Let me start by saying sailing out of San Juan was fantastic. We took a taxi to the port which drops you off right at the ship. Took about 20 minutes from the taxi to our cabin. After reading some reviews about embarkation at San Juan, I was ready for lines and hassles. Not at all. We had an interior cabin and was happy with how clean and comfortable it was. This was our 3rd cruise and first interior cabin. Even though we wished we had a balcony, we were very happy with our cabin and loved our location. Mid ship, Empress deck. The only concern we have about the cabin was there was not an outlet in the bathroom and the lack of lotion/toiletries. We had to ask for an extension cord for my husband's CPAP machine and our room steward accommodated us immediately. It actually was nice to have the extension cord for the blow dryer, curling iron and plugging in our phone at night. The ship itself was clean but definitely in need of some upgrading - especially the dining room. Very pink! The Valor is scheduled to get her makeover in March. Speaking of the dining room, our wait staff was fabulous, the food was great (LOVED the Chocolate Melting Cake) and didn't have a bad meal at all and if we did have a concern, it was taken care of immediately and always with a smile. The buffet was good (it's a buffet!) and lines were not long at all. We are not midnight buffet people so not having a midnight buffet did not matter to us.
As for the entertainment, this is where Carnival has cut corners. Ben, the soloist on the Lido deck, was good but definitely too much Ben and not enough "fun" music. All of his songs started to sound the same -- drab. We preferred when the DJ was playing some up tempo music. Cheaper than a band I guess. We did go the comedy club one night (adults only) and had a lot of fun with that. The 80's review show was cheesy but OK. We loved the movies at the Dine In Theatre and actually looked forward to them.
Because of our experience, we are booking another cruise next year. My husband commented that the staff always were smiling. The only criticism would be that we heard about the upgrades to balcony cabins that other guests were offered (for about $200) and we were offered nothing. All in all it was a great time and have recommended Carnival to everyone.
Clean, quiet, comfortable. Could use more outlets. Want the same location next time we cruise. The bed and linens were very comfortable -- slept like babies!