Come Join The Valor Voyagers 6/12/05 Western Caribbean

[Marcys]

Hi everyone! We're back! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! It was a loooong ride Monday evening. A 7-8 hour trip took us 11. It was snowing hard across Penn. and the roads were very slippery. We were in NYC 21 hours and turned around to drive home. Boy, my butt hurts!

I sure hope we get this time stuff straightened out! Does anyone else have cruise nightmares (for real, at night)! I dreamt the other night that we were eating in a restaurant and someone shouted, Omigosh, the ship left 15 minutes ago!

[VOLEYMOM]

Glad you are home safe and sound. I am sure the weather did not help you at all.
I am also glad I am not the only one to have those dreams. I do exspecially when we get closer to sailing. I always dream that somehow I can never get to the airport, just keep driving around and wondering what the problem is! I never sleep the night before we go either. We might just go and stay at a hotel right by the airport, that way we won't have to get up at the crack of dawn. Now, just waiting for stupid Southwest to open up June! Take care everyone, we will be sailing and ziplining before you know it. That is if we can figure out times and ziplines!

[lhall85917]

No nightmares yet, but its early! I'm sure there will be some closer to June - usually of running through airports but never catching the plane, or trying to get to the ship but never making it there!
What is up with SW Air not posting June airfares yet - thats unbelievable! I'm sure there are many people trying to make summer vacation plans. I had an email from Or**** yesterday about special airfares through June 6 - grrrr. They've had those out for quite a while, just need to add another couple of weeks and we're there. I check a couple of times everyday, the lowest I'm finding right now is $196, but there were some fares for Jan. that were $103 - I'd love to catch one of those, but would be happy for anything under $175.
I'm not stressed about airfares yet, but am anxious. That's the last big thing to take care of - I guess we'll know when the right thing comes along. :rolleyes:

[Snowball]

Welcome back Marcy. Glad your trip to NY went smoothly considering the poor weather conditions you had to drive through.

I also can't believe that we still don't have the time difference thing figured out. I tried posting the question on the Belize board, but for some reason every time I try to create a new thread on there I get an error message after I submit. :rolleyes: Maybe someone else could try posting the question there. I think that the 2 hour time difference shown on the time zone conversion site is right, but would feel better if we got confirmation from others that have sailed to Belize on a Carnival ship.

I've had weird cruise dreams before - not really nightmares, just really strange. Once I had a dream where the lido deck looked like a carnival with rides and concession stands selling cotton candy, ice cream, and funnel cake. Doesn't really seem like a bad idea to me. :p

[VOLEYMOM]

H Debbie, saw your posting with the big time question. Looked like they did change the ship time to match Belize time but not super clear. Looks like they are still trying to figure things out. It does make sense to do that because if they don't we would be in Roatan at 5:00 a.m. That is if we are on Daylight Savings time. I am going to reserve my excursion today in Grand Cayman and will ask them if they move their clocks ahead. Hope someone answers your post just to make sure. I like your dream idea of funnel cakes sounds like a good one!! Have a great day.
Rebecca

[VOLEYMOM]

Hi just reserved our aqua boats in Grand Cayman and did find out that they stay on EST. Not sure if that helps us but thought I would pass it on!
Rebecca

[Marcys]

I've also had dreams that I can't find my way off the ship in port or that I prepared the whole wrong itinerary, east when we were going west! Now I'll probably start having time zone dreams!!:eek:

[Snowball]

[quote name='Marcys']Now I'll probably start having time zone dreams!!:eek:[/QUOTE]
Aren't we living that nightmare right now??? :o

Rebecca - You might want to check back with your tour operator in Cayman because we will be on daylight savings time when we sail, and I don't think Cayman switches. Now whether the ship will change their ships time to match Cayman time (Eastern without the DST) is a whole other question. :rolleyes:

[VOLEYMOM]

