We have cruised with Carnival as well as several other lines over a period of 20+ years. We have been satisfied with Carnival for the most part until recently. We were contacted a few days prior to our cruise and offered an "upgrade" and we did but we regretted it as soon as we got into our room. A grand suite generally includes wonderful perks, nice amenities BUT NOT THIS ONE. A beat up jetted tub that was barely big enough for a 5'2 " female and a bidet - that was ALL we got besides a few extra feet of space we really didn't use. The balcony would have been nice had it truly been smoke free as the new rules indicated - however other guests did not see fit to adhere to rules. The main pool and entertainment deck was still inundated with smokers which made the New Years Eve party unbearable as well as any other interaction on that deck. We were not able to indulge in the movies nor other activities because of our desire to NOT get cancer due to another persons bad habit. The serenity deck was a disappointment since kids were brought in by inconsiderate parents and because there was nothing there but 2 hot tubs - no pool nor music, nothing. We elected to NOT prepay our gratuities, planning to give Christmas Cards with our gratuities to those we received services from, only to discover the last day that we were onboard our account was automatically charged without our authorization. We feel this is the same as theft and an unacceptable action. To get the mandatory charge removed we were forced to stand in a long line for over 45 minutes on our last night of the cruise and have it removed. Guest services refused to remove the unauthorized charge over the phone - they didn't need us in person to charge us but they demanded us in person to remove it. Warning to all - check your bill daily.

Booking our cruise was easy, price was okay. The food on Carnival Valor was well below what we had experienced on the Legend. We chose Carnival due to the ports of call and the length of time at the port. We did 1 excursion, the BOSS underwater experience in St. Thomas - DON'T DO IT! Terrible with an excessively rude crew who smoke constantly. One of the crew had the nerve to "slap" my hand from BOSS controls while I was trying to get on it as instructed. We saw nothing while on the BOSS, were led around an area for pictures with each other and corralled like sheep. You are taken to a place with nothing to see, allowed to snorkle then given about 15 minutes on the BOSS - not worth the money. St. Thomas - bar & restaurant service is horrible; none of the businesses are local owned and there are no local food establishments with local foods. St. Lucia and St. Kitts are absolutely filthy - beware that the rivers that run off the hills to the beaches (where tourists are swimming) contain a large amount of human waste/sewage. There were zero beaches that were clean. We would never go to either island again; many were talking on the cruise about the beauty from the "excursion" location - it needs to be noted that Lucia and Kitts are attractive at a distance but close up the cities, villages, towns are filthy. We self-toured on scooters and saw the REAL Lucia and Kitts. Barbados is gorgeous and easy to travel around - as with all the ports of call; the port stores are the same in every port and none are owned by the locals. Get away from the ports, travel to other towns and shop if you want to know the real culture and the real people. St. Martin on Dutch and French side are very nice with some very filthy areas however there were some nice hidden spots we found to enjoy away from the over populated tourist areas. All islands sported English speaking citizens who were eager to talk with US citizens EXCEPT Puerto Rico - A U.S. territory. In the Chili's near the Airport 3 servers refused to wait on us because they refused to speak English. We also discovered that Puerto Rico also refuses to have road signs, advertisement signs, etc. in English (a US Territory with whom their citizens do not pay taxes since they are not a state but receive tax dollars to support the territory). We self-toured each island with little issues except St. Lucia where the rental Afford/National car company pulled a bait-and-switch that resulted in a no show leaving us to deal with the taxi service. Taxi's in St. Lucia are a huge scam - $180 for the day to take you around a filthy island to their family/friend locations for you to be harassed to purchase junk/trinkets/garbage from them. The beaches are filthy, the people in the towns will harass you to take pictures of them and then ask you for money. Pre-book something at St. Lucia with the cruise line or stay off the island. St. Martin we had another car rental issue with Arthurs car rental - stay away he is a guaranteed no show. We rented with Coastal who previously told us they had nothing but miraculously had plenty on the day of arrival - WARNING a $45 rental will be an $88 rental after fees and taxes ($15 for being at the port). Still cheaper than a taxi or an excursion but beware of FEES and 15-20% taxes etc. Carnival has diminished in their cleaning practices - glasses, bottles and can were left on floors/steps/halls/etc. for hours and even overnight. Tables in the buffet area were not cleaned well if at all. Buffets were closed all at the same time leaving nowhere to eat. The pizza bar was horrible at best, never got a piece of pizza I asked for - 15 minutes or more just to get 2 slices of thin, topping-less pizza. The comedians were mediocre at best; never caught a show since dinner took hours to complete. The buffet food was the same thing everyday; some looked like leftovers. The burrito window was nice the 1 time we could get to it - otherwise it was closed. The sports bar was nice, the casino was too full of cig smoke for us to enter let alone enjoy. Very few of the staff members bothered to even speak to the guests let alone find one that was helpful. We were not really satisfied with the room, the food nor the service overall.

When boarding in San Juan PR - You can bring on alcohol such as 1 bottle of wine per person and 12 colas with EACH trip back on the ship. Suggestion: Walk a few blocks down the street to the CVS and get your wine and colas - you can get off the ship and do it again, and again, and again. 12 pack of beer OR 1 bottle of wine per person per boarding AND 12 pack of cola/soda. Warning: Most Beer and colas are in 7-8 oz amounts not the 12oz you know. The wine & beer at the CVS is 1/2 or less than the port people at the boarding area. There are other wine/beer purchasing sites a few blocks from the port. Many people were taking on chips/cookies and other snacks as well. Read more