Hey,

My wife and I are going on this cruise. Anybody else?

We are thinking about doing Raiders of the Lost Mayan Cave in Belize and dolphin swim in Cozumel.

Hi there,

We (as in my husband, our 17 year old son and myself) will be sailing with you.  It will be my husbands 3rd, my sons 2nd and my 4th Carnival Cruise.  The others have all been less than 5 days and on smaller ships. So this ought to be exciting.

As for what we are thinking in lines with the excursions, we are thinking snorkling in Grand Cayman, Pirates Butterflies & Monkeys in Hondorus, Ruins in Belize (I wanted the cave tubing), and parasailing in Cozumel.  Like I said, this is what we are thinking, nothing is set yet except the cruise.

Hey,

When you start off with "hey", you must have some southern blood in you; so hey! My wife & I and my daughter and future son in law will be cruising with you. We're from North Carolina. My wife and I were on the Valor in 2007 and loved it! As to excursions, we're going to wing it in the Caymans; have a private tour set up in Roatan where we see the island and end up at a hotel beach...(cheap, $25 per head for the day for 4); we'll be zip lining and cave tubing in Belize and in Cozemel were hitting Nachi Cocom which is a beach retreat with food and drink included for the day- they only take 100 people.

We did the dolphin swim on our last cruise which is great. Something that you'll want to do once.....

Looks like the ship is filling up since the prices hav gone up!

ECU Pirate:

we'll be zip lining and cave tubing in Belize

 Are you doing that through Major Tom?  I was looking for it on Carnival's excursion list (I had seen it there before), then I happened to come across the Major Tom's site listed in someones post on here.  That is what I have always wanted to do, but sadly I have been out numbered. 

 I may not always say "hey" but I do say y'all all the time,  anyways ....................... 8 weeks today :o)

well I won the battle of Belize :o) it is now on for cave tubing with Major Tom.

6 weeks til we are on the Lido deck.  I know there has to be more people than three that are cruising that week

Although I'm not cruising until January I am curious about your zip lining & cave tubing.  Did you find this on On-Shore Excursions; as my family DEFINITELY wants to do these things??  Which island(s) is best in seeing the Mayan ruins??

marf:

Although I'm not cruising until January I am curious about your zip lining & cave tubing.  Did you find this on On-Shore Excursions; as my family DEFINITELY wants to do these things??  Which island(s) is best in seeing the Mayan ruins??

 In Belize ........... www.cave-tubing.net  is for Major Tom for the cave tubing and you can add on the zip lining to your excursion.  You pay through PayPal, and it is alot cheaper than the one that Carnival used to offer.  I also like the fact that the guide to guest ratio is 1:8

As far as the ruins, we have not been yet, my DH hates riding a long ways on a bus to get somewhere.  So, maybe someday.

Hello from rainy Seattle.  Me and my 11 year old daughter will be on this cruise, we are looking forward to meeting new people.  As for excursions we are doing a wave runner tour in the Grand Caymans at 11am (http://www.ebankswatersports.com/booking.htm), a Zip Line tour for Isla Roatan (we are still deciding between two), and Cave Tubing in Belize (www.cave-tubing.com).... we are undecided yet on what we will do in Cozumel. possibly just shop and hang out at the beach.  I don't book my tours through cruiselines, they just charge more.  This is our second cruise, last time we did Holland America with my best friend and her mom... they are HAL enthusiasts... I thought it was a little too "slow" for me, I'm only 39 and don't want to be the youngest adult at the dinner table yet (I don't want to be the oldest either)!

Hope there are some other single parents/cool thirty/forty somethings on board to become friends with as I am not bringing a wingman this trip.

Joyce:

Hello from rainy Seattle.  Me and my 11 year old daughter will be on this cruise, we are looking forward to meeting new people.  As for excursions we are doing a wave runner tour in the Grand Caymans at 11am (http://www.ebankswatersports.com/booking.htm), a Zip Line tour for Isla Roatan (we are still deciding between two), and Cave Tubing in Belize (www.cave-tubing.com).... we are undecided yet on what we will do in Cozumel. possibly just shop and hang out at the beach.  I don't book my tours through cruiselines, they just charge more.  This is our second cruise, last time we did Holland America with my best friend and her mom... they are HAL enthusiasts... I thought it was a little too "slow" for me, I'm only 39 and don't want to be the youngest adult at the dinner table yet (I don't want to be the oldest either)!

Hope there are some other single parents/cool thirty/forty somethings on board to become friends with as I am not bringing a wingman this trip.

Good Morning Joyce! You'll enjoy Carnival a lot more than HAL. The Dam Ships are beautiful, the crews are fantastic, and the food is great, but there just aren't enough fun activities going on onboard a Dam Ship. Fun Ships are much faster moving as far as onboard activities. BTW, a trip to Tulum (the Mayan Ruins and a beautiful beach) from Cozumel/Playa Del Carmen is a great shore excursion. However, due to the distance from your Fun Ship, I would not recommend booking it without going through Carnival. A Fun Ship will wait for guests who come back to the ship late if they booked their shore excursion through Carnival. They won't hold the ship up in port for anyone on an excursion booked off the ship. Have a great cruise!

