Carnival Valor February 24, 2013 Sailing from San Juan

My partner and I will be sailing on the Carnival Valor Southern Caribbean Cruise departing from San Juan on February 24,2013. Are there any other family members who will be on board who want to get together for social activities, shore tour companions etc.?

I'll be on the cruise! I'm traveling solo and looking forward to the sun and the sand. Not looking for hook ups but always open to meeting like minded people to hang out with!

Thanks for your reply. after all of the snow this past weekend we are ready for a break. We are in Ontario Canada. i'm 54 and my partner is 39. First time cruising so it would be nice to have someone else to hang out with on occasion. Maybe we can start with a drink and take it from there. We are staying over the night before in San Juan. Arriving from Toronto on the Saturday afternoon.

Great! I'm 48 and although I live in the states, I am in Canada all the time for work and consider myself an honorary Canadian! :) I'll be in TO in March to do a continuing education seminar. Then Kelowna in April! I hope the snow is long gone by March.... LOL

I am staying over 2 nights after the cruise and I get in on the day of sailing.

I am 6'9" tall so you won't have any trouble picking me out of the crowd. I would love to meet for a drink etc.... My goal for this trip is total rest and relaxation and re-charge. (Hi I'm Larry and I am a work a holic....)

Hopefully there will be a FOD (friends of dorothy) meeting the first night, maybe we can meet up then?

We are looking forward to relaxing as well. We have a couple of side trips planned but nothing too organized. I am David and my partner is Tim.

I hope they have an FOD meet and greet as well. It sounds like you should be easy to spot :).

We are staying over one night on the return before heading back to Toronto for a little extra beach time. Booked in at the Courtyard Mariott right on the beach. Im in accounting and finance and my partner does lab work, instructing etc. for one of the major universities here.

Nice to "meet" you David and Tim! I am in manufacturing and enjoy photography in my limited spare time although i doubt I'll bring more than a point and shoot camera on this trip. My good camera/lenses may be too much effort to look after LOL. I need to figure out where to stay for the 2 extra nights. I better do that now!

Although it's +20C here today and for most of the week I REALLY can't wait for 30! I know you guys are counting the seconds even more! I just talked to my friend in Oakville and he says it's snowing and -11. 6 more sleeps ......

It sure is cold here now and we have lots of snow. Oakville is about 45 minutes from here. I am an accountant for an automotive parts manufacturer.

Hope you get a place ok for the 2 day layover. Maybe you can take a few photos of the two of us on the cruise. We never seem to get any photos as a couple when we travel.

We are booked for the open seating dining. We are planning to check out the steakhouse on the Tuesday night that we are at sea.

We want to check out one of the beaches at St. Thomas but not sure which one. Something not too crowded we hope.

Looking forward to seeing you in the "real world"

We are a couple of "Bear type" guys. Looking forward to some new adventures in the Caribbean.

Thanks for sharing your picture! you make a great looking couple! And I would be happy to take some of you both on the trip! It's what memories are made of right? OK was that my corny side coming out already? LOL

I booked in at the sheraton but not the one near the port. I stayed at that one in november when I was in san juan for work and it wasn't the greatest location for beaches. this one is close to condado and i used points so it's also free! it's not right on the beach like the one where you are, but close enough for me since it's free. oh boy, now my frugal side is coming out too! :)

I've been to St THomas a couple 3 times and Megan's Bay is the prettiest beach, but it's also very popular. there are a bunch of others too and maybe not as crowded. I was there for a wedding once and there were no ships in for a few of the days we were there and it was amazing because it was basically deserted. heaven. I really should look at all the ports and get my thoughts together on stuff I want to see. I booked this basically right before I searched the gay forum roll call and saw your post so I haven't had the planning time I usually like to have!

I booked the late dining option but was thinking of changing to the open so it wasn't so restrictive. when I travel solo I almost always get stuck with a table of folks that just aren't my cup of tea. are you guys bringing a "formal" type outfit for the formal night(s)?

