I think about this cruise so much, I think its safe to say im addicted... lol. I had conversations with my pvp and I told her that I was interested in working for carnival as a pvp so that I could have the perks and deals they get... I think she thought I was kidding..  Really, we work so hard to sustain ourselves, and when you book something like this, you have it in mind day and night. I can practically taste the frozen drink that I get all the time when on board. Its called a kiss on the lips, delish.... I would love to go down there sooner, I would have to wait to see what happens, and like you I have been looking at the airfares and I have been seeing the same thing. Im waiting for southwest to add november to the list. I haven't checked into Airtran yet, will check it out. The cheapest prices I have come across is 318 roundtrip. I check out cheapflights.com. I flew through Orbits deals last yr and spent 308 roundtrip. If I could get it cheaper, I would be happy, but I will never fly with NWA again.. Long story will have to fill you in later on that... As far as school goes, I work as a nursing asst and we don't make good money. I love what I do, but I have thought about furthering my Nursing carreer. Nursing is changing and not for the better. I will be taking classes for education. I have always wanted to teach. I alot of the classes im going to take can carry over for nursing if I choose to take that direction.

After the way this week has been going I am sooo ready - NOW!  I plan on getting a drink as soon as my feet touch the Lido deck.  So NWA was bad, how about SWA?  I was looking on their site and they have really good fares but they do not have November yet.  I will let you know when AirTran puts the November dates up.  It should be in a week or so.  If their rates hold true to what they are listing now for earlier dates in November, it could be $64 each way (from Phila) which would be great. 

I am surprised that Nursing is changing as I thought that would be a field that would be the same and secure as everyone gets sick, especially with the stress of the economy.

Good for you taking classes that you can use for it as well as something else, if you decide to pursue a different direction. 

Off to work

I know what you mean...  this vacation is becoming more and more something that we need. Im like you though, once I walk onto the ship like the atrium entrance at the main bar, I have to instantly get a cocktail or beer. lol... I think it sets the tone. Its cool to be aboard the ship and on the lido waving at the poor individuals who have to stay... But it seems to fly by when you get past the 3rd day... I wont think about that right now...  I just want November to come so bad.... I would appreciate it when you hear anything about the prices for airtran and swa come available.... Im going to be checking it out also...  Im in Ohio so I don't think there will be a major difference. I do know that its approximately 34 minutes from the airport to the cruise terminal and thats not bad. I wonder how much a cab ride would be? I have to check out some hotels also... Nothing fancy.

Yes, the Nursing field is ever changing and Its not for the good either. Its everywhere though.

Happy Monday - NOT.

 Just checked and airTran has their flights listed for our dates now.  I think I am going to book mine today.  Not as low as they were for early dates, but lower than I was quoted with Carnival. So I am just going to go for it.  I'm not sure if they will be cheaper later, but I just want to be sure that we have flights and seats.  YEAH!  So now all I need to do is book our excursions which I can't do for awhile.  We will be arriving in Miami around 12:30 so that will give us almost a full day in Miami.  Any thoughts on what to do while we are there?

Good luck with booking yours.

Have a good one!

What an ugly Monday. Makes me wanna be on a ship right now. I didn't even get a quote from carnival this yr. I did go with everything from carnival on my first cruise, but then again I didn't have any experience flying so I didn't know what was reasonable, and I didn't know how to search for cheapflights. I did look at the airtran prices and for me, they are about the same as the cheapflights.com prices. I think I will wait a little bit longer to see if something happens for me. I might have a buddy of mine come on the cruise with me. He is going to be a 1st time cruiser and he will let me know for sure on friday.... I will be excited, because I have never gone with anyone on vacation so it will be so cool to have a familiar face tag along with me. Hummmm, as for excursions, I have been looking at the different ones, and I have not made up my mind yet.... I do know that from past cruises they had more excursions when you get onboard than what was available online. I will still book before the cruise but when I get onboard and I see something that I like, I will make sure that I go to the shore excursions desk and switch.... If you see anything really cool, let me know, and I will do the same... I don't know if you are aware but we are inching closer and closer to being under 200 days... I have to get ready to start a new thread lol.....

Well Monday was ugly but today is COLD!  The last cruise that we took we booked on-line and did the same with the airfare, but since we were getting such a good deal this time, we booked with carnival knowing that we would have the option to cancel if we foudn something cheaper, so we did and I cancelled air with them yesterday.  I read a thread yesterday about people that did book air from carnival and came in on the same day as their cruise and their plane was late and they never got their luggage until 2 days after they were on the cruise.  Needless to say that I am glad that we are going day the day before.

Not sure if you saw the CNBC show about cruises.  Everyone is saying that it is really good.  It is on tonight at 9pm and then again at 1am on Wed and 9pm on Friday.  I will be DVRing it for sure.

