tiff123

I don't think the SW Caribbean includes DR, I could be wrong. If I were the people going to Cancun, Roatan, etc. I would be worried. But if it does become a storm they will probably get a better itinerary.

Here are the possibilities as I see it (and we are leaving Saturday same itinerary).

1) Tropical storm develops, and moves to the West (2 out of 4 models) - not likely to impact us.

2) Tropical storm develops and stays in Southwest Caribbean (1 out of 4 models) - maybe our DR stop is impacted by heavy rain, or skipped altogether, or replaced.

3) Tropical storm develops and moves toward DR (1 out of 4 models) - depending on how soon this happens, we either end up having a Bahamas cruise if it develops early, or if it develops late we get to St. Thomas and they have to put us on a plane back because the storm is now blocking our path back up to FL.

My biggest worry is for Grand Turk - projected up to 30 mph winds that day. Will we be able to dock? Every moist tropical region lists rain almost every day of the forecast. In my experience it usually means an afternoon soaker or part cloudiness, but the sun is strong in this region and a part cloudy day is as strong as the sunniest day in the North.

Anyway, the weather forecast this far out usually doesn't hold. It will be an adventure for sure. I am looking at rainy day excursions for each stop just in case, ready to make it a vacation no matter what. It is easy for me, since I am in Florida and get plenty of sun year round. I can see it being difficult for someone in the north.

I'd like to figure this out as well. If Carnival says 11am - 7pm, if that is EST (assuming you took off from Florida and the ship stays on the time of the port of departure) then when you arrive it is really 12pm in St. Thomas and 8pm when you leave, correct? The reason I am trying to figure this out is because the time of year we are going it gets dark early, and I need to know how much daylight to plan for an excursion.

Unfortunately this happens to me every time I cruise. I think my immune system just does not deal well with the extra food, sugar, alcohol and lack of sleep in addition to being exposed to all the germs.

I believe it was right after my first cruise that I developed pneumonia for the first time.

So I am attempting my next cruise cautiously, very hard to do on a cruise but I need more sleep and less eating/alcohol...lol. Plus this next time I am determined to use the gym, that also helps the immune system.

Good thing you cruise often because I enjoy reading your reviews!

And reading through the comments - just wanted to respond to the one that said I needed to be more forceful.

 

I have no problem being forceful and demanding things get fixed. When your spending your vacation time being forceful and not getting anywhere - you have to draw the line and give up.

 

The older i'm getting the harder it is to have family together for this long at once on its own sometimes let alone on a cruise...I wasn't about to throw a tantrum and camp out at guest services until this was resolved.

I feel the same way. At some point you have to weigh the time you will spending trying to right the situation with the time you are missing with your family, having fun, enjoying yourself...

Our last cruise we did not have hot water in our shower for 3 days. We called for them to fix it, and each time they came, it did not get fixed, until the 3rd day. I probably spent 10 minutes in phone calls trying to get things working again but that was my limit. I'd rather suffer through a few quick cold showers than spend an hour in line at guest services demanding OBC or something like that.

I wish! NCL had a pub crawl that was awesome. It would be fun to organize one with the roll call group.

Wow. This thread saddens and worries me. Our very first cruise is scheduled for May and I have been researching CC to make sure we are prepared and aren't naïve going into our first experience. Have to say it shocks me that people even attempt to chair hog (and by that I mean leaving articles, not their person) for hours before they ever plan to get there and that if we want pool chairs after actually eating together as a family for breakfast in the dining areas our chances of that are non-existent :(.

 

I'm at least I am thankful now that I know to:

1. Bring the larger white towels instead. Heaven forbid we lose five $22 blue towels....

2. Find our spots super early. So much for sleeping in on vacation.

3. Basically never leave our chairs unattended.

Eh.. I wouldn't be sad or worry too much. In our cruises there was only one day where we couldn't get lounge chairs and it was a day we slept in and got on deck around 11:00 am or noon. Most of the chairs had people in them though, only a few had the token flip flop. There were also a bunch of lounge chairs stacked up and roped off on one of the decks for some reason. I suppose I could have asked an employee to get two for us. We were eventually able to find chairs about half an hour later of looking... Just adjust your expectations and you will be fine. Keep in mind that cruise ships are crowded. You may not be able to get a large group all together, if you sleep in you will have to work harder to find a chair, there are only so many prime spots so don't expect one, and it is advisable to have one person watch your chair if you have to go to the restroom, get a drink, etc. Most importantly don't let the threat of not getting a chair ruin your time. There have been times I said screw it I am sleeping in and enjoying a nice breakfast and have still been able to get some chairs by the pool (without having to toss other people's stuff)! :cool:

We will be doing this same itinerary Thanksgiving except on the Sunshine. I am curious as to why we do not get into St. Thomas until 11am, and Grand Turk 12pm.... it looks like your ship got into those ports in the morning.

I have to admit I am dying to know what happened to Katie. And how was she able to eat oysters after being so ill...? Poor thing.:(

No pics, was just a standard inside cabin

The description on my room says we may not be able to make a King bed with both of the pullman's out. I figured we would just all sleep in our own twin bed but hubby is not thrilled with this. Hoping that we can sleep four in the room and hubby and I can have a king while each of the kids gets a twin.

This is one of the best reviews I have ever seen. Very candid, yet positive review with loads of pictures. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of a ship, you learn how to work around them, which is what I like to do. I really like how you have a frugal approach, yet still have fun; I would better describe this approach as "non-wasteful." You also plan very full and fun-packed port days. I would love to learn how you are able to get such great rates on the cruises. Do you look at the rates and watch the sales often?

