Just back from Valor, a bit of a review...

[frayedend]

So we just got back from the Carnival Valor Southern out of Puerto Rico. I'm not sure if I'll write an entire long review but for starters I'll run down a few of the comments I have.

 

First we had a great time and the itinerary was very busy but lots of fun with great islands. I was more impressed with the itinerary than the cruise itself. I tend to be very critical of things so I may point out more of the bad but that doesn't mean it was a bad cruise. There are just some things that don't suit my family and they were confirmed by this, our 3rd Carnival cruise. I'll probably jump around from subject to subject as I remember things.

 

First, Carnival is not a good choice for older kids. Our boys are 11 and 13. They are bored on the ship. They can't go to kids club together. If you have an 11 year old they will look at you like you are completely insane if you want them to go to Camp Carnival. It's set up and looks like it's for toddlers. My son just walked away and said no way. My older son and his friend went to Circle C for the orientation and thought the activities were a joke. They didn't go back. The point is they do good activities but nothing you can't do at home. Carnival doesn't have actual entertainment set up for this age group, at least not anything new and interesting. They are too young to fight off the teens at the basketball/ping pong, golf, so don't get a chance. They think hide and seek is a bit silly, etc. So again they spent the majority of time in the arcade. My son actually won an X Box One in the arcade so it was a net gain I guess. LOL. We were in port so much that this didn't ruin the cruise.

 

The food was good and plentiful but exactly the same as the other 2 cruises I've been on. No surprises, nothing spectacular, but nothing new and interesting either. Fish and Chips was only open at lunch and since we did brunch on the only sea day I didn't get to try it. But I like the deli. The burritos weren't great. I love the pizza and had it before bed many nights. Dining room is mediocre but nothing to complain about.

 

There wasn't much for shows. The 80s show was pretty good. We skipped the welcome aboard show as it's nothing new. Didn't see much else in the main lounge. Bored of Legends and based on the auditions at Karaoke it wasn't going to be great anyhow. The piano bar is always fun and we enjoyed that. The comedians were like everything else, mediocre. They try at the family shows but struggle. Honestly 11 year olds can handle a bit more than the family stuff. I didn't even hear anything at the adult show that was too offensive and the kids would have enjoyed that more.

 

 

Okay I'll type more later as I think of it. Questions, feel free to ask.

[frayedend]

A note on the dining room. I had requested from John Heald that we be seated in the main area of the dining room so the kids could be part of the singing/dancing waiter show. They like swinging the napkins and such. He obliged and we were in the middle of the rear dining room, Washington dining room, lower level. However, there was no show from the waiters. On Dream they did the show twice. The Maitre d would announce them and then told us when the second show was etc. Well the Valor apparently has no Maitre d because we didn't see or hear from him. On our last night we asked our waiter when they do this and he said, "Tonight we sing!" Okay, you are a nice guy Luka but we are on our second cup of coffee and finished dessert long ago. The kids have run off to the arcade again and still there is no singing because you are still waiting on tables. So the story hear is simply that the waiters are way overworked. Our waiter was nice, friendly and great but we didn't get to know him as we have in cruised years ago. We felt no urge to get a picture with him. He simply didn't have time to interact with us other than serving food. He also had to rush, so much that the fork is hardly back on your plate before it is removed and a dessert menu is in your hand. We had a table of 7 for 6:00. We could have gone to the 7 PM shows every night. We were usually served apps, entree, dessert and coffee in less than 40 minutes. It just felt rushed. I know it's cost cutting and the price you pay for Carnival, but figured I'd write about it anyhow.

[frayedend]

About my cabin selection:

 

So we have always tried to book midship, close to elevators. I've never had a problem with noise before but this time it was a small issue.

 

We were in 8260 and close to the Atrium elevators. The sound of music from the Atrium is can be very loud. I was amazed at how loud it came up to deck 8 and into our room. There were 2 nights with very loud Latin music. It only went on until midnight and we got back to our rooms at ~11:30 so it didn't affect us badly but something to keep in mind if you are an early bird for bed time. We could also hear the elevators ding but that didn't really keep us up.

 

Other than that there were 2 morning where some group of people were partying and screaming. The first time they woke me up at 4:00 AM. The second time it was about 5 AM. They were screaming in a way to purposefully wake people up. I believe security stopped them both times but not before waking lots of people up.

[Honolulu Blue]

Thank you for sharing your review and opinions. These are always of value to me, even if - especially if - they're not entirely positive.

 

Please continue.

[cliffjumpergirl]

Thanks for your review. We are leaving on Aug. 3 and will be doing this itinerary on the Valor. We are going to be on the Lido deck 9266 (we always try to get our rooms in this area) Looking forward to all the different ports this route offers. This is going to be our 5th cruise and from what I have read the different ports are the highlight of this cruise and not really the ship. We shall see and I will post a review when we return to port.

