Fun Times, Carnival Magic, March 2018

Hello Everyone,

I'm recently back from my Magic Eastern Itinerary cruise and I wanted to share the Fun Times from the ship as it's been hard to come by recent dailies for this ship.

Enjoy!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4 

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Tips on Packing Carry-On Only

Top Tips for Packing Light for a Cruise

If you've ever been on a cruise you've likely seen hordes of people dropping off enough luggage with the porters that you'd think they were immigrating across the world. Lots of bloggers and vloggers openly admit to being serial "overpackers". I'm not one of them. Though I shouldn't judge too much - in my upcoming cruise this month I'm bringing a full sized suitcase with me for the first time ever and I've been going a bit overboard myself with the packing (no pun intended). 

In every cruise I've been on, up until now, I've packed carry-on only. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, I usually fly in the day of a cruise. I know, this is a major cruising no-no. It's a risky choice but it hasn't gone wrong so far. I pack carry on so that I can save time on waiting for my luggage on the other end of the line, and also so that I don't risk them losing my luggage. As a bonus, I get to save about $50 on checked baggage fees. 

But honestly, it's just not necessary to pack heavily for cruises. Even when I pack carry-on only, there's always at least a couple items I won't wear in the end because honestly, you're on a cruise - you're going to be in a bathing suit most of the time!

1. Pack with a capsule wardrobe in mind

Pick a few items that are interchangeable. This can be achieved by picking a colour palette or by picking a few neutral pieces and some more interesting accessories. But don't over do it with the accessories as they can take up a lot of space. Pick a clutch/purse that will go with all of your evening outfits. And don't feel pressure to pack a different outfit for every night. You likely won't eat in the main dining room every evening anyway. Even if you did it's perfectly acceptable to re-wear an outfit, and with the right accessories your table mates might not even notice!

2. Pack only essential footwear

I've seen cruise outfit of the day pinterest posts where the woman in the post wore a different pair of high heels for every night of the cruise. It's definitely not necessary. A pair of comfortable but somewhat dressy sandals can be converted to evening wear (though be sure to check the dress code of your cruise line), and a pair of tevas, keens or high end crocs can serve the multiple functions of hikers and water shoes. You could theoretically get away with packing only one or two pairs of shoes and a pair of flip flops will take up way less space than a pair of wedges!

3. Find travel friendly toiletries 

For those traveling by air, toiletries can be a tough problem to deal with. Try to bring as few toiletries as possible. Body wash and shampoo will be provided by the cruise line so don't waste space on that. Bring facial wipes instead of face wash to cut down on liquids. Plan to buy sunscreen when you get to your destination rather than bringing it with you. You'll definitely want to have lots of sunscreen because it can be very expensive to purchase on board or in destination ports so find a walmart or target near the port. And limit the amount of makeup you bring, remember you're going to be in and out of the water so much you'd just be a runny mess anyway!

4. Forget the hair tools

Guess what? You're on a cruise. You're likely dealing with either 1) wind, 2) humidity or a delightful combination thereof. Your hair is going to be unmanageable. Just accept it. Clipping your hair up in a french twist is an easy way to style that requires literally no product or tools. You can also french braid wet hair and let it down when it's dry for a somewhat styled curl, also without product or tools. Plus, cruise ships are short on outlets so that's one more reason to skip the tools and save some space in your luggage.

5. Capitalize on space 

Some people use packing cubes, but really, even just rolling saves a ton of space in your suitcase!

6. Wear your bulkiest clothes

This can be especially hard if you're cruising in the winter and you're coming from a climate with snow. Here's the reality: it rains very regularly in the Caribbean, and even in Alaska. It's also cold out on the ocean at night - even in the Caribbean. For your journey down to your cruise port, wear a fleece or sweater under a light rain jacket and jeans. This alone will save a ton of space in your suitcase while allowing you to be dressed appropriately for cooler climates. 

7. Bring detergent

If you're concerned about running out of clothes, plan to do a load while on the ship! You can either pay for laundry service, or many ships have self serve laundry facilities where detergent can even be purchased. If that's not an option and the service is too pricey for you, then consider bringing a solid soap for hand washing a few items in your cabin sink (a soap meant for cleaning clothes to be clear!). Bonus: the solid soap won't run astray of the liquids limits! Most cabins will have a clothes line in the shower for hanging, but remember things will take a lot longer to dry with the humidity and poor air circulation on the ship.

Sample Packing List

You'd be really surprised how much stuff you can fit in carry-on only luggage! Here’s a quick list of all the things I brought for me and my significant other, for those first time cruisers trying to get an idea, and also to prove to those who have each family member bring a gigantic full sized suit case plus carry-on that it’s entirely unnecessary! I’ve also included a few tips on things like toiletries which all have to meet the carry-on restrictions and some other items we found useful to have while on the cruise. We fit all of this into our carry-on meaning one small back pack each plus a duffle bag for DBF and a hard case on wheels for me. 

• Various personal electronics including their chargers and a splitter as the rumours are true, only one North American outlet in most rooms!!
• Two empty water bottles for excursions 
• I brought a small foldable beach bag with us which was convertible into a back pack – though of course, if you were willing to completely empty your carry on back pack it would serve mostly the same purpose as well
• Toiletries: this one was a hard one (especially for a woman!) but as a woman with fine curly hair I knew better than to bother with bringing hair products etc given the fact that I tend toward looking like Monica from Friends when I’m in a humid environment and I knew I would likely wear my hair up most of the time. We brought a couple of small things of toothpaste, my liquid makeup (e.g. mascara and liquid foundation), conditioner (they have shampoo and gel in the showers but it certainly could be better quality so you may want to consider bringing these as well if you have the space), hair gel for DBF, small sunscreen and bug spray (we knew we might need to buy more but wanted to at least bring some), hand lotion, hand sanitizer, and my contacts. With all that, we still had room for some hot sauce souvenirs on the way home. Things like deodorant don’t need to go into the airport quart baggies as long as they are solid. We also learned that safety razors are acceptable in carry-on! Who knew?! I might be missing something but I think that was the gist of it. I also brought a few hair accessories, extra makeup items (though with the amount of time you spend in the water you don’t need much really) and some costume jewelry (I left the expensive stuff at home for fear of losing it).
• I also brought a small pharmacy including Gravol for motion sickness, Pepto Bismol, Advil and Benadryl as well as band-aids. 
• Formal wear: full length gown, and three cocktail dresses for me; tux, and a suit plus three dress shirts and two polos for him (this was incredible overkill for even the elegant nights and by the end he was wearing shorts and polos to dinner and I was wearing jeans BUT it serves the point of showing how much we brought with us!) Additionally he brought a tie and a bow tie. He never wore the tie.
• Shoes: dress shoes, runners and flip flops for each of us (I also brought a pair of wet shoes in anticipation of rocky beaches near snorkeling areas)
• 5-6 T-shirts each
• 3 pair shorts for him, 2 capris, and 2 pair shorts for me, 1 pair jeans each
• 2 swim trunks for him, 3 bikinis and a 1 piece for me
• 1 sweater each 
• 1 rain jacket each
• ALSO: 1 life vest (inflatable), 2 masks and 2 snorkels 

