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

[Marcys]

Sorry about the confusion with the times, but it is a bit confusing!!:confused:

Just another thought. Nativeway in Grand Cayman, who we went with 3 years ago and had a great time, told me that if we had at least 12 people we could charter our own boat for $400 (that's $33 each), with $30 for each additional person after 12. It's a 3-hour tour (sounds like gilligan's island), but we can set the time.

[sebastian01]

I would be open to booking a group for the stingray tour with nativeway. Let me know if you go with them, I will have two people for the group booking. kim

[Snowball]

Marcy - do you know if the Nativeway does the 2 stops (stingray city and coral gardens) or the 3 stops (plus the barrier reef)? Do they need a deposit ahead of time? How do we book our reservation with them - individually or as a group?

I'm open to switching from Soto's to Nativeway too. I'll go along with whatever the majority decides. I have 6 in my group.

[Snowball]

What do you guys think about getting group t-shirts so we can recognize each other during our meet & greet? I was thinking that instead of getting one made up, we can buy the cruise critic t-shirts from the site. Here is a link to where you can find them [url="http://www.cruisecritic.com/store/"]http://www.cruisecritic.com/store/[/url]. They come in blue or white, and prices range from $12 to $15.50, depending on size and shipping is only a few dollars more. Plus anyone booked with our group will get 15% off anything from the cruise critic store. To be honest, I'd probably be the only one from my family that would wear the t-shirt, but thought I'd post here and see what you guys think.

If you want to order the t-shirts, let me know and I'll contact Laura and see how we go about getting our 15% discount. Remember that I will be giving everyone their cruise critic lanyard at our meet & greet, so keep that in mind if you were thinking of ordering those.

[lhall85917]

We might be interested in the Grand Cayman stingray excursion, don't want to commit yet though. There would be 5 of us. We're waiting to see what happens with the Roatan tour - how much that costs, etc.
T-shirts sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure that anyone with me will wear one either! Perhaps there is something else that we can come up that might be a little smaller or more appealing to everyone? It might be hard to get some of the teenagers and young adults to want to do anything that might make them too conspicious (spelling :confused: )!
I've probably asked this, just can't remember - what is everyone doing in Cozumel? Paradise Beach sounds interesting, but we are trying to look through all the options before deciding. We're also thinking of looking into renting a car and finding some of the ruins. I hear the best ones are too far but there are others closer that might be worth a look. We're really not much for drinking much so probably won't hit Carlos and Charlie's; we might sit up on our balcony and watch everyone stumble back if we're on the right side for viewing!

[Marcys]

Debbie, I also would be the only one in my family wearing a t-shirt! :mad: For the last 2 CC cruises we wore blue and gold ribbons, and even then, it was only the ladies wearing them! I see a lot of family reunion and quintineros (sp) groups where they are all wearing the same T's and it looks neat! If no one else will wear the T-shirts, maybe we can go with something cheaper but noticeable. But...if we decide on T's, I'll be wearing one!:D

I can contact Nativeway about all the questions you guys have. When we did them 2-3 years ago, it was 3 hours and only 2 stops, Coral Gardens and the rays, but...it was getting very rough, a hurricane was moving in, plus we spent a lot of time with the rays. I imagine we can customize the tour, but I'll ask. My kids are pressuring me to skip the rays and go straight to the beach for parasailing and waverunners (which they REALLY want to do). They are afraid of leaving it for the last port, Cozumel, and finding them all booked up (1st come only).

Sharon...you can come with us to C & C's and be the designated "return us to the ship on time" person!:D

[lhall85917]

LOL, from what I've read about C and C's, every group might need a "get back to the ship on time" person! That is something I'd be great at! Maybe we need a group check-in 30 mins. before departure from Coz! teehee

[Snowball]

Yeah Sharon, you could be our "designated walker". Friends don't let friends miss the ship cause they're drunk!!! :eek:

[Marcys]

Hey...wouldn't that be a neat little cruise-related business to set up down in Cozumel...start a "get'm back to the ship on time company!" Charge an hourly rate to "babysit."

How far is C & C's anyway? Is it a walk or a taxi ride??

