We just returned (4 hours ago) from the Carnival Valor, 7-day Western Caribbean cruise. We had a fantastic time! This was our fifth cruise, three on Princess, second on Carnival. We also had our friends along who were first-time cruisers. While there are some things I don't like about Carnival, they didn't detract from our vacation and the cruise was great.

EMBARKATION  We caught a taxi from the Miami Intercontinental hotel and arrived at the port at noon. Shore-side embarkation was well organized and fast. We were on the ship within 20 minutes of arriving. Carnival was testing something new this time; they did not complete the credit card/sail and sign card process in the terminal. They had staff completing that process aboard the ship. Past guests were given red dot stickers. Once on board, we were directed to the mid-ship dining room where they took our credit card info and set up our sail and sign accounts. Our friends were directed to deck 4 to do the same. But there was no one on deck 4 to set up accounts. All the first time cruisers stood there wondering what was going on. This process didnt work well at all. I didn't see any problem with the old process of doing it in the terminal. Carnival needs to fix the new system or revert to the old one.

SHIP - The ship is in great shape. At only a bit over 2 years old it looks great. The interior design was flashy, but done well. Not obnoxious or too Vegas, but not subdued like a Princess ship. We had over 3,100 passengers onboard and I never felt cramped or crowded. There were times I was amazed at how few people were in some lounges, rooms, etc. Often the four of us would be the only people sitting at the Jeanne's wine/martini bar, or in some other room. Carnival has done a fabulous job designing the Lido deck buffet areas. There are 4 different main buffet lines, spaced apart to keep congestion down. There is also a deli window, an oriental food window, and a fish and chips buffet counter located in other parts of the buffet restaurant. With seven different serving areas congestion was not a problem. This is a BIG plus over the Princess Grand class ships that push all 2,700 passengers through two serving lines. The open decks are big with lots of space for all the sun worshipers. If you want to be right down in the middle of the action near the main pool, it gets crowded. But if you just want a lounge chair and don't care or actually prefer it to be up away from the crowd, you'll have no problem finding it. There was a lot of open deck space that rarely got used. Carnival bills the Valor as a non-smoking ship, except in certain areas. Well, one draw back of the open bars and casino open to the entire promenade deck, is that the entire promenade deck is smokey, whether it's a smoking area or not. It didn't ruin our opinion of the ship, but it was very noticeable. Read more