I can't imagine a world in which this wouldn't be considered enough clothing and supplies for a seven day cruise! I hope these tips can help you to cut down to carry on only on your next cruise!

Carnival Valor 2015 - Part 4

Day Four - Barbados

Waking up in Barbados we knew we had to make a choice: the Rum Distillery or the Boatyard. We knew we wanted to spend some time on the beach and I even hoped we might be able to swim with the turtles, but I also knew that DBF didn’t need to end up looking any more like a cooked lobster. So we opted for the Boatyard, knowing that they had umbrellas included in the entrance fees. I had read lots of good things about the Boatyard and was confident that we could have a good time there, but we also knew that it wasn’t going to be a super cheap day so we decided to walk there (early in the morning so that the sun wasn’t at its peak yet) rather than paying for a taxi. It honestly probably only saved us $10 or $15 but it was worth it to us, plus DBF likes to be a little adventurous. So, after a breakfast at Rosie’s we headed out into Bridgetown, without so much as a map! 

Based off of a “you are here” map near the port, we knew the vague direction we needed to walk in. We headed past the taxis and walked along the port until it wasn’t really possible any more. At this point, we happened to pass by a local grocery store and thought it might be our last chance to get decently priced sunscreen. It was still pretty expensive but we were lucky to find some SPF 30 as well as some aloe lotion. Sun protection in hand we headed back out toward Carlisle Bay. Soon we found ourselves in downtown Bridgetown. I didn’t mention it above but the Bridgetown port is really pretty unimpressive, very industrial. The downtown itself is beautiful though!

We managed to get a little lost at this point but luckily the water is a pretty good landmark and just as we were ready to give up … we found it! It is down a bit of an inconspicuous road but you will know when you get there. We made it there around 9 am even with the half hour walk and luckily there were still loungers left; score!

The $15 US entrance fee includes a lounger, a drink (beer or a rum based mixed drink, no frozen cocktails!), the use of all facilities (including wifi) and water toys and a cab ride back to the port. The loungers also have umbrellas so we scoped out a place where the umbrellas provided some shade to keep DBF out of direct sunlight. We lathered up in sunscreen and I went to hook up to the wifi and check in at home. Shortly after this I went to grab us our free drinks because we were afraid the tickets (which are attached to the proof of payment bracelets) might fall off in the ocean. Don’t judge our prior to 11am drinks!

A few tips about the Boatyard:
• The drinks were good; I had a Shark Bite which was a kind of rum punch and it was really good. They also had pretty good deals like 6 beer (Caribbean size around 275ml) for $24, and happy hour (which, at least when we were there, was actually only a half hour around noon) 2 for 1 drinks!
• Wifi is slow and mostly only available near the front by the bar
• The food is purportedly pretty good though we didn’t try it and there was a wait of about 20-30 minutes, more typical of a sit down restaurant 
• The bar staff will tell you where you can go to swim with the sea turtles free of charge if you bring your own snorkel equipment (or I suppose you could go without the snorkel equipment but you might not enjoy that as much). More on that later. 
• The boatyard mentioned something about not touching the ropes that designate the swimming area due to concern that the algae growing on it could give you a rash. I have no idea whether or not they were just saying this to keep kids away from the boundary line for safety reasons but it’s worth noting just in case!

After finishing our drinks we decided to head out to enjoy the ocean water. It was cool but lovely. I’m always surprised how buoyant salt water is. I grew up on the east coast of Canada but the ocean near me was always freezing cold (the Bay of Fundy almost doesn’t change temperature between winter and summer) so I never swam much in the ocean. The water was busy and there were lots of children swinging off the Tarzan rope but it wasn’t too crowded in the designated area. 

After putting on some more sunscreen and grabbing our sunshielding shirts we decided to make our way in the direction the bar staff had pointed us to find sea turtles. It’s not hard to find. It’s about a ten minute walk down the beach away from the pier. When you get to the area with all the catamarans you’ve made it. The swim out to the area wasn’t too far in distance but the waves really push you in toward shore so it took a while to get out there. I had brought my life vest with me because not being able to touch the bottom freaks me out. DBF however isn’t a particularly strong or experienced swimmer and he had no problem making it to the boats without a vest. Unfortunately once we got there…. There wasn’t much to see… at all. The visibility in the water wasn’t great and we didn’t see a single sea turtle. 

I should let you know here that I didn’t bring an underwater camera with us. I looked at the prices and they were a little high to rationalize spending given that I have no idea when we’ll get the chance to be back snorkeling. So no underwater pics from me. However there are plenty of other reviews on Cruise Critic that have nice pictures of fish if you want an idea of the snorkeling in various areas. 

We had decided that we wanted to get back to the ship sometime around 1pm. We didn’t want DBF in the sun (even shaded) for too long and we wanted to take advantage of the paid for food on the ship. The taxi ride back to the port isn’t a bus or a van but rather is some employee’s car. It was fine though, about a 5 minute drive and we were back. 
After a quick lunch (I believe I had a burrito and DBF went for the grill, French cooking if I recall) and some down time in our room DBF decided he wanted to try to see if we could get our passports stamped. So we headed to the port again and found signs for immigration. We asked if it would be possible and they told us it was!... well, sort of true. They gave us “souvenir” stamps so mission… sort of accomplished? DBF was less than pleased though I’m sure it’s for legal reasons since we didn’t need to go through customs or immigration ourselves. 

