Carnival Valor Review 7/18-7/25/15 Eastern Caribbean

July 18, 2015: Embarkation Day

I woke up at 6AM to get ready and make a hearty breakfast of French toast casserole for everyone. We were out the door at 9AM on our way to the port.

We got to the port at about 10AM. We got through security pretty quickly. The only hiccup we had was that my husband’s birth certificate feel out of my hand at some point and we had to wait for someone to find it for us. Luckily, it was found within 15-20 minutes. After that we were able to get checked in pretty quickly and by 10:30 we had started the waiting game until they started boarding at about 11:15 or 11:30.

We had FTTF, so that meant as soon as we boarded we were able to go straight to our room. We dropped all of our carry-on items in the room and then went to have lunch.

My boys and I had pizza while my husband had his first burrito from the burrito bar. The pizza was good and I was looking forward to having more.

After lunch, we went back to the room and our luggage was waiting for us at the door. My husband then took my boys swimming while I unpacked and decorated our door and room. At 3 I went and got them out of the pool so they could change to go to the muster drill at 3:30. We sailed away at a little after 4 and my boys wanted to take a nap so we went back to the room.

At 5:30 or 6 we went back out to the buffet and had hamburgers for dinner. I also got my first drink, the Funship Special.

After we were done with dinner, we went to look at our embarkation photo and purchased it. We then took our boys to the arcade. * Note: the arcade does not take cash it is all put on the Sign and Sail Card account.* My husband won my oldest son a bad minion stuffed animal out of the claw machine.

As we were walking back to our room, my boys saw a set up to take pictures as a pirate and just had to take some pictures. The boys were tired at this point so we went back to the room and got ready for bed. Unfortunately, Suanda our stateroom steward hadn’t gotten to turn down our room yet so we just did it ourselves that first night.

Looks like your stateroom is nice and spacious! Love those floor to ceiling windows

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Signing on to read the rest of your review. Sailing Valor in October. Like your cabin!

Looks like your stateroom is nice and spacious! Love those floor to ceiling windows

 

 

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It was great! We had room # 9200 which is 1 of 2 Grand Scenic Oceanview rooms. It is over 300 sq foot. So it is the size of a suite without the suite price and no tub. I am going to miss that room.

Looking forward to seeing more. I'll be on the Valor for my first time next May :D

Following, sail her in September!

I am looking forward to reading your review. We will be in that cabin in Sept. Do you know how big the bed was when the couch was folded out? I have heard anywhere from a double to a king. We have 2 couples in the cabin and I am hoping it will be comfortable for them.

We head out on Saturday on the Valor - can't wait to hear more!

I'm looking at this cruise for next year, but am worrying we may miss the alchemy bar.

My daughter and I cruise the valor in October... Then our family of 4 cruise the sunshine in June. We will have the grand scenic ocean view for the June cruise.So excited. Looking forward to the rest of your review

We had prepaid for a private island beach day excursion with me swimming with the dolphins. We met the tour guide on the pier at 8:45AM and then walked a little ways to get on a boat that took us to Balmoral Island. We arrived on the island at about 10AM and I had to go sign a waiver since I was doing the dolphin swim. The dolphin swim didn’t start until 11AM, so I went and stayed with my boys and husband on the beach for a little while. The beach had a ton of chairs and was clean.

My husband took my underwater camera and was able to get a couple pictures of some little fish that were in the water by some rock jetties in the water.

At 11 I went to the orientation area for the dolphin swim. The first thing they have you do is get a life jacket and then they go over some safety info for both us and the dolphins. We then went out to the water and did the encounter portion of the excursion.

At first our group had Phoebe, which was the oldest dolphin on the island at 12 years old, but she eventually got overwhelmed and wanted a break so they brought over Marge. She was great. We were able to pet her on both her back and belly. They then take you individually to have pictures taken with the dolphin. They start with kisses on the cheek, then the mouth. After that you rub her on the back, stomach, and hold her out of the water. They then let you feed her a fish as a reward for a job well done. I had a blast and would definitely do the excursion again. After all of the pictures, we went into the open swim area. They had 3 dolphins in this area and we were able to rub them down as they swam around us and then we played fetch by throwing a diving ring into the water. We stayed in this area until noon and then they took us back to the orientation room where we were able to look at and purchase the pictures that were taken. I bought the CD for $75 since they had taken 45 pictures of just me and I couldn’t choose which I liked better and I thought it was the best deal for my money.

