Wait until port days in all honesty.  If you speak every night, it's going to get repetitive, because as exciting as ship life may seem from an outsider, it's not.  it's actually quite monotonous.  The great thing about ships is that you can save tons of money working on a ship, but not if you're spending $100+ ...

 Even now the water temp in Cozumel is 86-88 degrees Farenheit.  You should be fine with a 3 mm shorty (if you get cold easily then a full suit) in December.  Carnival uses Sand Dollar Sports in Cozumel.  They are an okay dive op.  I have dove with them out of convenience twice.  I prefer to dive with Sea Robin.  ...

 nope a 5 day that left on the 14th and returns on the 19th...

[quote user="The getaways"] The ship is in dry dock now she left Galveston headed to Bahamas 9/14/09 [/quote] The ship goes into a 28 day dry dock on the 19th, not the 14th.  I am currently on the ship, and am very much not in dry dock (yet...)

 It's not. It was only doing 7 day cruises during the whole "Oh no! It's a new version of the flu!  Everyone run and hide and stop going to Mexico!" media fueled frenzy.

Just be aware that the friends of Bill W meetings are for people just to show up and talk with and be supportive of each other.  Generally, no one from the ship will be there to facilitate discussion.  It's kind of an "on your own thing", unless of course there are crew members there who are also recovering ...

[quote user="shellers"]  We are taking our first cruise in October and I was curious about places to eat in Progresso.  I was able to find several suggestions for Cozumel and fun things to do for both Cozumel and Progresso, but haven't seen much on where to eat in Progresso.  Since it will be our first time there and ...

[quote user="scoutsaj"]   The only issue I have with a mulititool is that it takes a little more than a few seconds to find the knife in it for example a Leatherman, get the knife out. You can use the Pliers but it isn't the same.   Its a great TRAVEL TOOL, but not hard to deploy when you need it. I ...

[quote user="VA_Cruiser"] carnival doesn't sail to canada during the winter months just from about April or May to Oct. [/quote] That doesn't mean much... Depending on the amount of snow received during the winter, some mountains still may be open.  A few years ago, Mammouth Mountain in California was open until at ...

[quote user="aeropace"]  Are there any ports where Carnival excursions include skiing or snowboarding? Or has anyone booked thier own trip out of a port that would offer this?   Would prefer Canada but any would be helpful to get started.  Thanks! Mike [/quote] I don't think there are any Carnival sponsored ...