Your are right Debbie, Grand Cayman stays on Eastern Standard Time. They do not switch to Daylight Savings Time. Maybe the ship changes to EST and then in Belize and Roatan we will just be one hour ahead of them. Wait are they on Central Standard Time? I think so. That would still put us in Roatan at 6:00 a.m. way to early. I guess we will just have to wait until we go on Daylight Savings time and then post for someone to answer.
The one good thing is that in Grand Cayman our excursion is at 11:45 a.m. Figure no matter what I will be able to figure it out and get there on time! At least I hope so!
Rebecca

[Snowball]

Good morning and TGIF everyone!!! We are down to 19 weeks left until our cruise!! :D For me the time usually starts flying once we drop into double digits.

Anyone have big plans for the weekend? I am going to Atlantic City to see a minor league hockey game, then to Planet Hollywood for dinner. :)

[Marcys]

0 degrees this a.m. This weekend I will be doing what I usually do on the weekends, I will be watching my son's soccer games. Because there's a tournament, I will sit through a minumum of 5 games. Then there's baseball practice on Sunday. Indoors, of course!

Cruising is supposed to be fun! When does the fun start???? Read back over the last page of posts...seems like a lot of stress and headache to me. Or...do you think we plan too much?? I started a post about this once, it got to be very long and interesting.

Oh well, of to lunch time spinning class!

[lhall85917]

No plans for us yet this weekend - maybe it will be a quiet one!

It does seem like the planning is a little stressful at times, but I guess thats what keeps us occupied until its time to go. I would rather spend a lot of time now planning what to do so that we don't get there and all look at each other with no clue what we are doing and when! I don't want to plan out every second either, but it is nice to have a sense of what to do at each port. When we went to Hawaii a couple of years ago, it was my first time visiting these boards and that trip went so fantastically well because we knew what we wanted to do at each stop and had reservations in advance. Our trip to Alaska last year was very similar. I think thats what ends up making the cruise enjoyable - we do all the stressing, planning, worrying now and everyone gets to enjoy it later!! :D

[Snowball]

If you think the planning has been stressful so far, just wait until we all start shopping for swimwear for the cruise! :eek: :p

I think that pre-cruise planning is a fun and exciting part of the process. Plus I would prefer to get the planning (and any associated stress) out of the way now instead of dealing with it during the cruise. I wouldn't say that I have been stressed - reall just a bit frustrated because it's been so hard to get a straight answer about port times. I've decided that I'm just going to leave things be until after we switch to daylight savings time in April , then start asking people that sailed on the Valor after the change.

Is anyone planning on going to Scarlett's (the $25 supper club) during the cruise? I would love to trying it and am going to try to talk my hubby into it.

[Marcys]

Debbie, we're not planning on going to Scarlett's. I love the whole dinner routine in the dining room. We did go to the equivalent restaurant on Explorer of the Seas, but only because we won dinner for 2 at the Meet and Mingle which RCCL hosts for CC people. They raffle off a bunch of prizes, one of which was dinner.

[sebastian01]

I'm not sure if it is so much stress, as it is a lot of information that is asked and given. I'm glad we have seasoned travelers who know what questions need to be asked and know where to find the information. I would hate to be to one traveler that booked my own excursion only to miss the ship. I may not be able to post much, but I do appreciate everyone else's comments.

I'm still not sure who to go with for the sting ray tour in grand cayman, I just know we want to do it. Once the times are figured out I will decide which one to do.

Debbie, my husband and I plan on eating at scarlett's. Not for sure what day yet, I've been looking at the menu trying to decide.

Everyone have a fun weekend, I plan on staying at home in front of the fireplace.We are having our first ice storm tonight and tomorrow, so I will not be going anywhere.
Kim

[Marcys]

My first cruise was a 3-nighter on Sovereign of the Seas. It stopped in Nassau and RCCL's private island. My parents took us all for their 50th anniversary. I did absolutely no planning and had no idea what to expect. It was over Christmas, very cold and windy, with rough seas. The cruise was OK, but it hooked my family!

