I just came back from my first Carnival cruise and thought I should share my experience. First and foremost I suppose my review is tainted because I'm comparing them against my past experiences with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. However, I was under the impression that they were comparable and that expectations should be similar... on with the show.

Embarkation - Great. I thought the process went very smoothly and knowing a little bit made it worthwhile. We showed up early, we're in the first group on, and all expectations were met. The only snag was my late seating request was moved to an early seating and I was not able to correct it while checking in. Not a huge deal though. Once I boarded the ship I noticed that unlike the others there is no glass of champange or orange juice and what seemed to be a smell of cigarette smoke. I chalked that up to the ship being docked and maybe the HVAC system not being fully engaged.

Ship - Good. The Valor isn't a huge ship and that could be my issue. I was bored on the days at sea. I'm not a sun bather so I look for other offerings. On other cruises I took part in cooking classes or was lost in the sheer size of the boats. On the Valor I found the stores to be traditional cruise (Jewelry, Alcohol, Cigarettes),the casion, and a gym in my opinion that was way too small. The layout though seemed really odd. There was a dining room (the Lincoln) stuck in the middle which meant that in order to cross the ship you had to meander your way across floor 5 or on the floors with staterooms. If you found yourself on 3 or 4 you had to take the stairs up to 5 and through the Casino. Not a problem if that's the intent but if you dine in the Washington it's a bit of a pain. Read more