Top cruise tips from a family vacation aboard the Carnival Valor to Cozumel & Progreso, Mexico!

Carnival Valor: Mexico

Activities

We took a 6 day/5 night cruise out of Galveston, TX on the Carnival Valor with 2 ports of call on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico – Cozumel & Progreso. Though these cruise tips are about a specific cruise boat and itinerary, most of this information translates to all cruises.

On the boat

Carnival’s motto is “the fun ships” and they have a lot of activities on board. They have 2 pools (an adults only and a kids pool), a waterslide, a Casino, multiple bars, a mini golf course, a gym, a spa (for a fee), and of course lots of deck chairs for lounging. As a group of 9 adults, we were disappointed in the lack of “adult” activities during the day. Most daytime activities were kid/family oriented. (Cruise tips: We recommend bringing your own books and board games on the boat for daytime fun.) However, at night we kept quite busy with a Karaoke bar, a piano bar, a comedy club, a Hypnotist show, a Newlyweds show, and an 80s dance party.

Mini Golf

Piano Bar

Ports of Call: Cozumel

Cozumel is a beautiful port and we chose to do the 3 Reef Snorkel Excursion. The boat took us out to 3 different spots to snorkel and we saw a lot of colorful fish and reef. The guide was very friendly and we had a great experience. The excursion was about 3 hours and they provided all the snorkel equipment. Others in our group taxied into downtown Cozumel and found a cute square to walk around and shop. Other shore excursions involved activities such as swimming with dolphins, scuba diving, visiting Mayan ruins, zip lining, and ATV riding.

3 Reef Snorkel Excursion | Carnival Valor | Cozumel | Mexico

Snorkeling in Cozumel

Ports of Call: Progreso

Progreso is a newer cruise ship port and we were honestly disappointed with the stop. It’s a very poor town, and the poverty was hard to see. There were a lot of shabby buildings. The beach was dirty and crowded with people trying to sell you everything under the sun. There was much less options of shore excursions, so we chose to walk around the town and go to the beach on our own. Cruise tips: Avoid a cruise that stops here or just set your expectations accordingly.

Restaurants

Cruises are all about the FOOD! We joked that they are literally shoving food at you 24/7!

We highly recommend the formal dining room for dinner. You do have to dress up to go (they recommend business casual), but the food and service was worth it. Minus some dry steaks (not the best quality), we had some great pasta, seafood, and chicken. If you’re an adventurous eater, we tried so many fun foods like frog legs, ox tongue, and escargot. The staff everywhere was amazing, and we loved getting to know our servers each night.

Cruise tips: You can order multiple things at dinner, so don’t be afraid to order 2 entrées or 2 desserts! (You’re on vacation!) If you are traveling with a group, you can usually get everyone seated at the same table for dinner when you make your initial reservations. Those traveling alone as a couple will likely will be assigned a table with 1 – 3 other couples. If you would prefer a 2-person table, there are usually a few available before the cruise departs. When you board, you should go to the main dining room and ask the maitre d’ to be moved to a private table.

Frog Legs in Formal Dining Room | Carnival Valor | Cozumel & Progresso, Mexico

Trying Frog Legs!

Formal Dining Room desserts | Carnival Valor | Cozumel & Progresso, Mexico

Beautiful desserts

Besides the formal dining room, they had a huge buffet restaurant open for all 3 meals. We had breakfast and lunch there. They had a lot of options, and though busy, we never had trouble getting a table. Our particular boat also had a 24 hour pizza bar, a Guy Ferari’s burger bar, and a build your own burrito bar. They are all also open for dinner if you don’t want to get dressed up for the formal dining room.

Hotel

The rooms are small. With 3 adults in our room, it was a tight fit. However they make the beds tall enough that suitcases will slide under them to help clear up some space. We had a room with a window, but you can pay extra for a room with a balcony, or pay less for an interior room with no window. The rooms themselves all appear to be the same size. Our room steward was great, and our room was always clean, with a special towel surprise left for us each night!

Cruise tips: We’ve found paying extra for a balcony is not worth it in the Gulf of Mexico or Caribbean, where all there is to see is water. However, it’s very worth it in Alaska or other near-shore cruises like European river cruises where there is something to see. (Make sure you are on the side of the boat that will be facing the land!) Also consider a balcony on the back of the boat, as this allows you to see both sides.

