Carnival Valor Review - June 23 - Southern Caribbean

[gators70]

Part 1 of 2

DW and I sailed on the Carnival Valor out of San Juan on June 23. Ports of call were St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten, returning to San Juan on June 30.

We arrived in San Juan on the day of departure to overcast skies at 12:30 pm. After collecting our bags we asked where the Carnival transfer area was and were pointed in the right direction. There was no line at the Carnival desk and we checked in easily and immediately. Our checked baggage was given to Carnival right there and we never saw it again until 9:00 that evening outside of our cabin. We kept our carry-ons with us (DW had a small roller and I had a backpack). It should be noted that someone came up to the Carnival desk as we were finishing and wanted to know if the transfer was only for prepaid transfers. The agent advised them, politely, that they did not accept any money there and although there would probably be room on the bus, they could not accommodate passengers that had not pre-booked their transfers. Note that when you check in for the transfer they give you a two-part receipt. You will give one receipt to the driver to the port and you need to save the other half for the return trip at the end of the cruise.

We joined about 20 other folks outside waiting for a Carnival bus. I could see a line of three or four buses down the road a little ways just sitting there that I correctly assumed were the Carnival buses. These are non-descript, full-sized white buses and one from that line was dispatched to our location after we stood waiting for about fifteen minutes, apparently waiting for some passengers from another flight. We loaded up and there were about forty people on the bus and rode the 20 minute ride to the port. This was on a Sunday and the traffic was not bad at all. There was a little construction on the way and the transfer could take longer on a weekday. All in all, this was not a bad experience for a transfer.

Arrival at the port was also relatively simple and easy. We gathered our carry on roller (which was stored underneath on the bus) and headed into the terminal under threatening skies. The rain actually started just as we were approaching the covered area. We walked down a wide hall to an escalator up to the check-in area. Here is where your embarkation memory photo is taken. We passed. There are the obligatory duty free shops here. DW and I are not drinkers so we cannot address how easy it was or if it was possible to take liquor on board. I think that is addressed pretty completely on the forums. We entered the queue lines and zigzagged back and forth until we were dizzy and approached the line of about twenty people. We had all of our boarding passes and passports ready so check-in went very smooth and we were walking up the gangway within twenty minutes of reaching the port.

We had initially planned to drop our bags in our cabin and then head into Old San Juan for a little sightseeing, but it was raining (lightly) and didn’t feel like getting wet since our rain jackets were in our checked baggage which had not arrived. We just decided to explore the ship and get a quick snack to tie us over until dinner. After a little exploring the sun came out and we considered heading into town but after 30 minutes of sunshine the rains came again and seemed to be settled in for the night. Maybe we will see San Juan on a future trip.

We were in cabin 7444 which is an aft balcony cabin on the Empress deck. It was our first aft balcony and we were anxious to try it out. We had heard that the wind on the aft balconies is much less when underway. This is true. We had heard that we should check our deck regularly for soot from the funnel exhaust. We never saw anything like that. We also heard that balcony privacy is compromised by the angled shape of the dividers. This is true. Standing at the railing at the middle of your balcony provides you with a view of about half of your side neighbors’ balconies. The balcony rooms above you can see about a quarter of your balcony. If a side neighbor were standing on their balcony right beside the partition they could see about 75% of your balcony. Bottom line is that you should use extreme discretion when out on the balcony. Unfortunately Carnival allows smoking on the balconies so sometimes we were chased inside.

The cabin itself was relatively nice. Our beds were together to make a queen. There were night stands on each side of the bed and there was a couch that we used mostly to control our mess. There is a stationary coffee table in front of the couch. The TV is a 20” CRT type TV. I suspect the Valor may get flat screens at her next refurbishment. There are three closets, each about 2 feet wide. Two of the closets are set up for hangers with a place for shoes at the bottom. The third closet has about five shelves. There are four additional drawers beside the vanity. Overall, there is plenty of storage unless you are a real clothes horse. Suitcases fit well under the bed.

The bathroom was typical, maybe a little better than average. There are six nice shelves on the sides of the mirror for toiletries. Nice touch. There is no power outlet in the bathroom! In fact, there is only one (not a pair) of outlets in the whole room!!! The only outlet in the cabin is by the vanity. One of the plugs is European and the other is 110v. That’s it! What are they thinking? By the way, the one 110v plug is recessed in the outlet a little bit and the molded power strip that I brought would not make connection. This meant that only one thing could be plugged in at a time. This was a real hassle. Take a power strip that has a cord on the end of it that will plug in, not a molded multi-outlet adapter. The hair dryer is hard-wired and rests in one of the drawers by the vanity mirror, not in the bathroom. No big deal, but it’s the typical under-powered cruise ship hair dryer. Bring your own (and use the one and only 110v plug in the whole room).

