How Suite It Is
Galveston, TX
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Disclaimer
In September 2017 my mom (GiGi Shirley), my sister (Auntie Allie), Natalie and I took a 4 day "girls only" birthday cruise to the Cozumel aboard the Carnival Valor sailing out of Galveston, TX. This beautiful floating resort took us to the following destination:
Cozumel, Mexico
The Carnival Valor... Our home away from home for the next 4 days!
I have been on 11 other cruises prior to this one; 8 with Carnival, 2 with Royal Caribbean and 1 with Princess. Natalie has been on 3 other cruises, all with Carnival and been on the Valor before as well. This cruise was all about celebrating birthdays and family! My mom turns 60 in January, my sister 30 in December, I turned 35 in September (Dang... I feel old) and Natalie turned 8 in August! We planned this cruise over a year and half ago and was originally supposed to sail ON my birthday, September 4, but the date changed due to work constrictions. This blog will include an overall review of the Carnival Valor, daily entries of our 4 days aboard, a "Foodies" blog highlighting all of the food options available on the Carnival Valor, a post linking all of the FunTimes as well as an extensive photo review of the ship. Thank you SO MUCH to all my followers... without you the blog would not be as popular as it is today! Be sure to stay tuned as the posts come through over the next few days and weeks (I am a teacher and it is a busy time of year so bear with me, please).
Morning
I woke up at my usual school day time of 5:15AM to help get Luke ready for school and ensure that everything was done around the house for my boys. Chris was still struggling getting around post-surgery and I wanted to be sure all was well before I took my vacation. (It has been a long road of recovery but Chris is doing much better... Thank You, Jesus). I told my family the call time was between 7-7:30AM and we pulled out of the driveway at 7:29AM!
I knew the traffic would be heavier on a Thursday than our usual Sunday morning commute but I never dreamed it would be THIS heavy. It took us 2 hours to get to Buc-ee's just 62 miles away. This made for a very stressful and tiring commute. We stopped at Buc-ee's, of course, and had fun creating our own coffees at the new Coffee Bar at the Texas City Buc-ee's!
Not stopping at Buc-ee's would be Un-Texan!
We are now officially on ISLAND TIME!
We departed Buc-ee's and made our way to EZ Cruise Parking just 2 blocks away from the Galveston cruise terminal 1. Tip- EZ Cruise Parking is very affordable parking and offers both options of parking with or without a shuttle. You can book and pay online. We were parked and on our way to check-in by 10:05AM. We had a 10-10:30AM arrival appointment so we rushed to the terminal to get checked in. We dropped off our luggage and then went into the terminal to the first (and now ONLY) check point station. Here they scanned our boarding passes and passports and then we went to the PRIORITY LOUNGE to wait for boarding. Tip- In fact, we did not receive our room keys/ sail and sign cards. This is a new boarding process Carnival started just months ago. Our cabin keys/Sail and Sign cards were waiting for us in our stateroom once we boarded. We were all checked in at 10:20AM.
Natalie was leading the charge to get to the ship! Very fast, I might add!
Natalie- Mommy, quit taking pictures! I just want to get on-board!
HaHa... Allison- Seriously, Sissy? Another picture!
Hey... I have to document all of our memories somehow!
I have never been in the PRIORITY LOUNGE and this was a very special treat. It offered spacious seating, cookies, tea and lemonade as well as coffee. At 10:50AM the first of many boarding announcements was made and a special escort came to talk to us in the PRIORITY LOUNGE about boarding. At 11AM on the dot, this escort took us through the terminal to the gangway get on the ship! It was a very unique boarding experience. Tip- I did notice on our walk to the ship that the Galveston terminal was not crowded AT ALL. It was the least busy I have ever seen it! I'm thinking this is due to it being work day.
Welcome to the Priority Lounge... Hello SUITE LIFE !
Cookies of all kinds and tea and coffee!
Fresh lemonade and water were available as well!
This may not happen again for a LONG TIME!
