Sadly, it's over. Back to reality.

Our cruise is over and we are back to reality. I am getting bombarded with requests for reviews on my cruise so here it goes... This was my second cruise. I sailed on the Glory in 2004. This time, I was part of a wedding group of about 50 people and our Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club of about 13 people. If you are cruising with a group, I recommend that you nominate someone to get married and get the wedding package! We were the first ones in the door. We were greeted by Phyliss ,the wedding coordinator, who really set the tone for a good time. Pastor Roy R. Dabney put himself right in the middle of our crazy and had us rolling laughing before the wedding. We were taken upstairs to a lovely wedding, pictures and a reception with an open bar that literally made your head spin! By 11:00 we were greeted at the door to our cabin by our Stateroom Steward, Phayom. Our room was spotless and our luggage arrived at the door immediately. We were changed and off exploring by 11:30. The ship was very clean. I noticed that trash that people left behind was immediately cleaned up. Our room was very clean. Our Steward, Phayom, was truly a delight. Anything and everything we needed was brought promptly and we were always greeted with a smile. Our tub wasn't draining properly and it was fixed a couple hours after we let Phayom know. We had several shirts that needed ironing. They were dry cleaned to perfection and back in our room by the end of the day . At $4.00 a shirt, I found it quite reasonable and I will never iron for a trip again. I can't say enough good about Phayom. She is quite an asset to Carnival. She needs a raise and a promotion for sure. The food was very good. I found the buffet to be top notch as far as buffets go. Guy's Burgers was amazing and the Blue Iguana was too good for words. The main dining room was my favorite. I remember the experience being a little more elegant on my past cruise as far as food presentation, white table cloths and the overall atmosphere. They do not enforce the dress code. I know some of you feel "Do what you want, it's your vacation". That being said, hats off to all of you that dressed for dinner. I really enjoyed dressing up and seeing all the handsome men, adorable children and stunning women dressed for dinner. Some of your dresses were out of this world!! As Police Officers and Correctional Officers, most in our group don't have the most glamorous life. We really appreciated getting dressed up and being waited on like Kings and Queens. Nemie was our Head Waiter and Eduardo and Pumipat were his assistant waiters. The food was amazing and the service was even better. We were greeted every night by name, our chairs pulled out and suggestions given on what we would each like, according to our food preferences. Here is the secret. If you are a close group, order different plates and let everyone taste, they will bring you another plate of whatever you liked best. Winning! When asked, the waiters told us a little about their lives and the countries they lived in. Tip them well. Never again will you be waited on like this. A wonderful dining experience. My husband and I did not catch the stage shows. It's hard to catch both them and the comedy shows after dinner. My advice would be to get early dining if you want to do both. A couple of people in our group caught the shows and said they were awesome. The comedy shows were a riot. Two comedians did different shows every night. Get there at least thirty minutes early or you won't get to sit. It's standing room only. We found Inyoman, also known as "snowman" but will answer to "WOO HOO", at the adult pool. Best drink server ever known to man. He kept us entertained ALL day. He works the adult pool till dinner and then works the casino and the late night comedy show. He deserves every dollar he makes and more. We would collectively shout "Woo Hoo" and he would arrive with our drinks already made and our receipts ready. He had our room numbers down so we never had to take out our cards. He would just pop out of thin air whenever he heard the call. Amazing service. The Red Frog Pub Karaoke was a blast. Get there 30 minutes early because it gets packed and there is very little seating. The dance club was great. They had a 70's night and a Country night along with all the booty dancing music. I guess to be balanced, I would have to include complaints. I had to think hard. There were tons of kids running unsupervised. Some of them were as young as 8, 9, 10.To me that is more of a parenting fail than a ship complaint. I love kids, I have 8 ,but some of us take child free vacations and your children really shouldn't be running alone at 2AM pushing all the elevator buttons. It was eye opening how many people feel that it's safe to let your children loose with 5,000 strangers. We did not enjoy the piano bar. I get sarcasm better than most but he was a little rude. He made a remark about a Marine and a lot of people walked out. You have to know your crowd but I don't think anyone thinks dissing our military men and women is OK. We did not return a second time. We had cigar smokers in our group. There are a couple clubs that you could smoke in but cigar smokers and pipe smokers were segregated to the very top deck in the corner. I would rather smell a pipe or cigar than a cigarette any day. My biggest complaint was the TV stations. You could watch CNN but not any news. :) If you are going to have news stations, have them both or none at all. We had a wonderful trip and are already planning another cruise. We would definitely cruise the Valor again and I would most definitely make having Phayom, Nemie and Inyoman part of the deal when booking our cruise!