Comin’ at you Live from Valor

[Organized Chaos]

Currently aboard the Valor. Just thought I’d write down some initial thoughts, then go from there. 

 

Day 1:  Because of school, we hadn’t been able to take a winter cruise until now, so this is our first non-summertime cruise. We were looking forward to a cooler experience. This is also our first cruise out of New Orleans. Again, we were looking forward to the new experience of cruising down the Mississippi for a while. The only problem, the sun went down not long after sail-away,  so the change in scenery didn’t matter much anyway.

 

We have FTTF.  We got to the terminal around 10:15 and walked right inside. This time, we decided to carry on our suitcases instead of checking them to see how we’d like it. Security was uneventful. Initial check-in was fast and easy, as it tends to be now, with just a check of our boarding passes and passports. After that, there was a separate security check station set up for sodas and wine. They didn’t tear open my case of soda completely, but did pop open the perforated end to peek inside. 

 

Normally, we like to put some Cruise Cash on our account, but this time we didn’t, so they had us go to the terminal Guest Services.  We were using a single Carnival gift card to fund our three S&S accounts. Many times in the past, I’ve read on this forum that they’re able to divide a single gift card between multiple accounts, and I feel like we’ve done it before ourselves, but she said she couldn’t do it. We ended up spending a good 10 minutes at the counter while she tried to figure it out, to no avail. We ended up putting the gift card on one account and having the other two pull from that one. We won’t go through that again, we’ll make sure to buy Cruise Cash with our discounted gift cards in the future.

 

Since that process put us behind, we ended up nearly at the end of the FTTF line when called for boarding. But we were still on board, put our luggage in our cabin, and were done eating lunch before 11:30.

 

My son & I had Guy’s. They only had one line going and only one crew member on the line, so it went fairly slow. Slower than usual. We are usually big fans of Guy’s burgers, but our first ones were disappointing this time.

 

We’re used to stewards who introduce themselves right away, but we didn’t see ours for 2-3 hours. He’s friendly, but not as personable as we’ve had in the past. Probably a product of increasing their workload. We saw his list of cabins and it was huge. He didn’t offer twice/day cabin service, only told us one or the other. We know we can still have both, but we just wanted one, so didn’t press it.

 

We eventually made our way to Guest Services to see if they could straighten out our S&S issue, but she too said she couldn’t divide a single gift card among multiple accounts. She suggested we buy a new gift card or two from Cherry on Top for the amounts we want to split into, then deposit them on our individual accounts. I doubt we do it, we’ll just leave it as is.

 

First night MDR: We don’t see the option to check in for Your Time Dining on the Hub app. I guess it’s not available on Valor yet. It took 5 minutes or more before anyone approached our table, and the MDR really wasn’t that busy. Our lead waiter came, didn’t introduce himself like we’ve experienced in the past, handed out our menus and left. He came back a short time later and asked if we were ready to order. It wasn’t enough time, so we told him we weren’t ready. He left and never came back. His assistant took our orders and handled us from that point on. Again, it’s probably a byproduct of an increased workload, but we’ve never had a lead waiter who was that inattentive and unfriendly. We finished off our first night at the comedy club. Absolutely hilarious! At one point, there was a gentleman  standing by the stage on his phone. The comedian went in for the kill and started giving him a hard time before realizing it was actually a member of security. He was escorting an older woman around the ship who was looking for her husband, and she was TICKED OFF!! She snapped at the comedian, telling him, “It’s not funny!” He apologized to the comedy host, but as soon as the woman left, he had fun at her expense, saying the husband was probably hiding from her. LMAO 

 

First impressions of CD Kevin is that I’m not impressed so far. We’ll see how that goes. Weather was pretty cool leaving NOLA, so it was very strange seeing the Lido pool area looking like a ghost town on embarkation day. No one swimming or laying out.

 

About to have sea day brunch now. Took us a while to get out of the cabin. We were exhausted last night. It’s finally warmed up outside. Not hot, just right for me. People in shorts, no jackets or stocking caps like yesterday. 

 

Not sure if I’ll write a review every day, but I’m happy to answer some questions if y’all have one, within reason of course. We’re on vacation, after all. I’ll check back when I get a free minute here & there.

[trvlgirlmq]

If you love live music go see Deep Blue Soul at Red Frog.  They are amazing.

