CANTWAIT Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 at 03:12 PM

I plan to post a full, more detailed review in the review section but just wanted to share a few things. I was on Valor 10/4-10/11. Went with a group of friends and overall it was a wonderful time and for the money, I would sail Carnival again. It definately wasn't the best ship or cruise line I've been on but again, for the money, it wasn't bad at all. My biggest complaint is the ships layout. It is very chopped up and seemed like you couldn't get from one end to the other on most floors. In comparison to other cruises, the lines were long everywhere. The theater entertainment was so-so. The shows were corny and the dancers were out of sync with eachother sometimes. I can appreciate all the different routines they memorize and that they are not falling over with the way that ship moves sometimes. The male and female singer were very good but I felt their mics were WAY too loud and it took away from their performances. It filled very quickly and sometimes people had to stand and I found there were a lot of seats where the upright columns or handrail poles were right in your line of sight. We really enjoyed the comedians in the lounges but again it filled quickly and often there were no seats available. We also enjoyed the lounge singers but quickly tired of hearing the same songs night after night. Same holds true for the dining room music. The performances by the wait staff were cute and entertaining. Dining room food was quite good and even the breakfast and lunch buffet. Did not care for whatever the fake egg batter is they use. They were slow to bus the tables at Rosie's. We had the late dinner seating and the service seemed slow most times. I think our waiters were having an off night the 1st night because they were not very personable. We pretty much forced them to converse and joke and we loved them by the last day. Our waiter even personally brought our room service when we ordered. The staff in general was not the friendliest I have seen. They spoke when spoken to but no one really asked how things were going and if there was anything they could do. The casino, bars, lounges, theater, dining areas, state rooms all seemed very clean and maintained. Thought the pool area could use some sprucing up, dull paint on the outer ship and tiles missing at the pool and hot tubs. Staterooms had LOTS of storage for clothes, shoes, etc. and I brought a lot! Beds are also comfy. Disembarking was an absolute mess. I was disappointed that Carnival asks for your flight info serveral times before sailing but I guess they don't do anything with the info. We had a noon flight out of Miami but were given one of the last zone numbers for disembarking. Made it to the airport 20 minutes before the flight and luckily they took us. We know what to do better next time to avoid this but felt like for the number of employees, there weren't many to assist during disembarking and it was quite unorganized (and yes I did go to the meeting :) We really enjoyed Cozumel, Roatan, and Belize. Again, we had a wonderful time overall and are looking forward to taking the kids this time next year.