Our travel on the Valor was supposed to go to Costa Maya (changed to Cozumel a couple of days prior to departure due to a previous hurricane), Grand Cayman, Belize City, and Roatan Island (Honduras), but due to Hurricane Felix, the ship was rerouted to Nassau, Grand Turk, and Ocho Rios.
I must say that the Carnival staff at the port of Miami really try to make a difference. Enroute to Miami the day before our cruise (Saturday) I lost my passport on the plane. Of course I did not realize this until Sunday morning when our cruise was scheduled to depart just a few hours later. After contacting the hotel, cab company, airline, etc. I went by the Port of Miami at about 10:00 am and met a wonderful women named Mercedes. She could obviously tell that I was in a panic and told me to have a copy of my birth certificate faxed to the hotel that we were staying at and that when I returned to the port later in the day to ask for her. When we arrived at the port later that afternoon, faxed copy of the birth certificate in hand, we were greeted with the change in itinerary. No worries! I hadn't been to Nassau or Grand Turk before. While initially somewhat disappointed about the change but understanding that there are risks when cruising in September, I was more concerned with actually being able to get on the boat. After about an hour waiting outside we finally made it into the building and I asked the first Carnival employee I saw to find Mercedes for me. With a big smile Mercedes greeted my wife and I and surprisingly took us to the VIP lounge. It should be noted that we had not purchased a suite and this was only my 2nd cruise with Carnival, so I was in now way entitled to the special treatment. Mercedes and a fellow co-worker, said there was nothing to worry about and our paperwork was quickly processed. The last thing they said to us was that they wanted us to go up on the Lido deck and have a drink and to remember that we were on vacation now. She then gave me a VIP card which helped us avoid the remaining long lines to get onto the ship. If you have been to the Port of Miami before you know what I mean. I can't thank Mercedes and her co-worker enough for their efforts in making a bad situation less stressful. (FYI, the Passport was later found by an unknown person and returned a couple of weeks after we returned home from the cruise)
Now to the boat. I was impressed with the size and overall condition of the Valor. I wasn't quite sure what to expect as some fellow cruisers on this site described the decor as gaudy. I was pleasantly surprised by the ship and the decor. Our cabin was on the lido deck, room 9242, with a balcony. After travelling on the Triumph last year, I wouldn't book a room without a balcony as it provides a relatively quite and peaceful space to call my own. One thing I did note that the carpet on the Lido deck in the hallway on our side of the ship was in need of some steam cleaning as it was stained. Other than that the ship was in great shape from what I could see. The crew obviously perform a tremendous job trying to maintain the ship given that the number of passengers on a weekly basis. Our cruise director and fellow Hoosier--Ryan Fitzgerald, did a nice job and always seemed to be everywhere. He always had a smile on his face and truly seemed to be enjoying himself. We had a chance to speak on the "On Deck for the Cure" walk to help raise money for breast cancer research. For $10 you receive a t-shirt and a bracelet with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen breast cancer research foundation. The money goes to a good cause and it helped to get us moving around by walking off some of the extra weight put on from all of the food we ate.