Afterwards we wandered around. The Equinox was also here in Barbados but they docked a little farther away than we were. DBF is in the reserves so when he saw a British Naval vessel in the port he wanted to go check it out. We never really got any more information about exactly what it was doing there but DBF had fun looking around. And we loved just staring at the water. Even in the industrial port the water was so beautiful you wanted to just jump right in!

Boarding the ship once again we were lucky to catch a steel drum band. The music was beautiful. Back on board I can honestly say that I don’t remember how we passed the time until dinner. Dinner that night was uneventful. No new tablemates appeared. We each ordered sushi as the appetizer because we both LOVE sushi. It was not good sushi. Not that we expected it to be. The rice was just regular rice and it didn’t stay stuck together. The fish was ok but nothing special. If this was someone’s didja I would highly recommend trying sushi again at an actual Japanese restaurant! I also ordered the prosciutto as a second app and it was delicious. For the main I ordered the jerk pork and DBF ordered some sort of beef option. Both were served with the same rice and green beans. For dessert I believe we split a cheese plate and each ordered a WCMC. I think this may have been the night I started adding the butter pecan ice cream to my order. Delish!

For our entertainment this evening we knew there wasn’t going to be comedy show. We decided to try seeing the main Showtime show in the Ivanhoe theatre. It was Marcus Munroe, Rockstar of Jugglers. DBF was very very skeptical but willing to humour me. We both ended up being super glad we went! I hadn’t been sure what to expect but it was very entertaining! Marcus was incredibly funny with an appropriate amount of disguised adult humour for a family show. It wasn’t all juggling, though the juggling itself included flaming torches and knives. There was also a glow in the dark segment. His comedy was really what sold the show though. We genuinely laughed out loud throughout the show. Maybe it was just because our expectations were relatively low going in but we walked away pleased that we had decided to go and feeling that it had made up for the lack of punchliner entertainment on board that night.

Up next on the list for the late night entertainment was the Mega Deck Party but guess who was there ready to ruin it? The weather, that’s right, rain again. We were a bit bummed, but not very since we were tired and we knew we might have a long day ahead of us trying to decide how best to get to the Pitons in… St. Lucia! After checking out our new towel animal and reviewing the Fun Times it was time for bed.

Carnival Valor 2015 - Part 3

Day 3 - Sea Day

As anyone familiar with this itinerary will know, this was the only sea day on the entire itinerary. I understand that there are mixed views on packed itineraries like this (some people really prefer to spend their vacations simply basking in the sun on the decks), DBF and I were very satisfied with having only one sea day because it meant having the ability to explore more new places, and also since I was a bit worried about sea sickness. Although I had been doing alright so far, I could definitely feel the motion of the ship when it was at sea and so far most of that time had been while I was asleep.

Looking over the Fun Times the night before, DBF and I had highlighted all of the activities we wanted to hit up for the day. We knew we definitely wanted to get to the Sea Day Brunch as I had heard great things about it here on cruisecritic. I can’t remember exactly what the hours of the brunch were but it was open seating and we knew we wanted to be in and out before the Mardi Gras Mask Making started at 11:30. We planned to let ourselves sleep in but… the cleaning staff started at it around 8:00 AM and it was simply impossible for us to sleep with a vacuum running. This was pretty disappointing to us. Although we were on a port intensive itinerary, we had planned to let ourselves sleep in as long as our bodies wanted on days that we didn’t have explicit plans. Every morning without fail the cleaning started to early for this to really be a possibility. It wasn’t the end of the world, but had we been on a cruise with more sea days I think this would have been much more frustrating. I’m not sure whether it was because we were on deck 1 or what but I had wished they would wait until at least 9 to get started. 

Anyways, despite being awake, we lazed around getting ready that morning, watching a little bit of TV (we really enjoyed watching the channels that showed our GPS location and gave information about speed etc. No sunken ship locations were pointed out on these maps though!). We got to breakfast with enough time, we thought, to ensure that we could be out of there by 11:30. Be prepared for the service in the MDR during brunch to proceed at about the same pace that the dinner service proceeds, it was pretty slow. By the time we got through our main courses (they didn’t serve the steak until the eggs benny were done which meant we had to wait a lot longer – they also screwed up DBF’s egg order but it wasn’t that big of a deal) it was almost 11:30 so we decided to skip the desert and head to the Capital Room for the activity. 






It seems a bit childish to want to do arts and crafts but it actually ended up being a lot of fun and there were plenty of other adults there (Ok, Ok, so they were mostly parents, don't judge us!). DBF was very determined to win the mask competition that was going to be held later that evening so he took his mask preparation pretty seriously. DBF commented toward the end that it was the most fun he had had doing arts and crafts since elementary school! Success!

Before picking a set of chairs we opted to try out the hot tubs on the serenity deck. For once they weren’t full. Well we found out why! The wind was blowing so hard it blew the water into your face all the time and the water was barely warm at all. To make matters worse, DBF, who is 6’4, couldn’t even get his chest close to covered by the water because the seats weren’t very deep. It wasn’t a very relaxing experience so after only a few minutes we moved on with our day.

I was in a bit of a grumpy mood over my mistake and DBF realized that some food might cheer me up so he headed off to grab us a couple of sandwiches while I lay in the sun for a bit longer. After eating the sandwiches we both decided it was time to reapply sunscreen. Eventually I fell asleep out there in the sun, it was very relaxing! DBF finished his book and was ready to head back to our room for a bit. By this time, I was actually starting to feel a bit sea sick and decided it would be best for me too. As soon as we were back in the room, I knew DBF was in trouble. His arms and legs were very, very red. We had applied sunscreen twice in a 2.5 hour period but apparently it wasn’t enough. Beware the Caribbean sun my fair skinned friends! I, on the other hand, don’t burn, but I don’t tan either and I was still looking pretty pasty. 