(After having stayed in a suite, I would still say that cruising more frequently in an inside is better than just 1x/year in a suite)!
The Galveston terminal Priority room!
The Galveston Cruise Terminal 1 at 11AM on a Thursday!
This was easily the best and easiest embarkation I have ever experienced in any cruise port. It was smooth and quick with no hiccups or complaints of any kind! Way to go GALVESTON!
Bon Voyage Galveston!
We walked through the gangway and stepped foot onto the Carnival Valor at 11:04AM, which is my 2nd fastest boarding time behind the Serenade of the Seas in 2015. We then immediately went to our Suite as we had priority privileges like Faster to the Fun which insured our room would be ready when we boarded. We took a tour of the room and dropped our stuff off before heading to the Lido deck. Tip- Our OCEAN SUITE was stateroom number 7259. This suite was large and had lots of storage space. The balcony was 90 square feet plus and already had 4 chairs available which was a nice surprise. This was a the perfect stateroom for 4 women! We loved it!
Our very 1st view of our suite!
Just 1 of the 4 MAJOR closets in this cabin!
Even Natalie got her very own closet! She was ecstatic!
A look at the bedroom area of the suite!
We made a short pit-stop at cabin 7289 which was a GRAND SUITE that was offered to us as an upgrade 2 days before sailing. This suite was slightly bigger and had a much better layout but the balcony was the same size and it offered no additional perks. The upgrade offer was for $492 TOTAL for all four of us ($125/ ea) and we declined as we were satisfied with our OCEAN SUITE. After touring this GRAND SUITE we decided we made the right choice! The avid cruiser in me was upset we declined but even now looking back, I still think it was the right choice!
Afternoon
We made our way to the Lido for lunch. The Lido main pool area was not busy at all and Guy's Burgers was completely empty! I was beginning to think something was "wrong" but eventually the ship filled up! Most of us ate Guy's Burgers (there is no better way to start a cruise than with a "super melty cheese" greasy burger, in my opinion) and Allie had the Mongolian Wok. Tip- be sure to check out the Mongolian Wok on Lido Deck 9 mid-ship EARLY in the cruise. As the cruise progresses and more and more people find out about this it gets very crowded.
Embarkation day at 11:40AM!
Time for some grub!
Hello Serenity (adult only) deck! We just had to sneak Natalie in here right after lunch as there was not a soul around! She is now hooked on the clam-shell chairs as well!
After we ate we explored the Lido deck area and the aft of the ship before heading back to our room to see if our luggage was there. When we arrived back at our room all 4 suitcases were there and it was not even 1PM. Oh, the Suite life! We took about 45 minutes to unpack all of our suitcases and get the suite set up for living for the next 4 days. We all kept saying "don't get too attached" and "don't fall in love with the suite life" as the suite life was just glorious. The amount of space and shelves was incredible.
Hello Suite Life!
After we unpacked we all got in our swimsuits and made our way to the main pool and hot tub area on Lido deck. Gigi and I stayed in the hot tub while Natalie and Allie went down the water slide several times. We stayed here between the two for over an hour before having to go back to the room and get ready for the muster station drill.
HER home away from home! She was in this ALL the time!
The Girls Gone Cruising has officially commensed!
Carnival Valor- Take 2 for me!
Tip- The muster station drill on Conquest class ships in on deck 3 on the promenade area. It will be outside and in the hot TEXAS sun! Be sure to bring sunglasses and a full hat if possible! This particular muster drill took much longer than usual and we even got the wrong wristband for Natalie so we had to be sure to get a bracelet with the correct muster station on it for worst case scenario. Finally, the muster station drill was over and we were ready for sail away shortly after 4PM.
We made our way back to our suite to watch the sail away from our balcony. Gigi Shirley thought it would be fun to feed the seagulls bread as we departed. This made for some VERY hilarious moments with Natalie and Allison. The Carnival Valor set sail for Cozumel at 4:25PM. We all sat out on the balcony for nearly 2 hours before getting ready for dinner.
