My Carnival Valor Southern Caribbean review!! With 2 days in Old San Juan !

[TiffyLtheDork]

I cruised on The Miracle in June and they had a spa in the serenity area also.

[PS1818]

Now onto the food part. I love food and I love lots of different kinds of food. The food on Carnival was the only thing that I didn't think was done better than NCL. While we enjoyed the food, it wasn't awesome. We were never hungry tho and there were a lot of options. The buffet always seemed the same for lunch and breakfast. I know they added different things each day for lunch but not very much. My favorites on the breakfast buffet were the french toast and breakfast potatoes. The bacon police did exist but if you asked for more they would give it to you. My favorite lunch items were green salad, excellent potato salad, and coleslaw. The burgers were very fresh, hot, and delicious. The weird thing about a lot of the lunch options like most of the buffet, Mongolian Wok, “Fish & Chips” and the Burrito Bar was that they closed them at either 2:30 or 3:30 pm. This is right around the time when people are getting back on board and are really tired and hungry. The only options between 3:30 and 6:00 pm was Pizza Pirate or the burger grill, which made for pretty long lines sometimes. I tried the Mongolian Wok on the first day before very many people were on board because I had read how long the lines can get. I wasn't that impressed. It was just ok. I was definitely glad I didn't wait too long for it. The pizza was really good tho. We ate in the MDR every night except the first night so I can't say much about the dinner buffet. The service in the MDR was very good. They always knew what we would order to drink and had it on the table when we sat down. We had wanted to eat at a large table but were assigned to a table for four. We at first thought this would be awkward but quickly found we really liked the couple we were seated with. Our husbands even looked like brothers, and we all had a lot in common. We had a really great time together for the whole trip.

We did eat at Scarlett's Steakhouse on Saturday night. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures because I felt I might annoy other diners. The atmosphere and décor was very nice. The food was AWESOME!! I had the lobster bisque, spinach salad, ribeye steak with baked potato, and the apple dessert. Every single thing was delicious. The bisque was by far the best thing I ate the whole trip. P had the caesar salad, jumbo shrimp cocktail, the cowboy steak, and cheesecake for dessert. We shared each others steaks and we agreed they were both very good but mine (the ribeye) was way better. The bread they bring you is SO good!! The cost for Scarlett's is $35 pp and,in my opinion, very worth it. The service was very good as well. It reminded me of Morton's Steakhouse. I meant to order room service but never got around to it. We did order the breakfast card room service (coffee, juice, pastries, fruit, etc.). They were very prompt and it was good.

 

Breakfast buffet....no, not all that butter was for me..

 

MDR spring salad-good

 

MDR chicken quasadilla ….pretty good but spicier than expected

 

MDR shrimp and fries (there was originally watermelon on the plate)-pretty good but I wished that red stuff was cocktail sauce and not ketchup.

 

Cold cherry soup-Very good!

 

Room service breakfast door hanger card thingy.

[PS1818]

Buffet salad bar-good

 

Ox tongue-was ok...from the didja menu and it tasted like pot roast.

 

MDR breakfast-good

 

Buffet French toast-delicious

 

Cereal, milk, and fruit on the buffet

 

Room service menu that I never got to order from.

[nelsoneramos]

I'm puzzled by this picture... can you help me out? Is that hottub new (since 2012)? What deck is this on? I don't remember a Serenity hottub from our previous cruise on the Valor... and I can't find that hottub on the deckplans.

 

I don't suppose you remember?

 

Deck 14, there are two hottubs.

[PS1818]

MDR French Onion soup-pretty good

 

MDR-A study in Sushi- from the didja menu.-Was my table mates-she said it was good.

 

MDR-The famous Warm Chocolate Melting Cake with 2 ice creams! I learned that from a famous reviewer that we all know and love! It was very good!

 

MDR- cheesecake- decent, didn't love it

 

Buffet breakfast- discovered on the second to last day of the cruise that they make eggs to order at the omelet station. They were perfect.

