Strophic

On the contrary, I am actually wondering what we are going to do with our free bottle of wine from making a reservation at the steakhouse on day 1...I kind of don't want to make a fuss by asking for something else (if that's even an option), but I'd also like to have something I will actually be able to use. Maybe I can give it as a gift?

My I do not drink alcohol at all and my boyfriend hardly ever, he's planning on having only one alcoholic drink on the cruises. I know we will still have a ton of fun on our upcoming trip—his first ever and my first since I was 13, but I'd love to here from more teetotalers out there enjoy cruising. Do you find enough adult activities that don't revolve around alcohol to keep you entertained? Are you able to enjoy cruising without feeling pressured to purchase alcohol?

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone had experience with cruise parking through Go Port Canaveral? The package I am looking at is at this link: https://www.goportcanaveral.com/services/cruise-parking.php

It offers cruise parking for the week and shuttles to and from your cruise port for $20. Before I was looking at parking in the Port Canaveral lot for significantly more money, so this is almost looking too good to be true. Is it legit? Any catch?

Hi! :o I'm not trying to be sarcastic, just want to be sure: You know your ship is sailing from Port Canaveral, right? That's about 90 minutes in good traffic from Orlando. Make sure you're building-in time for that, no matter where you end up staying the night. When we sailed out of PC we were in Disney beforehand and I believe we did leave Orlando around 11:00 am, which put us there in plenty of time.

 

I just actually googled Jacksonville to PC. It's about a 3 hour trip basically straight down the coast. You don't actually need to go anywhere near Orlando if you end up stopping for the night in Jacksonville.

Hi, thanks, I am sorry for the confusing wording. I know they're not the same place and we weren't gonna get mixed up; I just keep saying "Orlando" for some reason ><; The plan was to go directly from Jacksonville to PC, although it doesn't need to be Jacksonville either. Basically we just want to stay over at a bit-more-than-halfway point through the night so we don't have to drive the majority of the distance on the day the ship leaves.

And it's not just the Principal of a school. It's district and even state-wide in some places. I don't think this person has had students in school in a VERY long time. It's considered an unexcused absence. Even with passing grades, excessive days absence can cause a student to not be promoted. Besides, some of the material covered is important for mid-quarter and final exams...even in elementary schools. The statewide testing includes all grades. and in some grades, it's pass or fail.

I got all C's and D's in middle school and it literally did not matter at all the second I got to high school. I really hope parents out there aren't smothering their elementary school-aged kids with schoolwork. It's one or two extra days off: They. Will. Live.

Of course the real question is, what ship are they getting on in Orlando?:confused::eek:

Carnival Magic! :)

For this very important and valid reason, if we were driving (even only two hours), we would be leaving at 8 am. Personal choice, but I will tell you that you will need to get to the port, park your vehicle, unload bags and check in - and basically, our philosophy is that we have paid for that first day and want to get there in good time. Your plan to leave at 11 may put you into Orlando at 1, and it may not. What about an accident? Car breaks down? I mean, any number of things could happen.

 

Better early than late, and you said that yourself. ;):D

That's the annoying part. Ship departs at 4pm and I feel like I have to choose between waiting hours upon hours in a port to get on the ship OR potentially be late and miss the whole thing. I guess I could always bring the good old Kindle and resign myself to the boredom of safe planning. I'd really, really hate to miss the boat, but I just can't do the whole trip down to Orlando in one night.

I know it is off topic. But your kids go to a very good school that sends a very serious message.

Eh, I don't necessarily agree. Missing a few days of school, with maybe college as an exception, is nowhere near as detrimental as missing work. The memories from a vacation will last a lifetime. Yes, schoolwork is important, but I think most kids will live if they miss a couple of algebra lessons. You can't over-emphasize school, especially at an age where 1 or 2 days missed will never have a negative impact on a child's future.

If someone who is recognized as hardworking and demonstrably productive in their work cannot convince their employer (or otherwise plan ahead) to secure the advised buffer time, s/he should consider looking for another job.

