Nazarushka

For anyone lurking about wondering what the Cupid's are doing next, this is the answer:

The Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas, 8 night cruise on Feb. 6, 2016:

Saturday: Sail from FLL

Sunday: Sea day

Monday: Labadee 7-3

Tuesday: San Juan 2-9

Wednesday: Basseterre, St, Kitts 10-6

Thursday: St. Maarten 8-5

Friday: Sea Day

Saturday: Sea Day

Sunday: FLL

Our roll call is here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2034418

See you there!

Thanks Dave. I am in my 2nd week of physical therapy. It's not helping yet and the therapist I worked with yesterday suggested that I shouldn't necessarily wait until after finishing PT to let the doctor know it's not working. I am only supposed to do 4 weeks (8 sessions) of PT anyway.

Heidi - definitely let your doctor know that you're having more pain now, he really should go ahead and do an MRI. I had problems with my shoulder a few years ago, thankfully my left, but I couldn't raise my arm without major pain. The original doctor thought it might be a rotator cuff, but the xray was fine, so we started with a full dosage of anti-inflammatories since I can't take prednisone. Once they finally did the MRI, they diagnosed tendonitis with arthritis and sent me to physical therapy, but the doctor flat out told me that it would basically take 8 to 12 weeks of "rest" for the tendonitis to settle down and the pain to stop. He was right. Since its a shoulder, they can't cast it or even put you in a sling, because your shoulder will freeze, so you have to keep moving it. But the "rest" part was not doing anything to re-aggravate it, it ended up take me 4 months because the first month I kept trying to do normal stuff and would mess it up again.

The moral of the story is, I hope you have tendonitis instead of something really wrong, because it doesn't require surgery. On the other hand, it takes frickin' forever to heal, so I really hope that's not what you have. :p I did go to physical therapy a few times, it was pricey, so I had her show me what to do so that I could do it at home. I didn't really seem to do anything for me, it just came down to time and being careful to keep moving it, but not doing much and certainly not lifting anything. Sorry, but you might have to figure out some other way to do your hair for a few months. :mad: Good luck!

In other news ... Hi to everyone! :D

That's it, things here are pretty much the same as always. Of course, in our case, same means that the orange trees are in bloom and lemon trees already have fruit on them. My kumquat tree has a whole bunch of fruit and we've been picking strawberries off the plant on the patio. We keep getting funky weather swings, dropping from 90 to 70 and back up again, which is painful, but at least I'm not so cold anymore, which helps.

I've been kind of keeping up on what's been posted on Facebook. We're willing to try someone besides Carnival, but have no interest in the really big ships like Oasis and Allure. So, it will be interesting to see what gets decided once all of the itineraries come out. We'll play it by ear and see what we want to do.

Bye! Stay warm! Be well! All that jazz! :D

Oops, I forgot, Chris also ended up emailing CruCon today and was told he'd get a check in the mail. He never did receive any kind of call, I guess we weren't special enough!

We're heading out Thursday and there's a 30% chance of rain in Miami, should be around 74 degrees. While here at home its been warming up and should be 84 degrees. Does anyone else see a problem here? :p Thankfully it should be mid 80's for most of our stops next week! :D

So we're not quite sure we want to fight Miami traffic on a Friday night, which also happens to be Valentine's Day, so I don't think we're going to make any of the pre-cruise get togethers. If anyone else flying in Thursday has ideas for Friday breakfast, we could likely do that. Chris has a conference call he has to attend Friday morning, but I think he'll be done around 9am.

We don't know what time we're getting to the port on Saturday. Chris is platinum and I ask for a wheelchair to get on and off the boat, so we typically get through fairly quick. Of course, on our last cruise we actually went over early, and that was the day they were changing out a generator on the ship and no one was allowed on until 2:30pm. They were even doing shuttle runs to the French Quarter for all passengers, once you got your sail & sign card, just so they could try to empty out the terminal for a bit.

We settled on the Carnival Sailaway, Snorkel & Beach Cruise in Grand Turk; a day of rest in La Romana; the Bounty Adventures Sunset Cruise in Curacao; and the Carnival Catamaran Sailaway, Beach & Snorkel in Aruba. With my health issues, I really can't do stuff 4 days in a row and La Romana was the least interesting port for us.

I head for Chris' tomorrow afternoon with all my bags packed (well, first I have to pack them) and then we head out Thursday morning on Southwest, getting into Fort Lauderdale around 5pm. We went ahead and rented a car and will be dropping it at the Miami airport on Saturday morning and the Alamo shuttle will take us to the cruise terminal.

