Valor review May 1 - May 8

[chris623]

Okay, let me start by saying this. I read a lot of reviews of the Valor, some good and some not so good. Most of the negative reviews focused on the staff, either how poor of a job they were doing with keeping the ship clean or how unfriendly they were. Well, I can honestly tell you that this was one of the best staffs I have ever seen on a Carnival cruise ship.

 

 

Let me start with a quick story about our first day, which should sum up how great the service was. We got on the ship at noon. We (2 couples) had a nice lunch on the lido deck, explored the ship for a bit, and plopped down on some lounge chairs along side the main pool. A pool waiter, Neil, comes up to us and asks if we would like drinks. We ordered a bucket of beer and drink specials for the ladies. I picked up the tab. Right as our drinks were getting low I hear a voice from behind. “Chris, Chris”. Now everyone I know is along side me, who was calling from behind. It was Neil. “More drinks,” he asked. I said sure and brought us another round of drinks. That day, he learned all of our names and for 7 days, no matter where we were on the ship, Neil found us and made sure our drinks were never empty.

 

 

Neil was not the only one. Humberto, our dinner waiter, perhaps one of the happiest and friendliest waiters that I have ever met, also did a great job. We are at a table of four, they were bench style seats, with the ladies on the inside. Humberto would have to reach over just a bit to put their plates down. The ladies tried to help him guide the plate down. Humberto pulled the plate away and said, “No, you are on vacation, please allow me.” This happened the next two nights also, until the ladies finally stopped reaching for the plates and allowed Humberto to do it.

 

 

I plan on writing a review within the next day or two and I will post it in this thread. I’ll tell you more about us, our experiences, etc.

[OC Mom]

Can't wait to hear more! :)

[LeeNHCruiser]

Oh how exciting! Glad you had such a great cruise. I'm excited to hear the rest too. We're going on Valor in October :D

[brownli]

Okay, let me start by saying this. I read a lot of reviews of the Valor, some good and some not so good. Most of the negative reviews focused on the staff, either how poor of a job they were doing with keeping the ship clean or how unfriendly they were. Well, I can honestly tell you that this was one of the best staffs I have ever seen on a Carnival cruise ship.

 

 

Let me start with a quick story about our first day, which should sum up how great the service was. We got on the ship at noon. We (2 couples) had a nice lunch on the lido deck, explored the ship for a bit, and plopped down on some lounge chairs along side the main pool. A pool waiter, Neil, comes up to us and asks if we would like drinks. We ordered a bucket of beer and drink specials for the ladies. I picked up the tab. Right as our drinks were getting low I hear a voice from behind. “Chris, Chris”. Now everyone I know is along side me, who was calling from behind. It was Neil. “More drinks,” he asked. I said sure and brought us another round of drinks. That day, he learned all of our names and for 7 days, no matter where we were on the ship, Neil found us and made sure our drinks were never empty.

 

 

Neil was not the only one. Humberto, our dinner waiter, perhaps one of the happiest and friendliest waiters that I have ever met, also did a great job. We are at a table of four, they were bench style seats, with the ladies on the inside. Humberto would have to reach over just a bit to put their plates down. The ladies tried to help him guide the plate down. Humberto pulled the plate away and said, “No, you are on vacation, please allow me.” This happened the next two nights also, until the ladies finally stopped reaching for the plates and allowed Humberto to do it.

 

 

I plan on writing a review within the next day or two and I will post it in this thread. I’ll tell you more about us, our experiences, etc.

Oh please tell more sooner than later. I'll be on the Valor this coming Sunday - 5/15/05 - and have read equally positive/negative reviews - would love to hear some positive. Also, any chance you bunked forward/starboard? I'm trying to learn in advance if we'll feel alot of ship motion being near the front of the ship. Thanks, Brownli

[jemingway]

We're on the Valor July 10, so I am anxious to hear your comments.

