FlatlandDave

I took mine in a 7 day container and had no issues. Coming back into Galveston the Customs agent did ask "did you bring back any prescription drugs"?  I said, 'No". He said, " No amoxicillin?" I said, "no nothing" He then wished me a nice day.

When we were on the freedom 2 weeks ago they had one night were Cruise casual was allowed.

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Finished our cruise on the freedom on April 6th no HBO.

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Down 2 post cruise.

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9 minutes ago, retiring soon said:

Hi all!

 

Checking in really late this time, almost time for the next report!

Belle ~ I appreciate all you do in helping us along & really liked Jan's tribute to you. You've been a great help to her.

Hope you feel better soon.

 

Jan ~ you're doing great! Congrats on such a big loss.

 

Dave ~ was that your first Carnival cruise? Sounds like it'll be your l ast.Not too bad a gain for all the food available on a cruise. I like Guy's burgers too but only have 1 the whole cruise.

 

I was up 0.2 last week so will hope for better this Thursday.

 

See you in a couple of days.

 

~ Jo ~ 😊

 

It was a lot of soft serve ice cream!!

Just got back from our cruise on the Carnival freedom. The steakhouse, Guy's and blue iguana cantina were tasty. MDR was ok and the buffet bland and tasteless. So I'm up 4#.. time to start working at off and saving up for our next trip for somewhere that's probably not going to be on Carnival Cruise lines.

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HI all!
 
Belle ~ thanks for the ditty & welcome back. Glad you had a nice cruise & saw whales.
 
Jan ~ WTG, on the weight loss not the funny story! How embarassing!
 
Dave ~ great loss! Have fun on Freedom, is it the Carnival one of RCL?
 
Diana ~ what a nice cruise & land trip too. I love both Barcelona & Prague, beautiful places.
 
Well, I was able to resist chocolate, cookies & chips this week so am down 1.2 lbs.
 
Have a nice weekend.
 
~ Jo ~ [emoji4]

Made it on board... Started out with a burger at guys.. lol.. this diet will be a challenge!!

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HI, all  off of radio silence now.. Had a little bout of depression and some tragic flooding here in Nebraska.

Today we leave for our cruise on the Freedom and I managed though all the stress to end up 15lbs lighter on my goal for my health and not to be that " fat old guy" in the speedos ( no one wants to see that! )..   Hugs and I will check back in when we get to Galveston later today.

Getting close...

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Up a lb , my stress level at work has been up and that is not conducive to losing any lbs. Coupled with crummy sleep due to neighbors cranking their stereo during the day when I sleep. Not a happy camper...

Keep telling myself just 50 more days till we cruise.....

Hi all, I stayed right about where I was at( even ) . The low pressure system that hit us this week made my arthritis flare up along with my tendonitis in my wrist so I didn't hit the gym so far this week been wearing a brace and taking advil all week long Coupled with stress at work  it hasn't been easy.  58 days till our cruise and I hope to lose a few more lbs... 

Thanks for stating the thread Belle. Great poem!

I stayed the same this week. This plateau is hanging on!

1 minute ago, pacruise804 said:

Good job everyone!  Jan, I'm looking forward to the day when my BMI says "overweight" instead of obese also (was there a few years ago, but let it creep up ). 

 

Good luck with your plateaus, Diana & Dave.

BMI is so inaccurate and outdated. It doesn't take muscle weight into account for instance.... For me it has me at obese even though I have very muscular legs..

Hi gang, stayed the same this week. On a plateau I just haven't broke yet.  72 days till we cruise, still time to get to get to my goal ( 7# more lbs give or take ).

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 1:09 AM, Belle said:

Dave..Are you still eating meat and just eating more veggies? Or giving up meat?

How much water do you drink in a day?

 

Jan..Nice your husband eating less with you. Remember and I don't think it's

fair but men lose faster than us plus they can eat more doing it. Really glad he's

losing and hope his knee gets better.

 

Jo..I have that problem to, buying things I shouldn't for good reasons that weren't.

I wanted them! Glad that all of you that smoked gave it up, good for you. Glad I

didn't smoke know it was hard to give up for you all.

 

Hi Rob..Good to see you and so nice you helped the father of your friend. Had to be

a hard time for him. Good job so far on eating plan, you lost, 6 lbs already.  Your insurance

gives you money for going to the gym. Nice when you want to go already. Yes see

you on Thursday.

 

Everyone enjoy your Sunday.