After a quick nap we decided that we wanted to give the mini golf a try. We carefully re-applied sunscreen and we headed up to the highest deck (you have to go through the caged in sports area to get there and it took us a while to figure this out) to find that although there were only two families playing, and there were plenty of clubs available there was not a single ball left. Accordingly, we had to wait for one of the groups to finish before we could start. It’s only 9 holes so it wasn’t that long of a wait. Once we got a couple of balls we started to question whose brilliant idea having golf on the highest (most windy) deck it was anyway?! It was extremely difficult to play. We went for it anyways, playing with accommodated rules since the balls wouldn’t stay where they were put) and actually had a good time. In the end I won by a few points though who knows what role the wind played in that.

I don’t have many photos from this afternoon. I know that we took our masks back to the room and got dressed for sun bathing. After grabbing our reading material and sunscreen we headed up to the Lido to see what was going on. The deck was pretty crowded because… no rain! The weather was beautiful on the sea day all day long! Although there were lots of people out there it actually wasn’t very difficult to find a chair, the only challenging thing was finding one where the wind wasn’t blowing insanely strongly. It gets windy 10 decks up from sea level even if the ship is only moving at about 11 knots. I was glad that I hadn’t bothered to bring my beach hat with me because it surely would have been blown off the ship. 

After making sure we put on lots of sunscreen, we basked in the sun while getting some reading in. After a while, I decided to go get us some drinks. We were hoping that if we purchased some souvenir glasses that we could bring our own drinks up from our room without many questions (turns out this would have been easy enough just using the glasses provided in our room). Knowing that DBF had commented on how cool he thought the blow fish cups were I decided to ask for the drink of the day (hurricanes for Mardi Gras! Only $6.95) in a couple of those cups. Well, let me tell you not to make that mistake. I figured the cups would be a few dollars but I was pretty shocked when they had me sign the receipt for $38.99.  I knew DBF wouldn’t be happy about it (and the cups had barely any room for drinks in them either due to their awkward shape). It was a stupid thing to have done because we didn’t even have enough space in our carry on to take them home with us. Oh well, live and learn! 

By this point in time it was probably close to five. Knowing I would need a while to ready myself for our first elegant night, and realizing we should have DBF out of the sun, we headed back to our cabin. I did some studying, we watched some tv and each had showers in preparation for dinner. It wasn’t until around 7:00 that DBF pulled out his white shirt for ironing only to discover a stain I had missed when I packed it for him. We managed to wash the stain out (to the best of our ability) in our bathroom sink using some detergent in bar form I had brought with me, and he managed to get the shirt ironed in time. 

Although I had said above that we were embarrassed by our dress the first night, and although that was true, we didn’t let it stop us from going all out this evening. We figured the mardi gras occasion might make us stand out a little less. It didn’t, but I think we looked pretty good anyways, so who cares right? For dinner tonight we opted for stuffed mushrooms and the alligator fritters for starters and prime rib for the main course. The mushrooms were ok, but so tiny there wasn’t much to stuff. The alligator was mostly fried breading so it couldn’t have been less offensive if it tried. The prime rib was… well DBF who prefers medium rare found his to be very overdone. Mine was ok, but nothing particularly special. A note re the baked potato, they come around after with the toppings (I was very confused and had already started putting butter in mine by the time they got to me, oops!).

Looking at the clock and seeing it was already almost 9:30 and that the mardi gras parade started then we decided to skip dessert (blasphemy I know) and head down a floor to the festivities. We ultimately arrived as the parade was ending, but in time for the mask contest. Although DBF was selected to compete, this was one of the few occasions where the room was crowded and he simply didn’t make it to the stage on time. He considered it to be close enough to a win though!

After the (brief) mardi gras party we went back to the room to mix some drinks to take with us to the comedy club. This meant that we were not early enough to the comedy club to get a seat. It was worth standing to see Jim Brick again though, he even tied in jokes from the night before! In the time between the first and second set we were able to find seats to enjoy the second show even though we headed back to our room to change into less formal clothing. After the comedy club we attempted to check out both the piano bar and the one small step (the night club) and they were both totally empty. We were greeted back in our room by a new towel animal and the Fun Times for… Barbados!

Trip Report - Carnival Paradise, February 2016

Here's the review I posted on cruise critic in February of 2016 after my sister and I went on a fairly spontaneous cruise. The real start of my addiction. My review didn't include pictures originally but I have a few to add now. 

I just returned last week from my second ever cruise with Carnival cruise lines on the Paradise's five day Western Caribbean itinerary. I (age 27) was travelling with my sister (age 24). 

Pre-Cruise

We flew from Toronto to Tampa the night before embarkation and stayed at the EconoLodge. I will admit that this was not a five star hotel, however it was not deserving of some of the poor reviews I saw online. We booked it because we were able to get a night for $75 CAD, which considering the terrible state of our dollar was great value, and we really only needed a place to crash. The service was quite good, the room was clean, if run down. And there's a shuttle from the airport and to the port as well (though you will have to wait quite some time as there is only one shuttle and it is quite a large hotel).

Stateroom

We had booked an interior stateroom near the midsection on Riviera deck (R98). The room was large and comfortable. The faux window made us both laugh as we constantly went to check what the weather was like outside even though we knew we had an interior room. There was plenty of storage for the two of us and the bathroom was quite large (very large shower was much appreciated, although there was no clothesline and I missed that). Our steward IWAYAN was cheery and responsive, always leaving our room very tidy without disturbing our things and always leaving us ice after we requested it on the first day.

Activities and Entertainment

I have to say that I enjoyed the entertainment on this cruise much more than on my first cruise on the Valor last year. The comedians were good, as always (one was great, the other less so, but I'm sure that's mostly taste and opinion). The Hasbro the Game Show was new for me and a ton of fun. We also really enjoyed their Playlist Production show. We only went to the 80's night but it was spectacularly well done and one male singer in particular was very impressively talented. The Love and Marriage show was also wildly entertaining. My sister and I participated in trivia a few times and we even won at Friends trivia (my first ship on a stick!). Some activities are a bit "trashy" (i.e. the hairy chest contest), but really it's fun to watch others have fun, and if it offends you, it's easy enough to be elsewhere on the ship while those kinds of activities are going on.