[VOLEYMOM]

Hi again, I think I have everyones names mixed up!!UGH!! Now please set me straight. Who gets bit up by bugs? Who talked about Priceline? I think I have Debbie and Sharon mixed up. Is there a list of e-mail address and then names so I can straighten myself out???
I hate this time thing. Last year on Celebrity the ship changed the clocks to keep with Island Time. Made it so easy. On our Stingray tour we had some people from Royal Caribbean which did not change. They were having a heck of a time keeping it straight. Let's hope Carnival changes clocks, it makes it so much easier.
Whoever gets bit by bugs, I was reading a post on Roatan and they used Avon Skin-so-soft with bug spray and someone else used sunscreen with bug spray. I will be on the lookout for the sunscreen one. Looks like we might need it.
Whoever is doing the cave tour if you have any questions ask away I did it last year on my cruise.
Have a great week everyone!
Rebecca

[lhall85917]

I can see where it would be easy to get names mixed up, I'll probably still do it even after I see actual faces! I'm Sharon - I am the one you send info to if you want to be included in our website (by the way feel free to do that and include pics [email]lhallspam@cinci.rr.com[/email] - take out the spam). I also posted about Priceline and that we are waiting to buy airline tickets until I can jump on a good deal.
We are doing the cave tour and my husband was asking yesterday if there are any deep parts? I know some of it is very shallow, but not sure of how it is overall.
Thanks for posting and becoming part of the group. I'll try to sign my name each time to see if that helps.
Sharon

[VOLEYMOM]

Sharon, thanks for the name help. There are some deep parts but not a lot. I know because I decided to jump out of my tube and walk to shore, thinking we were getting out, and it was deep! Boy, was I surprised. I was there in April so not sure when their rainy season is. Your tube really holds you in. I saw most people more nervous from the dark. One guy kept on grabbing my friends ankles. We decided he was having a little panic attack and felt sorry for him. It was very fun and really interesting.
We won't have to much to worry about if the ship comes in to the downtown pier. Carlos and Charlies is right there, although you might have to crawl back!! The old Carlos and Charlies was down the street more and we loved it. It had a lot of character. The new one is modern and just not the same.
Of course the party is still the same and I have seen some people crawling back!! It still is fun and since we stay till night in cozumel will really be wild!
When you go to Sting Ray City make sure they take you snorkeling at the Reef. I really think the tours that do the 3 stops are better. Many times the Reef snorkeling is better than Coral Gardens. You see more fish and many times they can get an eel to come out. Since we have done this before I want to do those inflatible boats. I usually try and book my excursions on my own but can only find it through the Carnival site. If any of you see it otherwise please let me know. We did the Rhino Riders in St. Maartin and it was great. Hope everyone is having a great Monday, we are trying not to float away here in California! Take Care Rebecca

[Snowball]

Rebecca - thanks so much for all of the great info!!! Do you remember who you booked your cave tubing excursion through? Did you think that the walk through the jungle to get to the cave tubing was strenuous? One of the people in my group that signed up for the cave tubing has problems with her knees, but is determined to do the cave tubing. I'm just worried that the pre-tubing hike may be too rough for her. :(


Debbie (the one that gets bit by the bugs :eek: :p )

[lhall85917]

From what I've read on the boards, the tubing is manageable by people with knee problems (unless its severe). My daughter has had 4 knee surgeries and is always leary of doing a lot of walking or anything extreme, and I've told her that she can do this without too much trouble. I hope I haven't lied to her!! :rolleyes: Is it true that you walk through the rainforest for about half an hour to get to the river, and that is the bulk of any strenuous activity?

[Marcys]

Finally, a reply from the "canopy" people. Carnival will be offering it soon. I hope you can arrange your own transportation, because I'd like to explore the rest of the island after doing the tour. Here's the response:

[color=red]Good afternoon, Marcy. Concerning your upcoming trip to Roatan, we are
currently arranging to offer the tour through the Shore Excursion
Department on board of the ship; therefore, we cannot make any
reservations for you at this time. If you could check back with us in
about a month and a half we will have a better answer for you.

Thank you,
Canopy Tours[/color]
[color=#ff0000][/color]
[color=red][color=black]Someone else from Roatan that I've been chatting with thinks that another canopy tour may have just opened and is trying to get the information to send to me. This lady, Sandra, is an independent broker, booking tours and rentals for the island. Here's her response:[/color][/color]
[color=red][color=#000000][/color][/color]
[color=red][color=red]Hi there,

Thanks for the email, unfortunately your information is correct, we can not
handle independent bookings for the West Bay canopy tour, because they want it to go directly through the cruise ships - this includes the Carnival.
There is a brand new canopy tour on the island now, and it runs through lush
jungle and is absolutely fantastic. I am trying to find the owner so that
we can negotiate group rates and also be allowed to take passengers on
cruise ship days. I will find out and get back to you shortly.

