Valor 8/2 - 8/9

[sallycruiser]

Just a few comments on this trip on Valor.

 

Pre Cruise arrangement: not a pleasant experience Flew into Miami airport and was transferred to hotel in ft lauderdale via the ft lauderdale cruise port. When I booked pre cruise hotel I didn't notice that the hotel was in Ft lauderdale and just chose the least expensive option... what a mistake... don't anyone else out there make this mistake... it got worse.

Day of Cruise: Went to meet in lobby of hotel for transfer to port of miami and met the carnival rep at 10:30.. she said that I would need to transfer to ft lauderdale airport and then meet up with others who were going to port of miami,,, how did I get myself in this mess... it really was not a good start to my vacation.

 

Ship: Had been on Glory previously so I knew the lay out of this ship but took awhile to find everything. Lots of people everywhere.. when you check in you cannot get into room until 1:30pm so you need to carry with you your carry on items until that time...

 

Cabin: Had a balcony cabin. Loved the bed, it was hard as a rock but I liked it.. I know that some people on this board think they are too hard, but I really enjoyed it. Cabin was kept clean and hardly saw my cabin steward.

 

Staff: all were very pleasant

 

Food: Big disappointment.. the food in the buffet was really not good ( my opinion)... only went to dining room a couple of times and food was okay but not great... pizza good and burgers good

 

Entertainment: only went to one show with comedian .. he was good

 

Overall: I think i have made up my mind that Carnival is not the cruise line for me. I have cruised Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, Norwegian and RCI and Princess is my favorite. The experience embarkation and dembarkation and food is superior to Carnival I only hope that Princess does not deteriorate.

 

I know that some people really love Carnival and I saw many happy people and families having the time of their lives, but for me it is not the right line.

 

My advice is to really think about what kind of experience you want before booking a cruise.. I should have paid attention to the reviews for Valor and would have known that it was not going to be a relaxing cruise that I wanted. The review said that it was not for those who were looking to relax and wanted some quiet time...

 

Next cruise is on NCL.

[sheltielover256]

Thanks for the review. Other than the food, do you mind elaborating on specific aspects of the cruise that disappointed you? (I've never loved Carnival's buffet much either although I'm generally pleased in the dining room).

 

Thanks!

[scperk]

Just a few comments on this trip on Valor.

 

Pre Cruise arrangement: not a pleasant experience Flew into Miami airport and was transferred to hotel in ft lauderdale via the ft lauderdale cruise port. When I booked pre cruise hotel I didn't notice that the hotel was in Ft lauderdale and just chose the least expensive option... what a mistake... don't anyone else out there make this mistake... it got worse.

Day of Cruise: Went to meet in lobby of hotel for transfer to port of miami and met the carnival rep at 10:30.. she said that I would need to transfer to ft lauderdale airport and then meet up with others who were going to port of miami,,, how did I get myself in this mess... it really was not a good start to my vacation.

 

Ship: Had been on Glory previously so I knew the lay out of this ship but took awhile to find everything. Lots of people everywhere.. when you check in you cannot get into room until 1:30pm so you need to carry with you your carry on items until that time...

 

Cabin: Had a balcony cabin. Loved the bed, it was hard as a rock but I liked it.. I know that some people on this board think they are too hard, but I really enjoyed it. Cabin was kept clean and hardly saw my cabin steward.

 

Staff: all were very pleasant

 

Food: Big disappointment.. the food in the buffet was really not good ( my opinion)... only went to dining room a couple of times and food was okay but not great... pizza good and burgers good

 

Entertainment: only went to one show with comedian .. he was good

 

Overall: I think i have made up my mind that Carnival is not the cruise line for me. I have cruised Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, Norwegian and RCI and Princess is my favorite. The experience embarkation and dembarkation and food is superior to Carnival I only hope that Princess does not deteriorate.

 

I know that some people really love Carnival and I saw many happy people and families having the time of their lives, but for me it is not the right line.

 

My advice is to really think about what kind of experience you want before booking a cruise.. I should have paid attention to the reviews for Valor and would have known that it was not going to be a relaxing cruise that I wanted. The review said that it was not for those who were looking to relax and wanted some quiet time...

 

Next cruise is on NCL.

Hope you have better luck with NCL than I did, the service in all the dining venues was horrible on my Pearl cruise...If you ate at the buffet and the food was not good why did you not eat in the dining room?...and the hotel snafu was your responsabilty.....Hope you have a better cruise on another line.....Dennis

[transam84]

Sorry the cruise did not meet your expectations. My DS and his friends (20 somethings) are on the Valor this week. They are looking for an active/party vacation so I'm hoping they are happier than you were.

Can you elaborate a bit on what you did not like about the buffet. My DS and his friends are more into quantity than quality, but I'm hoping the food is not terrible.

[Sdallnct]

Yes, thank you for the report, but I would love to hear more (other than the food).

 

What about the gym, after dinner shows, casino, piano bar, win bar...any other bar...LOL, pool, etc?

 

How was getting going in port? Any particular excursions you would do or not do again?

 

You mention the buffet, burger/pizza and MDR, did you try the Supper Club? How was it?

 

I have read several great reviews of the Valor. However, I think reading reviews from someone who is not as thrilled can be informative as well.

 

As a side note, RCL use to be our regular cruise line. But have switched to Carnival. Actually feel the facilities and service is BETTER for less money.

[wheatengirl]

We live in Florida and have had the good fortune to go on many cruises and have been mostly loyal to RCCL. One of our first cruises was on the Carnival Triumph when it first started sailing and was the largest ship in the water at that time. We started going on the largest ships and RCCL had the Explorer, Adventure of the seas, Navigator, Freedom of the Seas and then Liberty of the Seas. On all of those ships we booked the Owner's Suite. We had a good time but the food and service has gotten progessively worse in our opinion. On the Liberty of the seas we booked specialty restaurants most nights in order to have a good meal. The buffet was horribly disappointing. That being said, last year we had 2 cruises planned one on RCCL and Holland America Eurodam. We also wanted to go on a 3 day cruise so we booked Carnival because it stayed overnight in Nassau. Typically, a 3 day cruise is very inexpensive and to be honest we weren't expecting much. However, I have to say that we were incredibly impressed. The food was very good in both the buffet and the MDR. Service was some of the best that we have had. Needless to say, we are looking to book another cruise and we are looking at Carnival since our last short cruise was so enjoyable. Everyone has different needs and desires for their vacation experience but I feel like Carnival provides the best experience for us. BTW, we are in our late forty's.

[Sdallnct]

I found the best service from RCL was better then the best I have received on Carnival. However, I found RCL to be terribly inconsistent. Not only from cruise to cruise and ship to ship, but day to day on the same cruise!

 

Switching mainly to Carnival we find consistency that typically meets our expectations and at times exceeds it. There are advantages to be they largest. They "have it all down pat". They have seen it all and heard and all and have dealt with it all before.

 

In addition, we typically found the facilities and ships to be just as nice as RCL in most cases. And in most cases cheaper.

 

Our next cruise is our 20 Anniversary Cruise. And while we didn't have an unlimited budget obviously, we were willing to spend a little more then normal. But still feel more comfortable booking Carnival.