jam19872016

Celebration's thrusters have started up. Valiant Lady. One of two ships in port I haven't sailed on. Almost at the turn around spot.

We're sailing towards the turn around basin now, we were the only ship today who got to do that, everyone else was facing the open ocean. Celebration will be leaving next, but first out since she does not need to turn around. Lee is doing a great job at his sail away party, and even stops what he's doing to say hello to us as we sail past! Ours got moved inside. Next up is Independence of the Seas. I'm still salty about losing her and Mariner next spring from Port. Canaveral.

It was a pretty gloomy day for sail away, but thankfully the rain had stopped so I was able to take in the sights. I've not sailed out of New York, but out of the ports I've sailed from, none have better views than Miami! Docked ahead of us were Norwegian Encore and Oasis of the Seas. We were parked backwards so I guess they were actually behind us. Behind us, or ahead of us, Carnival Celebration. Looks like Terminal E is being renovated so Carnival is back down to two terminals in Miami for the time being. I see another Royal ship down at G, and Virgin down at V.

I caught the internet fast enough to do some uploading so I can finally get sailaway pics posted. New speed record this trip.

So for anyone who did not read my last review, I've been on a weight loss journey that started in August 2021 when I hit 300 LBS. I've always been big, but that was a pretty startling number to see staring back at me from the scale. I'm also not getting any younger and am becoming more aware of the looming health problems if I don't take control of the situation. Especially as I see how my mother struggles with back pain and knee problems that impact her ability to travel comfortably for any length of time. The first several months I yo yo'ed between 285 and back over 300 again. Then my friend recommended the myfitnesspal app in May 2022 and that has been a game changer for me. It's essentially a calorie counting app and it made me conscious of the calories I'm consuming. It also opened my eyes to some foods that are not worth the calories. I was shocked at how many calories are in a caser salad. If I'm going to use up that many calories, it won't be on a salad! I don't bother with the three bites of lobster at formal night anymore either. I've had to adjust my strategy as my metabolism adjusted to less calories and heard about intermittant fasting which was a great addition to my diet plan. When I'm fasting, I can eat for eight hours, and then I fast for 16. Since you are asleep for 8 of those, its easier than it sounds espeically after a day or two. In total, I was down to 198.8 when I started my 56 day journey in September. Over 100 LBS lost from my starting weight. During the cruise I enjoyed what I wanted, when I wanted and of course after practicing better eating habits again, that did not go over so well when I got on the scale. In total over the 56 days, I gained 36.6 lbs. Back at home I got back on my intermittent fasting and calorie counting and quickly lost 14.4 in the next ten days. This was followed by a four day cruise where I put back on 5.8. The next week I was mostly back on track, except for Thanksgiving, and I took back off 6.0 for a total loss since that cruise of 14.6. I am going to try and do better this trip while knowing I will not do great and will still gain weight. I would like to not go back over where I left off last trip, which gives me a loose goal of no more than 14.6 lbs to gain. Today was the first day I've weighed and I am +2.2 so not a great start, but of course the first couple days are always the quickest days for gaining.

You're a mind reader, I was just coming back to the room to post a weight update. Answer in the next post 🙂

That cheesecake was very good as well. I am a huge cheesecake fan but not big on blueberries so I wasn't sure how this was going to go. The blueberry was subtle and tasted like it was made from fresh blueberries not the overly sweet canned blueberry gloop. Two thumps up. Very great meal all around!

Filet was amazing. It was cooked perfectly, very tender and had a nice flavor. Perfect. The short ribs ravioli on top could be a meal on it's own and would have been more enjoyable than the short ribs at Cucina. Both the other options looked good at the table but it's hard to pass up the filet. For dessert I got the blueberry chia cheesecake.

Filet medium

That was quite tasty just needed them to be bigger. Everyone else got the shrimp, I think that's what I will get next week. Got another cruiser for the room fridge.

Sausage balls. I think back to the Wendy's ad, where's the beef? 🧐

CD Mike is here. I'm surprised he could make it on a school day. Maybe I'm just getting old but he looks like he's 17.

Shared tables at these gatherings...it's not as awkward when I'm with my mom as she is chatty with others but this is uncomfortable. New menu.

Lots of diamonds on this six day sailing. They are checking cards or invites at the entrance. Couple in line ahead of me got out of line when they announced that.

Heading to the diamond lunch now.

The internet has been frustrating for a Starlink equipped ship. Various speed tests have been taken, best I've gotten was 20 MBPS which is great for traditional cruise internet, but the slowest I've seen for Starlink equipped ships. It's also been much slower for most tests. I also frequently lose connection for a few minutes at a time. Today being a sea day, its happened at least five times already. I also seem to be allocated a certain amount of bandwidth, as when I try to upload my sail away pics from Miami (there are a lot), my internet speeds drop significantly no matter how fast it was when I started my upload. Current speed, about what I got on Royal pre Starlink.

They must have caught on. No server in annex, best I could tell only one in the entire full casino. Put this in the fridge for later

I love how quiet and peaceful it is on this outside promenade. My swing bench is very comfortable too. It's not too hot, a bit muggy but a good breeze. Inside it's getting busy as the ship wakes up. I got a mango daiquiri from the casino annex. Most of that time was because I was behind the bar server and she couldn't see me, I thought she would read the room. I moved into her sight line and was immediately served. This extra casino makes drink service easy. I feel like I am cheating here. Back outside with my drink.

The thought certainly crossed my mind when I saw it. Have a big lunch planned today so not likely to grab a salad and not sure it would keep well overnight but I'm glad to see it as an option 😁

It made me smile when I saw it. Happy memories 😀 I'm not sure what ended up happening with the person they kept paging for. I do remember the portion of beach that was dangerous being well marked as dangerous and pretty far off the beaten path. I'd say most people don't find it, or don't attempt to walk it if not in good shape but I suppose it would be easy to have an accident if you lose your footing.

More pastries were available put too many people were around so i didn't photograph it. Also had bacon, not self serve. And an omelet line.

Breakfast buffet offerings

We've hit some liquid sunshine. I had found a comfy seat that happened to be covered so that worked out well. @exlondoner found this in the Red Frog Pub