Valor Southern Cruise Review - 6/4/16 - 6/12/16

[Termig8r]

Second cruise on the Valor...the first since the drydock. I loved the upgrades. Red Frog Pub was a great place to relax and have a drink. Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana were a good as they always are.

 

We had an ocean suite room on the 7th floor. The cabin stewards were attentive and we had service twice a day, no questions asked. The extra room in a suite makes it worth it. The large balcony was fantastic.

 

There were several issues on this cruise that were irritating, but by no means ruined anything for us. First the "Any Time Dining" option was a joke. You can go get a pager any time you wanted, but most nights you had to wait upwards of an hour before you got seated for dinner. There were a couple of night the wait was an hour and a half. We arrived for dinner the second night of the cruise at around 6:30 and did not get seated until after 8:00. Maybe Carnival needs to open up more room for any time dining, as it was limited to the first floor of the front dining room, or possibly limit the number of any time dining selections available more than they do now.

 

Service in the dining room was less than spectacular, but I expected a slight drop off with any time dining since you are changing wait staff every night. It seemed to me that the staff could have been a newer staff that was still trying to figure things out. The issues carried over to breakfast and brunches, also. One issue in particular is the refill of water. It seemed that no one ever came around to make sure your glass was filled. Not the biggest deal in the world, but still I am used to other cruises where the wait staff was on top of everything and never let a glass get empty. It also seemed like there may have been less of a staff on this ship...maybe Carnival is cutting back??

 

It also seemed a little more difficult to find servers on the Lido deck. There seemed to be fewer of them roaming around taking drink orders. It seemed easier to just go get a drink at the bar yourself than try to it and wait for a server to come around, especially if you were on the sides of the ship between the Lido pool and aft pool on decks 9 or 10.

 

Also, the hot tubs were never hot. The ones on serenity were like pool water and the adult only hot tubs at the aft pool were lukewarm at best. I know it is the summer, but still, a hot tub should be hot and relaxing.

 

The casino staff was great. The piano player and acoustic guitar players were awesome. The drinks and food were delicious. There was no lack of entertainment on this ship.

 

Other than a few hiccups explained above this was a great cruise aboard the ship. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. We had a full ship, so there were a lot of kids running around (not my favorite thing on a cruise usually), but they all seemed well behaved, even in the pool areas.

 

The ports were not my favorite, but once again, that was just my taste. Aruba was interesting, but not exactly what I expected. We took a tour of the island and outside of the beaches this island is pretty much just a cactus filled desert. Our tour guide was awesome and kept us entertained. Since we were in port late he came back for us and took us to a local restaurant for dinner and then brought us back to the ship before time to be back onboard. I am sure we could have found a lot to do in the port or hotel areas, but we wanted to see the island and what it was like.

 

Bonaire was one of my least favorite ports of all time. There was nothing to do outside of snorkeling or diving. There were a few shops, but nothing really to look at. Even the taxi drivers didn't try pushing you into going somewhere with them (I can only assume because there is nothing to do). We walked around for awhile and then had a drink sitting at a bar near the ship.

 

Grand Turk was, and still remains, one of our favorite ports to go to. The water is beautiful and the atmosphere is relaxed and fun. Whether in the water, or at Margaritaville, it is a great port.

 

This was a great cruise. Don't let any of my complaints stop you from booking, because overall those things were minor in the grand scheme of things...but still worth pointing out, because there is always room for improvement.

[cruising maniac]

Well, I'm a little disappointed. We are doing this same cruise in October on the Valor. We had similar complaints on the Breeze in November regarding the MDR. We usually just ate in the buffet because of the slow, inattentive service. Not because of a wait to get a table. We have never had to wait that long on a ship to be seated. Question- How was the casino? Was it smoky?

Edited June 13, 2016 by cruising maniac

[Termig8r]

The casino had a smell of smoke to it, but was not overly smoky...if that makes sense. I played craps most nights, which was right near the door at the front of the casino, so the air seemed fresher there, but there were areas around the slots where folks were smoking that it seemed stronger. I did see air scrubbers around the casino. It wasn't that bad, overall.

[amyh13]

We sailed on the Valor in 2015 and had issues with ATD. Sailed on her again this spring (very crowded spring break cruise) and had no issues at all. Even with a party of 8 every night. We usually didn't make it down until about 7. We had one fabulous server that we got most nights but every other one was really great too.

[zabaco]

Now I'm wondering if we should change our ATD to a set time. We are sailing July 3. Thoughts?

[cincicruisers]

Great review. Thanks for sharing.

[Bostwick girl]

Now I'm wondering if we should change our ATD to a set time. We are sailing July 3. Thoughts?

