*OFFICIAL* CC Group Cruise 02/15/2014 Cupid's IV Southern Caribbean - Carnival Breeze

[HeidiHo]

Heidi, hope you get the plumbing situation resolved. With a full house it can get messy.

 

 

Actually, it hasn't been that bad because Eric and Dave are both out of town. They will both be back tomorrow but with both of them gone the water usage has been minimal. We just can't use a lot of water at once.

[Dspcentury]

Good Morning!

 

 

That reminds me, those of you in the group who only made the $25.00 deposit, the rest of your deposit is due Aug 18th. Crucon will automatically put the final payment through on the original card used to make the $25.00 deposit and it could be up to 5 days BEFORE the actual final payment date. They will be processing those any day now if they haven't done it already. If you need to use a different card then you need to call Crucon IMMEDIATELY. I know that on one of our past group cruises booked with Crucon I had to call and give them a new card because my wallet had been stolen in between making the deposit and making the final payment. Luckily I rememberedto do it before they tried to put the payment through. Final payment is due on Nov. 2nd so if you need to change your card you should call soon just so you don't forget but on the invoice they ask that you call at least 2 weeks before final is due.

 

 

 

Have a great day. :)

Adrianne and I will be making our payment this week. I noticed that August 18th is a Sunday so I imagine they would process them on Monday? After our initial deposit we can get to use our Carnival Coupon we purchased on the Carnival Spirit!!

[HeidiHo]

Good Afternoon!

 

Adrianne and I will be making our payment this week. I noticed that August 18th is a Sunday so I imagine they would process them on Monday? After our initial deposit we can get to use our Carnival Coupon we purchased on the Carnival Spirit!!

 

It says on my invoice that FINAL payment may be processed UP TO 5 DAYS BEFORE the actual final payment date. I called Crucon yesterday and they said the same applies to the full deposit due date so it's possible they have already processed those payments or will do so any day now.

 

 

Here's an update to the story of the chicken that our neighbors have. The chicken belongs to the people 2 houses to the WEST of us. Apparently it decided to make a nest in our front yard this morning. Our next door neighbors to the EAST of us noticed it and decided to call the police. :eek: So at 10:00 this morning a police officer rang my doorbell and asked if I knew there was a chicken in my yard. LOL. It's just a bird for God's sake. :rolleyes: It just happens to be a little bigger than most of the other birds around here. He asked if I had a problem with it being there and I said no as long as it doesn't crow at 5:00 in the morning and wake me up and that it's welcome to stay if it leaves me free eggs (we don't know if it's a hen or a rooster). Apparently there is no law against having chickens in Hoffman Estates. I really don't understand why my neighbors called the police. What a fuss for a silly chicken. LOL

[Cruisin Dave]

Heidi, we did the same as you and Sue, paid full deposit because we wanted a specific cabin. Hope you get lots of "free range" eggs.

Dave

[HeidiHo]

The visit from the police officer (and the chicken) caused me to be late for work so when I left my 2 neighbors from next door (the one's that called the police), my neighbor from across the street, the guys building a garage at the house on the other side of us and the cop were all chasing the chicken around our front yard. The cop had taken out his cell phone and was taking a video. He found it quite amusing. I guess it's not every day you go on a call for a "dangerous" chicken. :confused::rolleyes::D We haven't seen the chicken since. Staci thinks the people who own it caught it and took it back to it's coop but they usually let it roam so I doubt that's the last we'll see of it.

[Cruisin Dave]

Now we know why the chicken crossed the road, to get away from the crazy neighbors and a cop.:D

[Dspcentury]

Hello Cupids!!

Adrianne and I are offically booked and they have received our deposit!! I will be nice to see everyone from the Carnival Spirit and also make new friends. The last time that we cruised Carnival had a walkathon and was wondering if they are still running this program...We had a good time doing it..

 

David...

[momofzeke]

WE HAVE WATER!!!!! Thank you, sweet Baby Jesus! After 6 years and 2 months of stress, money and frustration, we got the pivot running yesterday!! What a glorious sight to look out the window and see water coming out of that giant sprinkler! The kids said Dave should totally go run through the "sprinkler" and I told them that he actually did because he had to adjust and clean some of the heads and he got very soaked. But he said he didn't even care one bit. He was glad to get soaked!

 

Heidi ~ that's pretty hilarious about the chicken. I wondered why the owners didn't just come and get it, but sounds like they finally did do that. You're right, a lot of fuss over one little chicken.

 

We also paid full deposit when we booked because as Heidi has mentioned, we have cabins next to each other so we can remove the divider on our balconies and enjoy one large balcony like we did last cruise.

 

We have a wedding tomorrow, a wedding next Saturday, and a Duck game the weekend after that. The first 2 weekends in August we branded calves. So every single weekend this month we have something going on. We were actually invited to a baby shower tomorrow also, and another wedding Sunday, but they are both out of town events and we can't be in 2 places at once. Both weddings are long time family friends, the one next week is our close neighbor here in Valley Falls (well, 8 miles, which is close for out here) and the wedding is at their ranch so we don't have far to go.

