My husband and I have cruised many times. This was the first time on the Valor. Also it was the first time, we took our family with us. We had my mother, daughter and 3 grandchildren. We had a wonderful time, the crew was wonderful, and our waiter Roy was absolutely great. My grandchildren wanted to take him home. One of the things I experienced this time, was Camp Carnival. It was fantastic. My youngest never wanted to leave. The only thing I have to say that is negative is the late nights. They have a party planned for each age group. My youngest is 8 and her part went until 1:30, the 10 year old could be out until 3:30. I understand that many parents use this as a way of going out without their children, but anytime after 10:00 there is a cost involved. I would have never sent them, if it wasn't made into such a big deal while they were at camp. But Alas I sent them anyway, since they did love it. We didn't let them stay the whole time, but they still enjoyed the party. My 2 granddaughters absolutely loved Lany, so Hats off to a jog well done. The food was wonderful, the entertainment was amazing. The dance crew on board was one of the largest I have seen, and they have the best shows on board. I made this comment to one of the dancers and he thanked me. This is one show you don't want to miss,, Its the 80's show. On the negative part, the one thing that had many people very upset was the lifeboat drill. I have been through many of these but nothing like this one. Usually they bring you down to your muster station, show you how to use the life jacket, and explain the procedure. Doesn'T take long at all, but on this ship,,, BEWARE,, you will be standing in the heat of Miami, for a good 45 minutes or longer, they take this time to inform you off all the rules on the ship. I have never been through anything like this before. People were hot, sweaty, and almost weak from the heat. I have no idea why they do this, It is horrible. We spoke to many people that had cruised before and this is the only ship that this had happened to them. Unreal. So as for the Carnival Valor, you run a wonderful ship,,,, but you really need to think twice about making paying customers stand out in the heat for so long, We actually missed when the ship left the dock, They leave while they have you cooped up on the deck on 3. With everyone trying to get back to their rooms, the elevators are too busy for anyone to get up on deck to see the ship leave. We always watch the ship leave the port, but we didn't get up on top, until we were already out of the port.