Had a wonderful time celebrating our 35th anniversary!
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Most employees at the NOLA port herd people through like cattle, mumbling or yelling directions. They were true to form this time. I was a bit miffed they rushed us through and all five of us completely missed the embarkation pic section. Never saw it and was directed to go to it. Heard that happened to several people.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
This was where I was most pleasantly surprised. After seeing Valor food reviews the past several months, and the food being lackluster on Panorama in May, I wasn’t expecting anything that made me do a happy dance in my chair. I was wrong. More than once did I happily do a little shimmy shake eating in MDR for dinner. App portions were on the small side but taste was good. The entrees were large and delicious. Favorite was the lasagne bolognese. Desserts were also very good. Ask for Endi in the MDR. He’s a fantastic server and very entertaining. Pizza was cheese dripping delish and no complaints on Guys.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
NOLA is usually a fun port to cruise out of. However, I didn’t get the fun feeling this time. We couldn’t understand a lot of the staff heading up trivia, some seemed to want to hurry up and get the day over with. Cruise director talked so fast we ended up tuning him out.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
Don’t think we’ve ever cruised out of NOLA and there not be a band. There was Ben the solo guitar guy who sang at the casino and had a great voice, and a couple who sang each evening in the 3rd floor lobby but it was mostly sit in your chair, try to stay awake music. Christmas program last day which was nice to watch. Third night at Alchemy I asked the bartender if anyone would be playing in the piano club and he said he didn’t think the guy was coming back b/c no one liked him. I think I sing great after a night at Alchemy. Maybe I should have taken requests 😂 Skunk weed in club one night but several security guards seemed to pinpoint the area it was coming from, camped out in the area and no more smell.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Cabin steward was awesome. Made the best towel animals I’ve ever had. Most personnel was personable. Some you could tell didn’t like their job, had their mind elsewhere or perhaps a bit of both. Between the front desk, our cabin steward and security, a skunk weed smell issue in our area was taken care of by the 3rd day.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Ship, including cabin, was always very clean. Didn’t see hardly any dust anywhere. This was our 3rd time on Valor so we’re familiar with it but layout is easy to maneuver. Second day and beginning of third day we couldn’t enjoy our balcony b/c of weed smell so I reported it to front desk. Got the same spill as others have reported getting. However, my nose knows and I was able to give them a cabin number I thought it was coming from. The nose must have been working fairly well that day because we were able to enjoy our balcony the rest of the cruise 😉
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Very clean and comfortable. Doors are magnetized except some magnet photo items will need magnet clip reinforcement.
Ship tip
If you can somewhat pinpoint where the skunk smell weed is coming from and report it to guest services and your cabin steward, they will make an effort to find and stop it.
A cluster. They began calling self disembark, taking forever between alphabets. We are platinum and could have left earlier but was told others in our party had to wait so we did also. Finally got to “D” and they started calling levels that had left their luggage out the night before. That was a head scratching moment. Lots of people thought they didn’t need to follow rules and removed the rope sectioning off the steps to 3rd level, pouncing down the steps and cutting in line. All I can say is make sure you wake up with a lot of patience debarkation morning.
Thanks everyone! We appreciate the kind words. Liz, it worked out great. Hubs and I went to our cabin as soon as we got on, about 10:30, and was able to drop off our carry on and decorate everyone’s doors for a little surprise 😊
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