Ports of Call

My sister and I are on a budget. She is an archaeology student so we really wanted to see ruins while in Mexico, accordingly, we spent our excursion money on Cozumel and made our own plans for Grand Cayman. Our family are avid snorkelers and we have our own equipment so we brought masks and snorkels and inflatable life vests (we're strong enough swimmers but they add a level of comfort). As a side note, we managed to bring all of this equipment with us in only carry-on luggage and didn't come close to running out of clothes, over-packing is a serious problem for some people and I can't understand why. On Grand Cayman we stopped at a couple of reefs that were within easy walking distance of the port. There were plenty of fish and coral but it wasn't the best snorkeling I've ever done. Also, the port was a bit disappointing. It felt like it was in a rather run down part of town and it lacked the beautiful Caribbean scenery I've grown accustomed to. Maybe if we had ventured further from port I'd have a different opinion. 

Cozumel on the other hand was very touristy, it was obvious that the port area was done up for us and normally I'd have a problem with places pretending to be things they aren't, but if I'm going on a Caribbean cruise I would kind of like to see white sand beaches and palm trees and thatched roofs and cocktails and Cozumel had all that. We didn't stay there long though since our excursion to the Ancient City of Tulum left right away by ferry. I had heard that this ferry was very rough, and admittedly it was quite rocky but no one got sick as far as I saw. Playa del Carmen was beautiful and Tulum even more so. Our guide, Carlos, was knowledgeable and funny. We learned a lot (even my sister!) and the ruins were spectacular, as was the scenery. We booked this tour through the cruise line because it was an all day tour and we were concerned about making it back to port in time. We easily did, however I still think the tour was worth the $80.

Dining

My sister is gluten intolerant and that was part of the sell to her on Carnival because I had read excellent reviews about their dietary accommodation. The food was quite good. Don't expect 5 Star dining, especially at the buffets, but everything is very edible (although I avoid the desserts at the buffet any time other than the chocolate extravaganza because frankly they're a bit tasteless and not worth the calories), and some things are utterly fantastic. My sister's dietary needs were well accommodated at dinner, but we were disappointed that we were never offered the option to order breakfast. We made due, but that would have been nice. Obviously we could have asked but after the first day my sister settled in to ordering an omelette at the station and was always quite happy with that. One of our table mates also had nut and dairy allergies and she was just about brought to tears when she was told that she could have a special made chocolate melting cake. She loved it. And my sister said her gluten-free one was great too. 

Embarkation and Disembarkation

We arrived at the port around 12:30 or so and we were on the ship and in our prepared room before 1:30. We felt that it was quite quick despite the lines and everything was very efficient. Debarkation was also quite easy. We did self-assist and although there were lines, we were also off the ship and back out and about Tampa in less than an hour. We decided to go to the Aquarium and if you get a ticket at the terminal they reduce the price and include free luggage storage. The Aquarium was fantastic and well worth the money. It was a great last day activity and I imagine would be even more so for a family with young ones.

Older Ship?

Yes, the Paradise is older and doesn't have all the upgrades. There were scuff marks on some walls and threadbare carpets in places. We also experienced some leaks from the ceiling in public areas when we hit a storm on our last day (side-note: this storm resulted in the greatest motion I'd experienced at sea even being woken up at 4 am when we were both nearly tossed out of our beds when the ship took a huge list to the port side, but we survived without even getting sea-sick). None of this came close to impacting the quality of our time on the ship. I also really appreciated the small size of the ship. It never felt crowded (except at debarkation), we always found loungers or seats at shows and there were always plenty of empty lounges and other areas to hang out. I would not let the age of this ship discourage you unless you are the kind of person who requires everything to be state of the art and sparkling new.Honestly, the incessant comparisons of Carnival to "Walmart" drive me insane. Frankly, it's quite classist. In fact, one thing I really like about Carnival is the fact that (until Vista at least) there aren't many areas of the ship that are reserved for the exclusive use of certain guests. I worry that this trend on other lines is going to continue and that it will push some people out of being able to afford to have a decent time on a cruise. Furthermore, I consider myself to be someone of decent taste and apart from the fact that the decor on Carnival is a little in your face (I describe it to non-cruisers as being the "Glitz" pageant of the cruise industry), there is nothing objectionable to me about Carnival. It's excellent value and I have always enjoyed myself immensely. In fact, I'm already planning a family Christmas Cruise on Carnival! 

Carnival Valor 2015 - Part 2

Cruise Day 1

I should mention now that it is likely obvious, we had planned for our flight to arrive in Peurto Rico on the day the cruise was to depart. Many had warned against this and it is especially understandable given the unpredictable winter weather we experience up here, but we simply couldn’t get there any sooner at an affordable price given that we both had to be in class on the Friday. I will say that we had a 12 hour lay-over (with the ability to pay a small fee to change our flight to an earlier time) and our flight was scheduled to get in more than 7 hours prior to embarkation. It was a risk, but having looked at the cost of flights from San Juan to St. Thomas (and noting that they cost less than travel insurance would have) we decided to risk it. In the end it paid off as you will see below. 

We woke up quite early on the day of embarkation mostly because I was tired of pretending to sleep. DBF actually did pretty well though getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep total. It was an effective way to save $100 but not necessarily one I would recommend on the eve of a cruise. We decided to try to find somewhere to get breakfast. DBF wanted to go back to the bakery we had gone to the night before (we had eaten these chocolate filled croissant-donut things and they were delicious!) but we knew we had enough time to kill to eat at a sit down restaurant so as soon as 6 o’clock rolled around we found one. We ended up having breakfast burritos at a place called “The Legal” (which struck me as an almost concerning name, like why do you need to specify that you’re legal, was there question?). It was delicious! Some of the best food we had all trip… or maybe that was just the overtiredness speaking? Regardless, they apparently have lots of locations along the east coast so if there's one near you I would highly recommend. 

As soon as we were done eating we decided to head back to terminal A, after verifying that despite the continuing wind warnings the flight was still on time! We actually managed to get a couple more hours of sleep in at this point which was surprising considering the stupid benches had arm rests after every other seat, but in the end I think I would have gotten more sleep there than I had in the rocking chair. Eventually they called our flight! We were literally the last zone to board but people on this flight were efficient and everyone got on and settled quickly.