 

Buffet fruit

[PS1818]

Breakfast buffet

 

MDR- I think this was the Filet mignon, and ribs with sweet potatoes. This was very good except the sweet potatoes. They were too mushy.

 

Our pretty table

 

Buffet breakfast-good

 

Buffet lunch-

 

Mongolian Wok selections- was just ok

[PS1818]

MDR-Cherries Jubilee- very good

 

MDR- Apple pastry dessert- didn't love this

 

MDR-Chilled strawberry soup-loved this, tasted like melted strawberry ice cream.

 

MDR-Stuffed mushrooms-very good

 

Buffet taco bar- didn't eat there, but it looked great!

 

Deli menu

[PS1818]

MDR- Escargots- from the didja menu I believe- Very good

 

MDR- Flat iron steak-not bad, but not great.

 

MDR- Shrimp- P said it was mushy

 

MDR- Baked Alaska- very good

 

Fish and Chips during a rare open time.

 

Buffet- The first of way too many ice cream cones- delicious

[PS1818]

Our adorable table mate- she ordered the lobster and this is what they gave her!

 

MDR- Lobster from the steak house menu. She said it was good.

 

Strawberry and chocolate milkshakes from the coffee bar. These were not good. They reminded me of the fake powdered milkshakes you get from some fast food places.

 

Chicken Burrito from the Burrito Bar- pretty good

 

Omelet and eggs cooked to order station-very good

 

Buffet lunch- good- the bowl on the left was what I got from the Mongolian Wok. It was just ok.

[Cruisegirl6]

Love the photos, but I am so depressed.....first I have to say I admit Carnivals food is the least liked by us out of other cruise lines and the lunch buffets are eh....but looking at your photos there appears the only thing i can eat in the am is fruit and potatoes and lunch I noticed only one type of greens am I correct...and some cold cuts...I have to be dairy and gluten free and I can'tt have eggs either this ___!

In the salad bar, were there other items like any other greens, and I didn't notice tomatoes in the photo, any olives and egg? Did the buffet lunches have any meat carving and veggies? I am so afraid I going to loose more weight on this cruise...AGAIN...the room service menu is extremely limited too ugh! I noticed you had orange juice with the room service breakfast so you can get oj in room service when you put the card out the door the night before, or was that regular room service?

Edited January 25, 2015 by lyndamr

[PS1818]

Taste Bar- Pumpkin soup and short ribs croquette- the croquette was good, the soup- not so much.

 

Fish and Chips- the fish itself was very good and tasted fresh but the breading was soft and doughy.

 

Turkey wrap from the deli- pretty good

 

Grilled ham and cheese from the deli- P didn't like it

 

Buffet desserts- some were ok

[PS1818]

Pizza Pirate menu

 

Pepperoni pizza- very good

 

Mushroom pizza- very good

[PS1818]

Love the photos, but I am so depressed.....first I have to say I admit Carnivals food is the least liked by us out of other cruise lines and the lunch buffets are eh....but looking at your photos there appears the only thing i can eat in the am is fruit and potatoes and lunch I noticed only one type of greens am I correct...and some cold cuts...I have to be dairy and gluten free and I can'tt have eggs either this ___!

In the salad bar, were there other items like any other greens, and I didn't notice tomatoes in the photo, any olives and egg? Did the buffet lunches have any meat carving and veggies? I am so afraid I going to loose more weight on this cruise...AGAIN...the room service menu is extremely limited too ugh! I noticed you had orange juice with the room service breakfast so you can get oj in room service when you put the card out the door the night before, or was that regular room service?

 

I'm sorry :(, I by no means took pictures of everything on the buffet. There were lots of tomatoes, I'm almost certain there were olives, and there were definitely boiled eggs. There were meat carving stations at lunch and all the salad veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and things like that. I think there was spinach as well. We did have OJ from the card you put out on your door, fruit too. Hope it helps a little.