We leave in 2 days! Yippee! Oh s***, I gotta pack! :eek:

We would like a magnet, too, please. And, once we get home, we can finally answer the question "does the Breeze have metal doors or wood ones?" :D

I'll bring along a couple of packages of Command Strips to hand out, just in case!

So with 100,000 people expected for the boat show, plus 18,000 expected to leave Miami port on Saturday, are we planning on reservations for our Friday night get-together? Don't forget it is also Valentine's Day.

Michelle, Where are you and Chris staying before the cruise? I thought I had read you booked the SpringHill Suites - Which one? The SpringHill Suites Miami Airport East/Medical Center or Spring Hill Suites Miami Airport South? Frank and I have the Airport South one booked.

 

Some of the group will be meeting at

http://www.largobarandgrill.com/

Friday evening for dinner and/or drinks. This restaurant is also in Bayside. Ryan will need a count of who is interested soon.

 

Yes, we are staying at the Springhill Suites, but we're at the other one, the Airport East/Medical Center. We get in Thursday afternoon and have reserved a rental car, but are still undecided whether we'll actually pick it up or just use taxis.

Count us in for the get together Friday evening, Chris looked at the menu and said he could get a burger. :D The only seafood he'll eat is shrimp, but he occasionally indulges me and goes to a non-steak restaurant anyway!

We are looking at the Everglades tour for the day we get back. Our flight doesn't leave until 4:40pm and even though we did the same tour after the last Cupid's cruise, its better than sitting around the airport all day. We looked at the Hop-on/Hop-off and the South Beach tour, but looking at buildings and shopping just doesn't sound like much fun. And alligators are cool to look at. From a distance. :cool:

Okay, so if you had 5 days for an anniversary vacation and wanted to go somewhere warm, at the end of January, where would you go? Specific suggestions are appreciated, I have a friend who wants to surprise his wife with a tropical vacation.

Thanks!

Heidi - please put us down for the cabin crawl, we will open our cabin, its a cove balcony.

Please also put us down for the gift exchange, I think last time we limited it to 3 steals.

Does anybody else have early dining? I know many of the Cupids go with late dining instead. I assume whoever at CruCon is handling our bookings will try to keep us together again? I hope we end up at a big table, Chris likes talking to people. We ended up at a two-top for our Alaska cruise and he didn't like that at all. It was hard to make conversation about how your excursion went or what you did that day when you already spent the entire day with that person. :p

Another question, sorry!

Are we doing our regular get together dinner the night before the cruise? And, if so, where?

We're trying to decide between renting a car or just using taxis, so we're trying to figure out where all we're going to go. Including what on earth to do with our Friday in Miami. We're finding that if you don't like shopping, Miami's not a place to hang out! :D

Michelle, this is what we have planned for ports: Grand Turk - probably just go to Jack's Shack for some beach time. La Romana - Altos de Chavon River Boat your through Carnival. Curacao - things to see within walking distance from the ship, Kura Hulanda Museum, Sta Anna Church. Might do a sunset cruise, we need to find one. The one we tried to book cancelled because they changed the day of the week they operate to a different day than when we are there. Aruba - taxi to Eagle Beach.

We were looking at a sunset cruise in Curacao, also, mainly based on what you all were talking about last spring. I looked at the Facebook posts and such, but I also looked up the company that was talked about and it looks like they cruise on Wednesdays at sunset and that is the day we are in port. Am I missing something or does this look viable?

http://www.bountyadventures.com/Curacao_Sunset_Sail.html

Hi everyone!

I've been lax and am several months behind. Chris has been lurking a bit, though, and has kind of kept me up to date.

My back surgery seems to have been quite successful, I start physical therapy tomorrow to help build up the muscle tone in those poor muscles that were locked in place for so many months. Overall, I don't hurt any more, it just aches a bit if I do too much.

So, we're 6 weeks out and don't have any excursions booked! Ack! Any suggestions? We're not really beach people but do want to go snorkeling at least once. With 4 ports in 4 days, we'll have to pick at least one day to do nothing, I just can't do stuff that many days in a row.

We're flying into FLL on Thursday afternoon and staying at Springhill Suites by the Miami Airport, thanks to Heidi who suggested booking way back in March in order to get a room! We haven't decided yet if we want to rent a car or if we'll use taxis to get around.

The 2pm time on the first sea day for a meet and greet sounds good to us. We're also up for the cabin crawl with or without the poker game and you can add our cabin to the list, we have a cove balcony for this trip.

We're doing good here, Chris is still really tall and I'm still really short, compared to him anyway. :D Christmas was pretty low key and New Year's will be, too. We don't do presents, that's what cruises are for! We're also headed to Vegas next week to see Stephen Wright, so that's our present to ourselves, too.

