Carnival Valor March 27,2011 to April 3, 2011 Review My wife and I were aboard the Carnival Valor for the above dates. It was the first time we had been on a cruise in 15 years. I would describe us as seasoned travelers in the 50 to 60 age bracket. There is a lot done right on this ship, I will try and address the good and the bad below: The Good . The food is outstanding. One meal is better than the next. and the desserts were even better. . The wait staff is well trained and friendly, most are enthusiastic Our waiter who's name was Success was exceptional . The rooms are very clean, and there is cleaning going on at all times . The room steward was friendly and helpful . The shore excursions were fairly priced, there was plenty of variety, and a good value The Bad It was my impression after being on this ship for a week that the services they offer work fine as long as you don't have any issues that are out of the ordinary . We had a couple of issues that should have been minor if they were handed off to manager to deal with them as they happened. . There is endless pitching. Josh, the cruise director, is on the loudspeaker in the morning, in the afternoon, and the evening. He is on the TV, and he is selling hard. That in itself is fine, just be prepared for a Carney type approach. . On day 1 I went up to the Spa to book a massage for my wife. I requested that during the massage she not be pitched any products or services during the massage so that she could relax. I was told that "recommendations" were policy, and was told that they would not be able to honor my request. The "why" of this was never explained, it was just "policy". . The top deck is called their "Serenity" deck. There is no music or noise up there. I assumed it was for folks who didn't want the thumping music and the action near the pool. The afternoon that we attempted to spend up there had loud ship maintenance (electric sanding and loud power drills on metal) going on for hours. When I went to talk to guest services, I was told there was nothing they could do and it would be noisy all afternoon. Again, if there had been a manager there, buying us a couple of drinks and a little TLC, it would have probably solved the problem. Instead, a staff person told us it was "policy" to do this type of maintenance . In most people's lives these days an internet connection is as important as a TV or a telephone. Carnival Valor's wifi connection is very expensive and is very inaccurate as far as measuring the time that has been purchased.. I purchased 100 minutes because I wanted to limit how much cost exposure I would have. I used the internet for about 30 minutes, logged out, and when I tried to log back in in a few hours later it told me I had no time left. Apparently, the button that said "log out" doesn't log you out. There is still another step that needs to be taken, or you are still being charged. I ended up being charged for my 100 minutes, plus a per minute charge for overages. Even though the internet manager ,a very nice guy named Alexander, credited me back 30 minutes I felt that it was very confusing,a real "gotcha" situation. As an aside to the internet issues, my intent was to print this review and to bring it to ship management ,prior to leaving the ship, to see if they felt I had been unfair too them in any way. I brought my laptop to the internet cafe to print this document. In order to do this simple task I had to email it to myself and then attempt to print it from their computer. It turned out to be in the wrong form and I left frustrated, and without anything printed. There was an additional $6 on my bill later that evening for my trouble. In short Carnival Valor ended up being very disappointing. It could have been memorable with some minor tweaks, instead they were good not great. If you are willing to let the things, that in my opinion, separate the good from the great pass, this company is for you.