lookin4calm

Given that it is pretty much calories in versus calories out, you'd have to walk a *lot* to make a difference. In order to burn off one pina colada, you'd have to walk for about 90 minutes. If you eat an additional 1000 calories per day while on a cruise, you're going to need to be walking about 6 hours / day to break even.

A rough estimate is that you can consume about 2,800 calories to maintain 180-200 pound weight if you are a 40 year old male. This is just sitting around, no exerecise. Lots of variables in here, but that is an estimate. You can debate all day the variety of fad diets out there, but if you have even a remotely balanced diet (i.e., you can't eat 2,800 calories of just snicker's bars), then it is pretty much calories in versus calories out.

I track everything that I eat, and I mean everything (I know, I know, perhaps a bit over the top). I normally average about 2,000 calories a day. On the cruise, I averaged 3,300 calories/day, and a good amount of that was from alchohol. I ran around the track 30-45 minutes a day, and used up 310 calories per day on average. I didn't count the stairs, as the exercise associated with that is really insignificant (I only rode the elevator one time -- when I got on the ship with my luggage, going to the 7th floor). So, I ate about 190 calories per day over my stability number of calories. One day, I ate a whopping 4,600 calories (okay, I drank some of those!).

Imagine my surprise when I got home to find that I had gained 10 pounds on a 7 day cruise!! Don't ever weigh yourself the day you get home. I weighed myself four days later -- the result? Same weight as when I left. My guess is that the salt content of the food on a cruise causes people to gain tremendous amounts of water.

Never been on a cruise, but what I'd like to have:

Migas, refried beans, jalepenos, fresh tortillas, and enough coffee so I can see my heart beat on the outside of my chest.

But what I'd settle for:

French scrambled eggs, grits, hash browns (the grated kind, not the chopped kind), and biscuits. Oh, and coffee.

Bringing this back to the top as I have some questions regarding our upcoming cruise on RCCI's Rhapsody in March. I gotta tell you, reading what I've been reading on this thread about RCCI's food makes me want to bring my own food, and cook for myself in my cabin. ;) However, I have found that setting proper expectations is key to an enjoyable time, so I'd like some opinions from those who've sailed before (this will be our first cruise). If my expectations are way off, I guess I'd prefer to know now.

First of all, I don't view a cruise as cheap - I'm into $6,200 for a family of 5 (one balcony, one inside cabin) for a week, and I haven't had a single cocktail -- wait'll I get that bill, haha! I don't really care if they allocate $1/day per person or $100/day per person for food, I just want excellent food. If I am being asked to dress in formal attire, I would expect the quality of the food to be commensurate with said attire. Even though I think the price of the cruise is already quite expensive, I will pay extra if that is what it takes to get excellent food.

So, what do I mean by excellent food?

1. A prime of cut of beef (filet, strip, ribeye, etc.) cooked to my specifications. I prefer on the rare to medium rare side, and if it's medium or more, I'd probably prefer to do without. If my steak is overdone, can I just ask for another one? (I know, they're serving thousands, but I still want my steak done like I want -- is that too much to ask?).

2. Fish (especially salmon) not overcooked. I think the number one mistake most poor restaurants make with fish is simply overcooking. Salmon should be rare to medium rare, IMO.

3. Interesting sauces to go with my meal

4. Good wine to be paired with a meal. Do they have an extensive enough wine selection to employ a sommelier?

5. Is caviar available at all on board?

6. Is whole lobster available?

As I type this, unfortunately, I think I already know the answers to my questions, but I thought I'd ask the experts. Is my choice of Royal Caribbean a mistake?