Generally it was great, but they nickel and dime you for everything, addes gratuities onto a spa visit without telling me.

Item: Carnival Valor
Rating: 4.4
Author: judyKr

Carnival Valor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

judyKr

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 44

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5

5 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 17, 2018

Ship: Carnival Valor

Cabin type: Inside

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Well have summed things up pretty well above in the particular categories. Not happy with mandatory gratuities, seems like alot by the time you have paid for the cruise, but, that being said, people bend over backwards for you.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Dining rooms are much better than buffet, did not try the specialty restaurants.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

my husband had a seminar to attend and the teacher never showed.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Well it was an older ship, soo was not expecting it to be great but, very clean.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ship tip

Generally it was great. Ports were very hot, lot o vendors hassling you.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

5 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Progreso (Merida), Mexico

4 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

8 Comments

mrsb3 6 years ago

Thank you. .jenn2831 For 7 Day Cruise We Bring $200 To $250 Extra For tips.😎😍

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jenn2831 6 years ago

100% agree with mrsb3!!!!!

Thumbs Up 1

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AquaAquarius 6 years ago

Gratuities are NOT mandatory. You are free to cancel/adjust as you see fit.

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mrsb3 6 years ago

Wow. ...I don't believe people still complain about tips. You get the best service "people bend over backwards for you" not only you should pre-pay tips you also should tip extra at the end of cruise. On land you go out for one (1) dinner and you tip more than on a ship for unlimited food, service, etc. Every time you get a snack, icecream, ice tea, water, etc someone is taking care of it and that someone are the rest of the servers you don't see. Their income is your tip that is why they will do anything for you not like on Land when some servers think they doing you a favor by bringing your food and they expect 20%.

Thumbs Up 7

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Kracka 6 years ago

The staff work very hard for their money.

Thumbs Up 1

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AguasFrescas 6 years ago

Thank you for sharing

Thumbs Up 0

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LauraMaee 6 years ago

I believe gratuity is mandatory, at least it was on ours, after you paid those though you were free to tip or not tip on top of that.

Thumbs Up 1

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tkaye 6 years ago

Gratuities are NOT mandatory. You are totally free to tip however you want.

Thumbs Up 3

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