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

[Corl4]

HI everyone!

Seems like I've been out of touch lately! DS had friends over since early last evening and the last one just left so this is the first time I've been able to get on the computer!!

Rebecca and Michelle - I'd love to be living in warmer weather where all you need to worry about is whether or not you need a sweater in the morning! DH and I have talked about moving to FL but not until DS is out of high school which is at least 3 more years! Michelle - How are teaching jobs down there? SInce I stayed home with the kids when they were little, this is only my 10th year teaching....they'll be rolling me through the halls in a wheel chair before I can retire!!

Three months till we board? That seems so far away. I had all the photo albums out today from our previous cruises looking at them while I was watching the "10 Best Caribbean Resorts" on the Travel Channel! I'd be ready to go tomorrow!

Rebecca - DD is home on spring break this week and was looking at the Valor Voyagers website...saw the picture of your son and was very disappointed when she realized that he wasn't going!!

We're heading out for an early dinner....DD is heading back to school tomorrow so we promised to take her to her favorite restaurant! HAve a great weekend everyone!

Beth

[VOLEYMOM]

Home once again. How does the weekend go by so quickly. Had a good time with my DD. Waterpolo and a little shopping in between games. Tennis tournament very fun. A little to much sun but what can you expect. Palm Springs was warm but very windy. Our car looks like it went through a sand storm.
My son is even sorrier that he is not coming. I wish he could come along. We have done quite a few cruises with him and he loves them as much as we do. He did announce that he has gotten engaged to his girlfriend. Now a wedding! His girlfriend is very nice and they are very happy. This should be a very busy year!
Debbie somehow I missed where you are planning your next cruise. Fill me in!
Have a great work week everyone!
Rebecca

[Marcys]

Rebecca...glad you had a fun weekend with your DD. Snowed on and off all weekend here. Yes Debbie, I'd like to know what your next group plans are, too! We would like to do the southern Caribbean next year since we've gone east twice and this cruise will make west three times. Was supposed to do the southern route this year on Adventure of the Seas but cruise prices got out of hand as did air fares to San Juan. Then we saw this group cruise...:)

[Snowball]

Rebecca - congratulations on your son getting engaged!!! Did they set a date yet?

My cruise for next year will be the 6/24/06 Carnival Liberty 8 day eastern cruise. It leaves from Fort Lauderdale and visits San Juan, St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, and Nassau. I love the southern cruises too, but airfare to San Juan can be really expensive, and since we plan on cruising to Hawaii in 2007 or 2008, I figured the eastern might be a little cheaper for us. If prices are significantly cheaper for another week during the summer I will consider changing weeks, but I would really prefer to cruise in June rather than July or August.

Here is a link to the thread I created to see if anyone was interested in forming a group for this cruise. [url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=148703"]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=148703[/url] The pricing for this cruise isn't out yet, but I figured I would see how many people were interested now, that way if we do form a group then we can lock in our prices as soon as the pricing is released. It seems like cruise critic really does a great job of getting good pricing and amenities for their groups, so hopefully there will be enough people interested in joining the group for it to be worthwhile.

No cruise shopping for me this weekend - we had to buy a new refrigerator which took a large chunk of money out of my cruise fund. :( At least I have some time left to try and put more into my savings between now and the cruise.

[VOLEYMOM]

Debbie, that does sound like a great itineray. Tortola is so beautiful. One of my most favorite stops ever. I have only been there once since it seems like not many ships stop there. It will be cheaper going from Ft. Laud. I have done a couple of San Juan cruises. We did a Princess on in Oct 03 and got such a great deal $499. The thing that saved us was we used miles to get there. The airfare is sooo expensive. It gets so much more expensive when you need to cruise when the kids are off. We just did a Hawaii cruise for $1400. (balcony room) to Hawaii for 10 days and that included airfare. Celebrity had a special going on. They even had cheap airfare from back east. This cruise was over Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. Hawaii is so beautiful and we got to see a little of everything.
Is this how you did this group? Was wondering how it worked. Glad we found this cruise as the prices were really going up.
Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of cruise shopping!! We will need a new car soon and that might put in a big dent in our cruises!
My son has not set the date but think it will be pretty soon. Don't think they are going to do the big wedding thing as she was married before. Least I hope not the big wedding thing!!
Have a great day everyone!
Rebecca

[Marcys]

Here's a response from another board by a guy who was on the March 6 sailing of Valor about the canopy tour at Tabyana.

