Another newbie - ? about Valor on March 5

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Baltimoron

Guest
Hi, Y'all. I went on a short cruise (Ecstacy to Cozumel) with some girlfriends in February, and now I think my husband and I would like to try the Valor on March 5. We want a balcony room. How far in advance should I book it? Also, do you think we should book our own airfare or just do that through Carnival? Also, if anyone has any recommendations on shore excursions while in Belize, Honduras, Grand Cayman, or Cozumel, I'd certainly be interested in hearing about them.

Thanks, and nice to meet you.
 
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Babushka

Guest
We will be on the Valor on April 2nd and can't wait! I recommend booking as far in advance as possible. We book all our cruises about a year in advance and always get great deals. We booked a balcony cabin and got a great price! We also get to pick pretty much any cabin we want since we book so far in advance.

We always book our own airfare. The prices are so much better than booking thru the cruiselines. This way we pick the itinerary we want and it also gives us a chance to book the hotel we want also. I do suggest flying in a day early so you don't have to worry about arriving in time and it gives you a chance to rest and relax before your cruise. The first cruise we went on was a red eye from San Francisco to Miami and we were so exhausted by the time we got on the ship! We even missed dinner that night trying to catch up on some sleep. Now we go a day early, enjoy the city we're in and are ready to go the day of the cruise.

We've only been to Cozumel and Grand Cayman and are also looking for suggestions for Belize and Roatan. Of course we've heard great things about cave tubing in Belize but haven't heard much about Roatan. When visiting Grand Cayman going to Stingray City is a must! We loved swimming with the stingrays! There's lots to do in Cozumel so I'm sure you'll find something to do. We have visited the Tulum Ruins...beautiful views of the ocean from the ruins but not a very exciting excursion, in my opinion that is. But I know a lot of people love it. We've also visited the beaches there which are great. Even though we've been several times I feel like there is always something new to do there. Good luck and happy cruising!
 
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serene56

Guest
Book now- as time goes on it will only go higher. Book with carnvial and if the price comes down you will get the refunded difference. (if you book with a travel agent see if they give discounts up til sailing- some only do it up til final payment)

We are cruising in February and final payment is coming due in Dec so you will need all your monies for the cruise by xmas or soon after.

Try buying your own air. Doing it yourself will save about 50% for our cruise if Carnival did it it will cost us 350pp and more then likely we will get put on a connecting plane leavingthe same morning.
I booked a flight for the day before on a non stop for under 200.pp.

If you can go the day before even better. You arrive at the ship relaxed and ready to go.
 
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chrlygrl

Guest
We traveled with a group of 14 people on the Valor in May of this year. We did the Belize Zoo and it was nice, some of our friends did the airboat tour and had a blast. I also heard people say the cave tubing was excellent. In Rotan we did the simi-sub and had a great time. We booked the combination tour in Grand Cayman. The combination tour is the village of hell, the turtle farm and stingray sandbar. Everyone who went on that tour agreed that it was the highlight of the trip. We did not do an excurision in Cozumel, but had fun anyway. I advise you to book tours before you go on your trip thru Carnival's web site, so that you are guarenteed to get what you want. We did it this way and would reccomend it. Our excursion tickets were waiting in our cabin for us when we got onboard. You can also search the web for additional information on the countries you are going to, that way you know what to expect. Have a great trip. We thouroughly enjoyed ourselves when we went.

Charlyn
 
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Baltimoron

Guest
Well, it is booked! I think I definitely want to try the cave tubing and the stingrays. Dolphins would be cool too. The airfare that I had looked at was more than I was expecting, but I'll book it through Southwest once those dates are available. That'll be cheaper.
 
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