iahawkize

there are other cruiseline coundown clocks available just click on the words "countdown clock" below my countdown clock!

Ken

Well it helps to keep track of them and find out what they are dong for future cruises.. When you go to there profile you can then "see all posts by Mr Cool Cruiser" for example. Then IF they are on a future cruise that you may want to be on you'll be able to reply to their post on there. Obviously if you've made a previousl connection you may not need to do this , but it's a thought!

Ken

I'f spend the $29.99 for the trolley as it goes down to the southernmost point and all around as well. Here's a package i got thru Historic Tours of America and the package is worth it.

I have found 2 different passports available. They are listed below. Please note that these are designed for guests to travel as individuals or couples and there is no guarantee that guests can travel together in a group.

Passports There are two levels of passports to choose from…

Paradise Passport & Island Passport.

Paradise Passport

*Conch Tour Train or Old Town Trolley tour

*Key West Aquarium

*Ernest Hemingway House & Museum

*Key West Shipwreck HISTOREUM® Museum

*Harry S. Truman Little White House

*Flagler Station Over-sea Railway HISTOREUM® Museum

*Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory

*Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

*Exclusive Shopping Discounts

$92.00 retail price Retail Value $108.90 * You Save $16.90

Child Passport $45.00 retail price

Island Passport

*Conch Tour Train or Old Town Trolley tour

*Key West Aquarium

*Ernest Hemingway House & Museum

*Key West Shipwreck HISTOREUM® Museum

*Harry S. Truman Little White House

*Flagler Station Over-sea Railway HISTOREUM® Museum

*Exclusive Shopping Discounts

$ 70.00 retail price Retail Value $ 83.00 * You Save $13.00

Child Passport $31.00 retail price

Passports Retail Your discounted price

Paradise Adult $92.00 $73.50

Paradise Child $45.00 $35.00

Island Adult $70.00 $56.00

Island Child $31.00 $24.60

Thank you

Tammy Osterhoudt

Historic Tours of America

1805 Staples Avenue, Suite 101

Key West, FL 33040

(305)293-8718

tosterhoudt at their contact point on their website

Cruise line or from providers online from the port or just take a cab when in port? I've done it all three ways, but the cheapest and safest is going to Trip advisor for your port and review the excursion comments.. You just have to do your research online. If you want some of your friends from your Cruise critic group to do it then that's another issue as well.

Ken

Marti I absolutely love your response! Made my day great laugh.

The BEST way is to tell them you need their booking number because your mom & dad wanted to send them a Bon Voyage gift. Then Call your cruise rep and have them link up your booking numbers for dinner. That'd be the best way to surprise them. Ken

Careful!!! It was Premier Parking a couple of weeks ago where people got off their ship to find keys missing, other keys thrown into the parking lot and employees gone.

 

Google it......or do a search on these boards.....it was a mess! No way would I ever use this company!!!

Read the article and it was their Miami Location. These people were using the Ft Lauderdale Location I read Trip Advisor ( recommend it for all issues on travel) and the reviews were fine.

I have used Premier Parking. http://premierparkingusa.com and for 6 days it was $37.04 wich includes a complimentary shuttle for 4 round trip. Hope that helps!

Ken

By all means Jimmy Buffett, Zac Brown but you definitely need Carnivals Steel Drum Collection any volume available at http://www.TropicalMusicInternational.com or Bill Bass Steel Pans Tourist Classics "Welcome to St. Croix" Just for variety! Ken

Hi myself and my husband are taking our first cruise on 22nd Dec were staying in an airport hotel at orlando the night before. The hotel has a shuttle for $100 round trip to port canaveral but the pick up time is between 11:30-12:00, is this leaving it a bit late?

I want to avoid massive line ups at the terminal.

Can anyone recommend a shuttle firm that are reliable or do you think we would be fine on the hotel one?

