Carnival valor - 2013 - trip report

[Dicenator]

CARNIVAL VALOR - 2013 -TRIP REPORT

This trip was just me and my wife. The ship departed from San Juan on Sunday 5/12 at 10 PM in the evening. We flew down the day before and stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Isle Verde. On Sunday we boarded the ship at noon, had lunch and then wandered around old San Juan for a while. We've been there many times so there is nothing new to report. One thing was new, my wife was on her 10th Carnival cruise and was now platinum level which got us expedited boarding. This was great, no waiting in any lines and the office that we had to go to had snacks and refreshments for the passengers. Our stateroom was an ocean view and was huge, 220 square feet with a ton of closet and storage space.

We had the early, 6 PM seating for dinner and were assigned to a 10 person table. However there were only 6 of us there every evening. The other couples were Jim and Debbie from California and Charley and Rommie from Houston. After all the Carnival cruises we have the menu memorized by now since it is the same on all the Carnival ships we've been on over the last two years.

The itinerary for this cruise was very good and very cheap, $550 each. The islands visited were St. Thomas, Day at Sea, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Martin.

St. Thomas - we visited Blackbeards castle which is up on the mountainside above Charlotte Amalie. We took a cab up there but came down the 99 steps back into town. During the trip down the 99 steps we stopped in the amber museum which was pretty interesting. After descending the steps we shopped for a while in town and then went back to the ship and spent the afternoon at the adults only pool on the back of the ship.

Barbados - for the 3rd time we went to Rockley beach which is a 15 minute taxi ride from the dock. This beach is extremely nice with scenic views, very few people on the beach, warm aqua water and waves. We were there for 3 or 4 hours but I stayed under the umbrella this time and didn't get the sunburn that I got here last year.

St. Lucia - the only shore excursion that we were interested in was a land sea trip to Souffrie but we felt that the cost, $99 each, was too much. What we did was shop in the shopping area right at the dock. My wife bought a ring as an anniversary present. You really have to shop around because she found the same ring in 2 different jewelry stores. The price was $400 in one and $240 in the other.

St. Kitts - we went to the Marriot resort and spent 3 hours at their pool and then visited the casino. Supposedly the day pass to use their facilities is $35 per person. The last time we were there we paid $10 each to the beach attendant and he got us Marriot towels. This time we paid nothing. We arrived there at 9 AM but we didn't have the blue Carnival towels. There was nobody at the pool so we just walked in like we belonged and grabbed some chairs alongside the pool. Not one single person from Marriot came by. In the casino my wife won $150 at blackjack and I was up $80 at the video Ultimate Texas Hold em game.

St. Martin - another day at Orient beach which is my favorite beach in the world. It didn't disappoint, warm clean aqua water with waves. I spent less time in the water this time and didn't get any sunburn. When we left the beach we had the cab drop us off in town and we wandered around shopping for an hour. We then took the water cab back to the ship. Every day on this cruise was sunny with temperatures in the mid eighties.

On to the casino. This was my third cruise on the Valor and I've issued 2 previous trip reports. The craps table was typical Carnival, 12 feet long with micro fiber. 2X odds and no proposition bets. This table was bouncy much more so than the last time I was on this ship in August of last year. My opinion is that this was the bounciest Carnival table I've played on in 9 Carnival cruises. My bankroll was somewhat limited being only $1200 to cover 7 days on the ship plus another 5 days in San Juan after the cruise. I wasn't expecting anything too great because I hadn't been practicing too diligently due to the kitchen remodel going on at my house. Also 3 days before the cruise I developed a toothache which led to a nasal cavity infection. When the cruise started I was on antibiotics and pain killers so needless to say I wasn't 100%. By day #3 I was pretty much back to feeling normal again.

