Carnival Valor Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,524 reviews

Great getaway for seasoned cruisers & excellent introductory cruise for newbies

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Carnival Valor
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TheChadd
6-10 Cruises • Age 40s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Fitness & Recreation
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Sep 2018
Cabin: Ocean Suite

Background Information

We are a mid-40's couple who like to cruise once per year. This was our 10th cruise together. We were slacking on booking a cruise for the year; so, we saw this one was a great price for a quick getaway. We weren't looking for anything special, not really focusing on ports of call, just want to relax on our balcony and watch the water for a few days.

Travel To Port of Embarkation

Cabin Review

Ocean Suite

Cabin OS

This was our first cruise with a full (not mini) suite. The price difference between a mini-suite and a full suite wasn't much at the time (forgot what it was, sorry :( ). Wow! It may be tough to go back to a mini-suite after this! Plus, you get some nice perks with a suite (priority embarkation/debarkation, ports of call, among other things).

The stateroom was clean overall. The bathroom smelled horrible, and we concluded it came from the toilet. We had the stateroom attendant do a "deep clean" on the toilet, which helped a little, but still left the bathroom with a faint dry urine odor.

Balcony - We had 2 chairs, a recliner, and a small "table". It was plenty large for the two of us. And the view was unobstructed.

Electricity - There are several outlets in the room. If those aren't enough, I recommend you bring international plug adaptors with you. This will double the number of available outlets for all your electronics. There’re 2 USB charging ports in each of the lamps next to the bed.

TV / Player - TV was probably a 32". Below it, there’s a VCR and DVD players, because...you know...it's still the 90's.

Internet - If you have an internet package, do not plan on using it in your stateroom, unless you don't mind standing by door. You get no signal in your faraday cage :).

Noise - Could hear all activities in the atrium area, not too bad though. So, if you are a light sleeper and go to bed early, you might want to take that into consideration.

Smells - On very rare instances, we could smell cigarettes. Not sure where it came from, but it was a fleeting odor, and not frequent or strong enough to be any concern or bother.

Port Reviews

Galveston

Like all cruises, we like to arrive a day early *just in case*. We stayed at the Hilton Galveston Island Resort the night before the cruise. It's great because it includes *free* parking for the cruise! We grabbed dinner at the famous Gaido's seafood restaurant that night. It was quite good, and we recommend it.

Galveston looks like a fun little town to check out; so next time we will probably spend an extra day or two checking out the town before the cruise.

Cozumel

We docked west of town. It was a $8 taxi ride each way (there are tons of taxis to take you around). We ate at La Choza for lunch. This place is known for where the ships' crews like to eat. We highly recommend it. Excellent margaritas! The water was "gringo friendly", too.

Progreso

Home of the world's longest port. You get on a complimentary shuttle into town from the port. We ate at a newer "high end" restaurant called Crabster (est. 2016). Service was a little slow, but the food was excellent. Also the water was "gringo friendly". Not much to see or do in the town.

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