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Review - Valor - S. Caribbean - May 5 - May 12, 2013 (not quite 100% but close)

Retiringworkingstiff

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Retiringworkingstiff

Retiringworkingstiff

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Hi everyone, hope all is well ...

 

I was the one who started the thread "2 days prior to sailing ... still waitlisted for dining arrangement" and for the couple of individuals who so kindly responded, a big THANK YOU. Ended up my worries wasn't justified, me and my better half were assigned a table for 2 in a superb location, on the 2nd level of the Washington Dining Room overlooking the diners at the main level (a very entertaining people watching exercise).

 

As a newbie here and I do feel I should (and like to) make an effort to contribute to the forum. I will post a review and maybe upload some pictures, albeit it might take a bit of time i.e. now back at my sweat shop and there are, like it or not, on-going work to be done.

 

There were so many positives to mention so for those interested, kindly be patient.

 

Yes, there were a couple of (minor) negatives, certainly not deal breakers. It's all relative to what one expects from a particular cruise line, Carnival has its own distinct business model.

 

We certainly got a real good bang of our buck!

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Retiringworkingstiff

Retiringworkingstiff

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Hi all, OP for message #1, I am back ... not sure how to continue with my original post, how to upload pictures etc. I am sure I can find the answer within the FAQs somewhere but if some kind and experienced posters can give me some pointers, that will be great. I am just using the "Quick Reply" route now, hoping the message get posted and tagged on with the original thread.

 

First of all ... warning ... I am Chinese by decent, borne with a light natural tan. Even though I have been in Canada for almost 41 years and I do considered myself dearly as an up and up Canadian, I don't considered my English capability as fluent as most of the posters here possess. What takes me 10 minutes to draft in 100 words, our 19 year old, borne in Canada, will probably accomplish the same in less than 10 words, 1 minute max. So just bear with me, I have a bad habit of making a short story long!

 

Brief profile: 58 yrs. old, CA by trade (CPA equivalent in the US of A), have my own small CA firm, good loyal staff, not a party animal. Clients' well being paramount meaning I do not have the luxury to plan too far ahead for a vacation. Middle class, comfortable. My better half? A lot younger than me (so I keep telling her although she is only 1 year younger). She hates numbers, anything to do with planning ahead (for just about anything). Maybe that's why we get along, she has her own specialty (nursing), we don't step on each other toes mentally, so to speak.

 

We are not seasoned cruisers by any stretch of imagination: 1991 (delayed honeymoon due to workload), Carnival Fantasy 3 nights; 1996 Carnival Imagination 4 mights I believe, with our young son; 1998 Celebrity Infinity w/DS all 3 of us in 1 room although it was what they called Concierge Class, not a big deal, you get canapes each evening, bottle of bubbly in the room (upon embarkation only), got a very nice table to ourselves next to a window in the MDR; 2012, Allure of the Seas, that one cost a bit more since I got our 18 year old his own cabin with balcony, connected to ours so I had to shell out double for his room and we ate at the specialty restaurants almost nightly. Now although I indicated Celebrity as my favorite cruise line when I signed up for Cruise Critic, that's really "just put something down" as I really don't have enough cruises under my belt to do a meaningful comparison. One thing for sure, all 5 cruises we have done up to now (hopefully a lot more from now on) were really good. In all honestly though, Allure was a bit too much ... hopefully I get to post some pictures of us and you can tell I am in not shape to challenge the climbing wall, "zip" line etc. In terms of value, Carnival wins hands down.

 

So here we go ...

 

April 15, 2013, booked the Valor sailing out of San Juan May 5, 2013. We had done E and W Caribbean itins before so why not Southern Caribbean, yes, why not! This time it's just me and my Mrs., too bad DS, HE HE ... you are in university!

 

Just to play it safe, we flew down the day before, checked into the Sheraton Convention Centre & Casino for the night, nice establishment although a tad on the expensive side (which I knew beforehand but what the heck!) Now they have this restaurant on site called China Club, food was OK, quite authentic Chinese. I must say being from Toronto, to be fair, I shouldn't be comparing Chinese food in San Juan with those found in Toronto.

