Hi,
We are all from Windsor, Ontario - AKA Canada's southernmost city. This will be the 5th cruise for my wife and me (we had 2 cruises before retirement) and the 4th for our friends. We also prefer to find our own excursions. I have found Fabian's Tours in St. Lucia and Bernard's Tours in St. Maarten. We are taking a private tour with Fabian and a bus tour with Bernard.
We are going to play the Nick and Nora's by ear once we get on the ship. This will be our first cruise longer than a week, so we may get tired of the dining room. There will be 2 formal nights, although we have noticed, especially with Carnival, that the formality is waning. The first formal night should be Sunday - first full day at sea, and probably Saturday - our last full day at sea.
I am not sure if you are into wine or not, but if you enjoy wine with dinner, Carnival is offering 2 wine packages. Check out the Carnival pages that deal with dining and there is a link to wine packages. Very good savings and some very interesting wines to choose from.
We have also noticed that for on board shopping the last day or two offers deep discounts on most items, including spa treatments for the ladies.
129 to go.
See you on board,
Jerry & Linda Tesarski
jerrylinda.tesarski@sympatico.ca