This was our honeymoon and, to be honest, other than the time in ports I went into it dreading the idea of another cruise (my first and only other cruise was on the Carnival Fascination, or as my wife and I call it the Decomposition given the sad state of that ship; you can get the run down of it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=43219603&postcount=19 That was in the thread I started to ask questions before going on the Valor). In fact, it took my wife agreeing to spend several days in Puerto Rico just to allay my fears that our honeymoon might otherwise be a total bust.

The differences from our experience in Jacksonville were night and day from the start. Even the embarkation- which in JAX had all the charm and warmth of being herded off a box car went so much smoother. Part of this had to do with the expedited handling we paid for ("Faster to the Fun" is what I think it's called). Even beyond that, the facilities were better maintained and it didn't seem like they had staffed the place with the biggest jerks they could find. The Carnival check-in staff were polite, professional and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. If it weren't for the fact they are now apparently running the Decomposition out of that port, I would highly recommend it. If you can get on another ship out of there and see a deal, snag it. San Juan, both in terms of the port and the city itself (the utter lack of regard for traffic laws notwithstanding), is amazing.

Getting on board, the condition of the public areas of the ship compared to the Decomposition was night and day. I didn't see a speck of dust, dirt or rust anywhere on the ship where on the previous cruise, it reminded me of a hotel that offered rooms by the hour. We found our room and it was totally awesome. Once again, absolutely immaculate and, unlike on the previous cruise, there wasn't a worrying amount of rust surrounding the window frame. The balcony was perfect and so relaxing. I will never book another room without one. I spent as much time on the balcony as I did in the room itself. Plus, when in San Juan harbor, we were on the side facing the small airport right downtown so it was neat to be able to watch the planes and helicopters coming and going. The simple pleasure of relaxing was interrupted by dinner in the steakhouse and the lifeboat drill. Read more