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

[Snowball]

Kathi - I am going to get in touch with my group this weekend to see how many would be interested in the cave tubing excursion, so I'll post something here sometime next week to let you know for sure. Thank you so much for looking into this for us. :)

[nancy M.]

[quote name='cruiserkathi'] I've Also, I've been in touch with Brad from CSI (orphanage in Roatan). He's sent a list of things the children and staff need. We're planning to pack a couple of old suitcases to take with us. There's a group in Miami that regularly collects things they send with cruise ship passengers. Anyone else willing to take an extra suitcase of supplies? I think we'll probably rent a taxi for the day, go to the orphanage (they are also willing to send someone to the pier to pick things up), [/QUOTE]
Hi Kathi,
Me and my dh have been reading about this also and I was waiting for time to get a little closer before emailing Brad. Me and dh (Howie) would love to help you organzie this and also take a suitcase or 2. I am going to try to check with our church and see if they would care to send anything along for them. Please email me with any info or anything that I can do. My email addy is [email="n.mcdaniel@mchsi.com"]n.mcdaniel@mchsi.com[/email] Please let us know what we can do.

[Marcys]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=blue]Hi! I've just joined your group sailing. I've been in contact with Snowball several times but wanted to get active in this thread. [/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=blue]I'm Marcy and I'll be sailing with my husband Dave and two kids, Greg (13) and Sarah (16). We've sailed Royal Carib 4 times and are "jumping ship" this time for a better deal and a new experience![/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#0000ff]We've always sailed with other CC cruisers, but never a CC group cruise, and we've always had a blast![/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#0000ff]Are there any other teens in this age group? My kids would love to IM with them...it always helps to have instant "friends" onboard! If so, I'll send their screen names. (I've just skimmed the 9 pages of this thread).[/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#0000ff]My big thing right now is trying to get decent airfares to Miami. Any suggestions from Cleveland to Miami? I want to fly in the day before. Will probably stay where we always stay...at the Holiday Inn across from Bayside Market...convenient for meals and shopping...and Walgreen's is 3 blocks away for forgotten items.[/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#0000ff]Looking forward to chatting with you all...and meeting you in a few months. (I have a long winter here to cross first!)[/color][/size][/font]

[Snowball]

Marcy - my daughter is the same age as your son and LOVES to chat online (or in person :p ). Next time you see me online just IM me and we can exchange their screen names so they can chat. :)

I've been checking the airfare prices from here in Philly to Miami or Fort Lauderdale, and the current sale prices are only good through February, so hopefully after the holidays are over we'll see prices drop for June.

What are the prices like for the Holiday Inn? I'll keep that in mind when we decide where to have our pre-cruise stay.

[Marcys]

Holiday Inn has a book-ahead, nonrefundable rate of $79-$89. I was able to get 2 double beds, and a queen size pull out for $89 last year. Bought all my illicit soda at Walgreen's around the corner. (oops, did I just admit that??). Bought a new outfit for the cruise across the street at Bayside Market! Hotel has a small pool, nothing great, but took a taxi to South Beach for a few hours to swim. Pier is 5 minutes away.

I just spoke with Kevin at Crucon to confirm my reservation and put in a dinner seating request. Did you know we were all being seated in the same general area and possibly even at the same tables?? Sure hope we like each other:D !

We'll be in around noon on Saturday if anyone wants to meet for dinner Saturday night!

