Happy Birthday Ladies- September 2017 Carnival Valor
Disclaimer
In September 2017 I took Natalie on a Western Caribbean Cruise aboard the Carnival Valor sailing out of Galveston, TX with my mom, Shirley, and sister, Allison, to celebrate our milestone birthdays. This beautiful floating resort took us to the following destinations:
Cozumel, Mexico
The Carnival Valor... Our home away from home for the next 4 days!
Chris and I have been on 11 other cruises prior to this one; 8 with Carnival, 2 with Royal Caribbean and 1 withPrincess. This blog will include daily entries of our 4 days, a broad "Foodies" blog highlighting all of the food options available on the Carnival Valor 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 for MORE cruise blogs! Galveston/ Embarkation- How Suite It Is Sea Day 1- Life on Lido Cozumel- Diego and Amadeus Take Us Away Sea Day 2- The Last Hurrah Disembarkation- All the Fun is Done... For Now! Other Posts Carnival Valor 4 Day FOOD- This A'int My First Rodeo
Once again, we owe all of these blessings to our Lord and Savior! He has truly blessed Chris and I, as well as our family! We currently have 3 more cruises booked and a few more after that on the horizon for the next 2+ years, with and without kids, and we are very excited to set sail once again.
NCL Pearl-12th Anniversary and a new cruise line- March 2018 Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- Gotta get on her before she leaves- June 2018 NCL Breakaway- Thanksgiving Cruise with the kids- November 2018
Thank you so much for following along and until we meet again...
I consider it a successful cruise when I win a trophy! This was our last day to see, explore and do all that the Carnival Valor had to offer. We spent lots of time at the pools and hot tubs and ALL FOUR of us got to go on the WaterSlide. It was a great day! Morning
I woke up at 6:15AM, got ready and went straight to the balcony. I was able to capture the 6:45AM sunrise and it was gorgeous. Then I was able to relax and take a relaxing nap before everyone else woke up around 8AM. Mom came out to the balcony and I was still asleep and I am not sure she realized I was out there because she left to get ready and locked me out. I waited a little while then had to bang on the windows for someone to let me in! I thought it was hilarious but Natalie did not like being woken up to banging on the window!
This sunrise was amazing!
This is PERFECT! The absolute best place to be at 6AM!
This was about 15 minutes after the sun had come up! Stunningly beautiful!
Natalie and I enjoyed some balcony time before we all went to breakfast on Lido. We missed the SeaDay Brunch since we were late getting up and Allie had a nail appointment at 9AM. All of us received a $50 SPA gift certificate and Allie chose to use hers to get a "Fire N Ice Manicure". She enjoyed it very much and said the view was beautiful. Tip- As mentioned in previous installments, be sure to let your "personal Vacation Planner" (PVP) about anything you are celebrating. They will usually go out of their way to help you celebrate with anything from SPA gift cards to Wine certificates and anything in between. But you have to enter the celebration into the MY CRUISE MANAGER and then let your PVP (or travel agent) know ahead of time.
We LOVE balcony time!
Morning balcony time is the best!
As Allie was getting her manicure GiGi, Natalie and I enjoyed some time in the gym before we were kicked out because Natalie was too young (12 years and up). Then we went to the towel folding fun in the Ivanhoe Theater. Frankie, the cruise director, was running this event and we liked that better than the usual housekeeping staff. We made a puppy, elephant and a sting-ray! It was lots of fun as usual. Tip- This is a favorite event of my kids but be sure you get there early and on-time so you do not miss any steps! The towel animals look better this way too! After the towel folding fun we watched the Towel Puppet Show. This has been a hit or miss event on Carnival cruise ships but my kids love it and it has some funny adult topics as well! Tip- Look for these 2 events in the FunTimes on the last sea day, usually around 10AM.
GiGi ended up walking over 1/2 mile!
Natalie just liked roaming around in the gym!
Frankie leading the Towel Folding Fun! I loved that he promoted the "home team" and wore a Texans jersey!
This is the best puppy (or any animal) she has ever made!
Natalie's elephant!
The Puppet Show!
At the conclusion of the Puppet show Natalie and I went to the Arcade for "Power Hour". I had never heard of this before but it offered HALF PRICE arcade games from 10-11AM. And some were even lower than 50%. Natalie and I played about 8 games before the prices went back to normal. This will certainly become a tradition for us. I was told by crew members they offer this on every cruise on various days.