[PS1818]

I'm puzzled by this picture... can you help me out? Is that hottub new (since 2012)? What deck is this on? I don't remember a Serenity hottub from our previous cruise on the Valor... and I can't find that hottub on the deckplans.

 

I don't suppose you remember?

 

I think it was deck 14. I have no idea if it was new or not. But I know it was there:) . I think there were actually two hottubs in serenity.

[PS1818]

I finally just got caught up with your review. I have to tell you, I am really loving it and your pictures. The pictures you got from the interior of Valor are spectacular. I'm still practicing on the interior pictures. LOL!!! I loved the part about your smuggling and I see nothing wrong with it. :D

 

Thank you so much! Thanks for not judging :). I am still working on how to take interior pictures as well. I make no claims of being a good photographer. Thank you though!

[Cruisegirl6]

Hi PS1818 Im wiping sweat from forehead wew thank goodness :p

 

That pizza looks now way like our past two Carnival cruises that looks very good!! Did they have caesar salad there, or any salad they used to? I do know if I asked they can make me a gluten free pizza I think.

[PS1818]

Hi PS1818 Im wiping sweat from forehead wew thank goodness :p

 

That pizza looks now way like our past two Carnival cruises that looks very good!! Did they have caesar salad there, or any salad they used to? I do know if I asked they can make me a gluten free pizza I think.

 

Good! I'm glad I could help a little. Yes they did have caesar salad, and I don't know but I have read that they will make you a gluton free pizza. I have actually read a lot of reviews from people with the same situation as you, and most said that Carnival was really good about working with them to make special meal arrangements.

[Cruisegirl6]

Thank you and yes, Carnival is wonderful working with my dietary needs, but I just hate to bother asking questions if only they added icons to the items on the menu then I wouldn't have to bother them. :roll eyes:

 

More more lol

[PS1818]

Enjoying review, will be on Valor in March. Does Serenity have a pool?

 

No, They have 2 whirl pools tho. There is the adults only aft pool and two whirlpools back there as well. And contrary to a lot of reports they were actually enforcing the no kids rule when we were on the Valor.

[PS1818]

Thank you and yes, Carnival is wonderful working with my dietary needs, but I just hate to bother asking questions if only they added icons to the items on the menu then I wouldn't have to bother them. :roll eyes:

 

More more lol

 

I understand, The restaurant I used to manage used icons on the menu and all the servers had to know exactly what had gluton and what didn't. We had a lot of customers with allergies and intolerances to certain things and we were really good at modifying menu items. Good luck to you!

[Cruisegirl6]

Obviously you worked for an excellent restaurant. ;)

[PS1818]

Obviously you worked for an excellent restaurant. ;)

 

Yep!

[PS1818]

Alright, so now I'm gonna rewind to embarkation day in San Juan. I honestly don't remember much of what we did this day. I know that the first thing we did was buy a DOD and went to find that our room was ready and our luggage was there, and our booze made it on. YAY! Great start to vacation. I think we went and found food after that and then back to the room so I could unpack us and get organized...I think I mentioned the “control enthusiasm” that I suffer from. Some, like P, might call it a mild case of OCD. Whatever...I like things to be clean and organized. He is lucky to have me and he knows it! So while I was milling about putting things away the Cowboys/Green Bay game was on. Before the game started I had no illusions that the Cowboys would win. But in true Dallas fashion they got me to believe, got me all excited, and then crushed me like a bug. I was devastated but I was in the Caribbean already having the best vacation of my life, so I got over it. So after the crushing of my little spirit we went and explored the ship. We ate dinner and then got back off the ship with an empty roller carry on suitcase. We walked to CVS to buy a case of water, an 8 pack of sprite, and a few snacks. We never did buy wine because we had all the other booze and we are not huge drinkers. We headed back and sent the suitcase thru the scanner fully expecting that they would want to open it and see what was in it. No one even batted an eye. It was almost ridiculous how easy it would have been to fill that thing with beer and bring it on.