[MamaParrotHead]

sounds WONDERFUL. can't wait to hear the rest of your review. we're sailing on Valor 5/22 and cannot WAIT. :D

[wolfpakfan]

I was also on this cruise. It was my first cruise so I have nothing to compare it to, but I also thought the service was excellent. Our dinner waiter and cabin steward were excellent. I tipped my steward $10 on the first day and he filled my cooler of beer with ice twice a day. All but one time that we ordered room service it was there within minutes. Yes the lines were long if you went to eat at the peak times, but I was in the "laid back" state of mind so I didn't let it bother me. Deck chairs were hard to find in premium areas of the ship but could easily found together in other areas. I, as did everyone in my group, had a great time and loved the ship. I will write a full review later.

[MarieATL]

Thank you so much I also will be on the Valor this Sunday 5/15 and have read a ton of reviews that weren't all that encouraging. Even though I myself have never really had a bad time on any cruise that I've been on this being my 5th. I know that you have to read these with a grain of salt but I would love to read your review before I go. :)

[Artgraph]

I would have to agree after reading most of the critics on towards the Valor before I left, I was a bit worried. This was my second cruise with Carnival and I have say, we had the most amazing time and the staff was great.

[addicted to cruising]

I sailed with Chris on the 5/1-5/8 Valor journey to the western. I read very little prior to my sailing, but feel compelled to share. Let me start by saying this was my 4th cruise with Carnival. Ive sailed the Holiday (10yrs ago), Destiny (5/02) and the at the time the smoke-free Paradise (10/03).

 

Embarkement and Disembarment were fine, I say cut them some slack when trying to load and unload 3,700 people. Overall pretty smooth.

 

The ship itself is the most beautiful one yet, the detail and all the tile that was used! There is no dout that the patriotic theme is in full swing. The bronx bar and the Cabboose are amazing. Your eyes will be in overdrive!

The ship layout is the same as the last 5,6+ ships they have put out. Not my favorite layout as it poses problems getting from the front to back but in a day or so you'll figure it out.

 

The cabins (I did and inside, with 4 people) designed alittle different...I liked it! Bathroom seemed bigger and there is plenty of room under your beds for luggage, leaving the closets for your clothes. However, even though you have a thermostat it doesnt seem to matter as the room was alittle hot. Our room steward had no personality and we rarely saw him. It was not uncommon to have little ice and no glasses. We only had the towel buddies a few nights and they were the same ones, not a big deal but my kids were looking forward to them.

 

We ate in the Lincoln, its a flamingo pinky/salmon color. I enjoyed it. I found it elegant. I love that they are placing a nice china decorative plate on the tables now, this was a first for me and maybe new for carnival. Our service was excellent. We were not rushed but managed to get done very timely. Extra attention was given to my children, trying to make there dining experience a good one. my big complaint here is that on previous cruises the entertaintment before desert has always been great. The outfits, fun music and some funky dancing etc. All I saw were a few hats or wigs (same ones every night) and some stationary dancing. This was a real disapointment. Maybe there have been some rule changes regarding safety..not sure.

 

Food, as usual there is plenty and I think the quality is pretty good. Pretty much every breakfast the choices are the same, I just mixed things up alittle for change. To me a burger is a burger and always a good choice for lunch on the Lido. If you ask my 10yr old he will tell you the ice cream machine was the best part of the trip. At dinner the food was good, the menu seems alittle old as many of the items are offered on the other ships, I would like to see alittle more creativity.

 

Bar service, Im not a big drinker but I had a few. The drinks are better if ordered at the bar. The bartender will take better care of you. To be honest I saw about 1/2 the bar staff circulating on the lido and promanade than from previous cruises.

 

Entertainment- the far from over show is not to be missed. It was excellent. The rest so so. One of the shows we just saw on our last cruise. That was disappointing.

 

Cruise director just flat out sucked. Brent/Brett Mitchell. I heard he was a fill in. Dont know. I truely belive the cruise director is a huge component to a good or bad cruise. We rarely saw him and when you did he just didnt have smooth delivery and much of the jokes or comments ive heard before.

Ill never forget Jorge on the Desitny, he was awsome!

 

Overall, the cruise was great. I did notice that they appeared short staffed and most of the staff were not real friendly. They didnt go out of there way to talk or make eye contact. That has definatly not been my past experience.

Oh by the way..another first for me was the captain having us turn our watches back one hour the night we left Miami and keep them there until Sat night. That may mess with some of your private shore excursions, it did mine. Fortunatly it worked out.

Have a fun and safe trip.

