Carnival Valor Review
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We are a family of 4 including our two children that are 8 and 6, and we are fairly new to cruising but already addicted. We drove to Port Canaveral from SC on Friday May 15th, and stayed at the Radisson for their Park, Cruise and Breakfast Special. The room was nice, but the beds were some of the hardest I had ever slept in. The breakfast was good, and the staff were extremely nice. We packed all of our things up, moved our car to the parking area and waited for our name to be called for the shuttle. Once we arrived at the port we made our way quickly through security and check-in and then came the wait. The advantage was that we had purchased Faster to the Fun. So instead of waiting with the masses in the mane terminal we had our own little room where we could watch the ship being prepared and the staff brought us some chips and water. The wait was a little longer than expected, but it was okay the staff kept us up to date and at least we were sitting comfortably in the air conditioning. There were many sitting on top of each other and even still waiting outside.
Once we were on the ship our rooms were ready for us and our luggage arrived shortly there after. We went to the Lido deck to start people watching and start checking out the ship. We also took our children to Camp Carnival to sign them up for the week. We really enjoyed the ship activities including a few of the shows. We enjoyed the trivia with Erin and the Shop talks with Mike and Barbie. We loved the CD Gary, we met him on our first sea day during the Seuss Parade, along with Jeff and Matey. They were always wonderful and pleasant to be around. They made our children feel special and that makes us feel better.
Our room steward Ali was also wonderful. He always had our room in tip top shape. We had an Ocean Suite for the first time and loved the extra space. It may be a little harder to go back to a regular room now. We always had enough towels, and he kept our ice stocked. At dinner we met our dining team of Julio, Guillermo and Erich. They were all wonderful! Guillermo looked at me a little funny the first night when I ordered Peanut Butter with my warm chocolate melting cake, but after that night he knew exactly what I wanted. My children loved the dining crew, and my son would even get up and dance with them during their little shows.
Cabin Review
Ocean Suite
Our cabin was wonderful, it was the first time that we had done the upgrade to an Suite. The room was decorated for us when we got there thanks to a purchase by some friends. Our room was ready when we boarded the ship so we were able to go and drop off our carry on luggage. In the OS there is plenty of closet space along with drawers in the dressing room and in the room. There are also extra outlets since you have one in your room and one in the dressing room. The couch folds down to a bed and for an extra tip we had him put it up during the day so we would have extra room. The tub/shower combo is skinny but it is much better than the little showers in the regular bathrooms. It was nice having 2 sinks, but not really a necessity. We loved having the balcony, the only thing is I wish others would realize that your neighbors can hear you everytime you let the balcony door slam. We had a discussion with our kids on the first day about making sure you gently let the doors shut. However the grownups next to us couldn't seem to figure that out. The bed was comfortable, and we slept well on it. The television was a flat panel and we had a dvd/vcr combo in the room as well. I had no idea or I would have brought at least one movie or two. It was wonderful to have the extra room with there being 4 of us in the room.
Port Reviews
Costa Maya
In Costa Maya we just got off the ship and stayed at the port area. There they have all that you need. There is a large pool with a few swim up bars in it. There are also several places to eat and shopping right there. It was nice and laid back. They had dolphins right there as well, but the enclosure they were in was entirely too small so we didn't even go over to watch them. I did notice that you could get a massage right there on the beach area as well.