[Cruisin Dave]

Hello Cupids!!

Adrianne and I are offically booked and they have received our deposit!! I will be nice to see everyone from the Carnival Spirit and also make new friends. The last time that we cruised Carnival had a walkathon and was wondering if they are still running this program...We had a good time doing it..

 

David...

David, they don't do the "Walk for the Cure" anymore. No longer partnered with the Komen people. Now the are partnered with St. Jude in Memphis and they sponsor a party called Groove for St Jude. The final sea day there is a party on the Lido deck at 11:30 am. For a $10 donation you receive a t-shirt and a wrist band. Remember, St Jude is the Kid's hospital that Danny Thomas and his daughter Marlo support.

Dave

[HeidiHo]

WE HAVE WATER!!!!!

 

SO DO WE!!!!!!!!!!! Actually, we always had water but now it will drain properly. I can finally wash clothes and rune the dishwasher. Yay! We had to call a plumber though and the bill was a few hundred dollars. :mad: We had tree roots in the main pipe going from the house to the street.

[HeidiHo]

Hello Cupids!!

Adrianne and I are offically booked and they have received our deposit!! I will be nice to see everyone from the Carnival Spirit and also make new friends. The last time that we cruised Carnival had a walkathon and was wondering if they are still running this program...We had a good time doing it..

 

David...

 

David - So glad you and Adrianne will be joining us this time.

 

I was checking our cruise on line today and it looks like there are some more 8B, C, and D cabins available again. They were all sold out for a while . The lowest balcony available was an E or and F, I can't remember for sure.

[respectableyoungman]

I made this video to show all the fun the Carnival Breeze has to offer :)

 

[Dspcentury]

David, they don't do the "Walk for the Cure" anymore. No longer partnered with the Komen people. Now the are partnered with St. Jude in Memphis and they sponsor a party called Groove for St Jude. The final sea day there is a party on the Lido deck at 11:30 am. For a $10 donation you receive a t-shirt and a wrist band. Remember, St Jude is the Kid's hospital that Danny Thomas and his daughter Marlo support.

 

Dave

Dave..I would be interested in this. My union has a whole wing at St. Jude's with all the donations we as a union raised!!

[Dspcentury]

I made this video to show all the fun the Carnival Breeze has to offer :)

 

Thanks!! I really enjoyed it!!

[HeidiHo]

Good Morning!

 

I made this video to show all the fun the Carnival Breeze has to offer :)

 

 

Great video, thanks for sharing. I just realized we are finally under 6 months. :D

 

We realized this morning that our plumbing in NOT fixed. :confused::mad: We are waiting for the plumber to come back out. I hope we don't have to do the $2000.00 repair that the guy yesterday said we could do if we want to replace the pipe. We are really hoping to just be able to rod it out but if that doesn't work then we'll have to replace the pipe. We realized last night when I started doing laundry that it's still not right although it was better than before.

 

Have a great weekend. :)

[Cruisin Dave]

Heidi,

In regard to plumbing, I had to replace the Flowmaster in the toilet tank this morning. Forgot how easy it was to do. Other than that, we have only had the normal plumbing issues. Had to replace the entire thrown in the guest bath. Couple years ago. There was a crack in the tank. I had doing those jobs. Got a plumber to do that one.

 

Dave, St Jude's is a great cause.

[HeidiHo]

Well, it sounds like we have to have a pretty major job done. they are going to have to replace an underground pipe. :mad:

[Cruisin Dave]

Well, it sounds like we have to have a pretty major job done. they are going to have to replace an underground pipe. :mad:

 

Sounds like it's time to take in some paying boarders. :D

[Flick]

Heidi, I feel for you......this past May I had people come out to clean our duct work. It was so bad they had to replace all of it to the tune of $4200.00!! Don'tchajusthate those bad estimates???

Guess what it is doing boys and girls....that's right, it's raining, it's pouring, the old man can't snore for the racket this storm is kickin' up. Dave when you see a white house with orange shutters float by be sure to wave...it's me all the way from Floriduh! We use to take the dog for walks now it's dog paddling.

[momofzeke]

Lovely wedding reception last night! It was held at their ranch, in the meadow right near the house and it was a gorgeous evening! Very fun.

 

Heidi ~ so sorry about your plumbing problems! Nothing worse than having to spend a ton of money on something so "not fun"! But so necessary. :(

 

David ~ St. Jude is very close to our hearts. Our good friends and neighbors have a son who is between Greg & Brian in age, about 29 now. When he was 2 years old, they discovered he had cancer. They spent many many days and months at St. Jude hospital in Portland, and after a couple years of treatment and trips back and forth to Portland (a 6 hour one-way drive from our community), he was cancer free and has remained cancer free.

 

Rick ~ I can't believe how much rain you guys have had! Weird.

 

Things have quieted down a lot here. Haying is done. Pivot is up and running. Branding is done. Hay we bought is hauled. Cows are in the pastures. Solar watering stations are up and running, which will supplement the cows when the creeks don't have enough water for stock water, which is happening now. We installed 2 new solar panels which pump water from 2 wells into a big water trough and they both work beautifully.

