marseelee

My sister and I are going on the Imagination March 8. Our flight lands at LAX at 7:45am.
 

What time does this ship/port usually start letting people on board? We do have FTTF but in our experience other ports won’t let you board until about noon. 

If everything goes according to schedule and we can’t board until 12, any suggestions on what to do in Long Beach before we board? Thanks!

Had a spa Balcony for the first time on my last cruise (Dream) and it was amazing! No kids in sight and easy access to the lido and the serenity deck!! Not to mention free access to the spa amenities. I will book spa balconies any chance I get now! Highly recommend! 

I’ve only ever cruised out of Galveston but this March I’m cruising out of Long Beach on the Carnival Imagination. I’m landing at LAX at 7am. How is the traffic to/from the port? Any tips I should be aware of? Would love to hear differences between the Galveston port and Long Beach. Thanks in advance! 

To all the people assuming things about my post. Here you go:

All of you have this misconstrued view of how that conversation went and would love to paint me as the devil but its not the case. Here is how it went: “do you receive the tips we pay to Carnival?” The answer was no. 

I never asked how much they make. I asked about TIPS. 

49 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

So you're insinuating that Carnival is stealing the gratuities and tips from the crew and not giving them anything but their base salary and board based on what a stateroom steward told you? And that Carnival is keeping the automatic gratuity amounts for themselves?

 

Very strong accusations there as Heald stated many times that is untrue. How do you know he just wasn't fishing for a higher tip from you?

Of course he would say its untrue! Lol! 

I addressed your other concerns in my original post. If you want to believe a corporation thats on you. I’ll continue making sure my stewards and waitstaff get the tips they deserve. 

5 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

Who did you ask?

An awesome room steward I had a few years ago. He told us if you tip at the bar, the bartenders get the tips but the room stewards and wait staff do not get the electronic tips. We asked our steward because we had a relative that told us about this and we didn’t believe him. 

1 minute ago, xDisconnections said:

Why are employees throughout this organization always openly discussing their wages? And why are passengers trying to pry this information from them on a regular basis? This information should stay between the employee and their employer. 

Oh, I’m sorry for actually caring about their tips! 

I asked about tips because I was worried they weren’t getting the money they deserve. 

It’s our business if Carnival is labeling OUR money as gratuities when in reality it’s not. 

This should be your concern as well if it involves your money. 

I’ve had two different Carnival employees tell me that Carnival gives them a set wage and doesn’t include additional tips. AKA they don’t receive anything extra. Yes they could’ve been lying to get cash; however I would never take this chance. I ALWAYS tip in cash for this reason. I tip more than the recommended amount so its not about being a cheap skate. People don’t believe tips aren’t given to employees because they don’t WANT to believe Carnival is screwing over these employees (even though we already know they get paid trash in the first place). 

The social plan is great for messaging but video calling didn’t work for me. There is a restaurant in Cozumel called Panchos next to all of the port shops that has GREAT wifi. I was able to video chat there.

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There is more decks that go all the way through then dont.....

Thank you for your contribution [emoji849]

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We were on the Valor in April for that same itinerary and had a wonderful time as well! I could have written the exact same review you did, marseelee! We loved Brandon as the CD-- the decade trivia nights were a blast! We also had trouble navigating our way from the back of the ship (Deck 1) to dinner on Deck 5-- up and down the stairs a few times to get to the right pass-through. By the final night, we were pro's but sadly had to leave right when we got good at it. Ha! Glad you had a fun cruise!

Lol wow that is crazy!! The Valor really is a good ship

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Thx for the review! Did you eat in the steakhouse? I’m wondering if it is serving the old or new menu.

I did not eat at the steakhouse! Sorry!

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Hi! We leave on the 7th od June on the Valor. Do you have a copy of the FunTimes itinerary so I could possible get an idea of what to expect. Any other tips??

I personally don’t have a copy of the fun times but definitely search the forums because I found a post with the Valor funtimes before I sailed & they were all accurate.

When you get on the ship go to guest services to get a map of the ship! It shows you which decks have thru access and which don’t. That was very helpful! Second, I would say to leave extra early the morning of embarkation. We were late to our check-in time because of all the traffic. There were 2 boats docking at the same time so that’s why.

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Hello all! I just came back from a 5 day cruise on the Carnival Valor. Overall, it was an amazing cruise! The crew were top notch - every crew member I interacted with was incredibly helpful and went above and beyond for us. Our steward was great and our dining staff even better. I had Your Time Dining but we requested the same wait staff for the rest of the week and I'm glad we did.

We had cabin 6363, a balcony. This cabin was right above the casino so we heard the music bumping until around 12am which didn't bother us. The ship decor was nice but it was very confusing to navigate. Most of the decks don't go all the way through so we had to go up and down floors trying to find our way to different places. I know most people are probably used to this but my first cruise was on the Magic and I think that ship is a little easier to navigate.

This cruise director, Brandon was SO FUN. He is hilarious and he made every event he led so much fun. My favorites were the 70s, 80s, and 90s, music trivia dance parties each night. Brandon dressed up for that particular decade and led the crowd sing along. He even crowd surfed on 80s night. All of the events were awesome, some highlights being the Love & Marriage show and the Q & Awesome with Brandon.

Well, those are the highlights! Feel free to ask me anything you want about the Valor. It was a great cruise.

Hello all!

I know there have been several posts about Spa port day specials but I wanted more specific info. I'm sailing on the Valor in May. Does anyone know what the special is? 3 treatments or 5 treatments for $99? I have seen several variations of this and I'm not sure which is correct. Also, what type of treatments are offered? Mani, pedi, etc? Any info is greatly appreciated! :)

When will these changes take effect? Immediately?

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Me and my friends are doing “Flavors of Mexico: Chocolate, Tequila, and Tacos!” Its at the Discover Mexico Park. It sounded super fun to us cause you get to make your own chocolate bar and taste different types of tequila! You must book through Shore Excursions Group if you’re interested. It’s not through Carnival which might worry some but they have very good reviews!

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About Gratuities. I’ve talked to a steward in the past and he told me they don’t really receive gratuities unless someone pays cash. Just going by what he said since I know some people will be triggered by that. Since then, I always plan on paying tips with cash directly to the steward and waitstaff. If you want to do that, all you have to do is talk to guest services when you get on board and tell them that you want to pay gratuity using cash and they will take off the automatic tip charged to your card. Have a great trip!

Hello everyone! Has anyone booked an excursion through the app ShipMate? They have an excursion I would like to do in Cozumel but I’ve never met anyone who has used Shipmate so I’m not sure how trustworthy/reliable they are.