Carnival Valor-Wetern Review 3/2-3/9 Pt II (Long)

[bhanback]

When I left you, we had made it to our great Spa deck cabin with the NEW balcony and we were marveling at the cleanliness, the goodie basket, the comfort of the bed, etc. We went up on deck to watch the sail away after a short nap, and noted that there were probably several hundred early spring breakers on the ship with us (a Carnival staffer later told us that several upcoming cruises on the Valor had an entire dinner seating assigned to them!)

They all seemed to be having a good time and keeping the bar staff runningfor drinks. Sail away from the port of Miami is so beautiful....and as you cruise slowly past the causeway going over towards south beach, you can see the house where the wedding scene in "The Godfather" was filmed, as well as the pool house from "Cocoon" I always feel like such a "country mouse" when I am in Miami, with the palm trees, fancy cars....the air even smells expensive!

 

A word about the design of the ship...our first ever cruise was on the Paradise and I loved the way you could almost walk all the way around the ship and be on an outside deck, and there were lots of quiet outside areas for lounging or a nap. On the Triumph and Victory I did not see this aspect so much, as much of the ship seems to be closed in. With the Conquest class ships they seem to have gone back a little to the more open decks that you can go front to back on, and I really love that. Being on the Spa deck, I was worried it would be a pain to get around, but we just turned right out of the cabin and went through the door and we were at the top of the center portion of the whole central outdoor area on Lido.m Just a few steps and we could be at Rosie's or take the elevator down to the Washington dining room for our dinner......which is just what we did after sail away.

 

OK.......I am NOT hard to please, and a LOT of our cruise planning time is spent talking about the food, food we love in the dining room, what we are going to have, how much we will love our dining staff, etc. During our first cruise I fell so in love with President's Butter (Made in France) that I drive literally hundreds of miles to buy it for special occasions at our house now. Our last cruise they did not have it and that was ok, and I was not surprised to see they did not have it this time either. (Just so you all don't think I got my knickers in a twist about BUTTER)

 

It was our 25th anniversary cruise and I had requested a table for two knowing the Valor had them, only to be told you had to request that once on board the ship, but we had gone down to the dining room a couple of times and never caught the maitre de. So, we met our dining companions at a table for 8 tucked in the back corner of the dining room, though it was a nice window table. Nice folks all around....but butter fiends like me. First thing I noticed was the somewhat sullen attitude of our waitstaff. We all had the impression that we should be serving their meals, which is a BIG departure from what I have experienced on other Carnival cruises. Multiple requests for more butter were ignored as they were throughout the cruise. The food in the dining room was lackluster at best, the steaks gristly, the dinner rolls consistently burned (and lacking in the variety we had had prior to this cruise)

I always drink iced tea with me dinner and had to ask for it every night. Early I knew it was made from concentrate but toward the end of the cruise it had the dark color and consistency of coffee or cola, so I know it was not made up properly. My first dinner was the sweet and sour shrimp, and the shrimp were like big frozen Gortons shrimp from a box. Blah. Scott had the sirloin steak and it was almost inedible. Service was so slow that we failed in our efforts to get down to the Lido deck and get something there before they closed. I don;t know what all the fuss is about the warm chocolate melting cake...it seemed like hot fudge which had been left out long enough to form a crust that could hold some powdered sugar. Is it supposed to be like that? Is there actually supposed to be some cake involved in the dish? I can;t exactly say I didn't like it, being a chocolate lover I love all chocolate, but I suspect that on the Valor this dish was just ineptly prepared, like so much of the other food in the dining room. As far as desserts went, much less variety or quality than I had seen on past cruises.

 

AND I have never seen less of a "show" at "Showtime" in my life. Many waitstaff did not participate, and those who did did not seem to know or care what to do. I know it must be hard for them to display great enthusiasm on every cruise, but I mean it really stunk......all week long.

 

I know that the first night is always the hardest in the dining room as you get to know your companions at the table and all, and they were all really nice. The food stayed pretty bad all week, but we kept trying. We asked the maitre d for a table for two, since there was on right behind us which remained empty all week and we saw several others but he said sorry, none available.(Gee, would that be a very nice response when he comes around for his little envelope at the end of the week???)

 

Food in Rosies was consistently better all week long than it was in the dining room, though we went back there every night hoping for better things to happen. The Mongolian Grill was really cool, every day and night they would have a ton of assorted fresh veggies, and three proteins, usually two normal ones and something a bit more exotic......beef, shrimp, and mussels., for example. You just told your little chef man what you wanted, like shrimp, broccolli and bean sprouts, and that would be what he would stir fry with your choice of sauce. YUM!!!!!! The grill in the back was the best bet for hot dogs, burgers and fries....for some reason the ones out in the center court get put in a steam tray, where they lose all signs of color, or taste. The ones in the back are cooked on one of those roller things, so they stay really fresh and good. Burgers also seemed to be fresh in the back too.

 

Wow, this seems to be turning into the food story, so I will finish up with our trip to Scarlett's for today......all I can say is WOW (with a caveat at the end)

We booked Scarlett's for Tuesday night...it is easy for a ressie, we did not even have to call, they have a little display set up at various locations around the ship and you can stop in and admire the beautiful steaks and lobster and make your reservation there, thats what we did after our first night's dinner.

