Travel Video Television NewsCarnival Valor: The Ulitmate Family Vacation
Dec 01, 04 | 11:05 am
With expansive facilities such as a 4,200-square-foot play area and a teen dance club/recreation area, as well as a variety of new and exciting activities, including an art program, a music program, a youth spa program, and hands-on science experiments, Carnival Valor will offer the ultimate family vacation experience. Currently under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, the new 110,000-ton “Fun Ship” is scheduled to begin year-round seven-day Caribbean service from Miami Dec. 19.
“Families are one of the fastest growing markets in travel – Carnival alone is expected to host 500,000 kids this year, a 300 percent increase versus 10 years ago. The new Carnival Valor, with its full schedule of activities and spacious kid-friendly facilities, offers a fun and affordable vacation for the entire family,” said Bob Dickinson, Carnival president and CEO.
Expansive Facilities, Fun-Filled Activities
The focal point of the Carnival Valor’s “Camp Carnival” program is an expansive 4,200-square-foot enclosed play area that includes a 16-monitor video wall continuously displaying movies and cartoons; an arts-and-crafts center with spin and sand art and candy-making machines; a “soft play area” with padded play equipment for the under-two set; a computer lab with educational computer games and PlayStation 2 game consoles; and a children’s library with youth-oriented books and magazines.
The play area is also the site for several new “Camp Carnival” activities, including an art program, “WaterColors,” debuting on Carnival Valor. With the new program, which will eventually be expanded fleetwide, kids can create their own artistic masterpieces – paper mache, oil paintings, and watercolors, for example – while learning techniques employed by professional artists. Also debuting on Carnival Valor is “SeaNotes,” a new music program that introduces kids to different musical instruments and genres.
There’s also “H2Ocean,” a new science program with hands-on projects where kids can make their own ice cream and create custom-made helicopters and miniature hovercrafts; “EduCruise,” with fun, interactive projects focusing on the cultures, landmarks, history and geography of Carnival Valor’s Caribbean destinations; and “ExerSeas,” a recreational fitness program that encourages kids to “get out and play” through intense physical activity.
Kid-Friendly Dining Options
Dining is considered a highlight of the “Fun Ship” vacation experience and kids sailing aboard Carnival Valor will enjoy a wide variety of delectable dining options from which to choose.
In addition to Rosie’s, an expansive Lido restaurant offering hot dogs, hamburgers and French fries, and 24-hour pizza and ice cream, the two-level Washington and Lincoln dining rooms feature children’s menus with such favorites as chicken nuggets, pepperoni pizza and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, along with a “daily junior special” promising something new and different each day.
There’s also a program where kids can dine with the youth counselors each evening. Also available is the “Fountain Fun Card,” which, for a one-time fee of $28, provides unlimited soft drinks throughout the Carnival Valor’s seven-day Caribbean cruises (an adult version is available, as well).
Kids are also provided with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies one night during the voyage, as part of the line’s popular children’s turndown service.
Special Amenities Just For Teens
Teens have their own unique vacation expectations and on Carnival Valor older kids can enjoy a variety of “just-for-teens” facilities and activities.
These include a 1,800-square-foot teen club, “The Caboose,” which in addition to a distinctive railroad décor, includes a dance club with a DJ and state-of-the-art sound and lighting system, along with a “mocktail lounge,” where kids ages 15-17 can enjoy a variety of non-alcoholic specialty drinks. “The Caboose” will also include a video game room with more than 60 of the latest video and arcade games, as well as a library with popular teen-oriented books and magazines, video game units and computers loaded with gaming software.
And with Carnival’s new fleetwide youth spa program, children ages 12-14 and their parents can also enjoy soothing body and beauty treatments together on port days. Packages are available in mother/daughter and father/son combinations and include hair and nail treatments, health evaluations, and foot and scalp massages.
There’s also a teen shore excursion program where kids ages 12-17 can partake in “just for teens” shoreside experiences during the Carnival Valor’s seven-day Caribbean cruises.
Other ‘Family Friendly’ Features
Carnival Valor also features four swimming pools -- a children’s wading pool, a more secluded pool located aft that is covered by a retractable dome, a main pool on Lido Deck, and another on Panorama Deck featuring a 214-foot-long corkscrew water slide full of exhilarating twists and turns.
The line’s popular fleetwide stroller rental program, where parents can rent single and double strollers by week for $25, will also be featured on Carnival Valor. “Bouncy seats,” travel swings and GameBoy Advance gaming units are available for rent, as well.
Babysitting, which takes place in the children’s play room, is also available at a cost of $6 per hour for the first child and $4 per hour for each additional child in the same family.
“Multi-generational” activities where parents and kids can enjoy their “Fun Ship” cruise together as a family with games and activities such as arts and crafts sessions, family water play and “make-your-own-sundae” sessions are also offered. A new reading program in which youth counselors read popular children’s books aloud to parents and kids in the ships’ libraries and then present creative interpretations of the stories through puppet shows and skits will be featured, as well.
Exciting Seven-Day Caribbean Itineraries
The third in Carnival’s highly successful 110,000-ton Conquest-class, Carnival Valor is slated to begin year-round seven-day cruises from Miami, alternating weekly to the eastern and western Caribbean, Dec. 19.
On this route, eastern Caribbean cruises call at Nassau, The Bahamas; St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.; and St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, while western Caribbean cruises visit Belize City, Belize; Isla Roatan, Honduras; George Town, Grand Cayman; and Cozumel, Mexico.
Prior to the start-up of this program, Carnival Valor will operate a special two-day cruise from Miami to Nassau Dec. 15-17.
For additional information and reservations, contact any travel agent, call 1-800-CARNIVAL, or visit carnival.com