So far we are looking at horseback riding in Half Moon and dune buggys in Grand Turk.  We might just hire a private taxi in St Thomas to do all the stuff that we want to do, because I haven't seen any tours that do all that I want to do. I will probably book the horseback riding before we leave as they usually get booked up early.

That will be really nice if your friend will go with you.  Always nice to have someone along, but I have travelled a lot alone and always manage to have fun.  You can always hang with us!  although I may knocked you down on my way to that first drink on the lido!

Yes, Monday was horrible here and today is much colder.... It snowed which isn't unusual but soon this will pass and I will be in the sun.... . As for the booking the flight on the same day, I did that last cruise... It wasn't bad, the only thing that I wasn't a fan of was waiting for the shuttle to take us to the ship... I always take the early flight because I want to make sure that I will get there in enough time and not at the last minute. The luggage when you board the ship always comes later in the day when you do it through carnival. I think that by me coming the day before, I can rest assure that things will be smooth and I can be one of the 1st to board liberty...... Im still going to check out the flights, to see whats best for me.

 I did not see the CNBC show about the cruises, but im going to look for it tonight. I have to tape it because I have to work tonight. I look foward to seeing it. I did go on the galley tour once to see how things happened behind the scenes and it gave me a small taste of what really goes on... Im looking foward to seeing it.

I was looking at the horse back riding myself, and I would love to do that. I have never been on one, so think thats a big possibility. I have to check out this restaurtant in St Thomas, last time I went, I didn't get to go so I have to make it a point to go. Its called bumpas, and my dentist reccomended it to me. I hear that its a small place but they have the best food. Im really happy that my friend wants to come with me, I will see on friday what happens... I definately can't wait to meet you and race to the bar for a drink.  I have done 2 of these cruises alone which I loved because I was able to come and go as I wanted. Either way im going to have a blast.... I want to see what the dining experience is going to be like with them doing the reservations. I  was confirmed for the late dining and im excited... Thats what I prefer....

OK - We are having snow flurries!  What is with this weather?  I taped the show last night.  I was out and knew that I would not be back in time.  I am watching it now before I leave for work.  Thanks for the tip on bumpas.  I will try and research it and see if we can go there for lunch.  I hope that your friend can go - as that will be a money saver for you.  Hubby will not go horse back riding, so it will just be us girls going.  He says that he does not want to because of his back, but he would not go before he hurt his backso what does that tell ya?  I think he is scared, but that is OK.  I will go without him. 

Off to work.  Have a good one

I am so glad that today is a better day than the past couple of days...  I am so sick of the winter... Iwas just telling my mom that I would really consider moving to the country somewhere because I am so done with the cold.... I got to watch the cnbc special and I know one thing, those people ( 95%) of them really work their butts off to make sure we have a good time... I know there are a few crew members who sometimes you could really care less for, but the majority of them are awesome. Bumpas is supposed to be great so I can't wait to check it out. Yeah, im going to call my friend and see where he stands with booking. I really think he will. It will be an extra plus if he does because it will save both of us some money and we will have a great time. I think the horseback riding will be great. Too bad the hubby wont be going on that excursion with you, but its cool that your friends will be with you. I wonder where all the other cruisers are? We have been the only ones who really have been responding to this thread.... Its cool though, its nice to get to know more about eachother... chat with you later....

TGIF  Boy was this a long week!  Ok today is friday, so I am waiting to see if you got good news from your friend that he is going with you.

Hubby never really travelled before he met me, but he is getting quite an expereince since!  I did a lot of travelling alone, before I met him, so it does not bother me when we go places and he does not want to join me. 

I have checked out some reviews on Bumpa's and all of them are great.  They are open for breakfast and lunch.  It is a small place that is upstairs, but they say that the view is great.  I am sure going to stop there - maybe for lunch but if not at least for a snack and a drink.

I want to watch the CNBC again today.  I watched it once but kept getting interrupted so I am going to try again, today.

Have a good one.

Hello there my friend... I was kind of sad on Friday... I called my pvp and she was already gone for the day... But she will be back on monday and my friend will be booking with me....yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just want it confirmed already The weekend is here and im at work now.... I checked out some reviews on bumpas also and yes it sounds like a great place for a quick meal or snack... Im in the stages of checking out things that I would like to do on each day... I wanna book them no later than july so we will see. So when I check back on Monday hopefully I will have good news for you.. Have a good weekend, and Happy Easter to you.

YEAH!!!  that is such good news.  I am so happy for you.  I bet you are sitting by the phone waiting for the office to open. 

I did not work this weekend, but I think that I would have been better off if I did.  I am so glad that Easter is over.  I had a great time, 10 people over for dinner yesterday, but I have to admit that I was glad when they all went home!  I was beat.

I agree that we should book our excursions no later than July.  It is too soon now, they may come up with more by then. 

Keep me posted!  Oh BTW  we are in room 6324.  Are you anywhere near us?  My friends are in 6320.