The Carnival Valor arcade (mid-ship deck 5)
That's my girl... Skeet-ball all the way!
After our Power Hour we met back up with the girls and we all got some specialty coffee at the Java Cafe on Deck 5 in the Promenade. There was only one worker and it took over 30 minutes to get through the line and get our order. The coffee was "so-so" but they all LOVED the enormous chocolate and carrot cakes. Natalie was in heaven and had so much fun eating her GIANT piece of cake!
This was a massive FIVE layer cake!
Afternoon
We went up to the Lido in hopes of eating lunch but Natalie was not hungry and wanted to swim so, of course, we all got in our swimsuits and we spent the majority of the afternoon at the pool area. While we were getting ready we noticed that our Gold Level drink coupons had never been delivered for GiGi and I and then Natalie lost her card so I made a pit-stop at the Guest Services. The person I spoke to said that Carnival recently changed their loyalty rules and only 5+ days sailing receive the Gold Level drink coupon. I explained this was disappointing but I understood. The guy then looked at his screen and said "Oh Wait a minute Mrs. Davis" and he went to the back of the office. When he came back he told me he appreciates my loyalty and kind "journalism words" as he said verbatim. He then gave me a receipt for a $10 credit to use as I wish. This was not at all necessary but once again, Carnival went above and beyond for their customers. This is a reason I do stay loyal to Carnival and I speak so highly of them. Any and EVERY time I have had a problem (this was not a problem or complaint just a questions) they answer and solve the problem and go above and beyond. The guy told me I am "starred" in the system and he knows to take care of me. Well thank you very much Carnival! You just made a customer for life!
And thank you to all of my followers. If it weren't for y'all reading, I would not be as popular as I am currently and would not be "starred" I'm sure! Thanks!
Natalie and I made our way to Lido and it was about 12:30PM. There were hardly any chairs available and the lido deck was PACKED, even more so than usual. Come to find out, the Texans were playing on the big screen. We finally found some chairs and literally parked it there the rest of the afternoon. We swam in the main pool, the WaterSlide pool as well as dipped in the hot tubs many times.
We are ready for a fun afternoon!
A cruise ship on NFL Sunday!
A look at the cruise ship during NFL Sunday! There is no boycott here!
We all went up to the WaterSlide so we could all have a ride and it was "closed" due to lack of water. This seemed really weird but we made our way back to our chairs blistering our feet on the hot deck the whole way. Of course, by the time we got back down it was opened again. It was the weirdest thing I have seen. But we all went down and it was awesome!
It is ALWAYS selfie time!
Natalie's turn!
She decided to ride on her stomach this time! Slower than usual!
60 and FABULOUS! Way to go GiGi Shirley!
Auntie Allie's turn!
This was not Auntie Allie's 1st time on the slide! She loved it too!
My turn!
We paused for lunch briefly at the beginning of the 3rd quarter as the lines were incredibly long during halftime, much like a real football game. Natalie and GiGi got Guy's Burgers but I opted to try both the Sushi at Sea as well as the Seafood Shack. Both of these were an additional "a la carte" fee but I wanted to try them. I waited in line for about 30 minutes between the two but they were both very food and fulfilling. The Sushi at Sea was a $5 roll (tip extra) and the Seafood Shack was about $13 (tip extra). This lunch costed me an additional $20 but I think it was worth it to try these venues out. Tip- Be sure to get to the Seafood Shack EARLY in the lunch time as the line became VERY long. Also, be sure to check back for our FOODIE BLOG. This will include ALL of the MDR menus as well as pictures of the dishes, including both the Sushi at Sea and Seafood Shack.
The Sushi at Sea menu options.
These guys loved their job and did a fantastic job making my sushi!
The California roll with caviar.
The Seafood Shack menu.
The lobster roll (which came with 2 surprisingly). This was not the best I have ever had (Houstonians check out Mainely Sandwiches on I-45 and Beltway 8 N) but it was pretty good. The lobster was very flaky and huge pieces.
The Chocolate Extravaganza Buffet offered by Carnival. Tip- This is now almost always offered on the LAST sea day at noon!
I REALLY don't like chocolate but had some time to kill while I waited for my sushi/ seafood. It was not bad but still not for me.
