Straitlover

Wait what?

We were with a charter group of about 400 people. On the last sea day, one of the members had a heart attack and died that evening.

They were open 1/31 - 2/6!

I must not be very observant. I was on the cruise before the OP, and I didn't notice worn carpet or rust. I walked by the basketball area, but I didn't pay much mind to it to see if it was in bad shape or not.

The only real problem we had was with the plumbing in our OV cabin (1335). The toilet overflowed once, and it would have another time but I caught it in time. We didn't clog it; the water level would just keep on rising. I flushed it a few times when it got really high to keep it from running over. We also had the banging of the waves on nights when the seas were a little choppy, but that's not the ship's fault. :) Oh, and we had a good amount of people trying to crash our private events in the evening, but that's not Carnival's fault. :)

I heard a lot of people in our charter group had lots of complaints, but we were perfectly happy. One night dinner did run entirely too long, but it was no big deal to me. Still had time to make it to our private event.

Worst thing on our cruise was one of our group members passed away the last sea day.

I really liked the ship. Hope you will give it another chance after the drydock OP!!!

What does it means by boooooo?

The poster was not happy w/ the removing of the chocolate milk form the room service menu, so they boo'ed the quoted post.

You could park one of the cars in one of the offsite parking lots. Way cheaper than an second room. Of course, that would assume you can find a hotel room that allows six (assume it would have to be one of the suite type ones).

The OP inquired about motels and I would classify the Courtyard by Marriott as a hotel (of which there are many on the beach).

 

OP - check out www.sunny.org for hotel and motel listings.

Sorry, they're all motels to me :).

I used QLS shuttle back in 2013 (opposite route, POM to FLL). No problems except a kinda jerk of a driver, LOL.

Courtyard by Marriott Ft Lauderdale Beach (address is Seabreeze Ave). stayed there in 2013. Food and shops within walking distance, plus you can take the Sun Trolley when it's running, or the Water Taxi.

When I was there in 2013 they were 19.99 and you booked them at the shack on the island, not ahead of time.

Be aware the lemonade and tea onboard are made with the same water that swells you. You might want to avoid those if that's a problem (and any other drink that comes out of the dispenser on Lido deck). The 12 packs of water cost the same onboard as they do from the Fun Shop. Just call room service and order more if you need it.

 

Have a great cruise!

I don't drink much of the lemonade because of the calories. I just have a little here and there when I want something flavored. I usually only have one glass of tea w/ lunch and one w/ dinner ( w/ sweet n low) becasue it's not great tea, and not necessarily every day.

My wife has the swelling problem. What could possibly be in the water

You cannot taste any salt, I would think that would be removed in their process. What about all the salt in their food, increases walking, & the salt air. I know this is not a swelling post, but I went ahead. This has been discussed many times on CC, I still am perplexed.

We also plan on trying to watch the salty type foods. I am also planning on getting some compression socks to wear on the plane and to sleep in them. We don't know exactly what caused the problem; we're trying to be proactive and see if these ideas will help.

Yes, same price whether you purchase it in advance or onboard. I have the swelling problem as well and try to limit the amount of ship water I drink. I really appreciate the new lower price of bottled water so I don't have to carry water onboard.

Thanks! I drink a lot of water, but I didn't want to overbuy and have some left over. Now I know I can just re-stock if need be.

My sis' swelling was so bad she went to the doctor when she got home. Only shoes she could wear were flip flops!

Last cruise, my sis had really bad swelling problems, and i had a little problem. We want to limit how much water we drink on board this time to see if that helps. We don't drink sodas or alcohol; we mostly stick to water, tea, milk, lemonade and coffee (with the occasional frozen virgin drink or milkshake :D ). I've ordered two 12 pks to be delivered to the room already. If we need more, how much does it cost in the Fun Shops? Still 2.99?

2 hours is the standard lead time for Orlando ....

 

if I'm in the terminal the 2 hours I usually feel OK.

 

now if 528 gets closed by an accident as happens routinely ....

Well, I'm hoping that if something does happen, there are several more SWA flights out that day and they would put us on one of them.

