Fun Times

Carnival Valor Cruise Review

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 23

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5
Carnival Valor

5 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 04, 2024

Ship: Carnival Valor

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7208

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 13 days ago

Review summary

We enjoy Valor and will be back on it in July. The ship is a little older with less food and entertainment than the newer bigger ships. So, if you are looking for a bunch of food options and entertainment then the Valor isn't it.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Super easy with Faster to the Fun. We were the 3rd group to board.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Washington Dining Room

4 out of 5

Food was really good with a bunch of options. The only time we didn't find something we for sure wanted was the last night. The was lacking. I do wish they would base the MDR menus off the areas you are going. Since we left New Orleans the first night should of had some Cajun food. Then since we were going to Mexico I'd loved to seen more Mexican food options. It seems like every Carnival ship serves the same food.

Guy's Burger Joint

4 out of 5

It's a burger. Not much more to say about it. I've had better and ice had worse. But when you are in the middle of the ocean it's a go to if you want a burger. They have a toppings bar to fix the burger how you want it.

Lido Marketplace

3 out of 5

Buffet was actually pretty decent on this cruise. Food was hot and fresh. Salad station had some brown lettuce though.

Mongolian Wok

4 out of 5

Super long line. Took one hour to get to the point they cook the food. Food was pretty good. They have three different sauces. I wish they had more sauce options and more vegetables to add.

Rosie's Restaurant

4 out of 5

No thrills BBQ is found here. It's pretty good. But, I do like the guys version on different Carnival ships. They had plenty to pick from and a handful of sauces you can add.

Pizza Pirate

3 out of 5

Good pizza. They are just super slow. It took about 5 minutes for them to even stop what they were doing to help me.

BlueIguana Cantina

4 out of 5

Ate here twice. Once for lunch which was outstanding. Then another time for breakfast. Everything was good besides the potatoes. They were over cooked and hard.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Glory Atrium

4 out of 5

We watched a few trivia shows here. They were decent.

Ivanhoe Theater

5 out of 5

We watched Deal or no deal and the marriage show. Both were super entertaining. The wedding show had everyone rolling.

Carnival Seaside Theater

3 out of 5

Movies were ok. They didn't play anything worth my time to watch.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Our room steward was outstanding. The staff we had in the MDR were outstanding also.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Ship is showing its age. It has rust all over it. It's supposed to go into dry dock in 2026. Hopefully she looks like a new shinny penny after that. I do hate how the casino has no way to block the smoke smell. It's really bad in areas that aren't close to the casino because the smoke travels. They should put in glass doors to block the smoke from escaping the casino.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Cabin looked like every other balcony. It's directly under the bridge. So, makes it super quiet at night. The bridge also extends out which blocks the sun from roasting the balcony. Definitely loved that. You do have to slam the balcony door or it won't latch. I told the room steward but he said it wasn't nothing that they could fix because it's a older ship. The room was nice and cold during the day. But at night the room would get hot. I'm not sure why that was.

Ports of call

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

4 out of 5
Pretty boring port without a shore excursion. The shops try to get your money like crazy. Some of the shops had no power also.

New Orleans, Louisiana

5 out of 5
Park at the Port NOLA garage. You pull in, drop your bags and find a parking spot and walk right into the terminal.

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
Big port with food and shops. Easy to get around in.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Super easy if you have a passport. Literally walked right off the ship. Right up to a customs and boarder protection screen that took my photo and gave the all clear to enter back into the US. The birth certificate line was super long.
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