After lunch we spent some time laying out and enjoying the sun before another rain storm came and rained on our parade. Natalie loved it because this meant she could swim in the rain and her and GiGi did just that. Allie and I opted to find cover and then enjoy the coolness of the open decks. I ventured back to the aft of the ship for a very brief moment and it was GLORIOUS. Again, this is my absolute favorite part of the ship! I could spent the entire cruise at this area!
How I spent my $10. Thanks again Carnival. You truly know how to take care of your customer base!
THIS is my happy place! I literally dream about it often!
We opted to go in early from the pool so we could ensure we got John Alex as our waiter in the MDR. We knew this meant we had to be at dinner by 6 o'clock so Natalie and I got out of the pool around 4:30PM. We were ready earlier than the other girls so we enjoyed the evening breeze from our balcony. The waters were yet again calm and the sun was on the other side of the ship so it was literally a perfect evening.
We are ready for dinner!
I love this girl so much! 8 going on 20!
Natalie brought along some silly emoji props to use and we just remembered on this night!
Silly picture!
Balcony fun before dinner!
Evening
We made it to dinner before 6PM and we were able to not only sit in John Alex's section but the exact table from night #1. Natalie was so excited and once again John Alex went above and beyond. He knew our needs and practically brought it out before we asked. Again, he has been the best Carnival server to date! We were able to catch the "showtime" performance of the waiters singing goodbye to us and my favorite dance/ performance "gang-ham style". It was a GREAT way to end our cruise in the Main Dining Room.
"Awe that's the stuff" she said as John Alex brought her the FOUR bowls of Mac-n-Cheese!
And there is always room for more pasta!
Time for SHOWTIME!
Natalie and her favorite... John Alex!
"You're leaving our FUNSHIP"! This song almost always makes me cry... it means the cruise is almost over! (This guy can sing... he should switch places with one of the Playlist crew)
Gangham Style... always my favorite!
After dinner we went straight to the America Rocks Playlist Production Show. This is one of my favorite new shows on Carnival ships and I wanted to get the full experience with the pre-show fun. Natalie got to go up on stage and have her face painted and Allie got to take a picture with a "rock-star" mannequin. The show itself was fun and great for singing along. The singers were better but still bad for cruise ship quality. Tip- Be sure to get to this show early for the pre-show fun. They pass out all kinds of goodies like glow sticks and etc. They also find volunteers to be a "part" of the show at this time.
Natalie getting her face painted for the America Rocks show!
We are ready for the show!
Look at that face. She ran up and down the center aisle to get these glow sticks!
The LIVE band was impressive!
I left the show early so we could ensure a seat for the 80s trivia sing-along. This has become my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing and event on any Carnival cruise ship. The cruise director really makes it fun and Frankie continued this pattern. I played by myself and then sang and danced the night away during the sing along. I got 13/14 correct AND I guessed the bonus question of Frankie's favorite 80s song (Don't Stop Believing). This earned me my very own 24K gold piece of ship on a stick! I kept the Davis trophy tradition alive! I was so excited!
Frankie and his FunSquad were very entertaining (Not as good as Flying Scotsman- Dream or Schwartz- Breeze but very good).
Fun with Frankie during 80s Trivia!
Ladies and Gentlemen... please welcome Cinnamon!
I, we, DID IT!
WooHoo... the cruise is now complete for me!
We made some last minute shopping purchases and looked at our pictures from the week before retiring back to our room to pack. It was hard to believe the fun was coming to an end but it had been a blast! We packed our bags and put them outside our room shortly after 11PM. I then retired to the balcony to take it all in again while Allison decided she would use the jetted whirlpool tub. She used bubbles and let me tell you, it was a hot mess! This made for a hilarious last night of our cruise. We had to call guest services and maintenance and finally the issue was resolved and the bathtub was drained after 1AM. It didn't bother me one bit... memories were made and fun was had by all!
Hahaha... ooops!
It was the end of our trip and our last hurrah and we were sad but fantastic memories were made. I think we have decided we will make this a "milestone birthday" tradition. Natalie is the next milestone birthday and she will turn 10 in 2019. We already have our next Girls Gone Cruising adventure planned for August 2019! Thanks again for following along! Up next... FOODIE BLOG! (lots of pictures and tips) God is good... ALL the time!
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 withPrincess. 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 FunTimesas 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!
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.
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!
