Carnival Valor Casino Getaway Cruise Review Oct 27 - 31

[starstruck05]

Hi yall and welcome to my first review in a long time. I thought it was important to do this one as I found little to no info about Casino Getaway cruises before mine. Since going on it, I can see why. I stepped off the ship early this morning and kept notes on my phone. I really though this review going to be all about the casino but as we all know, "ish" happens and the cruise went a whole different direction. Buckle up, we are in for some bumps!

 

This cruise is our (my mom and I) First Casino cruise. Since I had almost zero info about how Premier cruises work. I found info on Elite cruises but we aren't that boogie and I may not want to admit if I give the casino that much money to qualify for one of those. 

 

This cruise was almost not booked. I waited until the offer was almost gone. I had to calculate if I had enough vacation time to cover it, having using most of it on our Dream cruise. I managed to have exactly enough for 3 days vacation and 2 normal off days which allowed me to go. 

 

So with zero info, I booked this cruise with the promise of priority boarding, chances to win Casino cash and prizes and goodies in the room.

 

Since I live in New Orleans, 10 minutes from the port, my cruise journey started at 5 am when I woke up to my ankle in pain. I haven't had pain like this in a long time. I managed to find an ankle wrap in the dark and tried to go back to sleep but that didn't happen. I hobbed on my ankle to the shower and got ready around 730. Our bags were already in the car so we just needed to grab purses and head out.

 

Our check in time was 10 am and A2 Boarding. We left the house at 915 and made it to the port by 935 with normal morning/Port of Nola traffic. One broken nail and $90 later (I hate this for us because they keep raising the parking rates at the port for NO reason. ) We parked on level 4 and rode the elevator down.

I'm pretty sure this question will come up so I'll answer it now. Why didn't I park with one of the cheaper companies? To be 100% transparent,  it's about security.  I used to work for Port of New Orleans for Royal Caribbean and still know alot of the people who work at the port. I know how security works and how serious they take it and some of the outside lots just simply don't. You can't access the garage at the port unless you are on a cruise or work there. That isn't the case for several of the other outside companies. I have a story about Fulton Place garage too, but I'll save that for another time. 

 

We walked right into check in. No verifly or vaccine info needed anymore(still had it already done just in case) . Boarding pass was checked and passport scanned and then to sit down. No more secondary section in Port of Nola unless you needed to set up anything with guest service. I love that for us. Oh I missed the part through security that the agent made me take my boots off because she thought they set the metal detector off. Slight inconvenience and annoying as she took my shoes and handed it to the other officer to run it through the scanner...

 

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by starstruck05

[starstruck05]

Boarding started at 10:45 with suites and wheelchair guests, then A1 and A2. Went pretty well. I'm assume our "priority " boarding was geared towards having A2 other wise, it was just as normal boarding. 

 

We headed to out Muster Station, G which on the Valor, they are almost all on deck 4. Checked in and done in less than 3 minutes. You also now can watch the video on the app and if you feel so moved, listen to the ship horn. I don't remember seeing this on the app last cruise in August but this is also similar to what I heard other lines do as well. Anything that makes my life easier onboard, I'm down with.

 

We took the Aft elevators to the back of the Lido and found a seat and got our traditional fun ship special and Guys burger. (Funderstruck burger is unmatched and I suggest everyone try it)

 

I'm typing this up as I go (obviously posting after) so right now it is 12:35 pm and the Lido is busy but not crazy. No lines for food at all (except Guys and the Wok) 

 

So I mentioned the main reason to take this cruise was to try a Casino cruise. But we have 2 other reasons. One being we have never been able to cruise during a holiday. Technically we still aren't.  Lol Halloween is the day we arrive back BUT we get to celebrate onboard on Sunday and that's enough for me.

 

The other reason is as you can see in my signature,  my next cruise I will be platinum. I'll be 1 day away once this cruise is over and my next is 5 days. My mom will also be 1 day away but her next cruise is in December with my Aunt. My next cruise will not only be my first Solo cruise but my first inside A1 room. After all these years loyal to Carnival,  it's just nice to find new experiences! (Editing Starstruck adding that I had a couple "firsts" on this cruise!)

