Carnival Valor Friends Cruise - May 1, 2017

[Matlily]

We are in our early 50's we go out a lot at home and also work, so when we cruise we like to relax we cruised with 2 other couple that are our friends at home. We all had booked faster to the fun which was great we were thru embarkation in no time sat for a short time and then onboard we got! we got our rooms straight away this is worth the extra cost we dumped our soda, wine and carry on and headed to guys for our burger - yum, we walked around the ship she is a lot older than we are used to I guess, I first cruise on the Conquest, then the Magic, Triumph and Breeze which i guess just seem a bit newer.

 

We liked the ship, the lay out on lido isnt great trying to find a chair was hard and we just gave up only sat out once, as it was a 5 day and we got to our two ports where we spent time on beach and snorkelling, more on excursions later.

 

Our cabin Steward Made -I was awesome what a great guy so friendly and helpful ( especially with our problems outside the room - see cabin review) we always tip and we got our room cleaned twice a day and ice supplied as often as we used it.

We had anytime dining, we went to this feature as soon as Carnival went to it. We love it so we depending on our day can pick the time. We had different tables each time, was great. We did have a bad meal, if we didnt like something we sent it back and got something else. I tried the vegetarian indian dish for the first time! wow yummy! We always tip the servers they don't know this til after the meal and we had great service each time! We also were celebrating two birthdays and a 10 Wedding anniversary of our friends and the dining room staff brought out a little cake and candles so sweet of them.

 

We also booked and went to the steakhouse, food was great but they did nothing for our friends Wedding Anniversary even thru I had emailed them and told them about it, that was a shame.

 

 

Ports

Cozumel - we decided to go to Chanknaab park on our own the 6 of us, we took a cab for 6 which was $24 and on the way back we split up and its was $12 for us to get back. We got a voucher online and this allowed us to use the park for $19 a guest, we got a chair and shade for this and you could walk the steps into the sea to snorkel, we paid for food and drinks andthey were normal prices for that kind of place, Bottled water $2 soda etc the same.

 

Progesso - we just took the free shuttle into town and walked to the beach we got loungers and umbrellas and had a fun day! cost around $100 for all six of us, we had buckets of beer, tacos, soda and waters, there are a lot of vendors this is a poor part of Mexico you just say No thank You and they move on, not a big deal, we even had mariachy bands come up to us, it was a blast. We left the beach as it started to get really windy, then a big storm at the port blew in sand everywhere, The lido deck was shut down for a while we got onboard before it started by our friend were still shopping at the port, it made for interesting convo at dinner that night and we tried not to look out the windows as the sea went up and down, but after an hour or so it calmed down.

 

Conclusion we had fun with our friend and we relaxed the hubbie slept a lot and I played craps and won several times! PLEASE CARNIVAL BAN THE SMOKING!!!

 

I doubt we will go on a short trip again you just dont get into it as much as i do on a 7 days or more. The ship had a rowdy crowd, but not always in a nice way.

 

Usually we hang out in the Redfrog for hours but it just didnt have the same vibe.

 

Looking forward to the next ones on the Vista out of Miami and then next year back to the Breeze and doing our first Alaskan Cruise on the Legend.

 

Our Cabin was noisy to begin with being behind the elevator bank, we will not pick this room again, we had an additional problem of a water leak right outside our cabin door, so for three days and nights there we're large vessels placed to catch the water and on several occasions a lot of maintenance workers trying to fix it. (Carnival gave us a bottle of wine for our trouble) and after three days it was finally fixed in Cozumel, we had noisy hallway with dryers trying to dry the carpet as well. Also we were opposite the laundry room..

Edited May 15, 2017 by Matlily
it didnt cut and paste very well! spelling etc.