I guess we are amongst the few who have tried Your Time Dining and absolutely hated it. I can't think of a thing I liked about it. Long time to be waited on, long time to get food, and was slow as well between courses. Didn't wait long to be seated though. If I were you, I'd change to assigned seating dining. We'll be sailing on Valor September 9th, so thanks for the review, was wondering how she was since her drydock.

[umpisoccer]

Do you have any pictures or video's you can post. We are scheduled to go on the July 8th cruise and would love to see some. Also, how were the comedians and shows? Thanks.

[setsail94]

I, too, was on this voyage so I'll also leave my review of the sailing.

 

Embarkation: My party of 9 stayed at the Country Inn and Suites on Astronaut Blvd in Port Canaveral the previous night. Lovely hotel and they provided a shuttle to the port. We arrived at the port around 11:45am. Easy and fast embarkation process. We were on the ship eating on the Lido deck by 12:30pm. The rooms were ready around 1:30pm. The muster drill was at 3:30pm and we set sail about an hour and a half after the scheduled time of 4:00pm. Most of my party received their luggage before our dinner time of 6:00pm but I did not receive mine until after dinner.

 

Food: Overall the food was of the same quality that I have had on recent Carnival sailings. For breakfast, we tried the Seaday brunch on the first seaday. Honestly, it was a disappointment. The fruit was not ripe or sweet. The french toast was too chunky and dry. The eggs Benedict was overcooked. Seaday brunch was only offered on the first and last seaday so we went to the late risers breakfast buffet on the lido deck on the other days. Ironically, it was much better than what was served in the MDR. Just a note: the main buffet line for breakfast on the lido closes around 11:30am to prep for lunch so only a smaller version of the buffet is available near the pool in the back of the ship until noon. For lunch, my party loveddddd Guy's Burgers and BlueIguana Cantina. I wish both were open much later (Guy's closed at 6pm and Cantina closed at 2:30pm). Fish and Chips was okay in my opinion. It was a bit too greasy for my liking. Either I was too full from breakfast to eat lunch or I would just eat lunch at Guy's or the Cantina so I cannot comment on the lunch offerings on the Lido buffet. For dinner, my party had assigned seating in the Lincoln at 6pm. My last carnival cruise was in 2012 and I could tell they have cut back on staff. We really only had two servers that did EVERYTHING (water, bread, bussing, taking orders, serving). Therefore, I noticed dinner lasted much longer than on my previous sailing. We would get done around 7:50. However, the servers were amazing, had a good sense of humor, recommended great dishes, and accommodated all our needs and requests. The appetizers and entrees were amazing most of the time. There would be a miss one night or two but overall I left satisfied. Carnival has never really had the best desserts so I did not expect much. The melting chocolate cake is always a hit, and the apple pie and bread pudding was also good. Great wine selections as well (Kendall Jackson Chardonnay is now my new favorite chardonnay). Regarding late night food, I was disappointed this time around. The pizza was lacking flavor. The chicken sandwiches had literally a tiny piece of chicken surrounded by two massive buns. The cookies tasted like they were out of a box. The ice cream machines were often slow or out of order. The popcorn during move nights was stale. My brother did get food poisoning the second to last day of the cruise. He is a big meat eater so I assumed he had a bad piece of meat one night.

 

Bar service/Drinks: After this cruise, I will never get a drink outside of the casino. The ones on the Lido and in the lounges are severely watered down to the point that I was convinced I was given a virgin drink. In the casino, they seemed much stronger. I understand that they do not want people getting drunk quickly so they put less liquor in but I do not want to pay $8-$10 for a drink that tastes like fruit punch. I might as well just drank the lemonade that's free. Like other cruisers have noted, there does seem to be less bar staff, which equals longer wait times. However, I never felt the wait times were unacceptable (perhaps 10 minutes). In the casino, my grandfather won free drinks every 15 minutes because he gambled so much. It did take about 20-30 minutes for the drink to come but I feel that was because they were free so no incentive to get it to us as soon as possible. As a VIFP member, I received a free drink coupon (up to $9.00) redeemable on the last day of the cruise.

 

Cabins: My brother, sister and I stayed in room 1273. It was an ocean view room. It was surprisingly spacious for 3 people. There was a ton of storage and drawers. Comfy beds, flat screen TV, mini fridge. The remote did not work that well for the TV so that was frustrating but we barely watched TV. Housekeeping was amazing. He learned our names on day 1 and always asked us if we needed anything. The room was cleaned twice a day and he did an amazing job.