 

We made it to the room around 1:20. We had a gateway cruise lanyard and a welcome letter in the mailbox, with our room keys, of course.

The lanyards had a card inside that shows we get free drink in the casino for the entire cruise. Normally it just pops up on the sail and sign ( which it actually does show casino comp on it)

 

 

We unpacked, decorated our door and relaxed. We have room 2473 deck 2 Aft. Almost as far back as you can get but I booked this room for the interesting layout over the location. 

 

Our other embarkation day tradtion is to eat at the steakhouse the first night. Not only to take advantage of the free wine but also because the dining room menu is usually pretty boring on the first night. It does now have the added chicken parm but it's not even my favorite dish from the Italian restaurant so no big loss here.

We booked a 630 reservation. Jordan was our server and pretty excellent. A bit all over the place but his section was very full. We both had two apps, one entrée, two sides and a dessert. A couple of things have changed on the menu. No waygu beef besides the mini burger from the chef. No art of chocolate which doesn't bother me since I don't eat chocolate anyway. I got the risotto, a Caesar salad,  spiced rub ribeye with the Yukon gold mash (no more Wasabi) and the broccoli (only real disappointment,  believe it or not the dining room broccoli tastes better) and the cheesecake. Mom got the same except the New York strip, baked potato and the chocolate sphere.

 

After diner we dropped the rest of the wine in the room and headed to the casino. Pretty busy, only had one drink and found the casino host. Not a ton of events happening this week only 3 specifically for the Gateaway cruise. (Actually only 1 -editing Starstruck)

 

I grabbed pizza and called it a night.

[starstruck05]

Hopefully you can see the video of the room. Excuse our way too much for 4 days luggage. 

[wikoffclan]

I'm looking forward to your review. We cruised Valor in September with a Casino rate that was Excellent. (Was also on her in January and April. Great ship, GREAT crew!) I have an offer for an "Ultra" cruise but, like you, I've had a hard time finding information on the perks. What I've seen doesn't look to be worth the extra $$. Thank you for taking the time to post.

[EngIceDave]

That's a pretty sweet and spacious cabin.

I'm a balcony snob, but that's sweet and I'd be ok with that.

(Water come over the windows? LOL)

[starstruck05]

55 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

That's a pretty sweet and spacious cabin.

I'm a balcony snob, but that's sweet and I'd be ok with that.

(Water come over the windows? LOL)

We didn't hit too rough of waters and there is still a deck below but it is possible in some rough seas!

[EngIceDave]

1 hour ago, starstruck05 said:

We didn't hit too rough of waters and there is still a deck below but it is possible in some rough seas!

If it happened, I'd be freaking out.

[starstruck05]

Friday Oct 28, 2022

 

The morning started off slow. We requested requested a table for brunch around 930. App said 10 minute wait. Our room is actually right below the Washington dining room were brunch is so we waited. I checked the app and all of a sudden the screen changed and said to check in again. Oh no. Tried again and my mom's phone said the table was ready but no table number popped up. We went to the dining room and then her screen changed to check in. Chaos was had all around with many people waiting and two lines went to 1 line to check tables. Anyway we ended up at table 515 which was on the top level of the dining room and a booth. Typically we don't do booth but it's fine. 

 

Brunch was decent. I now always get a chicken Caesar and eggs any style. Mom got the French toast and eggs any style. There was an issue with her Danish she ordered that was not a Danish and not the one she ordered. She likes the cream cheese one. He told her it was. It was not. No big deal. Just won't order it again. Got the cookies which are different from the other various cookies onboard. 

 

After brunch we sat out on deck 5 and people watched and read. At the time of writing this (real time, on the cruise) I'm reading "a good girls guide to murder". I'll let you know how it is. I'm an avid reader and due to my work schedule I hardly ever find time to read anytime other than when I'm on a cruise. I brought one other hardcover book and 3 books lined up on my kindle and truly I can finish all of them on this cruise and still not miss any of my activities (triva mostly) I love and miss reading.

