Non Standard Photo Review of Carnival Valor, Dec 18-24

[Smitty74]

Hello all, After much delay, Im finally getting around to my photo review of our pre-Christmas cruise on the Carnival Valor December 18-24th. Having read and enjoyed several other Valor reviews on this message board, I can assure you that this will not be your standard review. I purposely took alot of pictures of things that I havent seen in other reviews, and avoided a few of the most common pictures from those reviews (for example, everybody shows pictures of the atrium elevators). I also have some interesting video clips (If I can figure out how to post them here).

 

So... Lets get started with Day one

 

I have one regret in this entire experience, and that is our travel arrangements from North Carolina to Miami. Lets knock this out first, and then we can get to all the happy stuff.

 

Being new to the whole cruising experience, we opted to allow Carnival to book all our travel. The good side of that decision is that Carnival accepts all responsibility for your travel, and any delays that happen. The bad thing is that they have complete control over all your flights. We have 5 people booked for this cruise, My wife, daughter, and myself in one cabin, and then My Mother and Step Father in another cabin. Even though we booked the cruise together, Carnival decided to book our two cabins on different flights. My mother is not exactly a world traveler, and this was definitely stressful for everybody.

 

Even more stressful was the fact that the travel arrangements had us arriving at the ship very late in the day. Officially boarding was between 11:30am and 2:30pm with a 4pm sail away time. My plane in Ft Lauderdale didnt arrive until 1:30, and by the time we got transferred to the ship, it was 3pm. My Mothers flight into Miami didnt land until 2:15, and she didnt make it to the ship till about 3:30pm. this was very stressful for all of us. Getting to the ship last second, and then trying to make your way through the mass of humanity on the lido deck was not any fun. Especially since we had been up since 2:30am in order to make all our flights on time.

 

If I had to do it all over again, I would recommend booking my own flights, arriving the night before, getting a decent hotel, and getting on the ship as soon as possible the next morning.

 

I digress...... onto some photos.......

 

Hurry up and wait at the airport. Thank goodness for my Ipad.

 

 

First sight of the ship

 

Atleast their were no crowds at the kiosks

 

Port of Miami

 

 

To be continued

[Smitty74]

More photos of Day one

 

Come on Daddy, we are getting on the ship!!

 

 

 

Not sure if videos will work, but lets try it.

 

Muster Drill

 

[sayvan]

looking forward to the rest... will be on the Valor in about 42 days...

[freddymale]

great start looking forward to reading and seeing more pictures

[terri1020]

What a fun review! Sailing on Pride 2/5 and can't get enough reviews. Refreshing take on a review! Muster drill looks very crowded!

[IGottaP]

Nice start I look forward to ready the rest of your review

[noah53]

Few years ago our neighbours also allowed Carnival to book their flights from Toronto, they ended up arriving in Fort Lauderdale around 6pm, after the boat had departed and it was 4 days later when they finally got onboard in Panama. From then on they have always booked flights for day before cruise.

[Smitty74]

Day one continued....

 

 

Seeing that we had been up since 2:30am. Everyone in our party was pretty pooped. We all congregated on my balcony to watch us sail out of Miami. I recommend you not miss that if you can because its really a pretty sight.

 

Next we went to the Camp Carnival orientation in the theater. if you have kids of any age with you, make sure you dont skip it. There was alot of good information there, and you get to do all the paperwork to sign your kids up at that time. Its a must do event.

 

finally, We went to dinner in the MDR, and met our wait staff. Jair and Jocko were both incredibly nice. they earned their tips for sure..... More about them and the restaurant later.

 

After dinner, my group being extremely tired all went to bed. Even my 5 year old didnt complain about going to bed. The next day is Key west and we wanted to be ready.....

 

Picture time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Delta Dear]

Love it so far, Smitty74. This time NEXT Sunday, we'll be boarding the Valor. I can't wait.

[mustardgirl]

Thanks for the photo review!! We'll be on the valor in april and I can't see enough photos!!:D

[NHNEV2003]

Thanks for the pics-- we sailed the Valor a couple of weeks prior to you and we love to hear other people's views and see their pics.

 

We had a great time and would definitely sail on that ship again.

[Summertime123]

Thank you for the review. Enjoying it so far. We sail on Valor in 34 days.

[smrn]

Thanks so much for your review...I'm 40 days out! I wasn't able to view your video.... :(

Keep the review coming!

[zibbster]

Great review so far, can't wait for the rest. 3 weeks till my turn to sail away on the Valor!!

[gapearl]

The Valor was my last cruise and I loved it! Looking forward to more.

[Smitty74]

Day 2. Key West.

 

After getting to bed pretty early the night before, as is my tradition, I woke up REALLY early and decided to talk a walk around the ship. Its much quieter at 5am. the hallways are empty, and the lido deck is almost deserted as well. I took the opportunity to take a few pictures during my walk

 

 

All quiet in the hallways

 

5:30am on the Lido deck

 

The entrance to the "secret deck" on deck 7 forward (Also on Deck 6).

 

 

The infamous "Secret deck" is right below the bridge on the front of the ship, when I went out there, it was pitch dark, and a little unnerving to walk around. If you go at night, be ready for it, because its very hard to see. Here are a few more pictures of the secret deck during the daytime.

 

 

 

Looking up at bridge from secret deck

 

The secret deck was empty every time I went to it. It was a great place to watch the ship pull into and out of a port.

 

To be continued. (darn that 6 pictures per post limit).

[Smitty74]

Day 2 continued. Key West

 

I chose to eat at the buffet this morning. the platters were very large and I had no problems taking it down to my room. My wife had pre-ordered room service the night before, so I didnt take her or my daughter anything. Their food ended up being very late (50 minutes) so they ended eating most of my breakfast. Luckily the Buffet is free and you can go back as often as you like. We found out later that the ship had 3 times the normal number of room service requests on the first morning. I guess everybody was trying it out, and it gummed up the system. We never had that problem again, and room service was always timely after that.

 

Here are some pictures of the Lido deck buffet

 

 

 

 

Mmmm, fish and chips......

 

 

 

The "orange passion fruit guava cocktail" was a particular favorite of everybody in our group. After trying it, its the only breakfast drink we wanted. with possibly the occasional exception of......

 

 

Thats right, they had a hot chocolate machine in the buffet. I recommend you try it if your into that sort of thing.

 

To be continued. (I promise I will get to the key west pictures next...)

[smrn]

Which floor is the secret door on? I love your pictures!

[IGottaP]

pictures are great .....

[Aviendah]

 

 

Thats right, they had a hot chocolate machine in the buffet. I recommend you try it if your into that sort of thing.

 

 

We Loved the hot chocolate machine! I saw them filling it with Nestle brand hot chocolate. My boys have now banned Swiss Miss from the house...

[gogetter]

I can assure you that this will not be your standard review.

 

Getting to the ship last second, and then trying to make your way through the mass of humanity on the lido deck was not any fun. Hurry up and wait at the airport. Thank goodness for my Ipad.

 

 

Well pretty standard so far....lol...

 

Also, You want to talk about a mass of humanity on the Lido deck, you should see it before the cabins are ready....a mass of humanity AND THEIR CARRYONS....Now that is a mass.....

 

Thanks for the picutres.....

[MISSSNOOPYGIRL]

I am loving you for this wonderful review so far! I sailed her once and am about to do it again- great memories!!!

[smrn]

Waiting for more! :D

[KrystalWaters]

oh what happened?? Please continue :D

[Payd]

Looking forward to the rest of your review!