Enjoyable

Carnival Valor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 41

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5
Carnival Valor

5 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 03, 2019

Ship: Carnival Valor

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

I liked gift shop and the carnival bracelet. Will do cruise again. It really felt like a vacation. Ty

Embarkation

5 out of 5
I had FTTF, 1st time cruiser. We got on fast. So many helpers to keep us on the right path.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
I loved the sushi selections and price was good. Very unfortunate that there was no yum yum sauce??? All they had was like a burnt sweet worcheshire sauce. Yuk. Pls get the yum yum sauce. The steak house was excellent and steaks melted in mouth. My lobster piece was very small, considering we paid 38 dollars extra each!!! I do not think I would do that experience again. Not worth the extra. Lincoln dining was fair to good. I missed the night there was veg lasagna. We finally understood the Lincoln room the last 3 nites. Service was great. The best of workers u do have. We never had breakfast anywhere. Did get room service which did meet all our needs. Very prompt.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
The SPA was a let down. Not b/c of the services, but what goes on after. That needs to change. I had booked and scheduled and paid ahead for 4 diff treatments ec. So 8 total. About 950 dollars. All paid 6 m prior to cruise. I dislike the approach of the people to buy items afterwards. They bring it out like it’s a gift and say “ u will use this 2x day. They really need to show products used and state they are available and the price. Now I did go ahead and bought items at ec session. Approx450.00 more dollars spent. With that said, I had paid my gratuities for trip up front, not sure if it was for spa employees, therefore I did tip, 10 dollars , both husband and I, for total 80. Then I noticed a 18% gratuity was added to my already paid for packages. What in the world. So they get 18%, then tip, then they sell u highly priced( above what charges are if u purchase Elemis on line) items. Also packages were very expensive. But I was willing to pay due to first time cruisers. I will not do this service again. They have to explain that when u pay for things in advance, u will b charged a gratuity of 18%. No need to leave a tip, only if u desire. No need to buy products they push upon you either. Then the experience might b ok. Comedy adult was good, 90’s trivia was fair. Lounge not big enough for it, people standing, could not see DJ. Also, trivia, I thought meant a game type of show.like playing 3-4 words or keys and first person to answer song would win coupon for drink or given a prize. It was like 45 min of others singing out loud to songs. I did not attend the next nite. Pls change the location. Wanted to do Bingo, however, did not feel I should b charged to play. The couples adult show was very good. Greatly enjoyed that show.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
See above.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Very hard working. Happy to please

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Bed was so very comfy. We loved our cabin.

Ship tip

Do not do the Spa. As explained above. Also, drink package not worth it if u are wanting a buzz from alcohol. I drink maybe 3x a year, I had 8 mango daiquiri s, in approx 5 hours. No food. Did not get any effects from alcohol. Many other guests felt the same way. Next time just put the approx 600.00 dollars on cruise acct and purchase drinks until money runs out. Also, if u leave for excursions, there are 5-6 hours u r not there to drink. Rethink the drink cards.

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

5 out of 5
Yes, we did sedgeway, it was great!!! Also a swamp boat, it was also great. We did a New Orleans bus tour sight seeing, it was fair. Did not keep interest. Plus Parking was outrageous!!!! Sedgeway should of had parking, they did not. Therefore they should offer to pay for parking or a portion covered. Of course the swamp had parking. Then the bus sightseeing did not have parking. So again had to pay 25-30 dollars ec time to park for no more than 3 hours.

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
We did a dune buggy excursion. It was only 2 couples so we got own buggy. Visited Mayan country. They provided us with water and lemonade. The guides were great. Did not like the food that was included at beach. Very bland.

Progreso (Merida), Mexico

2 out of 5
We did the Mérida sightseeing and shopping trip. We were on a bus that had poor to non working air. It was a 45 min ride ec way. No offers of water in 95 degree heat. And bus with poor air. When we got off bus, I said, I have to have water or I will not make it, the guide said, I’ll take a Dollar from ec person and go get water for everyone while we were using bathroom. So that’s what we did. Then 10 min later, we go through a museum that would not allow us to take water in . Really???? So those that did not carry bags, asked others to carry our much needed water. Poor planning!!!! There should of been a cooler with drinks offered on bus. On the way back, I told him, the air is not working I am going to b sick, as well as others stating the same. I said “ is fan all the way up” he manipulated things then said it was blowing better toward back, so several of us moved there. No coldness, but more fan. No tip given, not happy with this excursion.

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
It was prompt and again a lot of helpers to keep u in right direction
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1 Comment

Texasmom22    5 years ago

Sorry you felt compelled to buy the spa products. It's an annoying sales pitch but very much optional and we just say no. We were not overly impressed with the steakhouse on valor, but we're going to try it again on the dream in August. Glad you enjoyed your cruise overall - thanks for the review!

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