After another (apparently purely precautionary) de-icing we were off! DBF had unpacked his headphones prior to leaving so he could play some last minute video games so we ended up sharing the pair that I brought. Being the nerds that we are, we selected a documentary on the Roosevelt family as our in-flight entertainment. It turned out to be pretty good. Meanwhile, our flight path was playing on DBF’s screen and he noted something funny: they actually showed the locations of notable sunken ships. He remarked that it was surprising to him that they would want to remind passengers of major accidents in transportation at a time like this and we both laughed. 

This flight was actually relatively smooth, but due to the wait for de-icing we arrived a bit behind schedule in San Juan. Both DBF and I (having never been to Peurto Rico before) were surprised to see how huge and industrial the San Juan area was. Unfortunately we didn’t have the pretty coast line views coming in but we were excited to be there anyways! Added bonus to not checking bags? No wait at the carousel! Within 15 minutes of landing we were out waiting for a taxi. We could have booked a shuttle bus but the cost was $16 per person and the taxi cost us only $27 including the tip ($19 plus fees for bags). Our driver asked if we had ever been there before and upon finding out we had not, he pointed out some aspects of the city on our drive to the port.

By the time we were at the port I was tingling with excitement. We quickly filled out our health forms and in mere minutes we were upstairs and standing in line for check in. By the time we arrived at the port it was after 3:30 (our flight arrived after 3). I knew from what I had read that the lines would likely have died down by this point but it was better even than I had imagined and we were in our cabin and unpacked before 4:30. 

Cabin Review

A quick review of the cabin. We were in room 1349 on the Riviera Deck. Since it’s the lowest passenger accessible deck, DBF liked to joke that we were in steerage. We had purchased a guaranteed interior cabin and I had been a bit worried about where we would end up but I was very pleased with this location. It was at the very centre of the ship, and low down which I knew would minimize the feeling of rocking while at sea. It was also below another deck of cabins so I knew there would be little to no noise from above. We were very satisfied with the interior cabin and although we actually spent more time in there than I had anticipated, I probably wouldn’t bother upgrading from an interior in the future. A quick note on the lighting situation: some people recommend night lights or glow sticks on here. In my opinion it’s entirely unnecessary. You can either leave the bathroom light on and close the door and the light glow will guide you at night, or, you can literally just lay there in the dark. It’s not that bad. And I live in a big city on a busy road with lights blaring in my bedroom window all night so I’m used to a bit of light. Most nights we slept without anything and neither of us ever had any problems. If you need to get up in the middle of the night the bedside lamps are actually quite dim and would be unlikely to wake your partner. 

Storage: There was plenty. I’m not sure whether anyone has ever complained about this but there are two closets and a cupboard with shelving plus a few drawers by the vanity in the main room. In the bathroom there are about 6 shelves for you to empty your products into and we had no problem with that much space given our liquid restrictions. There was also room under the bed to put your suitcases to keep them out of the way. 

Comfort: Upon first sitting on the bed DBF commented that it was indeed quite firm. BUT neither of us ever complained once about the bed. I had no trouble sleeping whatsoever and though I often wake up with a sore back when I sleep on a hard bed I never did on this trip. Maybe it was the adrenaline from excitement throughout the cruise but I’m here to say that those egg crates aren’t strictly necessary!

Bathroom: Yes, it was small, but it was very functional. There wasn’t room for both of us to be in there at the same time but there was a vanity in the main room so that wasn’t really necessary anyways. The water was a good temperature in the shower, there were no draining problems, and of all the aspects of the room, the bathroom probably showed its age the least. 

Condition: Yup, you can tell it’s not the maiden voyage of the Valor. There are a few scuff marks here and there and the edges of some of the wooden furniture are worn. Probably the worst sign of age was on the nightstands where the laminate edging was peeling off. But it really wasn’t that bad. It certainly didn’t take away from our enjoyment of the cruise.

Service: our steward was polite and friendly but we honestly only saw him once and I didn’t even catch his name tag in that time so I can’t say much about him. We didn’t get turn down service on the first night, and there were a few times that they didn’t replace the beach towels which was a bit distressing as I was required to rent them from the lido deck and I was afraid they would think we had extras and charge us for them when they didn’t find them in the room later (they didn’t). Overall the service wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t outstanding either. Probably about what I would expect given gratuities were included. 

Cruise Night 1

While planning our cruise DBF’s mother had mentioned to me that when she had cruised the year before she really didn’t like the feeling of being one of thousands leaving the ship. We never once got that feeling on the Valor. Turns out, I’m pretty sure that was because the ship was no more than half full (which would explain the good prices we got). Nevertheless, we barely ever had a wait for anything on the ship and that was an appreciated surprise. 

After unpacking our room, we decided we wanted to head to the CVS for our soft drinks and permitted alcohol. We weren’t sure where the CVS was but we guessed and we were right. Take a left leaving the port and walk past Senor Frogs and you’ll eventually see the sign. We purchased our allowed limit of Dr. Pepper and two bottles of Champagne. Note: we couldn’t bring a cork screw with us as we were only bringing carry on and there were very, very limited screw top options there. Just something to keep in mind for those of us who are purchasing our own alcohol not because we’re picky but because we’re trying to save a few dollars. Another dollar saving suggestion… check here for sunscreen if you didn’t bring any with you! I’m not sure it was cheaper (we forgot!) but in many of the ports it was upwards of $20 US for a medium sized bottle and that price made me choke.

For those of you who are wondering, the rumours about the port are still 100% true. I never once saw anyone at security attach those little orange plastic taggies to anyone’s bag, and even if they had it would be easy to get your bag into a backpack without the security at the ship noticing. Even though there were several women who were bringing on bags that were clearly from the duty free shop they were never questioned even by the Carnival staff as we were re-boarding. 

With that last chore accomplished DBF and I decided to explore the ship. 

We weren’t really keeping a close eye on the time and eventually we realized we were going to miss the MDR dinner for the evening. Due to the muster drill on the first night, they have open seating in the MDR (like breakfast most days) and the last seating was some time around 7:30. We were disappointed but decided to try Rosie’s. I didn’t even end up taking pictures because honestly the food was pretty boring. DBF was unimpressed as I had told him that most reviews said the food was really good. It was fine, especially by buffet standards, but it wasn’t great by any means. I had pasta, he had a little bit of everything (pasta, chicken, tilapia, beans etc.). We also tried dessert here and I sadly learned that what many had said about desert on board was true. It’s incredibly hit or miss. It all looks fantastic but even the cheesecakes were very very bland. In fact, this was DBF’s main complaint about the food on board. We both reasoned that it makes sense that food is more likely to appeal broadly if it is not too strongly flavoured but there certainly could have been a healthier use of seasoning on board. 