 

We will see the kids in 2 weeks when our first Duck game in Autzen stadium (Eugene) happens. But I am kind of thinking we might want to go to Bend before that and see them. I need some Lily Time!! :p We'll see. We have the realtor coming on Tuesday so we wouldn't be able to leave before then, and Greg & Mallory's wedding anniversary is Thursday so we don't want to bug them on that day. I don't know. Might not work out.

 

It was very smoky yesterday from fires, but today seems better so far. Luckily, the smoke cleared out yesterday in time for the wedding reception and it was nice during that time. By the time we got home late last night, it was getting thick again and I was having a hard time even in the car. Had to use my nebulizer when we got home.

[HeidiHo]

Good Evening!

 

We had a nice weekend despite our plumbing problems. My cousin in law, Deb was in town so I went out to dinner with her and her friends Friday night and then again Saturday night but this time Dave came along. There is kind af a long but funny story about about Deb. One night about 5 years ago I was working at the OG when a group of about 5-6 women came in. I thought one of them looked an awful lot like the woman that had been married to my cousin that had been killed in an accident around 1986. But since I knew she lived in Minnesota I really didn't think it could possible be her. Still, it kept bugging me that she looked so much like my cousin's widow that I finally went over to their table and asked her if her name was Deb and sure enough, it was her. As it turned out she had been coming to town in August for years for a bowling tournament that is held at a bowling alley just about a quarter mile from my house. She knew I lived in the Chicago area but didn't know exactly where and didn't know that I worked at the OG. So ever since then, she now gets in touch with me when she comes in for the bowling tournament and we get together. Besides having dinner with her and her friends on both Friday and Saturday night, tonight they came in to the OG to eat while I was working. I even managed to get them a table right next to the host stand so when I wasn't real busy I was able to chat with them some. They are headed back to Minnesota tomorrow though.

 

Remember I mentioned a while back that we were temporarily taking care of Eric's girlfriend's cat? Well, I have a feeling that it's here to stay for good. First of all, Eric's girlfriend is now an EX girlfriend. We were only supposed to have the Max (the cat) till she moved into her apartment in Normal which she did last weekend. Then she was here this weekend because she and Eric were going to a concert in Chicago. When she left today she didn't take the Max with her and since technically she and Eric have broken up, I don't expect to see her around much and Eric doesn't really think she's in any hurry to get the Max. I really like the Max so I don't mind that much except that I really wanted to be done with cats. I love them but I hate dealing with cat litter and cat hair. I want to get new furniture and carpet but don't want to do that until the cats are gone. We put one to sleep in February and our other cat is almost 17 so I really thought we'd be done with cats soon. Eric doesn't really know how old Max is but he thinks she's about 7 or 8 so she could be around a long time yet. Staci really loves her though and Max has become VERY attached to Staci so I told her that when she moves out she can take the Max with her if we still have her then.

 

Have a good week. :)

[Flick]

Well we have made our final choices on shore excursions. Grand Turk we won't do anything except go to the beach right next to the ship. LaRomana is definitely Altos De Chavon & River Cruise. Curacao is going to be an independent sunset cruise thru Klein and Aruba is going to be Best of Aruba bus tour. Here's the joke, the bus tour booked independently is 39.99 but if you are on a ship you must book thru the ship @$49.99! The Klein sunset cruise is only refundable if the ship is late or doesn't come. We'll take that chance at that time of the year.

OMG it's clouding up again. Storms are predicted for everyday this week! This is tiresome although the good news is I get to try out my new snorkle gear.....in the back yard!

[HeidiHo]

Here's the joke, the bus tour booked independently is 39.99 but if you are on a ship you must book thru the ship @$49.99!

 

A lot of excursions operate that way. You can't even book them independently if you are on a cruise. It's annoying and seems like a rip off but i guess the cruise lines want a cut of the profits. I know the zip line excursions in Puerto Vallarta are that way. we were luck and did it with the same company the cruise lines use but we were on a land vacation. The only thing was it wasn't available when there was a ship in port so we had to either pick a day there was no ship or a time that was too early in the morning or too late in the afternoon for ship excursions.

[Flick]

Well, life can certainly be interestin' at times! Just yesterday morning I was announcing our choices for shore excursions. and this morning I have to say we are not going on this cruise. As you know we have had TOO MUCH rain and we were told yesterday that the moisture barrier under our house has absorbed all the liquid it can and that it is "leaking into the house thus weakening the floors. Indeed we have to immediately replace the floors in our two bathrooms. There is only "X" amount of money available and this is not covered by insurance so guess who gets to pay out the thousands of dollars this will potentially cost. I'm sorry to have to do this as I would have loved to meet y'all but an 8 day cruise is second to a roof (and floor) over and under me......Y'all have fun, ya heah!

[Cruisin Dave]

Rick, sorry to hear that you are unable to sail with us. The homestead comes first and hope you get the repains done quickly. Our problem in lack of rain and will have to have our home jacked up because of settling. This is previlant throughout most of the area because of the sandy/clay soil that contracts and expanse with moisture.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Dave