It looks like you had a wonderful time and you have a lovely family. I haven't been on the Western itinerary in a long time, but after reading your review I am ready to give it another try! :cool:

I did and it was great. Had inside room right by the glass doors that open to pool. We never had any noise issue. Best spot ever.

Do you have any pics of the room, or did you post a review with pics? We just booked a room right by the doors to the pool on the Lido deck.

They can't make you keep your doors open! I mean, what if you wanted to sleep, get dressed... have sex? Close the doors and leave the fans on. I'd find out who put the fans there and tell them not to leave the door open again. But have a couple of drinks first so you get back into vacation mode! :)[/quot

 

OMG. Yes I know people have sex on a cruise, but just spit my coffee at the image of someone having sex with the door opened! Perhaps the issue would be resolved quickly if someone saw this.

 

It's all about offering some incentive!!! ;)

We only had 3 sodas and 3 waters, presumably they are supplying per the number of people that show up (we had 3). The decks really weren't that small. They could fit more loungers on them. I would guesstimate that picture is only showing about half of the deck, probably so they could show the relation to the pool. Now their response saying there is a loop you will have to walk...that was only open to staff, not guests, when we were there. The loop goes out wide around the hill and does not have any stairs. They use it to drive all-terrain golf cart type things up and down. We only saw it because they loaded up our stuff to move us to the other cabana. There was no initial offer to take us up this way, we walked the multitude of stairs. The pool is walking distance technically...but you better be extremely fit or you will be very worn out by the end of the day if you walk back and forth too many times. You can take the waterslide down, but still have the stairs for the way back.

That view though.....:)

They can't make you keep your doors open! I mean, what if you wanted to sleep, get dressed... have sex? Close the doors and leave the fans on. I'd find out who put the fans there and tell them not to leave the door open again. But have a couple of drinks first so you get back into vacation mode! :)

Excellent review!

That dress and those shoes rock! Thank you for your review. We leave for Puerto Rico in 5 days (not that I'm counting...:rolleyes:) for our Valor cruise. :D:D

 

 

 

For an hour and a half, he would take me to swim with the turtles and then snorkel at a shipwreck. I got my own private tour for $20! My guide’s name was Neville.

 

 

 

Neville drove me about 10 minutes to the other side of the beach where a couple of other small boats were parked.

 

Were there other people snorkeling from the other boats with you? It looks like you were the only one there snorkeling! One thing I hear often in reviews about booking through a tour for snorkeling with the turtles is that it is too crowded, you get kicked by others, etc. I'm guessing you didn't have that problem with the private snorkeling tour with Neville? I was thinking about booking a private snorkeling tour, but I think I will look for him instead.

A couple more shots before leaving.

 

When I passed through security, they said make sure you go check it at the table. I said ok and went straight to my room. Believe me when I say they're not paying attention. If they were, what I was planning to do was to turn over one bottle and take the other two to my room.

 

Ssshhhhhh! We don't want Carnival to know our method! ;) I found this out quite by accident coming from Tortola once. I had too many rum punches and forgot to "check in" my bottle of rum after being scanned. I was quite delighted to figure out that it was with me once I returned to my room.

More, more, more...!! I'm starting to feel like a junkie now. What am I gonna do when this review is all over!? Oh yeah, I am going on the same cruise in less than 2 weeks... phew. :p

The obnoxious guy in the back, not so enjoyable. He basically told the taxi driver you guys here vote in the US election. Dude, no they don't. Go read a book. :rolleyes:

 

There was a little bit of a line to get back on the ship, and only one gangway was open. A rather rude lady behind me kept complaining, complaining, complaining. Ever want to turn around and tell someone to just shut up? We were in line maybe 2 minutes and they opened the other gangway. She and the man I presume to be her husband tried to hurry to be first, but weren't and we all ended up being behind an elderly lady in a wheelchair and her daughters trying to get back on. They had a few shopping bags and were struggling to help their mom while folding the chair, so I did what any good person should have done and offered them assistance. That lady and her husband were still trying to cut in front of them. I told them NO, YOU NEED TO WAIT. When the lady stood up from her wheelchair to walk on, the couple basically pushed past her. I swear, they're lucky they walked fast, because I wanted to let them have it! I have a big mouth and have no problem telling you when you're wrong. I'm just waiting on the day when John Quinones comes around a corner saying me and my big mouth are on What Would You Do. People, PLEASE, have some basic courtesy for your fellow passengers. If that was your mother, wife, sister, or even you in that wheelchair, you wouldn't want someone to be rude like that to you, right?

 

 

You GO girl! Hopefully the couple and the man from the taxi are reading this right now and feeling like fools.

We are going on this cruise in a couple of weeks so I have been searching for a review on the Valor for this itinerary. I can't believe my luck... I finally found a review and how lucky I am that it is from you. I loved your last review. You are a delight! I can't wait to hear about cornbread part 2! Thank you for posting :D

We would like to see the following:

1. Brimstone Fortress

2. Black Rocks

3. Timothy Hill

4. Romney Manor

with a beach break at the end if possible.

Does anyone know which tour operator includes all of this?

Captain Sunshine's 360 St. Kitts tour looks interesting, but it does not specifically say that it stops at Brimstone Fortress, which is #1 on our list to see.

Thanks!

Tiff

Between St. Thomas and Barbados, I would pick St. Thomas for the beach, or go to St. John's. If you decide to sight see in Barbados I would agree with another poster that Bathesba (sp?) would be a nice stop.

Wow! I am thoroughly impressed! That would be a nightmare for me but you made me actually want to be there! Maybe NCL should hire you???? ;)

PS: So sorry you didn't win the sexiest man-legs contest! :p

What do they look like? Are the visible to the naked eye?