Just off Valor

[photogcrazy]

I am sympathize with the problems that you had. But I would not put it on just Carnival. I have done about 15 cruises, some with Royal Caribbean most with carnival. I have had good and bad experience with both of them. But the worst experience I every had was on a Royal Caribbean. That being said I have had more great experiences than anything. I can't imagine dealing with cigarette or cigar smoke an entire cruise. But I would say most that was luck of the draw. If you had not been beside another cabin that had someone that smoked in it, you would not have had the problem you did. I too have also had luggage problems. My wife and mine's luggage looked like a forklift had gone through it (this was a royal cruise). The thing about all of that is The people that handle the luggage and people that do the embankment (at least security part) all work for the port not the cruise lines.

 

I feel most things could have been avoided if Carnival cared too. We have been out of Port Canaveral many times and never had damaged luggage. We have sailed all the lines except for the exotic ones and never experienced as bad of smoke smells as we did on Valor. We were on Epic in November 2014 and the only area that was really bad was the casino. Even before the cruise lines tightened up on the smoking rules we never experienced anything like the smell of smoke on Valor. This truly was our only bad cruise, I am just happy it was not our first cruise because we would have never gone on a second. I cannot however say anything bad about the Carnival Valor staff, they were all great and attentive. Like I said before they had the best dinner food and desserts of any cruise we have been on. The ship just seems to have soaked up cigarette smoke like a sponge.

[photogcrazy]

Sorry that your child got ill. Hope your baby gets well soon!!

 

Thank you!

[mediccruzin]

Must have been a really really bad seal on that door. Last cruise I was on was in 2012 when smoking was still allowed on the balconies. My wife could not smell the smoke inside our room when I was out smoking on the balcony. Maybe the rules were different when the Valor was sailing out of San Juan or someone the previous cruise smoked in your room.

[jasong38501]

I feel most things could have been avoided if Carnival cared too. We have been out of Port Canaveral many times and never had damaged luggage. We have sailed all the lines except for the exotic ones and never experienced as bad of smoke smells as we did on Valor. We were on Epic in November 2014 and the only area that was really bad was the casino. Even before the cruise lines tightened up on the smoking rules we never experienced anything like the smell of smoke on Valor. This truly was our only bad cruise, I am just happy it was not our first cruise because we would have never gone on a second. I cannot however say anything bad about the Carnival Valor staff, they were all great and attentive. Like I said before they had the best dinner food and desserts of any cruise we have been on. The ship just seems to have soaked up cigarette smoke like a sponge.

 

Just out of curiosity, did you complain to anyone on the ship about the smoking neighbor? Really just wondering if the staff will try to put an end to it if you let them know about it. Because I certainly would complain and would be even more upset if they did nothing about it. By the way really enjoyed your review. I love pro and con reviews, seem the most honest and most useful to me!

[photogcrazy]

Must have been a really really bad seal on that door. Last cruise I was on was in 2012 when smoking was still allowed on the balconies. My wife could not smell the smoke inside our room when I was out smoking on the balcony. Maybe the rules were different when the Valor was sailing out of San Juan or someone the previous cruise smoked in your room.

 

The door latch was broke and only the top slide lock would hold the door shut but very loosely. I also wondered if the previous people smoked in the room.

[photogcrazy]

OP: did you happen to complain to guest services at any point about the balcony smoking? Just wondering if you were ignored and how many times you complained if at all.

 

So sorry about your child, unfortunately there will always be those trashy types that think they do not need to follow the rules just to try to prove something. The only thing they prove is how trashy they really are! No excuse for them....

 

We were told they would have to see them in order to do anything.

[RuthlessBoss]

We were told they would have to see them in order to do anything.

 

As for the "odor", are you saying the steward never smelled anything abnormal? They do have ionizer machines to clear the air.

[mediccruzin]

The door latch was broke and only the top slide lock would hold the door shut but very loosely. I also wondered if the previous people smoked in the room.

 

Sounds like they did. Sorry you had these issues. Always sucks when things do not turn out like we want them to.

[photogcrazy]

As for the "odor", are you saying the steward never smelled anything abnormal? They do have ionizer machines to clear the air.