Personally, I was disappointed in how the ship rode the water. I think it was rocking more than other similar ships we have been on. I would blame this on our aft balcony cabin but it seemed to rock and roll even in the dining rooms (amidships). The seas never looked that rough to me. DW is slightly susceptible to motion sickness the first day or two on previous cruises. She had to stay on meds the entire cruise this time. I commented on this to several other passengers and there seemed to be a general agreement that there was a little more movement than expected.

The food aboard was moderate to good. I was disappointed in the variety in the buffet on the Lido deck. They served the same menu every day (almost). All buffet stations served the same food as opposed to other ships I have sailed where one buffet line would be Italian, another Oriental, etc. The buffet became very boring, very quick. I will give them kudos for the burgers and there is a separate little ordering window where you can get deli sandwiches and one where you can get a burrito.

We ate at the dining room every night and we were on the Anytime Dining Plan. This was our first time at Anytime Dining and found positives and negatives. We never had to wait more than 2-3 minutes for a table, but that was because we were always there shortly after opening at 5:45 pm. We noticed that the lines for Anytime Dining (which is only in the Lincoln Dining Room and only deck 3 forward entrance) was considerably longer when we finished and were leaving. I am guessing those people had to wait 15-20 minutes. On the down side, DW and I wanted to meet others and it seemed we were always seated at a table for two. We finally began asking if we could be seated with other Anytime Dining guests and were accommodated. In those cases we were seated at a table for four and had to wait maybe five minutes for them to seat another couple with us. Service was the typical outstanding service. They were very accommodating when we wanted two appetizers or some minor tweak to the “routine”. I love cold soups and give complements to them for their offerings, especially the peach, strawberry and Bing cherry. The escargot (one night) was so-so, but as they say, “a cruise without escargot is just a boat ride”. The dining staff entertainment was lame. There were two formal nights.

The ship amenities would be rated as average. There were only two shops on board; one for jewelry and one for general cruise memorabilia. They have different sales every night and many raffle drawings to get you into the jewelry shop, but that is fairly typical. Some things seemed like good deals, but we only bought some of the $10 special event jewelry items. I was tempted by the Lamborghini watches because you can only get those on Carnival ships, New York, London, or Abu Dhabi. I own one and was tempted again, but ended up with a Raymond Weil from St. Kitts; very happy with the deal.

The ship, as expected was a little weather-worn and I suspect they will do a refurbishment soon. The décor was nice, but there were some touches that needed attention. Throughout the ship there are many burned out light bulbs. I know, maybe that’s picky, but to me it shows a lack of attention and failure to attend to the small things could be indicative of failure to attend to the big things. There were also a few dirty places. Sitting in the hot tub (actually the “not so hot” tub) by the aft pool there is a chrome ring around the pool deck up high that has a half sunburst design on it. It is filthy. Once again, probably picky, but once I noticed it my eyes were constantly drawn to it and it really bothered me. Our aft balcony glass was really dirty all week, even though there was a notice in the cabin one day that said they would be cleaning the balconies the next day. Maybe they missed ours? (Also. Why do they place the balcony railing exactly at eye level when you are seated? Lol)

There are the typical complaints: lack of enforcement of the dress code in the dining room (shorts on formal night? C’mon Carnival!); children in the “adult only” areas; rude guests; and smoking odors, but I think that is typical of all cruise lines (although I think Celebrity and Princess are a little better at enforcing rules). We rarely saw our cabin steward and I don’t think he spoke much (if any) English. We did have an issue where a 2 liter bottle of water showed up in our room with a charge receipt for another stateroom. Took a trip to Guest Services to sort that out and then the steward told them that we had actually used water from the mini bar. We had not touched anything and had the charge removed. We had towel animals about five times. They were sloppily made and sometimes we weren’t even sure what they were supposed to be. Still, the effort was there. The bed was comfortable and on the firm side. Cabin was cleaned daily to our expectation.