[color=red]For any skeptical Valor cruisers wanting to do the zip line in Roatan: FEAR NOT.

Just go there as soon as you can. Get the Tabyana Beach Tour. Go to the gift shop at Tabyana and buy the Canopy Tour. Nothing to it. There are no other ships there until noon when an NCL ship comes to port, so they are open for your buisness.

It was a great time. Not too scary, but loads of fun and well worth the $35 price tag. Plus they take pics of you that are about $10 a piece, but worth it for one of them.

Then you'll have the better part of 4 hours still to enjoy the beach or the great snorkeling right off shore.

Now, not sure about any other days, because if another ship is in port they may be already booked by the time you get there.[/color]
[color=red][color=blue]Decisions, decisions...Tabyana Beach and 11 line zipline vs Palmetto Beach and 20 platform with Indiana Jones rope bridges, one rapel, etc. I definately think overall, Tabyana is cheaper, but the one at Palmetto Bay sounds fun!!
[/color]

[/color]

[VOLEYMOM]

Marcy, thanks for the update. Think I will go with the newer zipline. Sounds like something we all would enjoy. Which one for your family? Do I just e-mail that person that you have been corresponding with? I want to be sure we have enough time to get there and enjoy everything!
Rebecca

[Snowball]

Well, since I am not doing the canopy tour then my opinion doesn't really matter. But since I am going to book the Tabyana Beach excursion, I am hoping that you all decide to take that one - then we can all meet up at the beach after your canopy tour is over. :) The other one does sound like more fun though. :o I'm sure either way you'll have a blast.

Did everyone make their hotel reservations yet? I'm staying in Miami Beach the night before. Where is everyone else staying? We are planning on going to Miami Beach during the day, then visiting South Beach that night. :cool:

[lhall85917]

No reservations for us yet - still working on Priceline. We go back and forth between staying in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Our flight doesn't come in until 11:30 pm so it makes sense to stay in Fort Lauderdale and then just get a ride to the port in the morning. But... if we make our way to Miami downtown - its a little cheaper, the kids can sleep in a little later and we'll be right there. :confused:
We don't have zipline plans either - but I would like to know beach options for Roatan and possibilities on how to get over to the other side of the island. I haven't checked that board for a while, probably should soon!

[Corl4]

Hi everyone!

We're staying at the SpringHill Suites in FLL the night before....no cost since we have Marriott points. We are renting a car just for the day and might drive down to Miami to look around!

Still not sure which beach we're heading to on Roatan...kids want to do some snorkeling so I'll have to check out what our choices are. In Coz, I think we are going to spend a little time at Paradise Beach before heading to C&C. All the "action" at C&C winds down around 5 or so when all the other ships are leaving so hopefully it will be hopping with all the Valor cruisers till at least 10:30!

Debbie: Let me know when you have prices for next summer's cruise! If the price is right, we'll be there. With all the cruises we've done, we've never been on the eastern and we'd like to try it!

Rebecca: Congrats on your son's engagement! Now you have a cruise and a wedding to look forward to!

Have a good evening!

Beth

[Marcys]

Rebecca, I'm going to call the woman who books the canopy tour and ask her how we can book separately and still get the lower price. She's got a toll-free number. Also, it sounds like you can just grab a taxi there and ony pay $45.

Yes, congrats on the upcoming wedding!!

[sebastian01]

Marcy and Rebecca, I emailede the company about the canapy tours and she sent back that we need at least 6 people who are ready to book and we can make the reservations individually. My husband and I are planning on doing the $85.00 canapy trip, we just need 4 more people to book. Please let me know if there are anyone ready to commit now.

I am still trying to get a price with priceline, no luck yet. We plan on staying in the downtown area.

Debbie, where at in southbeach are you going to at night. I have never been there and had not really thought about it. We may be interested in the nightlife there, but I would have no idea where to go.

I wish we could do the cruise with you next year, but that is the same time as the convention we go to every year.