See you all soon!

Dave and Heidi y'all should come down here and go to my physical therapist. I haven't worn my back brace in three weeks! I swear this guy must walk on water.....He actually has a doctorate in PT and really knows what he is doing; although there is one exercize he has me trying to do that I just can't get...I call it the pat your head, rub your stomach, and chew gum all at the same time exercize...actually I have to flatten my back, raise my butt off the table, and pick up each of my legs one at a time. The other day he cracked me up when he said " I'm really amazed at how strong you are getting so that you can do that exercize wrong".

Hey, I know that exercise! They have me doing the same one! Well, okay, trying to do the same one. :D

Speaking of bad backs and such, my sciatica is back, again, so they finally did some testing. I have a herniated and partially fragmented disk at L5-S1 and they are recommending back surgery. Very strongly recommending it, as in, this could get really bad if we don't get the extra part cut off and stop the fragmenting. Is this anything anyone else has run in to? I know there are all sorts of back problems, I was just wondering if anyone has more information for me. :o

Its been cool reading about all the excursion ideas for February, but I'm still trying to get our last one set up for next month! We're going cave tubing in Belize and, no, I'm not asking my doctor if its okay. :p

Happy Almost Friday to all!

Heidi - if you find a couple of excursions you're really interested in, I'd send an email to the tour company. I'd be really surprised if they don't adjust their start times to when the ship is in port. People keep commenting about doing cruises that always stay on one time zone, but I've never done one yet that hasn't changed at least once. Also, keep in mind that February will be after the time change anyway, so the times they have posted now may change by then.

We're trying to get ready for our September cruise. Has anyone done anything in Mahogany Bay, Roatan or in Belize that they recommend? Also, what is the place in Cozumel that you guys always head to? People on our roll call are asking for a good beach to hang out for the day, but I can't remember what it was.

224 days to go!!

Please accept my apologies for the rant I posted yesterday. I guess I needed to vent after a rather emotional visit with my folks......

Uh uh, no apologizing. Many people here have been in your shoes over the years that we've been chatting together. If you can't vent to your friends, then what good are they? :)

And hearing aids really are ridiculously expensive, how someone is supposed to have an extra $3,000 lying around, I have never understood. Glasses have gotten out of hand, too. And, don't get me started on shoes! :D

Sue, I agree with Rick!

Hi everyone!

I haven't been on for a while, its been an odd couple of months. My Mom has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and is having trouble walking with one foot completely numb and the other one partially numb. Based on the lesions they found on her brain and spine during the MRI's, they think she's had it for at least 30 years, she apparently just never had a big enough "flare" for anything to happen. We're still waiting to see if it is currently active or not, we're having trouble with the doctor's office not getting paperwork done, so I'm going to find a different neurologist for her. She's fine, just really frustrated that she can't get around like she's used to and she sometimes has a hard time concentrating, too.

Chris has been good, he hurt his hip in January and ended up in the hospital overnight because of his blood thinners and blood loss, but it cleared up without any troubles and he's back to playing his basketball three days a week.

I ended up with a roommate, a friend of mine who has been having trouble where she was, not sure how long she'll be staying with me, but since she loves to cook and clean, I have no complaints! :D We actually both ended up with bronchitis week before last, my only thought was that I was glad it came early enough to be over it before we leave for Alaska!

We leave in a little less than 3 weeks for our Alaska cruise. Normally we do the Caribbean in February, with or without the Cupids, but Alaska is something we've always wanted to do and this year worked out well for it. We'll be doing the first cruise of the season, so we get to see Glacier Bay and we're starting in Vancouver, so we're spending the weekend there to start.

Its funny that everyone was asking about extra cruises before the Breeze, Chris actually just booked us on a second cruise for this year. He called me on Saturday and asked how I felt about New Orleans and the exotic western Caribbean for September! Other than being concerned about hurricanes, I had no problem with it, so that's what we're doing. Its actually the same cruise we had to cancel a few years ago, we'll be going to Cozumel, Roatan and Belize, so we're quite looking forward to it.

My roommate and parents think its hilarious, they asked when I'd ever actually be home! We'll be gone for 12 days for the Alaska cruise, its an 8 day that goes from Monday to Tuesday, plus we added the weekend prior in Vancouver. Then we go to Vegas in June to see Jeff Dunham. And, now, we're adding a week in September on the Conquest. We've actually cruised on the Conquest before, it'll be our first repeat ship, but last time we had the Cupid's around to keep us amused, we'll be on our own this time.

