It's been almost 2 years...

[lunyma]

And I just booked another Carnival cruise. This will be my 24th overall (I think?), 10th on Carnival, and 3rd on Fascination. I went the cheapo route and booked an IS guarantee, just yesterday, and today had a cabin assignment (U3, Cat 5A). The ship seems to have a lot of availability though, so I'm hoping for another big bump. Even if I don't get it, I won't complain. It sure beats the snow and cold of Chicagoland in February!

46 more days... <sigh>

[Peaceful]

And you do know that as your 10th Carnival cruise you are entitled to VIP Platinum perks, don't you? Congrats and have a great time!

[lunyma]

And you do know that as your 10th Carnival cruise you are entitled to VIP Platinum perks, don't you? Congrats and have a great time!

 

Yup! A few extra goodies to look forward to :). I can't wait! Last 2 cruises were NCL and RCCL, and were great, but I'm looking forward to going back to Carnival :).

[connergirls]

Soak up that sun and enjoy :D

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Pam,

 

Welcome back. How are the kids doing in college?

 

Bill

[lunyma]

Soak up that sun and enjoy :D

 

That's the plan!

[lunyma]

Pam,

 

Welcome back. How are the kids doing in college?

 

Bill

 

Hey, Bill! Good to *see* ya! My oldest graduated after finishing up with 4 months in Japan last summer (Nagoya Gakuin University), and has a great programming job, Second son is graduating from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, in May, and youngest will be starting next September, probably either at Purdue (already accepted) or McGill, in Montreal (won't know till late January).

[LHP]

Pam:

 

If (for some gremlin reason) these words don't appear on your documents

"please proceed to VIP Check In"...make sure your cruise history is up to date on their website and take a copy with you.

 

Happy Cruising!!

[HeidiHo]

Welcome back Pam.:) Been a long time. I hear ya on those Chicago winters. Unfortunately I've already had a cruise this winter so it's really gonna be a long one since there won't be one to look forward to.:(

[lunyma]

Pam:

 

If (for some gremlin reason) these words don't appear on your documents

"please proceed to VIP Check In"...make sure your cruise history is up to date on their website and take a copy with you.

 

Happy Cruising!!

 

All my cruises are listed online. I'll definitely make a copy to bring along...

[lunyma]

Welcome back Pam.:) Been a long time. I hear ya on those Chicago winters. Unfortunately I've already had a cruise this winter so it's really gonna be a long one since there won't be one to look forward to.:(

 

Hi, Heidi! I cruised last Jan (NCL Pearl) and August (Sovereign of the Seas), but I haven't been on Carnival in almost 2 years. If it wasn't for getting ridiculously low airfare ($113.40 RT for 2 people to FLL), I wouldn't be going on this cruise at all...

[HeidiHo]

Hi, Heidi! I cruised last Jan (NCL Pearl) and August (Sovereign of the Seas), but I haven't been on Carnival in almost 2 years. If it wasn't for getting ridiculously low airfare ($113.40 RT for 2 people to FLL), I wouldn't be going on this cruise at all...

 

If only those rates would be available for the end of March. I'd really love to do the Valor with some friends we met on the Miracle but the Spring break rates from ORD to FLL or MIA are outrageous. Are you flying out of ORD and what airline? We got a great rate to FLL for our cruise 3 weeks ago. $140.00 direct from ORD on AA.

[lunyma]

If only those rates would be available for the end of March. I'd really love to do the Valor with some friends we met on the Miracle but the Spring break rates from ORD to FLL or MIA are outrageous. Are you flying out of ORD and what airline? We got a great rate to FLL for our cruise 3 weeks ago. $140.00 direct from ORD on AA.

 

$140 is a great fare, but the $113 I paid was for BOTH of us. It was one of those Spirit airlines deals. $18 plus $40 something in tax for each ticket. I've tried a million times to get in on those but am always too late. Rates in March are always higher, especially from ORD, since most of our schools have spring break at the end of the month. MDW can sometimes be cheaper, but I HATE going there, and I, like you, am MUCH closer to ORD. I'm really not *allowed* to go away during vacation times or holidays, either, because that's when we're busiest at work (I work at a pet boarding facility). We had 99 check ins yesterday alone, and another 79 coming in today. By the middle of the week, we will have almost 500 dogs being boarded, as well as about 40 cats and numerous small animals and birds. It's literally a ZOO! LOL!