Adios Galveston... see you in 4 days!
GiGi Shirley is ALWAYS the life of the party!
She taught us how to feed the seagulls from the balcony during sail-away!
Feeding the Seagulls... So much fun!
Natalie was not quite sure about it!
Time for the fun to begin!
Evening
We had Your Time Dining which allowed us to come to dinner anytime between 5:45PM-9:30PM. We arrived at 6:30PM and got sat in John Alex's section. This waiter from Columbia proved to be INCREDIBLE and his wait staff was just as good. In fact, he was the BEST waiter we have ever had on Carnival. He reminded me of the high class service received on Princess ships. We were in and out of the Main Dining Room, with 4 women, in less than 1 hour and 40 minutes. We were sold on John Alex!
Pre-Dinner balcony fun! She loved this balcony!
To say my kid likes pasta is an understatement!
And there is ALWAYS room for dessert!
We were even able to catch the sunset from our dinner table!
After dinner we explored the Valor lobby and atrium and took a few professional pictures. We were all kinda tired but wanted to got to the Welcome Aboard show at 10PM so we went to Cherry on Top candy store and then to our balcony to enjoy the crisp air before going to the show.
Traditional life preserver picture!
This is the life! I LOVE cruising!
We sat in the balcony for the show as Chris hates that and Natalie wanted to experience it. She now hates it too. There's no leg room and often you cannot see the show very well! The show was just so-so and is the exact same show, jokes and all, as all of the other Carnival cruises we have taken recently. The cruise director, Frankie, was just OK at this point in the cruise. Tip- I did notice that Carnival is now offering a great prize package for those who participate in the games before the show. This includes, champagne, chocolate strawberries brought to your room, a dining credit for the couple, a "ship on a stick", a wine voucher as well as reserved seating for EVERY entertainment show while on board. This is definitely worth playing for in the future!
We were all tired!
The Playlist Production cast was definitely not the best I have heard. They were off beat and hardly ever on pitch. The dancing was fantastic and the show production was great as usual but the singing was really off the whole cruise. Tip- The Welcome Aboard show was nothing new and the same-ole, same-ole from previous cruises.
Seriously the worst singing cast I have ever heard! So bad!
After the show we followed Frankie to the atrium for the "Rock the Promenade" contest. This was a lot of fun and we were able to sing and dance in the atrium, casino and Red Frog Pub. Then we made our way back to our room for the evening as we had a very long day. Remember, most of us had been up since 5:15AM! We were in bed and asleep by 11:30PM.
Welcome home!
It was a FULL day of exploring and fun on board the Carnival Valor and the fun was just beginning! Stay tuned for our first day at sea and more fun on the Valor!
Check out our FULL DAY! Loved every minute!
Next up... SeaDay #1!
God is good... ALL the time!
Carnival Valor- 2016
Carnival Legend- 2016
Caribbean Princess- 2016
Carnival Triumph- 2015
Carnival Magic- 2015
Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas- 2015
Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas- 2014
Carnival Conquest- 2013
Carnival Conquest- 2006
Morning
I woke up at my usual school day time of 5:15AM to help get Luke ready for school and ensure that everything was done around the house for my boys. Chris was still struggling getting around post-surgery and I wanted to be sure all was well before I took my vacation. (It has been a long road of recovery but Chris is doing much better... Thank You, Jesus). I told my family the call time was between 7-7:30AM and we pulled out of the driveway at 7:29AM!
I knew the traffic would be heavier on a Thursday than our usual Sunday morning commute but I never dreamed it would be THIS heavy. It took us 2 hours to get to Buc-ee's just 62 miles away. This made for a very stressful and tiring commute. We stopped at Buc-ee's, of course, and had fun creating our own coffees at the new Coffee Bar at the Texas City Buc-ee's!
