Carnival Valor - Feb 21 - 26 - Post Cruise Recap

[Don Kehote]

Pre-Cruise stuff first:

 

Saturday's Allright for Flying:

• We flew in Saturday evening. American Airlines, true to form, was delayed on both flights.
• After claiming bags, I loaded up Uber to see about a ride to our hotel, in the CBD.  Prices were in the $81-89 range due to surge.  So, we hung out for about 20 minutes, and they dropped back down to $36, which we jumped on.  Very friendly driver, was conversant, and got us right to the front door of our hotel, the Troubadour.
• Hotel was really nice. Potentially haunted, but really nice.  I might elucidate on this later.
• We had dinner at the Pythian Market, crab cakes and a shrimp po-boy, and they were both GREAT.

 

Sunday, Bloody Mary Sunday:

 

• Sunday AM, we walked down toward Cafe DuMonde. Mind you, this was about 7:45 AM.  We weren't 15 steps onto Bourbon Street before some guy started calling out that he liked my shoes.  No kidding.  I gave him a glare and a "shoo" wave, and he split. (There was no coffee in me yet)
• We continued on down to Cafe DuMonde, and had the old reliable coffee and beignets.  The band outside was really good.
• Walked down to French Market, which wasn't quite open yet, and looked around.  
• We moseyed on up to Antoine's, and had breakfast. The Bloody Mary was better than the meal, but we just wanted something easy.
• It wasn't quite time to get to our next stop, so we walked over to Jackson Square to look around at the art on display.  There we met Irving and Little Irving.  When Irving started to wind up for his pitch, I told him we were going elsewhere, and we left.  He called after us to come back, but I had given him a false name, so it was quickly drowned out in the crowd.
• Back up to Bourbon Street.  We were headed to 701 Royal Street to see if we could catch Doreen Katchens playing, but she wasn't there this time, unfortunately.  There were other good musicians in her place, so we watched a while and headed down Bourbon (now that all the trash was cleaned up from the night before).
• Lunch time was on us, so we hit the Bucket List stop for the trip: Felix's Restaurant & Oyster Bar.  This is a must.  We shared fried crawfish tails, and a cup of seafood gumbo.  Wife ordered a half dozen on the half-shell, and I ordered six of my own, but Char-Grilled.  I am here to tell you, that was one of the most amazing things I've ever had. Wife loved her raw oysters, but I offered her one of mine, saying "Oh honey, I think this is gonna break your heart."
• She tasted it.
• She literally cried.
• They were amazing, and wonderful.  It was like the finest little bit of filet mignon ever, and I crave them still.  We ordered another dozen and ate them too.  These things were the size of my entire palm, just enormous.
• We walked back to hotel, and were stopped along the way by The Mystic Krewe of Femme Fatale  They were throwing cups and frisbees and stuffed animals, along with the beads, to the people on the route.   We were standing a little bit back, so I didn't expect to get any for us.
• I caught a flash out of my peripheral vision, and went back into Tight End mode. I caught an ENTIRE BAG of beads in the crook of my arm.  It must have been five pounds; it actually hurt a little!  We gave some of the beads to a little kid nearby, and headed back to the hotel, tired, entertained, and FULL.
• Later, when we woke up, we intended to go back to the Pythian Market for dinner, but it was already closed for the night.  So after talking to the front desk (we didn't want anything fancy, or to get a ride), we walked a couple of blocks to The Original Italian Pie, which was also surprisingly good.  Took a couple pizzas (and pralines) back to the room, ate up, and got to sleep.

Next up:  Cruise Day!

[icft]

8 hours ago, Don Kehote said:

...

• Sunday AM, we walked down toward Cafe DuMonde. Mind you, this was about 7:45 AM.  We weren't 15 steps onto Bourbon Street before some guy started calling out that he liked my shoes.  No kidding.  I gave him a glare and a "shoo" wave, and he split. (There was no coffee in me yet)...

 

In case some don't know, it goes like this:

Kid: I like your shoes!

Tourist: Uh, thanks?

Kid: I bet you $5 I can tell you where you got them.

Tourist from out of town figuring this kid probably never heard of the shoe store: OK, where?

Kid: You got them on your feet.

[BubbaD123]

Go on, sir. 

[Don Kehote]

Monday AM - it's Cruise Day!

