We have cruised many times over the past 10 years and we decided to book a Spring Break cruise on the Valor after traveling on their sister ship, Carnival Liberty a few years ago.
We were a group of five: myself, wife, 12 year old son and 9 year old daughter and mother in law. We booked two side by side balcony cabins which were accessible by opening the door on the balcony.
Embarkation was simple and relatively quick. Carnival now has check in kiosks where you scan your passports and then you proceed to pick up room keys. This was a quick process and we were on the boat within 30 minutes of arriving at the port. We know the routine of not being able to get into cabin until 1:30, so we headed to the Lido deck to grab some lunch.