We departed Buc-ee's and made our way to EZ Cruise Parking just 2 blocks away from the Galveston cruise terminal 1. Tip- EZ Cruise Parking is very affordable parking and offers both options of parking with or without a shuttle. You can book and pay online. We were parked and on our way to check-in by 10:05AM. We had a 10-10:30AM arrival appointment so we rushed to the terminal to get checked in. We dropped off our luggage and then went into the terminal to the first (and now ONLY) check point station. Here they scanned our boarding passes and passports and then we went to the PRIORITY LOUNGE to wait for boarding. Tip- In fact, we did not receive our room keys/ sail and sign cards. This is a new boarding process Carnival started just months ago. Our cabin keys/Sail and Sign cards were waiting for us in our stateroom once we boarded. We were all checked in at 10:20AM.
Natalie- Mommy, quit taking pictures! I just want to get on-board!
Hey... I have to document all of our memories somehow!
I have never been in the PRIORITY LOUNGE and this was a very special treat. It offered spacious seating, cookies, tea and lemonade as well as coffee. At 10:50AM the first of many boarding announcements was made and a special escort came to talk to us in the PRIORITY LOUNGE about boarding. At 11AM on the dot, this escort took us through the terminal to the gangway get on the ship! It was a very unique boarding experience. Tip- I did notice on our walk to the ship that the Galveston terminal was not crowded AT ALL. It was the least busy I have ever seen it! I'm thinking this is due to it being work day.
Cookies of all kinds and tea and coffee!
Fresh lemonade and water were available as well!
(After having stayed in a suite, I would still say that cruising more frequently in an inside is better than just 1x/year in a suite)!
This was easily the best and easiest embarkation I have ever experienced in any cruise port. It was smooth and quick with no hiccups or complaints of any kind! Way to go GALVESTON!
We walked through the gangway and stepped foot onto the Carnival Valor at 11:04AM, which is my 2nd fastest boarding time behind the Serenade of the Seas in 2015. We then immediately went to our Suite as we had priority privileges like Faster to the Fun which insured our room would be ready when we boarded. We took a tour of the room and dropped our stuff off before heading to the Lido deck. Tip- Our OCEAN SUITE was stateroom number 7259. This suite was large and had lots of storage space. The balcony was 90 square feet plus and already had 4 chairs available which was a nice surprise. This was a the perfect stateroom for 4 women! We loved it!
Even Natalie got her very own closet! She was ecstatic!
A look at the bedroom area of the suite!
We made a short pit-stop at cabin 7289 which was a GRAND SUITE that was offered to us as an upgrade 2 days before sailing. This suite was slightly bigger and had a much better layout but the balcony was the same size and it offered no additional perks. The upgrade offer was for $492 TOTAL for all four of us ($125/ ea) and we declined as we were satisfied with our OCEAN SUITE. After touring this GRAND SUITE we decided we made the right choice! The avid cruiser in me was upset we declined but even now looking back, I still think it was the right choice!
The GRAND suite we declined as an upgrade!
Afternoon
We made our way to the Lido for lunch. The Lido main pool area was not busy at all and Guy's Burgers was completely empty! I was beginning to think something was "wrong" but eventually the ship filled up! Most of us ate Guy's Burgers (there is no better way to start a cruise than with a "super melty cheese" greasy burger, in my opinion) and Allie had the Mongolian Wok. Tip- be sure to check out the Mongolian Wok on Lido Deck 9 mid-ship EARLY in the cruise. As the cruise progresses and more and more people find out about this it gets very crowded.
Hello Serenity (adult only) deck! We just had to sneak Natalie in here right after lunch as there was not a soul around! She is now hooked on the clam-shell chairs as well!
After we ate we explored the Lido deck area and the aft of the ship before heading back to our room to see if our luggage was there. When we arrived back at our room all 4 suitcases were there and it was not even 1PM. Oh, the Suite life! We took about 45 minutes to unpack all of our suitcases and get the suite set up for living for the next 4 days. We all kept saying "don't get too attached" and "don't fall in love with the suite life" as the suite life was just glorious. The amount of space and shelves was incredible.