Speaking of Vancouver, has anyone traveled in Canada, cruising or not, that can tell me whether its worth having Canadian money instead of US dollars? The exchange rate is pretty much equal, we're just wondering if we should have Canadian money for taxis, tips, etc. Please let me know, if you have any suggestions.

Be well!

I hadn't even considered worrying about a hotel yet for this trip, I just did the one for Alaska 2 weeks ago! However, after looking at the postings yesterday and again today, I did go ahead and book a refundable rate for the Springhill Suites at $129 per night. So count us in! :D

We have the same problem this week with Valentine's Day, and with Chris's birthday (it was Saturday). We kept thinking we should be wandering the Caribbean on a cruise ship, it was quite odd to be home instead. We met in 2007 and 4 of the last 5 years we've been on a cruise. Even the 5th year we were supposed to go but had to cancel because of Chris's, then new, job.

I ended up going to Olive Garden last night with a friend. Got home and was catching up on this board and saw Heidi's note. I don't get people like that. Chris and I just plain don't go out to restaurants that will be that busy. Here in Phoenix we don't go out on Friday or Saturday unless we get there before 5pm. Most nights if you're somewhere by 6pm you can get right in. That was the case last night, we got seated immediately, had a great waiter and then headed out. But I left my box of leftovers on the table! :( I was looking forward to apricot chicken and garlic bread for lunch. Oh well.

Hi everyone!

We're doing good, though its been awfully chilly for Phoenix, only getting up into the 60's each day! :confused:

And while I'm sitting here complaining about being chilly at 60 degrees, I'm also planning excursions for our cruise to Alaska! Sheesh. But, like I told Chris, that's what long underwear is for! :D

I know many of you have done Alaskan cruises, we're cruising on the Miracle on 4/29, an 8 day cruise starting in Vancouver with stops in Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway. Does anyone have suggestions for things to do at any of the places? Or a hotel idea for Vancouver? Any recommendations are much appreciated.

We had fun on the Splendor, ended up in Puerto Vallarta for 2 days, with 1 day in Cabo, due to propulsion problems. They had to be able to dock it to fix it, so they switched our days. We didn't care, bought lots of tequila on the factory tour and went on a boat ride in Cabo, and just were generally lazy for the week.

Christmas and New Year's were fine, Chris ended up going to Detroit to check on his Mom, and other than his brother being a jerk as usual, he had a good week. I spent a couple of days at my parent's new place here in Phoenix and my sister and her hubby came down for a week. So we spent Christmas apart for the first time in 6 years, but were both with family, so it was fine. He was back home for New Year's, so we went out to Melting Pot for dinner and then were sound asleep by 10pm. :o

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone!

I'm about 50 pages, and 6 months, behind on my reading, but wanted to say "hello".

Its been kind of a crazy year. My parents ended up moving back to Arizona, a bit of a quick decision when Daddy ended up getting a teaching job in July and had to report the following week. :) So Dad stayed with me for a couple of weeks until the house they found closed, then Mom moved down in October after emptying out the house in Washington and renting it out. So that was a fun couple of months.

It was quiet otherwise, we went up to Vegas twice, once for the heck of it and to meet my parents, once to meet up with Chris' friends from Detroit. Both were good trips, no major wins or losses in money.

After getting home from Vegas in November, Chris found out he had almost 2 weeks of vacation that he needed to either use or lose, so he decided a cruise was a good idea. :D We're leaving Friday for LA, will hang out on Saturday, maybe wander around the Queen Mary or the Aquarium, and then leave on the Splendor on Sunday. Two days in Cabo, one in Puerto Vallarta and two sea days. A good week. :cool:

We had Thanksgiving here at my new (ish) place, Chris and my parents came over, ate lots of food. The plan for Christmas was to spend it at my parent's new place, with my sister and brother-in-law driving down from Modesto, however we might end up in Detroit instead. Chris' Mom broke her hip, so we might go up there. She's fine, it was more of a crack than a break, they put 2 pins in to hold it together. And she's feeling good enough to complain that she's really tired of rehab and wants to go home, so she must be okay. :rolleyes:

Happy Holidays!!!

Hi everyone!

Only 637 days to go!

Ah, such a short time. For the cruise we just took in Feburary for Cupid's III, we had booked 681 days out. And Cupid's II was 698 days. :D

For those following the link from the Member Cruises page to the forum, I went ahead and posted a thread, just so there was one available. I really didn't put much in it, just the itinerary information that Heidi started this thread with, but at least it is something. It looks like that forum is titled "Pricing and Booking Info", so I assume its where the prices and anything regarding prices should be posted for anyone interested to find.

As opposed to this thread which looks like its going to be our "meet and chat" thread for this cruise. Think we'll hit 500 pages again? :cool: