All About Our Carnival Valor Cruise Vacation

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We had the best time aboard the Carnival Valor for our cruise out of New Orleans, Louisiana! Today, as I finally sit and go through the hundreds of photos I took on the cruise, I’m thinking back on all the many things I love about our Carnival Valor cruise! And I’m ready to dump all my thoughts out right here why they are still fresh on my mind!

trio of violinists performing on Carnival Valor Cruise ship

little girl walks in front of Carnival Valor Cruise Ship

After You Book Your Vacation

Download the Carnival Hub app to your phone so you can keep up with all that is going on on the ship and start getting set up – the sooner, the better. There is a lot of helpful information there. You will also need this Hub to check in your party in the days ahead of the cruise, choose your preferred dining plan, book Carnival-sponsored excursions, and choose a boarding time. Note: you will not see the itinerary of activities for the ship until you board the ship. Once on board, you will put your phone in airplane mode, connect to Carnival Wi-Fi, and the Hub should work for your device. Now, you will be able to find lots of helpful information and itineraries!
Search Facebook for a Facebook group specific to your cruise. In the search bar on Facebook, type your ship’s name with the date of your cruise. For example, my group was called Carnival Valor July 10, 2023. This group has a ton of helpful information and posts that lead to bonding of the guests. It’s fun to be in the group!
Consider any theme nights (often listed in the Hub or mentioned in your Facebook group) that may require special outfits or packing. An example is the 80s glow party or the 90s party. There is also elegant night which many dress up for (but some choose not to and that’s okay, too).

Tips for Boarding Carnival Valor

Keep your hands free of items. You are going to go through a somewhat lengthy process will multiple stops at stations. At these stations, you have to show your boarding passes and travel documents. You don’t want your hands to be full. Streamline the carry on items as much as possible. We took backpacks as our carry ons (all four of us) with our travel documents, electronics, swimsuits, sunscreen, sunglasses, and other afternoon essentials – just in case we wouldn’t be able to get into our rooms for a while. (It turns out our room was ready soon after we board, but that may be because were late-boarders with the last hour time slot.)
If you are taking your own sodas on Carnival Valor, you need to take them in your carry on. We took a 12-pack of Diet Dr. Peppers, and a 10-pack of mini Dr. Peppers. I thought we had to have them concealed so we had our cans buried in our backpacks. But I saw tons of people carrying their cartons openly in their hands or on top of their carry ons. (Again though, I was glad my hands were free.)
Hit up lunch as soon as you board! The Lido deck is open and hopping on embarkation day. So as soon as you get on the ship, head for Guy’s Burgers, the Lido deck buffet, or any of the other open restaurant. I hit Guy’s Burger Joint as soon as we made it to the Lido deck.
Not long after everyone has boarded, every passenger has to report to their muster station. This is a super quick process. Basically, you report to the muster station area and are given a run through of safety procedures by Carnival staff – in small group format. We were in and out of there in five minutes or so.

sign for Guy's Burger Joint on Carnival Valor Cruise

All About Our Carnival Valor Balcony Room

We had the most incredible room steward, Joe. He was on top of things and was just the sweetest person! We were sure to save some cash to give him an extra tip on the last day. We did pay for gratuities up front on our Hub app. But those gratuities get split amongst all the staff. Our assigned staff members (room steward and dining room wait staff) worked their tails off, and we tipped them all extra as they had earned it.
Our room was Carnival Valor 6285. It had two twin beds which we requested be pushed together to make a queen. Also, there is one twin bed which comes down from the ceiling and a sofa which makes into another twin bed.
Our luggage fit under the queen bed for the most part. There were also three closets with hanging racks and hangers and some shelves.
There is a small hair dryer in the drawer of the vanity desk. And there is a small safe and a mini fridge.
The bathroom is very small but efficient. There are a few hanging hooks on the bathroom door and some glass shelves above the bathroom vanity. The bathroom is stocked with shower gel and shampoo but no conditioner. It was a pleasant surprise because I didn’t expect there to be any products at all and had packed accordingly. Even still, I prefer my own shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. For my girls, I have to bring our swimmer’s shampoo or their hair will feel like straw!
The balcony of room 6285 on Valor is peaceful and quiet. Underneath us were the emergency rafts on deck 5. Without guests rooms beneath us, we didn’t have to worry about noise floating directly up to us. After getting a balcony room, I will never go back to not having one. I enjoyed my quiet time on the balcony more than I ever knew I would!
There are no irons in the guest rooms. However, most floors have a laundrette room where you can iron your clothes. You just need to ask your room steward where it is. There is even a washer and dryer in there. I, along with a gazillion other people, waited until the last minute to do some ironing for elegant night. I wound up waiting around 30 minutes to use the iron because there was a big line.
Some cruisers recommend bringing a fan, cruise-approved power outlet, magnetic hooks to hang things on walls to make the best use of their rooms. We did not take any of those things and were perfectly comfortable. Now, we did have to keep our devices on a rotation system for charging because there is only one outlet in the room.

door way room of balcony room 207 on Carnival Valor

door way view of room 207 on Carnival Valor

You can see below how the orange couch has become the bottom bunk bed. And the top bunk has been pulled from the ceiling. I had a hard time picturing this set up until I actually got there and saw it with my own eyes. Our room steward set it up for us when we arrived.

bunk beds in balcony room 207 on Carnival Valor

Favorite Carnival Valor Restaurants

First and foremost, the staff on Carnival Valor is nothing short of impressive! These people bust their rears and do it with the most genuine smiles on their faces! I can’t say enough good things about our Lincoln dining room servers – Yasa, Michael, Marlin, and Aldi! Yasa and Michael made our night all three nights we went! In fact, they were some of the best parts of our Carnival Valor cruise! At a certain point in the night (6:30 on our cruise), the servers all stop what they are doing and perform a special dance show. It’s so fun! The diners join in after a while.
Speaking of Lincoln Dining Room, our food was really good. We had a variety of different appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Our favorites: the steak, the lasagna, the melted chocolate cake, and the apple pie!
The 16 and older pool on the Lido deck hosts the Pizza Pirate and the Seafood Shack along with a Swirls station. Of course, there is a bar and the servers are on top of things, offering bar service. I snagged a two-seater table situated just between the Seafood Shack and the restrooms, and it was the perfect spot! There was constant air conditioning and I could see all the low-key action going on, even if I was perched at the table with my laptop working on this website. A lady stopped by and said, “No working! No working on this ship!” But…workers gonna work!
Guy’s Burger Joint has an impressive short menu of burgers. I like it that the choices are limited to 5-6 burgers. People should be able to make a quick decision as they enter the line. Nearby, there is a toppings bar where you can load up your fries and burger as you please. It’s so good!
Any time we went to the buffet on Lido deck – usually breakfast, dinner one night, and lunch several times, our family made a plan of action. One child was responsible for gathering silverware and securing the table. The other child was responsible for getting drinks. My husband got in one line and made a plate for himself and one child. I often got into a different buffet line and made a plate for myself and the other child. Of course, our girls are old enough now to help out that way. And we pretty much know what they might like or not like in the buffet lines. The lines are long. If you don’t have a plan, it can take a while to get everyone to the table and ready to eat.
There are tons of desserts to choose from in the buffet on a Carnival Valor cruise. But a fan favorite in my group is the strawberry soft-serve ice cream! It’s not very often that we come across strawberry soft-serve. In our area, the flavors are typically only vanilla or chocolate – so this was a treat for us!
On this last trip, we did not try any of the extra-price restaurants. On our honeymoon cruise in the past, my husband and I had a reservation to the steakhouse. It was very nice. But on this trip with kids, I decided we had plenty of options that I had already paid for in my cruise package.
Although we never participated, there were “midnight snacks” on the Lido deck. If I understand correctly, this is a stream-lined spinoff of the midnight buffet offered in years past.

steak and veggies on plate in Lincoln Dining Room

daughter and dad at table in the Lincoln Dining Room on Carnival Valor Cruise

daughter and mom at table in Carnival Valor Lincoln Dining room

Favorite Family Activities to Do on Our Carnival Valor Cruise

I liked to hit up the Bingo games. At $25 (and up) a Bingo card, you do pay to play. But the game is so fun! On our cruise on Carnival Valor, Ty “The Money Guy” led the Bingo games. He had a huge personality and brought a lot of fun to the stage with the game.
Sitting in the lobby in the forward area of the ship to listen to the live music in the evenings was so relaxing! This became one of our most enjoyable evening activities – listening to an amazing trio of violinists called The Ayres Strings. The group is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Carnival Valor cruise is lucky to have this talented group (photographed at top of post).
Dive in Movies at night kept our family entertained. The movie listings are in the Hub. Some were more appropriate for our 8 and 10-year-olds than others. But nothing was outlandishly inappropriate and there were quite a few kids – either watching from the pools or up in the deck chairs. We enjoyed sitting on the highest deck in the deck chairs and watching the movie with the cool breeze blowing around us.
In the evenings, we enjoyed walking around the ship and taking pictures against the gorgeous sunset.
We visited the ship library to explore some reading material and play some of the provided games.

family on Carnival Valor pulling away from New Orleans port at sunset

Additional Tips for Carnival Valor Cruisers

The Carnival Valor cruise Wi-Fi is a hot topic! There are three different Wi-Fi packages on the cruise. I chose the premium package. It worked wonderfully in most areas of the ship – except our room. Wamp, wamp. I often went to the adult pool area to do website work (writing information for this post). And, yes, I was the only person working with a laptop and got ribbed a little by other guests. Hustlers gonna hustle! But the good thing about the Wi-Fi is you can rotate devices. You just can only use one device at a time. For example, my Husband, two daughters, and myself took turns. In the afternoons, when we returned to our room to rest before dinner, everyone got 30 minutes or so to log into the Wi-Fi on his/her own device. There is a special process for logging out on one device so someone else can log in on his/hers. This means you do not have to purchase a Wi-Fi for every single person – unless you just want to! The Wi-Fi was around $100 just for my one plan so I was happy to not purchase additional!
As far as texting goes, some people say if members of the same party are on iPhones, they can just turn their phone on airplane mode and still can text each other through iMessage. I have no feedback as to whether this works or not as we never tried it. My husband and I each bought the $5 ship chat plan for our phones. It operates through the Hub. So for $10, he and I were able to chat with each other whenever we were in separate places on the ship. The only thing is that it doesn’t always operate in real time and sometimes there is a bit of a lag. But I thought it worked pretty well for the price!
A lot of cruisers bring their own insulated cups from home – like Yeti cups or knockoffs. The cups in the Lido deck eating areas are small. You have to refill the cup often so having a larger cup does come in handy.
On the ship, you have to carry your Sip and Sail card (which is your room key and ship ID card all in one) at all times. A lot of people prefer to have a lanyard for Sip and Sail cards.
The afternoon hours on the Lido deck at the 16 and older pool were chill and calm. There is a much more laid back vibe at this pool than the other – more mellow music at a lower volume, people there to relax and just chill, and NO younger kids. That being said, the pool itself seemed to look just as crowded as the other. But at least there is not much splashing and chaos! This is the pool where I would go to do my website work.
Before you buy the Bubbles package (soda package) on Carnival Valor, think about what type of soda drinker you are. We were perfectly fine bringing the allowed canned sodas with us to our room and then just drinking water, lemonade, or tea during our meals and at the pool. You are allowed to bring 12 soda cans per person in your carry on luggage.
The same goes for considering the Cheers package (adult beverages package). I like to socially have a few beers here and there. But, in reality, as a mom with kids around, I knew I would not make full use of the Cheers package – which would have cost around $300 just for me. My husband isn’t a drinker either. So instead, I bought a bucket of beer with six cans one day while I was at the pool. It cost me $40 which was added to my Sip and Sail card. The server explained that the beer was cheaper that day because it was a day at sea and we were no longer near the port of New Orleans. He explained as long as we are in the Mississippi River (close to New Orleans), there are extra taxes and the drinks are more expensive on the nights we leave the port and return to the port. I drank one and kept the other five in my mini fridge. That was all the beer I needed for the whole week! I think I had two beers one day, two beers another day, one beer another day and two were still there in our mini fridge when we departed. In the Lincoln Dining room one night, my husband had one cocktail and I had one cocktail. So we were both perfectly fine on an overall total of $70 or so (added to my Sip and Sail account) for the entire week as opposed to the $600 we would have paid for us both to have the Cheers package! Now, someone who prefers to have more drinks per day would possibly be better off with the Cheers package. You just have to know your own drink patterns!

