balcony bound

10 minutes ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

Is that new to exclude iMessage and FaceTime?   I’ve used that on every cruise for a few years now. 

Me too!

3 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Ugh. I love the separate ingredients, but just ugh.

Maybe you just need to try mine.  Does your version have a fried egg on top?

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I love sprouts, but ugh. There is a disgusting dish that people make over here with Christmas dinner leftovers, such as sprouts, called bubble and squeak. It reminds me of that. 

Too funny. I LOVE bubble and squeak. Our garden provides cabbage and potatoes for it 😊

20 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Stuart is done, and she left me a rose.

 

 

Nice touch.

7 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

I am working on putting together another b2b TA in 2025 and looked into Cunard for the in-between time again.

 

Prices for 14 days started at $2399 😱

 

I'm sure that's still a bargain for Cunard but way too rich for my blood sadly. I did love it though.

Maybe the price drop fairy will appear at some point.  We can always hope, right?

15 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

My first Celebrity cruise, which was pre-covid, I went in with very high expectations as they had a very good reputation for amazing food. I was very underwhelmed. There are some stand out items but overall, I have found the food to be only marginaly better in the dining room and left with no options but the buffet and burgers for lunch on port days. While their buffet is vastly better than Carnival's, I don't have to eat at the buffet at Carnival. 

 

I've adjusted those expectations and was actually quite impressed on my most recent Celebrity trip in November on Silhouette. 

 

Cunard is so far the only line I've tried whose food truly rose to spectacular or that has stood out in anyway.
 

Thanks so much for that answer.  Your Cunard dinners did look amazing!

Slow but working for me.

Doesn't look different from meals you've had on Carnival - important thing - how was the flavor?

How many free internet minutes do you have?  You may have said and I didn't pay attention, if so sorry!

We always look forward to eating at the Seafood Shack.  Always has been very good.

3 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Buffet lunch was average at best unfortunately.

Sorry to hear that.  Always disappointing when things look great but don't measure up.

5 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Thank you!

 

Very nice selection. I don't particularly enjoy salads but adding a salad a day helped me I believe not gain as much last month as I did on my transatlantic. 

I have a hard time recognizing salad as food, unless there is meat involved.  Careful with the salad dressing - those are the calories.

2 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Tried to muster, they won't start until 1130 so will get my mustard later.

 

Celebrity let's use drop your bags...very nice touch.

 

 

My inside hole for the week.

 

Inside with a sofa - nice!

8 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

After 32 cruises without covid, we finally caught it on the Carnival Vista in December. I started with sinus drainage the night we got home, and 24 hours later we were both very sick. It was the worst and longest illness either of us ever had, lasting 16 days with heavy symptoms, then another 3 days of improvement.  The MDR was just dismal in so many ways, but the worst of it was the server.  He removed our forks from our uneaten appetizers (uneaten because they were awful) and placed them on the bare table so we could use them again for our entrees. When I asked for salad dressing for my absolutely dry salad, he lifted a few pieces of lettuce with my fork and told me it was probably on the bottom (it wasn’t). I know Covid is very contagious and the ship was extremely crowded, but I believe it came from the MDR.  

Coincidentally we also got it on Vista, in November.  Could have gotten it anywhere (we didn't use the MDR).

57 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

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 intermittent 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 especially 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.

 

Since that trip and my last cruise that lasted 26 days I gained back 37.8 lbs. I have been working hard while not cruising to take it back off but it has been slower than I would like between the holidays and just a general struggle keeping the calorie count down. My daily allowance is 2085 but I've found anything over 1200 and I am in danger of putting pounds on.

 

In total I've lost 21.4 since getting off the ship just before Christmas and I can get back into my skinny clothes although they are tight, and will only get tighter as I misbehave for six days.

 

I suspect I will go up when I weight today since I gave into the munchies yesterday but as of yesterday I am back down to my lowest weight since September 30 🙂 

I do intermittent fasting as well, and I've been stuck for about a month now.  Can't really blame the holidays because I didn't do anything different.  

I cruised in November and actually lost a couple pounds - I am sure it was all the extra walking!

Hard not to eat what you want on a cruise - but it comes off pretty quick.

41 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

I've got a helper. Packing should be done quick.

 

 

Laying down on the job.

 

Is the cat looking for the mobile bar?  Cats are sneaky.

Thanks for taking us along! Can't wait.

18 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

People are already walking around with their luggage, and ready to go. I thought I was up early.

Priority debark meeting already started...

Amazing how many things are closed.

55 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Main theater. Never saw anything here. Not judging the people who do. Just not my thing.

 

 

 

I haven't been in one of those in years.  Once they started playlist productions, that was it for me. The old shows in the theater were awesome, I'm sorry that newer cruisers didn't get to experience them.

2 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

 

 

 

 

 

Street eats is one of my favorite options.  Wish they would add it to more ships.

8 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

Piggybacking on my commentary from last night: I've decided that this "Live reviewing" on Cruise Critic is fun, but not exactly fruitful for my future... I want to find something else to do with my writing skills besides whatever this is, as it's most certainly just paddling into the current at best.

 

I want to try and find something bigger and better, and with more freedom to use the words and expressions necessary to convey my story, rather than to having to hold back 70% of what I really need to say... As an artist, being restricted this way just isn't working for me...

 

I've had a lot of fun here, but my future lies elsewhere... No idea what other adventures await, but it seems I've run my course here in this realm... Of course, I plan on finishing out this "review" or whatever you want to call it, but once this one's done, I'm moving on to hopefully bigger and better things... ... ...

The grass isn't greener on the other side.  The grass is greener where you water it.

Water away!

awesome cocktail adventure!  well done.

11 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

I was going to wait until later to tell y'all this, but this is definitely going to be my last Live Review (or any review) here... I'm not going to go into details, but I simply need more freedom of expression than they allow me here... It's like telling Picasso that "you're not allowed to paint that" sort of thing, if you get my drift... (Not that I'm the literary version of Picasso, but from an artist / writer point of view)

That's a shame.  I look forward to your reviews, mostly because you are just yourself and not trying to be anything else.

3 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Right now, I wish I had one of those urination bags you wear on your thigh... Not for medical reasons, but just I don't want to get up to pee...

LOL Stadium pal.  I only know because I watch The Big Bang Theory.