The casino is really a good size casino for a cruise ship. We never had problems finding a slot that we wanted to play. The jury is still out on the “cashless” aspect of the casino. You use your Sail n’ Sign card and any winnings go on that instead of dispensing money or paper cash outs. You can insert cash into the slots or charge incremental amounts to your ship account. You cash out with the cashier on the last night, taking any cash balance that is left on your card. It seems that this process could be a good way to get cash instead of using their fee-based ATMs. If you insert your Sail n’ Sign card, draw, say, $200 to your card for the supposed intent of gambling, and then take your card to the cashier you could get the $200 in cash. Sneaky, eh? Oh, yeah, Carnival gets a ding for allowing smoking in the casino. Yuck. They say it’s only in “part” of the casino. Well, try and tell the smoke to follow the rules and stay on its own side. Ha!

The entertainment was okay. The ship dancers and singers were pretty good. One night the show was a tribute to the 80’s and was enjoyable. DW really likes the comedians so we usually went to see them (both the family shows and the adult themed ones) in the Eagles Lounge. Some nights it was crowded and others were not; couldn’t figure out what caused this. We got stuck two nights with no comedians because they were changing performers (the two on board got off in Barbados and were not replaced until St. Kitts). Some of the comedy was good, but we get turned off when every sentence contains the f-bomb in the guise of humor. Overall, the comedians were rated good.

We went to several of the shopping shows and came to realize that they are a waste of time. The onboard “shopping expert” insisted that he hated to be called a “salesman”, but he certainly did a good imitation of one. If you attend the shopping show and then meet the “shopping expert” afterwards and tell him what you are shopping for he will give you store recommendations and a VIP card. I will admit that the VIP card gets the attention of store management, but I genuinely believe you can haggle your own price without the card. In example, I had a VIP card for St. Kitts Diamond International because the shopping expert said that is where I would find the best deal on a watch that I was looking for. It turned out that DI had a very poor selection and I found a nice watch at another ship approved store, Gold Mine. They “accepted” the DI VIP card and gave me the “best VIP ship price possible”. Yeah, right. It took about an hour and walking away twice but they made two more significant price drops and I got a watch for about 20% less than “the best VIP ship price”. I know there are those that say that shopping at stores that are not on the shop’s approved stores list is better, but I think having the ship and Carnival stand behind your purchase is invaluable. IMHO.

 

Part 2 to follow.

[gators70]

Part 2 of 2

 

The ports were St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten. We used ship excursions on St. Lucia and St. Maarten; pre-booked an independent excursion for Barbados; and winged it with a Taxi Tour at the pier on St. Kitts. On St. Thomas we just took a taxi into town and wandered around the shops. All ports were enjoyable; some more than others. The weather cooperated very well for the whole week after leaving the San Juan rain behind. Oddly enough, it was raining in San Juan when we arrived back. One thing that bothered me was the port schedule. Every day we the ship left port at 5:00 pm (except St; Kitts which was 6:00 pm). When we moved from port to port, we rarely travelled more than a couple of hundred miles. It seems that we could have stayed in port until 8:00 – 9:00 pm and still had plenty of time to arrive at the next port by 7:00 am. Obviously they wanted to minimize port/pier usage charges. I mean, from St. Kitts to St. Maarten takes about two hours by ferry. The ship left St. Kitts at 5:00 pm and docked in St. Maarten at 7:00 am. We must have gone to sea and cruised in circles.

In St. Thomas you port outside of town. You could probably walk to town in about 30 minutes, but there’s nothing to see and a taxi for $4/per person is reasonable and worth it. There are shops in port that they call a “mall” and contain the obligatory Diamonds International, Tanzanite International, Del Sol, etc., but the best shopping and variety is in town. You get a taxi at the intersection just after you pass through the shopping area in port. They will tell you where to get the taxi for the return trip (beside the Post Office).

