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

[Snowball]

Good morning everyone! I just visited Carnival's website, and there it was - just what I wanted to see - the little clock that says that [b][size=3][color=red]we only have 50 days left until our cruise!!!![/color][/size][/b] Now that's the kind of news that really gets your day off to a good start. :D

[emarismom]

Good morning everyone!!


I have always been ready for the cruise, I haven't needed anything to let me know I'm ready!!;)

I haven't recieved the lanyards yet, but the mail hasn't arrived yet today!!

Unfortunately, I have to plan most of my packing in my head, I can't lay anything out, due to the new puppy. So far she has eaten three pairs of underwear and one sock :eek: !! She has a ton of toys, but I guess underwear
are more fun. So far no shoes have been destroyed, although she has tried.
I hope she gets past this stage quickly!!

Only 7 weeks to the cruise and 6 weeks until school is over. I bet a few others around here are looking forward to summer as much as I am. Teaching is definately not what it used to be.

[Corl4]

Good morning everyone!

Debbie - Thanks so much for the lanyards...got them yesterday! Even though we didn't book with the group, we'll be wearing ours! Spent much of the week helping mom pack for her cruise on the GLory leaving today. I wanted to hide in one of their suitcases and go along!

With the beautiful warm weather we had this week, teaching became even more difficult than usual! Kids wanted to be outside, not learning how to read! This week looks rainy and cooler so maybe we'll get more done!

Probably won't start packing till the Sunday before we leave. THis time I really am going to pack less....at least I'm going to try!!

Have a great weekend!

Beth

[lhall85917]

Got our lanyards today too - thanks for sending them Debbie. I tried to talk my DD into wearing hers while she's away at school, but couldn't convince her - I wonder why??!! :confused: tee hee

[Marcys]

UGH!!:( It's snowing outside...not sticking...but snowing nonetheless!! Baseball game for DS for today and soccer game for tomorrow have been cancelled!

Debbie, how does the cabin credit work? Will it be there on our account when we get our Sign and Sail cards?

Sharon, for what it's worth, my family all rolled their eyes :rolleyes: when I opened the package with the lanyards yesterday! Also...how are you going to explain the whip (used to get us all back from Carlos N Charlies on time) to immigration and security??:eek:

[lhall85917]

Marcy, I haven't decided for sure on the whips yet. I'm also thinking - velvet ropes, leashes, tasers, bringing your children with me....

[parisolivia]

:) Thanks Debbie. I really appreciate you sending the lanyards. How do you put your sail and sign card on these? Thanks again.:D

[Marcys]

Ladies, I laughed when I read this on over on the fashion board. It's the rules for wearing sandals!!! :eek: I've been guilty of breaking a few of those rules! What do you all think of them??

[url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=161197"]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=161197[/url]

[gymbrat33]

emarismom, I'm also a teacher and counting the days. We also have six weeks of school left.

[Marcys]

Olga, I teach too, but at the college level. Only 2 more weeks of classes, then exam week!! Once I get through next Thursday, though, it's clear sailing for me. That's my last day of clinical. I spend Wednesdays and Thursdays in the hospital supervising 10 nursing students caring for several patients each. They are exhausting days, mentally and physically!! But, I'm sure exhaustion is common to anyone who teaches!!

[lhall85917]

2 weeks! :eek: We still have 5 and the kids have turned it on big time!! :mad:

Love the sandal thread - just too funny!! I'm worried about how many fashion faux pauxs I'll be guilty of committing during this cruise, sandals or otherwise. Maybe someone will wear the hat of fashion police? I don't have one of those! :o

[Marcys]

Sharon, I actually cringe when I read the fashion boards...I have broken so many of those rules it's not funny!! I've always worn whatever color hose I felt like...never worried about "rules" ...until now, that is! :eek: I feel like they're talking about me!! But, I'm sure your hats will look stunning with anything you wear!!:p

[Corl4]

Hi all!

Loved the "rules" for sandals! That has been circulating on email at school this week and we all got a good laugh out of it. ALthough the men on our faculty didn't quite get it!

Speaking of school, we have 6 1/2 weeks left...last day is June 7! It's going to be a long 6 weeks!

Sharon - We can appoint my DD as the fashion police for the week! She is very "fashionable" and loves to point out fashion faux pas, all in fun of course!On our last cruise there was a rather LARGE woman who always sat near us at the pool and insisted upon wearing a thong bikini...with her long blonde bleached hair, fake tan, tons of dripping gold jewlery and different colored thong each day, she was quite a sight! It was hysterical watching people's reactions to her as she "strutted her stuff"! DD had lots of fun with that one!