More Helpful Tips About Carnival Valor

Beach towels/pool towels are provided for you in your room. You are allowed to take them off ship for excursions. just have to be sure to return them or you will get charged. Some people find they are heavy and bulky when wet so they like to bring their own micro-fiber towels. We did not bring any towels.
Port excursions are optional. You don’t have to get off at a port at all. Or you can just get off and visit the shops in the port and then get right back on the ship. The pool areas on the least crowded on port days!
Summer time cruises are when many families with children cruise. If you don’t care to be around children, you might be best cruising in February or March. Of course, some of us don’t have that options. We teachers can only cruise in the summer or spring break, for the most part!
I see a ton of confusion about tipping in my cruise groups. The confusion comes because most of us opt to pre-pay gratuity through our Hub app before the cruise. I believe I paid $320 in pre-paid gratuity because it is based on a certain percentage per day for each person in the cabin. As I mentioned above, many people prefer to bring additional cash to give an extra tip to special staff members they think have gone above and beyond. We tip our room steward and our main dining room staff with cash at the end of the week because they are typically quite exceptional.
The good excursions book quickly as do the specialty dining events and restaurants. Don’t fool around to the last minute making your decisions. You can also book third-party excursions that are not sponsored by Carnival. For those, you need to take care to ensure they are safe and that you will for certain make it back to the port by departure time for the ship.
If you don’t sign up early enough in the Hub for your preferred meal times or boarding times, you will get stuck with whatever is left. I waited too late to sign up for our preferred dining time. I was given a late dining time (which I didn’t want with young kids) and was told I could be waitlisted for my preferred time. But I would have to wait until I received my Sip and Sail card after boarding to know for sure which time was ultimately given. Luckily, we were given the anytime dining, which was what I wanted because I like the flexibility of having a span of several hours to show up for dinner.
The same goes for boarding times. Again, I waited too late. We were given the next to last boarding time – the 1:00 to 1:30 slot. This actually turned out perfectly. If you arrive at 1:00, like we did, you can still check your luggage. This way, you don’t have to deal with hauling your own luggage around the ship while your room is prepared. It was nice to be hands free (aside from our carry on backpacks) so we could go straight to lunch and enjoy. We tipped our porter $5 for taking our four bags. Don’t forget cash! It does come in handy even if the Carnival Valor cruise ship is otherwise a cash-free ship. Also, at 1:00 check in time, most of the passengers were already on board and were doing their thing – lounging by the pool, eating lunch, etc. So we had no crazy wait times. It was a smooth process.
Now, we also didn’t park at the port for our Carnival Valor cruise. I have heard parking at the port fills up quickly – often by 11 a.m. This is something to keep in mind if you are boarding later in the day. We parked at the Riverside Hilton the nights before the cruise and opted to leave our car there in the Hilton parking garage for $20 a day and walk the short walk over. After doing this, I do not recommend walking over with young kids and luggage – especially in 95 degree New Orleans July day! Agggh! The walk might be fine for adults. But it is tough with kids who are helping to drag their own luggage. The roads are not very walkable. There are train tracks and stone roads. The walk took us about 20 minutes. On the way back to our car, after the cruise was over, we took a taxi which was readily available in front of the port. It cost $38 with tip to take the short 3-4 minute ride over. You will just have to do the math and see what makes the most sense for you and your parking situation. At the time I write this information, the port parking costs $25 a day. I think we paid a little more in the end with the taxi ride and we had a pain-in-the-rear walk to the port, but we felt our car was safe and we didn’t have to worry about fighting for a parking spot at the New Orleans port for our Carnival Valor cruise.
A lot of people spend a lot of time in the casino and in the bars/clubs. I spent all of about 10 minutes on the casino floor – only because that is where I needed to go to purchase my Bingo cards on the last full day. It was a hopping place though.