Disappointed by Valor

[MsSage]

My husband and I were on this cruise and had a great time. We are platinum cruisers so we have had many different experiences.

We actually didn't have any problems with the singles group other than one night they were having some sort of party right by our room and it did get quite loud. But.. we both sleep through anything and never have any complaints about anyone having a good time. My husband did laugh and tell me about one obviously intoxicated woman from the singles group bouncing in the elevator complaining about their wine crawl getting broken up by security, but then we run into overindulgence a lot on cruises. So it wasn't just the singles group. We both decided getting to see the great costumes on Halloween was worth any issues we might have had.

 

I did notice the smokiness in the casino and at time it was fairly crowded, but never had a problem with it. We had a fairly big group of cruise critic slot pullers in there one day so we might have been part of the problem. and yes the slots were pretty tight.. I want to thank everyone though because that was a lot of fun and probably the least We lost in a couple hours at the slots!

 

I have to say we had EXCELLENT service. Andrea and her team in the dining room gave us fantastic and prompt service and our room steward Noel was one of the best we have had!

 

I would sail the Valor again in a heartbeat but I don't want to fly to cruise since that's one of the advantages of living in Florida.

Sorry if anyone else didn't have as good of time as we did, but we met a lot of nice people, had some awesome R&R and feel... a bad day on a ship is always better than a good day at work!

[malapaduci]

Let's just say everything happened just as the single cruises say it did, I'm saying it did or didn't, I wasn't there. But why do you single cruisers think it happened ?

 

Not really sure except that maybe this particular ship rarely deals with groups of this size (even though Carnival knew the size as they worked the company that booked it). Maybe there were some complaints from outside of the group who have never seen groups on a cruise. I mean it is the same number of people booked on every cruise so it is not as if suddenly the cruise ship was "overrun". There was a ton of money spent on this ship it is just kind of bizarre. They did not bother the group when it is was on the aft deck spending lots on champagne and other drinks. Go figure.

[nitro2448]

Not really sure except that maybe this particular ship rarely deals with groups of this size (even though Carnival knew the size as they worked the company that booked it). Maybe there were some complaints from outside of the group who have never seen groups on a cruise. I mean it is the same number of people booked on every cruise so it is not as if suddenly the cruise ship was "overrun". There was a ton of money spent on this ship it is just kind of bizarre. They did not bother the group when it is was on the aft deck spending lots on champagne and other drinks. Go figure.

 

And that's kind of my point, maybe there were complaints from other passengers, and if there enough complaints the ships staff/ security has to react. You're right, the ship has a max capacity, 1person at a time adding up to 3,000, or a group of 3,000 booked together. You also have to know that a group that large is going to overtake any area they occupy, even though its unintentional, it's just the nature of a large group. And some people are going to feel uneasy around that group and enough so that they might complain. You may have just been on an unfortunate cruise with a lot of those people. It's not just groups of people that are disruptive or annoying, but a group like that will stand out. I haven't been on a cruise yet that there has not been several annoying people, but I can just ignore those people and have a great time . I'm sorry for those of you who had a bad time, but just give thought that other passengers may have had a hand in that. Also if you were treated bad by the staff, and or had bad service, that does not make the ship bad, just the staff. And staff changes regularly, so I'd give the ship another try.

[malapaduci]

The point is that Carnival has banned our cabin parties going forward no matter how large or small the group is. It is not a matter of just disregard securities treatment on the Valor and try again. Our travel company has been in business for many years and we have had these parties for as long as I can remember. It is part of the fun of traveling with the group.

This treatment by security and calls all up the corporate chain has resulted in this. As a previous poster has said...we have seen certain behavior not even in the group situation. It was an overreaction by security that changes the group dynamics going forward.

There are a large group of platinum members in this group and we are just disappointed by the overreaction...

[nitro2448]

The point is that Carnival has banned our cabin parties going forward no matter how large or small the group is. It is not a matter of just disregard securities treatment on the Valor and try again. Our travel company has been in business for many years and we have had these parties for as long as I can remember. It is part of the fun of traveling with the group.