But for real, I'm sure there are workarounds for people who can't just find a new job whenever they need their vacation accommodated. We're likely going to be doing most of our driving in the wee hours between Friday and Saturday so that we don't have to work an extra day into the trip (not an option in the first place); it should turn out okay.

We are flying blind on our first Real Adult™ vacation (yay recent college grads!) so someone please tell me if this is a feasible plan.

Boyfriend gets home from work on Friday at 7:30pm and I have the car packed and ready to go. We drive down to Jacksonville, FL from around Salisbury, NC and check into a hotel at whatever ungodly hour in the morning we make it down there. Wake up the following morning and head out maybe 11am and drive the remaining 2 hours to Orlando with hopefully time to spare.

I don't want to leave unnecessarily early, but I would much rather be two hours early than one minute late, and I'm not familiar with traffic in and around Orlando so I want to play it safe.

Yeah, portion size is huge for me too, as well as intermittent snacking between meals. I don't want to do Nutrisystem or Weight Watchers or anything since I feel like that would lead to a higher chance of a relapse for me at the end. You know, I'd think "ok, I'm done!" and then once the system that was keeping me honest is taken away I'd go right back to my old ways. I still eat what I used to, but I use MyFitnessPal to track the calories. That way when I lose the weight, I can just set a higher daily calorie goal and it won't be a big change in lifestyle between losing and maintaining.

I also have PCOS, which is associated with weight gain due to increased appetite. My medication does help, but in the end it's me who chooses whether or not to overeat—PCOS or not—and I know I can't blame my weight on something like that just to try and make myself feel better. Taking responsibility is one of my weak spots.

Most people know it as Intermittent Fasting. I use the term "cleansing" instead of fasting. The science on this protocol is rock solid (as a nutritionist, I can vouch) and there are different variations. I use what's called a 5:2 protocol meaning, I eat for 5 days and then don't eat for 2. There are other variations... 6:1 (6 days eat/ 1 day no eating), 16:8 (16 hours of no eating/8 hours of eating).

 

I actually use a system that I purchase online that makes it very easy to follow. I can't even write up a nutritional plan for my clients that beats what I get in a box online so I now simply get them on the online program.

 

Essentially, it puts your body into a state of elevated fat burning while at the same time holding on to or increasing your muscle mass. Most programs I've looked at cause muscle loss which leads to the famous "rebound" effect we're all familiar with.

 

It also elevates your body's natural detoxification system. After a few weeks, your body runs so much more efficiently. It's more "forgiving" when you have those lapses ;) we're all prone to have (and by the way...SHOULD HAVE). It makes me feel about 15-20 years younger.

 

At the risk of shameless self-promotion :rolleyes: , here is a blog post I did on the science of this eating style...

https://onehealthybugger.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/fasting-is-lasting/

 

If you want more details on it, I'm always happy to share.

 

Have you ever done a cruise right out of NYC? We almost booked a 10 day on the Norwegian Gem

Intermittent fasting is a legitimate way to lose weight, but everything else in this post is pure unscientific drivel. Losing 50lbs in 90 days is maybe possible if you start out at 600+lbs, but sadly there are no such fantastically quick solutions for people in "normal" overweight or obese weight ranges. And no, skipping meals for a couple days does not magically build muscle mass. Shame on you for spreading such this harmful misinformation to desperate people.

Maximum healthy weight loss falls right around 2lbs per week, about half of the weight loss you promise in 90 days. Which, hey, people should be totally happy with! With normal calorie counting you can accomplish 10-25lbs of weight loss in 3 months and that is very much an excellent pace that will make a noticeable impact on your appearance. You can also lose weight at an accelerated pace at the beginning due to changes in water retention—that quick 5lb drop in the beginning can be fantastic motivation, but do NOT mistake it for some touted miracle product working. There is only so much water weight you can lose; it will slow down; it's perfectly normal.

