momofzeke

We arrived at IAH Friday night, Jan. 19 @ 9 pm. Uber arrived 6 minutes after I requested a ride. Took us to a hotel in Galveston,so actually farther than the port. Actual cost was $83, and i gave a $20 tip. This was UberX (the lowest price tier of uber).

Prayers going up, Heidi. Hope your little niece will be ok.

Heidi, good luck with the therapy. That does seem a little weird to start you on therapy before doing all the tests, but hope it helps and you won't need any more tests. How often will you go to therapy?

Happy belated anniversary, Heidi and Dave! :D Hope you had a nice dinner last night.

Absolutely gorgeous here today! Really feels like spring. The animals are all restless and the cows are very tired of hay, but they have to wait a little longer to go out to grass because there just isn't any yet! A couple more weeks and we'll be able to turn them out.

We are finally getting some much needed rain, and there's snow on the Rim.

Heidi, thats really cool that you got to meet the OG president.

Today is our son Greg's birthday, he's 31. Hard to believe we have a kid that age!

bwellen, thanks for sharing that link! So glad her dad is recovering. We also watched the evac, and it's nice to see a good outcome.

Soozles, I'm so glad to hear that your dad is recovering. I was also on the Breeze, and watched the airlift, which was really incredible. The Coast Guard did an amazing job. The whole time we were watching, though, we were all very concerned about the person being lifted and any family onboard with them. Thank you so much for letting us know what happened! Prayers for your dad and your family.

LONG day Sunday getting back to Reno, but we made it. 21 hours from waking up on the ship until we got to our hotel. Then a 4 hour drive home Monday.

Heidi told you about our post cruise experience with the bus driver who dropped its off at the wrong terminal and made us walk with our luggage back to terminal 1, but she forgot the part about how he held my suitcase out of the bus and broke the handle. Loser!

Jojirart, so sorry to hear about your brother in law. Our condolences to you and your hubby. Sorry to hear about your bad experience with kids running amuck on the ship; we never encountered that.

It was a great cruise, and we really had fun with our old friends and enjoyed meeting new ones! Take care, everyone!

Bags packed! We leave today for the 4 hour drive to Reno. We'll probably leave late morning. Looks like good flying weather for us tomorrow.

I'm sending out positive thoughts that everyone will make it to Miami with no flight or driving problems due to weather!

Looking forward to seeing everyone - old friends and new friends! :D

Safe travels, all! See you on the Breeze! :cool:

Dave ~ only 1 of 10 ropers caught their calf at the rodeo???? Good grief, we do better than that at our brandings! That's a little sad, really.

Heidi ~ that's ridiculous that those people complained!! That sounds like it was a no-win situation. If you had told them it would only be a short wait, and they had to wait 5 minutes, they probably would have complained anyway. People are such asses sometimes.

FINALLY started getting things ready to pack yesterday. I probably won't start putting things in suitcases until tomorrow.

I had my very first EVER pedicure yesterday! It was nice, but wow, she really gave me a deep tissue massage on the bottom of my feet! But my toes look GREAT!!

Got my hair cut & colored. Mani-pedi. Eyebrow wax. Ready for the cruise!!

My kids live 130 miles north of us, and they got over 2 1/2 FEET of snow in the last 2 days! Oregon has had huge snow storms all over, causing a 25 car pile up on the freeway north of Eugene, hundreds of car wrecks all over Oregon, schools and business closed.

Meanwhile, here in Dry Gulch, we got nothing! We did get some rain yesterday, and I'm grateful for it, but I wish we got the big storms because we're in a drought and we desperately need moisture. Not looking good for our pasture and hay crops this year.

In 5 days we will be leaving home to begin our journey!!

Dave, what is the Wright amendment?

There was a huge snow storm in Oregon, but it didn't make it to us, and we desperately need it! Portland and Eugene got a bunch, and those people panic if they even get an inch, because it rains a ton but hardly ever snows! They don't know how to drive in snow, there was a 25 car pile up on I-5 freeway between Portland and Eugene. We only got a tiny skiff of snow.

One week from right now, Dave and I will be at the Reno airport waiting to board!