 

With how bad our room smelled of smoke, I do not know how they could differentiate between a room that someone is smoking on a balcony and one that is not. The smell was there all the time and strongest near the a/c vent it only worsened when the neighbors smoked. Even if the neighbors were stopped the problem would have still existed. My guess is the duct work on the ship is caked with cigarette residue.

[boog55]

Is the Valor serving the American Table/Feast menu right now?

[RuthlessBoss]

With how bad our room smelled of smoke, I do not know how they could differentiate between a room that someone is smoking on a balcony and one that is not. The smell was there all the time and strongest near the a/c vent it only worsened when the neighbors smoked. Even if the neighbors were stopped the problem would have still existed. My guess is the duct work on the ship is caked with cigarette residue.

 

I let most things slide, but if the cabin was smokey and someone near me was smoking, I'd be doing some major complaining. I say this because in my case I'm a confirmed smoker and go to designated areas. So, no one next to me will have the priveledge of a balcony if I can't!

[ZanziBarred]

Ship got ruined when it went from San Juan to FLA.

[photogcrazy]

Is the Valor serving the American Table/Feast menu right now?

 

I am not sure what menu it had but the dinners were very good. Most lines have cut out Lobster tails but they had it 1 night and also had Filet Mignon one night. They had a menu that part was the same every night and the other part changed nightly.

[jonboy9756]

Ship got ruined when it went from San Juan to FLA.

 

I am going to have to disagree with this. We just got off the Valor on Sat. the 23rd. The smoke smell in the casino area is very bad, but luckily we spent almost no time in there. Didn't smell smoke anywhere else on Deck 5 or anywhere else on the ship for that matter. Our interior cabin was on Deck 6 above the casino and we didn't smell any smoke in our room either. I believe the OP's smoke problem was caused by the balcony smoker or a previous cruiser. Embarkation was late for many but luckily we had FTTF and were escorted past the long lines, checked in quick and were among the first to board when they opened the ship between 12 and 1. The ship is clean, the staff is excellent, food was above expectations, comedians and shows were better than average. We had a great time in all the ports we visited thanks to research and information from folks here on Cruise Critic. I will agree the music is much too loud, particularly in the "Serenity" area where you can hear it blasting from the lido, and the bands playing outside the Casino. The tenders to Belize were late, but we had booked the Xanatunich ruins excursion and were on the first tender ashore(and the last one back!). Debarkation was perfect, again with FTTF we were Zone 2 and off the ship between 8 and 8:30.

My family all agreed this was probably the best vacation we ever had.

[Working 2 cruise again]

We were on the same cruise in 7248. We didn't have any problems with the smoke. The only time we smelled it was when were either near the casino or on the 10th deck where they smoke outside. We are both former smokers and are super sensitive to it. We did have a neighbor smoking on his balcony down from us. We called him out and he seemed to stop.

[Working 2 cruise again]

I asked about the Belize issue and it was a Belize official problem not Carnival. The officials didn't come out when they were supposed to. We had a balcony on the tender side and we watched them turn the tenders away. We were wondering what they were waiting for. As far as the original embarkation we received the email about the fact that there would be a late boarding due to testing. So we knew there was going to be a delay. We were there early anyway and were prepared to wait. We didn't have any luggage issues and actually had a wonderful cruise.

[Ourfamilyof4]

We are leaving on the Valor this Saturday. Relieved to hear not everyone noticed smoke problem. I would have to complain, i just cant handle that. We have a balcony too.

As far as Belize, jonboy, what time were you able to get your tender? We also have a ruins excursion booked there, did you feel it was rushed because of late tenders? Just thinking if they did this last week, it may be the same next week....thank you!!!

[Working 2 cruise again]

My son and I did the Sharks and Rays, while my husband and daughter did the Ruins tour. He said they were rushed, but everyone tried to make the best out of it. We were not rushed on our tour, they let them know ahead of time that it wasn't our fault that we were late getting there so they would continue as scheduled and we would be late getting back to the tender back to the ship. There were no fears of being left as Carnival explained that even though it was not their fault they were not going to rush us. When we got back to the port to tender to the ship we loaded on one of the tenders, and it crapped out. One of the motors started leaking oil in the ocean. So we had to go back to the port and get on another tender to get back to the ship.

