amyb1976

Am booked on Valor on May 8th...rep told me she would be all upgraded

I'm on the Valor in July - I would LOVE to hear how it is after dry dock!!!

I'll be on the Valor in July - does anyone know of any tour operators that specialize (or at least offer) culinary focused tours in Aruba, Curacao, and/or Grand Turk? I'm a culinary teacher and am looking for tours that will focus on the cultural influence on cuisine, native flavors, visit local (real) restaurants and marketplaces, etc. Any info would be great - thanks in advance!

Amy

I'm in a similar situation.....A friend was supposed to go with me on the Carnival Dream out of New Orleans on July 26th. She's canceled on me and I'm not liking the idea of cruising alone. I'm wondering if the cruise line keeps track of other single cruisers and if there's some way to not feel so alone by myself for a week on the ship! If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd love to hear it!

Where did you win this online auction?!? I want to check it out! :-)

I know I'm going ever so slightly off-topic based on the discussion thread, but I worry about the safety of going on a tour that is not organized by the cruise line. Not sure if anyone recalls, but in 2006 there was a cruise that stopped in Chile. A group of people from the cruise (about 15 total) went on a tour that they put together on their own. On that tour, the van carrying the entire group went down the side of a cliff. Two of the people on that van were friends of mine who had been looking forward to that cruise for over a year. I saw them just before they left and was in shock after what happened. It turned out that the tour operator was not licensed or insured in any way, it was questionable as to whether the driver had a legal driver's license, the van was uninsured, the list goes on. I'm not trying to be a downer, but PLEASE be very careful in considering whether or not it's worth it to save a few dollars by going with a tour that you really have no background on....

Here's a link to an article about the incident:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/03/23/chilean-tour-bus-crash-kills-12-americans/

I'm certainly not an expert, but I'm going on a cruise in July 2014 and I booked it over a year in advance....Of course, I booked using timeshare points (Marriott Vacation Club has a great setup with using points to buy a cruise), so I'm not sure how much of a difference that would have made in my decision to book as early as I did. I am, however, keeping my eye on things like onboard credit offers - while I wouldn't necessarily get money back since I'm using a points system, it would be nice to get a little onboard credit to go toward those lovely spa services!

Age: 37

State: CT

What you do: I'm an elementary school teacher

Family? Single

Hobbies/Interests: Cooking, baking, photography, travel

Next cruise: Norwegian Gem on July 19, 2013

Last Cruise: Royal Caribbean to Alaska (forget which ship!)