concerned over seeing bad reviews for the Valor

[LynneL]

We were on the Valor in August & had a great time. The staff was friendly, I liked the ship's decor, and the food was good. I have also been on the Serenade of the Seas & prefered the Valor to that particular ship. Found the decor on Serenade a bit boring & a bit disapppointed in some of the dining aspects. All personal preference, but I would think you will enjoy your cruise on the Valor.

[Froufie]

I agree that it depends on what the 'negative' issue was - weather? no control over that! Ports? service? I like reading reviews but don't take them too seriously.

 

I have sailed the Valor twice - most recently last January and had a fabulous cruise both times. You can check out my POSITIVE review (with pics) in link below near my signature!

[CanadianMommyof2]

We sailed on the Valor in Feb 2009 and had a fantastic time...we are no smokers and didn't find the ship to be smoky at all. Have a fantastic cruise.

[idiebabe]

I had a wonderful cruise on Valor! Would go again in a heartbeat!!

 

Me, too! We were on her this past September and had an AWESOME cruise! Enjoy your cruise!!!

[lizie1155]

We went on the Valor 1-1/2 yrs ago and she was wonderful, they have an outdoor screen that they play movies on... It all depends on your attitude while on vacation. I have seen other cruises be negative about everything and they end up not enjoying themselves... Just relax you will have a great time.:cool:

[nature person]

ALLthese nice replies that all of you took the time to post have me so excited to get on this next cruise. :) I am so very glad I got brave enough to try posting! Thank you

[SuiteTraveler]

The Valor is an absolutely beautiful ship with great food and entertainment. Smoking is limited to certain areas. You will have a great time on the cruise! There are some great photos of the Valor in Mike and Tracy's Excellent Adventure - a review on page 1 of the Carnival thread - this couple and their family did 5 back to back cruises through Carnival's fleet and renewed their wedding vows on the Valor. There are plenty of photos - I think it will put you at ease about this gorgeous ship and the fantastic food.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1281134

[Knights on the Beach]

Just off the Valor today and I loved the ship! Our waiter was so-so, but I don't have any complaints about any of the other staff. The food was very good and the burrito bar was awesome. The designated smoking areas could get smokey (of course) but there are plenty of non-smoking areas on Valor. I would go on Valor again in a heartbeat.

[kiwi121210]

I will be on the valor in 2 weeks with a completely full ship! There are NO rooms left at the inn. This will be my first time on a boat and I plan on doing a really long review. I am really excited and most love the ship. We will be on lido deck near all the action. I sail on December 12th so look for it before Christmas :-)

[nature person]

I will definalety be looking frward to your review! Have a wonderful and fun cruise!

[nbsjcruiser]

We cruised on the Valor in March and had a great cruise.

[sb4ever]

Fresh off Valor (yesterday) and I can't say anything negative even though we missed a port (Grand Cayman) due to a severely ill passenger.

[Crystalbast]

I cruised on the Valor in Nov. 2009 and had a great cruise. I booked the Valor again for Nov. 2011. It is a nice ship and I had a great time. Reviews can be subjective and some issues are outside of Carnival's control. Read the reviews with a grain of salt to figure out valid issues vs petty issues.

[Knights on the Beach]

Fresh off Valor (yesterday) and I can't say anything negative even though we missed a port (Grand Cayman) due to a severely ill passenger.

I was sorry to hear about the passenger who needed medical attention, but happy about the port change. I like Costa Maya and have been to Grand Cayman so many times we didn't have anything planned that day.

[okgirl]

Since your main concern seems to be with smoking on the Valor I would look back to your cruise on the Liberty. They are virtually identical ships in layout and approved smoking locations, so if you didn't have a problem on the Liberty I don't think you will notice anything different on the Valor.

 

I've been on 4 of the Conquest class ships (not the Liberty) for a total of 11 cruises and I've never noticed any real difference between the 4.

[SMSACE6]

While it has been 3 years since my cruise on the Valor ( it was a great one ), I doubt very much that things have deteriorated so much to warrant a lot of negative reviews. I have seen many good ones, and a couple of bad ones. But as with my most recent two cruises, Liberty and Freedom, there are occasionally bad ones, and I tend to take them with a grain of salt.

 

People will always find something to complain about, if they are complainers in general. There are those among us, who chose to write about what displeased them, rather than what pleased them.

 

I think, barring unusual circumstances, ie; delays boarding (for whatever reason ), or mechanical issues, missed ports of call, ( again, for whatever reason ), etc, some will focus on those things and write the whole cruise off as being bad.

 

Open mind, going without huge and unreasonable expectations, having a sense of humor, etc, all of this will help in having a good cruise experience. There will likely be some things that dont please, but it doesnt have to ruin your whole week.:)

[luvtravel38]

sailed on the Valor in July of 2009 and had a wonderful time. Great food, service and itinarary. Would definately sail on her again

[MemaSue]

Just got off the Valor and had a wonderful cruise..smoking is limited to certain areas so I am sure you can find a smoke free area to enjoy..Have a great time..No worries on the Valor!

[tuscandream]

We just got off the thanksgiving sailing on the valor. It was a beautiful ship, the staff was great. Just a little slow in the dinning room service. The food was excellent just seemed like they cut back in dinning room service maybe the waiters were short handed and had to many tables to attend too. Not there fault I guess upper management. Overall great cruise loved Roatan this was my favorite port and the first time I was there. I wouldn't let other peoples opinion bother you. To each is own, you are on vacation form your own opinion and enjoy your cruise which I am sure you will. Hope this helps

[wadethegringo]

Two times on the Valor. Last time was in Aug of this year. Would sail again anytime.

[HeatherC430]

like the other posters have said...i think it depends on people's individual experiences (and how they perceive them).

 

the valor has been the best ship of carnival's that we've been on thus far! (our cruise on the victory beat it out in terms of overall experience but that was due to the ports of calls and not the ship itself!)

 

i can understand where you're coming from...i'm having my wedding cruise aboard the dream in april (and i've seen the same thing...handfuls of bad reviews). at this point, everything's planned...so i've stopped reading the reviews, figuring that with it being one of carnival's newest, largest ships...how can we go wrong? i'm sure we'll have a great cruise regardless of whether or not we encounter the bad things mentioned in negative reviews! (and i'm sure it'll be the same for you!)

 

happy cruising!

[nature person]

You,

You are getting married on your April cruise? That is so wonderful! Are you sailing on the 17th too? I will be thinking of you and wishing you a wonderful wedding.:)

[Knights on the Beach]

We just got off the thanksgiving sailing on the valor. It was a beautiful ship, the staff was great. Just a little slow in the dinning room service. The food was excellent just seemed like they cut back in dinning room service maybe the waiters were short handed and had to many tables to attend too. Not there fault I guess upper management. Overall great cruise loved Roatan this was my favorite port and the first time I was there. I wouldn't let other peoples opinion bother you. To each is own, you are on vacation form your own opinion and enjoy your cruise which I am sure you will. Hope this helps

We were on the same cruise. Just curious, which dining time/dining room did you have? We were in Lincoln for the 8:15 dinner and were among the last to leave the dining room each night. We were a group of 16 with two large tables. I think our waiter only had one other small table in addition to ours, but maybe we were too much for him to handle. ;)

 

We also loved Roatan. We booked an island tour once off the ship and had a great day! I can't wait to go back there again someday -- beautiful island with lovely people. Definitely one of our favorite ports so far.

 

The Valor is a great ship and I really would have to think hard to find much to complain about.

[ioneblair]

no worries please, the ship is fine....clean and I saw plenty of available deck chairs, not even as many drinks being pushed as I am used to seeing....food was very good, and for all tastes.....good enough to please most anyone unless you are just too picky (and we had picky eaters with us) or too used to fine dining and are being unrealistic about shipboard general dining....

 

our porthole cabin was kept clean.....my daughter had a small issue in that area with hers but nothing major at all....

 

overall we found the Valor to be clean, the staff to be attentive enough and mannerly, the entertainment to be enjoyable enough (I had a problem with the G-strings....pleeeease take them away Carnival for the family shows!!!! WHY!!! is my ? about that)

 

I agree with everyone that says a cruise is what you make of it.....as in any other vacation....ppl who feel they must be pampered and/or in every way be have every thing go perfect and be to their every liking on a cruise are living in unreality.....they don't expect that on a land vacation do they? if so, dream on.....

[PinkSand26]

Just off the Valor...and this was not a good cruise. It was definitely better than being at home or at work! But, there were so many disorganized things, and LONG lines for everything. I just didn't want to have to do that on vacation. I only have one previous cruise on NCL to compare to, but it was a lot smoother than this one. I will be writing and posting a review sometime this week. I would not sail on this ship again. It was clean and the food was decent, but it was just to chaotic for me. We made it a good cruise, and tried to concentrate on the positives, but we did hear a lot of people on this cruise were not happy. Maybe it was just this one time, things did not go smoothly, but it sure did not impress us. :)