This treatment by security and calls all up the corporate chain has resulted in this. As a previous poster has said...we have seen certain behavior not even in the group situation. It was an overreaction by security that changes the group dynamics going forward.

There are a large group of platinum members in this group and we are just disappointed by the overreaction...

 

Ok, guess you'll just have to avoid the Valor. Hope you have no more of theses problems. Happy Cruising :)

[dwing18]

Hello

 

I posted my original comments about the Valor the night i got home from my cruise. Some are upset that I have not posted for a few days, but I simply have had other things to take care of. Hey Hey what can I do?

 

My cabin steward was very helpful and I therefore tipped well.

The food was in line with past Carnival cruises but the Steakhouse was a let down. Poor service and not good steakhouse food.

Embarkation was a nightmare but disembarkation went fine.

 

My issue with the Valor was Valor security.

I was a part of the singles group.

I have been on other singles cruises and I have never seen ship security act this way. We were told that anyone caught with a more than 1 person in their room would face disembarkation at the next port.

I usually book an inside cabin to myself. No wild parties are hosted in my room but I sometimes have a friend or two over for drinks. Never have I received a complaint from security. To me this arbitrary threat of disembarkation greatly affected my cruise.

I am all for security doing their job but to me this is an abuse of power.

 

In the future I will avoid the Valor. That's just a personal choice. I am also not a fan of the Dream

I have had great cruises on the Freedom, Liberty and Conquest and may see of you on board someday.

[PathfinderEss]

Sorry to hear you had issues with the Valor Security. Thanks for coming back and explaining. Was the rest of the cruise's good?

[jesron1269]

What were they (Carnival security) worried about big and loud orgies? What was the point of the threat of disembarkment?

[BigRed93]

I'm sorry the cruise was not up to par. We are on valor in 2 1/2 weeks. the last time we were on her was about 3 yrs ago and it was fine. I am not going to worry. The only thing that would bother me is the smoke, but I try to stay out of the casino.

 

I have never traveled with that large of a group, but we did have a meet & greet once that got up to about 30-35 people and that apparently warranted immediate security posted nearby :rolleyes:. of course, in our 40s we were some of the younger people on that cruise - after 10 pm we were probably the only ones left up. That was on Miracle. Interesting cruise.:p Oh, and we had a bar crawl on the Dream one sea day that drew a lot of attention and some passenger confrontation, but while the officers spoke on their walkie talkies, no one told us to stop.

 

Maybe there was something funny going on that caused security to have that reaction - maybe there was someone accosted in their cabin that might or might not have been part of the group, but to be safe there was to be no in cabin large parties? You would never know if that was the case, I guess.

[loxley]

There was a problem with the group and that is obvious. How many people on this thread said I was on the cruise but this was the only problem I saw with the group. Add up all the people that only had ONE problem and that adds up to a lot of problems. I know the group paid a lot of money for the cruise, but that gives them no right to infringe on others.

 

As for the cabin crawl being shut down, just think of a group of say 500 people moving in a herd up and down the halls and into the 12 cabins. Would you want to be walking down the hall as they passed by? Would you like to have a room next to one of their crawl cabins?

 

I personally was not there, but I have had other large groups and I will never knowingly do it again. I will be keeping an eye open for this groups next cruise and I can guarantee, I will not be on that cruise. I don't care if they are singles, choir boys, or church ladies. There is no way a group that large, esp if they are drinking and "partying" are not going to have an effect on other people.

 

For those wondering how to know if a group will be on your cruise, google the ship name and dates you are looking at. They usually book them pretty far out and usually have a web site/facebook page about it and it will show up in google. I enter the date several different ways. example Dec 3 2012, december 3 2012, 12/3/12, 12-3-12 with the ships name.