[frayedend]

Okay I'll give a run down on the ports we visited and what we liked.

 

First port was St. Thomas on Monday. We didn't have anything planned so we took a cab to Megans Bay for a beach day. This is an absolutely beautiful beach. It is very calm and serene. It wasn't crowded. The cab ride was $7 or $8 per person. There was seven of us so it got expensive. There was also a fee to get in, maybe $4 per person. But it was all well worth it. Keep in mind there isn't a lot to do. My kids rented kayaks for an hour. Other than that we relaxed on the beach. We went all the way to the left rocky end with snorkel gear and saw some fish, but no reef or anything.

 

Our cab driver had asked us what time to get picked up. We ended wanting to leave earlier but waited. Of course, he didn't show up. So if they ask you what time, just tell them you don't know. There will be cabs waiting to take you back to the ship when you are ready.

 

 

Next was Barbados. We did the Calabaza Catamaran tour (not a Carnival tour). This was the best time of our cruise. We all loved it. I plan to write a review on the Barbados page so for now let me just say to book this tour. We snorkeled with a sea turtle, and over a reef. We had unlimited rum punch or other drinks. We had food and a great boat ride, an awesome crew. It really couldn't be better.

 

Next we were in St. Lucia. We didn't enjoy it as much. See my review of Cosol tour, link below. It wasn't bad but not our thing. We learned we prefer beach days. Touring the islands is actually kind of depressing because of all the poverty.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2078012

 

Saint Kitts (Did you know it's Saint Christopher. Kitt is apparently the informal short name for Christopher). We took a taxi to Cockleshell beach. It was $7 each person, each way. I didn't think we'd care for this island since it doesn't seem to have much. There was a closer beach you could go to for $4 per person taxi but they pushed Cockleshell. The Marriott is popular but they charge $30 for a day pass, it's on the rougher Atlantic side also. Cockleshell is free but we got 2 chairs for $10 or something like that. It wasn't too expensive. There is a fresh water shower, a bar with food and drinks. Decent service. Also to the right side of the beach is an area with large rocks and somewhat turning into a reef. We saw lots of cool fish with a little searching. Huge sea urchins also. The taxi ride was pleasant and the areas we saw had lots of money. We did not see any of the usual ramshackle houses that are on other islands., though I'm sure there are poorer sections of the island.

 

St. Maarten: We planned on Orient to see the nude beach, just for a joke really, or Maho to see the planes. After some discussion we decided to just take the water taxi to the beach near port. We figured we'd go elsewhere later if time permitted. The beach was beautiful. We paid $5 each for the kids to use the water trampoline. We paid $10 or $15 for 2 chairs and an umbrella. It wasn't a rip off. So then we rented Wave Runners. We got 3 for an hour each. That was $270 ($10 discount for doing an hour). They also charged $10 to use a credit card since they had to run it through at a friends bar. The jet skis were awesome. They were super fast and not speed regulated like some other rentals. We then went to Hard Rock Cafe. The food was good but the service was atrocious. It was also way overpriced. Save your money and go to a local place. Oh, no showers outside on the beach that we could see, so we paid the lady at a bar to use her hose behind the bar to rinse off. I gave her $7 for 4 or us. She seemed happy with that. We did some shopping on the street behind the beach. It was very nice and seemed a lot cleaner from when I visited there years ago.

 

That's it for now...

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[PegV420]

Thanks for the reviews of the islands. We are doing this cruise August 31. What was the name of the beach you went to in St. Maarten?

[kait17]

My son was 12 when he last went and we had the same Circle C experience. After the first night he had no interest whatsoever, and preferred to stay in the room a bit while we went out. I think the age range is a little to broad, as a twelve year old's interests are much different than a 15 year old's. And I think Camp Carnival is really more 9 & under. They need one right in the middle.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for sharing your review.

Keith

[092306]

We really enjoyed the Valor and would love to do the itinerary you did. Sounds like a great experience, glad you enjoyed it overall.

[frayedend]

Thanks for the reviews of the islands. We are doing this cruise August 31. What was the name of the beach you went to in St. Maarten?

 

I believe it's Philipsburg Beach. I could be wrong. You can see it from the ship. It's the closest beach. You can walk there if you choose also.

[Biffer1997]

Thanks for review!

[LaShea]

I'm glad to hear about Calabaza Catamaran as we booked them for our cruise in November. They had really good reviews.:D

[frayedend]

I'm glad to hear about Calabaza Catamaran as we booked them for our cruise in November. They had really good reviews.:D

 

They are awesome!

[Relayer]

Little Bay is close to port in St Maarten. Nice beach with a condo development

[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.