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Jena

Age: 31
Occupation: Website Producer
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Valor
Sailing Date: May 8th, 2005
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean

This was my third Carnival cruise, and one of the best yet! I travelled with my husband, an old friend from college, and her husband, all of us are in our early- to mid-thirties. This is a long-winded review, but I hope you find some helpful tidbits based on our experiences!

Embarkation:
We arrived at the pier by taxi around 1:15pm. Be prepared to wait in several long lines! However, the process actually moves quite quickly and smoothly. The Fun Pass Line is not any shorter than any other line; however, my impression was that it did move more quickly. When all was said and done, we were on board by about 2:30pm.

First Impressions:
The main lobby is attractive, and right away you can see that the ship is at once more understated and elegant, and yet also highly thematic compared to the other Carnival ships I've seen (Imagination and Triumph). My favorite areas are the Ivanhoe Theater with it's castle motif and Rosie's Restaurant on the lido deck with it's citrus colors and cute Rosie the Riveter mosaics.

We had an inside cabin on the Empress deck. My first impression of the room was that it seemed smaller than our previous cabins, however that may have been simply because the bed was arranged differently. We found plenty of closet and drawer space for all of our stuff. Our cabin steward Linda was fantastic. She learned our names and our routines very quickly, and always waved hello when we would see her in the hall or around the ship.

Port Day: Bahamas:
Having a port day just one day after boarding was a bit of a jolt. I would have liked to relax and settle in a bit more, but we were also excited to explore Nassau. Since we were all a bit tired and the port was rather short, we opted not to do any formal excursions. It was easy to wander around the shopping areas on foot, and we also took a taxi over to the Atlantis Resort to stroll around there for a bit. Atlantis was beautiful! Some areas of the resort are restricted and you do have to pay to take a guided tour of "the dig" -- but we were satisfied to stick to the public areas. You can see a nice portion of the aquarium from within the resort restaurant without having to pay any admission.

Important Note: Be sure to bring a *picture ID* along with your sign & sail card when you leave the ship. Although not necessary to get back on board, there was a Nassau security checkpoint on the pier that required a photo ID.

On Board Activities:
On the first at-sea day, my husband and I went to the gaming lessons in the casino. One of the head dealers, Eva, spent an hour patiently demonstrating whatever games people were interested in. She handed out chips and even let us pretend to play, setting up various scenarios and talking about common strategies. I learned enough about Craps to feel confident to play on my own for the first time. My husband tried his luck with the Blackjack Tournament ($20) -- neither of us won much, but we had a lot of fun. Note that table minimuns do change throughout the cruise depending on how busy the casino is at the time.

We spent a fair amount of time on deck in the sun, of course. We never had any trouble finding four deck chairs together, although it may be harder if you want to be right next to the stage. We preferred to be on one of the upper decks near the slide entrance were the music wasn't quite so loud. Speaking of the slide, be sure to give it go at least once! The ride is faster and longer than you might expect!

We brought a couple of card games along and also checked out a few games from the library. When we needed a break from the sun, it was great to find a table on the Promenade to sit and play games. Note that if you check out games from the library, you can keep them for as many days as you like and take them wherever.

We girls went to the spa one day for an in-port day special called the "Spa Cocktail." You get to pick 3 small treatments for $45. We both chose to have a mini-facial (practically the same as a regular facial), deep hair conditioning, and foot and ankle massage. All three were wonderful! There were about 9 options to choose from. Watch the Capers for announcement of special offers like this.

Port Day: St. Thomas
This was my favorite port. All four of us went on the Buck Island Snorkel excursion which was awesome. We rode in a lovely catamaran to a small cove with calm water where we snorkeled off the side of the boat for about an hour. We got to see a ship wreck, coral, tons of fish, and even a sea turtle. The crew hopped in the water with us and fed the fish to encourage them to come out. We also had time on this day to do a little bit of shopping, just sticking to the shops closest to the ship.