[lil nemo]

Some of this new found energy and more attentive service could possibly be a whole new staff, most of the servers sign on for 6mos and this term would be up now, or shortly. our server had 2 more weeks before his break! we were on the valor end of feb. i think this was a BIG factor!!

[Wolfsrun]

I'll be on the Valor May 29th. How did you find tendering in Belize and GC? I have heard some horror stories about people who chose to book thier own excursions (not through CC) and had trouble getting off the ship.

 

Did you notice any problems with Chair Hogging?

 

What sort of events did they have around the pool and ship (other than the set entertainment and shows)?

 

Thanks! Glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise.:D

[TiaGr]

Addicted to Cruising:

 

What cabin where you in?

[chris623]

As mentioned earlier, we had a great time on this cruise. I will continue on describing our first day, which pretty much describes many of our everyday routines...

There were four of us. It was my wife (28) and me (31) and long time friends of ours, who are another married couple (30 and 28). Me and one of these friends traveled the Sensation twice and Destiny in our single days, I introduced my wife to cruising last year on the Glory, he introduced his wife to cruising on the Valor last week.

Embarkation – Perhaps I got spoiled last year at Port Canaveral, where we arrived at 11:25 and were on board before noon. This year, at the Port of Miami, we arrived at 10:30 and were on board at noon. What bothered me about this was not so much the wait, but was that there was no separate check in for those who filled out Fun Pass on line. This saved me no time, they really need to change this.

Once on board, we had a great lunch (as it was everyday) on the Lido deck. Keep in mind, this is a buffet, and compared to other buffets both at home and on other non-cruise vacation, this buffet is top notch. The food was always fresh, plenty to choose from, and always the right temperature. And I’d also like to add that the tables bussed regularly and efficiently on the Lido deck throughout the entire cruise.

I all ready mentioned what we did after that, just to recap, plenty of drinks thanks to Neil.

Right before the muster drill we went to our cabins. My wife and I had an interior on the Verandah Deck right in the middle of the ship. Our friends had a balcony room at the front of the Verandah deck. While I really don’t see the big deal about the balcony rooms (except as being a great place to hide for the muster drill), the interior cabin which is more a square shape seemed a lot smaller that the OV cabin we had last year which is more rectangular shaped….even though they are both listed as 181 sq ft. Next time, we will stick with OV.

Dinner was in the Washington Dining Room. We requested 6:15 and received 5:45. Now, it wasn’t a big disappointment, but I felt that as a now 5th time Carnival cruiser, I should have received exactly what I asked for. Once we met Humberto, I was very happy with our seating. I spoke about him in my first post.

Other service in the dining room was extremely friendly. Our bus boy learned on the first day that I wanted iced tea instead of water and kept our table clean. Our bar waitress was also very friendly and took our drink orders quickly, but took a long time to bring them over. We quickly learned to get a drink at the bar prior to entering the dining room. By the time she brought our drinks to us, they were right on time. In her defense, she had to go to a whole different lounge to get drinks.

The décor of the dining room was not nearly as gaudy as others had described. Yes, there is pink lighting, but it is so faint that it does not take away from the more neutral and coral colors that are used throughout the dining room. As for the food, we dined here 5 of the 7 nights, and every night the food was great from appetizers to main course….and Humberto never went wrong with his dessert recommendation.

After dinner, we visited the Casino, as we did many nights after dinner. The staff was very friendly. Roy, in particular was very friendly and courteous. Although my favorite dealer was the one who dealt me a full house in Caribbean Stud. The drink service in the casino could use improvement. One night, I did complain to the pit boss and they were very attentive after that.

We tried the piano bar, Lindy Hop, after the Casino. This was a disappointment for us. My friend and I had a great piano entertainer on the Destiny named Dan, who may have set the bar too high. But Dan did pack the place. The entertainer on the Valor was Ed Rrocks who I read good things about, but did not do it for us. He did not play many sing along songs. When he chose a Jimmy Buffett song, he picked “Come Monday” instead of “Margaritaville” or one of his more popular songs. We stayed for an hour, then left. We gave it one more on a different night, much of the same. And Ed never really had a big crowd in there.