 

• Uber was $31 from the hotel to the Erato Street cruise terminal.  Easy peasy ride.
• Our appointment time was 10-10:30, and we arrived pretty much exactly on time.
• Being early, we were able to walk right up to the entrance doors.  From there, we could see an escalator going up to screening.  There were still a few people disembarking, it looked like.
• Pre-screening is exactly as expected.  They accepted my passport, wife's birth certificate and electronic copies of Walgreens covid testing, and we moved through to Security.
• Turns out my passport holder trips the metal detector.  Go figure.
• There were a LOT of people in line with 11-11:30 arrival appointments.  True to form, Carnival let 'em right in, no questions asked, no worries.
• We finished processing (I didn't know that they capture your picture from passport), and sat down for a bit to wait for boarding to start.
• It was funny seeing people at the concession stand - I mean, you're about to be on a cruise ship in minutes, but you just gotta have those munchies RFN?  Okay, then.
• Boarding started 11:15, we were feet on deck by 11:25.
• Our room was most assuredly not ready for us to drop bags (we asked a crew member if it was allowed), so we parked it at the Red Frog up on Lido, to wait for access.
• 1:25, they opened the doors to cabins, so we headed to our Lido balcony, and unpacked.
• Room was standard Carnival, older style peachy color.  Temp control was good - it was warm at first, but later, we had to raise the temperature.  TV was one of the older, small ones on a shelf.
• The balcony door was very stiff - once pushed open, it would stay where it was, which was kind of nice. Overall, I'd call it a perk.
• The shower had no real way to grip the temp control, had to get a washrag and use that to adjust.  That was weird.
• We went up to the smoking area on Deck 10, Starboard to relax a bit. There was lots of seating, but VERY FEW ashtrays for some reason.  People were using cups because they didn't have another option.  Bad maneuver on CCL for that.
• We took early dining, a change from our normal Your Time.  We thought it would be nice to sit with the same staff every night.  We have had experiences of ASKING for the same servers at YTD, and getting seated in completely random areas in spite of it.
• Table for 8, there were 6 of us sat there that evening.  Very back of the dining room, Starboard side corner.  The view of the wake would have been great if it wasn't already dark out, I think.
• First Night Dinner was completely ordinary, but that damn Melting Chocolate Cake is just divine every time.  We tried the option of a scoop of Peanut Butter with it, and that worked out really well.
• Special shoutout to I. Wayan - clearly our favorite waiter of the cruise.
• We thought we'd go back to Deck 10, but HOLY MOLY the wind was incredible.  We gave up on it, and ended up going to bed early.  The previous day, and all the excitement of embarking had us worn out.
• I woke up after midnight, and realized we had Finally made the Gulf of Mexico,  Back to sleep, room service is coming at 7:30 with yummies!

[Pellaz]

On 3/3/2022 at 2:46 AM, icft said:

In case some don't know, it goes like this:

Kid: I like your shoes!

Tourist: Uh, thanks?

Kid: I bet you $5 I can tell you where you got them.

Tourist from out of town figuring this kid probably never heard of the shoe store: OK, where?

Kid: You got them on your feet.

 

And the possible responses:  
"I'll give you $5 if you can tell me where I PURCHASED my shoes."  🙂  

or

"Hmm, nahh, but I'll bet you $5 I can tell you where you got YOURS!"  😄 

 

11 hours ago, Don Kehote said:

Monday AM - it's Cruise Day!

 

• We finished processing (I didn't know that they capture your picture from passport), and sat down for a bit to wait for boarding to start.
• It was funny seeing people at the concession stand - I mean, you're about to be on a cruise ship in minutes, but you just gotta have those munchies RFN?  Okay, then.

• The balcony door was very stiff - once pushed open, it would stay where it was, which was kind of nice. Overall, I'd call it a perk.
• We went up to the smoking area on Deck 10, Starboard to relax a bit. There was lots of seating, but VERY FEW ashtrays for some reason.  People were using cups because they didn't have another option.  Bad maneuver on CCL for that.
• First Night Dinner was completely ordinary, but that damn Melting Chocolate Cake is just divine every time.  We tried the option of a scoop of Peanut Butter with it, and that worked out really well.

 

• I thought all of Carnival's homeports had switched over to using passport photos, but no; in Miami two weeks ago I had to go to the kiosks and they had to take my photo.  How quaint. 
• There's a concession stand at the terminal in NOLA?  Yeah, that does seem pretty silly.  I suppose it might be nice for 10 am arriving folks.  
• My balcony door on the Sunrise was also pretty stiff, and I also considered it a perk.
• Carnival has apparently instituted a new rule where smoking is prohibited in all areas until sailaway due to fueling/bunkering concerns, which might explain the lack of ashtrays you saw.  Anyone know if this is official?
• Wait.  You can haz peanut butter with the WCMC?    Ooooh.  🙂    

Edited March 5, 2022 by Pellaz
added context

[kfarist]

@Don Kehote do you have any pictures of the Fun Times? I am going in April. Enjoying hearing how it went! 

