RobinCruiser

It varies for me but I try once a week, always first thing in the morning before I jump in the shower.

On 7/14/2019 at 12:33 PM, Jasonmom said:

I will be one of your weight loss buddies.  I'm 49 too and have a cruise in 77 days.  I have problems being active like you due to neurological issues, but think it's great that you can.  Especially getting the energy out of your puppy.

 

Thanks! Looking forward to making this happen! 

Good morning! Sound like everyone had a weekend! We went to our lake house for the weekend, with my daughter and her friend. Had lots of fun, stayed up too late, ate too much and drank too much wine. 😞

Now, back on track! 

Hope you all have a great week! 

1 hour ago, rukkian said:

Is this something different about carnival?  We have sailed out of San Juan and Fort Lauderdale on Royal and have not paid any taxes on drinks ordered while in port.

Same here - I've never been charged additional tax on drinks with the package when sailing out of San Juan with Royal. 

So I'm sailing on a Baja Mexico cruise this fall, so any drink I order with my Cheers package on embarkation day and at Catalina will be subject to an additional tax? Will that just go on my statement to be settled on the last day? 

Hi everyone! New here but checking in. Looking forward to losing with you all. My cruise is in 80 days and I want to lose 20 pounds. Then I have another cruise booked for April and I hope to lose another 20 pounds. I have at least 40 to spare!

Biggest focus is going to be on eating healthier 🥦 and getting more active. 🏃‍♀️

Hi Fellow Cruisers!

I'm looking to lose about 20 pounds in 81 days! And keep going... I've got a Carnival Baja Cruise booked for September 29th and then a Western Caribbean on The Symphony of the Seas next April. I've been half-heartedly trying to lose for a while but now that I'm 81 days out, the reality is hitting home that I need to lose some weight or none of my nice clothes will fit!

I'm looking forward to shedding pounds with you all! I'll take a peek around and see what you all do. 

I'm 49, was really into walking my Jack Russel pup for at least 2 hours a day until she went into heat. Now, she's cleared for walking out and about again but she seems to be scared to go too far from home. But that's ok, I have a treadmill! Wine and sugar are my biggest downfalls but I'm going to get back on track with MyFitnessPal. If anyone wants to friend me there for motivation, I'm listed as canadiangirl014.

Robin

81!! And I'm super excited but I really need to lose weight before I go!! 

3 hours ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

She was our first cruise back in the early 1990's and we've been hooked on cruising ever since. 

She was out first cruise too!! 1995... it was out first cruise and our honeymoon!!

On 7/3/2019 at 10:55 AM, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

Just a quick update: I booked a room on the Queen Mary.  I got a standard, not a deluxe; my research showed that there wasn't much difference between them, other than the wooden wall paneling vs. regular painted walls.  Plus, I can always go to the top deck to get a harbor view, anyway.

 

I have a feeling that other people from my cruise will be staying there too.

What sailing are you doing? DH and I are going to book the QM for a pre-cruise night Sept. 28th. 

We stayed on her about 5 years ago with our two teen daughters. Everyone had a blast! We took so many amazing photos and we did the evening ghost walk. It was great! We will probably do it again this trip.

12 hours ago, JohninDC said:

When?  Budget? For how many guests? Teens?  Kids? Anniversary trip, honey oon, or vacation?  Give us a few more details to work on and the suggestions will be closer to your target.

Sorry! Guess that will help eh? It's for 2 rooms, 2 middle aged couples, May 2-4. Just post cruise, wanting to extend the relaxed feeling before heading home to the great white North and back to work. 

Not super cheap but not extravagant either. I've stayed at the Caribe Hilton San Juan, post cruise in the past with our children and most recently the Sheraton Old San Juan with just the hubby. Mostly looking for something nice, comfortable, safe, close to the beach (beachfront would be divine). We are all in good health and walk a lot so walkable to attractions, good restaurants, bars, etc. 

Are there are highly recommended hotels to stay at in the Miami beach area, post cruise? Any experience with the Grand Beach hotel? It looks nice, not bad reviews.. but I'm totally unfamiliar with the area so don't want something unsafe. Want to be able to walk to beach, restaurants, bars etc. 

Thanks!

Thanks for the information. I will edit my post. We will have one full day pre-cruise and three post cruise days. 

DH and I will be on a 7 nt sailing out of Miami on April 25th, along with SIL and her husband. It's the first time to Miami for all of us. We will fly in late on the 23rd. We'd like to do a few pre/post things including an air boat tour in the Everglades and head down to Key West for a day. I discovered the shuttle to Bimini on Friday so now thinking of a day trip to Bimini... any suggestions for must see/do? And does anyone know of a way to stop in Key Largo on the way to Key West without doing a self drive? I haven't been able to find any transfers or busses that will allow a stop in Key Largo on the way and my BIL really wants to see it.