 

Entertainment: So here is the category where I feel Carnival fails the most at. I am in my mid 20s, my brother is 18, my sister is in her late 20s, and the rest of my party ranged from 50s - 80s. I feel that for my age range, a lot of the entertainment on Carnival is outdated. The hairy chest contests, the ice carving demonstration, and the shows are tired. The only thing I moderately enjoyed were the comedy shows (FYI: get there 30 minutes early to get a seat!). The first two comics were funny but the last two towards the end of the sailing were not as good. During the day, the lack of quality entertainment was not as noticeable because we were perfectly content on laying on the lido deck and swimming (Serenity was amazing--you get the best sleep ever in those cabanas). However, after dinner, my party was often bored. Outside of the comedy shows and the casino, we would just walk around the ship. There were only two actual production shows the entire voyage and one of them I have seen on a previous sailing (the other "shows" were things like the marriage one, liars club, and various shows with Chris the CD). There was a sing-a-long with a man named Skip in the Lindy Hop Lounge but it was geared towards the older crowd. Karaoke began at 8:30pm and ended at 11:30 so by the time the comedy or production shows ended, karaoke was over. The only venue outside of the casino that was open into the night was the One Small Step club. While this venue catered more towards my age group, it never really seemed like most people took advantage of it. The dance floor often was empty, the DJ did not play the most "danceable" songs, and I felt most people were just in there to smoke. They had themed nights that only lasted an hour. By the time the club became the hot spot, it was around 1am and at that point we had retreated to our cabins. They did play a movie every night on the lido deck but I only saw "Deadpool". The volume was a bit too quiet since not everyone was on the lido deck to watch the movie so you could hear the hot tubs and kids screaming and talking. If there was not a comedy or production show that night, we would just go to the casino or sit listening to the latin band in the lobby (who were very good!). Overall, there are things to do on Carnival ships but not necessarily many active things, which I wanted as a twentysomething. So I think the entertainment could be a bit better at catering to all age groups.

 

Ports: We went to Aruba, Bonaire, and Grand Turk. Aruba was not what I expected. It is not tropical. We went to Eagle Beach. It was an amazing and gorgeous beach but it was a typical beach day. They did sell fresh coconut water that was really good! The market and shopping was typical of any Caribbean island. We went back on the ship for dinner but got off again after to explore some of the nightlife. Bonaire was my favorite port out of the 3. You must snorkel or dive here. It has some of the best marine life and clear water. We went to spice beach (taxi was 2.50 a person) and for only $5 they will rent snorkel equipment to you. We were about to take an excursion for $15 to snorkel but the water right at spice beach was enough so we decided to stay there and save money. Grand Turk was my least favorite. The beach is literally right there in front of the ship. Due to the close proximity, the area is just cruisers. Grand Turk reminded me of Roatan because it seems like a Carnival-built area. The shops there were places like Ron Jon surf shop and the Harley Davidson shop. And of course, Margaritaville was there. When I go to ports of call, I like interacting with the local people and seeing the country, which I did not get at Grand Turk. Some people like that aspect but I do not. I felt that I was in Florida or any U.S. beach area.

 

Ship: Very clean, the renovated areas were very nice. The decor is dedicated to honoring American heroes and people of value so you see a lot of president faces, portraits of Rosa Parks, Winston Churchhill, Einstein, etc. It was not overly tacky like some cruise ships. Compared to some other ships, the layout was easily navigable.

 

Misc: I experienced something on a cruise that I had never seen before on the 5+ cruises I have been on: a fight. On the day we were in Aruba, a physical fight involving about 6 twentysomethings broke out on the 8th floor of the cabins. At one point, a girl smashed a glass over one guy's head. Glass sprayed all in the hallway and the guy was bleeding profusely from his head. An ambulance took him off the ship to receive medical care. My grandfather and aunt were staying on that floor so they called security and issued a complaint to guest services. We were alerted a few days later that the culprits had been kicked off the ship in Aruba. Even though the fight was horrible, Carnival responded quickly and appropriately by kicking them off.

 

Overall, I would give this cruise 3 out of 5 stars. My party's main takeaway from this sailing is that we will try a different line for the next cruise. I just think we've cruised Carnival so much that it has grown old for us. Nothing very horrible happened where I would swear off Carnival forever. Carnival is a perfect line for first-time cruisers, families with younger children, and those who do not want a "stuffy" experience. However, I just think my party is looking for different things that Carnival is not offering at the moment. I do think Carnival can improve their VIFP benefits/experience to encourage past guests to continue cruising Carnival. As a gold member, all I received was a free drink and a free bottle of water ($15 value) and I have a long way until I reach platinum status.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.