Belle, still eating lean meat drinking 2 liters of water and unsweet tea/coffee. Its all about portion control.....

1 hour ago, Jan_In_Maine said:

My DH (Ken) decided to go on a diet with me on NY's day ... as he is the highest he has ever been and is having a problem with a knee that he had surgery on a few years ago (torn meniscus).  Today he weighed himself 11# gone ... I'm so proud of him, and also so envious of so much weight gone in such a short time.  He does know that a lot is water weight, but it's still good!  He has always lost weight quick once he gives up dessert (sigh ... wish it would work the same for me!!). 

 

Dave - do you eat the veggies cooked or raw?  I love fresh vegetables (can't wait for summer). 

 

Hope everyone has a great week.  Jan 

raw......

This week it was more raw vegetables and water along with manual labor.  Found out that keeping my low weight end is dependent on the amount of fresh veggies I eat.

Well, down #2.6 this time around.  

Triggers are something I know well from my recovery program.  They are better phrased as reservations " I wont break my diet unless ( insert excuse here ) happens". Once we identify what those reservations are its easier to resist the temptations. That can be a very tricky thing.

Nice poem and topic Belle and congrats Jan on your loss.

On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 11:32 AM, sanmarcosman said:

They laid off their in house IT department and shipped the jobs overseas to save a buck or two. We are left with the end result.

I read your other post about your experiences with your PVP. I explained to my PVP from the git go that I need them mostly as an order taker and to be an advocate for me if something goes south with the reservation. I said I did not want to receive sales calls. Not once in 5 years have I received a sales call. Some PVPs will work on this basis but I've read here others will not or they "forget" and call you anyway because you show up in their TK file of their sales program. Good luck.

I think I am going to need lots of luck on this....

21 minutes ago, Indytraveler83 said:

 

The second issue here is what I’ve tried to address with Carnival. This is the second year in a row I’ve had amenities decreased and prices increased right before I cruise (and after final payment is due).

 

I fully understand they can charge whatever they want, and that the entire industry is moving towards a more a la carte experience. I just wish they provided more notice, and made changes less frequently. 

 

I’m not going to yell out “never again” when it comes to cruising with Carnival. They are still cheaper and more inclusive than most. But...

 

1) I am more motivated to try another cruise line. Since they are coming more in line with the rest of the industry, I have less motivation to be loyal. 

 

2) I will not book a cruise with Carnival this far in advance (1 year) ever again. I’ll wait until much closer so that I’ve got a better chance of my terms of purchase matching the product I receive. 

 

 

One one thing I’ve noticed, is that both John Heald and the Carnival social media pages keep mentioning they will give our feedback to he higher ups. John Heald said they would be meeting about the issue Monday. Does anyone have any clue what type of response Carnival may have?

 

I don’t anticipate a withdrawal of the change, but does anyone think they might try offering some sort of positive change to make up for all the negative responses? 

Doubtful , when the personal vacation planner called me to try to sell me another cruise ( no let me finish this one and we will see what we think after that ) and I voiced my concerns. The spin they were putting on it was is that Carnival is trying to reduce waste and be more green and in the long run it will benefit the customer.   I just got off the website and room service is still being touted as "included" from 6 AM to 10 PM. They are a major player and had reported revenues for all of CCL to the tune of 17.5 billion in 2017. I would think they just might have a I.T. guy to update things in a timely manner?

1 minute ago, Belle said:

Good afternoon  you six. Great you came in to start the New Year 2019!

It wasn't to bad for everyone this holiday season It could of been worse

if we weren't trying a little bit.  I'm stayed the same but still up the pound

I gained after the cruise at home. (didn't gain on cruise)

 

I really need to get on the ball and lose some weight. You would think living

alone it would be easy. It's not.  When my husband was alive I made meals

healthy ones but sometimes not but had a schedule. Now I don't cook as much.

I don't eat to much at meals in fact only have 2 meals a day sometimes one

but I pick too much I know plus I like sweets. Try not to have many but need to

give up. I know some will say eat breakfast but I found out if I do, I eat more

during the day. So my first meal of the day is lunch.

 

OK my confession. What do you find out is your hardest part to lose weight.

Family meals, too many carbs, your love of sweets or french fries? What

are you doing to help yourself to get weight off this year? What have you

found out about yourself eating wise?

 

Come on and speak up. We're here to lose weight and this is the place to talk.

We're friends trying to do the same thing. I talk, you talk, we get ideas from each other.

Have a good weekend.