[bruce925]

There was a problem with the group and that is obvious. How many people on this thread said I was on the cruise but this was the only problem I saw with the group. Add up all the people that only had ONE problem and that adds up to a lot of problems. I know the group paid a lot of money for the cruise, but that gives them no right to infringe on others.

 

As for the cabin crawl being shut down, just think of a group of say 500 people moving in a herd up and down the halls and into the 12 cabins. Would you want to be walking down the hall as they passed by? Would you like to have a room next to one of their crawl cabins?

 

I personally was not there, but I have had other large groups and I will never knowingly do it again. I will be keeping an eye open for this groups next cruise and I can guarantee, I will not be on that cruise. I don't care if they are singles, choir boys, or church ladies. There is no way a group that large, esp if they are drinking and "partying" are not going to have an effect on other people.

 

For those wondering how to know if a group will be on your cruise, google the ship name and dates you are looking at. They usually book them pretty far out and usually have a web site/facebook page about it and it will show up in google. I enter the date several different ways. example Dec 3 2012, december 3 2012, 12/3/12, 12-3-12 with the ships name.

 

 

Perhaps Carnival could warn passengers of large groups. Generally such groups turn out to be a LOT of fun for both the groups and non-group people. Their cabin crawl was during the early seating for dinner, the singles eat at late seating. I went to MOST of the 10 rooms and you could not have seen a better, very well behaved group of adults! It was not out of control. All during the cruise, right from the beginning, security had a "macho" attitude and tried to show it had power. And I am sure they lied and exaggerated their case to their naive management which in turn now causes Carnival to use its own arbitrary "rules" as an excuse to get rid of ANY passenger with more than a few people in a cabin even if just visiting. If you want a totally quiet cruise experience, travel on Holland America. Carnival likely lost hundreds of customers and yes, perhaps a few whining passengers complained because they were not having the same fun this group was having. Jealous I suppose. I heard prejudice on the way over to the cruiseship, I told a couple there were going to be over 600 singles amd the husband says to his wife "I wish I knew that, I don't like that, we would not have booked had we known that. So they complain without even knowing these are mostly business professionals, but complain simply because these are SINGLE and in their mind likely "sinning". OMG they have no idea...these are not stupid, mindless passengers, but i am sure they assumed the singles were going to be trouble. I saw more problems with non singles and the attitude of the security ****s was unacceptable.

 

Over-reaction by Carnival....carnival, change your advertising, you are NO LONGER the Fun Ships.

[bruce925]

The hot air and apparent lack of air conditioning in the casino and casino bar was not the act of singles, in fact most of the singles don't smoke. There was NO air conditioning in this are which made it totally uncomfortable, we have to wear elegant clothing but they can't fix the air conditioning. Leave the area and the a/c was fine. This ship needs a LOT of help, in repairs as well as personnel/management. Oct 2012.

[sweetsixteencruisers]

There's 3 sides to a story. Your side, their side and the truth! Not saying anyone is lying its just their prospective of the story.

 

As a person looking from the outside. There must have been complaints, something must have gone ugly for Carnival to have the security react. You may not even know what that was considering it was such a large group.

 

As for the people kissing, IMO for someone to complain it must have been hot and heavy! Do you think the couple is going to say, they were being inappropriate, Of course not!

 

For the poster/cruiser, who complained about a crying baby, Really!!! And they ran out of hot chocolate, please! Now to me, that is nit picking. JMO

 

I do have to say though, I would not have been happy if there was a few hundred people doing a Cabin crawl in the vicinity of my cabin regardless of what time it was.

 

Sorry, these things ruin your cruise. Hope your next cruise, is better.

 

~Sweet~

 

PS: I don't think being single had anything to do with situation.

[sharecruises]

I have been on singles crusies (not as large as that)....but with 200 people. We did not have problems.

