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

[Snowball]

I wonder if the $15 is for the yard long margaritas??? I recently read on another board that you have to be careful at C n' C's because the drink prices vary greatly depending on where you get your drink and who you get it from. For example, they said that if you go to the bar to get a drink that costs $6.00, that same drink might cost $9.00 if your waiter gets it for you. And the waiters are famous for bringing you refills without you asking for them, so your bill can get very high (and you can get very drunk) if you aren't paying attention. And after hearing about the post-shot tweakings they give :eek: (see the Carlos N Charlies thread here on the Carnival board), I've decided to skip the shots and stick to regular drinks. I'm all for having a good time, but don't want to spend too much money or get too drunk, so I'm going to try to keep a close eye on how many drinks I have. :rolleyes:

[Marcys]

OK...new role for Sharon...the designated "don't let me have a shot or let me go over my spending limit" person.

[Marcys]

Rebecca, we used Coral Breeze for swimming with the sharks and rays. We did not have a good experience with them. I'll post a link to my review. Since that "incident" of getting us back to the tender dock with only 20 minutes to spare, plus some safety issues others have posted their disappointments. More recently, it sounds like things have improved but they don't have a consistent record.

This was my review of Coral Breeze: [url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=71073"]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=71073[/url]

Here's other people's recent review: [url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=108475"]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=108475[/url]
[url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=106526"]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=106526[/url]

[VOLEYMOM]

Thanks Marcy, well we won't be doing that tour. I would not have enjoyed one minute of that and my husband would probably have had a stroke. Nothing worse than thinking you are going to miss your tender. I would hate to be the ones, like I have seen, being brought back to the ship on these little speed boats! Would you take the water taxi over or just do something else in Belize? I have done the cave tubing but not my family. Maybe will go with that, I just have heard that the snorkeling is very nice here. More decisions!
Rebecca

[emarismom]

Thanks for the advice!!


I really want to do the cave tubing, but the website says the age restriction is eight, and my daughter is only six. I did do tubing with her in Mexico last year and it was fine. I sent "Wet n Wild" an email asking if they would allow her to go, but haven't gotten a response yet. I'm also going to try tonight to make reservations with Soto's for the sting rays in GC. A couple of years ago when we cruised on the Victory, we took the kids to Paradise Beach, we had a nice time, I'm not sure if I want to do it again, or try somethng different. Roatan I am very confused over. Not only am I limited by my daughter's age, she recently(Nov.) had surgery and can't overdue it too much. She has gone snorkeling before in Mexico, but that was before her surgery so now I'm not sure what she is ready for. I'll see her doctor on Feb. 11. Hopefully, he can reassure me that Emily will be able to participate in [u]all[/u] of the fun. I booked this cruise the week we came home from the hospital in an effort to lift my spirits, they were pretty low, so I figured what better way to cheer myself up. She is doing fine now, I'm just being an obsessive mommy.:confused:

I'm also thinking about the swim with the dolphins in Mexico for my son, again I'm not sure if Emily is old enough and she is not a strong swimmer. I priced the dolphin swims in the Florida Keys, as I live in Miami, and the prices were [u]alot[/u] higher in the Keys, so I'm thinking of letting Tristan do it in Cozumel.

[Corl4]

Hi all!

Debbie: The $15 margueritas are the yard ones! We had no trouble with the waiters bringing things we didn't ask for...they were so busy that we had to flag them down when we needed something. As for the shots...they were shots of "Sex on the Beach" and not very strong....as a result, not worth the $3. The tweakings didn't happen to any of us..do the shot, shake the head, pull the ears, and a tickle in the ribs. Before it got too crowded they were doing free shots of sangria that were apparently pretty good!

Can't wait to go back, especially since I'll be turning 45 on the day we're in Cozumel!!

Beth

[lhall85917]

Wow! I'm not on all day and look at what I missed! Carlos and Charlie's stories that would make your hair curl!! I have no problem getting you to the ship on time, but if you want me to watch your spending - I'll need a cut of it!! My goodnes, I definitely hope my balcony is on the port side so I can sit and watch everyone struggling back to the ship. Or maybe I need to take a lawn chair and just sit outside Carlos and Charlies and catch more of the action.
On another note, we're looking around for something inexpensive to do during spring break - the week of Mar. 28. It must be prime spring break week, most expensive week on all the ships. If anyone comes across any good bargains for a 4 or 5 day, a package trip to anywhere, would you send it my way??! :o If not, we ship Kristen back to school on the 29th then look at each other for the rest of the week :eek: . Maybe I need a Carlos and Charlie's down the street from me....

[Marcys]

OK, what's a tweaking??:eek: :eek: Do I really want to know??