Joyce:

Hello from rainy Seattle.  Me and my 11 year old daughter will be on this cruise, we are looking forward to meeting new people.  As for excursions we are doing a wave runner tour in the Grand Caymans at 11am (http://www.ebankswatersports.com/booking.htm), a Zip Line tour for Isla Roatan (we are still deciding between two), and Cave Tubing in Belize (www.cave-tubing.com).... we are undecided yet on what we will do in Cozumel. possibly just shop and hang out at the beach.  I don't book my tours through cruiselines, they just charge more.  This is our second cruise, last time we did Holland America with my best friend and her mom... they are HAL enthusiasts... I thought it was a little too "slow" for me, I'm only 39 and don't want to be the youngest adult at the dinner table yet (I don't want to be the oldest either)!

Hope there are some other single parents/cool thirty/forty somethings on board to become friends with as I am not bringing a wingman this trip.

hi Joyce,

Let me be the first to say I know what you mean, I cruised alone with my son last year and it was so different from cruising with my husband and/or our friends.  The kids clubs keep them so busy onboard that I found myself alone way too much.  We like to sit on the Lido deck and watch people make fools of them selves, that or you can find me in the casino on the $.02 slot machines.  We are cool, but kicked back mainly.

As for dining ...... Carnival is awesome about how they assign tables, our first cruise was my husband and I and we were assigned to a table with other couples in our own age bracket.  When I took my son for his 16th birthday last year, they had us assigned at a table that was single parent and child and the kids ranged from 13-17.  Try not to fret, they will surprise you.

In Grand Cayman we are doing the snorkle thing, had I know about the wave runner that would have been a great alternative, unfortunately it is already booked and paid for.  In Isla Rotan we are doing the Pirates, Monkey & Butterfly tour.  In Belize we are doing the Cave tubing and zip lining with Uncle Tom (www.cave-tubing.net) as I have read the reviews on here and on both of thier web sites and felt more comfortable with this company. (What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving, it will sure beat slaving over a hot stove this year.)  In Cozumel we are going parasailing, the kid has wanted to do this for so long, we have it here but I am sure the view is so much better in Cozumel than it is here.

We are staying on the Riviera Deck midship on the port (even #) side.  I look forward to seeing you onboard.

Sue

Hi Joyce,

I replied this morning but for some reason CC didn't allow my reply.

We will be cruising with you.  I am 47, my husband is 55 and our son is 17.  This will be my first Thanksgiving not slaving over a hot stove.  We are both retired Navy and used to live in your neck of the woods (Kitsap Peninsula area).  We might be a little older but we dont act like it most times.  He still thinks I am 21. 

 We have never cruised on anything besides Navy Grey and Carnival, but I have heard from other people about the HAL and thier comments have been similar.  As for seating in the dining rooms, Carnival does an awesome job matching people up.  Our first cruise was just my husband and I and we were grouped with other couples in the same age bracket +/- 10 years.  Our second cruise we went with another couple and were seated with them and a family (all adults) of 6.  My third Carnival Cruise was just me and our son.  The had us assigned to a table that was all single parent and child.  There was a 13 year old, my son turned 16 the day we sailed and a 17 year old.  I was truly amazed. 

I wish I had know about these forums before that cruise, besides sleeping, meals and excursions I never saw my son at all and I was rather bored.  I would have looked to meet people before we sailed as well.  The programs they have onboard for the teens, preteens is awesome.  They keep them busy thats for sure.

So back to us, we are layed back people watchers, most of the time you can find us walking, talking or sitting on the Lido deck.  I personally like to go to the Casino and play the 2 cent slot machines.  I did very well on cruise #2, gave it all back to Carnival on cruise #3, and all my spare change has been accumulating for the past year.  Here pretty soon I will have to roll it all up and take it to the bank.  I have about $400 and thats my blow money.

Going snorkeling in Grand Cayman, the Pirates Birds and Monkeys Tour in Roatan, Cave Tubing in Belize (with Major Tom at the dot net site) and parasailing and shopping in Cozumel.  Last year in Cozumel my husband bought a beautiful Mexican Fire Opal ring for me, so lets see how he spoils me this year. ;o)

We are going to be on the Riviera Deck Port side (even #'s).  We live here in Florida now (Daytona area) and are driving down on the Saturday to Deerfield Beach, and then the 40 miles or so to the port on Sunday.  We are giddy with excitement and counting the days.  When we originally booked we were at 150, celebrated when we got to the double digits and now we are a mere 5 weeks away. 

Looking forward to meeting you,

 Sue (Doug & Justin too)

5 weeks left

Only 35 more days until we are setting sail! 

 You will love the Valor we were on the Valor Feb. 08 loved everything about it great ship and great ports.