*OFFICIAL* CC Group Cruise 02/15/2014 Cupid's IV Southern Caribbean - Carnival Breeze

[Flick]

Well this was somewhat unexpected....we got 12" of snow, tornados, a hail storm, and then lots of ice.....NOT!

This week will be sunny but a little cool (mid-60s) and somewhat breezy. Not beach weather but the pool is heated. However, not all is lost...it is supposed to be 75 by Saturday.

[HeidiHo]

Good morning!

 

According to the University of Illinois Facebook today they have called a snow day and since it's the end of their spring break they also strongly encouraged that students who would be returning to campus via I-57 not return yet because conditions are very bad. We would have had to take I-57 to get home if we had gone there yesterday. I guess we made the right decision.

 

It has been snowing here since last night but just very lightly and there is no accumulation. I am beginning to think this is payback for the wonderful weather we had in march last year. I know spring will get here eventually though. I just wish it was sooner rather than later.

 

Our kitty sure was happy to see us last night. It was the first time we left her alone since her sister left us. Usually she still has the dog even if she's not all that fond of her but we took the dog with us. I felt so bad leaving her on Saturday but I knew she'd be OK. She was all over me when we got home yesterday though.

 

I have to work very early tonight, 3:30. That is a very weird time. Usually dinner hosts are not scheduled before 4:00 or 4:30. It's OK with me though. It means that I am not a closer and will be the first one sent home when it's slow. Monday's are usually our slowest nights so I should be home pretty early. We may be a bit busy though because this week all the grade schools and high schools in the immediate area are on spring break.

 

If you are interested there is a video of Staci's performance on my Facebook. There are 80 girls on stage at times but you can actually see Staci since she's usually in the front row. She is the short blond about 2nd from right in the front but the best time to see her is right after they pull off their sweat shirts (no, this is not a strip show). LOL. At that point a lot of the girls leave the stage. Just look to the far right, the girls are staggered and you will see 2 girls, one in front of the other then right next to them, just one girl, that is Staci.

 

Have a great day. :)

[ktravel]

Question for Cupids since I am a Cupid newbie.

 

I booked with the the group with $ 50 deposit. We just went with inside.

I am getting ready to pay most of the cruise I had a suprise bonus at work, so what better way to pay for cruise.

So with that being said,if there is a price drop in your category, are we eligible for OBC until final payment has been made?

 

I know interior rooms are already reasonable and I do not plan on OBC but hey one can hope!!!

I have been watching prices I think Heidi did a great job with price and OBC for group

I have enjoyed reading about the experiences of the orginal Cupids.

This group is great!! All types of careers, ages and geography

[HeidiHo]

Question for Cupids since I am a Cupid newbie.

 

I booked with the the group with $ 50 deposit. We just went with inside.

I am getting ready to pay most of the cruise I had a suprise bonus at work, so what better way to pay for cruise.

So with that being said,if there is a price drop in your category, are we eligible for OBC until final payment has been made?

 

I know interior rooms are already reasonable and I do not plan on OBC but hey one can hope!!!

I have been watching prices I think Heidi did a great job with price and OBC for group

I have enjoyed reading about the experiences of the orginal Cupids.

This group is great!! All types of careers, ages and geography

 

Thanks but I really didn't have anything to do with pricing and we were lucky that we set this cruise up BEFORE Carnival did away with the OBC's. You should call Erin to ask about what happens if there is a price drop. I called her once a long time ago when I saw a price drop and she said I could have it if I wanted it but then I would have to give up my $100.00 OBC. It might depend on whatever rate code you see the price drop in. Carnival's new rate codes are so confusing that you need a master's degree to understand them. Right now it looks like prices have only gone way up since we booked. I keep reading here on Cruise Critic about all these fabulous price drops due to all the recent Carnival issues but I suppose our cruise is still so far out that they aren't dropping prices. I have actually been meaning to contact Erin with some other questions so if I have time in the next couple of days I will get in touch with her and ask her about price drops.

[HeidiHo]

I sent an email to Eric this afternoon asking her about price drops and whether or not there ANY cabins left in inventory that would still get the OBC. I don't think there are but back when Carnival made the announcement that OBC's would no longer be offered, Erin told me that we were grandfathered in but that once the original inventory was gone, there would be no OBC's for new bookings. I believe it used to be that even if we went over our original allotment of cabins, the OBC's were still given to everyone. I will post again once I've heard back from Erin.

[walkswife]

To funny.... you know you live in a small town when..... my ex husband was in a restaurant the other night at the buffet when he heard the people at the next table talking about me... they were saying how I moved into a better apartment and bought 2 new cars in my house..... well A) The apartment is no more expensive than my last one B) my daughter and her fiancé are paying half the bills C) I only bought one car my daughter bought the other one...... sometimes living in a small town is annoying..... but at least if they are talking about me they are leaving some one else alone..... LOL

[ooulio]

We tried to book with this group. They told me Carnival did away with the obc. It was cheaper to book ourselves than with the group. Erin is great and so much more helpful than Joana. We had to go up to the 9th floor. I need a balcony . Since the cruise was so much higher than we paid this year, we just did it with her. We like the 8th floor but for a lil more money , we went up lil higher.