Next was the dance club, One Small Step. This place was great. We had not seen a dance floor this crowded since the 1995 Sensation cruise. And it was packed every night. This was the Carnival nightlife that I know and love.

Last stop was the Grill. They are the best cheeseburgers I’ve ever had after midnight. They also had chicken, hot dogs, and steaks, but I didn’t try those. The only other thing I had at the grill was the chili. Now the chili is there as a hot dog topping, but trust me, do not waste it on a hot dog. Just grab a bowl from the salad bar and fill it with chili. It is excellent.

Once again, this was pretty much just my first day, although much of it applied to many days and nights on the cruise. Here are some random tidbits about the rest of the cruise days

The itinerary:

Days at Sea – these are my favorite days. As late risers, we have only ourselves to blame for not being able to get chairs by the pool. It was fine though, we were on the side of the ship where it was quieter and less crowded. The ladies were still able to sunbathe; the guys went to the pool bar and enjoyed the live music and brews.

Belize – sorry, we stayed on board and enjoyed great poolside chairs. Our intention was to do a shore excursion. We went to book the excursion online 5 days before the cruise. Apparently, that is exactly the cut-off point. We tried to do it using the TV in our cabin, but the system was down for over 24 hours. In our final attempt, we went to the desk the morning of Belize, it was sold out.

Isla Roatan – we booked the Tabayana Beach excursion. The beach was nice, there was enough chairs for everyone. Waiters on the beach brought drinks. The water was great. The bus ride is an experience itself. It takes about a half hour each way and it reminded me of the Cyclone in Coney Island in that it barely made it up hills, and lots of noise around turns and just narrow lanes of lots of ups and downs. On the way back, we even went down some unpaved roads.

Grand Cayman – we separated from our friends here. They did a snorkeling excursion, my wife and I just took a $4 cab to 7 mile beach. We walked along the beach for a while, had some lunch, then did some shopping by the boat. I finally got to pick up my Cuban cigars here. I got 5 for $40. My wife picked up some souvenirs and stuff. We were back on the boat around 2:30, while many others were still on the island. Once again, we got good poolside lounge chairs and Neil even told us where we could find our friends, who were also back on board.

Cozumel – this place is great. As you may or may not be able to tell by now, we like to party, and this is a great place to do just that. Once again we separated, only this time, the guys went off to do some wave running, while the ladies stayed by the pool. We went to Mr. Sancho’s beach, which was a really nice beach. We did some wave running had a couple of Dos Equis’ then headed back to meet the ladies at Fat Tuesdays.

It was all ready getting pretty wild in there by 3:00. We had a couple of their slush drinks, I highly recommend the 190 Octanes, then we went off to Carlos and Charlie’s for dinner. I’ll talk about that a little later. We then went back to Fat Tuesday’s. This place was just nuts, there were conga lines, awesome loud music, a few people even flashed the crowd from a table top, and we even saw crew members unwinding a bit here. This place is not for the overly religious.

Other dining options:

I mentioned that we ate dinner in the dining room on 5 of the 7 nights. Well, the other two nights we went to Scarlett’s Supper Club and Carlos and Charlies. You will never dine at two more opposite places, but we appreciated and enjothem both.

Scarletts – We did this the night we left Cayman, which was also the second formal night. That worked out well. Again, I happen to think the dining room is great, yet somehow, Scarletts manages to top it. As great as the food was, the experience is why you should go. It’s quieter, more intimate, and very classy.

Carlos and Charlies – this is where the devil on your other shoulder gets to party. The food here is very good, but you go for the experience. The beers are served in yard glasses. They come around with tequila shooters, shake your head, blow whistles, and slap your hiney. They pour sangria down your throat until you tell them to stop. And you can just tell that the Mexican waiters love to have a great time with the American patrons. This is far louder than the dining room on the ship and is completely obnoxious. That’s what we love about it.

The rest of the ship

Overall, the Valor is a beautiful ship. It is big and a bit clumsy in it’s layout, but has some excellent patriotic detailing. I also found the colors and lighting to be a lot more toned down than other Carnival Ships.

Rosie’s Restaurant – this is probably the only eye soar on the ship. The décor is lime green. But hey, all I did was pick up food here, we usually ate outside on the deck. It also included a deli which made a great turkey sandwich and Chinese food which I did not have. Upstairs in Rosie’s was Fish and Chips. I don’t eat this, but my wife loved it and referred to it as one of the best she’s ever had. None of us had the pizza.