After purchasing the pictures, I met back up with my family and then it was time to board the boat to head back to the ship. They dropped us off at the market area and we walked back to the ship. This was a plus for my husband because he wanted to buy some cans of soda to take back to the ship to have in the room. Once on board we went and changed our clothes to go get lunch. This is where I had my first alcoholic drink of the day which was a Blue Margarita and it was delicious.

After lunch, we took the kids to Camp Carnival and went and had some time in the casino before it was time to go get ready for elegant night in the dining room. We first went and got our family photos done. We had anytime dining so we went down to deck 3 to the Lincoln dining room. We got there just as they were starting the wait staff entertainment for the night.

I had the spaghetti dish that had bacon (can’t remember name) as a starter then the flat iron steak with a baked potato as my main course. My husband had 2 alligator fritters, a lobster tail, and 2 steaks. Both of our boys had cheese pizza from the kids menu which came with French fries. We did not stay for desert b/c my kids were getting restless and we wanted to take them back to the camp.

This was the night of the “Owl Jams” party and we let our kids stay for it so we could enjoy the comedy shows. We went to both Johnny Millwater’s and Dan Chopin’s shows. They were both hilarious in different ways and had both my husband and myself in stitches. In between the shows we spent an hour in the casino where I had my 2nd drink of the night, the Miami Vice. This became my favorite drink of the cruise, if you haven’t had one I definitely recommend it.

After Dan Chopin’s show it was midnight and time to get the kids and go to bed. The kids received a gift bag with an owl piggy bank, a slap bracelet, a key chain whistle, and a rubber bracelet plus they made beaded bracelets on their own.

Me holding Marge:

My Miami Vice:

My Husband & I Elegant Night:

My boys elegant night:

Our Whole Family Elegant Night:

Since we had a late night the night before, we slept in a little bit and got up around 8:30. We then went to the buffet to have breakfast. My husband and I wanted to play bingo but after dropping the kids off at camp we were too late. We then went up to the casino b/c we were supposed to meet up with our facebook group for a slot pull but no one showed up for it. We then went to the shopping talk and that took until 1pm.

We then went and got our boys for lunch. They were in crappy moods, so we took our food back to our room. During lunch I had a Kiss on the Lips drink which was good but not as good as the Miami Vice in my opinion.

After lunch, the boys took a nap and I went to a talk about Diamonds and other gemstones. That was interesting to think about all the different things that go into picking a diamond. I also learned some interesting facts about my birthstone that I didn’t know before.

After that talk, I met back up with my husband since he had taken the kids back to camp carnival and we went and bought our elegant night pictures. It was then time for dinner. Tonight I had the fruit platter, fresh chopped greens with Ranch dressing, a flat iron steak with baked potato, a banana split, and a hot chocolate. My husband had the black bean soup, 2 flat iron steaks, lemon cake, sugar free ice cream, and 2 cups of coffee.

We then went back to the room to relax for a while before getting the kids to watch a movie under the stars. Tonight’s movie was the “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” We tried to watch it but the boys got too cold even with a blanket, so we left my husband and came back to the room for bed. We watched “Rio” from the comfort of our stateroom. In all the day was relaxing day. We had some ups and downs but it was still a good day.

rmh661983, loving your review! I'm sailing valor in 51 days, so I'm particularly interested in ship info and pics! Your boys are precious, love their little vests for formal night! For some reason on the first review you posted today I'm getting an image of a cat with "photo not found click for photos" but nothing happens after I click- what's weird is on your second post (starting w your dolphin pic- so cute!) I can see all the pics?! Not sure who's end its on just throwing it out there to see if anyone else is getting this, because I adore your pictures!!

Thanks so much and looking forward to more!

After Dan Chopin’s show it was midnight and time to get the kids and go to bed. The kids received a gift bag with an owl piggy bank, a slap bracelet, a key chain whistle, and a rubber bracelet plus they made beaded bracelets on their own.

They're not giving out the blue plush owl any more for the party? My son is not going to be happy about that :eek:

It is good to hear that the Night Owl party matched up with 2 late night comedies, though.

Any chance you can post the Fun Times?

Hey guys! I am so sorry about the pictures I rearranged my photobucket account to make it easier to find the pictures and I didn't realize it would mess up what I had already uploaded. Does anyone know how to edit a post already posted? If I can't figure it out I will repost the pictures later.

We didn’t arrive into port until 11AM, so we got up late and had a late breakfast.

We had an excursion to go to Coral World for their Nautilus Semisub tour. We took a van to Coral World where we met up with the tour guide, Austin. He then took us to meet up with the Nautilus ship. Our captain was Chris, the diver was Jacob, and Marina was the first mate of sorts. They did a good job.

