Overall our experience with Carnival was good and we enjoyed our week on the Valor. The stateroom, though an inside room about midship, was the largest we've had. There was plenty of space for clothes and the beds were tall enough that our luggage fit neatly underneath.

The buffet food was the usual, which isn't spectacular. But the restaurant food was excellent. We were in the Washington Restaurant for dinners, early seating, and the staff were as pleasant and efficient as ever. The gourmet food was to die for and every dinner was the difficult choice of how to choose from so many great options.

The Las Vegas style reviews in the Ivanhoe Lounge were terrific, especially the '80s show. The comedians were truly funny. The music groups that played in the other lounges were excellent. Our favorites were Music Zone, a Filipino band that has such a wide range in their repertoire it's astounding. They can play anything from the '50s and '60s, most music from the '70s, the top names from the '80s, etc. They moved smoothly between Eric Clapton and Frank Sinatra. And watch them pull out the stops on the likes of the Eagles and ZZ Top. Absolutely amazing. They may not look like the bands whose music they're playing, but they've got the sound down pat. We visited 4 ports - Grand Cayman, Roatan Island Honduras, Belize City Belize and Costa Maya Mexico. Excellent choices every one of them. We snorkeled in Grand Cayman, went on a dolphin encounter and beach party on Roatan, did cave tubing and the rainforest in Belize and toured Chacchoben from Costa Maya. Every excursion was well organized and well designed. Safety was always top most in the guides' minds and we always felt we were in good hands. We are adventurous so our excursions left little time for sight seeing or shopping, but we certainly got our money's worth in each port. Read more