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

[Marcys]

Anyone know how to rate this thread so that it will have stars after it, like some of the other post do?? I've searched but can't seem to find that special button to press. Or...do the moderators do that?????

[Marcys]

Here's a link to a thread on Valor's cruise director and ass't CD. Anyone know if these guys are good?

[url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=102781"]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=102781[/url]

[Snowball]

Marcy - you have to get a new dress for this cruise to go with the new cruiseline. ;) Then you'll have to get new pictures done, so you can compare the photography skills between RCI and Carnival. :D

From what I've heard, Josh Riffe used to be the CD on the Carnival Paradise, and everything I read about him was positive so hopefully we'll like him. :)

We're almost down to the 200 day mark!!! In my experience, once you reach 100 days then time starts flying, so I can't wait to get there!!! :cool:

[lhall85917]

Marcy, I have the same question about how to rate a thread. I've looked on top of each page, but can't see anyplace where we can rate it. I also looked under the FAQ's, but it doesn't tell how you can start a rating, let us know if you find out.

Looking back in this thread, I see some groups that haven't posted for a while. Debbie, do you know if we've lost anyone from the cruise or if they are just "out to sea" for now?! Do you happen to know how many cabins we have booked? I was just hoping to get some more to add to our list on the webpage.

I'm hoping this is a better week than this weekend, we spent 3 hours making noodles for Thanksgiving yesterday and they all turned black when they were drying. This has never happened before, can't figure out what happened, so tonight its back to making more noodles. :mad:

I guess you can look at it as something to fill time while waiting for the cruise!

Be sure to send me your info if you want it added to our Valor Voyagers webpage - [email]lhallspam@cinci.rr.com[/email] (remove spam). Happy Monday everyone!

[Marcys]

OK Debbie...let me see if I have this straight. I have to tell my hubby that Carnival policy says that I HAVE to have a new formal dress to go with a new cruiseline...and that I then HAVE to get pictures of new dress on new cruiseline!? And, of course, every woman knows that a new dress requires new shoes...new jewelry...new handbag...new shawl...

Sharon, I also noticed that some people in thei ROLL CALL seemed to have gone "overboard." I keep checking ROLL CALL to see if any individuals not on the group cruise have posted there. I'm sorry about your noodles. What are you having them with in your meal?

Since I'm traveling this year and my m-i-l is too sick to cook, this will be a restaurant year. But, the important thing is that we're together. This time last year my hubby was in the process of being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. So, we have much to be thankful for this year. If you look at the pictures of him on "our" website, that cruise was just a few weeks after finishing chemotherapy and his hair was just growing back. It was a slow and restful cruise for us...this year hope to be a bit more energetic!

[Snowball]

[font=Century Gothic][b]Good morning everyone! Monday isn't so bad when you know it's going to be a short week - I get out at 2pm on Wednesday and am off Thursday & Friday. :D [/b][/font]
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[font=Century Gothic][b]As far as rating a post - I could be wrong, but I think that option was turned off shortly after the new boards were implemented. [/b][/font]
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[font=Century Gothic][b]Sharon - sorry to hear about your noodles. :( [/b][/font]
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[font=Century Gothic][b]Marcy - I am a certified shopaholic, so I'll use any excuse to buy a new dress, shoes, handbag, etc. :p [/b][/font]
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[font=Century Gothic][b]I only know of 2 definite cancellations from our group, so I'm not sure where the rest have been hiding. I'm going to contact Kevin after the rest of the deposits are due to get an updated list of our group members. I'll post the information at that time. Maybe we'll have some new members to welcome too. I'm surprised that this group isn't more popular, since it is during the peak season. :rolleyes: [/b][/font]

[Marcys]

Debbie...what surprises me is that no one has joined the thread that isn't part of the group cruise. There's GOT to be others going on this cruise that booked on their own! That's why I keep checking the ROLL CALL board for Carnival to see if anyone has started a thread there.

How far are you, Debbie, from King of Prussia mall? If I recall, that mall was a little overwhelming and a bit too big. It also has a lot of high end stores, doesn't it? You've also got some good shopping in NJ, too, right?

I posted on another thread about the ratings...and it seems that this features was turned off shortly after the new boards were up. It was just another way to flame people.

[Snowball]

I live about 35-45 minutes away from the King of Prussia mall, but I don't shop there very often because it is a little too upscale and expensive for me. I also don't shop in NJ very often, because I can't see paying a bridge toll just to go to the mall (I have my cheap moments :o ). There are plenty of other local malls here too - the one that I normally shop at is about 20-25 minutes from my house (maybe a little too close since I go there so often :rolleyes: ).