[HeidiHo]

Good Afternoon!

 

I got a reply from Erin but her reply left me even more confused so I have a call in to her and I'm still waiting for her to call me back. I will let you know what she tells me.

 

Day off for me. YAY! :D

 

Have a good one.

[Cruisin Dave]

Good afternoon Cupids,

Not allot going on around here. Bettie and I are going to Disney World this summer then I will be looking more at things to do on this cruise.

Air travel for this cruise has not yet opened up completely for some carriers and for SW you still have a few months to wait. I think that you will be able to book on AA by next week.

I'm still check hotels for openings but nothing is appearing.

Heidi, have a great day.

Dave

[Flick]

We are celebrating a victory, albeit a small victory but we received a backpack with a note attached saying "this little girl no longer needs food assistance". Now we only have 2299 more children to go in this county! We will pack the food tomorrow because school is closed on Friday.

[HeidiHo]

Erin did not call me back today.

 

Just for the heck of it I looked a Orbitz for flights today. It allowed booking for the 1st flight going to Miami but can't book a return yet. Have to wait a few more days for that.

[momofzeke]

Hi gang!

 

I had such a nice visit with my sister and her family! They left yesterday around noon.

 

Esther ~ glad you got booked! Don't worry about not booking with the "official" group. You are still welcome to be part of our group!

 

Renee ~ congrats on the new car! So fun, and I say let them talk about you. I live in a very tiny town, so I totally know what you mean! In fact, I'll bet my town is a heck of a lot smaller than your town! ;) Lakeview has a population of about 2,500 people and our little community of Valley Falls has 40 peeps.

 

Heidi ~ glad you made it home ok! Sorry you didn't get to visit Eric though.

 

The well drillers have hit water, and it's looking good! They are waiting for pipe again ~ grrrrr ~ but hope to finish up next week. It is looking promising though.

[HeidiHo]

Good Afternoon!

 

I am kind of miserable today. I hurt my back this morning. I called my doctor just to see if they could prescribe a muscle relaxer or something and I was supposed to get a call back but they never called. They said they were only working a half day too since it's Good Friday so I doubt I'll get a call now. It's rather annoying. Even if the doctor refused to prescribe without seeing me at least someone could have called back.

 

Erin never called me back either. I've been kind of busy so I didn't get a chance to call her again. I will try on Monday.

 

Staci should be pulling in the driveway any minute now. She wasn't sure if she was coming home or not since we won't be doing anything for Easter (I have to work) but she sent me a text earlier saying she was coming home. She probably didn't want to stay at school if most everyone was going home. Eric won't be coming home though. He has to work too. that's the one thing that stinks about working in a restaurant.

 

Have a good weekend. :)

[ooulio]

I finally bit the bullet and booked on priceline. I did the Express Deals... 4 stars was $218 plus tax and ? Waited and was nervous. We got Intercontinental at Chopin Downtown Miami. I had already called them. They wanted 299.00 plus tax and fee. It was around 365. With tax and fee was $255.00 per room. I was thrilled. It is right on water and right near where we stayed this past Feb. Even Hampton Inn downtown Brickell was $323 plus tax. WE passed them on our way from the hotel and saw it. I told my husband I would love to stay there. Now that is done. We can walk downtown and go to PF Changs and PUblix. Are you guys doing a casino tournament for the group. It is fun. Loved the one we did on the dream with the group. It will be fun to meet everyone. Have a good weekend. Happy Easter.

[ed_k_tx]

Hi guys,

Haven't checked in for a while.

We booked the Homewood Suites Airport for Friday night. $170 was the AARP rate. Still looking at spending a couple of days in the Keys before that if we can swing it.

 

Found out we're going to be grandparents again. Our DD is pregnant with her 2nd. due in October. That would be a great 40th wedding anniversary present.

We were going to do a short 4 or 5 day out of Galveston but looks like we'll be cruising up to Illinois instead. We were going to head up for my mother's 85th in July.

 

Hope everyone has a nice Easter.

[keene state mom]

Hi we are booked on this cruise , but booked awhile ago, so did not go with the group booking, but I would still love to chat, and make new friends, we are Rick and Gail from Nashua N.H. this will be our 14th cruise , we are doing a back to back starting the week before on the 9th of February. It looks like a great group thanks for having us.

 

Gail

[Flick]

Y'all have a great Easter, ya heah?

[HeidiHo]

Good Morning!

 

Hi we are booked on this cruise , but booked awhile ago, so did not go with the group booking, but I would still love to chat, and make new friends, we are Rick and Gail from Nashua N.H. this will be our 14th cruise , we are doing a back to back starting the week before on the 9th of February. It looks like a great group thanks for having us.

 

Gail

 

Welcome Gail and Rick! Glad you found us here. You are welcome to chat with us and join us for any activities we plan since none of them will be for official group members only. The more the merrier.