[Snowball]

Kim - This is our first time in South Beach too, so I don't know where we will end up. I just figured we'd drive down and park somewhere in that general area, then see what happens. How high have you gone in your bidding for downtown? I got the Four Points Sheraton in Miami Beach through Priceline for only $55, and the room normally goes for $119, so you might want to consider getting a room in Miami Beach or South Beach if you can't get one for a good price in the downtown area.

If has suggestions of good places to visit in South Beach, I'm all ears. :D I'll have my daughter with me, so it would have to be somewhere relatively tame.

Beth - I'll be sure to keep you posted about next year's cruise. If you've never done the eastern route then this is probably a great one for you since it stops at 5 different ports. I'm just waiting (and waiting, and waiting :rolleyes: ) for Carnival to release the pricing, then I'll be able to see what kind of group pricing and amenities we can get.

As for Roatan, I mainly picked Tabyana Beach because my daughter isn't too much of a beach person, but I've read on the boards that a lot of people go to Tabyana. So I'm hoping that if we go there maybe some of her friends will be there too so then she won't be bored.

[lhall85917]

[url]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=150926[/url]
This thread is discussing staff reaction on the ships to Cruise Critic members and various perks that have been given just by mentioning Cruise Critic. Just thought it was interesting. When we went to Hawaii on NCL we met as a CC group just through the role call with the hotel director. He took our room numbers and we received a plate of goodies each evening (cookies, desserts, etc.).
On another note, still no hotel. Tried $55 for the FLL airport through Priceline a while ago, but no luck. I don't know if its too early or what the deal is - it shows average rates of $99 so I find $55 fairly high for that price range. We'll keep trying downtown Miami and the FLL until something comes through. Then I think I can work on rental cars when we get back and for Cozumel, purchase a Coz map, finalize some other things. I seem to be on one track at a time -right now its this darn hotel!! LOL :o

Its Wednesday - another week about over!!

[Marcys]

Sharon, thanks for posting that link. Just wanted to share that identifying yourself as a CC can also work against you. One member of our group last year on RCCL's Explorer of the Seas made laminated magnetic signs for our doors, plus at the Meet and Mingle sponsored by RCCL we were given CC pins. The reaction around the ship by crew was not always positive...they made comments such as, "oh, you're the ones who always complain about us." At the repeat guests party, the CD basically blew me off on the reception line when he saw my CC pin.

On another note, things have not settled down here since last week's student walkout at our high school and clash with police over the firing of a much loved principal. Last night all high school families got this recorded phone message:
[left][color=red]Hello, this is Greg *****, Director of Pupil Personnel Services. I am calling to share information that has been brought to our attention but at this time is unsubstantiated. The rumor concerns a possible activity at the high school on Friday, March 18th that involves students hurting themselves or others. We have been interviewing students today and worked with police. The high school staff has been briefed. We are asking for your help. Please talk to your children and ask them if they have information or have heard rumors about this kind of activity. We are working through this issue and want to be proactive in our response to this. If you or your child has any information that may help us dispel or confirm a planned activity, please call the Safe Schools Helpline at 1-800-418-6423, EXT. 359. This is an anonymous helpline. Again, the number is 1-800-418-6423, EXT. 359. Thank you for your help. [/color]
[color=#ff0000][/color]
[color=black]Would you send your child to school Friday?? The school is then off for a week for spring break.[/color][/left]

[lhall85917]

Marci,
The message almost implies that you wouldn't want to send your kids to school on Friday. A couple of years ago there was a rumor around our high school that there was going to be some kind of trouble and a lot of kids stayed home. It wasn't comparible to your situation though because ours was largely rumor and you have some history of problems recently. I think it would be a good idea to see if there are going to be repurcussions if she stays home on Friday. If not, it might be a good idea. A lot of times it seems that the troublemakers seem to find their way out of a situation while the innocent bystanders get slammed for being in the wrong place.
It seems like a difficult situation, but its always best to err on the side of cautiousness than to regret something later. Can you keep us updated on how it goes?

[Marcys]

Sharon, thanks for your teacher's perspective. The school district website just asks that if parents keep kids home that they call the attendance line if your kid will be out so they have an accurate record of who's in school. This is the usual procedure for an absence.

This is the latest update from 4 p.m. today:
[left]While this information remains unsubstantiated, we are implementing our school safety plan, which includes the high visibility of adults in the building, student support and police presence appropriate to support the safety plan.