[BubbaD123]

Go on, sir. 

[amberdc87]

Just book a trip on the Valor for end of next month!  Can't wait to hear more about it.

[Dippy Dawg]

We just got back from the Valor.  During embarkation i used my passport card and they took a picture of me when i registered.  Funny thing is that when we went thru security (metal detectors) I had to go to security and show them my passport card again - my photo didnt match when my boarding pass was scanned at the metal detector.  I have a goatee now and my passport card photo was taken before I had a goatee.

[wikoffclan]

On 3/5/2022 at 5:13 PM, kfarist said:

@Don Kehote do you have any pictures of the Fun Times? I am going in April. Enjoying hearing how it went! 

Just got back from 3/3 Valor sailing. No printed Fun Times. All info is on the Hub app

 

[Dippy Dawg]

On 3/11/2022 at 11:42 AM, wikoffclan said:

Just got back from 3/3 Valor sailing. No printed Fun Times. All info is on the Hub app

 

Printed FunTimes were available everyday from Guest Services and from the Coffee Bar.  I was on the 3/3 Valor sailing as well.

 

[nol4am]

more review?

[wikoffclan]

9 hours ago, Dippy Dawg said:

Printed FunTimes were available everyday from Guest Services and from the Coffee Bar.  I was on the 3/3 Valor sailing as well.

 

I stand corrected 😁

[MaryAnn261]

Which Walreens covid test did you get?  There are 3 choices listed...but only

2 in my area.

[Don Kehote]

On 3/6/2022 at 9:44 AM, BubbaD123 said:

Go on, sir. 

Yikes, guess I've been a little tied up.

 

Tuesday - Day at Sea

• I had wisely arranged for coffee and danish to be delivered at 7:30 AM so that we could start the day right.
• We both woke up at 6.  sadface.jpg
• I was dispatched to go fetch my bride a coffee as soon as possible.  Which I did.
• There are TWO coffee bars of note.  There's the one down in the promenade, which sometimes has long lines.  There is a smaller one back on the Lido, I believe it was by the pizza station. That seemed to be the one that nobody knew about, and became the one we went to most of the time.
• We futzed around until Sea Day Brunch was open, and settled in to gorge.
• Yesterday, a guy pointed out that I looked JUST LIKE Christopher Cross. SInce I was overdue anyway, I decided that this meant I was desperately in need of a haircut.  To the Spa!
• Arranged $45 haircut. Return at 1:30 for the shearing (it was really pretty bad).
• Deck 10 was much less windy today, but still very few ashtrays.  Still can't figure that out.
• There were a surprising number of children playing in the smoking area. Didn't so much like that.  Not because they were kids, but because they were in the freaking smoking area.
• Went back to cabin, and showered up, then headed to spa.
• I thought it was funny that I had to fill out a long form concerning my skincare needs.  I am a big old troll looking man.  I just needed a haircut, but whatever.
• I wisely insisted that my darling bride attend said haircut to give instruction on how SHE wanted it.  I tend to go a little too short for her tastes.
• On completion, the spa personnel ganged up on me, using the "presumptive close" technique to attempt an upsell of extra services.  Like, $135 worth of extra services.  I laughed at them, and we left, with me freshly shorn and ready to join society again.
• More spiked coffee, more drinks ensued.
• Our last cruise was on Carnival Pride.  I was completely turned around on that one; couldn't go the right way any time we were going anywhere on board.  This was my wife's turn - she was bamboozled constantly.
• Tonight's dinner, we had a full table, which was fun. A couple from Alabama was mentioning that they have family in Cozumel that they intended to see while they were in port.
• We went back to bed again, as the morning held a trip to Nachi Cocom, and we wanted to maximize our time.
• Incidentally, I am *never* allowed to watch Food Network ever again, most especially Guy's Grocery Games.

[MistyRo76]

1 hour ago, Don Kehote said:

 

• We went back to bed again, as the morning held a trip to Nachi Cocom, and we wanted to maximize our time

Excited to hear your thoughts on Nachi Cocom! We are booked there for the first time on our October cruise on the Valor. We usually do Playa Mia - but the thought of the capacity being capped is perfect and just what we're looking for. I've read they are closing for some remodeling soon...did you get any info on that? 

 

Thank you!