The only thing that is a little crappy is Coral World just isn’t what they make it seem to be. They are in the process of updating and adding some new areas but I don’t think I will go back.

After leaving Coral World, the van dropped us off at the shops in front of the port and we walked back to the ship after getting some more soda for my husband.

We then went to have a late lunch or early dinner whichever way you look at it.

After eating we took the kids to Camp Carnival and I went to take a nap until 7pm. When I got up we went to play Bingo.

It was fun but we didn’t win anything. After Bingo I went and bought a magnet of the ship and we also bought some rum to take home. It was then time to get the boys from Camp. My husband and my oldest went to get some food while my youngest went to bed. I watched some TV and relaxed for the rest of the night.

We decided to have breakfast in the dining room and had German as our waiter. He was hilarious and kept my kids entertained. After breakfast, we dropped the kids off with Camp Carnival and then headed off the ship.

We walked around the shopping area and got the free things from our coupon book. After that we decided to walk to the Del Morro fort. The walk wouldn’t have been so bad but it was all uphill and it was extremely hot!

It was very interesting to read about the history of Puerto Rico and to see the amazing views. When we were done we went to wait for the trolley but it never came after about 10 minutes, so we decided to walk back to the ship. The only good thing about walking back is that we found a shoe store that was having a liquidation sale and I got me a new pair of shoes. We then went to have lunch and I had a burrito from the burrito bar. They are awesome and I wish I had been getting them all week.

At 5 we got a call to go get the kids for an hour which we didn’t know about them closing during that time. My boys were in different groups since my youngest is 3 and my oldest is 6. The lady who was with the 6-8 year olds was really rude to me b/c I was 5 minutes late getting my oldest after getting my youngest from the other side. We dropped them off with Camp Carnival at 6 for dinner and then we went to have dinner for the 2nd elegant night. We spent the rest of the night relaxing and watching TV. We picked the kids up at 8:30 for our oldest (he wanted to leave) and 9:45 for our youngest. Our youngest was mad and didn’t want to leave Camp Carnival. It was then time for bed.

Our whole family slept in until 10AM. We then had a late breakfast before taking the kids to Camp Carnival for a couple hours. We arrived at Grand Turk at noon and we pulled in alongside the Carnival Victory.

My husband and I went out to the island and went to the shops to get the free things from the coupon book. After that we went and got the kids and had lunch before going to the beach.

Wow it was very rocky and the waves were rough on the right side of the dock. We only stayed on the beach for an hour before we went back to the ship.

We all took showers and then took the kids back to Camp Carnival for the night.

My husband and I went to the casino for a little while until it was time for our reservations at the steakhouse. I got my Whale Tail cup with a Miami Vice inside.

We were told it was cruise casual dress code, so my husband wore a nice shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. The lady almost didn’t let us into the restaurant instead they put us in the back corner and told my husband to not stand up while in the restaurant. We felt like the red headed stepchildren that had been disowned. The steak was great but next time I will save $15 and just order it from the dining room. I had the heart of iceberg lettuce salad, 14oz steak, and the caramelized Washington apples. My husband had the French onion soup, 18oz ribeye steak, and the cheesecake. Sorry none of my pictures from the steakhouse came out b/c of how dark it was.

After we were done with dinner, it was time to get the kids from Camp Carnival and head to bed since we had an early reservation for the Dr. Seuss breakfast the next morning.

We woke up early b/c we had reservations for the Dr. Seuss breakfast at 8:30AM. The atmosphere was awesome and the kids had a great time but the food was too sweet for that early in the morning. My oldest son had the Truffula pancakes, my youngest and I had the waffles, and my husband had an omelet. They had Thing 1&2, Cat in the Hat, and Sam I Am as characters to come around and get photos with. The waiters also sang and danced to a special Dr. Seuss song.

At 10:30 we dropped our oldest off at Camp Carnival, but our youngest refused to stay so he ended up taking a nap while I started packing our room. I took down all of our decorations at that time and confused my husband when he went to come back to the room that afternoon. My husband went to the casino to play in a slot machine tournament.

At 2 we got our oldest and went to have lunch for the last time. After lunch, we went back to the room to relax and watch TV until it was time to drop our kids off for dinner at 6. My youngest once again refused to stay with Camp Carnival and wanted to eat with us. Unfortunately this was the slowest night for dinner service, so we ended up skipping desert again. We picked our oldest up from Camp at 8:30 and we all called it an early night.