January 19th, 2009 by Frank
They say a good breakfast is the way to start to a good day. I think we can attest to that as our day became better and better as it went on. The Courtyard restaurant had a nice breakfast buffet for $13.95. It included an omelet station and the usual breakfast dishes. After breakfast a quick trip to the local CVS to pick up a few odds and ends, a half hour of sun by the pool and before we knew it was time to load up and head to the port.
Our Florida Transtours shuttle was right on time, we loaded up and headed to the Port of Miami. As always as soon as the ships were in site there was a sense of excitement aboard the bus. Our cruise was about to begin!
Check in was a snap at the port, our baggage porter was very helpful, we had minimal lines and were on the ship in less than half an hour after arrival. Kathy and I were surprised as we were quickly led to the VIP room, we are still not sure why. This may possibly have been because we have lead a number of groups on Carnival. To be honest the rest of the group was checked in just as fast as we were in the VIP room, but the room was a bit cooler, quiet and had a very comfortable look. Either way we had our photo taken as usual, checked in with our room keys and of course within 30 feet we found most of our group enjoying their first drink of the cruise. We found our rooms to be ready so we dropped of our carry on bags and headed up to the Lido deck for lunch.
A stroll around the Lido deck found the ship to be just a bit different than our previous Carnival ships, I enjoyed the Valor’s decorating scheme more than others. The service was very good, we were never without the opportunity to be without a drink.
We found a number of our group to be enjoying the sun, drinks and relaxation.
4:00 brought the life boat drill, by 4:30 the ship was free from the dock and we were on our way to sea. There was a small armada of ships leaving port. The Carnival Valor and Triumph as well as 2 NCL ships and a Royal Caribbean ship all left port of Miami at about the same time.
.
As we sailed away from Miami there was a beautiful sunset over the city
As always we had a great dinner, spent some time in the casino, watched a bit of the show as well as some of the Steelers playoff game on the Lido deck big screen. The big screen is a nice addition to the Carnival ships. After that we were off to bed. Some of the others in the group enjoyed the disco and had some good luck in the casino. All in all we had a good day and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
January 18th, 2009 by Frank
Hello Miami !!! We are in Miami and the Wisconsin Firefighter Cruise is off to a great start. Everyone arrived safely, some a little tired but ready to have a great time. We landed at Miami International Airport with the cold and our worries behind. Edgar from Florida Transtours Inc met us in the baggage claim area with a smile and provided excellent service in getting the group to our hotel. The Courtyard by Marriott Down Town Miami gave us all a good nights rest. The hotel is very clean, has a nice (but small) outdoor pool and a decent breakfast buffet. We were in walking distance from Bayside Market Placeand enjoyed seeing the shops, people and sites of downtown Miami on our walk. Bubba Gumps was our choice for our evening meal, we had a good time and ate well even though it was a bit pricey.
Our walk back from Bayside gave us some great views of downtown Miami buildings lit up at night and the Opportunity for some photos.
This morning Florida Transtours Inc will be picking us up and taking us to to the ship, as Carnival’s ads say, Let the fun begin!
January 14th, 2009 by Frank
Hmm, lets see is 4 degrees and snowing in Wisconsin right now. Tonight the forecast calls for a low of -16 degrees Fahrenheit! It is not hard to be excited that we will be leaving Saturday for our cruise. Please be sure to come back and read about our trip on the Carnival Valor. I will be posting daily to the blog with information on the ship, ports and the group.
February 14th, 2008 by Frank
So here we are back in Wisconsin, Illinois, California or wherever. In Wisconsin we certainly did not come back to weather like we left. It was in the 80s in the Caribbean, since we have been back it has been 10 below zero or colder. We had a warm rain shower in Nassau, Milwaukee has had over 74” of snow this winter and there is more to come. So what did we come back to, work, cold, everyday stress? This is why we go on these trips, to get away, but more importantly to build memories and share experiences. I was feeling kind of miserable this evening, depressed, grieving my mother who past away a week before Christmas. Sitting at the computer I clicked on photo gallery link on the KFD Cruises website www.kfdcruises.com suddenly I had all those wonderful memories and experiences come back. I remembered the excitement of my wife Kathy as we boarded the ship on our first cruise. I remembered snorkeling in the warm waters of Coki beach on St Thomas, laughing as Rich was dumping ice on the girls lying on the Lido deck.
I remembered the beautiful sunrise and sunsets we saw,
the beauty of the mountain peaks rising out of the ocean as we neared St. Maarten. 
I remembered cruising through water so blue you can’t describe it. These are the reasons we take these trips, experiences and memories.
Don’t just take a vacation, make your dreams come true, you will never forget the memories you find on a cruise.
February 7th, 2008 by Frank
This was our 4th cruise on a Carnival ship and the Glory was the biggest. Initially I was a bit concerned that the ship would be crowded, it was bigger, held more guests and was sold out months before sailing. When we first boarded we went to the Red Sail Restaurant for lunch. The dining area was very crowded and hard to find a table, but on what ship doesn’t this occur? Other than at that first lunch I never really felt crowded, we roamed the ship freely, never waited in line or for elevators for longer than expected. (more…)
A stroll around the 
.
Comments Off 