 

Ask for Abigail in the MDR.  We had her our last night and she was great.

[Organized Chaos]

We are rockin & rollin today! And I don’t mean the music.

 

Sorry the text turned out so large on that first post. Don’t know what happened.

Edited December 3, 2019 by Organized Chaos

[xDisconnections]

I hope your cruise gets better! Sounds like you’re trying to still have a nice time despite the inconveniences. Have fun!

[Organized Chaos]

I don’t want to come off like it’s bad so far. We’re noticing differences and they just happen to be a few negatives. They aren’t cruise killers.

[jbethel11]

Following! Can't wait to see how your cruise went! I agree, Kevin was far from the best CD we had on our cruises. Tell me how long you have to wait for elevators!

[Joe817]

Following along. I hope you all have a fantastic time! 

[kat2009]

Yeah, Kevin didn't impress me either. Was on Valor in Sept. 

Going out on her again next week. There was an announcement today that Guy's will begin serving breakfast (burgers with eggs). Are they doing that on Valor? Any fun Christmas activities? How cold is it first sea day? Thanks.

[Organized Chaos]

Thanks y’all.

 

Day 1 elevators sucked. For most of the afternoon and early evening, we’d end up taking the stairs...even to go 3-4 decks. By last night, they improved considerably. 2-3 minute wait. Today, only about a minute, oftentimes less. But with evening events soon, I’m sure traffic will pick up.

 

Kevin seems like he likes making PA announcements more than being out face to face.

 

We have the Value plan. Internet has been pretty good. Speeds aren’t great, but decent enough. I can post here fairly well. And I’ve done some random surfing. My boy’s easily been able to get on Reddit now & again. We’re able to communicate using iMessage without any issues so far. Since we use that, we aren’t using Hub chat, so can’t comment on that.

 

Just chillin in the Eagles Lounge (comedy club) right now waiting for military appreciation to start. One of our favorite events.

 

Incidentally, I don’t concentrate on ship decor much, but I’m really liking Valor’s. 

[reeinaz]

I'm sailing on Valor Saturday!

[detroitavant]

Valor was our first cruise on our honeymoon years ago! Hope you post some pictures!

[VictorWI]

Following. I'll be on the Valor next November out of New Orleans. She was my first Carnival Cruise ship back in 2012.

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, kat2009 said:

There was an announcement today that Guy's will begin serving breakfast (burgers with eggs). Are they doing that on Valor? Any fun Christmas activities? How cold is it first sea day? Thanks.

 

To my knowledge, there’s no Guy’s breakfast on Valor. I think that article said it’s on Sunshine for now, didn’t it? I’ll try to remember to have a look in the morning.

 

The CD had a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in the Lobby yesterday. But as he was talking to the crowd, someone turned the tree lights on. There wasn’t a countdown. Then they sang a few Xmas carols. There’s at least one Christmas related trivia one day. And they’ll have Santa and the Grinch one day.

 

It was in the low-mid 50’s in NOLA on embarkation day. Once we set sail, there was a wicked cross wind that made it even colder. The outside decks were pretty barren all afternoon/night. Today (day 2) was in the 80’s I think. Still quite warm in the sun for me, I get hot easy, but a heck of a lot better than summertime.  This evening feels great. 

[Organized Chaos]

The military appreciation gathering was outstanding. The most moving we’ve been to yet. Credit goes where credit is due, CD Kevin had a big hand in that. He said he likes to have it early in a cruise cause it’s important and it gives us all a chance to meet each other early on. He also said he holds it in the comedy club instead of the main theater because, in a smaller venue, it’s more intimate and we can see everyone face to face better. It means a lot to me that he puts so much thought into it, and I told him exactly that when we all got a chance to stand and speak, and again in person with him afterwards. He was clearly moved and touched by the whole thing and that means a lot to me. Despite what I may think of his job as CD, I respect him greatly for what he put into that one event.

One of the Playlist performers is from Scotland, but he came to his first military appreciation a couple cruises ago, thanks to Kevin always talking about it, so he took time to learn our national anthem and sang it today. Very nice of him and he did great.

Tears were definitely shed. People had some awesome things to say and I’m grateful Carnival does this event every cruise.

[jbethel11]

14 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

The military appreciation gathering was outstanding. The most moving we’ve been to yet. Credit goes where credit is due, CD Kevin had a big hand in that. He said he likes to have it early in a cruise cause it’s important and it gives us all a chance to meet each other early on. He also said he holds it in the comedy club instead of the main theater because, in a smaller venue, it’s more intimate and we can see everyone face to face better. It means a lot to me that he puts so much thought into it, and I told him exactly that when we all got a chance to stand and speak, and again in person with him afterwards. He was clearly moved and touched by the whole thing and that means a lot to me. Despite what I may think of his job as CD, I respect him greatly for what he put into that one event.

One of the Playlist performers is from Scotland, but he came to his first military appreciation a couple cruises ago, thanks to Kevin always talking about it, so he took time to learn our national anthem and sang it today. Very nice of him and he did great.

Tears were definitely shed. People had some awesome things to say and I’m grateful Carnival does this event every cruise.

Ask him if he remembers the guy with the headphones on at the morning show from the August 26th sailing! He probably doesn't, but who knows?

[bury me at sea]

Good of you to take the time on a hectic embarkation day to post, and to continue following up.

 

I hope you and your family have a wonderful time on the rest of your winter vacation.

[reeinaz]

What is the crowd like at Serenity?

[Joe817]

Obviously a very moving experience. Thank you for taking the time to post this, and thank you to all of our veterans, family, and active duty personnel. God Bless you all. 

[Organized Chaos]

11 hours ago, reeinaz said:

What is the crowd like at Serenity?

 

We haven’t been up there during the day. Been keeping ourselves entertained elsewhere. And I’m not much of a lounge on deck type of guy. On embarkation day, it was cold enough that I doubt anyone was up there. There weren’t even people in any of the main hot tubs. I walked up to Serenity last night around 8 or 9 and it was empty, but the two hot tubs were pretty full.

[Organized Chaos]

I guess CC was doing some site maintenance last night. Couldn’t logon at the end of our night. We skipped elegant night (didn’t feel like packing for it) so it was Guy’s for supper and pizza for another late night supper. Pizza line around 10:45pm was about 20 deep.

One of the comedians almost had to call security on someone who was sitting in the front row talking the whole time. The comedian started in on him and it just escalated from there. The Fun Squad comedy host finally came over and had a talk with the guy and he quieted down. But it was pretty awkward for about 5 min. for the rest of us. Then the next comedian made a girl storm out. She was truly being a moody teenager and he was just asking her why she was so angry. She’s not in school and on a cruise, things like that. She eventually got mad enough and stormed off...with her friend in tow (who probably wanted to stay and watch the rest). The mother of that friend (who paid for the moody teen’s cruise) stayed and enjoyed the rest of the show. LOL So comedy was an exciting night.

Here’s the Lobby on embarkation morning before the crowds got onboard:



And here’s the lit Christmas tree last night during the 80’s music trivia party:

[Organized Chaos]

We’re docked at Cozumel and they should turn us loose in about 20 minutes. An Aida and a Celebrity ship have beat us hear.

We’re gonna eat and let the initial wave of people die down first. No excursions planned for this trip. We just meant for this to be a short(er), cheap’ish cruise so we didn’t have to wait so long for our 8-day on Horizon in March. So we’re just going to explore the nearby area and come back onboard later. I’m eager to try my hand at some trivia with less people onboard.

A couple people in the Guy’s burger breakfast thread had mentioned that Guy’s is sometimes used as a supplemental breakfast bar with continental options, but not here. Just the usual breakfast venues.

[Bookster99]

On 12/3/2019 at 10:59 AM, Organized Chaos said:

Currently aboard the Valor. Just thought I’d write down some initial thoughts, then go from there. 

 

Day 1:  Because of school, we hadn’t been able to take a winter cruise until now, so this is our first non-summertime cruise. We were looking forward to a cooler experience. This is also our first cruise out of New Orleans. Again, we were looking forward to the new experience of cruising down the Mississippi for a while. The only problem, the sun went down not long after sail-away,  so the change in scenery didn’t matter much anyway.

 

We have FTTF.  We got to the terminal around 10:15 and walked right inside. This time, we decided to carry on our suitcases instead of checking them to see how we’d like it. Security was uneventful. Initial check-in was fast and easy, as it tends to be now, with just a check of our boarding passes and passports. After that, there was a separate security check station set up for sodas and wine. They didn’t tear open my case of soda completely, but did pop open the perforated end to peek inside. 