Hi Sharon! You might make more money bringing a camera to CnC's and selling black mail pictures!

Beth, congrats on turing 45 in Coz. I did that once. Turn 45, that is. But not in Coz. Many of us our celebrating on this cruise. We'll be celebrating our 25 anniversary!

[Snowball]

Marcy - I'm sure you can figure out what a tweaking is. ;) And I'm staying far away from anyone that even looks like they want to give a tweak to someone. :eek:

Sharon - watching everyone stumble back from C & C's might be one of your most entertaining moments of the week. :p Your post did make me wonder if we will be docked on my side of the ship (port side) at any of the ports.

Beth - I might have to practice that shot routine. "do the shot, shake the head, pull the ears, and a tickle in the ribs" I'm sure if I practice enough I'll be able to do it right by the time our cruise gets here. :D

[lhall85917]

tee hee - just so you know, I'll be the official web page person, official gather everyone back to the ship on time person, official wallet watcher, but I will NOT be the official tweaker! Have a good day everyone...

[Marcys]

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TWEAKING IS?? :eek: :eek: At least tell me which body part is involved??:o

[Marcys]

OK...I ah...I think...I know what's being tweaked!! Just read the CnC thread on the Canival board. No need to spell it out here!!:eek:

[Marcys]

I'm pasting a quote from the current CnC thread on the Carnival board. We've been joking about it, but another group really haad a "designated person" to get them back to the ship!! Here it is:

[color=red]"I was the person in our group who was the "designated person" to get everyone back onto the ship in time (which wasn't too bad since we were docked at the pier right by C&Cs). Unfortunately, everyone was given a long balloon from the drinking Conga Line (of which I was not a part of -- given my responsibility). Our group spent the entire way back to the ship hitting me with the balloons and calling me a "party pooper" because I made them leave -- they were having too good of a time. I didn't want to be the people who were running after the ship as it pulls away so I made them leave a little early."
[/color]

[VOLEYMOM]

Oh, good post. Sharon maybe you could buy one of those bull whips I have seen in Cozumel and "crack the whip" to get everyone back on board after Carlos and Charlies!!!
Before I forget, has anyone considered doing the minature golf in Cozumel? I have read that it is a lot of fun. They even bring drinks out to you when you are golfing? I want to do everything!!
Debbie can you believe that Southwest has not posted their June flights? I just went on expecting to see the flights and no, still June 6. I can't believe it is taking so long.
Rebecca

[Snowball]

[quote name='VOLEYMOM']Debbie can you believe that Southwest has not posted their June flights? I just went on expecting to see the flights and no, still June 6. I can't believe it is taking so long.[/QUOTE]
All I can say about that is :mad: :mad:

Whew - I'm glad I got that off my chest. :p

I was hoping that some of last week's Valor cruisers would be writing reviews, but I haven't seen any new ones lately.

What has this thread turned into? We go from "tweaking" to "cracking the whip". :eek: :D

[Marcys]

[quote name='Snowball']
What has this thread turned into? We go from "tweaking" to "cracking the whip". :eek: :D[/QUOTE]

What happens on the Valor, stays on the Valor!!:D

I really am a very quiet, straightlaced, professional, middle-aged mother who leads a quiet uneventful life!:p

[joleda]

[quote name='emarismom']Thanks for the advice!!


I really want to do the cave tubing, but the website says the age restriction is eight, and my daughter is only six. I did do tubing with her in Mexico last year and it was fine. I sent "Wet n Wild" an email asking if they would allow her to go, but haven't gotten a response yet. I'm also going to try tonight to make reservations with Soto's for the sting rays in GC. A couple of years ago when we cruised on the Victory, we took the kids to Paradise Beach, we had a nice time, I'm not sure if I want to do it again, or try somethng different. Roatan I am very confused over. Not only am I limited by my daughter's age, she recently(Nov.) had surgery and can't overdue it too much. She has gone snorkeling before in Mexico, but that was before her surgery so now I'm not sure what she is ready for. I'll see her doctor on Feb. 11. Hopefully, he can reassure me that Emily will be able to participate in [u]all[/u] of the fun. I booked this cruise the week we came home from the hospital in an effort to lift my spirits, they were pretty low, so I figured what better way to cheer myself up. She is doing fine now, I'm just being an obsessive mommy.:confused:

I'm also thinking about the swim with the dolphins in Mexico for my son, again I'm not sure if Emily is old enough and she is not a strong swimmer. I priced the dolphin swims in the Florida Keys, as I live in Miami, and the prices were [u]alot[/u] higher in the Keys, so I'm thinking of letting Tristan do it in Cozumel.[/QUOTE]


