My wife and I just returned from a most enjoyable cruise on the Carnival Valor. This was their Eastern Caribbean cruise visiting Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We are in our mid-50's and this was our 14th cruise (not all with Carnival). We flew in to Ft. Lauderdale on May 5, 2007 (one day early) an stayed at the Springhill Suites Airport Dania Beach. This is a great hotel that provides free transfers from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the Ft. Lauderdale cruise terminal. Our cruise left from Miami for which we arranged transfers that left on Saturday, May 6, 2007.

We arrived at the Miami cruise terminal at about 11:15 a.m. on May 6, 2007 and immediately began the process to board the ship. After going through a metal detector and sending carry-ons through x-ray, we waited in the serpentine line for approximately 30 minutes before getting on the ship. The process was very efficient.

Having cruised on several other Conquest-class ships, we were familiar with the deck plans. As an orientation, the formal dining rooms are located on Deck 3 (Washington is aft, Lincoln is forward). The casino, shops, disco, piano bar, etc. are located on Deck 5, the Promenade Deck). Rosie's Restaurant (buffet) serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is located on Deck 9. The best thing to do after boarding the ship is to go to Rosie's for lunch. Cabins are not accessible until 1:30 p.m. Read more