Just a heads up to those of you booked in the group. If you haven't received a call from Crucon yet, you will be. Remember way back when Carnival decided to do away with on board credits for groups and we were all concerned that we wouldn't get ours but Crucon assured us we would still get it? Well, I just got a call from Athena at Crucon telling me that instead of the on board credit, they will be mailing us checks to our homes this week. I hope this is OK with everyone. I personally don't care if it comes in the form of a check or if it's OBC. I also asked about the $25.00 OBC that some of us were supposed to receive for joining Crucon's loyalty club and she said that would be included with the check so if you joined their loyalty club you should get a check for $125.00.

I just got the same call, and in fact she said I would be getting a check for $125.00, so that obviously includes the $25.00 for the loyalty club. I had forgotten all about that!

WOW!! SINGLE DIGITS!! FINALLY! :D

Checking weather forecasts for our flight path on Friday...Reno partly sunny & low of 35 degrees, Los Angeles sunny & 80 degrees, Austin sunny & 68 degrees, Fort Lauderdale mostly sunny & 74 degrees. Looks like pretty smooth sailing unless something changes. Fingers crossed!!! Even though we have 2 stops, we dont get off the plane either time, so that's not bad.

Weather for Miami Saturday is clouds & sun, low 63, high 77. Should be nice for sailaway! I will bring a sweatshirt anyway because sometimes it's chilly at sailaway, even in Florida!

I'm sorry to hear about the lady with heart problems. I dont believe I remember Don & Ann, but wish her a speedy recovery.

Checked my documents for FTTF. If Heidi hadn't posted about the small logo to look for, I dont know if I would have found it! But since I knew what to look for, I found it right away.

Sue, if you gave a long layover in Austin, there is a good BBQ place called The Salt Lick. Here is a short cut to information about Austin-Berstom Airport, http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2012/11/04/austin-bergstrom-international-airport/1679751/

Thanks Dave, but we don't get off the plane in Austin. We just stop there, and then take off again. We have eaten at a restaurant called The Salt Lick in Vegas...wonder if it's a chain? It was delicious as I recall!

Kathy, thanks for the info about FTTF luggage. And, thanks to Marathon Dave for asking the question!

Excursions: I was interested in the Historical Homes & Museum tour in Grand Turk, but when I got ready to book it months ago, it was no longer listed on the Carnival site. Now it's there again, but now I think we are planning to go to Jack's Shack instead, since there are quite a few of our group going there.

My cruise docs & luggage tags are all printed out. I will laminate the luggage tags though, I just put clear plastic self adhesive sheets over both sides and trim it. Keeps the tags from tearing or getting wet.

I looked at my flight schedule again, and I knew we had a stop in Texas, but it is Austin, not Dallas. We have 2 stops on our flight to Miami, but don't get off the plane on either stop. The other stop is in L.A. so weather shouldn't be a problem there.

Heidi, glad you got your new computer!

I had no idea the safe on the Breeze uses a code instead of a swipe card. That's much better!

Dave, our flight goes through Dallas. Do you fly down Friday, or did I remember you and Bettie are flying down earlier than that? Hoping for decent weather in Dallas so we can all get out of there when we're supposed to!

ktravel, sorry to hear your Hubby is having wrist problems. That doesn't sound fun at all! Hope he improves quickly.

Two weeks!!!!! :D

We always use the safe in the cabin, have never had a problem. They open with a card that has a magnetic strip, like an expired credit card or gift card or even an old S&S card from a previous cruise. It's not a good idea to use the S&S card for your current cruise. A store membership card would work too. As long as it has a magnetic strip on the back.

We finally got some much needed rain last night, but we could use a lot more.

Heidi, glad Eric found his laptop!

Keeping my fingers crossed that all of us can get to Miami ok, that no flights will be cancelled due to weather issues!

Since we have a four hour drive to the airport, and our flight leaves at 8 am on Friday, we will drive to Reno the day before the flight because I don't want to have to leave at 2 am in order to get to the airport in time! That means we are leaving our house two weeks from TOMORROW!

I guess I'd better start thinking about starting to pack. I pretty much have figured out what clothes I'm taking, but I need to get them out and make sure nothing needs washed or anything.