After we unpacked we all got in our swimsuits and made our way to the main pool and hot tub area on Lido deck. Gigi and I stayed in the hot tub while Natalie and Allie went down the water slide several times. We stayed here between the two for over an hour before having to go back to the room and get ready for the muster station drill.
Tip- The muster station drill on Conquest class ships in on deck 3 on the promenade area. It will be outside and in the hot TEXAS sun! Be sure to bring sunglasses and a full hat if possible! This particular muster drill took much longer than usual and we even got the wrong wristband for Natalie so we had to be sure to get a bracelet with the correct muster station on it for worst case scenario. Finally, the muster station drill was over and we were ready for sail away shortly after 4PM.
We made our way back to our suite to watch the sail away from our balcony. Gigi Shirley thought it would be fun to feed the seagulls bread as we departed. This made for some VERY hilarious moments with Natalie and Allison. The Carnival Valor set sail for Cozumel at 4:25PM. We all sat out on the balcony for nearly 2 hours before getting ready for dinner.
She taught us how to feed the seagulls from the balcony during sail-away!
Feeding the Seagulls... So much fun!
Time for the fun to begin!
Evening
We had Your Time Dining which allowed us to come to dinner anytime between 5:45PM-9:30PM. We arrived at 6:30PM and got sat in John Alex's section. This waiter from Columbia proved to be INCREDIBLE and his wait staff was just as good. In fact, he was the BEST waiter we have ever had on Carnival. He reminded me of the high class service received on Princess ships. We were in and out of the Main Dining Room, with 4 women, in less than 1 hour and 40 minutes. We were sold on John Alex!
To say my kid likes pasta is an understatement!
After dinner we explored the Valor lobby and atrium and took a few professional pictures. We were all kinda tired but wanted to got to the Welcome Aboard show at 10PM so we went to Cherry on Top candy store and then to our balcony to enjoy the crisp air before going to the show.
We sat in the balcony for the show as Chris hates that and Natalie wanted to experience it. She now hates it too. There's no leg room and often you cannot see the show very well! The show was just so-so and is the exact same show, jokes and all, as all of the other Carnival cruises we have taken recently. The cruise director, Frankie, was just OK at this point in the cruise. Tip- I did notice that Carnival is now offering a great prize package for those who participate in the games before the show. This includes, champagne, chocolate strawberries brought to your room, a dining credit for the couple, a "ship on a stick", a wine voucher as well as reserved seating for EVERY entertainment show while on board. This is definitely worth playing for in the future!
The Playlist Production cast was definitely not the best I have heard. They were off beat and hardly ever on pitch. The dancing was fantastic and the show production was great as usual but the singing was really off the whole cruise. Tip- The Welcome Aboard show was nothing new and the same-ole, same-ole from previous cruises.
After the show we followed Frankie to the atrium for the "Rock the Promenade" contest. This was a lot of fun and we were able to sing and dance in the atrium, casino and Red Frog Pub. Then we made our way back to our room for the evening as we had a very long day. Remember, most of us had been up since 5:15AM! We were in bed and asleep by 11:30PM.
It was a FULL day of exploring and fun on board the Carnival Valor and the fun was just beginning! Stay tuned for our first day at sea and more fun on the Valor!
Check out our FULL DAY! Loved every minute!
Next up... SeaDay #1!
God is good... ALL the time!
Click on a link to see our past cruising adventures:
Our Cruise Ship Experiences 2006-present
Carnival Breeze- 2017
Carnival Dream- 2017
Our Cruise Ship Experiences 2006-present
Carnival Breeze- 2017
Carnival Dream- 2017
Carnival Valor- 2016
Carnival Legend- 2016
Caribbean Princess- 2016
Carnival Triumph- 2015
Carnival Magic- 2015
Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas- 2015
Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas- 2014
Carnival Conquest- 2013
Carnival Conquest- 2006
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