Food Review

Since I mostly took pictures of our MDR food I will quickly put in my two cents about the rest of the food options on board (save for Scarlett’s as I will get to that later). In our opinion the breakfast buffet was always decent, especially the omelet’s your way. I was always very satisfied with breakfast. The grill for lunch was pretty meh with the exception of the Chocolate Buffet on the last day which made up for all the other terrible desserts we had experienced on the lido. The fish and chips (upstairs in Rosie’s) was very good with a decent selection of sea food. The burrito bar was also pretty darn good. The pizza was fine in our opinion but nothing exciting and there were often the longest lines here as they seemed not to be able to keep up with demand even with a half full ship. We often frequented the sandwich bar for mid-afternoon snacks and it was basic but pretty tasty. DBF’s favourite sandwich was the vegetable and arugula one with added pastrami. As far as we were concerned the Mongolian Wok was the worst of the food. I don’t know whether we just have better Asian food up here in Toronto, but the stir fry was all but completely tasteless. I don’t mean to say these things to be overly critical, just honest. I will get to the MDR and Steakhouse later, and for the most part they made up for the rest of the dining experience.

Slightly disappointed we headed back around the ship for some more exploring before going back to lido for the sail away party. By this time, it had started to rain. Little did I know this would be a bit of a continuing pattern on this cruise. We weren’t too keen on sticking around and getting soaked and we were still pretty tired from the night before so we just watched the line dancing from deck 11 for a bit (and there were even a few apparently well experienced Carnival cruisers up on our deck dancing along to every dance). We then headed back to our cabin with thoughts of reviewing the Fun Times for the next day and ordering room service since I didn't eat much on the Lido. 

For first time cruisers who are wondering, oh yes, you can definitely tell that the ship is moving. This is not to say that (especially during a show) you won’t occasionally forget where you are, however those individuals who say they can “barely tell they’re at sea” are either full of it or they have some sort of inner ear problem because the seas were pretty calm while we were on the Valor but you could still definitely tell that it was moving. While we did end up ordering room service, the food was also very meh and we didn’t end up ordering it again since, in our opinion, it wasn’t worth paying the tip. Exhausted, we didn’t have a hard time passing out that first night.

Cruise Day 2 - St Thomas

We didn’t worry about getting up bright and early in St. Thomas (although we still woke up well before 9), because our plan had been to laze around on the ship before grabbing lunch in downtown Charlotte Amalie and then heading to the beach after that. I was glad we hadn’t bothered to rush either because… it was raining!  I’ve been to Charlotte Amalie a few times and it’s always been stunning weather so I was a bit bummed that the weather hadn’t cleared since leaving San Juan. 

It was really only sprinkling so we decided to get our things together and hope for the best. After grabbing breakfast and packing our beach bag including towels and snorkel gear, we headed off down to 0 deck to de-board. We managed to avoid all of the taxis and walk toward downtown ourselves. This is completely do-able and a good way to save a few dollars. It was about a 20 minute walk to the downtown area. If you walk along the port you actually avoid most of the tourist targeted shopping. Like I said above, we weren’t here to shop but to sight-see so we were happy to attempt to avoid these areas. Within seconds of being downtown however, we came across a man who was obviously trying to direct cruise ship passengers up a street toward the jewelry stores etc. Upon viewing my bare hand the man exclaimed that he saw an engagement ring in my future and tried to point us, too, in that direction. DBF laughed (maybe a little too hard I later told him) and we carried on. To be honest I don’t like to get “harassed” by those trying to sell me expensive things (DBF says it’s because I’m too nice) so I was happy to try to avoid them. 

By the time we got down town it was barely after 10am. We needed to kill some time. I knew of this neat little antiques store which specialized in ship wreck themed items (old coins, maps form the 16th century etc.) and I wanted to drop in. To my surprise it was still closed! I was worried about what this meant for our day, thinking that this must be a holiday of sorts. Luckily we saw that the Green House was still open but we wanted to wait a while more for lunch so we decided to walk up a random street, away from all the vendors and towards signs for “Bluebeard’s Castle” which we had seen while walking toward downtown. I was less than thrilled with the amount of stair climbing that this route involved but we figured it would be a good view at the top. However, Bluebeard’s was not the tourist location we thought it might be. So, we wandered back down local streets toward downtown. 

Even after giving in and wandering the streets with the vendors it still wasn’t 11 am so we decided to walk a little further away from downtown and see what there was to see. The answer was not much, but by the time we made it back to the Green House, it was almost noon. So, we ordered what I consider to be some of the best chicken wings in the world (go with the jerk wings) and pina coladas. 

Quick note: the Green House has very very good food and drinks, and GREAT happy hour deals (1/2 off some apps and 2 for 1 drinks). Unfortunately we weren’t there for happy hour so it ended up being a bit pricey. For those who might visit (they also have locations in St. Maarten) keep them in mind for happy hour though it likely won’t work for most cruisers since happy hour doesn’t start until 4:30. 

Looking out toward the ship we knew that the weather was not brightening up. We weren’t sure we wanted to waste the money to go to and from the beach only to find bad weather (plus we were still pretty tired) so we decided just to head back to the ship. Luckily the antiques store was open by this point so we took a quick peek in there before moving on.

I don’t remember exactly all the things that we did that afternoon back on the ship. I’m fairly certain we had a nap before heading up to the Lido to find some more food (we had shared the appetizer at Green House and were still a little hungry). I think we had planned before we left our cabin to go swimming and were already in swim gear (with cover-ups). At Rosie’s we decided to go for the Fish & Chips. I wasn’t quite sure where it was located though I now realize it should have been more obvious (see the picture of Rosie’s above and you might notice a logo on her arm pointing up the stairs!). At any rate, I got the fish and chips, DBF got some fritters and some seafood bouillabaisse. It was really quite good! 

