Termig8r

That is exactly why I asked :) I was wondering if Carnival security prefers to meet authorities at the door instead of having them come on board to secure the individuals. Not questioning the jurisdiction, but wondering if it adds paperwork or other procedural operations that could be circumvented if they met on the dock.

I think since the guy was in the medical office...and that was right there at the door, they let the Aruban police board. Carnival security took care of it up to that point (getting them down to medical, etc.).

Cue our broken record Havingfun2010 to come along and tell us how "Wal Mart" Carnival is and how this kind of stuff NEVER happens on Royal Caribbean in 4, 3, 2........

You can see affluent people in Wal Mart all the time, but you can't see trailer trash in Nordstroms. Just sayin'.

Two couples...two men/two women. They were a group together. And the authorities boarded the ship in Aruba...but it might as well have been at the door (on the same deck and right around the corner from the gangway). One of the men was at the medical center getting treated for his fight related injuries.

Just off the Valor on June 12th. During our stop in Aruba two couples (I am going to assume they were overly intoxicated) got back on board and starting fighting. Not just arguing, but out of control brawling. It was so bad that the police in Aruba were brought on board. Once they got on the boat they realized the couples fighting were the same couples being sought for stealing over $500 of merchandise from a store in Aruba and were promptly taken into custody by the authorities in Aruba...and left behind by the Valor in Aruba.

The casino had a smell of smoke to it, but was not overly smoky...if that makes sense. I played craps most nights, which was right near the door at the front of the casino, so the air seemed fresher there, but there were areas around the slots where folks were smoking that it seemed stronger. I did see air scrubbers around the casino. It wasn't that bad, overall.

Second cruise on the Valor...the first since the drydock. I loved the upgrades. Red Frog Pub was a great place to relax and have a drink. Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana were a good as they always are.

We had an ocean suite room on the 7th floor. The cabin stewards were attentive and we had service twice a day, no questions asked. The extra room in a suite makes it worth it. The large balcony was fantastic.

There were several issues on this cruise that were irritating, but by no means ruined anything for us. First the "Any Time Dining" option was a joke. You can go get a pager any time you wanted, but most nights you had to wait upwards of an hour before you got seated for dinner. There were a couple of night the wait was an hour and a half. We arrived for dinner the second night of the cruise at around 6:30 and did not get seated until after 8:00. Maybe Carnival needs to open up more room for any time dining, as it was limited to the first floor of the front dining room, or possibly limit the number of any time dining selections available more than they do now.

Service in the dining room was less than spectacular, but I expected a slight drop off with any time dining since you are changing wait staff every night. It seemed to me that the staff could have been a newer staff that was still trying to figure things out. The issues carried over to breakfast and brunches, also. One issue in particular is the refill of water. It seemed that no one ever came around to make sure your glass was filled. Not the biggest deal in the world, but still I am used to other cruises where the wait staff was on top of everything and never let a glass get empty. It also seemed like there may have been less of a staff on this ship...maybe Carnival is cutting back??

It also seemed a little more difficult to find servers on the Lido deck. There seemed to be fewer of them roaming around taking drink orders. It seemed easier to just go get a drink at the bar yourself than try to it and wait for a server to come around, especially if you were on the sides of the ship between the Lido pool and aft pool on decks 9 or 10.

Also, the hot tubs were never hot. The ones on serenity were like pool water and the adult only hot tubs at the aft pool were lukewarm at best. I know it is the summer, but still, a hot tub should be hot and relaxing.

The casino staff was great. The piano player and acoustic guitar players were awesome. The drinks and food were delicious. There was no lack of entertainment on this ship.

Other than a few hiccups explained above this was a great cruise aboard the ship. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. We had a full ship, so there were a lot of kids running around (not my favorite thing on a cruise usually), but they all seemed well behaved, even in the pool areas.

The ports were not my favorite, but once again, that was just my taste. Aruba was interesting, but not exactly what I expected. We took a tour of the island and outside of the beaches this island is pretty much just a cactus filled desert. Our tour guide was awesome and kept us entertained. Since we were in port late he came back for us and took us to a local restaurant for dinner and then brought us back to the ship before time to be back onboard. I am sure we could have found a lot to do in the port or hotel areas, but we wanted to see the island and what it was like.

Bonaire was one of my least favorite ports of all time. There was nothing to do outside of snorkeling or diving. There were a few shops, but nothing really to look at. Even the taxi drivers didn't try pushing you into going somewhere with them (I can only assume because there is nothing to do). We walked around for awhile and then had a drink sitting at a bar near the ship.

Grand Turk was, and still remains, one of our favorite ports to go to. The water is beautiful and the atmosphere is relaxed and fun. Whether in the water, or at Margaritaville, it is a great port.

This was a great cruise. Don't let any of my complaints stop you from booking, because overall those things were minor in the grand scheme of things...but still worth pointing out, because there is always room for improvement.

There should be two in my cabin this weekend...bought the sail away package and it includes two beach towels.

My old standard is "you can't help me, ok, then give me your supervisor." If their supervisor can't fix it...repeat until you get someone who can. Don't settle or give up, push it up the chain and eventually they will get tired of transferring you and just fix your problem.

Congrats on your upsell. You will still want to keep looking for FTTF. The only benefit you get with a suite is priority embarkation and debarkation. No dedicated line at Guest Services, your room will not be ready upon boarding, no priority tendering, etc.

All I care about the FTTF for on this cruise is embarking and debarking. There are no tender ports and it isn't worth $60 for the possibility I may need guest services..

Just got the call from the upgrade fairy and went from a guarantee balcony to a suite for $400 (total for three people) for our June 4th cruise on the Valor. The best part is not having to wait on FTTF to open up anymore!!!