[HeidiHo]

$140 is a great fare, but the $113 I paid was for BOTH of us. It was one of those Spirit airlines deals. $18 plus $40 something in tax for each ticket. I've tried a million times to get in on those but am always too late. Rates in March are always higher, especially from ORD, since most of our schools have spring break at the end of the month. MDW can sometimes be cheaper, but I HATE going there, and I, like you, am MUCH closer to ORD. I'm really not *allowed* to go away during vacation times or holidays, either, because that's when we're busiest at work (I work at a pet boarding facility). We had 99 check ins yesterday alone, and another 79 coming in today. By the middle of the week, we will have almost 500 dogs being boarded, as well as about 40 cats and numerous small animals and birds. It's literally a ZOO! LOL!

 

OMG! I didn't know we even had any boarding facilities that large in our area.:eek: We take our dog out to a small place in Barrington. Our vet is their on call vet so I like that if there is a problem with our dog while we're gone her own vet will be see her. It's just a small place that only takes a few animals.

 

I didn't know Spirit Airlines had those fantastic special deals. I'll have to check them out. I can imagine that they are really hard to get tho. You were lucky.

[lunyma]

OMG! I didn't know we even had any boarding facilities that large in our area.:eek: We take our dog out to a small place in Barrington. Our vet is their on call vet so I like that if there is a problem with our dog while we're gone her own vet will be see her. It's just a small place that only takes a few animals.

 

I didn't know Spirit Airlines had those fantastic special deals. I'll have to check them out. I can imagine that they are really hard to get tho. You were lucky.

 

We are definitely the largest boarding facility in the area, and we're in Prairie View. We always take dogs to *their* vets when we can, but when that's not possible, we use Lincolnshire or the Buffalo Grove emergency vet clinic. Each are only about a mile or so away.

 

Go to Spiritairlines.com and sign up for their special emails. You wouldn't believe some of the deals they have!

[HeidiHo]

Go to Spiritairlines.com and sign up for their special emails. You wouldn't believe some of the deals they have!

 

Thanks, I'll do that. Now that my husband and I are finally approaching a time in our lives where we can travel w/o the kids, we might be able to go during non peak times and might be able to find some of those fantastic deals. Our youngest is now a junior in high school and the oldest is now a freshman in college. Our cruise earlier this month was our 1st vacation w/o the kids. Now that our youngest drives it was easier to go because we could have her stay with relatives/friends but she had a car so they didn't have to drive her everywhere. Our son was still away at at school at the time. As soon as she goes off to college in 2 years it will be even easier to pick up and go whenever we want to.:D

[lunyma]

>Our cruise earlier this month was our 1st vacation w/o the kids<

 

And wasn't that a wonderful feeling??? <G>

[HeidiHo]

>Our cruise earlier this month was our 1st vacation w/o the kids<

 

And wasn't that a wonderful feeling??? <G>

 

It was wonderful except I still worried about my daughter doing something stupid while we were gone.:rolleyes: She stayed with relatives some nights and friends on others but she still had access to the house. We wanted her to be able to come home to get stuff plus feed the cats (dog went to kennel). I was just worried that she'd have a party or something. My neighbor across the street kept an eye on the house tho. I also worried because she was on antibiotics before we left and on the morning we left she started having an allergic reaction. She stopped taking the meds but she still got worse after we left so I was calling her a lot before the ship sailed and even made one quick cell phone call from the ship the 2nd night. Can't wait to see how much that cost me.:eek: All turned out well tho. her hives eventually went away and I saw no evidence of a party in our house after we got home.:) I can't wait till we can travel when they are both away at school while we're gone.

[lunyma]

It was wonderful except I still worried about my daughter doing something stupid while we were gone.:rolleyes: She stayed with relatives some nights and friends on others but she still had access to the house. We wanted her to be able to come home to get stuff plus feed the cats (dog went to kennel). I was just worried that she'd have a party or something. My neighbor across the street kept an eye on the house tho. I also worried because she was on antibiotics before we left and on the morning we left she started having an allergic reaction. She stopped taking the meds but she still got worse after we left so I was calling her a lot before the ship sailed and even made one quick cell phone call from the ship the 2nd night. Can't wait to see how much that cost me.:eek: All turned out well tho. her hives eventually went away and I saw no evidence of a party in our house after we got home.:) I can't wait till we can travel when they are both away at school while we're gone.

 

Moms NEVER stop worrying... Trust me on that one! I'm glad she got over that reaction to the meds. I would feel awful if my kid were home sick, while I was away...