 

Unlike my Mrs. who can stay up till 2 am, I usually turn in around 11 pm. Around 2:30 am, wake up wake up, my DH! I thought there was some sort of emergency or disaster brewing! No, she won $200 playing the slots. Hey, time for a celebration, we are on vacation after all. Went downstairs, 2 Pina Colodas please, felt kinda strange drinking at that hour. Nothing in life beats a cheerful wife (sorry ladies, I am a chauvinist, and very much old school), if my wife is happy, she definitely won't be on my back, it's for my own good seriously, no problem!

 

Check out time stipulated by the hotel is 11 am, we grab a cab and headed straight to the pier. After learning from this forum community about the logistics of first leaving our luggage with the porter at the pier (4) and then check in with the Valor later because Carnival suggest the guests to board much later (around 2:30 pm), I figure we would just see what happens. Alas! They checked us in right away, we were advised to stage ourselves at the waiting area (group 1 assigned to us). That's even before the duty free shop opened. Waited for that to open, next problem, not being knowledgeable about wine, didn't know which 2 bottles to purchase. We were allowed to bring onboard 1 bottle each, not going to give up that money saving opportunity! What a godsend, they have this counter outside the shop where they give you a sample of what they are pushing, before you commit. Tasted a red and then a white, done deal! I recall each was around $17, please don't laugh for anyone of you who are wine experts! Also picked up a dozen bottles of water, $5.99, not bad!

 

Boarding time ... pretty sure it was around noon. The long time loyal Carnival customers boarded first, which is fair but it wasn't an overly long wait for us either. Those folks earned that privilege!

 

(to be continued)

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CRU1Z1N

CRU1Z1N

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Love the review so far!! You, sir, are a very smart man. You learned early to keep your wife happy ;). Looking forward to the remainder of your review!!

 

Did you take ship sponsored excursions or private? Thanks again!!

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Retiringworkingstiff

Retiringworkingstiff

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Love the review so far!! You, sir, are a very smart man. You learned early to keep your wife happy ;). Looking forward to the remainder of your review!!

 

Did you take ship sponsored excursions or private? Thanks again!!

I didn't booked any excursions other than via Carnival. I know the more experienced cruiser know how to save $$s by doing it on their own (getting the same level of enjoyment at the same time). Again, I have to explain to my wife why I don't go with the "brand name". Way too much trouble, not worth it!

 

Before the cruise, I pre-booked a land and sea deal at St. Lucia; another land and sea deal at St. Maarten; I booked some train tour for my wife solo at St. Kitts (I wanted to attend to some office email that day), all good overall but the St. Maarten one was tops in terms of "value for dollar", will explain a bit more later, hope you don't mind. My wife brought me some Chili from the buffet after she returned from the train tour, I presume that means she enjoyed the tour.

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Retiringworkingstiff

Retiringworkingstiff

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Sorry folks, not too familiar how to continue my post ... but here is more ...

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

OK, back again, have to replenish my alcoholic nourishment, tomorrow is Friday, taking a day off!

 

So we passed through the first security checkpoint (scanner). The lady behind us said they wouldn't let me take the case of water onto the ship, well, they just ran that through the scanner, all good! Then comes a quick inspection of our photo IDs + Sign and Sail cards. Once inside the ship, they took our mug shots. All done in an efficient manner.

 

There wasn't any WOW factor when we first step onto the ship. At my age, I wasn't looking for any and really don't need anymore WOW factor. I saw that in the Allure of the Seas last year, in a few years, the WOW factor with the Allure might even be dated. What I did sense was a bunch of down to earth passengers who wanted to have a decent and enjoyable time, utilizing their hard earned dollars while being serviced by onboard personnel who are courteous, sincere and not pretentious.

 

Our cabin is located on Riviera Deck 1, mid ship, ocean view. Our Room Steward greeted us right away, a very courteous gentleman. I am not very good with names, I just remember it sounded like O T something, my wife told me later he was from Columbia. O T spoke perfect English, by my standard anyways, no problem with communication whatsoever. My only requests initially were (1) please make sure our room is kept clean and tidy (important for my wife) and (2) the ice bucket is filled as often as humanly possible (important for me). I know some of you might severely object to my way of doing things, but I felt the chemistry was there, I know the guy will look after us really well (and he did), so up front I gave him $20 knowing he would not selfishly favor just us among all the other cabins he would have to look after. Now we're both happy, a very good start!

