My first cruise!

Carnival Valor Cruise Review

cwhaefs

Contributor Level: Second Mate

109 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Reviews: 8

Helpful Votes: 168

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

4 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 01, 2018

Ship: Carnival Valor

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

For my inaugural cruise and the introduction to my cruising "addiction," I absolutely loved it! The Valor will always hold a special place in my heart due to her being my first cruise and for the patriotic theme. I made many lifelong friends on this cruise who I look forward to cruising with again!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

The embarkation process was smooth and simple. We dropped our luggage with the porters, went through the security checkpoints quickly and got to meet several people from the Facebook group while waiting for our turn to board. Everyone was excited and having a great time.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

The Main Dining Room was really nice and the food was spectacular! Everything was delicious and to my liking. I ordered a steak for dinner and while cutting it, there was more gristle than I like, so my head waiter immediately had another steak fired up for me and apologized profusely. The service was impeccable. Eating from the buffet was fun, got to meet new people and try many new things. Absolutely loved the Mongolian Wok! Ordered the clam chowder in a bread bowl from the Seafood Shack and it was delicious! The clams in it were the size of my thumbnail or bigger!!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

All of the staff I came into contact with were very friendly and professional. My room steward made sure that my first cruise was as awesome as it could be. He and I are now friends and I plan cruises on when his assigned ship is near me. My waitstaff from the Main Dining Room were all great and accommodating, they deserved every tip that we gave them!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

The heroic and patriotic-themed decor around this ship (and her sister ships in the Conquest Class) was beautiful and touched this Veteran deeply! The design of the ship was easy to navigate and presented many ways for me to get my steps in. Never once did I see an unclean section of the ship and always saw crew keeping things tidy and polished.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The cabin was quite comfortable and spacious, even for two big 'ol boys like my brother and me. Never felt cramped at all and I thoroughly loved sitting on the balcony on Sea Days, reading or lounging.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Traveler Photos

My birthday cake that my dinner mates had done up special for me!

Found this guy monkeying around in my cabin!

5 Comments

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