 

We sat and people watched and then took a walk through the shops. White Hennessey was $79 a bottle, no direct special listed for multiple purchases. There was boxes and boxes and boxes of Crown Royal but seemed to be only the original. I am a Crown person and have gotten it on board several time but I prefer the flavored ones over basic Crown. I did not, however catch the price. We were on the hunt for a Christmas ornament but the only one was the 50th anniversary one which if push comes to shove, would work. Its $14 if anyone wanted to know.

 

We then decided to go to the casino for the "hot seat" promotion,  which was open to all. Played for about 30 minutearor so and got another drink. Didn't hit much, at this point, I'm down about $80 which i know isn't alot but also I tend to play back my wins unless they are huge so I have really played about $200 by now. Decided to head back to the room but the steward was cleaning it. We actually asked for evening service but switched this morning to day service since he did not come for "evening service" last night. Jay Jay is his name and while he is okay, it's been a bit inconsistent. 

We headed back up to the promenade deck and happened to be just in time for the Dr. Seuss parade. Very cute, very load. I'll try and upload the video. I also found the "Duck Lady" and she seemed to be pretty known. Some guy even had her sign his t-shirt he had other signatures on. We actually found a duck before we passed duck lady but I didn't go up to her but I can only assume it's one of hers. She had alot of ducks and not just the normal ones. She had beads and windup ducks and mystery bags. It was a whole vibe. 

 

We finally were able to make it back to the room and just chilled for a while. I did go up to the Lido and get the Old fashioned bbq (deck 10 aft but no elevator there) , which was okay. No sausage strangely. The sausage was my favorite. I grabbed some cookies downstairs and ice and took it back to the room and sat and read and ate.

 

We took a nap for a reason I'll explain later and woke up around 530 and got ready for dinner.

 

 

[starstruck05]

[starstruck05]

[starstruck05]

So I didn't mention before but I'll do so now. There is definitely a plumbing problem. I'll spare you the direct details but our sink got clogged up the night before(when we came back from the room between dinner and the casino).

The plummer came out and fixed it after about 30 minutes of work. Well, we noticed today that the shower, which was already draining slow, was even worse now and flooding the floor. This also, for some reason, post-shower is making the water in the toilet go almost completely away until you flush it and it fills back up to normal. We haven't reported this yet as it doesn't see like a total big deal but we will keep an eye on it. I could also mention here that the room temperature has hot and cold spots. It gets really cold on the sofa side but warm by the beds but the vents are closer to the beds. Interesting quirk.

 

Anyway we were ready for Formal night dinner somewhere around 7 or just before. Less than 10 minutes for a table and the app worked right kind of. The table number changed half way to the dining room. I also completely forgot that the Lincoln dining room is off the Atrium and we can't use the middle elevators so all the way to the front we went. Might be way the table number changed; we may have taken too long to get there. 

 

We were seated to the back. Table 190, half booth half seat. Not a fan of these tables but it works. (Running theme here lol)

 

Dinner was decent. I had the carbanra as a starter and of course a Caesar salad ( at this point just always assume I order the Caesar. I eat it almost everyday at home as well.) I got the Prime rib and Creme Brule for dessert. Prime rib was decent but I actually didn't want the au jus but it came that way when it normally comes on the side. I didn't send it back. Mom had the pork tarts, Caesar and the sea bass and the same Creme Brule. All decent however neither of us remember the tart being three small tarts but possibly one bigger one but memory is escaping us and we may be remembering something else. 

 

The "showtime" tonight was "Proud Mary" sung by Denise and I'm 99% sure she sung on our last cruise on the Valor as well. There had to have been 30 birthdays in the dining room and one anniversary. I might rethink cruising with so many Scorpios. (I'm a Sagittarius, IYKYK)

 

We headed back to the room to change shoes and then we started reading again. I finished my first book and it was awesome and surprising. I won't give it away but if you like Murder Mystery,  don't be put of by it technically being g a YA book. It doesn't read as one which is prefect. 

 

So now to why we took a nap earlier. No, it wasn't for a Casino promo. That's tomorrow for Gateway only. It's because my favorite activity on a cruise, even more than Triva, is Movies under the stars and I am blessed that not only were the movies sections pretty good this cruise but the one movie I've been procrastinating watching, even almost saw at the movies but changed my mind, is playing tonight at midnight. Blackphone. So I get to see a scary movie at sea, under the seas and one on my massive list of movies to watch. ( I'm pretty sure I mentioned the always working/never enough time thing already)

 

Since the movie starts at midnight, we took a nap so we won't be tired considering I'm normally knocked out asleep by 11 most nights. It's 1030 pm right now as I'm writing this and I'm good, mom on the other hand is dozing off. One of us might not make it to the movie! Stay tuned for what happened!

 

 

[Tiger0613]

4 hours ago, starstruck05 said:

We actually asked for evening service but switched this morning to day service since he did not come for "evening service" last night. 

They don't clean cabins on the first night anymore.

[starstruck05]

Saturday October 29, 2022

Well to start both of us made it through the movie. Not without drama before and after. Let's break it down. The movie before that "started" at 9 was Ghostbusters: Afterlife. I've seen the movie a ton of times because I'm a huge Ghostbusters fan. So we walked to the lido around 11:45 pm I noticed Ghostbusters was on and only about let's say 20 minutes into the movie. Oh heck no.

 

We found loungers non the less on the section equal to the hottubs and waited. 12 came and still Ghostbusters was on but the crew was already on it and heard the (very loud) complaints. Around 12:10 am, Blackphone came on and it was 1000% worth the wait. Loved it. Wish I had actually saw it at the movies now.

 

The movie ended about 1:50 am and we headed to the Aft of the ship to get to our room. The Blue Iguana side was roped off. So we did the Guys side. I considered a late night ice cream since I haven't had one yet but they were cleaning the machine. So we head the the back only to be stopped by a door. Opened the door and they are cleaning the carpets on the back side. That's cool but the other side is also blocked off.

 

The security lady happened to be walking back and I asked her how are we supposed to get to the back. She looked confused and just said go through the door until she opened it and saw what was going on. She went off on the team and walked us to the other side with the guy in charge and asked him did he realized he roped both sides of the Lido off and were they crazy as it was not only a security risk but you also trapped half the ship from the other. We were eventually  able to get to the back elevators. There were at least 30 people out by the pizza as well who had no idea they couldn't get back to the front of the ship.

 

I woke up around 730 Am. Tried to go back to sleep but didn't work. I started getting ready for the day. The original plan was a beach day at either Playa Palancar or Buccanos. Neither place had we ever been. They weren't A. I.and that's exactly what we wanted. However, I discovered we were only in Port until 330 which seemed weird to me but also messed with our plan as neither placed opened to the public until 11 and one was at least a 20 minute taxi ride. I didn't want to risk it with such a short port day and hardly any beach time. I'm pretty sure we are normally in Port until at least 5. 

[starstruck05]

So plans changed. We decided to walk around the port. On a mission for Vanilla for my brother's mother-in-law and a Christmas ornament.

 

Then a drink and lunch. 

 

We had a little breakfast on the lido. Not bacon day. On a 4 day, it seems to be the sea days. No big deal for me. I prefer sausage. Grabbed that and the hottest boiled eggs on the planet.  Strangely no Guava juice. I'm gonna run down tomorrow before seaday brunch and see if it's just a fluke. It was nearing 930, with breakfast over at 10. 

 

We got off the ship and walked through the terminal. The Sunshine was pulling in and the Paradise was already in. Two ships we have not sailed yet so it was exciting to see. However 3 ships also meant 3 ships worth of people and the most we have had since the restart is maybe 1 other ship in Port, so the crowd was noticeable. I would love if the port had more seating. I know they want us to walk and shop but we enjoy people watching and seating is still so few and far between. I literally know where every bench is and have sat on them all. Plus it rained right before docking so everything was wet.

 

We sat and checked our messages and any calls from home. We have Verizon so we have data, calls and texts in Mexico included in our plan so either wifi (which we usually use Fat Tuesday) or our own unlimited data worked on roaming. I can attest this does not work in the Bahamas and a $50 charge had to be removed earlier this year. (Didn't actually use anything in the Bahamas, it caught us while switching switching from airplane mode to Margaritaville's wifi)

 

After some people watching, we moved to shopping. No Christmas ornament that I thought was unique enough, so I may buy the anniversary one still. Did find the Vanilla we like at I think the shop is called Joe's? Right by the pharmacy and we get the Aztec brand. They only had clear this time however. 

 

It was a bit after 12 at this point, we decided to get a drink at Fat Tuesday. Normally we go to Pancho's but we also have been to Fat Tuesday many time. TBH drinks back in NOLA at New Orleans Original are better (same brand) but when in Mexico. We shared a beef nacho which was huge. $16 and Both got 24oz size frozen drinks. $18 I pretty sure mine was a time keeper or something like that. It was good fruity and strong and I'm still slightly tipsy writing this. Mom had a margarita. Very good and strong as well. 

 

Here's the drama because there always is something. I wanted the sports bottle because I have absolutely nothing I can do with the yard cup. I wanted a bigger drink because the price difference was hardly a couple of $ for a 12 oz cup to 24 oz. I don't know if it was the language barrier and I didn't attempt Spanish as I'm horrible at this point at it. But he somehow assumed we wouldn't have enough cash  to pay for what we ordered.  I explained cash was fine. I assured him I could afford it. I didn't even have any cards on me anyway. The drinks came out as 3 12 oz cups and we had to have the conversation again. Issue fixed but still annoying.  I don't know if he had issues in the past but I would never order anything I couldn't pay for and we had more than enough cash between the two of us. Not our first rodeo.

 

I've used both card and cash in Port with no problem and have patronize all the port restaurants in all these years. I brushed it off. He was very attentive after that, however.

 

We enjoyed being by the water and the nachos were pretty good. Giant jalapeños. Had to cut them in half. Our bill came to like $59 he said there was a system issue so he couldn't print a receipt. I just gave him $60 and $10 in tip it should have actually been more like $52 ish but whatever. I'm on vacation and would have spent way more than that between the taxis and drinks/food at the beach.

 

We were significantly tipsy so decided to head back to the ship. It was maybe 1 at this time? We walked through the shop and mom decided to take a bike taxi back. I walked. She tipped him $5 for the ride. Mind you I carried the Vanilla all the way back. Thanks Mom. Lol.

 

[starstruck05]

We headed back to the room and took much needed naps. OH and the casino hosts dropped off a plate of cookies while we were in port. A nice surprise! I thought it was going to be those chocolate canpay things.

 

We started getting ready around 330 as there was alot going on tonight. It started with scary movie triva but we actually ended up taking too long and missed it. There is also deal or no deal tonight, the love and marraige show and the only gateaway casino only event tonight at 11. So we wanted to get to dinner early. Not really hungry at the point of writing this but dinner doesn't open for another 10 minutes at 530 so we are just sitting in the lobby listening to the string trio.(Also amazing.)

 

We ordered our table at 5:29 and it was ready less than 5 minutes later. Tonight was lasagna and bbq ribs on the menu. The dining room was dead but not surprisingly. We were seated in the back, one table from the window. We were going to ask to move to that one and then they sat two more people at that table. And boy were they a pill..complaining about the special menu since one of them had an allergy.

 

Anyway our dinner was great but I could barely finish it. I got the lasagna as a starter with my salad and the bbq ribs.Ended with Pineapple sherbert. The starter portion of the lasagna was huge, I was scared to see what the entrée size was! Ihaven't had it in years as this night I usually get the alligator benefits. Mom got that and the warm chocolate melting cake. 