Happy Tuesday my friend.... Im still awaiting from my friend to see what he will do... I talked to him yesterday and he is still toying with the idea... Im more excited than he is lol.... My pvp is waiting patiently for his call ... Easter was good, and im glad that its over also.. I ate so many good things and I ended up with a tummy ache...... Im on weightwatchers but I was a bad boy and had things I probally shouldn't have. I have been bad since the beginning of april for my bday. I just got back on track today... I want to lose about 35lbs more  before the cruise so wish me luck. I have lost 16 so far.

 Yes, with the excursions I just want to make sure that whatever I plan to do is going to be alot of fun because we will not be on the different ports of call for long. The longest day will be on tuesday when we go to St. Thomas... I want to do as much as I can when I go and make sure I head to Bumpas.... But like on the other days we will only be on port for like 6-8hrs... So it will have to be well planned out.

 My room is 7345 which is a inside room. This is the first time that I will be inside and im ok with it. I love my pvp. She always takes good care of me and gives me the nicest rooms. The first 2 rooms were like mini suites. I sailed on the victory for both and being a single cruiser I got these rare rooms. They had a nice Corridor and when you entered the main part of the rooms it was spacious. They both had windows and a full bed with a nice couch that let out to a full bed.. Very nice. But this time I will be on the Emperess deck and im really excited. I have never been that high up. 2 floors up and the lido deck is there and 2 decks down is entertainent, shopping, casino, dinner- what more can I ask for lol...

Happy Tuesday to you!  I still wish that it was Friday

I hope that your friend decides soon.  I had to laugh when you said that you were more excited than he was.  I feel the same way, the other 3 that I am going with show no excitement at all.  When I mention things that I have learned on this site, they keep saying - where did you find that?  Duh!  I was originally looking at the southern caribean cruise which had a port every day, but it was leaving out of San Juan and the airfare would have been more $.  On your two other cruises - where did you go? Did you ever leave out of San Juan? Hubby saw a commercial for the Dream and he was talking about it on Easter.  I was happy about that because I would love to go on it next year.  I will have to talk him out of Hawaii first - or try and do two vacations next year.

All of the cruises that I was on before my last one were inside rooms.  I had no problem with them.  there were two of us in them and we had plenty of room.  But now that I have experienced a balcony, it would be pretty hard to go back. 

I'm following WW.  I have lost 10 pounds so far, but need to get back on track as I would like to lose another 30 before I go.  I fell off the wagon on Easter, but got back on yesterday.  So your birthday is in April?  Well Happy birthday.  My mom's is tomorrow and she will be 86.  We are taking her out to dinner, and I will be watching what I eat today and tomorrow to make up for it!  I took her on a cruise with me years ago, but it would be a real challenge to take her now.

Keep me posted on your friend.  Tell him, I want to meet him, so he had better say YES!

Hillarious lol.. I think we have it really bad.. you know cruise-a-holics....  As a matter of fact the last cruise that I went on was the southern caribbean aboard the victory.. I have been on the victory twice sailing the first time for the western caribbean which was Cosumel, Cayman Islands, and Jamaica... It was a blast, but the Southern Caribbean was insane.. We had a stop every day stopping @ St Thomas, Barbados, St Kitts, Dominica, St Lucia, and Antiqua... I booked it early also and I got roundtrip airfare for a whopping $310.00. It was the first time that I ever booked my own air anywhere. I booked my first air with carnival but now that im aware of how to do it on my own, I go for the deals... I would reccommend the southern itenerary to you if you wanted to do it. Oevrall I had a great time, but I did have a couple minor issues because I started the cruise off sick, and I had issues with the staff in the infirmary because I wanted to cancel a couple of the things that I planned for excursions. It worked out though, and I was able to get them taken care of....  

I really want to do the Dream Next yr also.. I don't know when it will work out for me to take vacation, but I will be talking to my PVP and seeing when the ship isn't filled up... I would like to take it sometime in march or april of next yr, but if not November works for me also. lol.  I have never been to Hawaii before and I would like to go there sometime soon, even if its not on a cruise... I hear that its really beautiful. But if Its more reasonable to do it on a cruise im there 100%... I was saying to a friend of mine that I would like to do 2 cruises next yr, and If I do onne will obviously be a 7day cruise, and the other Im contemplating if it will be a 3-5 day cruise.. I want to stick to the 5 day ones because you still get the past guest party... yay..... I you only live once, so what I say is live it up... Im telling you if my friend doesn't go, no problem... I think for the most part carnival does a pretty good job on sitting singles with other singles so that everyone has a good time.... the first cruise I was sat at a table of 5 other singles and we had a great time.. The southern caribbean cruise although we had a good time, I was paired up with a single lady and we had a table of 8 to ourselves... I will have to tell you later what we thought of it, but we made the best out of that situation.. I have to go now, but I hope to hear from you soon... I need you to be the cheerleader for your husband and your friends to get them motivated for this cruise... smiles... Talk to ya later.