God this is turning into a novel. I'll wrap up for now and send you a pic of myself too so you know what I look like beyond my height! Looking forward to meeting you both in the "real world" too! The real and warm and sunny world!!!!!

took me forever to figure out where to upload this picture!

Our "formal attire" will consist of sports jackets and casual pants and a tie or two. My suit hasnt fit me in years and Tim just got a new sportscoat for the trip. What you see in the photo I posted will be as formal as we get. Hope that works for the Cruise set,lol. We opted for the open seating mostly for the flexibility but also thinking that we didnt want to be stuck with a group of people that we werent comfortable with. Neither one of us are great at more than small talk with total strangers who we have little in common with. We booked in at the Sheraton near the cruise port for the night before we arrive. We figure it will be close to the port and we can look around old San Juan a bit before the cruise. We are going on the Submarine tour in Barbados and have arranged with a taxi van guy in St. Lucia to give us the grand tour so to speak. The rest we will let unfold as it happens I guess :)

Sounds like we will all be dressed similarly for the formal nights. I'm not going formal but I will bring a navy stand by sport coat!!

The Sheraton is perfect for old San Juan and if you want some restaurant recommendations let me know. There is always the señor frogs at the port but there are a lot of wonderful places within 10 min walk of the hotel!

I may do a beach day on Barbados and want to see the twin peaks in st Lucia for sure. Other than that I'm going to go with the flow as well!

I'm now on the wait list for open dine. My fingers are crossed. Remind me to tell you about the table I was assigned on a previous cruise. Hilarious story but it wasn't at the time!

Good to hear from you. We will definately be heading out for dinner when we arrive in San Juan so any suggestions for places in Old San Juan would be well received. We had reserved a taxi van in St. Lucia. Right now its just the two of us but more are welcome. Its $45 for an approx 4 hour tour including a beach stop. If you do a Google search for Frank's Taxi St. Lucia you should come across the website and a description of the tour. From what I can tell he will take us where we want to see. We like outdoor and natural things but nothing crazy like zip lining,lol.

I cant wait to get away from all the snow and cold. Hope you are successful in getting your dining time re assigned.

I keep forgetting to ask:

What sort of cabin do you have. We have a balcony cabin on Deck 8.

Hi there - we're a couple in our 40's traveling with 8 friends/ family and looking forward to a fantastic week of sun, sand and adventure. Jeff and Tim here - hope to see you aboard.

Hi there

Dave and Tim here. We are 54 and 39. What time does the party start? :).

I hope they have some sort of meet and greet onboard.

Dave, count me in for st lucia for sure. sounds perfect! There is an amazing italian place (believe it or not!) just up from the hotel called Sofias. http://www.ristorantesofia.com on Calle San Francisco. We hung out there waiting on some friends at the bar and basically had noshes and cocktails. My favorite was an Asian/Latin fusion place called Dragonfly. This place was amazing and full of family. The hostess even had a rainbow tatoo. it's just up from the hotel just past the Starbucks. Not sure if they have a website. For breakfast if you want to skip the hotel buffet which is average at best and expensive, Cafecultura was our go to place in the mornings. great atmosphere and good coffee and food.

I booked a guaranteed outside so I don't know where I am yet. I hope I get a good cabin! It's always a gamble doing a guarantee but since I am solo it makes sense so I don't have to pay 2X the fare and I could get upgraded if all the outside cabins get sold.

and Hi Jeff & Tim! Welcome to our small but fun little pre-cruise group! I'm 48 and traveling solo for re-charge, sun/sand and NO WORK! :) hope to see you both on board as well!

Thanks for the meal suggestions. Lots of good things to explore I am sure. I think the next couple of days are going to be crazy at work plus some potential snow on Friday will make for a fun rest of the week. Cant wait to relax and get some sun.

I think we have a snorkel excursion set up with friends on St Thomas and Tim and I will be likely constructing our own excursions elsewhere - definitely some snorkeling in St. Lucia out by the pitons. Some of our group are older immediate family members, so we'll be spending time with them as long as their stamina lasts. Kepp an eye out and definitely say hi if you spot us! :D

It wont be long now. Safe travels everyone. Hope to see you onboard.