Port Day: St. Maarten
This was also a gorgeous island. Our friends went on another snorkel excursion which they said was great. My husband and I went on a bus tour of the island with stops at a market on the French side and at the Butterfly Farm. Our bus driver was great at pointing out lots of interesting info about both sides of the island, and the butterfly farm was incredible. If you dip your fingers in the complimentary rum punch, the butterflies will actually land on your finger for a taste.

Note that you'll be required to go through a brief U.S. Immigration check for this port -- even if you do not plan to leave the ship. The long line was daunting at first, but happily the process moved very quickly.

Food:
The dining room decoration wan't my favorite, but dinner was a highlight of every day, nonetheless. Our waiters Franco and Christine were very charming and helpful. The food was great every night, although we felt that the descriptions weren't always clear. Don't hesitate to ask your waiter for an explanation or recommendation. We especially enjoyed sampling the wide variety of soups and starters. If you're a coffee drinker, note that you can get cappucino with your dessert at no extra charge (but also note that the coffee used in the dining room isn't as tasty as at the coffee bar).

The lido deck offers lots of options for lunch. Some highlights were the fish & chips and pizza. The free sushi bar is open in the evenings on the Promenade deck -- the best selections were served on the first night. Also not to be missed is the chocolate buffet on the last day (both at lunch and at midnight). We also enjoyed having lunch and breakfast in the main dining room on occasion. The menu here is slightly different, so be sure to give it a try.

Entertainment:
We attended a majority of evening shows during the week, and enjoyed pretty much everything. The main two shows on the formal nights were especially impressive. The first is a medly of hits associated with famous discos -- everything from Saturday Night Fever to YMCA. The second is a tribute to 80s music -- get there early for 80's trivia before the show! The other singers we saw (one Sinatra style, one soul) were great as well. The comedy varied drastically from terrible (Eddie Capone) to hilarious (Jim Brick). Valor Idol on the last night was our least favorite, but still fun for what it is.

Other Stuff:
There seemed to be more picture-taking stations than ever on this ship, which is both good and bad. They produce some traffic jams, but the lines themselves were never too long. We especially got a kick out of the "old-fashioned" photo station that showed up a couple of times, complete with costumes. I think our husbands were about ready to throw us overboard after coaxing them into dozens of photo sessions, but it was worth it to have lots of options to choose from (and wouldn't you know, it was the very last photo that turned out to be our favorite!).

Drinks, sodas, and snacks can really run up your sign & sail tab, but there are ways to keep it under control. Between the Captain's Gala, returning guest party, and ubiquitous rum punch on shore excursions, we were able to keep our bar tab quite low (we're not real big on social drinking anyway). On the first port day, we bought a six pack of sodas to keep in our room for much less than you'd pay on board (this is allowed as long as you don't try to bring in massive amounts). We even got to get our milkshake fix from the chocolate buffet rather than shelling out for the pricey ones at the coffee counter.

Debarkation:
What a breeze! Carnival has really improved this process. There are still lots of lines, but everything seemed to run more smoothly and casually than my past experiences. We were off the ship by about 10:30am and through the Customs lines by about 11:30. If you want to make it even faster, you now have the option to carry off all of your luggage yourself. Taxis and vans to the airport are abundant, so we were able to make our 1:45pm flight with plenty of time to have lunch at the airport before takeoff.

Packing Tips:
Do bring an extension cord and multi-plug adaptor as there's only one outlet in the room. Don't bother to bring beach towels; there are plenty on the ship, and you can even take them into port. A few extra hangers isn't a bad idea if you have a lot of hanging items. I felt sheepish about bringing too many shoes, but ended up glad that I did. A water bottle came in handy so that we could refill it on the lido deck before heading into port.

Overall, this was a wonderful vacation for all of us. The weather was fantastic, the crew was friendly and helpful, and we were never bored. Our complaints were few and minor. By the last day, we were already daydreaming about when we could cruise again!