School will be in session on Friday and is considered safe. However, if a parent decides to keep his or her child home from school, the absence must be reported using the regular attendance procedures.
[/left]

[Snowball]

Has your daughter heard anything that would help confirm or disprove the rumors? Does she think something is really going to happen?

I think that since the school and police are aware of the rumors, if there really were plans to do anything they probably won't do it now. But it is still a difficult decision because you don't want to send her and then have something actually happen. I would probably err on the side of caution and keep her home for the day, then hope that everything dies down while they are on their Easter break.

[emarismom]

Hi Marci,


There have been times in the past here in Miami where incidents of violence were considered a "possibility". Most of these time this has been countywide or possible in certain areas of town. For example, when we had a NAFTA convention or during high profile court casesor even in threatening weather,like tropical storms getting close. During those times or school district has made it "optional" for students to come to school. If the students came that is fine and if they did not come it was not marked as an "unexcused" absence. In some of those instances, the district did make the decision to not count the absence against the child until after the event had past. Basically, they waited to see how many students are affected and then decide how to respond. This may happen. In my opinion I would err on the side of caution.

As for those of you visiting South Beach. There is a very long strip of clubs, restaurants, shops, etc. All you have to do is drive to the beach. Park in one of the large covered parking lots (about$10.00) and walk. You will find something to enjoy. I haven't frequented the beach in the last several years as my kids are young and sometimes the element in questionable. For singles, young couples, and party animals, you will have a blast!! As my kids grow, I'm sure I will venture to the beach more frequently.

[VOLEYMOM]

Hi everyone, thought I would just say "hi" it bump this up. Hope everyone has a great Friday. Yea the weekend and just a little closer to our sailing!!

[Marcys]

Boy, do I feel like I'm back in the 60s and 70s...attended a candlelight demonstration on the town green last night in support of the high school principal. My kids really wantd to go and I told them not unless I was there too, to "judge" the crowd. It was a very peaceful deomonstration and I was really proud at how the kids behaved and how well-spoken they were. I did keeep my daughter home from high school today as some "outlying" kids who were sent to alternative schools last month were threatening violence for today. They were arrested yesterday but it's not known how many may have been involved. Most of the parents I spoke with at the deomonstration were keeping their kids home today. The police are going to be in the schools today. So we decided to start spring break today. My daughter is so angry with me...she wanted to go to school today. I'm fairly liberal in what I allow my kids to do, but my anxiety was mounting throughout the day yesterday and I decided to listen to my heart.

[Snowball]

Good morning and TGIF everyone!!! We are down to 12 weeks left until our cruise now!! :D I'm so glad it is Friday - these five day work weeks are too long for me.

Did anyone fill out their funpass registrations? Here is a link to Carnival's website where you can fill it out. [url="https://funpass.carnival.com/SignIn.aspx"]https://funpass.carnival.com/SignIn.aspx[/url] If you do it early enough then everything will be printed on your cruise docs and you won't have to fill out any forms to fill out later. ;) If you are having a problem with getting the funpass system to accept that you are a past guest, you need to call Kevin and have him add your past guest information into his system - then it should accept you as a past guest in the funpass system.

Marcy - I think you made the right decision, especially considering the fact that some students were already arrested for threatening violence. Hopefully things will calm down by the time the students return after spring break.

[lhall85917]

Marcy, I'm sure it is hard going against your daughter's wishes, but I hope that it all works out. There probably won't be any trouble today since everyone is being so vigilant, but an extra vacation day won't hurt anyone!!!

Debbie, I filled our FunPasses out earlier this year, I need to go back and add flight information and we're ready to go. This makes life so much easier. I've followed someone's suggestion and put together a binder to take with me with all our cruise info. I've got pocket pouches to store passports, tickets, etc. and printed up emails and sites with information about the ship and the ports. This will have to be guarded with my life! :eek: But, I really like the idea of having it organized and easy to locate.

[Snowball]

Sharon - that's a great idea. I usually bring a folder with me full of stuff like that, but a binder may be a more organized way to go - plus then I don't have to worry about stuff falling out of the folder and getting lost. :eek: I might have to start working on making a binder this weekend. That little project might keep me busy for a few days, then I'll be that much closer to the cruise actually getting here. ;)

[Marcys]

Cruising is such hard work, isn't it??:rolleyes: