just back -Carnival Valor East Carib. - long

[bjcruising]

We had a terrific cruise! They treated us like royalty. We were a group of 12 family members, my DH and I are in our 40’s and DS is 10. Our group also included our married DD and her hubby, as well as my mother, sister and her grown two kids, spouse and grandkids. Ages ranging from 5 to 75. We’ve all sailed Carnival before and my DH and I have also cruised once on RCCL.

We had pre arranged a shuttle through Miami411.com and they sent Tran Floridian Shuttle service. We cannot say enough about Vince and his great service. He picked us up at Ft Lauderdale airport and delivered us to the hotel. He was there exclusively for us so we didn’t have to wait to fill the shuttle or make other stops. We would highly recommend them.

We arrived on Saturday and stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. The hotel was great for a pre cruise stay. It was very clean and nicely decorated. The staff was very friendly. They had a good breakfast buffet and our son’s was free. It is just across the street from Bayside Marketplace and only 5 minutes from the Port. After we settled into our rooms, we walked across the street to eat at Bubba Gump’s. A very fun place and they have a little gift shop too. We walked around the Marketplace and there were lots of shops and bars and cafes. On to bed for the big day ahead!

Vince of Tran Floridian Shuttle picked us up in the pouring rain and delivered us right to the Valor terminal door. The Ship’s porters took our luggage and thankfully the bins were under cover so it didn’t get soaked. There had been a power outage on the returning ship so they did not disembark as soon as they usually did. This caused us to wait quite awhile in an inside area. Once they allowed us on, it went very quickly. We were eating lunch before one o’clock on the Lido deck. We were able to go to our cabins at 1:30.

FOOD: The food on the Lido deck was good. I preferred the Grill, the Oriental, Fish and Chips and the Pizza station to the buffet. The Reuben from the Grill is SO good. My DH and DD ate sushi almost every day. Room service is a lot of fun too. We liked to have a light breakfast on our balcony every morning. There was afternoon tea on sea days and we really enjoyed this. More opportunities to sample special snacks and desserts. We went to 6:15 dinner in the Lincoln Dining room. Murat from Turkey and Ida from Indonesia were our servers and were really good. They, as well as the bar girl Elizabeth took our drink orders the first night and remembered what we wanted at future meals. We thought this was a nice touch. We were well taken care of! The only criticism of the dining room was the steaks were not very tender at any of the meals. I prefer chicken and it was always prepared well. The soups were great. The Chocolate Melting cake was fantastic. Believe it when people say this! The dining room is also very good for breakfast and lunch. They take such good care of you!

CABINS:We met our room steward Richard and he was terrific all week. Most of us were in balcony cabins on the Empress deck and our daughter was up on Panorama #1055. She also had a great steward. The cabins have lots of storage and the balcony is so nice. The towel animals, chocolates on the pillow and robes are great too. He kept our cabins spotless.

CAMP CARNIVAL: Our group had 3 kids, ages 5, 10 and 14. None of them were interested in going to Camp Carnival at the beginning. Each of them WANTED to go back after they had been there one time. They had tons of activities. The two older ones were able to check themselves in and out and they looked at the daily activities sheet frequently. All of the staff was very friendly. They had a build a bear workshop that was a hit with our group!

ENTERTAINMENT: We really enjoyed the different shows. They had dance and music shows, comedians and a ventriloquist. We went most every night. My DH and I went once to the Midnight comedian but even though it had funny parts, it was too raunchy for me. Nasty language. We didn’t go the last night to the Legends show but had watched the auditions in the Eagles lounge. It would have been a great show! Chris Jefferson was a great cruise director. He was very personable. We saw the Captain several times too. I guess he did a good job because we were safe the whole way!

There was lots of nightlife. My niece and friends she had met went to watch Mark in the piano bar most nights. It was funny that my mom was “Grandma” to them all and would get special attention when she joined them. A highlight for her! We liked the karaoke in the Eagles lounge.

During the day, the staff played a lot of fun trivia type games on the 3rd floor in the American Bar. You could watch from the higher decks too and that made it fun. There were games outside on the Lido deck and activities in the Ivanhoe theatre too. We watched the Fear Factor and the Hairy Chest contests on the Lido Deck. They were hilarious. My son loved the big slide and the arcade. There were really nice items in the gift shops as well as neat Carnival shirts and souvenirs.

Ports:

Nassau: We just walked around and went to a near by beach. There are a lot of shops and the straw market within easy walking distance. At the beach, a local man cracked open a coconut for our 10 year old and shared the coconut meat. Priceless!

The straw market is big but if you’ve been down a couple of aisles, you‘ve seen it all. Take lots of small bills, they never have change for a $10 or $20. I was glad to buy a local made craft. Some of our group took the dolphin swim excursion, and others the stingray experience, both Carnival sponsored and really liked them. Because the ship left at 2 p m., it was the best decision. Two people got left at Bahamas. We left at 2:20 and they were supposed to be back by 1:30. Their names were called several times so it definitely wasn’t Carnival’s fault.

St. Thomas: We walked a block or so to the iron gate and got a cab for $4.00 each after we were offered a $10.00 pp cab just past the ship. We took the ferry at Charlotte Amalie to St. John. It costs $10.00.and the taxi to Trunk Bay Beach was $6.00 pp. Be sure to ask for a children’s discount on the ferry if you have a child. Trunk Bay beach was breathtaking – so calm and clear. The white sand was like powder under your feet. We snorkeled but didn’t see much. We didn’t go on the snorkeling trail due to time constraints. There was a snack shop at the beach that sold hot dogs and hamburgers We took the ferry back to Red Fork for $5.00 and then an $8.00 cab ride to the ship. We got back around 4 so there was time to clean up and do some shopping. We really enjoyed this outing! My mom and sister stayed in St. Thomas and shopped and enjoyed that too.

St. Maarten: Our favorite port! Our little family of 5 took a cab to Maho Beach because we like airplanes and wanted to see them fly over the beach. The beach was fabulous – clean and clear and nice soft white sand. It was so cool to see the airplanes. It was just like photos we have seen. On this day, the Valor was the only ship in port and we all felt like we were most welcome in this port. There was a little beach hut café/bar with picnic tables with palm tree umbrellas on the beach. If you bought something, you could use their beach loungers free. So that is where we hung out for about three hours. We felt like we were in a Corona commercial! Paradise! We made it back to the ship in time to do a little shopping around the port dock and in downtown Phillipsburg. The rest of our group shopped and were really pleased with the friendliness of the people of the island. We would like to come back. The island just seemed cleaner than St. Thomas. We didn’t make it to the French side. There were not many other cruise ships in the ports so we had lots of space at the beaches.

Scarletts Supper Club: This was a terrific experience. They have about five choice cuts of steak on the menu and were the most tender of the whole trip. The chef and staff pay a lot of attention to detail and presentation and it was a neat experience for all of us. I thought the musicians were the best. But no Chocolate melting cake on the menu and this was our last night- Boo hoo.

Speaking of: Chocolate Melting Cake. It was S O good. Believe it when people say it! Our waiter always gave us 2 scoops of ice cream because it is too rich with only one. Lol

One last thing: We donated and participated in an On Deck for the Cure- a walk to raise money for the fight against Breast Cancer. I thought it was great that we could give back while still having fun. My mom is a cancer survivor so it meant a lot to me.

We left our luggage out the night before and disembarked and Vince of Trans Floridian was waiting for us. We were back at Ft. Lauderdale airport by noon for the various flights. Even though there is always a long line, we thought it went pretty smoothly.

We will definitely be cruising again. It is a great way to spend a vacation! And the Valor is a beautiful ship!

[pacerzfan]

Thanks for the review and info!

[Hawaii697]

Thanks for your review. Glad to see you had a good time. I can't wait to sail her in July. One question . . . do you recall if they played the Amazing Race on board? Thanks.

[flajam4]

Thanks for the review... The family & I are leaving 7/1 on the Valor...

We are so looking forward to this trip!

Again thanks for the review!

[wwakla]

Thanks for the great review! I can't wait to go either but it is a long way off...:(

 

We are traveling with 10 of us. Could you give me more info about Vince? What was the cost? We are flying into Miami the day prior and I liked the idea that he came back and brought you to the ship.

[bjcruising]

I don't remember the Amazing Race game. That would have been fun!

 

I hope you all have great trips like we did.

Kris, email me at barbarashirey@earthlink.net and I'll give you more details about the shuttle.

[Karysa]

Thanks for the review. It sounds like your whole group had a great time and that is not always the case. I have never cruised with anyone other than my own little family, maybe someday.

[SheilaInAL]

Thanks for the great review and bringing back memories of my Valor cruise back in April! :D

[ICF]

Thanks for your review. Glad to see you had a good time. I can't wait to sail her in July. One question . . . do you recall if they played the Amazing Race on board? Thanks.

 

I was on the ship earlier this month, and don't recall that game ever being played.

[TeeBuccs]

I was on the ship earlier this month, and don't recall that game ever being played.

 

 

Same here, I do not recall this...and I sailed on Valor April 29th.

[bjcruising]

Thanks for your kind remarks!

We would never have had the great times in port and on the ship if it weren't for fellow CC reviews and boards. I felt so comfortable with our decisions because of all the input. This site is addicting but so informative !! Now we are trying to figure out how we can sail again SOON!:)

[Chigirlcruzin]

Woo Hoo! Can't wait until October for my turn on Valor! I wonder if the ship got a new hotel director, CD, or something. The reviews have always been good for this ship, but the reviews of late have been raving, glowing reviews! Glad you had a great cruise!