Carnival Cruise Line is best known for having the most fun ships at sea. In fact, they considers itself to be the most popular cruise line in North America with more domestic homeports than any of its competitors.
Because of this, you can find many residents who drive to their local cruise port to sail on weekend getaways with Carnival. Most are onboard to let loose and have fun in a laid-back, lively environment.
When looking for a cheap cruise, I found a 4-night sailing on Carnival Valor from New Orleans, Louisiana. I’d be sailing with my friend, Hayley, on her very first Carnival cruise! The price was one of the cheapest cruises I’ve taken this year, costing only about $877 for two people. With New Orleans being within four hours' driving distance, I was excited to see a cruise that wouldn’t break the bank. The price and port convenience sealed the deal.
The cruise fare was so cheap that we decided to splurge on a CHEERS! drink package. For $660.32, we could each enjoy up to 15 alcoholic drinks per day, along with unlimited coffee, non-alcoholic beverages, soda, and more. Of course, this is probably more than we could dream of drinking, but it would be fun to not have to worry about racking up a large bill during our trip.
Given the cheap price, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Carnival Valor is one of the cruise line’s older ships. As part of the Conquest Class, Carnival Valor was built in 2004. This makes her a 20-year-old cruise ship. She has a gross tonnage of around 110,000, holding around 3,000 passengers at capacity.
At the end of the day, we were just looking for a fun getaway to Mexico, so we weren’t too concerned with the ship’s age or size. As long as we had sunshine and a drink in hand, the cruise would be a smashing success.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Francine had other plans and delayed our cruise departure by one day. This meant we wouldn’t be able to visit Cozumel, Mexico during our itinerary as planned. Instead, we would be cruising to nowhere before returning to New Orleans on schedule. Although I’ve been on nearly 50 cruises, this was a first for me!
Rest assured, we still had a great time during our Carnival cruise. Here’s an in-depth review of our short sailing on Carnival Valor, including who I think should cruise onboard this ship and what you can expect for entertainment, dining, and activities.
Dining and Restaurants
One of the areas where Carnival Cruise Line outshines its competitors is the amount of complimentary dining options available, even on older ships. I appreciate the cruise line’s effort to bring this consistent experience across its fleet. Carnival Valor had a multitude of restaurants available, and we struggled to try everything onboard during our shortened itinerary.
As with any cruise ship, Carnival Valor has a mixture of complimentary and specialty dining. In addition, you can find both casual and sit-down venues onboard for dining. Most of the dining options on Carnival Valor are included in the cost of your cruise, including signature venues like BlueIguana Cantina and Guy’s Burger Joint.
Overall, we were really impressed with the selection and quality of the dining onboard Carnival Valor. Everything tasted fresh and flavorful during our cruise with quick, attentive service. Because we had onboard credit to spend, we splurged on a specialty dining meal but mostly relied on the complimentary dining options.
Complimentary Restaurants
Washington and Lincoln (Main Dining Rooms): Serves multi-course meals each evening for dinner, along with SeaDay brunch while the ship is sailing at sea. The menu includes a mixture of international flavors and classic Carnival dishes with a different selection each night. Some classics are available each day of your cruise, such as Carnival’s indulgent chocolate melting cake (a must!). We enjoyed our meals here each evening with quick, attentive service and nightly entertainment from the crew members.
Rosie’s Restaurant (Lido Marketplace Buffet): The go-to buffet onboard with a wide selection of entrees, snacks, and desserts. The buffet is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a self-serve dining structure. Carnival’s buffet is typically lackluster for me, although I was impressed to find Valor’s expansive buffet to have more variety, although it was very busy.
In addition, you can find specialized dining options within Rosie’s Restaurant, including:
- Carnival Deli: Build-your-own sandwiches that are made to order. The menu includes a variety of classic deli options, such as a turkey and provolone on a pretzel bun, along with hot options, like the meatball sub. This was one of my favorite late-afternoon snacks!
- Old Fashioned BBQ: Located on the second level of the buffet, a small selection of barbecue meats and sides are available. Although this was a nice option, the meat was dry and the mac & cheese was cold.
