Friday 26 July 2013

Vic & Steve went to the Caribbean - part 4: Cruising, the ship and accommodation


our room above the 1st life-raft
It is fair to say we were apprehensive about going on a cruise, only a few people we know have been cruising so we couldn't really validate whether this would be a holiday for us or not.
Upshot for us was as a means of transport, accommodation, food and entertainment it's bloody good value for money. Would we ever go on one again? yes but only to achieve the same goals as we set out with in the Caribbean - to see somewhere that isn't easily accessible by another means, so maybe Alaska or the Antarctic and perhaps (just perhaps) more of the Caribbean.

The ship - Carnival Valor is a big ship, up to 3000 passengers and 1180 crew - we had ~2600 passengers. It is called a "Fun Ship" within the range of Carnival travel experiences, so not many old people, no zimmerframes, many families with kids of all ages and many many 20-30 year olds.

Docked in St Lucia
It has sooooo much stuff on board. Two restaurants for sit down menu dining, the lido deck for buffet dining, 24 hour deli + pizza + ice cream + coffee bar + 2 x poolside bars. There is a giant theatre for shows, a casino (where people can smoke), loads and loads of bars and cafe's all over the place,  a library, shops, a business centre with expensive internet, art gallery, gym, spa, running track, +21 deck, 2 pools, ~8 x spa pools, water slide, giant screen, laundry rooms etc etc.

There are 12 decks so to get around there are banks of lifts at the centre, fore and aft of the ship, we however tended to use the stairs using the climbs (like from deck 0 to 8 where our cabin was) as our primary exercise for the day. There is a running track, we walked around it but at 30+ degrees celsius the temperature wasn't conducive to taking a jog.

To describe the decor as American and garish doesn't do it justice. Everything is bright, so very colourful and tacky - decor will be a future ship selection criteria for us. There are a few photos in this post from inside the ship to give you an idea.
The corridors are narrow but the only time we felt cramped was walking from one end of deck 8 to the other. There is so much space on the open decks at the top you don't feel like there are 2600 people around all the time.

The accommodation - cabin 8823 was like a small hotel room, with a balcony, king sized bed, fold-out single, 1 chair, tv, mini-bar, safe, worlds smallest bathroom and a closet. It was comfortable and clean. Our purser, Nelson, was polite and chatted with us as we returned to the ship each day asking how we enjoyed our day. The room was made up twice a day by Nelson and his team. Each evening we got a running sheet for the next day including what was on tv, the big screen, the shows, specials in the shops, jackpots in the casino and most importantly - what time to be back onboard or you miss the ship at the end of that day. We also got a towel animal and 2 x chocolates.
our towel friends
Cabin 8823
Pink dining room



We thoroughly enjoyed having a balcony, stepping out into the wall of heat and moisture was a stark contrast to the cool airconditioned room, but we enjoyed reading and watching as we docked / disembarked from each port, taking photos and listening to the noise of the rest of the ship also hanging out on their balconies. If we cruise again we will have a balcony. I wasn't sea sick at all, we only had one rough day where we went up top to watch the Basketball final #4, otherwise I was fine in our room and with a comfy bed slept relatively well.
The cruise package includes 24 hour room service, we called it once to get a bottle of water and desserts - whereas others used it continuously with empty plates lining the corridors.

Next Chapter - continuing on the cruise, this time with our impressions of the food, entertainment and summary of the experience.
another towel buddy

some of the lifts

docked in Sint Maarten


1 comment:

  1. I KNOW WHAT I BELIEVE, DO NOT CONFUSE ME WITH THE TRUTH-by steve finnell


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