Our family of five, including our 3 12yr old sons, went on a highly anticipated 8 day Exotic Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Valor over school break in Feb. 2012. Though I had cruised many times before, this was the first cruise for my husband and kids. I spent alot of time reading and researching options---on Cruise Critic, Trip Advisor and the Carnival forums. There is a wealth of information out there if you take the time to read it. With the date constrained by their school vacation, our next consideration was price--we needed it to be fairly low. Also, we wanted a cruise line with a good kids program for our pre-teen sons. Using this criteria, we found Carnival to be the best option for us. We also liked that the cabins on Carnival tend to be larger than other cruise lines.

Travel: we flew in 2 days prior to the cruise for a couple of reasons. We were travelling from MA in Feb. so, did not want to miss our cruise due to weather-related flight delays. Because it was school break, flights were quite expensive. Our cruise left on Saturday and Friday travel was exorbitant. Flying out on Thursday was much cheaper and gave us an extra day in Florida. Also, our ship left out of Miami but, it was cheaper to fly into and stay in Ft. Lauderdale pre and post cruise. We stayed 2 nights at the Doubletree Gallery One prior to the cruise. I was not impressed. There is no shuttle and it is a $30 taxi ride. The location was on the waterway but, not much of a view and there was not much in walking distance--breakfast in the hotel was quite expensive. We used SAS transportation to get from the hotel to the cruise. It arrived late but the driver did call several times to let us know--because of this, we did get to the ship much later than we would have liked. On debarkation, he was prompt. That night, we stayed at Embassy Suites Ft. Lauderdale. We liked this hotel much more than the Doubletree--good location, free breakfast and the evening reception and we preferred the room.

The Cruise: our experience with Carnival was positive right from the start. Booking was easy and efficient. We booked Early Saver and had 2 price reductions on one of our cabins. Registering over the Internet was quick. Our sons have some issues which make standing in long lines difficult. Prior to cruising, I informed Carnival and they had a wonderful representative, Andrew, meet us as we got off the SAS shuttle and he escorted us through the VIP Check-in area and to the ship. He was incredibly kind and helpful. Once we got onboard, it was easy to find something that everyone liked to eat.Despite the fact that the cruise was completely booked up, everything ran smoothly and there were plenty of people to help us find our cabin or show us where to go. In fact, we never felt crowded during the cruise. Throughout the cruise, we found the crew incredibly pleasant and helpful. I can honestly say that we did not have one unpleasant encounter with anyone who worked for Carnival. This, in itself, is a huge thing. Read more