you purchase the Fast Forward to Fun pass? Just curious because we have been trying to decide if we should purchase it or not.

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jallaway 6 years ago

On The Love Boat the cruise director was always interacting with the passengers and always seem to be there for them. But remember the love boat only held about 640 people on the Carnival Valor holds over 3000

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MarineVet71 6 years ago

Glad you enjoyed yourself

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cruzn4life 6 years ago

Awesome

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