Tell me about Carnival transatlantics, esp. on Valor

[melusina]

Next year, the Valor June TA from Barcelona to New Orleans is great tim8ng and itinerary for us. But we've only done 1 cruise, in the Mediterranean with Celebrity. On a TA, obviously you need decent food and some things you'd want to do. What's the music like? Would there be classes?  We're pretty quiet people snd mostly entertain oyrselves, but 2 weeks is a long time! We'll be returning from 6 weeks in Spain snd France and welcome some down time - but comfortable downtime

[Jim4WVU]

We are also considering this cruise and have some of the same questions. We are a seasoned cruise couple. But mostly 7-10 days throughout the Caribbean and Bermuda. 
We are in our early 60s. We typically enjoy the sun, beverages and entertainment. We’re wondering about the Valor and what a TA cruise will offer. 
Replies are appreciated!

Jim & Jackie

[melusina]

Hi Jim and Jackie. Fortunately there's already a group for this cruise on the social medisite rhat can't be named. Seems like rhere will be a number of teachers on this one. But i still have no clue about what kind of activites!

[Cefu]

My husband and I are taking the Barcelona, Spain to New Orleans cruise June 11, 2025 on Carnival Valor.  We are in our late 70's.  We are from Central Texas and this will be our first cruise from another country to the US.  We have made several cruises but, usually travel out of Galveston, Texas or New Orleans, Louisiana and come back to same port.  A little apprehensive to fly into Barcelona and get to our hotel.  We will be there 2 days early to see the sights.  And, again apprehension, to get to Port from the hotel to get on the ship.  Luckily, the hotel is able to offer sightseeing opportunities.  We have never been disappointed in what Carnival has to offer - food, entertainment, activities, sightseeing...  Joey Hernandez, our Carnival Personal Vacation Planner, is extremely helpful in answering any question we have.  The forum was suggested by a friend to be able to meet cruisers and have a connection when on board the ship.  Not having to wait for days to meet people.  🙂  So, here we are. 

[BlerkOne]

We were on the Carnival Glory (sister ship to Valor), TA this spring. We flew to Barcelona twice this year. No issues, but I can understand a little apprehension. We used Welcome Pickups to get from the airport to the hotels and again to the port.

 

 

[DeniseTr]

Ok, now you folks have me wanting to do this cruise, it's only 500 more than my current cruise (solo), and 5 days more. 

Kind of curious as to the experience, will look for detailed reviews 

[nealstuber]

On 9/13/2024 at 5:49 PM, Cefu said:

My husband and I are taking the Barcelona, Spain to New Orleans cruise June 11, 2025 on Carnival Valor.  We are in our late 70's.  We are from Central Texas and this will be our first cruise from another country to the US.  We have made several cruises but, usually travel out of Galveston, Texas or New Orleans, Louisiana and come back to same port.  A little apprehensive to fly into Barcelona and get to our hotel.  We will be there 2 days early to see the sights.  And, again apprehension, to get to Port from the hotel to get on the ship.  Luckily, the hotel is able to offer sightseeing opportunities.  We have never been disappointed in what Carnival has to offer - food, entertainment, activities, sightseeing...  Joey Hernandez, our Carnival Personal Vacation Planner, is extremely helpful in answering any question we have.  The forum was suggested by a friend to be able to meet cruisers and have a connection when on board the ship.  Not having to wait for days to meet people.  🙂  So, here we are. 

We’ll also be traveling from TX, doing the Redeye from DFW to BCN the Saturday before.

 

We’ve also done a ton of cruises from Galveston and are looking forward to our “New” Jubilee cruise scheduled for this coming thanksgiving.

[BlerkOne]

17 minutes ago, nealstuber said:

We’ll also be traveling from TX, doing the Redeye from DFW to BCN the Saturday before.

 

We’ve also done a ton of cruises from Galveston and are looking forward to our “New” Jubilee cruise scheduled for this coming thanksgiving.

If this is the flight I'm thinking of, we took it twice this year, and it was about 4 hours late both times but for different reasons.

[9tee2Sea]

On 6/4/2024 at 1:47 PM, melusina said:

Next year, the Valor June TA from Barcelona to New Orleans is great tim8ng and itinerary for us. But we've only done 1 cruise, in the Mediterranean with Celebrity. On a TA, obviously you need decent food and some things you'd want to do. What's the music like? Would there be classes?  We're pretty quiet people snd mostly entertain oyrselves, but 2 weeks is a long time! We'll be returning from 6 weeks in Spain snd France and welcome some down time - but comfortable downtime

my first ever cruise ( back in 1990) was a TA on the QE2.  It was a 10 day.  The first few days, I was sooo impatient, I wanted to get off the ship already and set foot on land.  Thats when I realized what cruising was all about, relaxation.  Once you start the 7 day journey of crossing the Atlantic, there will  be things onboard to fill your time.  Dance classes, sometimes language classes, cooking demonstrations.  On those sea days, I do lots of walking around the deck ( 1 mile after every meal ( except dinner), take a few more naps ( funny how sleepy you get mid afternoon just by doing nothing).  Maybe gamble a bit in the casino.  The 7 days at sea will go by pretty fast.  I like taking cruises back to the US after doing a land vacation in Europe.  Much easier to relax, and jet lag is never an issue.  Ive got 2026 Barcelona- Port Canaveral planned.

[nealstuber]

On 9/24/2024 at 8:01 AM, BlerkOne said:

If this is the flight I'm thinking of, we took it twice this year, and it was about 4 hours late both times but for different reasons.

Only one direct on AA from DFW to BCN but they announced a second one for 2025 just yesterday-details to follow. I’m top tier with AA, have been for 10 years.  It’s very much a marriage of convenience. The redeye supposed to arrive Sunday 10am if it’s 2pm we’ll live.

 

Much more concerned about Valor coming out of dry dock. Reviews of similar TAs on Conquest class ships are not very encouraging.  Im

sure we’ll enjoy the aft wrap and the food 🙂

[BlerkOne]

13 hours ago, nealstuber said:

Only one direct on AA from DFW to BCN but they announced a second one for 2025 just yesterday-details to follow. I’m top tier with AA, have been for 10 years.  It’s very much a marriage of convenience. The redeye supposed to arrive Sunday 10am if it’s 2pm we’ll live.

 

Much more concerned about Valor coming out of dry dock. Reviews of similar TAs on Conquest class ships are not very encouraging.  Im

sure we’ll enjoy the aft wrap and the food 🙂

We were on a nonstop from DFW-BCN (AA192) and also mostly stuck with AA, but after our recent experience with Delta, AA isn't so bad, and DFW ranks better than ATL, IMO.Looks like they have shifted flight times on 192.

 

I'm much more concerned about flying AA than Carnival ships after dry dock. We've been on plenty of ships after dry docks and inaugural cruises and loved every one.