In Barbados we had booked a catamaran and turtle swim with Calypso Tours. We were late booking so the #1 company, Calabaza, was booked up. They suggested Calypso and we experienced one of the best excursions ever. They were 5 minutes late picking us up and we began to get worried, but they showed up and shuttled us to the small boat harbor (about 10 minutes). There were only ten guests and three crew aboard. We first snorkeled three shipwrecks about ten minutes from the place where we got aboard the cat. The water was pretty clear (after diving the South Pacific nothing compares any more) and the fish were abundant, even if they chummed them. After about 30 minutes we headed for the turtle grounds. Here we snorkeled for about thirty minutes and had close encounters with several large sea turtles (very pretty and graceful). We then sailed to a secluded beach where we could snorkel (nothing really to see), laze on the beach, or sit on the boat for about 45 minutes. After that we headed back to the dock. While the snorkeling and swimming were wonderful, we cannot say enough about the treatment we received from Nick, Nick, and Val. From the moment we stepped on board no one had an empty drink glass in their hands (even though they thought DW and I were strange for drinking just water and Ginger Ale). The bar was open and unlimited. They fed us multiple appetizers, had a wonderful hot lunch, and enjoyed chocolate cheesecake for desert; all served on real plates with real silverware. They visited with each of us and showed all of the interesting sights along the way. They pampered us, big time and I would recommend them in a heartbeat. The cost was $90 per person and worth every penny.

In St. Lucia, much to my surprise, DW agreed to zip line. On the day before St. Lucia we went to the excursion desk to book it. The excursion that was only zip line was full, but they had another that was the Ultimate Rainforest and Zip Line excursion available so we booked it. This was the normal zip line excursion with a rainforest aerial tram ride tacked on. The ride to the rainforest is about 30 minutes and the roads are very winding. A couple of people on our shuttle bus became queasy. Luckily, DW had some ginger gum with her that we shared. The aerial tram ride was interesting, but we were at the front of the tram and the guide was in the back with a soft voice. Despite asking that she to speak up, we hardly heard any of the information. The zip lines were pretty good although shorter than I expected. They ranged from 10 seconds to 20 seconds each, and there were seven or eight. There was also a “Tarzan Swing” and a “Rappel”. Overall it was pretty tame, but enjoyable. It’s another thing to cross off my bucket list. The crew was hit or miss. Some of the platform attendants were apparently having a bad day, but most were amiable. Safety was of utmost importance and we felt very safe. This was a three hour excursion and we had time to shop around the port stores upon return.

In St. Kitts we decided to wing it and find something when we got off the ship. Lo and behold, right there at the port there is a big sign that announces taxi tours of the island; a very organized operation instead of stepping outside the port and being surrounded by questionable drivers. We purchased a 2.5 hour island tour for $80. Our driver, Kevin, spoke pretty good “American”, if you know what I mean. Some of the islanders have accents and speak so fast that I cannot understand them. Anyway, Kevin was great and took us around the island. Of course all of the photo stops we made had the usual tourist trap gift stands, but don’t be afraid to consider them. I bought a St. Kitts embroidered cap for $5 that I later saw back in town for $7.

St. Maarten was another ship excursion. At literally the very last minute we booked an Island Drive and Water Tour (I’m sure that’s not the official name of it). From the ship we were herded on a large bus and drove through Philipsburg on the Dutch said, across the island, to Marigot, on the French side. The ride was about thirty minutes and excellently narrated. We were then given about an hour to shop around Marigot and told where to meet up. DW and I went to Sarafina’s and had a chocolate croissant. Yummy. We them met at the dock beside the “Explorer”. This is a relatively large party vessel. It has two decks and was far more boat than the thirty of us needed. There was a deejay/entertainer on board that sang and joked with all of the passengers. We docked at a different place closer to Philipsburg and got on the bus for a ride back to the ship. They will make a stop in Philipsburg if you ask and let you off so you can wander the town. It’s an easy twenty minute walk back to the ship, or taxis are plentiful. The cruise was, to us, an extremely boring hour. I wouldn’t do this excursion again, or even recommend it. Instead, what we wished we had done is another island taxi tour with a stop a Maho Beach to see the planes land and take off. Oh well, maybe next time.

Back to San Juan and the rain. It started raining off and on just after we arrived. We had been assigned to disembark with group #8. The night before I went to Guest Services and asked if we would be able to make a 12:22 pm flight if we disembarked with group #8. Unquestionably, they moved us to group #2. I’m more comfortable now. When disembarking began they announced that all U.S. citizens would be disembarking from deck 0 forward and all others from deck 3 amidships. They opened up self-debarkation at around 8:00 am. We then heard NOTHING until around 9:00 am. We were thinking that at least one or two groups would have been called, but there were no announcements. Finally, they announced that due to the weather, everyone would disembark on level 3 amidships and that groups 1 and 2 could proceed to disembark. DW and I had been waiting on Lido deck and made our way to deck 3 amidships and exited with no delay. It was all simple once they decided how they were going to do it. Our bags were in the assigned area. We grabbed them and were through Immigration and Customs within fifteen minutes. We had to wait about five minutes for the next Carnival transfer bus, but got on and were at the airport by around 10:00 am.

