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Carnival Valor Christmas Cruise 12/19-26/10

josiemartinez

By josiemartinez,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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josiemartinez

josiemartinez

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I wound up going on this cruise because my great-niece was adamant about NOT going to Las Vegas for her 21st birthday!! This was my 5th Carnival cruise and I thought it would be less stuffy than RC or Celebrity (my other favorite cruise lines). My niece and her best friend – both 3rd year college students – absolutely loved the Carnival Valor – and so did I!

 

I picked the itinerary because there were 4 ports to visit + a couple of sea days to give them the feel of the ship. We flew into Miami into a downpour on 12/18, but it cleared up so we started our holiday by having dinner at the Bayside Marketplace at Bubba Gumps. Sunday we picked up some wine and water and off we went to the cruise terminal. The embarkation was IMO quite horrendous – it took close to 2 hrs to get on board. However, upon reflection, the ship was sold out so there were many families with children, etc. Guess everyone wanted to escape for the holidays. Anyway, once on board ship we headed straight for Rosie’s Restaurant on the Lido deck where the girls were just dumbstruck by the display of food. One thing I like about Rosie’s was the availability of seating. I just did an RC cruise out of Venice and I had to argue with the manager of the buffet area to open up the rest of the seating area almost every time.

 

I really don’t understand the complaints about Carnival’s food: it was well prepared and quite tasty. The food at Rosie’s was fresh and as for the MDR – outstanding! There are plenty of choices so easy to swap the dishes. Had the best crème brulee ever and I love those chilled fruit soups. Our tablemates were wonderful – a mother with 2 young adult daughters and another mother with her 18 y.o. daughter. All the young ladies got along very well and became friends and got together during the cruise.

 

We stopped at Grand Cayman – I loved the stingray swim and turtle farm; then Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. The weather throughout the cruise was beautiful; calm seas and sunny skies. We did 2 ship’s excursions (GC and Cozumel), then just a bit of shopping and looking around in Belize and got a taxi in Roatan for a tour around some of the island. All the people we met were very friendly.

 

A few gripes now: a) since when did Carnival stop serving free drinks at the Captain’s reception and Gala nights? The drinks were discounted by $1.00 but it was a surprise to me. Shook the Captain’s hand by the casino and that was it. No introduction to the ship’s officers either; b) I expected more deck parties and I believe there were only one or two. Our cruise director was “Goose”. The overall entertainment was wonderful. I loved the production shows and comedy shows. How can anybody be bored on the ship? So many things to do – we even went to the high tea on both sea days. Had a fantastic room attendant and our wait staff was terrific – catered all his ladies at his table. We did have some lovely photos taken; yes, the photographers were somewhat aggressive but we just kept on walking on the various ports. Just smile and say no.

 

Because our flight did not leave until 4 PM (AA changed my earlier flight) we did an Everglades excursion. Thus debarkation went very smoothly and we were off the ship and on the bus by ~9:00 am if not earlier. Miami was, however, cold! That northeast storm blew some cold air into Miami. Overall, it was a great cruise and now my niece has developed the cruise-bug! Happy Holidays!

 

Josie

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Simply Paradise

Simply Paradise

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I agree with you, Josie! It was a wonderful cruise and Carnival has really stepped up many things on their cruise. We were a travel group of 9 having 6 adults and 3 children. It couldn't have been a better trip and it took the pain out of what to do for dinner and where to go. As I am the Mother to this group - my only request was "do what you want during the day but you must come to dinner." I wanted to hear about their day. My granddaughters ages 10, 8, and 4 had a blast and they never went to Camp Carnival. They loved swimming, sliding, and dancing, my 2 daughters loved catching up with each other, and my hubby and SIL's loved the bars.

 

Everyone thought the food was outstanding, the waitstaff amazing, and the cabin stewards worth their weight in gold. This was our 6th Carnival and we will be doing another within the next 4 years thanks to the onboard deals.

 

The entertainment was wonderful and the costumes were great! The daily activites were plentiful - as we would highlight what we wanted to do and found we couldn't do everything and some of the things we wanted to do we thought they might repeat but didn't.

 

As far as shore excersions - Snorkeling in Belize, Turtles in GC, Shopping in Cozumel, and relaxing on the Carnival Beach in Routan.

 

Our complaint was: we shouldn't have to purchase tickets to win a cruise, at the past cruisers party we had to beg for the drinks but food was flying all over. I think they could offer better drink specials and the tappers for draft beer never worked. They make a ton of money on draft beer.

 

So if that's my only complaints - I'm doing really good and looking forward to my next cruise.:cool:

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patrice1 Great Review Rare

patrice1

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Starting research for our Valor for 2012.

 

How did you get to Bubba Gumps

 

If you stay at the Holiday Inn Port or the Intercontinental or any other Port of Miami hotel, Bayside is accross the street or a short walk. There are many other good places to eat there.

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josiemartinez

josiemartinez

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Starting research for our Valor for 2012.

 

How did you get to Bubba Gumps

We stayed at the Best Western on the Bay and taxied over to Bubba Gumps. Yes, there are plenty of restaurants at the Marketplace; the girls wanted to eat there - I would have loved to try Bongo's but maybe next time.

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josiemartinez

josiemartinez

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They stopped the free drinks at the captains party over a year ago. Now they serve free drinks at the farewell party.

The only free drinks were served at the past passenger party. I actually didn't have a problem getting a drink; the wait staff just frowned upon getting 2 or 3 at a time. LOL!!! I have to admit I haven't sailed Carnival since February 2008 which is why I didn't realize the free drinks were eliminated. RC and Celebrity still serve them but then again, Carnival is cheaper and for my young ladies, the real "Fun Ship"!

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