 

My back is much worse today. I could barely walk when I got up this morning. If I don't see tremendous improvement by tomorrow I don't see how I can work tomorrow night. That's not going to go over very well with management it being Easter and all. I can do one of 3 things. I can see if someone will work for me but that's not likely since either everyone is already working or they are going to want the day off since it's Easter. I can just call off and management will be mad but If I do that I will go see my doctor on Monday and get a medical note so that should keep me from getting a write up. Or I can just go in to work and when they see me hobbling around maybe they'll send me home. Hopefully I'll be a lot better by tomorrow though.

 

I need to go grocery shopping today but I think I will either send Staci or just make her go with me. I will probably be OK as long as I can lean on a cart. I think our store has those scooter carts too. I suppose I could use one of those but I'd be afraid I'd crash into someone.

 

Have a good day. :)

[Flick]

Heidi my back is not very good either. I can get around some with the exception of concrete floors like they have at Sams and Wal-Mart. There I need to use the electric carts. They're fun but I constantly worry as I approach an intersection that someone will be coming and not looking and I run them down. What I have is stenosis and soon I am going to a neurosurgan to fix it. (We call it roto-rooting!) Unfortunately first I have to go to a dentist since last week I bit into a pickle and broke off a tooth. Fortunately or unfortunately part of the tooth remains so no nerve is exposed therefore NO Pain.......

The ladies in the neighborhood had lunch this past Wednesday and raised $900.00 for our backpack program!

Edited March 30, 2013 by Flick

[HeidiHo]

My back improved a lot this afternoon. Staci still went grocery shopping with me but I could have handled it myself and I didn't need the scooter cart. :D

[momofzeke]

Heidi, glad your back is better! Reminded me of the last day of our cruise when I was sick & you had hurt your back. What a pair!

 

WELCOME, GAIL!! We are happy to have you join us here for chatting & on the cruise for any gatherings we have!

 

We are going to my dad's for Easter lunch. The boys both have their in-laws visiting in Bend. My dad & stepmom invited them and also my brother and sister and their families, but everyone already had plans. It was a last minute thing, so not surprised they can't make it.

 

We turned the cows out to grass yesterday, so no more feeding them hay. They were SO READY to go. They RAN out the gate. They get really tired of hay by this time of year. We still feed the weaned calves hay until they get shipped out in about 10 days or so. They will go to grass somewhere, and will be very happy to get to eat green grass instead of hay.

[walkswife]

You guys may have already discussed this but is anyone doing the cheers program.... I was just reading a thread on it and considering it.... at just under $400 for the trip it may be worth it .... I have always watched how much and what I drank on a cruise because of cost and my bill is usually near there.... was thinking it might be nice to not have to think about it....

[HeidiHo]

You guys may have already discussed this but is anyone doing the cheers program.... I was just reading a thread on it and considering it.... at just under $400 for the trip it may be worth it .... I have always watched how much and what I drank on a cruise because of cost and my bill is usually near there.... was thinking it might be nice to not have to think about it....

 

I have thought about it but not decided yet. I need to ask Dave how much our bar bill usually is at the end of a cruise. It's possible he has even saved the last couple (Dave never throws anything away) so I'd like to take a look and see how much was actually alcohol. He might have saved the bills because he would have considered it a credit card receipt and filed it away with the old credit card statements. Dave probably has every single credit card statement he has ever received since buying this house over 30 years ago. :rolleyes:

[walkswife]

I have thought about it but not decided yet. I need to ask Dave how much our bar bill usually is at the end of a cruise. It's possible he has even saved the last couple (Dave never throws anything away) so I'd like to take a look and see how much was actually alcohol. He might have saved the bills because he would have considered it a credit card receipt and filed it away with the old credit card statements. Dave probably has every single credit card statement he has ever received since buying this house over 30 years ago. :rolleyes:

 

 

Just because I like the frozen drinks and they go down really well on deck.... plus that martini before dinner and the glass of wine with dinner (I usually don't get it because I want to watch $$) and then if I want a few drinks after dinner.... they would really rack up fast if I didn't watch it...

[Flick]

Renee, two thoughts. Just because you have a maximum of 15 drinks a day doesn't mean you HAVE to drink 15 drinks a day! As long as your roommate buys it too (a rule) I would think it would be money well spent. We are seriously considering it since we only drink wine (and lots of it, I might add!).

Well Kay starts her new job this morning as Secretary at the ELKs Lodge. She is really inheirting a mess. We have already discovered several reports NOT done by the former woman. One of the reports effects us directly. Our backpack program is the primary charity of the Lodge. All activity must be reported in the Charity Book which goes to Grand Lodge (such as number of volunteers, hours, miles etc.) She has NOT reported on the program for over a year even though we gave her the information every month like clockwork! The Elk year starts today (April 1st.) so our Lodge has lost all that credit.... Every day for the past month we have been discovering more and more..it is truly sickening since she had announced she was running again this year. Fortunately the Brass knew there was a serious problem and refused to let her run. We facillate between rage and great sadness for what we are finding.