Donna

Age: 53
Occupation: Office Administrator
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Valor
Sailing Date: May 16th, 2005
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

I just returned from a seven day cruise on the Carnival Valor. The ship is new and by all means beautiful. We stayed in a suite which we were very happy with. It had all the conveniences of a luxury hotel. The cabin was kept spotless at all times. Towels were consistently replenished and we were never inconvenienced in the room. Having said that we paid a lot of money to be in a suite and based on the data that Carnival advertised, we expected these comforts.

As far as everything thing else, what a disappointment! We planned this cruise with our family and we were really looking forward to a vacation. I’m home one day and I have to tell you I need a vacation. Everywhere you went on this ship you were on a line and/or could not get a seat. Dining rooms, bistros, pool slides, some of the bars and nightclubs, tenders for disembarkment placement and then disembarkment.

I do not feel that we were provided with enough information for each destination. If you were not going on one of the expensive excursions recommended by the cruise line you had no idea where to go because there was not enough literature. It cost my family a lot of time and money figuring out where to go and how to get there.

This was my second cruise and the reason we elected to go on a family cruise was because we felt we would get the best value. Forget about that theory. You could not get a flavored cup of coffee or a milk shake without paying extra for it. The price for photos taken was outrageous. If you did not purchase the picture they printed they simply threw it away and they consistently printed 8x10’s and charged $19.99 for them. How many 8 x 10’s can a person hang in there house. There was no option until you first purchased the size they printed.

Why do you have to pay full price for small children? My two grandchildren barely eat anything and yet they are charged full price. Why not half price for children under 10? By the way my grandson was 2 in Feb and my granddaughter is just 6. If they had to be charged full price why wasn’t their dining menu more diversified.

As far as the “Skippers Club VIP check in” what a joke. They whisk you off into an office and get your credit card information, picture ID, and proof of citizenship and then you wind up on the same line as everyone else – you just get up there 5 minutes earlier.

I had a very nice time with my family and we made the best out of this but I and my family would not ever book another cruise or recommend Carnival Cruise lines to anyone. It seems like they have very inexperienced people responsible for this ship. You would think that having a ship like this one would surely warrant the most knowledgeable crew/staff, the best service and the right to determine your own gratuity and not have it pre charged for you to have to dispute at the end of the cruise (while yet standing in another line).