I have been periodically checking the roll call boards too, but haven't seen anyone else start a thread over there for our cruising week.

[Marcys]

Do they sell soda cards for kids and, if so, how much??

I just got a notice for jury duty for December 20!! What a week to get jury duty! I want to try to get out of it, but what if I get a deferment and it starts June 12?? I might just do it then, hoping there will be a light schedule and early dismissal, if I get chosen, due to Christmas and New Year's. The Dean of the College of Nursing where I teach is writing a letter since there is a severe nursing shortage and an even greater shortage of nursing faculty and if someone is out, there is NO ONE to take over! No such thing as substitute teachers. We can't even find enough faculty to hire and we have a waiting list of students. We'll see what happens! Ugh!:(

[lhall85917]

Marcy, if they want you to do jury duty on June 12, tell them that they'll all have to show up in Miami and you'll be happy to do it on deck at the sailaway. Anyone convicted gets to walk the plank! Anyway, it is poor timing, even if you don't have much going on its still one more thing to deal with at the holidays. Hopefully, it will work out.

[Snowball]

[font=Arial][size=3][color=darkgreen]Marcy - it really stinks that you were selected for jury duty this close to the holidays. Hopefully you'll be able to get out of it, or at least postpone it. :( Do they let you request a certain time that's better for you? I think they let us do that here in Philly, not that there's ever a really good time for jury duty. :rolleyes: [/color][/size][/font]
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[font=Arial][size=3][color=darkgreen]According to Carnival's website, a fun fountain card (soda card) is $4.00 per day for children, and $5.50 per day for adults, plus 15% gratuity. So for a 7 day cruise, a child's card will be $28 plus 15% = $32.20. You might be better off just trying to find a place in Miami to buy a case of soda and bring it on with you - that's what we did for our cruise in May. My hubby is a big diet pepsi drinker, and hates diet coke so we just brought our own soda onboard, along with some water and a bottle of wine. ;) [/color][/size][/font]
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[Marcys]

Debbie...I would only get the soda card for my 13 year old who will NOT come back to his cabin every time he wants a drink. Everyone has their own idea of what makes vacation special. To him, it's going up to a bar whenever he wants and ordering a soda. Besides, I think that works out to 4 sodas a day to cover the cost...I know that dinner is at least 2 and I'm sure he has much more than that the rest of the day.

The Dean has written a letter for me which I will pick up later to ask to be excused from jury duty. So far, it's worked for all except one person. I don't know if I'm doing myself a favor postponing it since the next time could be worse. I don't have any real conflicts, just the kids home, some doctors appointment, holidays, etc. Oh well!

[Snowball]

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. Mine was nice - I cooked and my in-laws came over for dinner. Today I am debating whether to go out and brave the malls or not. :eek: Only 4 weeks left until Christmas, and I still have a bit of shopping left to visit. Or I could just stay home today and start my decorating. Decisions, decisions. :rolleyes:


Have a great weekend!!! :D

[Marcys]

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! We had a great trip to NYC. The city was absolutely packed...but it was a lot of fun. My son and I got up early Thursday morning and went to see the Macy's parade...totally unplanned. We weren't that close but we were able to look up and see all the hot air balloons. Did see the Royal Caribbena float, that was fun! Did a lot of shopping! That was great! Saw friends! Now back to the grind!

[Snowball]

Marcy - Glad to hear you and your family enjoyed your time in NYC. It must have been really neat being there for the parade too. :)

I went out shopping Friday afternoon and now I'm almost finished with my holiday shopping. :D Our timing was good because all of the early morning black Friday shoppers were gone by that time, so we did not encounter any long lines. Now I just have to finish decorating. :rolleyes:


I have some bad news - I heard back from Soto's and they said they are raising their price for the stingray swim up to $30 per person,:( and they will only be making 2 stops - swim with the rays and coral gardens. I told them I would let them know if we are still interested. It seems like the price is about the same as the other tour operators are charging for that excursion. Please post here and let me know if you still want to book with Soto's. I could also contact Nativeway and see if they offer group pricing, but I think their regular rate is $30 too. I've heard very positive reviews about them, too. Just let me know how you think we should proceed.

