natefish95

So glad to see you back to doing a live review! I'll definitely be following along!

It's definitely open embarkation day. When I'm wandering around, I'll see a couple people in there. Depending on the layout of the gym, you may get some traffic passing through exploring.

For me, I try to schedule in runs while the ship is in port so there isn't as much movement. Either before I leave for the day or later in the day right before the ship leaves. 

I would 100% not book that (I'm surprised they even offer them to be booked that early in the day). Usually boarding starts about 11am-ish. They do spa tours on embarkation so it will not be quiet outside the massage room probably with people constantly walking by. If you want to do it on embarkation day, wait until after sailaway. 

I've scrolled through a bunch of posts, but has anyone seen pictures of the spa or gym locker rooms? I know it's doubtful, but just curious if there is a sauna and/or steam room in them or if the thermal suite is the only area with a sauna/steam room.

The best way to save calories at breakfast is to just sleep until lunchtime haha. I'm not sure if they can do egg-white omelets but that is usually a good choice in the morning. 

I have never sailed Princess, and as a solo traveling mid-20's millennial I am far from their target demographic, but this ship seems really unique and I'd love to try it some day. Hopefully the spa isn't in the windowless depths of the ship like on the Royal class of ships. 

Only 2 pictures from Hooters? lol

Looking forward to your review! I've been having withdrawals of good, lengthy CC reviews since Greg wrapped his up. 

Thanks for finding out the Alchemists! I don't know them, but looking forward to their drinks already?

Since you mentioned the gym, how is it? Do they have sweat towels available? 

Excited to read follow your review! I'll be joining you for the 8 day on October 8th. Whenever you get onboard, could you find out who the Alchemy bartenders are? 

The Fantasy class ships were retired when they were 25-30 years old, and the shutdown of cruising was a huge factor. 

Start worrying in 5 years because Carnival doesn't even know what they'll do. 

On 8/29/2022 at 9:33 AM, MagnoliaBlossom said:

If that was the rationale, then it should have been stated as such rather than blithely dismissing the opportunity to interact with guests.  May be the right protocol, but bad PR to have made the group feel dismissed.

They actually don't owe you an explanation for why they choose to do certain things. Just because you're on Cruise Critic, that doesn't make you some type of onboard VIP (no matter what people on these boards think(. If I was an Officer, I wouldn't want to be in a room with a bunch of self-entitled guests complaining about cutbacks or there being too many/too few COVID restrictions onboard. Did you go complain to guest services about this traumatic event you experienced onboard? 

Thank you for doing this review! It's so interesting to see all your pictures and experience a non-Caribbean cruise. I've never been to Israel, but I would love to go someday. Haifa seems like a really great city. 

After my NCL Gem cruise in February, I spent the weekend in NYC exploring on my own. I stayed in Chelsea and walked all the way down to the 9/11 museum. It was a long walk, but a good way to see a bit of the city. 

When I was there, I saw Hamilton. Times Square is a giant cluster****, but I had a really great pre-show dinner at a place called Burger+Lobster. Really great food, great drinks, and a nice bar to sit at. I'd also recommend lunch or dinner at Eataly at some point. I grabbed lunch at the one by the 9/11 museum. 

It's a fun city. You'll have a blast. 

Really looking forward to your review! I have my first Celebrity cruise next year, but I'm already reading everything I can. Really curious to see what you think of the food in Blu!

I did it last year on the Freedom and it was not worth it at all. I had OBC to burn, but still wouldn't do it again. I could barely see a difference. Just get it done at your dentist office. 

On 7/18/2022 at 11:05 AM, BratDet said:

I swear there are 5. 4 in a row and one next to the rower. Couldn’t get all in the photo.

b

 

Thank you for the picture of the Peloton bikes! So excited to ride while looking out at the ocean! 

3 hours ago, HLR said:

Hey guys! What's the scoop on Enchantment of the Seas Royal Caribbean? The excel sheet has "Yes"  Free Entry to steam and a "No" Free Entry for the sauna....yet there are notes about the sauna....Hmmm?

 

Howard

Both were removed when Enchantment was lengthened years ago. All the other Vision class ships (Vision, Rhapsody, Grandeur) have a free sauna and steam room. 

21 hours ago, JP350 said:

I’m just saying that why is carnival constantly taking the cheap way out all the time. Carnival is cheaping out this old ship while other cruise lines are constantly bringing on new ships after Covid even though they are struggling too.

Carnival has been taking the cheap way out for 50 years. Why are we surprised? 

Yup, can confirm there is a locker room with lockers, a single shower, single stall toilet, and a small steam room. Completely free and almost never anyone in there. (I will say that on the Gem in February the lockers couldn't be opened, but that may have been a COVID measure. Or I'm just dumb haha) 

If you like the steam room, sauna, and a quiet relaxation area, I would highly recommend the thermal suite on the Jade. I've done it on every cruise and spend so much time there relaxing, reading, and napping. 