If we miss due to traffic, would we have to pay any price difference? I've never missed a flight before.

NO smoking in any cabins or balconies on Carnival. Dont know where you are coming up with your own rules.

Slybear, that post you quoted was from 2010, when you could smoke in your cabin. This is an OLD thread :).

it is about 45 minutes seaport to airport

Yeah, I knew that. I just wasn't sure if getting to the airport around 10:15 - 10:30 on a Saturday morning would allow enough time for security and such. I know MCO's security can be crazy, and I'm not sure how many ships will be debarking that day. Plus you have all the Disney folks heading home.

Thanks!

Need to book the return shuttle, Sat 2/6 (just 2 adults). Ship (Valor) is supposed to be getting in at 8 AM. We don't have any kind of priority disembarking, might have too much stuff for self-assist. If I book a 9:30 pickup w/ Cortrans, that should give us time to get off the ship and get to MCO in time to get through security and make a 12:30 SWA flight, right? TIA!

We stayed at the Courtyard back in September 2013 (two nights before our cruise leaving from MIA, wanted to sightsee). I liked it. Beach is right across the street, and lots of stuff within walking distance. There was a restaurant we saw that we wanted to try but didn't get to. I think the name is H2O or something. It was white w/ blue accents. They had a patio area overlooking the sidewalk and beach. The food that folks had looked good to me!

Carnival LIVE is only offered on Carnival's regular sailing, so therefore it is a large group on a regular sailing and not a full private charter...if the group leader is smart, they will not schedule any activity in direct competition with the Carnival LIVE concert

Correct, they only booked a certain # of cabins, not the whole ship. I do know the charter portion is sold out. I think almost the whole ship is sold out, too. I was surprised that they added the concert because I thought that was a way to increase bookings, which was not really needed in this case.

Which Beach music bands? We love Beach Music and head to N. myrtle every chance we get! Generally, the bands on the ship will do 1 concert that everyone can see....the others are private venues for the participants.

Our cruise is Jim Quick and Coastline, Tim Clark Band, Steve Owens and Summertime, Fantastic Shakers, and several beach music DJs.

http://www.travelininc.com/beachMusic.html

The cruise after ours is The Embers/Craig Woolard Making Waves charter cruise.

I can tell you where NOT to go! Don't remember the name, but it was next to the Total Wine on 17th near the Embassy Suites. My sis and her friend were getting a massage the day before our cruise, so I decided to head in there for a manicure while I was waiting on them. Within two days almost all of the polish peeled off. Unfortunately I was on the ship, so I couldn't go back and have it re-done.

The day before my mani, my sis and her friend had manis done at Lynn Nails on Ft Lauderdale Beach Blvd, near the Courtyard on the Beach hotel where we were staying. The mani was nothing to write home about (at least their polish held up!), but I had to leave the store because the fumes were awful! They really need a new ventilation or HVAC system in that place!

Thanks for the info! I will check w/ the travel agent handling the charter to find out if I can see the daily itinerary for the bands and such ahead of time.

BTW, it's not music on the beach, it's Carolina Beach Music bands playing in various venues on the ship for the week. who knows, they may have some things booked off the ship, too. This is my first charter. :)

Our 1/30/16 Valor Cruise is now a Carnival Live w/ a Gladys Knight concert (St Thomas day, don't know the time of the show yet). If we buy a ticket through the shore excursions, can you ever cancel and get your money back? We are cruising w/ a charter group w/ private activities and beach music, so we don't know if the Gladys concert will conflict with any of that yet.

My sis and I did the Carrie B boat tour and enjoyed it. You could take the Sun Trolley over to Las Olas and walk to the Carrie B dock. Not sure where on Las Olas you would need to get off, so i'd call and ask.

http://www.carriebcruises.com/index.html

There is a Hertz rental car desk at the Hilton Bonnet Creek (it was there in 2011, assume it's still there), so you could easily do a one-way rental. The Hilton is across the street from the Wyndham Bonnet Creek, so whichever one you're staying at it would be convenient.