 

Normally, we like to put some Cruise Cash on our account, but this time we didn’t, so they had us go to the terminal Guest Services.  We were using a single Carnival gift card to fund our three S&S accounts. Many times in the past, I’ve read on this forum that they’re able to divide a single gift card between multiple accounts, and I feel like we’ve done it before ourselves, but she said she couldn’t do it. We ended up spending a good 10 minutes at the counter while she tried to figure it out, to no avail. We ended up putting the gift card on one account and having the other two pull from that one. We won’t go through that again, we’ll make sure to buy Cruise Cash with our discounted gift cards in the future.

 

Since that process put us behind, we ended up nearly at the end of the FTTF line when called for boarding. But we were still on board, put our luggage in our cabin, and were done eating lunch before 11:30.

 

My son & I had Guy’s. They only had one line going and only one crew member on the line, so it went fairly slow. Slower than usual. We are usually big fans of Guy’s burgers, but our first ones were disappointing this time.

 

We’re used to stewards who introduce themselves right away, but we didn’t see ours for 2-3 hours. He’s friendly, but not as personable as we’ve had in the past. Probably a product of increasing their workload. We saw his list of cabins and it was huge. He didn’t offer twice/day cabin service, only told us one or the other. We know we can still have both, but we just wanted one, so didn’t press it.

 

We eventually made our way to Guest Services to see if they could straighten out our S&S issue, but she too said she couldn’t divide a single gift card among multiple accounts. She suggested we buy a new gift card or two from Cherry on Top for the amounts we want to split into, then deposit them on our individual accounts. I doubt we do it, we’ll just leave it as is.

 

First night MDR: We don’t see the option to check in for Your Time Dining on the Hub app. I guess it’s not available on Valor yet. It took 5 minutes or more before anyone approached our table, and the MDR really wasn’t that busy. Our lead waiter came, didn’t introduce himself like we’ve experienced in the past, handed out our menus and left. He came back a short time later and asked if we were ready to order. It wasn’t enough time, so we told him we weren’t ready. He left and never came back. His assistant took our orders and handled us from that point on. Again, it’s probably a byproduct of an increased workload, but we’ve never had a lead waiter who was that inattentive and unfriendly. We finished off our first night at the comedy club. Absolutely hilarious! At one point, there was a gentleman  standing by the stage on his phone. The comedian went in for the kill and started giving him a hard time before realizing it was actually a member of security. He was escorting an older woman around the ship who was looking for her husband, and she was TICKED OFF!! She snapped at the comedian, telling him, “It’s not funny!” He apologized to the comedy host, but as soon as the woman left, he had fun at her expense, saying the husband was probably hiding from her. LMAO 

 

First impressions of CD Kevin is that I’m not impressed so far. We’ll see how that goes. Weather was pretty cool leaving NOLA, so it was very strange seeing the Lido pool area looking like a ghost town on embarkation day. No one swimming or laying out.

 

About to have sea day brunch now. Took us a while to get out of the cabin. We were exhausted last night. It’s finally warmed up outside. Not hot, just right for me. People in shorts, no jackets or stocking caps like yesterday. 

 

Not sure if I’ll write a review every day, but I’m happy to answer some questions if y’all have one, within reason of course. We’re on vacation, after all. I’ll check back when I get a free minute here & there.

Enjoyed my stay on the Valor. Look forward to your updates as the cruise progresses.

[~Seachelle~]

On Valor as well. It’s a beautiful day in Cozumel. Isn’t everyday great when your on a cruise. 😉

I agree with Organized Chaos, the military appreciation was VERY moving. Kevin did a fantastic job!  So glad I went. The playlist show last night was really good, 70’s themed. I like how they involved members from the crowd. 

Lovin’ the Christmas decorations. Glad we were able to book this time of year. 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2019 by ~Seachelle~
Added photo

[Shaded Lady]

Thanks for bringing us along on your cruise @Organized Chaos!

[PekingeseLady]

Been very much enjoying your live review.  So much fun.

 

Could you please post a picture of the door hanger in the cabin for the Continental Breakfast.  The one you leave out at night to be delivered to your room in the morning.

 

Thanks in advance.  I've tried to search the forum, but to no avail.