 

To the best of my ability, the ocean view cabin we were assigned to, were a bit bigger than the ocean view we had on the Imagination (I recalled it was on the Main Deck). 3 closets, ample space for both of us. I am only 5' 6" and my Mrs. slightly shorter still, the bed, at least a queen size so big for us and very comfortable, bed sheets very clean and pressed. Brought my own extension code for my CPAP, signed up for the wifi package (very easy, don't have to go to the Internet Cafe, just turn on the browser on my laptop and sign up, all in the comfort of our cabin). El Cheapo me, I ordered myself a bottle of Volka $65 before hand via Bon Voyage, it was right there already, kinda strange reading the note attached to the bottle though, me congratulating myself for something. I remember on one of the prior cruises, the bottle of Johnny Walker did not arrive until the 2nd day (slightly annoying). Now with the bottle of Volka, minor problem, I need some Clamato juice so I can have a DIY Caesar. Getting desperate, my wife and I decided to get off the ship, remembered someone on these forums mentioning some convenience store near the pier. Too bad, it was pouring out there and very humid. I suffered, made myself a Volka martini instead. In hindsight, I probably would not have ordered the bottle if I would have know the mixed cocktails available on the Valor were all so delicious, ended up only consuming 1/5 of the bottle. Being a rather light traveler and not 100% familiar with air travel rules, the 4/5 bottle were confiscated by security at San Juan airport when we flew back to Toronto (albeit done in a very respectful and courteous fashion). Had I known that rule beforehand, obviously I would not have packed it in my suitcase but rather gave that to the Room Steward. We did give him one of the 2 bottles of the wine we brought onto the ship, one jolly fellow and I was happy too.

 

(to be cont. this time for real)

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Retiringworkingstiff

Retiringworkingstiff

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First try uploading a picture, now I realized there is a Insert Image button. This one is the Boss chowing down @China Club, San Juan Sheraton Convention Centre and Casino, night before the Big Day.

 

http://i1345.photobucket.com/albums/p680/rkc2322/Cruise%202013%20Carnival%20Valor/ChinaClubresized_zpscb22c603.jpg

 

Didn't quick make it, the picture is not embedded in my post, but clicking on the link still works, albeit a bit tedious.

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Retiringworkingstiff

Retiringworkingstiff

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(cont.)

 

A little disorganized here ...

 

We did have a very nice lunch right after we boarded the Valor. Thanks to the tips from other posters here, I went to the upper level of Rosie's buffet and get myself some fish and chip + oysters. I understand some posters commented that the F&C they had were nothing to write home about, they tasted fine to me. Oysters, very good, got a sweet taste to them. My wife cautioned me not to get a second helping as they were all deep fried. We are not big eaters so I also remind her that we were going to do Scarlett's Steakhouse that first evening so save some room for that. I forgot what she had, probably some broiled fish with pasta, she likes that type of food.

 

After lunch, decided not to venture back into San Juan because it was raining (I really wanted to take the free trolley and tour Old San Juan but not this time I guess ... ), started wandering around the ship which wasn't part of the routine for the previous 4 cruises we took. Since our cabin is on the lowest deck, the glass elevators located at the atrium do not go down to our deck, I think they stopped at Deck 2. We used the "regular bank" of elevators therefor. Nothing too fancy or high tech anywhere, there is a classic feel overall everywhere on the ship, including the inside of those elevators. Everywhere it was very clean. I like it very much!

 

Checked out the Spa area, the steam room and sauna in particular, ladies and gents are in separate sections. Very nice, especially the price they charge for their use ... like FREE. I only managed to use the steam room twice, very enjoyable indeed, super clean and only 1 other person using it on both occasions, really helped clear/re-energize my mind.

 

I asked my wife if she wanted to book any of the spa treatments, she said NO, wanted to spend that part of the budget on maybe something else.