- Mongolian Wok: Near the entrance of the buffet, you can create your own stir fry with a variety of meat, sauce, noodles, and vegetables. The line was always too long for us, unfortunately, and it didn’t seem to move quickly.
Guy’s Burger Joint: Considered a staple for Carnival’s lido deck, this casual eatery is perhaps the most popular dining option on any Carnival ship. Guy’s Burger Joint serves up juicy, flavorful burgers and seasoned fries. A large toppings bar is available as well to personalize your selection. This was one of our favorite meals during our cruise!
BlueIguana Cantina: Another staple for Carnival with freshly made tacos and burritos, BlueIguana is available throughout the day. You can also order breakfast burritos in the morning, which is what we did on the last day of the cruise. Packed with eggs, meat, and cheese, the breakfast burrito was chef’s kiss.
Pizzeria del Capitano: Carnival’s pizza always hits the spot, regardless of the time of day, with its small menu of included pizza, such as four cheese and prosciutto arugula. I tried the latter, and it was very flavorful without being too heavy.
Specialty Restaurants
Scarlett’s Steakhouse: The onboard steakhouse, which can be found on virtually every Carnival ship. You can indulge in an upscale, multi-course meal with premium cuts of meat and seafood. We opted to spend our onboard credit here, and it did not disappoint! This was one of the best meals I’ve had on a Carnival ship.
Read more: How I spent $50 on a Carnival cruise to find the best deal
Seafood Shack: A quick-service option with favorites like clam chowder, crab cakes, lobster rolls, and more. Items are sold a la carte for a reasonable price.
Sushi at Sea: Located in the buffet area, you can order sushi for an additional cost. The convenient option is also reasonably priced for freshly made sushi and sashimi.
Read more: Carnival Cruise Line Specialty Dining Guide
Entertainment and Activities
Carnival Valor keeps it simple when it comes to entertainment and activities. Because the sailings are four and five nights, the atmosphere is energetic and party-like. You can also expect events and activities to be well attended onboard, as Carnival cruisers love to get involved!
Playlist Productions are in-house shows performed in the theatre with singing, dancing, flashy costumes, technological effects, and impressive props. Carnival Valor hosts Studio VIP as its onboard show, which was an upbeat production show that we really enjoyed.
The theatre also hosted nightly game shows, including the Love and Marriage Show and Deal or No Deal. These are two of the most popular shows on Carnival Cruise Line, and you can anticipate finding these shows on every ship. Carnival cruisers are very interactive, leading to fun gameshows and lots of laughs.
Of course, no Carnival cruise is complete without a Punchliner Comedy Club featuring daily shows and rotating comedians. We attended two comedy shows during our short cruise, each lasting about 30 minutes. We enjoyed the lighthearted atmosphere with a drink in hand!
Other activities were always happening onboard, from Harry Potter trivia to Stein holding competitions and pool deck games. Because we were not visiting any ports of call, we attended more activities than usual and appreciated everyone participating! The same must have been true for others, as all activities were very popular.
Finally, you can find other activities to keep busy and stay active, such as the miniature golf course on Carnival Valor’s top deck. This is also home to the Twister waterslide, which is 215 feet tall and allows guests to soar from Deck 14 to Deck 10. Adults looking to relax will want to check out the adults-only Serenity deck, an expansive space!
Read more: 10 lessons learned after trying Carnival for the first time
Bars and Lounges
There is no shortage of bars and lounges on Carnival Valor! During our cruise, the bars and lounges were busy, but service was quick. We never waited too long for a drink, which we appreciated. You can expect to find a variety of places to grab a cocktail, glass of wine, or bucket of beer.
The RedFrog Rum Bar is one of the signature bars on Valor’s lido deck. This tiki-themed bar was always busy, which wasn’t a surprise given the sunny weather during our sailing. We enjoyed fruity drinks and frozen cocktails at the RedFrog Tiki Bar while watching some of the top-deck competitions at sea.
In addition, you can find the RedFrog Pub onboard, which takes inspiration from the bars of the Caribbean. We enjoyed watching some activities here, such as the Stein holding competition. Live music is also popular at the RedFrog Pub, which goes perfectly with the laid-back vibe and long list of beers available. The Cruiser was my favorite cocktail here—and perhaps my new favorite on Carnival period.
Read more: Carnival Cruise Line Drink Menu and Prices
The Alchemy Bar is another popular bar on Carnival’s ships, although the chemistry-themed bar is often too small in my opinion. Carnival Valor’s Alchemy Bar was one of the smallest I've seen and understaffed. We waited nearly 30 minutes for one drink, so that visit was one-and-done.
Carnival Valor had other bars and lounges to enjoy too, such as the BlueIguana Tequila Bar on the pool deck and Piano Bar. If you’re coming onboard to have a drink in a fun atmosphere, you’ve come to the right place.
Size, Design, and Decor
Carnival’s cruise ships typically have some sort of theme when it comes to design and decor. However, Carnival Valor had some of the most unique themes I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship.
The entire ship has a “heroes and heroics” theme, and you simply can’t miss it. Nothing about this decor is subtle with American flag patterns everywhere, gold bald eagle statues, and presidential murals. There was even a picture of Betsy Ross above our toilet in the stateroom!
Because Carnival Valor is an older ship, the overall design is more choppy and confusing than modern vessels. We struggled to navigate certain areas, such as the Washington Dining Room on the first night for dinner. Trying to locate certain venues onboard proved difficult with Carnival Valor’s outdated design. By the time we could finally navigate around the ship, it was already time to head home!
In my opinion, the ship seemed to be in good condition, especially for her age. With recent refurbishments in 2021 and 2016, the 20-year-old Valor was clean and well-maintained. Her upgrades were apparent in both the public spaces and the staterooms.
Staterooms
For this cruise, we booked the cheapest cabin available: a standard interior room. Although the room wasn’t the prettiest I’ve stayed in, I was impressed by the size and thoughtful amenities. For example, our nightstands had a lamp with a USB port, allowing us to charge our phones by the bedside.
The bathroom was our least favorite part of the cabin, as the shower would often flood the bathroom floor. While the bathroom was actually quite big, the frustrating shower curtain situation was disappointing.
Read more: Cruise ship cabin guide
The small cabin was functional and clean, which are two of the most important things I look for when cruising. We were able to have a comfortable stay during our short three nights onboard. Although our neighbors were a little noisy, as is common on a Carnival cruise, we were able to play white noise and wear earplugs to drown out the drunken noise.
Who should sail on Carnival Valor?
Although Carnival Valor might not blow you away with its outdated design and bold decor, the ship is well-suited for many travelers. In particular, many budget-conscious cruisers will appreciate the value of its upbeat environment.
While you won’t be getting the top-of-the-line amenities newer ships have, the 20-year-old ship has a lot to offer. Those who want a getaway cruise will find many sailings at affordable rates on Carnival Valor. With so much included in your cruise fare, like most dining onboard, this ship is a great choice for those trying to maintain a budget.
Families, kids, and couples alike will appreciate all that Carnival Valor has to offer. Because the family-friendly ship is a comfortable size for most cruisers, you won’t feel overwhelmed by huge crowds. Valor has enough to keep you busy from sunrise to sunset without the stress of crowds like you’d find on a newer, bigger ship.
Carnival Valor sails year-round from New Orleans, Louisiana, with mostly short itineraries to and from Mexico. For those who reside in the South, the convenience of reaching the Port of New Orleans can’t be matched. Also, New Orleans is an exciting embarkation port for those looking to explore “The Big Easy” before setting sail. There will be plenty to do in NOLA before you even board your cruise ship!
Allie Hubers
Allie Hubers has been cruising since she was a tiny toddler. What started as a yearly vacation with family quickly turned into a passion for travel, cruising and adventure. Allie's been on over 45 cruises all over the world. She even studied abroad on Semester at Sea, sailing the world on a ship while taking courses for college and visiting 4 continents.