Well, that’s my review, in a nutshell (bug nut, huh?). There’s probably more I could write and tons of pictures I could post, but I am going to cut it off here. As a final summarization: We are not Carnival fans even though this makes our third trip with them. Their attention to detail, the food, the entertainment, and the simple desire to make you feel like the most important person in the world do not match up to our experiences with Princess or Celebrity. The Carnival folk were not very friendly with our TA either. When I asked the TA to arrange my shipboard credit for military service Carnival denied it saying, “Oh, you can’t get that at the rate you are paying for the cruise.” It doesn’t say anything to that effect on the website. Other cruise lines have proactively identified ways for me to get on board credit like military service credit. Anyway, DW and I cruise by itinerary, not cruise line, so we may be on Carnival again someday. But if there is a similar itinerary on another line we will probably go with someone else (admittedly maybe paying a little more).

 

Okay......flame away!

[Cruising Golfer]

Maybe you'll say something positive in part 2.:confused: Did you have any fun at all?

Sounds like a trip from hell, but maybe you are just too picky!!!:eek:

[ronandannette]

Maybe you'll say something positive in part 2.:confused: Did you have any fun at all?

Sounds like a trip from hell, but maybe you are just too picky!!!:eek:

 

Totally unwarranted. OP is describing a trip that was, in his opinion, just OK. Lots of things in life are neither fantastic or complete disasters, they are just OK. He never once got dramatic about anything he didn't like. If you think this is a description of a "hell trip" your version of hell must not really be too bad.

 

Thanks OP. There is no reason at all for anybody to flame what you wrote...I hope your next trip has a little more "Wow" factor.

[LDR]

I appreciate the review, my family sails on her in 11 days. It's nice to hear all sorts of opinions because sometimes there are things in a review that you wouldn't know about the ship or the ports, or things you should avoid/try. We chose this ship for the itinerary and are looking forward to visiting new islands.

[Cruising Golfer]

One man's heaven is another man's hell... You call that a flame???

All I did was to voice my feelings, it wasn't rude or offensive.

I just feel that the OP did not try to have a good time. IMHO

That is why we have these threads, to share thoughts and ideas.

[jmcancruise]

Thanks so much for the review. With just a couple of months to go we are happy to read all takes on this cruise. I can appreciate that you don't feel Carnival lives up to the standards of some other lines, but for many including myself, it is what we can afford and are thankful for it. That being said, I will say that we have always had exceptional service on all of our cruises. We have never had a complaint about staff.. As for some of the other things food etc. I am sure it could be better, but I know I pay a bargain price and quite honestly don't expect what someone would get for twice the money.

[gators70]

I appreciate the review, my family sails on her in 11 days. It's nice to hear all sorts of opinions because sometimes there are things in a review that you wouldn't know about the ship or the ports, or things you should avoid/try. We chose this ship for the itinerary and are looking forward to visiting new islands.

 

I'm sure you will have a great time. I did. The ports were very nice and there was never a lack of fun things to do.

 

My review wasn't intended to indicate that I hated the cruise, I didn't. Could it have been better? Sure.

[gators70]

Thanks so much for the review. With just a couple of months to go we are happy to read all takes on this cruise. I can appreciate that you don't feel Carnival lives up to the standards of some other lines, but for many including myself, it is what we can afford and are thankful for it. That being said, I will say that we have always had exceptional service on all of our cruises. We have never had a complaint about staff.. As for some of the other things food etc. I am sure it could be better, but I know I pay a bargain price and quite honestly don't expect what someone would get for twice the money.

 

Wasn't intending to really slam Carnival. Just wanted to give some insights from my viewpoint. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time; there's not really any such thing as a "bad" cruise.

[gators70]

Totally unwarranted. OP is describing a trip that was, in his opinion, just OK. Lots of things in life are neither fantastic or complete disasters, they are just OK. He never once got dramatic about anything he didn't like. If you think this is a description of a "hell trip" your version of hell must not really be too bad.

 

Thanks OP. There is no reason at all for anybody to flame what you wrote...I hope your next trip has a little more "Wow" factor.

 

Woo Hoo!!!!! Your profile picture is almost a duplicate of mine! Let me guess......hiking up Mt. Vesuvius with Naples in the background?