We did the Dolphin swim at Dolphin Discovery at Chankanauub(spelling?)
park in Mexico. There are 2 types. Dolphin swim and Dolphin encounter. Encounter is the only type offered from the ship. This is not a swim. You have have to book directly with [url]www.dolphindiscovery.com[/url] for the swim. Be sure to do the swim! It is well worth the money. Very limited though, you need to book early! My daughter was 8 and my son 12 at the time. No problem with swimming. You wear vest to keep you afloat. You spend about a half hour with the dolphins. They offered us a private sea lion swim for half the price, we jumped on it. The kids (just my 2) were in the tank with the sea lion and trainer. They loved it. We would recomend the dolphin swim to anyone. We always watch the video. I hope this info. helps.

Dave

[Marcys]

Here's the response to some of our questions that I posted on another board (CM) to someone recently back from the western carib on Valor:

[color=red]Marcys, In the Carnival Capers on Monday Jan24(Fun Day at Sea) it said at
the bottom: "Tonight before going to sleep, don't forget to put your
clocks 1 hour BACK!" That is what we did. That worked fine.
I will tell you that the next day:Belize on Tues.Jan25 at the bottom of
the Capers it said;"Tonight before going to sleep, don't forget to put
your clocks 1 hour AHEAD!". Then the next day Wed,Jan.26 for Roatan the
Capers said at the bottom :ALWAYS STAY ON SHIP'S TIME". No wonder room
service did not know what time to bring our food on the Roatan morning!!
Also do not trust the TV ship time on those timechanging days-phone and
talk to the Purser's desk if you are wondering!!!
For tender tickets, the earlier you line up the earlier the tender you
will get on after the Carnival excursions leave. There was about 300
people going on Carnival's excursion to cavetubing!!! But remember:they
give out 4 tender tickets/person. So if there is 20 in your group, 5 of
you will have to line up. We lined up kind of late that day:about 8:15 am
and they started handing them out at 9:30. We did not get a tender until
about 10:25 approx. You could always talk to the people in charge of
tendering in the Ivanhoe Lounge where you wait, and let them know you have
a early excursion paid for and waiting. They may have some sympathy for
you!! (Or bring coloured dot stickers and hope you have the right colour
ex:bright orange, stick it on your shirts and leave with the early
Carnival people. That is how they identify Carnival excursions. Be
careful-some excursions leave right from the ship and DO NOT go into
Belize City!! LOL LOL)
[/color]

[Snowball]

Marcy - thank you, thank you, thank you!!! FINALLY found someone that can tell us how the time change works on the Valor. :rolleyes:

Now that we have that squared away, I'm back to worrying about airfare. :o :p

[Marcys]

Yes, finally an answer...but still sounds a bit confusing! SOOOOOOOO...where does that leave us for Belize?? :confused: We all also need to send a family rep to get on line early so we can get an early tender...leaving on an early van doesn't work if one group is late.

I saw someone start a roll call for June 12 and sent them over here. Hopefully, they'll find us. Debbie, saw you invited someone over, too! We're growing!!

[Marcys]

More hints for early tenders in Belize: [url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=131133"]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=131133[/url]

[Snowball]

Someone on another thread said they would scan the daily list of activities from the Capers and e-mail them to me. Once I get them I'm going to forward them to Sharon and see if she can put them on our website. :cool:

[VOLEYMOM]

At least we did find out that the ship changes the time. We will be on daylight savings time. Maybe we will put our clocks back one hour on Sunday and one hour on Monday. Then won't we be on Island time when we arrive in Belize? What time zone are they on anyway? What time zone is Roatan on, how about Cozumel? Grand Cayman is on Central Time Zone and they don't do Daylight Savings time, that much I know. I could ponder this until I go crazy and still not get it right!!!! Well at least there will be some other cruisers going before and and can help us out!! It wouldn't be so bad except we are planning our own tours, exspecially when you have to tender.
Well, Debbie, still no updates from Southwest, can you believe it!!
I bet this ship is going to be full. Seems like everyone wants to cruise!!
Have a great Friday everyone!
Rebecca

[Snowball]

Rebecca - You are probably right about the ship being full. I checked Carnival's website today and several categories are sold out now. Of course things can open up after final payments are due, but I'm sure that any new openings will be bought up quickly too.

It seems like checking Southwest's website has become my new daily habit. :(

[VOLEYMOM]

Which catagories are sold out? I know what you mean, I think my computer goes directly to Southwest!! My new prediction is the 6th of Feb. That would be 4 months ahead. Can't believe they wouldn't open up the summer yet as you would think that is their busy time. We have free tickets, but would like to find out times. I like to plan ahead!