Towel critters | Carnival Valor | Cozumel & Progresso, Mexico

Towel Critters left by our Room Steward every night

Transportation

The Port of Galveston is located about an hour and a half from Houston’s main international airport (IAH) and an hour from Houston’s smaller airport (HOU). We had a family member pick us up, but Carnival does offer transportation (for a fee) from the airport to the cruise dock. If you’re driving, there are big parking lots that are conveniently located and charge a daily rate.

Cruise Tips

*Note: Many of these cruise tips are specific to a Carnival Cruise. If you’re sailing with a different cruise line, check this information with them*

Pre-Planning – One of my biggest cruise tips is to sign up for shore excursions ahead of time. You can read about the shore excursions and book them all through Carnival’s website. We saw many inquire about shore excursions once they got on board and they were already booked.

Flights –Leave a long window around your flights. Fly in the day before (in case you have any flight delays), and fly out in the evening, even if your boat is scheduled to dock in the morning. Our boat was scheduled to dock at 8am, but due to heavy fog in the port, we didn’t dock until 3pm. We were literally RUNNING off the boat to our transportation to the airport to make our flight. This is one of the more important cruise tips that not many people think about ahead of time.

Packing – Bring nice clothes for dinners if you want to go to the formal dining rooms. They recommend business casual, but we saw everything from jeans and a polo, to suits and ties. There are generally 1-2 nicer “formal nights”, where you may want to be dressed slightly nicer than business casual (ie, add a tie and a cocktail dress.)

You may want to bring a lanyard or small crossbody purse to carry your ship card around the boat. You’ll need your ship card for pretty much everything – to enter your room, to charge purchases at the shops or bars, to get on/off the boat at ports, etc.

Bring splitters or portable chargers to charge your phones. We only had 1 outlet (with 2 plugs) in the room to juggle between 3 phones, 2 GoPros, and 1 straightener. (Our room did have both US and European plugs.)

Alcohol – There are multiple bars on board, and prices were fairly reasonable. (Alcohol is not included with the price of your cruise.) However we noticed the drink prices do vary from bar to bar on the ship, so learn which ones are the cheapest and order there. You can leave the bar with your drink and carry it around certain areas of the boat.

One of the most important Carnival cruise tips that not many people know is Carnival does allow you to bring 1 bottle of wine per person on the boat when you initially board, with no fee! (You must carry it on in your carry-on bag.) There is a cork fee if you bring your wine bottle into the dining room. However you can pour your wine into glasses in your room, and then carry the glasses in for free. Don’t forget to bring a corkscrew from home!

Communication on the boat – Download the free Carnival Hub app ahead of time. Since there is no wifi/data on board (unless you pay a high fee!), you can use this to text others on the boat in your group for a nominal fee. It made it so easy to meet up and find everyone in a large group! It also had the daily schedule of events and other cruise information on there.

Another option if you’re traveling with a large group, or if you have kids with you, is to bring the small battery operated walkie-talkies as an easy way to keep track of each other on the boat. They can also be used on shore in another country since data/texting on your cell phone could cost you big bucks!

Water – They don’t allow you to bring your own water on board, but you can order a 12 pack of water bottles to be delivered to your room for only $4.99. Worth it!

Life boat drill – Everyone is supposed to participate in the life boat drill at the start of the cruise. Don’t try and hide in your cabin. They have ways to find you as well as knowing who does not participate, and it just slows down the drill for everyone. It is boring but doesn’t take that much time!

Professional photos on board – It seems like every time you turn around, there is a staff member taking a photo of you. These are all on display in the photo gallery in hopes that you will buy expensive packages. On the formal dining night, there are backdrops set up in various locations around the ship for professional portraits. Be aware that you cannot use these backdrops to take your own photos. If you don’t want your picture taken, just tell them, and they won’t pressure you.

Offloading the boat at the end – They give you an option to carry your own luggage off, or leave your luggage outside your room for them to pick up and carry off for you. CARRY YOUR OWN LUGGAGE OFF!! They let self-carry people off the boat first. Those without their luggage then have to wait up to hours (yes, it’s happened!) for their luggage to be offloaded for them. This is one of the biggest cruise tips that first timers don’t know about.