We took it back to our room, unloaded it and then headed to the dreaded muster drill. Your S&S card and the door in your cabin will tell you which muster station is yours. The map is on the door. Ours was easy to find and we made the mistake of being there early. We were SO tired. The drill started on time and only lasted 12 minutes. I timed it. Some stuff they repeated in Spanish but not everything. It wasn't as bad as I was prepared for. This is one area where Carnival loses to NCL. On the Epic our muster stations were in places where people could sit down, and were air conditioned. It seemed more organized and less painful for all involved. But oh well, it is necessary. After the drill the sail away party started. We went to the “secrete” deck on level 10 to watch sail away. It was pretty cool to see the forts at night all lit up. One more thing I must compare to NCL is that Carnival is much better at getting the party started. Everyone was dancing and singing and having a great time. I realize NCL has a little different customer base but they were not good at getting people to join in. I wasn't even sure why they bothered having a sail away party. After we were out to sea we decided to go to bed. We were already exhausted from our time in OSJ and needed to sleep.

 

Sail away party

 

Side note here....

 

I have always had severe cases of motion sickness. Even on a straight road, if I am not driving or sitting in the front seat or the middle of the back seat, I will get really sick. I have tried sea bands, meclazine, and ginger pills and none worked for me. Last year on the Epic I started taking Bonine the day before our cruise. I know you are supposed to take it every morning. On the 5th day I decided not to take it because I felt fine and I could hardly feel the ship moving so I thought it would be okay. Well that evening I had to leave the table at dinner because I was so sick. It ruined me for the whole night. Well fast forward to this cruise and I was a bit worried because I knew there would be more noticeable movement on the Valor due to it being much smaller and I don't know if it has stabilizers like the Epic does. So I decided I would just take the Bonine and hope for the best. The Valor was rocking most of the time. It was actually surprising how much it moved. But it never once bothered me! I was so happy!! And now I swear by Bonine. It is the only thing that has ever worked for me. BUT you have to take it every single morning. EVEN is you feel like you will be fine. The thing about motion sickness is that you have to prevent it from happening in the first place because once you feel sick it won't go away. Okay....moving on.

 

Next up...Cruise day 2. St. Thomas, Coki Beach, and Scuba Diving!!

[mjonis]

Thanks for all the info! We're on a 5-day valor cruise on 3/22/15, so we'll only do 2 ports. But I'm enjoying all your info so far!

 

BTW:

I've been on the Sensation in 2011 and the FOS last year. BOTH ships had very heavy motion. I was very surprised that the FOS rocked so much since it's such a big ship, but even mid-ship on the "middle" level was pretty bad. People were holding onto each other and anything to keep from stumbling over. If you were on the upper decks in the hot tub it'd slosh the water over the side as it rocked back and forth. Probably depends on the time of year and the route.

 

Looking forward to more pictures/info!

--Kevin

[PS1818]

Thanks for all the info! We're on a 5-day valor cruise on 3/22/15, so we'll only do 2 ports. But I'm enjoying all your info so far!

 

BTW:

I've been on the Sensation in 2011 and the FOS last year. BOTH ships had very heavy motion. I was very surprised that the FOS rocked so much since it's such a big ship, but even mid-ship on the "middle" level was pretty bad. People were holding onto each other and anything to keep from stumbling over. If you were on the upper decks in the hot tub it'd slosh the water over the side as it rocked back and forth. Probably depends on the time of year and the route.

 

Looking forward to more pictures/info!

--Kevin

 

You are welcome! Yeah...there were waves in the pool lol. Even the servers were having to stop and grab a wall or railing. I don't know if it is the norm or not on a ship that size. We were on the 7th floor mid to aft so not up high or near the front. On the epic we were 10th floor mid and felt nothing except that one night. That cruise was the same time of year and 2 of the same ports. The seas didn't seem more rough than before and the weather was near perfect.