Well, for me its water( lots of it ) and raw vegetables that have helped me get down some pounds. What's tough is avoiding HFCS High fructose corn syrup in foods  it really adds the pounds to a body.  My weakness is ice cream I Love it!  I have an addictive personality so instead of a scoop I would eat half a carton. Been clean and sober for 5 years and a month  so addictive things for me are something I really need to watch.  Sometimes its finding out the whys to change our habits.

Habits are made of 3 things Cues-Routines and Rewards. We do things for the Reward ( perceived in our minds) or actual.

The cues don't change but the routines can and the rewards sure can. Eating all that ice cream was a way for me deal with boredom or stress and the sugar and creamy taste was the reward. That however was a diminishing return as it put 25 lbs on my frame. From my doctors request I started eating better and found more ways to move/exercise and the pounds have started coming off> I look and feel better with more energy and the guy I see in the mirror looks better. By changing my routine that's the reward I got.   That's being said there's much to do as I have hit a plateau.

2 minutes ago, Crazy4Camping said:

This is why I'm so nervous about this cruise.  It's our first and we were led to believe that so much was included and was so cheap.  Since we first booked almost 2 years ago, everything has gone up(gratutities, beverage packages, etc.)and now this isn't even included.  Everytime I turn around I'm opening my wallet.  Even our flights were changed(Carnival says it was the airline but we booked through Fly2Fun and they said it wouldn't change)so now we have to get a hotel the night before since our flights are 3 hours earlier.  I'm sure it will be fun, but I don't think it's over $3K in one week kind of fun!

Our first cruise too, feel about the same way..Doesn't seem right but as the "personal vacation planner" from Carnival said to me yesterday ( after I repeatedly asked her not to call during the day as we work nights ) it's all to make Carnival a more "green" cruise line by eliminating waste. Which will add value for the customer!  She then touted the next new ship coming out as being even more green as it will run on natural gas. All in all a rehearsed canned response...  I then asked her "well since I am trying to budget for this what else will be extra charges by the time we cruise?" Her answer was "there are no more changes being planned at this time and we do appreciate your business". I did ask her once again to only call in the morning and she said "I have only called once or twice" I said, " I have talked to you at least 4 times and ignored 8+ other calls I just didn't answer" She replied " ok you got me on that one".

3 hours ago, Jan_In_Maine said:

I take it you didn't pre-pay already for the soda package?  That's a bummer that they are upping prices ... Both Royal and Norwegian have been doing the same within the last few years ... and increasing the gratuity amounts.  Its really frustrating, but I guess the cruise lines want to make as much revenue as possible.  Did you pre-pay your gratuities?  Sometimes it is best to pay it before the cruise, just in case they decide to increase that also.  

 

We went on our first cruise to celebrate our 30th anniversary and have never regretted going ... sometimes not everything is perfect, but it is still an amazing adventure.  In August of 2020 we will be celebrating our 47th anniversary and are planning on doing a vow renewal.  We have invited all the kids (3 and spouses) to go with us (it was their Christmas present for 2018, 2019 & 2020!!!) - We will cruise out of Boston to Bermuda (No plane fare!) - I am excited.    Jan

No Jan we haven't paid for the soda package, but the cruise is paid for so hopefully no more curveballs.

Got yet another phone call from Carnival trying to sell me another cruise after I have asked them not to call me as we already have a cruise booked. I work nights and she woke me up so I let her know my concerns( I am on call so have to leave my phone on ).  The answer I got was a "canned" answer about eliminating waste and how they want to be the greenest cruise line in the industry and that they are building a ship that runs on CNG, and they are just doing what the competition has already done.   I said " yes the corporation I work for is doing the same thing about being green". " However you changed the game after I booked my cruise so some of the value we were expecting has been taken away", " I asked "what other changes are you planning to implement as a couple grand to them is small change and to us its a significant expense?"  She then said she understood and no other changes are planned at this time + that the extra charges are minimal. I said, "well minimal charges all add up".  I was assured that we would have a great time and Carnival appreciates our business.    It ended with "I have called you a couple of times and wanted to help in any way we can".  I said "this is the 5th or 6th time you have called!" she ok "you have me there".

On the bright side at least I will burn some calories walking to get our food.

15 minutes ago, fuddrules said:

 

Not sure it is with all of CCL but it is with Carnival.  It’s probably best for you to stick with land vacations or other cruise lines. 

Lesson learned, hopefully nothing else changes between now and when we embark...( fingers crossed ).