 

After dinner, which was just under an hour, we listened to the string trio finish their set and waited for deal or no deal card sales to start.

 

It was 1 for $20, 2 for $40, or 3 for $50. We ended up getting 3. We only won on 2 cards so hindsight,  should have just gotten two! Lol. (Wait until tomorrow)

 

Did not, thank goodness, get picked to go on stage but the first person got over $400. They didn't have the $1000 case either! The second person went home with a little over $100. I won two $25 bingo packages. So now we are playing bingo tomorrow. Guess I made my money back? 

 

After Deal or No Deal was the Love Song Triva which was fun except the people not playing shouting the answers or trying to sing the full song, title included, while the rest of us are playing. We didn't win. The last like 3 or 4 songs were obscure country songs that we had never heard of. I'm obsessed with the show, Monarch, now so I'm getting back into Country. 

 

After was the Love and Marraige show which was a bit different. Every cruise director has their own style. Louis was funny and quick witted. He changed up how he picked the middle couple which there is some debate over who actually won. The show was entertaining as always. I don't think I've missed a love and marraige show in all my cruising years.

 

Next would have been the Comedy show in the big theater, which was usually watch if they move it here because the normal comedy clubs are way too small. We usually skip it. But we had to skip this time and head to the casino for the only Gateaway only promotion of the cruise. This was called Dodge The Bull. They picked 4 or 5 names and you roll a dice as a multiplier (sadly every single person got 1) and then spin the wheel with cash prizes between like $50 and $300. The highest actually the only "winner" got $150. Everyone else landed on the Bull and got the default $50. My name scrolled on the screen several time but no luck, I didn't get a chance to play. It was fun to watch and many people who were picked weren't there. 

 

We ended the night with ice cream and cookies and went to bed around 1 am.

 

[starstruck05]

[starstruck05]

Sunday October 30, 2022 (Buckle your seat belts)

 

Today is pre Halloween!

 

Very excited to dress up tonight. Several people were dressed up yesterday so I think some got confused which night was which. Anyway, it's another almost jam packed day.

 

We need to go get bingo cards, brunch again, two trivas starting at 11 with Broadway Triva (One is Harry Potter which I will not miss) try to squeeze in tea time, Q & A, the seafood shack, bingo, dinner, and the Halloween Party. Oh and packing. I despise packing. I also have not been to the library and have decided to get the 50th anniversary ornament. We are putting our tree up next weekend so I decided to get it now. Yes we are those people.

 

It's 8:53 am and I'm  trying to decide if going get the bingo cards at 9:30 is worth it with the possibility of the line being long and also brunch running late and missing triva. 

 

Decided to wait and go to the normal Bingo sales at 1:45pm , which is also the Q & A. 

This morning is also the Dr. Seuss breakfast. It's $10 per adult $8 per kid and can actually be booked on the app but it's completely sold out. I'll include screenshots from the app.

 

We headed to breakfast around 9:45/10 and took about 10 minutes to get a table. Many people either not wanting to use the app or can't figure out how it works. Carnival may need to send out a video before the cruise to explain all the features. I think that will help.

Breakfast was exactly the same as last brunch, sub bacon for sausage. Took a bit longer than normal but we made it out just in time for Broadway triva.

 

While was somewhat hard and I question one of the answers but......I won! 8 out of 20 which the host thought I said 10 but even at 8 no one else was even close! No ship on a stick however. I got a shiny metal with a 50 anniversary lanyard. Believe it our not, this is my first triva win! 

 

Not a successful at Harry Potter Triva but tremendously easier than past Potter triva on other ships, I will say. I missed a couple of easy ones and ended up with 8 right again but the winner had 17. 

 

Now we are in a bit of a lack of activity time. So we are reading in the lobby for a bit. Bingo sales don't start until 145 and it's 1213 right now. I don't think we are going to make it to the seafood shack or tea time, which is a bummer but oh well. We will see.