Great review! Thanks for sharing. Do you (or anyone else reading) happen to know if the Long Beach Cruise Terminal had free wifi? And if so, is it very reliable? I'll be there in October and will need to book a Lyft to Anaheim after the cruise. (Lyft is available in CA right?) Canadian here... so not too sure.

Loving this review! I'm doing the Baja Cruise this September and staying on the Queen Mary. Did the cruise in '95 so love getting to see what is new and what to do. 

I'm on SOS in April 2020 so loving this review. It's getting me super excited! I've been booked and waiting since April 2018!!

We are actually switching back to Carnival from RCL for a couple reasons.

First, I am impressed with the actual price discount that Carnival offers past passengers, versus RCL which does not seem to give any discount based on our status (two cruises sailed - one on hold for next spring). 

Second, the food options on RCL seem very limited to me, versus Carnival and Princess. While I have yet to travel on a super big ship (next spring), I found RCL to be boring when it came to food options. They dining room was ok, the buffet was very repetitive and other than those, unless you wanted to pay for Johnny Rockets or event an ice cream, there was very little food available outside of the buffet, at least on Adventure and Jewel of the seas. And the buffet hours were limited.

And thirdly, we cruise to relax, explore and enjoy ourselves. I found our cruise on Jewel of seas to be very stuffy and formal even on regular nights. It just wasn't us. Carnival is the fun ship!

Sorry for the newbie questions, I'm sure they have been asked tons of times and I tired searching the forum for answers but I find the search tool on this updated form pretty useless. 

So I'm wondering, can I pre-purchase OBC and use it for things on board, and if I don't use it all, cash it out at the casino or desk? I've done this on RCI, makes it nice to have some money in my OB account

and second, is, are we allowed to bring any wine/soda/water on board pre-cruise? 

thanks!

2 hours ago, beachbum53 said:

Unless you have some sort of priority status, such as Diamond, Platinum or FTTF, you won't be allowed to enter the terminal before your check-in time. Keep in mind, the check-in time at the terminal has absolutely nothing to do with the boarding time. With the exception of priority status, you won't be able to board the ship until your zone number is called. Your zone number will be printed on your boarding pass.

So you could potentially pick a time to check in and then have to wait in the terminal for a couple hours until your zone is called? Or do they assign zones sort of based on check in times? I'm totally new to this. My last Carnival cruise was 24 years ago. We've done a few RCI and usually show up early, to get through check in and then walk right on board. Sounds like this will be a lot different. 

13 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

No, cups from earlier cruises won't work. 

 

Each cup has a unique identifier via an RFID chip in the base.  That identifier times out a certain number of days after it's first use.

Thanks! We always get the deluxe beverage package and never use the cups since we aren't soda drinkers so I guess people buy and sell them on Ebay as collectibles. 

Question that I'm sure has been asked before - If I have cups from previous cruises, will they work on the freestyle machines if I bring them with me on my cruise? Just curious. I actually have several sets of cups, all unopened and see them listed on Ebay so wondering if I sell mine, would someone be able to use them for free soda?

On 3/4/2019 at 2:29 PM, Essiesmom said:

You now have to select/be assigned a time to arrive for check in.  If you arrive early, you will have to wait until your assigned time to enter the terminal.  (Unless you are diamond, platinum, or bought FTTF).  No more big crowd at the entrance at 1000.  EM

Hi! How do you select or get assigned your arrival time for check in? Would that be when you do your online check in type stuff? I'm new to Carnival after at a 24 year hiatus and haven't encountered this with RCI.  We always just show up early to get on board early. 

Thanks!

On 2/4/2019 at 3:54 PM, CoW mAn said:

Here's a rundown of the costs to get from LAX to the pier. Ultimately it may depend on how many people are in your group but generally for 1 or 2 people SuperShuttle is cheapest
 

 

Thanks! That was interesting. I was pretty sure Uber or Lyft would be cheaper than a shuttle. Have to check into the shuttle prices now. 

DH and I did this one 24 years ago for our honeymoon, it was our first time cruising. I just booked it again for this fall! I'm adding a couple nights to our stay in LA, to make it a week long vacation. Going to do the Queen Mary pre-cruise, a day at Disney and a day at Universal Post cruise. Can't wait!!

Thanks for your info everyone! I switched to a Dec 1sailing today, want to be sure the ship is decorated for Christmas. Can't wait!!!