We recently sailed on the December 22, 2013 Valor Christmas cruise. This was a family cruise, our family, my sister's family and our parents. This was our 3rd Carnival cruise since 2010. The Valor has not undergone the 2.0 upgrades and was very similar to my previous experiences. We like staying on the Empress Deck because it is located inbetween two other "sleeping" decks.

Overall, this was a great cruise. The itinerary is really good although it will wear you out a little wiith only one day on the ship and full day potential on every island. Our weather was ok. Lots of rain in the beginning but it was warm so we really didn't mind. We even sat in the Serenity deck hot tubs for an hour in the rain and it was still nice. I think the service is still really good. The dining staff, room steward and most bar tenders work really hard at anticipating your needs and remembering your name. Dining room food was good. I have seen John Heald talking about the new menu. I think it is a good idea because really the menu is still about the same as 2010 - especially the desserts and it is time for a change. My only food complaints were the breakfast - very limited selection and eggs are really not very good and the room service menu is extremely limited.

We generally play Bingo - don't win, but still have fun and attended some of the comedy club shows and evening shows. The biggest hit of the cruise seemed to be the 70's and 80's trivia nights. Folks really came out to play and then danced by the casino area as we went through the correct answers and the songs were played. The cruise director was very pleased at the turn out. Read more