We really enjoyed this cruise. The Valor is a great ship, the crew took excellent care of us, and both ports were a lot of fun. New Orleans is always entertaining and was one of our best embark/debark experiences ever. We intend to do this same cruise again in the future.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
New Orleans really has the process down. You pull into the port parking garage and the porters are there close to the entrance. You hand your luggage off to them there then go park. That way you only have to carry your carry-on baggage into the terminal. We were curb to deck in about 10 minutes.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We ate dinner in the MDR every night and the food was very good. Maybe not great (I still think RCL has the best food), but no complaints. Service was excellent. Sea day brunch was also very good and the lido buffet was typical Carnival - lots to choose from, they kept the lines moving, and the food was more than adequate.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Typical Carnival - trivia, Hasbro, Clue, hairy chest, ice carving, etc. All fun. Music groups were good, although not quite as good as what we experienced on the Liberty last year.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Awesome as always. Cruise ship service is consistently top-notch. Cruise Director Kevin (Kevin!) was super entertaining.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
We like the Conquest class ships, they’re a great sized ship with a good balance of size to passengers. The Valor is in need of a little TLC (I think she’s due for dry dock early next year), but the crew does an excellent job of keeping everything clean. I give her 5 stars because I have realistic expectations of a 16 year old ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
The cabin itself is fine, standard Carnival balcony, no surprises there. BUT the location... It’s right over the Dream Bar stage. This stage isn’t on the deck map, but it’s there and you can clearly hear it up until midnight every night. This might not be a problem for you if you’re always out late, but if you’re looking for an evening in, this could really get in the way. We won’t choose this cabin again.
We did the Mayan ruins and Mérida excursion. Our tour guide Johnny was very good and we enjoyed the day. The only knock against it was the lunch. The food was definitely good, but they only included one tortilla with the meal (which is crazy) and a TINY drink. We could buy a larger drink if we wanted, but we’d already paid for the excursion and we felt like a decent sized drink should have been included.
We went to Chankanaab and had a great time. The snorkeling was excellent and our guides Alex and Jorge were fantastic. The buffet food was, well, buffet food, but it was pretty good. We hung out near the pool bar and our waiter Christian took very good care of us. We intend to come back.
Just like embarkation, they seem to have the process down. Thirteen minutes from the time they called us to getting through Customs (and the Customs agent was even pleasant - that was a surprise).
You have done an excellent job reviewing your Carnival experiences! I love all the useful information, and I also LOVE that you were realistic! So refreshing compared to many reviews, thank you so much!
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