 

Boy has it been an interesting afternoon. I should have done this live so ya'll could have hear what happened in real time. 

Bingo card sales started at 1:45, except the venue changed and it was not in the theater but rather in the Eagle lounge aka the comedy club, same for the Q & A and the actual Bingo. Anyone else see a problem with this? I'll wait.....

 

So people were obviously upset and the lines were long. I got in slow line it seems and sent Mom inside to grab a seat. The lines were so long, most people could not tell that you didn't have the stand in line unless you were getting a Bingo card.

 

So I won 2 $25 Bingo packages. In the past have won the same and even the casino credit. In the past I have been able to just combine the 2 $25 packages to get 1 $50 ($48) package. Makes sense right? Not to the guy from the Fun Squad. I did not catch his name but it wasn't the point of him telling me no. That's fine if I can't be done that way anymore, I understand.  It was how he spoke to me. He told me "Stop talking about the Big package because you're not going to get it!" Excuse me! I have worked in Customer Service since I was 13, I currently work Customer Service for one of the world's biggest companies.  I deal with 100 different personalities a day. You do not speak to people that way. If I was wrong, explain why I was wrong. If you didn't understand , get help but do not talk to me like a child.

 

I left with no bingo cards, pissed as h*ll. I decided to report the issue to guest services because he needed to know that won't fly if you are in a customer centric job. I could have let it go but no. I decided to wait however because I was also hangry at this point and wanted my Seafood Shack.

 

Headed to the Lido and the food came out quickly. Pretty decent but still lacking seasoning to my New Orleans taste. Lobster roll and fries. FRIES had a TON of seasoning BTW.

 

We sat in on the Lido for a while reading. Also I was trying to decide how to approach this issue. BTW virtual Queue for guest services does not work. 
 

[starstruck05]

We headed back to the room to get ready for dinner and get in our "costumes". We wore matching Buckee Halloween shirts and crystals and TuTus. Just festive enough because I couldn't decide on an actual costume. 

 

We headed to dinner. Table ready less than 10 minutes.  Same table as yesterday, 133 in the back. Two lovely girls at the window seat was a nice change from yesterday. 

 

Had the Shrimp cocktail, salad and boil strip loin. Pineapple sherbert for dessert.  Sorry, I forgot to get a picture of the Strip steak but it was good. Cooked perfectly.( med rare)  Not the best cut of meat but we'll cooked perfectly for me. Got a side of Mac and cheese from the kids menu as well. Anyone miss the Mac and cheese with bacon? Was that at brunch or dinner? Whenever it was it was good and I miss it! Mom had the Steak and Ale soup, salad and the fried chicken. All good but baked Alaska was 1/3 of Alaska as her ice cream was only chocolate. 

 

After dinner I finally went to guest services.  I stood in line among the confused about on board charges people. ( one lady thought the break down for who gets what from your gratuities meant she was being charged everytime she ate at the Buffet. I wish I was making this up.) I happen to get to speak to the guest service manager who listened and apologized and was throughly shocked. He ended up calling the Entertainment Manger and the cruise director.  Since it was right at another show time, neither could come speak to me directly but they offered their apology and that it will be taken care off. I was offered a refund on my deal or no deal cards. ($50 package) which I wasn't expecting but accepted.

 

I am happy I put in the effort. I sorry, some may say I was wrong or took it too far and you are entitled to your opinion but just note I'm usually one to brush stuff off and not care but bad customer service? Being that rude? No I can't let that go.

 

We ventured to the casino to play a bit and cash out our banks. I ended up playing the $40 sitting in my bank trying to be a big spender. Lol. I did win but played it back. After I calculated,  I didn't even outright spend half the money I brought to gamble. I played back what I won and I'm still going home with money. Win in my book. I probably won't ever be invited on an Elite cruise, but I'm okay with that. Who needs a driver and free liquor in my room and $1000 casino credit? ( Can you tell I'm lying? ) TBH gambling onboard is just a pastime. I much prefer land based loyalty programs and their perks. I was whatever the second to highest level at Hard Rock before the pandemic. I've since of course dropped all the way down. 