I know this has been posted on the boards but "what's your favorite cruise song"? If we can come up with a list of everyone's favorite, DS said he'd burn CD's to send to everyone to get you in the cruise mode....as if we need that!

Enjoy the day!

Beth

[lhall85917]

Beth, what a great offer - how fun! :D I'm going to have to think about favorite cruise songs and get back with that.
I think my DD would be willing to share the fashion police hat with yours - perhaps as a terrible twosome they can keep us in line! I have to take her with me when I shop, she has definite opinions. She won't let me buy anything with apples on it or anything that looks like "teacher" clothes! You know what I mean - you can spot the elementary school teachers a mile away by the cutesy clothes!! :o
Woke up this morning to about half an inch of snow on top of our new blooms. :eek: Its still snowing - this is just crazy.

[Snowball]

Good morning everyone!!! It is definitely a chilly morning here in Philadelphia (but no snow - thank goodness), and temps are not expected to rise much above 60 all week. I love the rules for sandal wearing! My sandal pet peeve is seeing people wear stockings with sandals - it just doesn't look right to me, but I see lots of people doing it.

Connie - To put your s & s card on your lanyard, you just need to visit the pursors desk or the casino cashier onboard and get them to punch a hole in the corner of your card, then you thread it through the ring. Just don't try to do it yourself because they know which corner of the card to punch without messing up the magnetic strip or removing any of the important info printed on there.

Marcy - The shipboard credit for everyone booked with the group will automatically be applied to your account on embarkation day. I think it is great that we are the credit - it is like having your tips already paid! I had Kevin send me an e-mail to confirm that our group will get the shipboard credit, that way I have it in writing in case there is a problem.

Sharon - I can understand that you may need to use whips, velvet ropes, leashes, and tasers to get all of us out of Carlos N' Charlies in time, but bringing our children with you is just cruel and unusual punishment. :eek: :p

Beth - I love listening to cruise music in the weeks leading up to our departure. I have a cd that I burned a few years ago with some cruising songs and steel drum music - I listen to it non-stop for the two weeks before I leave - drives my co-workers crazy! :D

[Marcys]

Sharon, it's snowing here, too! It's so strange to see green leaves, flowers, and snow!!:cool:

The other thing that I learned on the fashion board last night is that fanny packs are out!! :eek: When did this happen??? I apologize if I embarrass you guys. Maybe we can have a real subtle sign to make to each other that we are being fashionably inappropriate!!:confused: I take my 16 year old DD with me to make sure I don't buy anything too frumpy. Although, I've bought a lot of lime green this year which she tells me is NOT for middle-aged women!!:o

I confirmed my airline tickets last night. There's a direct flight I could have taken, but we're changing planes in Atlanta to save about 30,000 in frequent flyer miles, which is another 1-2 free tickets for next year's vacation. They changed our flight home from FLL from 1:00 to 12:52. Not a big deal, but even 1 p.m. was getting me nervous. We'll do the self-debark and get off the ship early. That will force me to pack light. I just booked Larry's Limo from the pier to the airport.

I found a parasailing company in Grand Cayman that will pick us up for free by boat from the dock and take us parasailing and then drop us off by boat at the Royal Palms on 7 Mile Beach. They rent chairs, umbrellas, waverunners, and have a restaurant. I think I'm gonna book with them since this will save a taxi fare to the beach and will gaurantee parasailing since the other concessions that I contacted on 7 Mile Beach are first come only.

Debbie, do you know how we pay for Wet N Wild?? Do they take a credit card? Just trying to figure out how much cash we'll need to bring on the cruise, and on shore for that excursion.

[Snowball]

We are getting a group rate of $51 per person for Wet N' Wild (it is normally $60pp). Kathy paid the $12 deposit for all of us in her group of 20, so we will need to re-pay Kathy the $12 per person, and pay the remaining $39 to the tour operator. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they prefer cash, and charge a 5% fee for credit card payments. I try to avoid using my credit card on the islands (for security reasons) so I was planning on paying in cash anyway.

[lhall85917]

Been thinking about favorite cruise music - I'm thinking there definitely must be some Jimmy Buffett - changes in attitudes, changes in latitudes or fins or cheeseburger in paradise, etc. :D

Also been thinking about something that we can wear to be recognized, I guess we haven't beat that death enough yet! :eek: At this point, I'm not even thinking about including the men because I don't think they'll do anything we want with the exception of possibly a t-shirt. If someone is real creative I think we can do something with that idea. If we just think about the girls (yay for us!), I was wondering about the beaded bracelets or necklaces that everyone is making now. I don't do that, but maybe someone else does. Another more easy to recognize item would be a pin - I could look online for some ideas. I hate to give up on this - it could really be fun. Maybe we could come up with some Caribbean item - such as the Cayman turtle , dolphins, or palm trees and everyone try to find clothing with that item...perhaps the guys might play too??!!

