My family and I recently sailed on the Carnival Valor to the Western Caribbean. The islands we were to visit were Grand Cayman, Isla Rotan, Belize and Cozumel. Our cruise was from June 26th to July 3rd 2011. Unfortunately it was not the experience I hoped for. By profession I am Human Resources Manager for a company that provides customer service and technical support for a large computer manufacturer. I have a very good idea of what constitutes acceptable customer service standards. From a customer service perspective, this ship's customer service was one of the worst experiences I have ever encountered. When you asked a questions of the staff of Valor, at best you were ignored, at worst received a rude response. The staff did not seem to have any idea of the location of anything on this ship. When asked for directions to different sections of the ship most would not stop to respond to the question. They simply looked at you and continued walking. Those that did answer gave incorrect responses, causing you to end up in a completely different part of the ship. These were people that wore uniforms that identified them as Crew members that could assist with questions and general information. One of several instances that really stood out in terms of poor customer service occurred in the Sports Bar. We were in the Sports Bar looking to watch the Wimbledon Tennis Men's Finals, only to find all the TV's were showing cartoons. (Cartoons in a Sports Bar where children aren't allowed????) There was no one behind the bar to ask for assistance in changing the channel. It took 20 minutes to find someone to ask if they could change one of the channels to the tennis match. The person that finally showed up another 20 minutes later said he did not have the key to open the box that controlled the TV. He left came back later with a pair of pliers attempted to open the box without success. Then he too disappeared and the cartoons were still on TV. No one else ever showed up.

Food Service - Mediocre to Poor

Some of the staff members behind the counter in the buffet area were simply rude. Some of the menu items required that the staff serve you. When asked for an item they snapped at you. I would rate the quality of the food offered in the various buffets from mediocre to poor. They lacked any varied - the options were the same every single day. The only exception to this was the dinner staff in the dinning room. They were very pleasant, efficient, and the menu options were ok. Read more