Without Valor- a Mini Review

[Indytraveler83]

1 minute ago, momof3cruisers said:

Didn’t they come back from Alaska in Sept? We sailed in October. Pretty sure they are currently sailing from Miami. It’s very cold in Alaska right now. 😂

 

Well true.  My thought process (however sleep deprived at this point) was that when the Spirit first started sailing again, they simply put whatever crew onboard they could get.  Then, knowing she would be heading to Alaska seasonally, they started filtering more experienced crew to the ship.  

[UPNYGuy]

16 hours ago, Indytraveler83 said:

 

That's terrible that you this experience, but I'm glad to see that it's improved.  Maybe Carnival has been slowly switching to more experienced staff for the highly competitive Alaska cruises?

I was on Miracle in July and had several staff tell me it was their first contract. 

[UPNYGuy]

On 1/21/2023 at 12:14 AM, icft said:

DW and I were on Paradise (5 day in August) and didn’t have an issue, and have a couple sailings of less than a week on Venezia. Not anticipating any issues.  Quite a bit of this is the clientele on the ship at the time. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by UPNYGuy

[Jamman54]

On 1/22/2023 at 10:53 PM, momof3cruisers said:

I am so glad service seems to have improved. I answered with some of it above. Dinner was consistently over 2 hours long with long periods spent sitting with dirty plates in front of us, often never received the bar drinks we ordered.  Incorrectly prepared drinks in the comedy club were a frequent problem, (I got a Midori sour that was simply midori over ice and a “Kailua and cream with a splash of club soda” that was cream over ice)  no bar staff anywhere in the main show room, the lobby during pre dinner music or anywhere on deck.  This was my 4th cruise since the restart and I was stunned. 

I would have been upset too, but happily we didn't experience any of the same issues. I guess in the time between yours and our cruises they got their act together. Was our cruise perfect, of course not, but we don't sweat the small stuff, if it truly is small stuff. 

[sokal]

On 1/20/2023 at 3:56 PM, Indytraveler83 said:

 

To be clear for everyone: I didn't claim any open or obvious discrimination.  It's staring that lingers too long, or saying "excuse me" to people they squeeze past except us.  Little bits of impolite behavior that let's one know they aren't welcome, when everyone else is.

 

 

 

 

Just a thought on the staring. I recently moved from the west coast to the mid west, a lot of NOLA customers are from the Mid west I have noticed. Not all but a lot of them have never seen a gay couple before. Some of these people have never been out of the county they were born in before going on this cruise.  Some of the comments I here from my customers when they get back is about how many different kinds of people where on the cruise. Never a bad word about different just amazed. 

 

I'm not telling you how to feel or what caused your discomfort just letting you know another possible explanation. 

[Indytraveler83]

5 hours ago, sokal said:

Just a thought on the staring. I recently moved from the west coast to the mid west, a lot of NOLA customers are from the Mid west I have noticed. Not all but a lot of them have never seen a gay couple before. Some of these people have never been out of the county they were born in before going on this cruise.  Some of the comments I here from my customers when they get back is about how many different kinds of people where on the cruise. Never a bad word about different just amazed. 

 

I'm not telling you how to feel or what caused your discomfort just letting you know another possible explanation. 

 

We live in the Midwest.  What we saw isn't what we experience here.  People would see us and get up and walk away, or glare at us until we did.  They'd say polite things as they squeezed by in an elevator, then glare at us.  

 

Again, don't want to truly judge someone else.  But if you are like us, chances are a Valor cruise could be uncomfortable.