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

[VOLEYMOM]

Oh, that could be the zip line in Belize. Still waiting to hear back from the person I e-mailed about Roatan. I think it might be a good idea to rent a car in Cozumel. It can get pretty expensive taking a cab places. We plan on doing Paradise Beach but it might be fun to take a drive around since we will be there so long. I won't be able to keep up with everyone at Carlos and Charlies. I really don't want to be the one to carry the rest of my party back on the ship. Wonder if we will dock at the pier downtown. It is the most convenient one to get to C&C. My husband will have to go and buy his stinky cigars in Cozumel. No balcony on this trip for him to smoke so he will be up on deck. Speaking of balconys those ones on the back of the ship sure look nice. Did anyone else book guarantee rooms? Hope we get upgraded a little. Don't really fancy being at the bottom front. Oh well, whatever will be will be.
Rebecca

[lhall85917]

Good Morning Everyone,
Its a chilly 0 degrees here this morning, just makes you want to leave all the sooner! Rebecca, we have 2 rooms - 1 guarantee, 1 not. We had to reserve a room for the cabin with 3 people - it apparently had something to do with it being a group according to Kevin. We would have preferred to leave both as guarantees and take our chances, but they wouldn't let us do that. Last week I tried to reserve the room next to our guar. but there wasn't anything available to do that either :eek: , so we are leaving one with the guar. and one without. I can't figure out why we are so restricted with the group reservations, but its not that big of a deal - we know the one room is fine and the other will be a balcony somewhere, so its all good! :D

[Marcys]

It's 4 degrees here, but it is 4 hours later than when you posted! Sharon, what time do you get up??!!:eek: It snowed all night, but there's school today. My DD was hoping midterms would be cancelled for today. No such luck!

My DH got home last night from visiting his mom. When he got there Sunday morning he had about 3 good hours with her while she was clear and lucid. Then she became confused, just babbling etc., and never really cleared up again. I'm glad he got to have those few hours with her. Hopefully, today she will be moved out of the hospital and into a hospice facility.

[joleda]

Hello everybody! 6 degrees here!!!! Brrrrrrrrr...

It's been a while since I've been here so I must apologise and fill everyone in since it's been so long.

Me, my wife and 2 kids will be on this cruise. Leah is 10 and Darrin is 14. We booked on our own a while back due to not knowing about the group.

Since our last cruise in Nov. it has been pretty busy. We both work full time jobs and also own a digital video business, so we keep pretty busy. Plus the every day stuff, so no time for play except on our cruises!

We have a balcony and the kids have an inside. We have cruised quite a few times and it is our main vacations every year. We are booked again for Thanksgiving on the Voyager from Bayonne. It was a great deal. We are all finished with that one because of the holiday, flights need to be booked early. We are still working on this cruise air. I did try Southwest yesterday and they still only give to the 6th. We will be flying on sat. to get in the day before. Our dilema is: Wilkes Barre (AVP) is about 15 min. from us, but only a few airlines fly out and it is pricey. Newark is 2.5 hrs. and so is Philly. We try to weigh out the differences due to maybe a hotel the night before, tolls, gas etc. It all adds up. If we leave from Newark or Philly, we will probably get a room the night before and park for the week. I found a great site we booked for Thanksgiving this year. [url]www.parksleepfly.com[/url] They offer hotel,parking,transfer packages. We booked the best Western for $155 and everything is included. It's a great deal, the parking alone is almost that much.

We really like to fly from AVP though because it is so close. But, we are still working on it and there is only USair which is shaky. Right now it is around 250 each. If I can get 150-175 from philly or newark it may be worth the drive.

We didn't book any tours yet, I just didn't get time. We have to work on that also.

So how big is the group at this point? Seems pretty large with all of the posts.

well, I just wanted to stop by again and say hello and introduce myself to everyone I didn't meet yet.

Talk soon,

Dave

[Snowball]

It's windy and cold here too! :eek: Come on cruise - I'm ready for you now!!!

Dave - good to hear from you again. I'll have to tell my daughter that there is another teen going with us. She is so excited to meet everyone and plans on spending a lot of time at the teen club.

Marcy - I hope that your husband is comforted by the time he got to spend with his mom while she was still in a good state of mind.

Sharon - you sure are the early bird!!! Do you ever sleep???

I never book a guarantee - I'm too much of a control freak to let something as important to me as cabin location up to chance. :rolleyes: I hope that everyone that books a guarantee gets a visit from the upgrade fairy.

Am I the only one that's already on a pre-cruise diet? I started a few weeks ago and am doing really well so far.

[Marcys]

Debbie, I don't diet but I started to go to spinning classes more regularly! Glad you're diet is going well! :p If there's one difference I noticed between RCCL and Carnival from reading these boards it's that food seems to be better and more abundant on Carnival (and there was plenty on RCCL)! And, those pina coladas, I don't want to think of the calories there!!

Dave, glad you're still with us! If you want to, send a quick bio and a pic of your family to Sharon to post on our website. Here's the link to the website
which has a link to send her the info.[url="http://home.cinci.rr.com/valorvoyagers"][color=#606420]http://home.cinci.rr.com/valorvoyagers[/color][/url]

Here's the response from Nativeway regarding chartering a boat. I don't think they give the time flexibility we were looking for. Here it is:

[font=Arial][size=2][color=red]Hi Marcy,[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Arial][size=2][/size][/font][color=red] [/color]
[font=Arial][size=2][color=red]There are 3 stops, 3-hours in the private charter. They include Stingray Sandbar, Coral Gardens, and the Barrier Reef.[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Arial][size=2][/size][/font][color=red] [/color]
[font=Arial][size=2][color=red]We have two starts times that you can choose from, 9 AM and 12 noon. The morning private tour gets booked up quickly. [/color][/size][/font]
[font=Arial][size=2][/size][/font][color=red] [/color]
[font=Arial][size=2][color=red]To reserve space, e-mail back and ask for a reservation. Include the name of the ship you are traveling on and your phone number. We will need a credit card number to guarantee your arrival. The credit card will not be charged for the tour, just used to insure that you will show up. You will pay on our tour boat.[/color][/size][/font]
[color=red] [/color]
[color=red][font=Arial][size=2]Sharon[/size][/font] [/color]

[Snowball]

I read on another thread (by Rebecca) that the Valor does not adjust the ship's time to match island time, meaning that our previous calculation of there being one hour time difference between ship time and Grand Cayman time would be right. Therefore, I am keeping my stingray excursion through Soto's and sticking with the morning excursion - that way I can get them to drop me off at Seven Mile Beach so I can have some beach time after the excursion. :cool:

[joleda]

Hi Marcy,

I will get the bio done, I just need to remember by the time I get home. I was supposed to have it after the last cruise, (like I promised) but, you know how that goes. I will get it done this week. I think I have a picture from the last cruise to send too. Are any of the kids exchanging emails? Last cruise Darrin and Leah had a brother and sister they were talking to for months before the cruise and they were excited about meeting them, just like us.

Dave

[Snowball]

Someone (I think it was Beth) posted their teen's screen name on our group board. Maybe we could all do that and let our teens chat with each other. I'll e-mail Sharon with Jasmine's AIM/AOL screen name, and add whatever screen names are on our group board to her buddy list. Just make sure that you have your kids screen names listed or else Jasmine won't be able to receive any IM's from them - I have her parental controls set so she can only receive IM's from people that are on her buddy list.

[Marcys]

I'll get my kid's screen names and ask their permission when they get home from school. Could we list age and gender next to the screen names so they can choose the ones close in age?

I thought there would be a lot more Valor reviews than the few that we've seen! Wouldn't ya think for a new ship there would be more? And, there's only one in the review section of the boards! All those promises people made to post reviews!! Aren't I impatient?

[Snowball]

[quote name='Marcys']Could we list age and gender next to the screen names so they can choose the ones close in age?[/QUOTE]
That's fine, although I'm sure it wouldn't matter to Jasmine whether the other kids she chats with are close to her age or not. She'll chat with anyone - she's a regular Chatty Cathy and definitely has the gift of gab. :rolleyes:

[VOLEYMOM]

Debbie, glad to know there is someone else doing the precruise diet. I signed up again for weight watchers. I need someone else to push me. I am determined this time to do it and lose all the weight I have gained over the last 10 years. Boy they sure are right when they say you start to gain about 2 lbs a year in your 40's. Just what I did. My goal is 5 libs a month until the cruise. I know exercise is the key and I would much rather be reading a book or playing on the computer. I am going to the gym though and playing tennis more. I have tried those cycle classes with my daughter and cudos to whoever can make it through the hour!!!
I guess I should make all of you jealous and tell you it is 80 degrees here today. Feels like summer. Of course tomorrow it could rain, you never know. Our trees and flowers don't know what to do. One week freezing rain and now summer.
My dh woke up last night as I was getting in bed and said, think I want a balcony now. He thinks this might be his only week off as he is working on a big project. So off to call Kevin and see if any available.
I am sure I will have to do a guarantee and hope for the best.
Have a great day everyone and Debbie we can encourage each other!!

[joleda]

I'll get Darrin and Leah's screen names from them. They do have their own email too if that is needed.

Dave

[Snowball]

Just an idea - what do you think about having a page on our group website with all of our chat screen names, instead of just listing it for the kids? That way if anyone has a quick question or just wants to chat we will have all of our screen names on there. I don't know what everyone else uses to chat, but I use AIM/AOL which is very user friendly.

[Marcys]

For those who feel comfortable we can give e-mail addresses.

[Snowball]

Maybe we can have two lists - one for adults and one for kids. Each list could contain our cruise critic name, real name, chat screen name, and e-mail address (and ages for the kids). Then everyone could submit whatever information on the list that they are comfortable with, whether it be everything or just a few of the categories on there.

Sharon - is this something that could easily be added to our group website?

[lhall85917]

Hi everyone, we can certainly add a screen name, email, etc. list and format it any way you want. I can even password protect it so that you need a password to get into the page to make it more secure. Instead of listing the password here on the forum, I can put something saying you need to email me and I'll send you the password via email - how would that work?

By the way, catching up from earlier today, I guess I can also be the designated wake-up call for everyone on the cruise too!! DH leaves for work at 5:30 each morning, so I'm up at 4:30 with him. We're so used to getting up early that sleeping in until 6 on the weekend seems late! :eek: When we cruise I'm usually up early looking for coffee and a window to watch the world go by!

[Snowball]

Sharon - Sounds good to me. I'm e-mailing you my info in a few minutes. :)

[Marcys]

Sharon, you have so many different roles on this cruise, you're gonna be exhausted! Now your the official "get us to the tour on time" person!!

[Corl4]

Sharon,
How do you have time to do all this on the computer and teach too! I wish I was as computer literate as you! As soon as I get home from school, I'll email you our info.

It's snowing like crazy here in PA and I'm listening to Jimmy Buffet in my classroom and dreaming of June!!

Beth

[Snowball]

It's snowing here too. At first they said it would only be a coating, but now they are saying 2 inches, which isn't too bad. But we could get a significant amount of snow this weekend - they say a Nor'easter is on the way. :(

[lhall85917]

Well, its another ugly winter day for many of us - makes us appreciate our summers! We had a dusting of snow, expecting about the same tomorrow, but now they are talking about a big storm for this weekend. :eek:

Beth, I like playing with the computer, I can't stand it when I can't get something to work so I keep at it until I can figure it out! I guess its a character flaw that fits in with my other nerdy qualities of waking up early and not drinking much! :o

Debbie emailed me her IM info and emails, etc and I've got the page started with all of our contact info. I've put the link on our main page and you'll need a password to see the page. When you email me your contact info, I'll send you the password, I don't want to post it out here.

I'm waiting for more Valor reviews too, I've seen lots of questions and some reviews but not much. I've put out a message for Capers from the Valor (not W. Caribbean from the fall), but haven't had any response. Surely we'll get something before June. When I get some, they can go on our web page too.

[Snowball]

Sharon - That big storm is coming my way after it leaves you. Right now they have 2 different forecasts (good way to cover their butts :rolleyes: ) with both saying that the snow will begin here late Saturday. One path says we'll get 3-6 inches and it will be gone sometime Sunday morning. Second path says we'll get 6+ inches, and it won't stop until Sunday night. :eek: :(

[VOLEYMOM]

Hope all of you make it through the big snow storm. I was watching the weather and it looks like you will all really get hit. Drive carefully. I always wonder how you all drive in it. In California everyone turns into idiots in the rain. No one slows down and it is a mess.
Sharon, you will never get any rest on the cruise if you keep voluntering!! After Carlos and Charlies you might have to get those wrist things I see on kids to keep them together. You most likely will have to lead us all back. I can see all of us after too many shots!
Debbie did you see the post under Valor about them changing the time for Belize and Roatan. Confused me all the more. Is Grand Cayman on EST. Do we know if is goes to daylight savings time? I want to book an afternoon tour and now am totally confused. HELP What time is Belize and Roatan on?
Stay warm everyone!
Rebecca

[Snowball]

Rebecca - my understanding is that Grand Cayman is on Eastern time, but does not switch to daylight savings time like we do here in the States. So island time will be one hour earlier than ship time due to the DST difference. Our 9:00am arrival ship time is 8:00am arrival on island time. I'm not sure about the difference in Belize and Roatan, but if you go to our group board there is a link to a website that has a time converter on it. You just enter the date and time that we arrive in each port, then select which country you are checking and it will tell you what the time difference is.