[Marcys]

Good thinking, Sharon! Not to sound really boring, but what about wearing the CC lanyards to recognize each other?? Debbie has some extra lanyards and I think they're fairly cheap through CC. We used blue and gold ribbons on 2 other cruises. We did recognize several families while still at the pier by the ribbons. People all over the ship kept asking what the ribbons were for.

[VOLEYMOM]

Did not realize that there were so many rules for wearing sandals. Who knows what else I am missing out on!! I am sure we will have many fashion police with us as there are quite a few daughters who "help us". At least she will be honest with me when I ask "does this make my butt look to big"!! My husband knows better than to say yes!!
I will check out my cd collection and think about my favorite song. I think we can all use a little of that music. Sounds like we all are having crummy weather. Cold and rainy her.
I hook a fishing license holder to my laynard. I put my sign and sail card in it and when I go onshore it can hold cash, credit card and drivers license. I try not to take my wallet and just wear it around my neck. I found a chapstick that hooks on with a small hook and usually put that on it. Can't stand if I don't have chapstick. Of course my dd won't wear it. Must be on the list of don'ts.
Have a great week everyone. Take care!
Rebecca

[cruiserkathi]

Hello Everyone: It's been a long time. I know Debbie explained about the computer virus. It took the Geek Squad a while to get us up and going again. 50 days! I can't wait. Even my husband and kids are getting excited. Re: Cave Tubing with Wet N'Wild. With 20 people, they'd prefer we just pay the balance of $39.00 in cash to make it easy and quick. They do accept travelers check and credit cards, but Debbie's right, there's a 5% service charge. Directions from Marvin say to to meet INSIDE the port of Belize City. We're to proceed to the Paradise by Air booth. Our guide will be there waiting and wearing a Paradise by Air t-shirt. Other tips include: wear a bathing suit, bring a towel, sun screen and change of clothes, plus an underwater disposable camera with built in flash. Shoes: strap on sandals, water shoes or tennis shoes (they'll get soaked). They recommend you not wear flip-flops. All belongings will be safely locked in the van during our cave excursion. Remember, a full lunch and fresh fruit drink are provided following the "adventure." I'll try to get caught up by reading all of the messages you've posted the past month. Looking forward to meeting you all. We're still planning on going to the orphanage in Roatan. I'd be glad to let you know what they need if you'd like. We can take some extra suitcases, bags, etc. of school supplies, clothing, medications with us. I'm just packing an old suitcase that I can leave there. Take care everyone. See you soon.

[Marcys]

Hi Kathi! Glad your back online again!! Add bug spray to your list of things to bring cave tubing. While you were "away" there were some posts about nasty botflies! What we also found out while you were "away" was that we have to get on line early to get tender tickets, long before they say they are going to start handing them out so we can get on an early tender. Since it's just us in the van, the earlier we can get there and get underway and feel less time pressures! They will give each person only 4 tickets.

[emarismom]

Good morning,

Kathi, I just want to clarify, if we gave Marvin our credit card already, he won't bill anything until we get there, right. I'm pretty sure when I made the initial reservation I gave one. When we get on the ship we pay you $12 per person and the balance in cash to Marvin or whomever the tour operator may be. Thank you very much for arranging the discount!!

As for the sandals thread, it was hilarious. I must admit I've committed a few of those mistakes. I'll never look at a pair of sandals the same way again:rolleyes:

Have a great week!!

27 more days of school/work for me. (I counted this morning as I was thinking about all the nice leisurely mornings I will have this summer.)

[Marcys]

Kathi, I guess I need to clarify information with you, too. You made the reservations for us and paid the deposit so I will give you $48 in cash for my family of 4 on board. If you want it sooner, maybe you could post your address in the private section of our website. I didn't contact Marvin, though, to reserve my spot because I thought you did that. Do I need to personally contact him, too? Also, if we can all get off the ship ASAP, will he be ready to leave early so we feel less of the time pressure and get back a bit earlier? Thanks!

[lhall85917]

Kathi, I would be happy to send the $12 deposit to you before we leave. I had thought about that a couple of other times, but didn't follow through to let you know and I should have. :o Just let us know.
23 more school days for us!! :D We have a work day on May 27 and that's it! I'm sure it will take a couple of extra days to finish up the final details, but at least that gives us a little time to do cruise prep before we leave!! Boy, that makes it sound even closer! :D