Anyone who uses the words "cleansing" or "detoxifying" is just sending up a big confirmation banner that they are a snake oil salesman. If you don't have kidney disease, your body "cleanses" itself just fine, and no it's not toxins making you fat...it's overeating. I also notice that you claim to be a nutritionist to try and boost your credibility. There is NO regulation on the term "nutritionist" in the UK, Australia, Canada, or USA. The legally-protected term is "dietitian", and dietitians are the ones who have to be certified and meet regulations. You can literally read one online blog about how little space aliens inside your gut make you fat and that is enough to start calling yourself a nutritionist. So once again, shame on you.

...sadly it was the same 10 pounds five times.

I am a 5'7 female, started at just over 200lbs two years ago. Over the summer I got down to 165 purely through controlling my diet, no cruise on the radar just trying to get healthier. Sadly, I fell off the wagon. Then I got back on it. Then I fell off it again. And so on and so forth. I've been yo-yoing ever since, re-losing and re-gaining in increments of 5-15lbs, but recently climbed back up to 190lbs through a steady diet of fast food and apathy—the worst weight I've been since I started losing.

I am not going to talk about the progress I have made since booking the cruise, since it is still very early and I know I am prone to that "pre-reward" feeling from bragging about something I haven't accomplished yet. This time around, I'm gonna try to do it as quietly as possible, but I like seeing that there is a community of people who are working towards the similar goal. I will say that having a set goal date has helped my motivation a hundred fold.

The cruise is 4 months away and I hope to get down to at 160 by then, just under 10lbs per month. It's a tough goal, but I know it's doable. I've done it before and I can do it again...and hopefully keep it off this time!

I was a little confused by the wording of Carnival's Bottomless Bubbles package and I was wondering if anyone could clarify. I know the sodas listed are available through the package, but what about "specialty" virgin drinks? For example, a Shirley Temple, Roy Rogers, Arnold Palmer, etc. I remember drinking a thousand Shirley Temples with my soda card on my last Carnival cruise, but that was quite a long time ago and I don't know if things have changed since then.

Thanks! :)

My last cruise was over a decade ago, but hopefully I can still offer a worthwhile perspective.

We chose a porthole room and even found that to be an unnecessary extra expenditure, since we ended up using the room only to sleep and only really needed the bare-bones option. This was a Bahamas trip, and for my upcoming Caribbean trip I am going with the interior option to save money. If you don't spend a lot of time in the cabin, going for the cheapest room possible is a great way to save hundreds of dollars.

On the other hand, someone I know just went on an Alaskan cruise and she said the balcony was well worth it. I think balconies can be more worth it for certain destinations; in the Bahamas or Caribbean there might not be much to see but miles of open ocean, whereas other destinations can be more scenic. If you're really interested in having a private view of the scenery (and can get a room on the correct side of the ship to view said scenery!) it can be worth it to get a balcony. It's one of those things where there is no one right answer.

The other two dogs were "foo foo" dogs in strollers. They had various outfits. One time, I witnessed the "diabetes alert dog" being given licks of an ice cream cone that the supposedly diabetic person was eating while sitting in the Windjammer. I'm pretty sure the dog should have been trained to nip at the "diabetic" person's hand if they reached for a sugary dessert...!

Total lack of understanding of diabetes is sadly so widespread. The whole point of a diabetic alert dog is to detect dangerously low blood sugar, for which eating a sugary treat is the correct course of action. "Diabetics can't eat sugar" is a decades-out-of-date misconception.

My boyfriend is Type 1 diabetic and he can have regular, full-sugar ice cream as often as he wants with no ill-effects as long as he gives himself the correct dosage of insulin for it...much to the annoyance of uninformed busybodies.

Most diabetics can tell when their blood sugar is low, but sadly the disease is progressive and people will often gradually lose their ability to detect lows—even dangerous lows—hence the potential usefulness of a hypo alert dog.

That said, all service dogs should be very well trained and strictly be in "work mode" while they are on the job. It sounds harsh, but true service dogs are essentially tools, so you can't really have a service dog and treat it like a purse pet at the same time.