 

Next up, first highlight of the cruise, Scarlett's Steakhouse: Nice ambiance, later on I concluded we probably had the best table in there. They turned a 4 tops into a table for 2, lots of room, candle light and everything. Yes, we got our bottle of wine on the house. Again, not being experts in wine, tasted OK to us. Service was top notch, extremely professional, not intruding at all if you are having a conversation with each other. Even though they are only charging $35 per person, they make you feel you are high end guests who shell out a lot lot more. They have this little "food dolley" they rolled out to your table to show you the different type of cuts + one huge lobster, very nice. For starters, my wife order (my memory is not as good as when I was in my 30s'), I think the shrimp cocktail + Caesar salad, all good she said. I got myself the escargots + a soup I think. Now before all that arrived, Compliments of the Chef was presented. My wife got what looks like a small (cute looking) spoon, in it was some sort of tomato soup (fancy name came with it). I had what looks like the World's Smallest Hamburger, tasted heavenly. For mains, my wife had the Surf & Turf, me ... the 9 0z. Filet Mignon (both good and cooked to order almost to perfection), I order steam broccoli to go with my filet, just the right crispness, obviously real fresh before they cooked them. Not as good as the way my wife or my old mom make them, but pretty close (I do value my life so I have to say that). Now I have heard a few people on this forum comparing Carnival's steakhouse quality to those of Morton's (sp?) or Ruth Chris. I cannot make any comparison to Morton's, never been there, doubt if I can afford such a place. Ruth Chris, we had been to their Toronto locations a few times, celebrating our mom's or dad's birthdays, that type of thing. Ruth Chris is different, the steak comes sizzling. Not the steaks we had at Scarlett's. Maybe that's the way they do it at Scarlett's I truly don't know, the chef there knows best. It's all personal and relative, all I am saying is maybe our steak was not served right away right from the high temperature grill (maybe partly because my wife was still working on her salad and as a matter of courtesy, they waited a couple of minutes after the steak was ready for consumption), well enough said, they were overall very good. Dessert time, I am not really into chocolate but I suggested to my Mrs. to try the Chocolate Sampler which a lot of posters here had recommended. I had ice cream after they mentioned something about "freshly made", VERY VERY GOOD. Now my wife's chocolate sampler consisted of 4 individual items, each in its own small sized glass. Well she couldn't finish the last one, they called it Tiramisu, like the Italian dessert ... "if you insist" I said, gobbled that one up quickly. I was glad she didn't eat that, there were so much liqueur in it which would have knocked her right out. I really enjoyed it though. We tipped the head waitress $10. I left the place in a pretty jolly mood!

 

The Safety Drill came next! For the life of me (I usually don't complain much, mellowed down quite a bit as I aged over the years), I can't understand why some passengers would take their time in showing up for such an important event (well, it's only your life buddy, minor detail). I was really impressed with the way the ship's personnel greeted the late comers with politeness and tolerance (albeit they have a way of showing the late comers in a very subtle way "YOU ARE MAKING EVERYONE WAIT UNNECESSARILY". A real class act!

 

Don't think there was a show the first evening, if there was, we weren't there!

 

(to be cont.)

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Retiringworkingstiff

Retiringworkingstiff

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Day 2 - St. Thomas USVI

 

Scattered showers.

 

Had a good night sleep, so much so got woken up by Room Service delivery. Not their fault, pretty sure the guy was right on time at 6 am. I don't think they have smoked salmon in the buffet spread so I ordered my fair share via RS for breakfast. They were good. Also order some baked goods just for contingency, in case we venture out later. They looked freshly baked, warm to the hand. Got 3 glasses of orange juice, yes I know they are not fresh squeezed but under extreme circumstances, I can make myself a Screwdriver with my Bon Voyage bottle of Volka, cocktail before dinner! Stashed those inside the mini fridge, all good.

 

When my better half woke up, she wanted to do breakfast at the MDR. I obliged. We both had Eggs Benedict, good but the Hollandaise sauce on top was a bit too sour for my taste. They were fresh. Maybe that's how the Americans do Eggs Benedict and I haven't acquired a taste for it yet. Maybe some posters on this forum can let me know. Coffee tasted fresh.

 

What was unfortunate was while we were out having breakfast in the MDR, our room steward so faithfully cleaned and tidy up our room, discarded the baked goods along the routine, all in good faith I am absolutely certain, I should have put those aside and have the plastic lid covering them. Really, El Cheapo me, saving the baked goods just in case, I am sure there are all sorts of eating establishments in St. Thomas if we need to nourish ourselves in case we don't have time to get back on the ship during lunch time.

 

Ended up we didn't do much in St. Thomas. On a prior Celebrity cruise, we were there with our DS, rented a Jeep, drove all over including getting onto the ferry (that one let you drive your vehicle onto the ferry itself), crossed over to St. John, found a very nice secluded beach and did some swimming, water was so clear you can see your toes while standing in the water.