Hi

 

This is our 5th cruise and my first ever post about cruising.

 

The excursions in La Romania are too random and stressful , should we get the drink package on the ship? Why do all the desserts on Lido taste like blah..

 

We have kids 11,15,and 17

 

Actually I could use a drink package in my living room...

 

 

Hoping to have fun !!!!

Welcome, Welcome!! Glad to have you with us! For excursions, we only have 1 actual excursion booked. In La Romana we are doing Altos de Chavon River Boat tour booked through Carnival. In Grand Turk, there are quite a number of us going to Jack's Shack to hang out on the beach. In Curacao we really don't have plans. Sounds like there's quite a bit to see close to the port, and then we'll just see what we want to do. In Aruba, we want to go to Eagle Beach, which I've read is the most beautiful beach in Aruba.

We've never had a drink package, so I can't really help you there. Seems like I remember that if one person in the cabin (over age 21) gets it, everyone over 21 in the same cabin has to buy it too. I guess that's so you can't buy one package and then share your drinks with your cabin mate. I think it has been said that if you each drink 5 drinks a day, it works out to be worth it. My hubby and I enjoy having cocktails, but probably wouldn't get to 5 drinks each, especially on port days when you're not on the ship that much.

Gojirart, I would love a magnet also! Thanks so much, what a nice thing! We enjoy the trivia also.

It's hard to believe that in 3 weeks we'll be on the ship! Excited! :D

Heidi, thanks for the info about the Meet n Greets! :D

Dave & Alise, glad you'll be joining us for dinner pre-cruise! :D

THREE WEEKS, PEOPLE!! :D

Heidi, whatever you think about the reservation is fine. 9 is ok too. If we get there before our table is ready, we can have cocktails first.

Thanks for the reminder about travel insurance. I cant remember if I included our flights or not. Need to check that.

Fritz & Susie - looking forward to meeting you at pre-cruise dinner! Kathy & Frank - hope you'll join us too!

I will see if we can get a reservation for about 8 people at the cuban place. We should make it quite late though like at least 8:30, maybe 9:00. What do you think, Sue and Fritz & Susie? We will need to eat no matter what. We will probably be starving by the time we get to the hotel.

Sounds good to me! Lets make it for 8:30. That gives us 2 hours to get there after our planes land, so even if either of our planes are delayed, we should be able to make it.

Dave really wants to try the Cuban restaurant near our hotel. Fritz & Susie, Kathy & Frank, and anyone else are welcome to join us! As Heidi said, our flights get to FLL at 6:30. By the time we get luggage, get to our hotel & get checked in, it will probably be close to 8 pm before we get to the restaurant. That will be fine for us, because coming from the West coast, it's actually 5 pm our time! :D

I really dont think we'll make it to Bayside for pre-cruise activities. It's just going to be too late, and I dont think we want to take a taxi over there after travelling all day.

From reading reviews of the DR Altos de Chavon tour, it sounds like fun. They have music & dancing on the boat on the way back -- & rum! :D

Fritz & Susie, you sound like our kinda folk! That 5-Dave sausagefest can't hold a candle to The Susie Club! Just Another Dave has been holding out on us!! We had no idea he was a cross dresser! He needs to ditch The Daves and come join The Susies! But even though we are cowboys from The Wild West, we are NOT rednecks! We embrace all walks of life -- well, except for vegetarians. We dont have much use for peeps of that ilk. You're not vegetarians, are you????

From reading reviews, the reason the Bounty Adventures sunset cruise has such a long drive is because they take you from the pier to the Hyatt Hotel, which is a 45 minute to 1 hour drive according to reviewers. Then I'm not sure if you have to drive to get to the sail pier or if it's right there at the Hyatt. Either way, it just sounds like an awful lot of driving time to get to the launch point. My hubby just isn't that interested in a sunset cruise, and he thought driving 45 minutes to an hour each way was too much. I don't really care, so we are not going to do it.

When we started this Roll Call, we were almost 2 years out, and now we are finally under a month!! YAY! Can't wait to see everyone...old friends and new friends! :D