 

Singles cruises are NOT about swingers....they are mostly people who want to avoid the unreasonable 200% cost to cruise solo

Frankly I would hate to be seated with families with kids or teens LOL

 

I have been on cruises with Donny and Marie Osmond fans...a large gay group....singles (obviously)..never really had any problem

 

I have friends who were on this cruise and they said that the security just seemed to have it "in" for them

. As for "600 people" on the cabin crawl...that would not happen....they do have some people who get the biggest suites...lots of balconys...they arrange it so that people logically go from one to another not all at the same time and really out of 600 probably only half participate at a given time

6 -8 PM sounds really reasonable

 

I have to laugh at some of the "couples" here...guess you never were/or will be divorced or widowed??

[nitro2448]

I have been on singles crusies (not as large as that)....but with 200 people. We did not have problems.

 

Singles cruises are NOT about swingers....they are mostly people who want to avoid the unreasonable 200% cost to cruise solo

Frankly I would hate to be seated with families with kids or teens LOL

 

I have been on cruises with Donny and Marie Osmond fans...a large gay group....singles (obviously)..never really had any problem

 

I have friends who were on this cruise and they said that the security just seemed to have it "in" for them

. As for "600 people" on the cabin crawl...that would not happen....they do have some people who get the biggest suites...lots of balconys...they arrange it so that people logically go from one to another not all at the same time and really out of 600 probably only half participate at a given time

6 -8 PM sounds really reasonable

 

I have to laugh at some of the "couples" here...guess you never were/or will be divorced or widowed??

 

Until you, who said anything about swingers ? That makes absolutely no sense, since swingers are married.

[dwing18]

I don't think that old cliche

There's 3 sides to a story. Your side, their side and the truth

applies here.

I think all of the the posters are telling the truth.

 

If a passenger is disturbed by a party, he is well with his rights to complain to security. I would hope security would investigate and ask them to quiet down or if the party was out of control shut down the party down.

 

In this case security shut the parties down and informed the entire group that any person who was caught with visitors to his cabin would face debarkation at the next port. This is were I take exception.

[whatawookie]

First of all yes I was part of the singles group and there are many issues there that need to be addressed. I also have over 20 cruises under my belt in the last 3 years (yes I am a cruise junky). As far as the ship goes, she is old. The ventilation and smoke filters are shot on this ship. On deck 3 where you can walk outside plenty of rust and quick fixes are noticable. The casino is in need of a good steam cleaning. She is in definite need of a retrofit (2.0 Upgrade). You get what you pay for and it is so true on Carnival. The Valor was the first ship I ever sailed on and it was sad to return to her and see her run down. I would suggest going on Conquest class ships with the 2.0 upgrade. This is my opinion and I can understand how others may consider this thier favorite ship.

[pcb412]

I was on board this cruise as a member of the dreaded singles group and feel like I should share my impression. Obviously, a group of 600+ boisterous, fun-loving people on board any size ship will be a noticeable presence to all passengers. I'm sure that Carnival is well aware of this, yet they were more than willing to accept our cruise fares, bar bills, excursion fees, etc. This group almost certainly spends more than their average cruiser per capita. Carnival knows exactly what the evening cabin crawl entails and they approved it with full knowledge of the size of the group.

 

At the time that security shut it down, there was absolutely no inappropriate or out of control behavior that I saw. I was there when security approached the cabin in question from both ends of the hallway in a classic pincer attack. There was no confrontation that I witnessed. The doors were just shut. Prior to the shut-down, I never heard any complaints or any warning from security.

 

 

There were a number of elaborately decorated rooms that were quite impressive. One cabin had 4 or 5 animated displays of zombies, exorcist, etc. (Did anyone mention that Roger ships these to his FL hotel ahead of time and donates the decorations to the crew afterwards? Or in the past he has...)

 

Was there drinking involved? To be sure, but no one was drunk at that point. Rooms to visit were assigned in a way so as to spread the crowd out throughout the ship.