We went over on Tuesday at 6 and were seated promptly in a beautiful dining room located somewhere over Rosies, on Deck 10, the entrance is located under the big screen on Lido, right behind where the band plays from. The decor is understated and very elegant, there are white columns, and pictures of antebellum homes. The tables are really beautifully set with Versace china and lots of gleaming silverware, there are glasses for every flight of wine. Service is awesome, refined without being snooty. Scott ordered the 24 oz Porterhouse and I had the filet. Before we started on our courses and between each one, we were served little "amuse bouches" ( I don't know if that spelling is right) which are little tiny tastes of things, like a tiny spoonful of gazpacho, or a diminutive little salmon mousse. The salads were fresh, cool and crisp, the steaks were to DIE for....one of the best steaks I have ever had.....you can always tell Prime grade beef by it's rich robust flavor, and they were cooked just exactly to the doneness we asked for. Oh, well, as long as I mentioned it about the dining room....the breads served here are fantastic...I had a potato roll that was so light it was like eating a cloud....and the baguettes were amazing. These are clearly baked in the restaurant and are so superior to what is served on the rest of the ship I wanted to get take out for the rest of the week. The butter here is better too, not just a little whipped mound of it, but real butter , embossed with a pretty shell shape. (for those butter lovers out there) Our dessert little bite ( before the real desserts came, was a little tray with these tiny little pistachio cakes on them (so heavenly I cannot describe) some coconuut and chocolate hazelnut truffles, candied pineapple, and one other little thing I can't remember because I was hypnotized by the pistachio tarts. I ordered the chocolate thing for my dessert, and it was a dessert ARRAY, on a tray with three crystal classes. One was the bitter and white chocolate, the middle was a small tiramisu, and the third glass had a chocolate flourless cake in a sauce. my only regret was that I could not get my tongue into the glasses to get every last drop. Scott got the apple tart, which was just gorgeous and he raved over it but I was too stuffed to try it. Best meal we had all week and maybe ever, and worth the 30.00 per person price tag.

 

Now, my question is....and I know there are a lot of people out there who, on principle, will never go to a specialty restaurant on board, because they feel that they paid for their meals already on board the ship... I think they are missing something special if they don't...........but WHY if this quality is so vastly superior at Scarlett's, can some of this be brought to bear in the dining room???? I KNOW they want people to come there and pay, but when you walk out of there, your satisfied feeling is somewhat diluted by feeling cheated about what you paid for with the cruise. Surely the chefs at Scarletts could show those guys in the dining room kitchen how not to burn the rolls and make the iced tea! I guess that is just a rhetorical question in the long run...

 

So, that's the food situation, tomorrow I'll let you know how all the shore excursions went, I think I have some good tips in store for you....

Beth

[grandmato4]

Enjoyed reading the food review from your cruise. Too bad it was so poor for you. We returned from the Victory two weeks ago and while we had a better experience than you with great waitstaff, good rolls, and edible food, the best way I can describe it is to say that every time we've returned home from a cruise in the past it took us weeks to return to feeling good about eating our normal daily food at home (even if while cruising we had a single not so good entree) and this time not for a minute did we miss our dining food on our cruise. We only missed Ocar and Imade, our waitstaff. Cetainly not a reason to not cruise Carnival again nor do a lot of complaining as we didn't walk away from dinner hungry, but still an honest disappointment. The Victory doesn't have a specialty restaurant so that's not an option if the dining room food is not up to where one thinks it should be.

 

We're considering the Valor for a B2B in 2010 we I anxiously look forward to hearing more about your cruise. Thanks for writing it !

[nybumpkin]

We had a generally good dining experience on Valor in the Lincoln Dining Room, but Scarlett's was wonderful. I think the difference is in the numbers - in the dining rooms, they're cooking for large numbers, while in the specialty restaurants the food is more individualized. An example is the Caesar salad - in the dining room it's made up in the galley and served just like any other salad, while in Scarlett's it's made tableside. And that chocolate dessert is to die for!:)

[momofzeke]

Keep it coming, bhanback! I leave for the Valor on Friday and I want to finish reading your review!

 

I only hope I don't get the same waitstaff you had. :(

 

I've never tried the specialty restaurant before, but your description (especially of the desserts) almost has me convinced! ;)

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi Beth,

 

Thanks so much for your review. We just booked the Valor for Thanksgiving week. And we LOVE to eat Mongolian barbecue. I hadn't realized the Valor had that. Thanks for telling us -- now I want to book the Valor NEXT WEEK! And the week after, and the week after...

 

;-)

 

Mary Ellen

[Jilltoons]

What a wonderful review. I felt like I was sitting again in Scarlett's eating with you! Thank you for your wonderful descriptions.

 

I do want to add: Our main server in the Washington Dining Room was very stiff too. His name was Barry from South Africa...BUT....luckily the couple we were with had quite the sense of humor. They began teasing him each night - he really lightened up. We all were laughing and enjoying each other by the end of the cruise. He still was stiff - but we had too much fun with him, he did let down his guard much more by the end. I agree the food in the dining room doesn't come close to comparing to Scarlett's. I really thought the best items were the appetizers. Next cruise....I plan on getting 2-3 appetizers and skipping the entree.

 

Thanks again Beth! Look forward to the rest.

[nybumpkin]

I really thought the best items were the appetizers. Next cruise....I plan on getting 2-3 appetizers and skipping the entree.

I've done that before! I've also had two appetizers in place of one appetizer and one salad. I love the soups especially - pumpkin soup, wild mushroom soup, lobster bisque (although Scarlett's version is out of this world).

[Jilltoons]

I've done that before! I've also had two appetizers in place of one appetizer and one salad. I love the soups especially - pumpkin soup, wild mushroom soup, lobster bisque (although Scarlett's version is out of this world).

 

That lobster bisque in Scarlett's - OH Where do I begin!!!! It was amazcredible!

[2mygirl2]

Sorry to hear your cruise was not what your expected. We leave tomorrow on the Valor. I can't wait!!!