Mallutts

If that rally is as big as being advertised it could make for an interesting trip! The website for that event is lonestarrally.com. I would expect major delays. You might click the contact link on that site and get their opinion. Hope it works out ok for you!

I've been looking at the event maps and they are right by the cruise terminal. :/ I hope to leave Houston at 10:30 am to be safe for 1:30 check in, but if we get there super early I didn't want to just be sitting in my car for hours until our check in time. I guess we could check out the bike rally! ;p

4th of which month?

Sorry, November.

We are leaving on the 4th out of Galveston and Carnival sent a letter to expect traffic and longer commute times due to a bike rally there that week. We have a current check in time at 1:30-2:00. The rally is pretty close to the Lot A parking we have reserved. If we leave Houston early and get to the terminal way before 1:30 would we be able to still drop our bags off at the porter, park the car, take the shuttle back to the terminal, and then go walk to Fisherman's Wharf or Harbor House and wait for 1:30? Will they let you check bags before your check-in time? Google Maps shows it's a short 5 minute walk from the terminal to these places, but it's a 18 minute walk from Lot A, so we'd still need to take the shuttle to the actual terminal from our car. The earliest available check in time is 12:30-1:00. There is supposed to be a concert starting at noon for the rally so wondering if we should keep 1:30 or change to 12:30 or possibly later, or if anyone has any other trick or tip that would be helpful let me know. Thanks.

I'll be on the Valor in November and my to do's are soak up the sun, drink a lot, and eat a lot. Not everyone's cup of tea but throwing it out there. haha

If I went out to dinner and for drinks at a bar I would tip 20%, so I usually throw in another dollar or two on top of the 15%.

Does anyone know what times all the food options are open on Carnival ships, specifically the Valor, or do you know of a link that lists this info?

I've missed out on a lot of food in the past because I could never seem to catch things when they were open. My coming up cruise I want to try more things than dinner in the MDR and lido buffet.:loudcry:

We stayed on the Victory in L shaped cabin 6432 one deck down. Hope this picture works, tv is right behind hubbys head.

The only other line I've looked at was Royal Caribbean but I find their site so awful and hard to navigate I didn't 'look' for long. I live in Texas and I'd probably try any line that left out of Galveston. I've flown to Orlando for a cruise and it was so stressful that I'll never fly to a port again when I can drive to good 'ol Galveston. I'd probably never get on a Disney cruise unless it was something for my nephew. I don't have kids and don't really enjoy kids around for my vacation.

Hope you have a blast! I'll be on the Valor with my Mom in November for a girls trip. I love the decor on the Valor it's so 'Merica can't wait to see it in person.

5,112 hours! :'(

That it was going to be the best thing ever and I'd be wanting to take a cruise or two every year forever!

I thank God every day that I don't enjoy being anywhere near the main pool. Too crowded, too noisy and too much drama about deckchairs. Go up one deck and you'll find plenty of empty chairs and you can actually hear and see the ocean.

Same, our group always ends up at the aft pool one deck up. I can't stand the forward/main pool area. I've only been on two Carnival cruises and they were the Triumph Class ships (Triumph and Victory) and never had a chair problem in "our spot" on either of those ships. It might be different on the larger ships. This was also when the back of the boat was the outside smoking area before they moved it to the middle on the lido deck. This might have had something to do with it also no one sitting in the smoking section.

If your "Princess" loves tea parties take her to the high tea in the main dining room she'll love it.

I've never been to one but other in past sailing groups have and the pictures looked fun. Would be a fun moms and daughters time

while you have fun with the boys.

Grab the first drink I see, usually a Drink of the Day, go to the buffet and grab some orange juice for mimosas for the leaving celebration with the champers we bring on board with us. Then to the cabin to drop our stuff off then walk around or find a lounge chair and start sunning. I wear my swimsuit onto the boat.

Stateroom Selection

 

Those who know me, know that I am a balcony loyalist, or at least I try to. The private outside space is something that I really cherish and enjoy. So I would at the very least try to get a nice balcony for us to enjoy. The only thing is that one balcony would have to do, since the others in the group rather save the extra cost. Nonetheless, I manage to find a balcony that could fit all of us in it. To make things even better, both rooms were close to each other making it really convenient to go from one room to the other.

 

As you can see, the balcony of room 6424 is about double the length of the average balcony. The caveats with taking this room are the crew stairs running through behind it, and the awkward layout of the room. But I would much rather have the large balcony than a normal shaped room. You can't win them all.

So glad you stayed in room 6424 and did this review! We are booked on the Victory for 5/5/16 and we will be in the room right next door 6432. So neat!

My husband and I will be on this cruise and we've got our tickets to Journey! This will be our second cruise our first was on the Triumph, we're excited. :D