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I hope you remembered to pick up the Guava Berry rum in St Maarten (if you same the good stuff.) It is unbelievable and only available there.

 

I want to swim with big beautiful turtles like you did! That sounded like a highlight (at least to me).

 

My last Carnival was just ok and the ports were really nice. Haven't cruised Celebrity (I'm into DCL now) but I do think CCL is just fine with being a floating hotel for the most part. Thanks for the review!

[gators70]

I hope you remembered to pick up the Guava Berry rum in St Maarten (if you same the good stuff.) It is unbelievable and only available there.

 

I want to swim with big beautiful turtles like you did! That sounded like a highlight (at least to me).

 

My last Carnival was just ok and the ports were really nice. Haven't cruised Celebrity (I'm into DCL now) but I do think CCL is just fine with being a floating hotel for the most part. Thanks for the review!

 

DW and I are non-drinkers these days, but back in the day rum was on my list. Guava berry rum sounds great.

 

Yes, swimming with the turtles was probably the highlight of the trip. Just FYI.....they allow snorkels and masks, but no flippers. They say that they had people chasing the turtles and without flippers you cannot catch them. They do tell you not to grab hold of them to go for rides. You can touch if they come within reach, which is not very often. They are close, but just out of ams reach. There are about eight places around Barbados that the turtles visit. They come mostly because these places used to be fishing villages and they could easily get the fishemen's scraps. Now they come because boats like ours feed them. The guys running the tour said that they think the turtles can recognize the sound of certain boats and know who is going to feed them and who isn't. I'd much rather do this one than swimming with penned up dolphins.

[kshawks]

Thank you for the review! I'm excited to go on her for Halloween! :D

 

We have a private excursion booked in Barbados (snorkel/swim with the turtles!)

 

But we haven't really planned much of anything else for the rest of the cruise, besides Maho/Orient Beach in St Maarten

[hockeyluver]

Thank you for your review, I cant wait to go in January!

[Hawaii697]

Part 1 of 2

 

The bathroom was typical, maybe a little better than average. There are six nice shelves on the sides of the mirror for toiletries. Nice touch. There is no power outlet in the bathroom! In fact, there is only one (not a pair) of outlets in the whole room!!! The only outlet in the cabin is by the vanity.

 

Thank you so much for your review. I always appreciate, the good, the bad and the ugly, when reading reviews. I'm sailing on the Valor for the second time, next month and looking forward to it.

 

One thing I wanted to point out, there is an outlet in the bathroom. It's unbelievable where they put it. It's at the very top of the mirror, I believe in the right hand corner, almost hidden. Discovered it by accident on my last cruise. It's a shame they don't have more outlets in cabins, especially with all the electronics we use.

[ronandannette]

Woo Hoo!!!!! Your profile picture is almost a duplicate of mine! Let me guess......hiking up Mt. Vesuvius with Naples in the background?

 

LOL...not even close: Avalon, Catalina Island (California)! Although we love it there, I'd rather it have been Italy! :D

 

P.S. - we did the Southern Caribbean itinerary on the Carnival Victory last fall and found it quite similar to what you described - just OK. We booked it for ports and price (and that it was the only ship sailing that route for our dates). We know now after 2 tries with Carnival that we'll need to ramp up our budget and cruise another line next time or pick another kind of holiday.

[etwright]

Thanks for your honest opinioned review. I appreciated it. We will be on her in 39 days! I sure ope the rain in SJ goes away by then. :eek:

[Joeychgo]

We are not Carnival fans even though this makes our third trip with them. Their attention to detail, the food, the entertainment, and the simple desire to make you feel like the most important person in the world do not match up to our experiences with Princess or Celebrity.

 

Just a quick look --

 

Balcony for Dec 14/15 2013

 

Carnival - $619

Celebrity - $1099

 

I wonder why you get more on Celebrity? Maybe the 40% increase in fare has something to do with it. Don't go to Target and expect Nordstrom's caliber attention.

[Josher61]

Thanks for the review and your take on it :) I didn't read it as overly harsh...I was surprised by some of the comments, I took it for what it is... your opinion, and that's what a review is to me; someone else's opinion and if its not tempered, (good and not so good), I tend to disregard them anyway lol. So thanks for yours!

 

It's a wonder people keep doing reviews...:rolleyes:

 

To the PP who told us where another outlet was to be found...thank you!