January 2018 - 5 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip) Cruise on Carnival Valor
For our first cruise, it was a great experience. We did however did not like a few things about the Carnival Valor. First; ship seems dated and was very dirty in many places. Second; smoking is only supposed to be allowed in a few places on ship, (as per announcements and warnings by staff), however, most places we went to smelled strongly like smoke and too strong. Third; ship security took too long to respond to QUITE a few incidents we witnessed on board. Mainly responding long after the fact.
Good points we enjoyed: Very friendly staff. Very attentive as well. Food was great quality and mostly always fresh. Cruise Director Frankie was awesome and made our first cruise so enjoyable. Shows in the Ivanhoe theatre were awesome, (except for main singer in country and classic rock shows, he doesn't fit he part. He has energy, just not the look or the voice for a main singer. 2 out of the backup singers were way better than the main guy.) DJ Hayze was legit. He cranked up the tunes just right. Lincoln dining room servers are awesome. They put on a show after dinner. It is great.
All in all, if this is your first cruise, or don't mind a bit of smoke, you'll love the Valor. If you're looking for a more upclass and elegant ship, this isn't it.