 

Other than that night, I was unaware of any unusual security presence. I was out and about, but never really saw them harassing anyone. I've noticed in the past they can be overzealous in protecting the night club. 3 Halloweens ago, I saw them refuse to let a 'pirate' in because he had a plastic sword on his belt which was in violation of their 'zero weapons tolerance' policy.:eek:

 

Otherwise, I agree with those who had issues with the Valor in general. This was my 3rd Carnival cruise and the food has definitely gone downhill a couple of notches in my book. A-/B+ was my past rating, this would be C+. I didn't see an entree in the MDR that I actually wanted to eat until the 4th or 5th night. The filet mignon needed a saw to cut through and was tough tough tough. The steakhouse had decent food but the service was inattentive and slow, not close to what you'd expect in a premium venue.

 

The ventilation system was poor and the temperature near the casino and casino bar was easily 10 degrees warmer than surrounding areas and at times the smoke was overpowering.

 

And I almost forgot, embarkation was a real cluster. Had to wait 2 hours for no reason that was ever provided to us. Very disorganized and they need to have a better way of making announcements than having one of their shortest employees speaking in a quiet voice in the center of a large group of people. Did they ever think about using the PA?

[Jane2357]

I've never been in a group of this size - not even close but I'm just going to be honest. I would not want to be on a cruise with this large of a group, well behaved or not. Last cruise on Destiny we finally just left the pool area at Margaritaville after having a nice time but then a group showed up who just "took over". I'm all about everyone having a great time but when you hover over my chair (with my purse, etc. on it) while I'm in the pool, throw a football over my head, sling water in my drink - that is the kind of stuff that starts happening. Pretty soon while you and your group are having a wonderful time - me not so much. I'm all about live and let live but when you have 600+ people the crowd takes over. I appreciate the desire that you all have to get together so lets look at a more postive spin - Carnival should be sending notice to other cruisers when a group this size is booked, or how about you consider doing a charter on a smaller ship and having it all to yourselves? There has to be a happy middle ground here. I will say that on my last cruise - I never saw or noticed any security except for when they were telling people that their babies couldn't wear swim diapers in the pool.

[jerry2457]

I feel I need to put in my 2 cents worth on this topic. I wasn't with the group on this trip but have been with them on many others. Please keep in mind that this particular company who booked this group specializes in Singles Cruise (not Swingers cruises but cruises for people who are single). They book at least one cruise a month with the majority of the business being done with Carnival. Carnival has never had a problem in the past with the group as they always have a big group every Halloween & its always with Carnival. Carnival knows ahead of time about this group, accepts their money, and usually welcomes them with open arms. The cabin crawl that is in question is an annual event as a way to socialize and meet people & always is held early in the evening starting at 6 PM so as to limit the possibility of disturbing other passengers. Keep in mind Carnival knows about and approves of this so for them to shut it down is very unusual and in fact this has never happened. This group goes all the way back to 1991 booking with Carnival with no instances of any issues.

 

Yes 620 is a big group and 12 cabins is not enough to do it correctly but I can assure, as a past host during one of these events, that we do not cram 40 to 50 people into a cabin. What happens is you rotate between cabins and if a cabin is full, as is often the case, people stay for about 10 minutes or so & then rotate out of the cabin & head to the next stop. This allows for an orderely and SAFE flow without interfering with passengers walking out in the hallways. This method has worked well, smoothly, and efficiently for a number of years & where it was necessary we have invited neighbors in adjourning cabins from outside the group to join in the socializing. Yes I wasn't there THIS time but have been on 6 previous Halloween time cruises. I was on the Valor on 1 other cruise and the piano bar was so smokey I could never go in there. I don't smoke and I can usually tolerate it but not on this ship...its too smokey. As a singles group cruiser many feel that they were singled out by security but security never does anything when there are children running up and down the hallways being noisy at 8 AM or they are running the vacuum cleaner under your door this early while you try to sleep. Last year I saw children between the ages of 8-14 in my estimation at 1 AM who were running up & down the stairs and also in the elevators punching buttons on every floor & tying up the elevators. I complained to the front desk and they said "well there just kids"

 

This is an example of what people are talking about in regards to being singled out. Its easier to point a finger at a large group & label them "rowdy, loud, and out of control" when my group of friends have been just the opposite. I heard complaints on the food being sub par but I think the bigger issue is that this large group, after being pre-approved for this event for years, was targeted for security to try to make an impression. It did not make for a good one as I know from experience that this group contains some of the finest, most compassionate, and most considerate people anywhere in the world. Again I wasn't there but I trust my friends opinion & I have seen examples before of security taking things too far. Let's hope you never have to experience being picked on for you feel is an unfair reason.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

................. So they complain without even knowing these are mostly business professionals, but complain simply because these are SINGLE and in their mind likely "sinning"......