The first night the ship left San Juan at 10 PM so the casino didn't open until 10:30. I got SR1 but the table was full with about 10 players. An old timer at SL has his chips in my landing zone which he finally moved after I hit them once and came close a couple of other throws. Another player, young guy at the hook was playing don't pass and them making don't come bets covering at least 4 numbers. Well he was winning big time because everybody was having a hard time getting past 5 or 6 throws. I only played 3 hands this first night but my 3rd hand I had 3 repeaters and wiped Mr. Don't come out. He was a high roller and of course then bought in again. When I left the table his winning streak continued. On about the 5th night there was a woman at SL playing who only bet the pass line. One of my hands ended up being around 16 throws of which I hit her chips 7 or 8 times and she never moved them. By the way I wasn't throwing intentionally to hit her chips but my targeting wasn't quite up to what I was hoping for. There was one player, Bob from Tennessee who set the dice and tried to make each throw identical. He wasn't making a controlled throw but his results were good enough that I would bet a few place bets on him every hand. Eva played no more than 10 hands all week with a long hand of only 11 throws. She did win big at roulette on the number 17, her birthday, with I think a total of $24 in bets so her win was $840. She also won maybe $300 at the electronic Poker Pro for the week. Before I forget, she was playing Caribbean stud and I sat down next to her just watching. After a while I noticed that her cards were lousy and the dealers cards were good so I said to her give me some of your chips so I can play a few hands and maybe get the dealers good cards. The very first hand I got 4 deuces and won somewhere around $600. A few minutes later she got a full house and won $200 so we split the winnings.

Blackjack really sucked. Every table had a continuous shuffler except maybe the $25 table which I didn't see anybody at all week. If your hand was a 20, 90% of the time the dealer would get a 20 or a 5 card 21. If he had a 6, you could be sure he would pull an 18 or 19. I must have played maybe 8 different times with one win.

Here are my craps results:

DAY #1 - 5/12

METHOD HAND # THROWS # POINTS CO WINS

UH RIGHT 6 1

UH RIGHT 12 1

PARR LEFT 11 1

DAY #2 - 5/13

PARR LEFT 16 1 2

UH RIGHT 16

UH RIGHT 11 1 1

UH RIGHT 3

UH RIGHT 12 1 3

UH RIGHT 5 2

DAY #3 - 5/14

UH RIGHT 5 1

UH RIGHT 6 1

UH RIGHT 13 3

UH RIGHT 18 2

UH RIGHT 10 1

UH RIGHT 6 1

UH RIGHT 9

UH RIGHT 2

UH RIGHT 29 3 2

UH RIGHT 23 2 2

UH RIGHT 3 1

PARR LEFT 15 1 2

DAY #4 - 5/15

UH RIGHT 10 1 2

UH RIGHT 17 1 3

UH RIGHT 6 1

UH RIGHT 8 2

UH RIGHT 8 1

UH RIGHT 11 2

UH RIGHT 9 1

PARR LEFT 13 2 5

PARR LEFT 10 2 1

DAY #5 - 5/16

UH RIGHT 7 1

UH RIGHT 8 1 1

UH RIGHT 5

UH RIGHT 7 1

PARR LEFT 12 1

PARR LEFT 6

DAY #6 - 5/17

UH RIGHT 18 2 1

UH RIGHT 12

UH RIGHT 12 1 1

UH RIGHT 15 1 2

UH RIGHT 8 2 1

UH RIGHT 8 1 1

DAY #7 - 5/18

UH RIGHT 21 2 2

UH RIGHT 12

UH RIGHT 2

UH RIGHT 10 3

PARR LEFT 12 1 3

PARR RIGHT 8 1 2

PARR RIGHT 9 2

My net for the week was up $500. Overall I am disappointed in this performance, I was expecting better. For me my throwing was just barely acceptable but even on my lower hands for most of them I was still getting at least 2 paying hits which with my regression betting still generates a small win. I was either at the table by myself or the table would have too many players. I really don't like being by myself on a table because it doesn't give me enough time to analyze what happened positive or negative on the previous hand. The very bouncy tables don't intimidate me anymore but my performance is not nearly as good as on a normal table, but it is improving.

In 49 hands I made 45 points for a ratio of 92% which is far better than a random roller but not nearly as good as the average 150% I get on normal tables. I made 49 come out winners for an average of one per hand.

Overall the cruise was really great, we had a good relaxing time and a win is a win is a win. So I'll get them next time.

This report will be followed up with my Condado Beach, San Juan trip report which will cover the 5 days we spent at the La Concha resort after the cruise.

Dicenator

[tompeter]

Thanks for the report. Incredible luck with Carib. stud!

[Dicenator]

tompeter,

 

Thanks, I really don't like Caribbean Stud. Too many good hands for the player where the dealer doesn't qualify. Like all card games I was lucky enough to be in the right seat at the right time. My craps play was not up to my expectations primarily due to having to play on 4 bouncy tables for the whole 2 weeks we were gone. Bouncy tables don't intimidate me anymore but my results are not as good as when I play on normal tables. I'll probably get to Atlantic city sometime later this week and play on some of the regular tables with a normal bounce and I'll see if my throwing improves.

 

Dicenator