[Marcys]

Debbie, I had also heard that Soto's was going up in price but I didn't know if that included us if we had already "reserved" a trip. I would still go with them. We went with Nativeway 2 years ago and had a great time. The guides were so good in the water with getting everyone to hold a stingray, kiss it, etc, that we had people from other groups coming over to our group. There are several other tour guides with excellent reputations, Capt Marvin is another. Quite honestly, the sting rays and one other stop is enough for me. That leaves more time to go to the beach , shop, etc. We had wanted to try to parasail in the afternoon anyway and this would leave us more time.

[Snowball]

Where were you planning on going parasailing? My daughter and I were going to try it during our cruise in May, but it was too windy. Maybe we'll have better luck this time. I was thinking of trying it at the place in Cozumel right next door to Paradise Beach, but then I heard that they get really busy there and you need to make your reservation early in the day before the spots fill up.

[Marcys]

My kids have been bugging me about parasailing but our days have always been so full. Since I want to take the all day dune buggy tour in Cozumel, I thought that Grand Cayman would be a good place to parasail. Only problem is that it is first come, first served. So, cutting the stingrays shorter would give us a chance to go to 7 Mile Beach to get on the list for parasailing. We should have done it last year when we were at Paradise Beach in Coz, they had it at the beach next door.

[Marcys]

If you're traveling with kids, here's a link to kid/teen/family activities and programs on Valor. Mother/daughter spa sounds interesting!

[url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=106217"]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=106217[/url]

[Snowball]

Thanks Marcy!!! I showed Jasmine the part about the teen club and she is so excited, especially about them having their own teen dance club!!! I guess I'll know right where to find her. :D

[cruiserkathi]

Hello: Just checking in. Glad to know you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. We did too -- two older children and their families, in-laws/out-laws and friends all made for a great day. We're still interested in visiting Sting Ray City -- two stops are enough for us. We'd go with either Sotos' or Native Way. There are four of us. Just let us know. A slight price increase isn't a problem. I've asked Brad at the orphanage in Roatan about drivers, the canopy tour and beach. Will let you know when I get a response. Will post his "needs" list soon. We're planning on a beach day in Cozumel: Nachi Cochum or Paradise Beach. Would love to join you at Carlos and Charlies later. I'll have my teens check out the website. They're looking forward to this cruise.

[Snowball]

Kathy - you should go to Paradise Beach in Cozumel. That's where I'll be and I'm pretty sure Nancy is going there too. The beach is free and it is only $5 per person if you want to use the water toys. This is my first time in Cozumel, but I've heard so many great things about Paradise Beach that it is on my must-do list. :)

I just e-mailed Soto's to let them know that we are still intersted, and to find out if our group of 12 is large enough to have our own excursion. I also asked them if a deposit is required ahead of time, or just a credit card to hold until we get there. I'll let you all know when I hear back from them.

I can't believe that I am actually excited about swimming with the stingrays! I'm not sure which I am more - nervous or excited, though. :rolleyes:

[Marcys]

Kathi...we're interested in the orphange/canopy tour/beach in Roatan. I missed taking things to the school in Costa Maya since they were closed for summer vacation. My kids need to see how good they have it. My daughter is asking why we can't adopt a child there! Paradise Beach was fun...PB Tom was great to meet! He asked what everyone's screen names were so he could recognize who we were. We went to the beach with a few other CC families and couples. We got massages on the beach in Costa Maya, but PB had them, too! Cheap!

Debbie...do you like cats?? The sting rays feel like cats rubbing against your legs. My husband said it was like being attacked by portobello mushrooms!!:eek: Hopefully, I haven't said the wrong thing and turned you off!:p

[Marcys]

Only 189 days to go!!! Where is everybody????

For anyone interested in the canopy tour in Roatan, here's a link to one of the sites. It sounds like a blast. Still trying to clarify whether this tour is only available through a ship excursion, even though Carnival does't have it listed as an excursion. I e-mailed CCL and asked and got a nonanswer. Kathi, thanks for the e-mail on Roatan.
[url="http://www.roatanisland.net/rollercoaster.htm"]http://www.roatanisland.net/rollercoaster.htm[/url]

[lhall85917]

Can't wait to find out about the zipline - sounds like fun. Everyone must be too busy getting ready for the holidays to be on the boards checking things out! We put up our trees today and put some decorations outside yesterday. We're going to try to get some shopping done this afternoon - times flying!
Still waiting on airfares to show some change, we're getting right to that 6 month mark, but so far they've been the same forever. I check out prices for our cruise occassionally but haven't seen any change in it either. I need to call Keith this week with the balance of our deposit, I'm waiting for my son. We don't have him signed up to go, but he's thinking about it and checking to see if he can get off work.