[Marcys]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=blue]Kathi...I'd be interested in in Wet-N-Wild in Belize for my family of 4. When we were in Ocho Rios we filled a van for climbing Dunn's River Falls. I e-mailed Pete Taylor, the tour guide, and he took just our group out together and put everyone else in another van with another driver! In fact, when we found him he was holding a sign that said "Marcy's Cruise Critic group." That was impressive![/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=blue]I was just reading some of the Wet-N-Wild reviews and they were great. Won't go with Coral Breeze since we did the sharks/rays with them last year and they barely got us to the last tender with 15 minutes to spare. Recent reviews of them have had problems with time and overcrowding.[/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#0000ff]We had friends who had to carry their tubes a good portion of the trip over spring break. Does anyone know the water level in June??:confused: [/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=blue]Here's a review of Wet-N-Wild from the Belize boards and also a link to the W-N-W site. [/color][/size][/font]
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[url="http://www.ecotoursbelize.com/"][font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#606420]http://www.ecotoursbelize.com[/color][/size][/font][/url][font=Times New Roman][size=3] [/size][/font]

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[font='Times New Roman'][url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=78965"][color=#606420]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=78965[/color][/url][/font]
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[font='Times New Roman'][font=Comic Sans MS][color=blue]P.S. I think I must have been a travel agent in another life!:D [/color][/font][/font]
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[font='Times New Roman'][font=Comic Sans MS][color=#0000ff]Anyway, glad to join all of you! We're experienced cruisers, just never on Carnival. Please pass on any words of wisdom![/color][/font][/font]
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[Snowball]

According to my calculations, we have Kathi with 4, Kim with 2, Marcy with 4, and I'm pretty sure I can fill the last 4 spots (definitely have 2 already - me and dd) - so we should have enough people to get our own cave tubing tour!!! That will be so much fun!!! :D


Kathi - can you please post something here with the details on how to reserve our spots on the tour? Thank you so much for setting this up for us. Don't you have your 2 teens going with you too? Would they like to have any pre-cruise chats with the other teens that are booked?

[Marcys]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=blue]In case anyone is interested, the first formal night is 6/13. I know that because Kevin e-mailed me to say he put us down to celebrate our 25th anniversary that night (not sure what that all entails).[/color][/size][/font]

[Snowball]

That's great! Thanks for letting us know. :)

I wonder if our 2nd formal night will be on Thursday (Grand Cayman) or Saturday (day at Sea). I doubt that it would be on Friday, because we are in Cozumel until 11pm that night.

[Marcys]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=blue]I wondered about the second night, too! I didn't think it could be Saturday because don't you have to put out your luggage Saturday night before midnight? That would mean you would have to be back early to take off your formal wear to pack. Unlesss this is not what the procedure is on Carnival (I'm going by Royal Carib). I guess we could ask Kevin! He's been great to work with. I've had a ton of questions and he's graciously answered them all.[/color][/size][/font]

[Snowball]

Carnival makes you put your luggage out the night before too (although they also have a self-assist debarkation where you take your own luggage), so I think the 2nd formal will be on Thursday.

[Marcys]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=orange]Happy halloween, everyone!! ~~ ~~[/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=blue]Just booked my flights. Flying into Miami and out of Fort Lauderdale. That's what I needed to do to save 12,500 miles per person! Unfortunately, I don't arrive in Miami until 9:30 p.m. the night before. I like to arrive in the morning and have the whole day. We've always met other CC people for dinner the night before. Oh well, not this time!:( [/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#0000ff]I know it's [b]WAY[/b] in advance, but is anyone interested in meeting somewhere near a bar on deck to meet each other and to watch the sailaway?? We've done this before and its been a blast and the partying never stopped for the next 7 days! Last year we all decided to wear blue and gold ribbons (CC colors) to the pier and a lot of us ran into each other on line at the pier waiting to embark and were friends before we even boarded! We kept spotting people all over the ship with the ribbons as we explored. (Any older CC members remember wearing rubberbands to spot each other??)[/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#0000ff]Can't wait to read those first reviews of the ship!![/color][/size][/font]

[Marcys]

Here's the response from Kevin at Crucon about the formal nights:

[color=#0000ff]"On a 7 day cruise like the Valor, the first formal night is held on the second night out and the 2nd formal night is held on the next to last night out. For this cruise, the first formal night is held on 6/13/05 and the 2nd formal night will be held on 6/18/05.:[/color]
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[color=black]This still doesn't make sense because formal wear generally can't be folded up and put in a shoulder bag to carry off the ship the next day. You'd have to be back before midnight to change your clothes and put out your bags.[/color]

[Snowball]

I think we should definitely have a sailaway party for our group!!! :D On my Miracle cruise most of us bought group t-shirts (one woman in the group worked at a place where they made them for us) and we all met up at the bar on the lido deck right after the muster drill. It was so neat seeing all of the seafoam green shirts all over that part of the ship. I guess we can decide what to wear so that we all recognize each other when we get closer to the cruise date.

I don't think that Kevin is right about the 2nd formal night. The 7 day cruises may normally have the 2nd formal on the 5th night, but we are in Cozumel that night until 11pm, so I am still thinking that it will be on Thursday night. We'll be able to know for sure after the ship starts sailing at the end of next month. :cool:

[b][color=red]Where has everyone else been hiding???[/color][/b] :confused:

[Marcys]

T-shirts are a great idea. I've seen cool group pictures of everyone in their shirts.

As a newby to the cruise, I feel like a "board hog!" But...I think posting and chatting makes a 7 day vacation 7 months long instead! I love to research and plan.

Here's a question for those of you who have sailed this class ship before...is there a place to sit in the shade on the pool deck? I love to be where the action is, but can't sit out in the sun!

[Snowball]

Marcy - Don't feel like a board hog - I'm just glad that I'm not here talking to myself. :eek:

I wish I was lucky enough to have found decently priced airfare. I keep checking, but the prices haven't dropped yet. I just know I'll feel better once they are paid for - must be the planner in me. :rolleyes: It's a shame that you won't be arriving until that night - it would have been nice to meet up in Miami, but we'll just have to meet onboard instead. :)

[Marcys]

Debbie...actually...I talk to myself all the time. Then I at least know one person is listening!! :D

Skimmed all the previous posts...but don't recall whether anyone was swimming with the stingrays in the Cayman's. We've done this before (we went as a CC group) and loved it, but it was very rough that day as a hurricance was one day behind us and it made it hard to enjoy the excursion when the waves were throwing you all over. :( We went with Nativeway and they were great but I know there are also other guides that are great that I'd like to try. We want to do that in the morning. I'm then trying to line up parasailing and waterskiing for the afternoon with a watersport outfit. I have one name Red Sail Watersports, anyone have any others? I think they run from the hotels off 7 Mile Beach.

[Snowball]

I have been thinking about swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman. I am somewhat apprehensive about it (just the thought of having them touch me weirds me out :eek: ) but I've heard that it is such a great experience and I don't want to let my silly fears hold me back. I think if I do it I will probably go through Captain Marvin or Soto's, depending on the feedback listed for both of them here on the boards.

Anyone else interested in swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman? If enough people are interested I will see if we can get a group excursion organized.

[lhall85917]

We went to the Caymans about 4 years ago and went with Captain Marvin then. It was wonderful and I highly recommend it! My daughter and I didn't want to get in with the stingrays so we floated around near the boat. The crew went over by the sand bar and fed the stingrays, my son had a wonderful time, they basically just rub up against you - they are everywhere! Even if you don't want to go near them, it is worth the trip, the water is gorgeous and you can snorkel and see tons of stuff. He also fed us a nice lunch while we were out.
I don't think we will do this again since we have already done it, we are thinking about walking around town and possibly doing the beach in Cayman. Our excursions will probably be cave tubing in Belize and the canopy tour in Roatan. Not sure about the canopy tour anymore - I've been reading that now you might only be able to get it through the ship and not privately - of course that translates into bigger bucks. We still have time to look into things, thats the one benefit of booking so far out!

[sebastian01]

my husband and i are interested in the stingray tour. last time we went to the cayman's we snorkled and walked around the city. let us know if you are able to put anything together. kim

[Snowball]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=navy]Here are the stingray and snorkeling tours offered by Captain Marvin[/color][/size][/font] ([url="http://www.captainmarvins.com/"]http://www.captainmarvins.com/[/url]):

[u][font=Arial][color=blue]Short Excursion (approx. 2 hours)[/color][/font][/u][color=blue][font=Arial][color=blue][color=blue][font=Arial]:[/font][/color][/color][/font][/color]
[font=Arial][color=blue]Times: 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM,[/color] [/font][color=blue][font=Arial]11:15 AM to 1:15 PM, or [/font][/color][color=blue][font=Arial][font=Arial]1:45 to 3:45 PM, Monday through Friday [/font][color=red][font=Arial](Check in by 8:00 AM, 10:45 AM or 1:15 PM)[/font][/color]

[font=Symbol]· [/font][font=Arial]Stingray City sandbar, where you may feed and swim with the 'rays[/font]
[font=Symbol]· [/font][font=Arial]Snorkel at the incredible Barrier Reef or the Coral Gardens![/font]
[font=Symbol]· [/font][font=Arial]Price: US$34/ages 12 and over; US$20/ages 4-11; under age 4, free![/font]
[font=Symbol]· [/font][font=Arial]Price includes round-trip transportation from the Waterfront Centre, or from your condo or hotel on Seven Mile Beach, PLUS snorkel gear, life vest (optional), food for the stingrays, and icewater and fruit punch on board the boat.[/font]

[/font][/color][color=blue][font=Arial]
[u]Half-day Excursion [/u][font=Arial][u](approx. 3 hours)[/u][/font][color=blue][font=Arial]: [/font][/color]
[color=blue][font=Arial]Times: [font=Arial]10 AM to 1 PM, or[/font] [font=Arial]2 PM to 5 PM, seven days a week [/font][color=red][font=Arial](Check in by 9:15 AM or by 1:15 PM)[/font][/color]

[font=Symbol]· [/font][font=Arial]Stingray City sandbar, where you may feed and swim with the 'rays[/font]
[font=Symbol]· [/font][font=Arial]Snorkel at the beautiful Coral Gardens[/font]
[font=Symbol]· [/font][font=Arial]Snorkel at the incredible Barrier Reef![/font]
[font=Symbol]· [/font][font=Arial]Price: US$39/ages 12 and over; US$22/ages 4-11; under age 4, free![/font]
[font=Symbol]· [/font][font=Arial]Price includes round-trip transportation from the Waterfront Centre, or from your condo or hotel on Seven Mile Beach, PLUS snorkel gear, life vest (optional), food for the stingrays, and icewater and fruit punch on board the boat.[/font]



[left][font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=navy]It appears that the only difference between the two is that on the short excursion you have to pick between snorkeling at Coral Gardens or the Barrier Reef; whereas on the half-day excursion both stops are included.[/color][/size][/font][/left]

[left][font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=navy]If you are interested, please post here and state your preference between the short or half-day excursion and provide the number of people in your party that want to participate. Once I have an idea of how many will be interested, I'll contact the tour operator to see if we can have a group excursion just for us, and if they offer any discounts for groups.[/color][/size][/font][/left]
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[Marcys]

Debbie...I hear that Soto's also runs a good stingray tour. My family of 4 would like to do one of the earlier half day tours. One snorkel stop is enough for me! We'd like the afternoon free to try to parasail off 7 Mile Beach.

lhall85917..my family and I would also like to do the canopy excursion. I also read that they're dealing directly with the ships now but I don't see it listed on any of Carnival's excursions. I won't like it, but I'd pay the extra price to do the tour with the ship. I'm going to see if I can find an e-mail address and contact them to ask if they have an exclusive agreement with Carnival.

[Snowball]

Marcy - do you know if Soto's has its own website? I did a search on google but couldn't find it. If so I'll definitely contact both places and see which one has a better deal.

[Loves_Dogs]

Here is the websit for Soto's:
[url]http://sotoscruises.com/index.shtml[/url]

[Marcys]

jeleja..Thanks for that website. Wow! Only $24 for three stops! They've had grat reviews on the ports of call board. They have a videographer on each trip too (for an extra cost, of course).