[photogcrazy]

We are leaving on the Valor this Saturday. Relieved to hear not everyone noticed smoke problem. I would have to complain, i just cant handle that. We have a balcony too.

As far as Belize, jonboy, what time were you able to get your tender? We also have a ruins excursion booked there, did you feel it was rushed because of late tenders? Just thinking if they did this last week, it may be the same next week....thank you!!!

 

We arrived at the port at the time they specified in the email which was between 2:00 and 3:00 we showed up at 2:15 .the wait was over 1 1/2 hours. They announced the government delay in Belize at 8:00 am and then before 8:30 am they announced the ship had been cleared and the tendering process had begun (at most 1/2 hour behind ) We were not able to get on a tender until after 12:30.

[photogcrazy]

The people who bought an excursion through Carnival got off first, then gold and fttf people then the rest of us. People who purchased an excursion direct got screwed.

[MaineYachtClub]

I asked about the Belize issue and it was a Belize official problem not Carnival. The officials didn't come out when they were supposed to.

 

I asked about the Belize issue, also, and it was definitely Carnival's fault. The published itinerary had us arriving in Belize at 9:00. The night before, the Fun Times indicated we would arrive at 8:00. We the passengers were never notified and neither were the port authorities. The crew member that I spoke with said they had to wake up the port official.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

..... When ever our neighbors smoked on the balcony it got pulled into our room..What somebody broke the rules and smoked on the balcony???? Repeatedly with no action taken to stop them.....

 

Did you notify anyone while it was happening?

 

edited to add, looks like you did.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Rottweiler Puppy

[MaineYachtClub]

I have to join in with jonboy9756. The only place that the smoke smell was overbearing was in the casino. Unfortunately, it permeated out and a good part of Deck 5 was affected. This was particularly annoying since the casino is open to the only passageway on Deck 5. Walking for or aft on deck 5 required you to pass through the cloud.

 

Otherwise, my wife and I had a great time. We had 7 days of clear, blue skies and seas as smooth as glass. The Valor needs some TLC, but as others have mentioned, the crew is constantly cleaning and picking up. Personally, I felt the few blemishes added character to the ship. We did all non-Carnival excursions and with FTTF had no problem getting on or off the ship. I'm sorry if others had bad experiences, but we'd go back again in a heartbeat.

[Tutontow]

I sailed the Valor in April and had a wonderful cruise. The only place i felt the smoke was bad was the casino area.

 

I will say pretty much every casino, except in Canada has horrible smoke. Gambling makes people nervous so they tend to smoke like a chimney.

 

It seems with no smoking on the balcony the area around the casino and casino bar should be renamed "The Ashtray".

 

I am sorry to hear about the pneumonia. I had it and it is brutal.

 

Yep, a moving ship with a poor door seal will create a vacuum and the smoke will be pulled right into your cabin. If you ever encounter this again I would play the "health" card and tell them you and your family are becoming ill due to the smoke in your cabin.

 

I totally agree about the food and the staff, some of the best I have encountered on a cruise.

 

One time when I was staying at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas they were stripping wallpaper in the hall outside my room. The smell was overwhelming. They upgraded me to a suite on a different floor to appease me.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Tutontow

[photogcrazy]

I will say we only physically saw the neighbor smoking on 4 occasions but the smell would get noticeably worse far more often. I definitely wondered if the previous passengers in that cabin were smoking due to how strong the smell was. To illustrate to others on this same cruise the smell in our cabin at all times was as bad as when you turn the corner on deck 5 to the hall heading to the front of the ship Starboard side. At times the room would smell as bad as it did in the casino. I also was curious if someone was smoking near the shared A/C intake since the smell was strongest near the A/C outlet in the cabin. I have been on many other cruises and enjoyed them all and never would sweat the small stuff. If you want you can nit pick any cruise apart but I prefer to enjoy my cruise and not look at all the little issues. This cruise would have been night and day better if just the smoke alone was not an issue. The other stuff would not have even mattered. I will say again the ship was clean the staff was great the stench was the main issue. The food was the best of all the cruises I have been on!