 

I wouldn't call it a dull day, it was uneventful but relaxing. Went back to the ship for lunch, checked email, took in a steam bath, very nice.

 

Now they have this section at the buffet called Mongolian Wok, sight and sound all together, cling cling bong bong woking woking away. The ingredients fresh. But are you kidding me, I eat authentic Chinese food all my life, but ... it was actually pretty good, minimal or no MSG like most Chinese restaurants do (other than the really expensive places where they use real chicken broth instead). You get a choice of 3 kind of sauces, designated by the number of chili papers indicated next to the name of each. 2 chili peppers means suicidal, use at own risk I guess. I went for the mildest one.

 

Dinner: our first time at the MDR when we found out we got a wonderful table for 2. Dinner for the first evening we couldn't have found out (1) we ate at the Scarlett's Steakhouse (2) It was open seating at the MDR. Head waitress SU SU (sp?) from Thailand I believe, good service (actually every night from then on). Same with her 2 assistants, I believe they were both from Indonesia. Can't remember the details but whatever we had, they were pretty decent (good actually).

 

Show: they had something called a Welcome Onboard Show that night, I didn't stay for the entire show as I was pretty tired. My wife stayed for the entirety of the show and she said it wasn't bad. I did order and finished my mixed drink before I left the Ivanhoe, probably a Miami Vice, that one is always good!

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Retiringworkingstiff

Retiringworkingstiff

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Some general comments:

 

- Live music: At our age, we feel we are a tad old for the nightclub scene, I think there is a place called One Small Step, didn't venture there. They have a live band in the Casino Lounge as well as the Lobby/Atrium. I hazard to guess Carnival scan the age of the passengers on any particular sailing and have the bands perform songs catered to the demographics accordingly. If that's their approach, they did a superb job. Again, it's personal. The bands were playing the Beatles, Neil Diamond, the Eagles and some Jimmy Buffet, you get the drift. The singers were also very professional, in my personal opinion.

 

- There is a piano bar, passed by it, a lady in there plays very nice tunes. Also, there is supposed to be a guitar player performing in the lobby daily. Somehow I managed to missed those, I am sure I would have enjoyed both.

 

- Martini tasting, my kind of deal. I think $17 gets you 4 martinis, albeit I understand is not standard sized (tasters smaller). I wanted to try it but I think they do that at a bar near the end of the Promenade, that area in my opinion, doesn't have the same atmosphere as in the Casino Bar or the Lobby Bar which we frequent on a regular basis. So I passed on the Martini tasting exercise.

 

- Dislikes and I am sure (maybe a lot) of posters will disagree with me: (1) Passengers attending having dinner at the MDR in improper attire. I am no fancy dresser either, but wearing a baseball cap and even flip flops in the MDR is a bit too much for me. (2) Waiters/Waitress dancing, apparently that's a FUN thing. Back then during our first 2 cruises, they do that at the end of dinner on the last evening of the itin. Baked Alaska time and the waiter sort of place the cakes on their head, that was bearable. What they are doing now? I don't like it, very much an overkill in my opinion.

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Retiringworkingstiff

Retiringworkingstiff

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- I noticed as the cruise itin progressed, less and less people are showing up for dinner. Don't know if wait staff dancing has a bearing.

 

- maybe some diners left shortly before the "scheduled" dance, don't know, wasn't paying that much attention as the food was usually worth while to work on wholeheartedly.

 

 

793250964_Waitstaffdancing(lotsofemptychairs).jpg.0f9f7147a4d49ee4df1943f097b1de46.jpg

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larkz

larkz

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- I noticed as the cruise itin progressed, less and less people are showing up for dinner. Don't know if wait staff dancing has a bearing.

 

- maybe some diners left shortly before the "scheduled" dance, don't know, wasn't paying that much attention as the food was usually worth while to work on wholeheartedly.

 

 

[ATTACH]271606[/ATTACH]

 

Excellent review. You have a very nice writing style.

 

I also noticed the gradual emptiness in the MDR, on the same itinerary last year before Valor replaced Victory. By the last night half of the people on our side of the dining room had vanished. Maybe the extra port (one less sea day) wears people out.

 

I'm not crazy about the dancing routine, myself.

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