Take care,
Sandra[/color][/color]
[color=#ff0000][/color]
[color=black]Snowball...if you get an answer to your questions about the teen disco can you post it here? I'm curious to hear about the younger teen dances, too.[/color]
[color=#ff0000][/color]
[color=#ff0000][/color][color=red][color=red]

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[VOLEYMOM]

I really don't remember it being that hard of a walk. You do go thru some jungle but now a lot of hills. It could get slippery if it has rained. Probably the hardest part was carrying your tube and getting in it in the water without tipping over! I think I was with Reggie for our tour. I will look back and let you know.
Thanks for all the hard work on the canopy tour. I hope it is not just thru the ship or maybe we can do the other one. I guess we will have to wait until your contact finds out. I wonder if Carnival will have it all lined up by the time we go.
I talked to the people who do the aqua boats. Quite a good savings doing it on your own so I will be aqua boating it in Grand Cayman. When I talked to them and asked about the time difference, she told me that they do move their clocks ahead so they should be on the same time as EST. I am not sure she is right. Does that mean EST before we move our clocks ahead? Oh am I confused.
Have a great day.
Rebecca

[Marcys]

Rebecca...what is aquaboating? Sounds interesting!

[sebastian01]

Marcy, thanks for posting the information about the canopy tour in Roatan. Hopefully we are able to do it. I did notice that carnival is now doing canopy tours in Belize.

Question: has anyone else had problems logging onto cruise critic's forums. I can get to the home page fine, but when I try to go under carnival or the valor forum's I get error messages. I have noticed this during the past week.
Kim

[Marcys]

Kim, I too have been having problems logging on to CC but I think I read somewhere that they are working on this!

[Snowball]

[quote name='VOLEYMOM']When I talked to them and asked about the time difference, she told me that they do move their clocks ahead so they should be on the same time as EST. I am not sure she is right. Does that mean EST before we move our clocks ahead? Oh am I confused. [/QUOTE]
The rest of us are confused about the time difference too. :confused: I just heard that some cruise lines adjust their ship time to match island time, and others don't. Not sure whether Carnival does or not. I would call Carnival and find out, but from past experience I know that if I call ten times with the same question I'll end up with ten different answers. Hopefully after my lunch with my cruise buddies this weekend I'll have a better idea. :o

Now I'm kind of leaning towards booking with Nativeway for the stingray excursion, so we can set our own times (not that we know what our times are :rolleyes: ).

[Snowball]

Here is what was posted on another thread regarding the teen club on the Valor:


[quote name='dromMOM']Caboose was open everynight and around the end of the FIRST show in the Ivanhoe there was music and a dance floor open for the 12 - 17year olds.

My son said he thought a different age was in dancing before the end of the FIRST Ivanhoe theater show..
But I wouldn't quote him on that...[/QUOTE]


So it looks like the younger teens [u]are[/u] allowed to participate in the teen dances. :D

[Marcys]

Debbie...that's great!

My son also wants to know if there's a curfew for teens. They were enforcing one on RCCL last year. He fell in with a really nice group of kids who just liked to sit in the library and chat later in the night. At midnight each night, security would come around and send them to their cabins. Security even apologized to the kids saying they were very well-behaved and the curfew wasn't aimed at them but they couldn't selectively enforce it! It was a good way of getting him back to his cabin at midnight without mom having to be the meany!:eek:

[VOLEYMOM]

I looked at a picture off Carnivals website and they look very similiar to the ones in St. Maarten. Basically they are these little inflatable boats that kind of skim across the water. We zoomed along in St. Maarten and they took us out off the Island to snorkel. Very fun. The ones we did were 2-man, my husband was in front trying to see if he could make me fall off!! Ha Ha never did. I would not recommend it for anyone with a bad back. It was very fun zooming along that beautiful caribbean water. It sounds like a very fun tour in Grand Cayman. They have an early afternoon one which we plan on doing. Save $20.00 over Carnivals price. Maybe I will post a question about time changes in Grand Cayman, Roatan and Belize. I would think the ship would change its time to match these stops, it would really make it easier. I have a picture of our friends on these if anyone wants I could e-mail it to you.
Does anyone know how to find out from Carnivals website how to find out your room when you are on a guarantee? On Celebrity they will post it closer to the sailing. I don't see anywhere they do that on Carnival.
Thanks for everyones help.
Rebecca

[Snowball]

Marcy - there is no curfew on Carnival. Not sure if you want to tell your son that or not though. :rolleyes: Last year I would let Jasmine go to the teen dances, then to get pizza with her friends, but by around 11pm-midnight she had to be in her cabin or with us. Maybe this year I'll let her stay out a little later since she'll be a year older, but I can't see myself letting her out past midnight-1am.

Rebecca - from what I've heard, Carnival is now assigning cabins for guarantee bookings around 6-8 weeks prior to sailing, that way they can print your cabin number on your cruise tickets.

[Snowball]

Good morning everyone!!! We are down to 5 months now!!! :D Just think - right around this time we'll be getting ready to head over to the port, where we'll get our first glimpse of this beautiful ship. I can almost taste that first pina colada now. ;)