Was on the Carnival Valor last week and the sauna and steam room is still free, open, and in the men's locker room. It wasn't used very often and most people wore shorts. It was working most properly most of the time, but the sauna would get extremely hot. 

The ladies working in the spa would often walk through the men's locker room without notice, which was super annoying. The same thing happened on Freedom last year. 

Was just on the Valor for 5 days. Second what others have said about the hot soups. The broccoli cheese and poblano corn soups were incredible. From the Deli, the buffalo chicken sandwich was really good, but you have to get extra hot sauce and add pickles. 

I had a Blue Iguana burrito every day and it was always delicious. 

Guys Burgers and the new fries were awful. The burgers were charred to a crisp and had zero flavor. 

Great rollup! I'm about to book the Jewel southbound. How did y'all get from Seward up to Anchorage? 

Overall, I thought the Valor was in good shape. The cabins are old and dated (and still only had one plug), but updated cabins and Carnival just don't go in the same sentence unless you're talking about Mardi Gras. The other big issue is that AC in many cabins did not seem to work very well. My cabin was fine, but the last night I was sweating and couldn't sleep. A few people were able to get fans, but if you have the space in your big bag that you'll leave with the porters outside and not hold up security with, you might want to bring your own fan. 

All the public spaces looked to be in good shape though! The gym had good equipment. The water fountain worked and actually had cold water. The spa seemed to have new tiling. Word of caution though, the sauna would get really hot sometimes, like dangerously hot. Don't cook your insides. That's not covered by trip insurance. Second word of caution, the spa ladies would waltz into the men's locker room whenever they pleased and without warning. UHMMMMM...don't love that. Reverse the genders and there would be an uproar. Had the same issue on the Freedom last year and Guest Services and the Spa Manager couldn't even pretend to care, so I didn't bother voicing my concerns this time. 

Getting to the port, I honestly could have walked and it would have taken about 20 minutes. However, Satan himself has been breathing on New Orleans and it was hot and humid as hell. The uber was like $8 so no big deal. If you take an uber, I'd recommend coming in from the south by Mardi Gras World. We had to go all the way down and then make a U-turn and turn into the port. Thankfully, traffic wasn't a huge deal. 

Since I follow directions and know how to act right, I had my vaccination card, COVID test, and whatever else they needed in Verifly. The woman I saw only looked at Verifly and then sent me on to security and said I was good to go and thanked me for being organized. 

Now let me to y'all, some of these people in the security lines I swear to goodness, left their brains in the parking garage. If you're thinking about bringing a giant, checked bag size, bag through security, please don't. The people in front of me had about 5 giant bags that took them forever to maneuver up onto the conveyer belt. Next came all the backpacks. Then they forgot to take all their phones and keys, and change. WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MUCH LOOSE CHANGE? Did you dump a roll of quarters into your pockets on the way to the port. Some people....

Upstairs it was a bit of an organized zoo checking in. They had people directing the lines. On the right there were lines for suites, diamond and platinum. To the left, was all the common folk. Anyone else feel like they'll never reach platinum after being at Gold for so long? Ugh... By the time I made it through the line, they were already boarding my zone thankfully.  

Hey everyone! As I sit here in the New Orleans airport waiting for my flight back to DC, I figured I would take some time to jot down some notes about my quick cruise on the Valor. 

Background

I booked this cruise several months ago using a casino rate that I couldn't pass up (all I'm saying is that my flights were more expensive than the cruise...). Seems a bit silly to go all the way to New Orleans for such a short cruise, but the timing actually worked out really well for me and I really needed a quick getaway from work. 

I always travel solo and am content to just do my own thing and read my books, but I met some great people and crew members! 

As far as pre-booking things, I had drinks included in the casino, but I bought Cheers because I knew I would be spending time at the Alchemy Bar and Serenity Bar. I also got the "Value" Wifi plan. I usually prepurchase bottles of water, but I actually wish I did. It was easy enough to get bottles of water at bars, but I really like having water readily available in my cabin.

Getting to the Port

Flights have been a disaster lately. My nonstop flight from DC to MSY was the last flight of the day. It was delayed two hours and I was really getting anxious because if I missed this flight, I would miss the cruise since everything the next morning was completely booked. Thankfully, the missing flight attendant showed up and we eventually landed in MSY about midnight. So glad I upgraded to First Class because I really needed those drinks y'all. 

Took a quick Uber to my hotel down after I landed. I stayed at the Q&C Hotel and Bar downtown, which is part of the Marriott Autograph collection. It was a nice hotel in an older building with what looked like original floors and some exposed brick. Definitely my style of hotel! The room was fine, but the lobby is literally just a bar, so checking in was really loud (and the front desk staff was a bit rude). Probably wouldn't stay here again unless the price was right. 

As a quick note, this isn't going to be chronological, but want to get all of this out of the way first. If y'all have any questions, feel free to ask away!