A quick note on drinks in the Lido: the guava punch is amazing but only offered at breakfast (the apple and orange are also only offered at breakfast). DBF and I would often fill up a water bottle of it to bring back to the cabin for later. The lemonade was also pretty good but strong (both sweet and sour somehow) so we would always water it down about half and half. Neither one of us care in particular for American Iced Tea so we never bothered trying it on board. I’m sure most of you are aware that there are a relatively limited number of drinks included free of charge with the expectation being that you can purchase a soft drink package (Bubbles) or a Cheers package for alcohol. Once again, attempting to save money, we did not opt for either of these packages and it’s a good thing. Although we did spend some money on drinks on board, it wasn’t enough to justify even $10 per day each on such a package, let alone $50. Although, as you will hear more about later, I did make the mistake of purchasing a souvenir cup at one point; more on that later!

After eating we grabbed our reading material and headed off in search of the pool. We weren’t yet quite used to the lay out of the ship yet and although I had been aware of the adults only pool, we hadn’t spotted it yet. Luckily for us, I made a wrong turn leaving Rosie’s and headed for the aft where the Prometheus pool is located. Probably due to the weather it was covered for the moment so that made it the perfect spot.

It was pretty empty (we soon found out why) so we grabbed a couple of chairs and headed for the… nope! The hot tubs were closed for cleaning (this seemed to happen a LOT given that most of them weren’t accessible after 10pm). So, we decided to try the pool instead. There was just one older woman in the pool and as we jumped in we found out why. It was freezing! I’m not sure whether they had just filled it up or what but it was almost intolerably cold. This was kind of ironic to me because when we did eventually manage to get into a hot tub it was luke-warm at best. I know others who have complained that the pools are too warm and I can’t really comment on the other pools as this was the only day we got in one but it was definitely far from warm. We swam for a while anyways and then read by the pool, and I managed to send off a couple of last minute messages to friends and family as I had purchased an American text package that was not going to be any good once we hit international waters. DBF did note that after we got out of the pool a child of probably age 10 did sneak into the adults only pool. Since it wasn't really in much use anyways I don't think it really matters, but the bottom line is they didn't really seem to be policing the adult's only rule and I guess that could either be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you are!

Eventually we decided to head back to the room and get on some clothes to go and watch sail away. When we came out on the deck we were disappointed to note that it had started to rain again. It was interesting to watch the two other ships which were behind us leave first as getting out of the port required backing up sort of into the port to get headed in the right direction. Sometimes the ship was backed into the port and this wasn’t necessary. We watched as we sailed away and waited almost until we were out at sea but it had started to rain a little harder to we decided to head back to the cabin and relax while we waited for our late dining time. I will note that as the evening went on I did feel a little off... not terribly nauseous but a bit unsettled so I was very relieved to have the bracelets as I found they worked wonders for me!

We were looking forward to dinning in the Washington Dining Room for the first time and weren’t quite sure how to dress. I had somehow been left with the impression that shorts weren’t allowed so we opted for DBF wearing a blazer and jeans, and me wearing a cocktail dress. This was major overkill. I honestly felt ridiculous once we got there. Many if not most people were wearing t-shirts and shorts. At any rate, worried about being late and annoying our table mates we headed up a few minutes early and found a rather long line (one of few). It didn’t last long as people were rapidly seated as soon as the dining room was opened for the late seating. We were extremely disappointed to be seated at a table of four, worried about what would happen if we didn’t like our table mates and afraid it would make it more awkward. After waiting for quite some time it seemed apparent that they weren’t going to show anyways. We ordered our food and had eaten our appetizers (duck, a thai soup which was spicy and delicious and shrimp cocktail) when a couple showed up with one of the wait staff. This was one of the more mortifying moments of the cruise as we watched the man whisper something to the hostess and then head off in another direction. It was obvious that they were supposed to be seated with us as the hostess had brought them there. I don’t know whether we were over dressed, or whether they didn’t want to bother us half way through our meal, or whether they just really wanted a table for two but I thought this was beyond rude. The least they could have done was sit with us for one meal, see how it was, and request alternate seating the next night! 

DBF was extremely disappointed as he had hoped to meet some new people so it wouldn’t just be the two of us conversing all week long (I tried not to take too great of offence at this!). I feel like this is really something worth noting. Maybe on a ship that was filled to capacity we would have been seated at a full table for 8 and have met plenty of people but I found that people weren’t really willing to add new people to their groups and lots of people seemed to travel as families or groups of couples. If I were to cruise again I would want to bring some friends or family along with me to avoid this feeling.

At any rate, flustered though we were by the interaction we managed to finish the rest of our meal (lamb for DBF and pork chop for me, I’ll post pictures of the food below). I was particularly excited to try the warm chocolate melting cake everyone raves about because it sounded really similar to my favourite desert at one of my favourite restaurants (the molten chocolate lava cake at Joey for any Canadians wondering). It was really good, but it wasn’t as good as my favourite! Later in the week I would learn to request it with the butter pecan ice cream (awesome combination!). 

After dinner, we decided to head for the Punchliner comedy club and we managed to snag a table for two near (but not too near) the front. We splurged on a couple of drinks here. DBF had never really been to a live comedy show so it was a first for him. We opted for the adult only versions, knowing that comics aren’t usually at their best with PG-13 jokes. The first comic. Kelly Terranova was pretty good. We laughed about our uncertainty over whether it would be a man or a woman (made funnier by the fact that this was his opening joke) but that was mostly because my father’s name is Kelly so I know better than to make assumptions about gender & assignment of names! The second comic, Jim Brick, was amazing! His entire set was based on picking on the people sitting in the front row. His timing was hilarious and DBF loved it! I really appreciate improv ability in a comedian as well as the ability to string along some sort of continuing narrative throughout the set and he did both. We enjoyed it so much that we came back the second night! (The comedy club has two different sets of two performers, the first are on the ship from St. Thomas until Barbados and the next two from St. Kitts until San Juan so there are two nights in the middle with no comedians).

After the show we headed back to our room to review the Fun Times for the Fun Day at Sea and were surprised to be reminded that the next day was Mardi Gras! I had completely forgotten and it was nice to know that there would be a theme for our sea day. We were also greated by what turned out to be my favourite towel animal of the trip, an adorable elephant!

To be continued...