 

So after the casino and went back to the room to finish packing. It was almost 10 and bags needed to be out by then. I ,at first, was going to carry everything off but we honestly have no rush to get off the ship. We still ended up with an early tag 14. 

 

We decided to stay in and finish our wine from the steakhouse and watch a movie. (Free Guy) I was feeling very tired and drained. I don't usually do deck parties and we knew we were not going to win the costume contest as some of the costumes around the ship were super elaborate! A lot of Alice in Wonderland,  Sanderson Sisters. The Addams Faimly. Flo from Progressive. I was impressed!

I forgot to mention,  I received my last Casino gift. A beach bag a huge towel. Only a set for me, not for Mom however. 

[luvcruzing]

Thank you for the review.  I enjoyed following along.  

[luv2cruise391]

We will be on the Radiance of the Seas sailing out on Nov. 12. HO or IS the low water level in the MS River affecting the cruise ships? I am from MS and at Vicksburg and Natchez riverboats have been stuck and had to cancel. Hopefully it is better down there!

[ninjacat123]

Thanks for the great review!  I think you did the right thing by speaking to Guest Services about the rude Carnival worker.  Carnival prides itself on the customer service provided by it's employees and needs to know when it is not evident.  

[starstruck05]

11 hours ago, luv2cruise391 said:

We will be on the Radiance of the Seas sailing out on Nov. 12. HO or IS the low water level in the MS River affecting the cruise ships? I am from MS and at Vicksburg and Natchez riverboats have been stuck and had to cancel. Hopefully it is better down there!

At the current moment it is not affecting river traffic. For this part of the river it's not even the lowest its ever been like up north. They are continuing to monitor it but not changes yet.

[starstruck05]

Monday, October 31, 2022 - Time to go home.

 

My morning started early. Lights from the various ships and barges on the river shined bright. We were up and out the room just before 8 am. We headed up to the Lido for a light breakfast. (Had pretty early lunch plans).

 

Still no Guava juice. I'm very sad about this but I ordered some on Amazon so I'll get over it. Lol.

 

They called self assist by muster and zone tags in batches. Muster stations A and B must had had a ton of people getting off because they called them while we were still in the room, long before 8. The C and D and tags 1-10 got called when we made it to the lido.

 

We had Tag 14 and got called in the next group. It was completely unorganized once you stepped out of the elevators on 3 and everyone just shuffled until they got to the lobby and were forced into single lines. Pretty much smooth sailing after that until the elevator line for the garage but still only about 20 minutes wait. We hit the road by about 9:35 am which is almost the exact same time we arrived 4 days ago.

 

So for the tourist and local who have never been, our lunch plans were to go to Don Phoung Restaurant and Bakery. It's way out in New Orleabs East on Chef Hwy but 100% worth the drive. We went in the are because early voting had started and this was the only day we could go do to vacation of course and my work schedule. 

 

Don Phoung is Vietnamese food. Plus the second best French Bread in the city. If you can please stop by. I had the rice noodle bowl with pork and shrimp.

 

All in all we had a great cruise despite the hiccups. I take it in stride. I'm looking forward to my solo cruise on the same ship in January. It will get me through the long retail holiday season!

 

[mouche]

I enjoyed my Getaway Cruise on the Sunshine back in Feb 2020, we had the same perks, priority boarding, drinks on us card and I even won $200 in the fireball raffle. We had a blast; the pics are the gifts that we received during this cruise. 

[starstruck05]

8 minutes ago, mouche said:

I enjoyed my Getaway Cruise on the Sunshine back in Feb 2020, we had the same perks, priority boarding, drinks on us card and I even won $200 in the fireball raffle. We had a blast; the pics are the gifts that we received during this cruise. 

Oooo I like your gifts! Kind of wish we did get the extra bottles of water. Glad someone won the raffle!