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Cruising for English

LAL USA together with Carnival Cruise Lines decided to combine the fun of a cruise with the excitement of improving your English and created an extraordinary programme: Cruising for English.

The Cruising for English course has been designed to take a very hands-on approach to learning English. Cruising for English has been adapted from our effective and successful English in Practice course which places an emphasis on providing structured opportunities to put into practice what has been learned in the classroom.

The largest Carnival “Fun Ship” based at the Port of Miami, the Carnival Valor features the fitting theme of Heroes and Heroics. Featuring endless entertainment options, duty-free shopping, a friendly casino and SPA Carnival, it’s the Carnival Valor’s unforgettable onboard experience that makes it the best vacation value around.

Passengers attend classes when they are at sea. During these classes, passengers are taught the functional language that they will need during their time at port. In order to fully maximize time spent at port, passengers are accompanied by the teacher and encouraged to use this new language in conversation with members of the public in countries where English has become the lingua franca. This adds a real element of fun and relevancy to the course, and works very well by boosting confidence and helping passengers to use their newly acquired language skills in context.

Using new language in conversation for real life purposes is widely recognised as one of the most effective and efficient ways to improve language ability.

Lessons per week:	20 lessons = 15 hours
Lesson times:	45 minutes
Lesson schedule:	see syllabus below
Class size max:	16 students
Course length:	6 days
Start dates:	15 Jan, 26 Feb, 25 March and 08 Apr 2012 [Bookings have now closed for these courses]
Levels:	All levels
Entry requirements:	Student visa may be required

Itinerary/Syllabus

Day 1: Embark at Miami (4pm)

Departing from the Port of Miami at 16:00 begins the exciting journey on a 6 day Cruise of the Western Caribbean. Our first class begins with getting to “Know You” activities. The Valor will be cruising south of Miami towards Key West, and we will introduce you to the history of Key West and prepare you for our practice time visit. The “Conch Republic” is a festive island full of colorful houses, bars and streets.

Day 2: Key West

After spending a great night at sea, it is time to disembark and explore the surrounds of Key West. We will disembark at 08:00 and make our first stop at Hemingway house where you'll find Ernest Hemingway original manuscripts and many of his famed six-toed cats. Key West is also famous for the culinary treasures such as the world famous Key Lime pie and conch salad. We will be back on board at 17:00 and share your experience around the island.

Day 3: Fun at Sea

You will be at sea for the day and we will begin with an entertaining class at the Casino. After the break we will introduce you to the Island of Grand Cayman, surrounded by turquoise waters, the perfect paradise for water sports. You can snorkel, go scuba diving, sail a catamaran, take in some sport fishing, or just enjoy the beach and the powder-soft sand. Our last lesson of the day will take you to Jamaica. We will talk about Ocho Rios, a former banana and fishing port. The most famous attraction in Ocho Rios is the 600-foot natural Dunn’s River Falls and the natural beauty of the Shaw Park Botanical Gardens.

Day 4: Grand Cayman

We are ready to disembark in Grand Cayman at 07:00 for an exciting visit to Hell Grand Cayman, a group of short, black, limestone formations. Located in West Bay, Grand Cayman, it is roughly the size of half a soccer field. We will look at the limestone formations from the existing platforms. We will be back on board at 16:00 to discuss what you have seen in Grand Cayman.

Day 5: Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Today we will be in Jamaica visiting a natural reserve in Ocho Rios. We will disembark in Ocho Rios at 07:00 and make a stop at Shaw Park Botanical Gardens. The park has 32 acres of indigenous trees, flowers and shrubs, and even picturesque streams and waterfalls. We will be back on board at 15:30 to discuss what we have seen at the Botanical Garden.

Day 6: Fun day at Sea

We will spend the day at see and our final class will be the A-Z of cruising and a review of all the experiences that we had in the past 6 days cruising the Western Caribbean.

Additional Information

The Ship: Carnival Valor

Carnival offers three different types of cabins:

Inside cabin - does not have window (4-B cabins).
Outside cabin - offers a panoramic window with a view of the ocean (6-B cabins).
Balcony cabin - offers, in addition to the panoramic window, a balcony (8-B cabins).

All cabins are 17 square metres (183 square feet).

Food and Drinks - included and not included

The Carnival Valor Cruise offers all inclusive dining for passengers:

Fine dining in the formal dining rooms (lobster and steak served on every cruise)
Casual dining at the Lido restaurant, a convenient 24-hour Pizzeria, soft-serve ice cream and frozen yogurt around the clock
Sushi Bar
Lemonade, coffee, tea, water (from a fountain, not bottled water)
Spa Carnival menu offering healthful selections low in calories, fat, sodium and cholesterol
24-hour room service

Beverages, such as sodas/carbonated drinks, bottled water and alcoholic drinks are not included.

Service charges

Tips are already included, but for beverages (see above), 15% of the bill is automatically added to the Sail & Sign charge (Carnival’s Sail and Sign program is an on-board cashless charge system created for the passengers convenience).

On-board communications

Carnival Cruise Lines has an agreement with Wireless Maritime Service, offering an advanced roaming network on board their ships, allowing the passengers to make and receive phone calls while at sea using their own mobile phones.

To keep passengers connected while at sea, every ship provides satellite Internet access through the Internet Café and through the ship-wide Wi-Fi network. This service is not included in the cruise fare. The price per minute is USD0.75 or USD55 for 100 minutes.

Your English

Your English teacher is an experienced instructor who has a passion for English and traveling. During the trip you will receive a total of 20 lessons. Outside the formal lesson scenario, your teacher will be available for conversation, to answer your questions and help you with the tasks you have to complete. We want you to enjoy the cruise, meet extraordinary places and have fun while you are working on your English.

Booking Procedures

Please send completed LAL Cruising for English application form and the Credit Card release form to Tatiana Cavarsam.
Carnival Cruise Lines charge a €25 fee for payments made by credit cards.

Forms

LAL-Cruising-for-English-Application-Form-2012-v1.0.pdf

The application form for Cruising for English

LAL-Cruising-For-English-credit-card-release-form-v10.pdf

Credit card release form for Cruising for English

Contacts

For more information, please contact Tatiana Cavarsam:

tatiana.cavarsam@lalschools.com
Tel: +1 954 644 5998 (Mon-Fri from 8am to 5pm EST)

Terms and conditions

The following apply in addition to LAL's standard terms and conditions.

Documents

Non-U.S citizens are required to carry a valid, unexpired passport and a valid, unexpired U.S Multiple Re-entry Visa, or enter under the visa waiver program AND are advised to check with the appropriate government authority to determine any additional necessary travel documents to Cayman Island and Jamaica.

Due to the heightened level of security, Carnival is strictly enforcing the following policy:

Any passenger traveling without proper documentation will be denied boarding the ship and will be under full penalty, and therefore, will not be offered a refund or a replacement cruise.