[VOLEYMOM]

Hi everyone,
I love planning everything out. Then once I am on the ship I totally relax and let whatever happens happens!!
I refuse to try on one bathing suit until I lose a few more lbs!! Don't want to scare myself!
My weekend plans are okay. I am up at my college daughters house and we are having a big garage sale tomorrow. But of course Waterpolo Tournament. The first of many. This is her last year so I am going to enjoy every minute. I will be sad when she is all done!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Rebecca

[VOLEYMOM]

what happened. It skipped a whole sentence. I tried to say it is raining her and hope it is sunny tomorrow. Then on Sunday tournament. I sure it was'nt my typing!

[Marcys]

Wow, I just saw a post on the Cozumel board saying that C and C's get $4 for beer and $15 for a Margaurita!! Yikes! With prices like that we probably won't need Sharon to get us back to the ship! We'll be very sober!

[Corl4]

Hi everyone!!

Marcys: You're right about the marguerita's at C&C...we were there on Jan. 6 and our bill was $79...four yard margueritas, 2 beers and a plate of salsa and chips! By the time we had to pay the bill, we didnt care how much it was!! Plus we had at least 8 shots at $3 each (which you pay as you go).....but it was all worth it..we had a blast! DD was upstairs at Senor Frogs where they were doing free shots! We are not big drinkers...but when in Mexico......

I don't think we are doing any excursions...on our 1/1/05 cruise we did something in most ports and didn't really get the chance to explore on our own. We did book Victor's brother George for Roatan but he'll take us where we want to go. Just waiting for Southwest to open up the rest of June!

It's another cold weekend in PA....having a birthday party tonight for my parents. THey were have the same birthdate..year's the same and were born in the same hospital! SO, I do have lots to do today!

Have a great weekend!

Beth

[emarismom]

Hello all,

I'm also cruising with you all in June. Yes!! I posted last week to introduce myself. Me, Michelle 37, traveling with hubby, Everett 46, and two kids Emily 6, and Tristan 9. I've been looking into the excursions today and really can't decide. Everything looks soooo good!! I'm pretty sure I'll book the sting rays in Grand Caymen, but can't decide on what else to do. Any advice? Remember I going with my two kids and alot of tours have age restrictions. I'm very confused as I want to do it all!!

Thanks, Michelle

[Marcys]

Hi Michelle!

I think we started cruising when my kids were about 8 and 11 and they loved it! They loved swimming with the dolphins in Cozumel. Paradise Beach is also fun for kids...floats, snorkeling, ice berg, water trampoline. They also liked swimming with the rays in Grand Cayman. In Belize we've been snorkeling, but your planning on that in Grand Cayman. Roatan is new for us.

Marcy

[Snowball]

Michelle - this will be my first time visiting these ports, so I'm afraid I can't be too much of a help. :o This is what my family is doing:


Belize - cave tubing with Wet N' Wild
Roatan - Tabyana Beach excursion (through the ship)
Grand Cayman - swim with the stingrays with Soto's
Cozumel - Paradise Beach on our own, and Carlos N' Charlies at night

[Marcys]

Debbie, did you see the price of the drinks at Carlos N Charlies??:eek: :eek: :eek: $15 for a margaurita! At those prices, we won't be needing Sharon's designated "get us to the ship on time" services!!

[VOLEYMOM]

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Amazing how fast it goes by. I bet one of those expensive Margaritas will put me under the table as I remember those to be really large!
Welcome Michelle, you will love cruising with your kids. Just a wonderful family vacation. You must do the stingrays and cave tubing is really fun. I would think your kids age should be just fine. Cozumel does have really nice beaches and there are a lot to chose from. Paradise Beach is very nice if you just want a beach day.
Marcy you said you had been snorkeling in Belize. Which tour did you do and did you like it? Did you book through the ship?
Have a great week everyone!
Rebecca