Carnival Valor 2018 5-Day Caribbean Cruise Review
Day 5 July 5, 2018 Galveston, Texas (Debarkation)
Scheduled Arrival: 8:00am
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Day 5 July 5, 2018 Galveston, Texas (Debarkation)
Scheduled Arrival: 8:00am
Click Any Photo To Make It Larger!
Last Morning Walk Around The Carnival Valor:
Although the last morning of the cruise is usually hectic, I still always try to walk around the ship one more time. Due to breakfast starting earlier on this morning of the cruise I knew if I wanted to walk around the ship I needed to get up early. I set my alarm to go off at 4:30am. When the alarm went off I got dressed and finalized my suitcase packing. After taking care of my stuff I was free to begin my morning walk. I left my stateroom around 5:00am and began my going to the Deck 3 atrium area. I stepped outside onto Deck 3 exterior area of the atrium first. It was extremely dark outside, but the ship's outside deck area was well lit. When I went back inside I walked through the atrium and made a quick stop in the Ivanhoe Theater.
Although the last morning of the cruise is usually hectic, I still always try to walk around the ship one more time. Due to breakfast starting earlier on this morning of the cruise I knew if I wanted to walk around the ship I needed to get up early. I set my alarm to go off at 4:30am. When the alarm went off I got dressed and finalized my suitcase packing. After taking care of my stuff I was free to begin my morning walk. I left my stateroom around 5:00am and began my going to the Deck 3 atrium area. I stepped outside onto Deck 3 exterior area of the atrium first. It was extremely dark outside, but the ship's outside deck area was well lit. When I went back inside I walked through the atrium and made a quick stop in the Ivanhoe Theater.
After walking around Deck 3 I headed up to Deck 5. The only person I encountered during my walk on this deck was a person I highly suspect was drunk. On Deck 5, I first stopped at the Skybox Sports Bar before heading down the Promenade walkway.
Once I got to the back area of the Promenade Deck I stopped in several of the lounges. The first lounge I stopped in was the Lindy Hop Piano Bar.
After walking out of the Lindy Hop Piano Bar, I took a few more steps towards the back of the Promenade Deck and entered the Eagles Lounge. The Eagles Lounge was empty, but some music was softly playing in the lounge. This is one of my favorite aft lounges on a Carnival ship.
The Eagles Lounge is located right next to the Paris Hot lounge. Since these places are right next to each other, I walked from the Eagles Lounge to the Paris Hot.
After walking around Deck 5, I went upstairs to Deck 9. One of my first stops was the ship's buffet. The buffet was still closed for the morning, but breakfast was going to be early due to today being the last of the cruise.
After walking outside on the Lido Deck I went up one Deck 10. I stayed on Deck 10 for a brief while, but also went up to Deck 11.
Near the time for breakfast to start I went back to the Lido Deck and began heading towards the buffet.
Last Breakfast On The Carnival Valor:
Since this was our cruise's last day, this was our last breakfast onboard. I was in the buffet prior to the start of the buffet lines opening. While I waited I sat at a table and went through Carnival's Hub App. My phone was still on airplane mode and I didn't want to turn airplane mode off yet because I knew I had many messages waiting for me.
Rosie's Lido Buffet was serving breakfast starting at 6:00am until 9:30am. This included the main buffet lines as well as the Continental breakfast option. The Blue Iguana Cantina was opening at 6:00am and would be open until 9:30am. For cruisers that did not want to eat in the buffet, the Washington Dining Room was serving breakfast from 6:30am until 8:30am. The Washington Dining Room was serving the port of call day breakfast menu, according to the Carnival Hub App.
Here are some food pictures from the last breakfast we had on the Carnival Valor for this cruise:
Since this was our cruise's last day, this was our last breakfast onboard. I was in the buffet prior to the start of the buffet lines opening. While I waited I sat at a table and went through Carnival's Hub App. My phone was still on airplane mode and I didn't want to turn airplane mode off yet because I knew I had many messages waiting for me.
Rosie's Lido Buffet was serving breakfast starting at 6:00am until 9:30am. This included the main buffet lines as well as the Continental breakfast option. The Blue Iguana Cantina was opening at 6:00am and would be open until 9:30am. For cruisers that did not want to eat in the buffet, the Washington Dining Room was serving breakfast from 6:30am until 8:30am. The Washington Dining Room was serving the port of call day breakfast menu, according to the Carnival Hub App.
