The number one reason we chose the Valor was the price. We could've gotten an even better deal had we opted for an interior stateroom -- but, we tend to spend more time than average in our room, and the balcony room was better suited for us. The balcony was small -- but, it was a nice refuge for taking in spectacular sunrises and sunsets, reading, having our room-service meals, etc. The cabin stewards were amazing -- loved the towel animals. And they do a great job of managing to get their jobs done when you're out of the room. Our cabin -- 6309 -- was fairly quiet. We were above the lobby, and we could hear the activities that were going on there, but it wasn't too bad. (A plus was that from the elevator lobby, there was a little alcove where you could look down from the 6rh level to the 3rd, and watch the bands down at the lobby stage.)

The dining was superb. We had dinner each night in the Washington Dining Room. The waitstaff was friendly and attentive (and entertaining). Our waiter,Subhan, was great. The maitre'd, Alejandro, would get on the mic every evening and do a little speech thanking us and saying what a pleasure it was to serve us -- and then he would announce: "It's shoooow-time," at which point the music would come on and the entire dining room staff would do a 5 minute dance routine. Not what you'd expect to see in a fancy restaurant -- but personally, I loved it. It was juvenile, and hokey, and a little ridiculous. BUT, for the most part, it was hilarious and FUN! And they let all the kids in the dining room join in the dancing. If you don't enjoy off-the-wall stuff like this; if you don't enjoy having fun -- then you probably don't belong on a Carnival Cruise. Kudos to Alejandro and the dining room staff.

In addition to the main dining room - we pretty much utilized every other dining option (with the exception of the "specialty" restaurants). I figured that after paying for the cruise; and with all the meals included --while it may be nice to celebrate a special occasion in the steakhouse -- there were enough free (included) dining options. The tacos and burritos (esp the breakfast burritos) at Blue Iguana Cafe were phenomenal. The burgers at Guy's Burger Joint would do just fine on any "best burgers" list. They were definitely the best burgers on the sea. The buffet was great. We never really got to the daily featured entrees or a few others -- but we did visit the deli station and the BBQ station; and they were both very good. (The only downside was that the BBQ was up one level on the 10th deck, and the aft elevator didn't go to 10. You'd have to go to the midship elevator and go up to 10 and walk back to the back of the ship - if, like us, you were unable to do the stairs.) But - it was definitely worth the trip. It probably wouldn't have been on a "Best of Texas BBQ" list. But it was good. And, of course, no cruise buffet would be complete without fantastic desserts. And, the "Chocolate Extravaganza" did not let us down. (Although we did leave with belly aches :) ) Finally, we utilized room service twice, and that was good. There were options for some items that cost extra -- but, they weren't really necessary. What we had was fine for a little "meal for the lazy." The service was fairly fast and the food was good. Plus, you could order more than you wanted and keep a few extra items in your refrigerator. (NOTE: we took advantage of the fact that we could bring on our own bottles of wine/champagne, and after drinking part of our champagne one night - we got 3 or 4 extra glasses of orange juice for our frig and made our own mimosas the next day with our leftover champagne. A nice little technique on saving money on the bar bill..) Read more