Winston’s Cigar Lounge– this was my favorite. We were here about 4 times. We had the same waiter each time. He was very friendly and learned our drinks by the first night. The décor is nice. The three piece jazz band is a nice touch also.

Eagle’s Lounge – we peaked in here a few times but never stayed at night. They had a band playing oldies, they were very good. However, we did sit down in this room for the Captain’s cocktail party and the past guest party. Both were awful. A piece of advice… go to a room other than the Eagles lounge for the cocktail party. There are too many people in this room because the band is there and the service is very slow. As for the past guest party, this is an awful choice for a room to have it in. They should do this in the theater.

Ivanhoe Theater – very nice, we went to two shows here. In fact, both shows I was very skeptical about. The first was a song and dance show. The second was a midnight comedy show, where the comedian had cerebral palsy. I didn’t know what to expect, but I kept an open mind and I’m glad I did. He was one of the best comedians I’ve ever seen.

Bronx Bar – I loved the décor, especially as a Yankee fan. Other than that, there was really nothing going on in there.

I hope I’ve covered everything. If I missed anything, feel free to mention it or ask anything and I’ll be happy to help.

I hope everyone sailing have just as great of an experience as I did.

[chris623]

Cruise director just flat out sucked. Brent/Brett Mitchell. I heard he was a fill in. Dont know. I truely belive the cruise director is a huge component to a good or bad cruise. We rarely saw him and when you did he just didnt have smooth delivery and much of the jokes or comments ive heard before.

Ill never forget Jorge on the Desitny, he was awsome!

 

I agree completely with your cruise director comments. He was aweful and just about non-existant.

[green eyed lady]

Chris,

What cabin # were you in on the Verandah deck?

 

Also, was Ken Byrnes the MaitreD? (he sings every night)

[MarieATL]

Thanks Chris I'm getting sooooo excited.. 3 MORE DAYS....... :D :cool:

[LUCY55]

I was wondering whether the first dinner seating is at 5:45? Or are there two times 5:45 and 6:15--possibly at the two dinning rooms? How about the late seating-Is there one time or two?

[lynyrd]

Is Carlos and Charlies on the Valor? In reading your review you made it sound as if it was. This is the first time I have heard this place mentioned. By the way great review. We still have to wait until September.

 

Thanks

lynyrd

[Snowball]

Carlos N' Charlies is a bar/restaurant in Cozumel known for its crazy, party-like atmosphere. There is also one in Aruba and I think in Cancun.

[chris623]

I was in cabin 8325. It is considered a forward cabin, but it is pretty much in the middle. There was no matrie'd named Ken.

 

The early dinner seatings are 5:45 (Washington Restaurant) and 6:15 (Lincoln Restaurant). The late seatings are 8:00 and 8:30.

 

As snowball stated, Carlos and Charlies is a restaurant in Cozumel, but very close to the pier. The cab ride costs about $6. I don't know about Aruba, but I was in the one in Cancun also. This one is better.

[becky14]

wow its os nice to hear nice things about the Valor

 

the part with the wiater i was like WOW!! now thats service

thanks for the great review chris:rolleyes:

[green eyed lady]

Chris,

In cabin 8325 were you bothered by noise overhead?

[chris623]

Chris,

In cabin 8325 were you bothered by noise overhead?

 

No, the only night we heard any noise was the night of the deck party and it was just a very faint thumping and did not seem to last very long. My wife and I joked that they were probably doing the dance to the cha cha slide song...which coincidently we had just been doing earlier in the night at Fat Tuesday. It did not bother us at all.

[chris623]

wow its os nice to hear nice things about the Valor

 

the part with the wiater i was like WOW!! now thats service

thanks for the great review chris:rolleyes:

 

No problem I was happy to do it. Humberto earned the praise. I tried to offer him a Cuban cigar on the last night but he did not smoke. It's amazing too how the waiters do double duty... on the lido deck during the day and still he was so happy at night. I ran into him on the lido deck one day and he extended his hand for a hand shake and was just so happy that he saw us.