Here are some food pictures from the last breakfast we had on the Carnival Valor for this cruise:
As breakfast was ending I saw the Galveston pilot boat approach the Carnival Valor. This meant we were very close to Galveston. When I was done eating I walked up to Deck 10 and slowly made my way to the front of the ship.
From the front of Deck 10 I was able to see Galveston Island and Galveston's Harbor as the Carnival Valor continued to get closer to docking. Here are some pictures:
Before docking in Galveston the Carnival Valor began to turn around. Turning around prior to docking allows the ship to face Galveston Bay and leave in the afternoon without having to turn around. When the Carnival Valor began turning around I walked from the front to the back of Deck 10. Unfortunately the back of Deck 10 was closed for maintenance, but I went as far back as I could. Once the ship had completed its turnaround we sailed into Galveston "backwards",
Unlike the first day of our cruise, we were docking at Cruise Terminal 1. The Carnival Valor was the cruise ship in port on this day. Out of Galveston's two cruise terminals I personally like Cruise Terminal 1 more, but both terminals are nice.
The back of deck 10 being closed was a bummer, but I was still able to get a decent view of Galveston. Before leaving the ship's exterior decks I walked to the front of Deck 10 one more time. We were very close to being docked.
As I walked towards the mid-ship stairwell I walked above the Lido Deck one last time.
Disembarking The Carnival Valor:
Around 8:00am, the ship was cleared to start the disembarkation process. VIFP Platinum & Diamond guests were allowed to go first. Following these guests was Faster to the Fun. After these guests, self assist disembarkation by deck began. For a cruiser to get off as self assist, he or she must carry off all luggage and bags. All self assist guests would be allowed off before the general disembarkation guests. The general disembarkation (checked luggage) guests would be ones that put luggage outside their door. These people would be allowed to disembark after the self assist guests because the pier workers needed time to unload all of the luggage.
Around 8:00am, the ship was cleared to start the disembarkation process. VIFP Platinum & Diamond guests were allowed to go first. Following these guests was Faster to the Fun. After these guests, self assist disembarkation by deck began. For a cruiser to get off as self assist, he or she must carry off all luggage and bags. All self assist guests would be allowed off before the general disembarkation guests. The general disembarkation (checked luggage) guests would be ones that put luggage outside their door. These people would be allowed to disembark after the self assist guests because the pier workers needed time to unload all of the luggage.
After getting our Sail & Sign Cards scanned we exited the ship and went down the gangway. Customs & Immigration was a quick and simple process. Essentially, the customs agent looked at our passports. The rules regarding the Customs declaration form were different this year and this meant my family did not have to fill one out.
TIP: If you have not yet signed your passport, make sure you do so or they will make you sign your passport in front of them before allowing you to proceed. I try to include this tip because each time I get a new passport I always forget to sign it and am prompted to sign the Passport in front of the customs agent when getting off the ship. After the customs checkpoint, we were directed to the TABC table. Since we did not purchase or bring alcohol off the ship, we did not have to stop to pay taxes at the TABC checkpoint. After passing up the TABC checkpoint, we were out the doors of the cruise terminal. Cruise terminal employees were standing outside directing people to shuttles or passenger pickup. Since we did a Park & Walk special we walked to EZ Cruise Parking and came back by the cruise terminal to pickup some members of our family that were waiting for the luggage. Once we were done with this we left the cruise terminal area and began heading back home. |
Overall, this cruise was a great cruise on the Carnival Valor! I enjoyed every aspect of this cruise and am ready to cruise again! I am disappointed Carnival is moving the Carnival Valor to New Orleans in 2019 because Galveston is losing a great ship (although I am looking forward to the Carnival Dream coming). I hope this cruise review has been interesting and informative. Please feel free to write to RyG's Cruise Guide on Facebook (click here for our Facebook) if you have any questions, comments, or want to know something about Carnival or the Carnival Valor. Thank you for reading my cruise review of the Carnival Valor and thank you for checking out my personal cruise blog.
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