 

Or they just didnt want to crusie with any large group. Did you make up the part about him not liking it because he thought they were "sinning"?

 

When I cruise CAarnival I always check to see if there is a large group chartered, if one ever comes up, I would cancel. Large groups of any type are usaully more thouble than they care to admit to being.

[tef43]

As far as the ship goes, she is old.

When talking about cruise ships, eight years is *not* old. :rolleyes:

[nitro2448]

When talking about cruise ships, eight years is *not* old. :rolleyes:

 

I was thinking the same thing, and I also didn't see the issues wookie did

[Jane2357]

You group cruisers do understand that you are paying for others to cruise for free right? When booking a group which I think is a minimum of 8 or 9 cabins there is 1 cruise fare for free. So the people organizing this "group" of 620 - say that is divided by 2 people in a cabin so 310 but you know some cabins are holding more so say there are 280 cabins booked. That is like 31 FREE cruise fares, maybe more. But they don't want 31 people to sail free so they get Suites with that and are living the great life on your dime. Then there are the Amenity points awarded - that they get to decide how those are used. Could be a free cocktail party or a beach bag but YOU are paying a premium for those. Add in that you feel as though security is targeting you - what if you skipped the "group" booking (organizers won't like the end of the gravey train). Then everyone has to pay to sail, you get a better rate AND the cruise line isn't targeting you as a group. Yet you could all still meet up? Just a thought.

[sharecruises]

You group cruisers do understand that you are paying for others to cruise for free right? When booking a group which I think is a minimum of 8 or 9 cabins there is 1 cruise fare for free. So the people organizing this "group" of 620 - say that is divided by 2 people in a cabin so 310 but you know some cabins are holding more so say there are 280 cabins booked. That is like 31 FREE cruise fares, maybe more. But they don't want 31 people to sail free so they get Suites with that and are living the great life on your dime. Then there are the Amenity points awarded - that they get to decide how those are used. Could be a free cocktail party or a beach bag but YOU are paying a premium for those. Add in that you feel as though security is targeting you - what if you skipped the "group" booking (organizers won't like the end of the gravey train). Then everyone has to pay to sail, you get a better rate AND the cruise line isn't targeting you as a group. Yet you could all still meet up? Just a thought.

 

I assume you have a family to cruise with

 

You really know nothing about singles cruises...gravy train??

 

What would you suggest single people do?? We cant post on here for roommates or even for friends to cruise with...not allowed

 

most of us do have friends..and dating...but that does not mean those friends want to cruise or that we are "ready" or willing to share a cabin with someone we are dating

 

Fact is....single/solo cruisers pay double for the privilege unless they have a friend who likes to cruise, or they join a group

 

Not to mention that the "CC groups" offer the "leader" the same

and these singles cruises (and other groups) generally offer a lot more special events/ get togethers

 

I honestly would NOT want to share a dinner table with a honeymoon couple, a family with kids..and I sure would NOT want to ever share a table with someone's baby no matter how cute

 

In fact one of the few things that annoyed me on my last cruise was ignorant parents who brought a crying/yammering infant to the fancy french (upsell on NCL restaurant) and several who brought squalling infants to the theater. The act (Oh What a Night) even made some (not happy) Pointed remarks at them for the baby did interrupt their great show

Ugh.

 

I also have to laugh ...divorce, loss of spouse happens...things don't always work out as we plan

 

ships are NOT Noah's ark...2x2