Glad I missed the Snowmagedon for this rust bucket trip to Mexico!

Item: Carnival Valor
Rating: 4.7
Author: pcoan

Carnival Valor Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

pcoan

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 19

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

Verified Review

5 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 13, 2024

Ship: Carnival Valor

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7448

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 months ago

Review summary

We had a great cruise. There were some small issues with maintenance, but the overall experience was great! The staff far outshined any issues.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Embarkation was fantastic! The porters were plentiful and immediately available and extremely helpful!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

How do you rate a buffet five starts, it's buffet food!? The dinning room experience well made up for it, except for the brunches. But, our dinning room servers, Wiwik, Jason and Louie were fantastic!!!

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

The hot-tubs were nice to sit in as we embarked, but they were not "hot". We heard many passengers complain the hot-tubs were just luke-warm tubs. The slide was in need or repair, which was fine because most of the out to sea days were cold or rainy. The parties were fun though! 80s night was a blast!

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Austin, the cruise director was great. The other stage shows that we saw were also very good, especially the two comics!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Like I said our dining room servers were top notch, and our Room Steward, Imade, was fantastic!

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

I know the valor is old, but the amount of rust and rot was a little concerning. Also, none of the windows were washed from the outside before embark, so looking out windows was looking through a cloud of crud. My wife tried to lean out and take care of our balcony glass, but it was a little too dangerous to lean out as much as would be needed, so we coule only see through the top portion as we relaxed on our deck. My biggest complain is how poorly the ship was maintained. Other than that, the staff kept it very clean and enjoyable.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

I wish the opening to the bathroom was bigger, but the closets blocked it from opening all the way, which was a bummer. The room itself was great. The balcony was large enough that we hosted six people out there for drinks one morning. Very nice, and the view from the aft was AMAZING!