 

Many thanks in advance

This pertains to IF you happen to be on Carnival

If the hotel has a free shuttle to & from the airport, see how early they can take you back to the airport the morning of your cruise Carnival has airport check in and a transfer for $35 pp. ONce you check in they handle the rest I don't know about other lines

Ken

After reading all the posts i decided to go with Carnival Liberty, leaving on Nov 23rd for the Caribbean for 7 days. Hope this was the right choice since i have never traveled on Carnival.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Isailed on the Carnival Liberty in Nov of 2012. I found it to be a great ship with Great Staff. Take all the negative member reviews with a grain of salt as you can't please everyone. I strongly suggest that you go to the roll call for the specific cruise date and join in on the discussion. You may also want to join in on any meet ups they have planned for cruise critic members. read thru ALL of the posts and you may find that there are other families with girls your daughters age. That way they can connect before the cruise perhaps on facebook. ( privately off the site you can e-mail their parents and get their girls cell phone numbers and they can privately text each other ) I have organized 3 meet ups and the groups of families have been fun to cruise with. My son hooked up with a boy close to his age and we hooked up with the parents. That was in 2003 and I'm still friends with them. Above all don't set your expectations sky high and you all will have a great cruise.....Ken

OK If you happen to be on Carnival you could have signed up for Faster to the Fun Which for $49.99 per cabin allows you priority boarding with the Platinum and diamond cruisers. You can put ALL your carry ons in the v=cabin and your luggage may allready be there. Don't chance going to the beach in Miami due to traffic The pools onboard MAY be open Save your beach day in Miami for after you get back and stay over one night and enjoy the nightlife in South Beach

Just gor off the Victory and one of our group was able to reserve villa "D" the day before our ship sailed as he was on a B-to-B. We had 14 inour group and never registered the other 6 as not everyone snorkled and we all brought some extra "stuff" from the ship. So it only cost us $35 pp! They don't check and why spend $49pp for the extra 6? They don't check There was plenty of shade early and most of us pulled the loungers up close to the Villa to keep them reserved for people in our group. The buffet was just like on the ship limited but just like going to a barbeque picnic, with plenty of shaded tables nearby. Didn't use the other ectivities but it would have been fun to use the wave runners or do the dolphin or stingray experience.

Ken

Does anyone remember seeing "Adult Costumes" being worn? I'm referring to the Naughty Nurse, Sexy Schoolgirl Harem girl types etc etc. If so How risque were they as my gf doesn't want to get embarrassed.

Morning,

 

I didn't work out b/c I was just tired. Trying to work on my proposal and I kept getting other little task all day that were distracting. But I will workout tonight. In fact, I made plans to work through lunch and take off early so I can grab a workout before going to the eye dr. to check my contacts again.

BK: Oatmeal

S: greek yogurt and apple slices

L: 3 oz of chicken and 1 c of brown rice and green beans

S: 3 oz of crab meat and tomato

D: Grilled chicken and baked potato

W: At least 40 mins.

Ugh, I think my allergies are just dragging me down. That and I've been trying to avoid the latte's and caff. again and it is getting to me...........Oh well.

Here is hoping I can stop slipping up.

Brooke I feel for you. Just asking for the caffeine withdrawal you're probably having how about massive doses of excedrin? I've had those withdrawals and they are a bi**h! Also what do you put on your baked potato. I saw you have yogurt on your plan that is a great sub for sour cream and may help. Hang in there girl! Ken (aka Fritos assistant)

Still no power, cud be the weekend.......

 

Wrk has power though so at least i have that. I have an apt with my chiro today and will have him look at the ankle. Its swollen and blue bruised but just achy. I have it wrapped and elevated at wrk. But the stairs r no fun with it. Plus im leaning n my bad hip a lot. I figure that the recumbent bike wudnt hurt my ankle.....but ill wait until chiro says something. For now i have reduced my point intake to help cmpensate for lack of physical activity. Not by to much though .....200 calories. I gained up to 319 the over th last week and i NEED to stop that. So i figure if i reduce movement, the i reduce food.

 

Good choices.

Brooke I hope your power comes back Frito's went out again last night but came back on. Hope your ankle heals, but that is no excuse for not doing some weight resistance exercises with your arms I am sure you know which ones and they too will burn calories. Go for it! Ken

Morning,

 

But good news on the scale this morning.

 

Wed. 314.4

 

I hope I keep seeing progress.

 

Good choices.

Brooke: I read your first post of May 2009 345.5 and now 3 yrs later you're 31# lighter. 9% weight loss. Way to go. Like I said it's a journey NOT a sprint. Try weighing only once a week but keep doing your food/calorie/exercise journal. It's a matter of calories in-calories burned. When you think that to lose 1# you need to burn 3000 calories! Drink 8 8 oz glasses of water ( I usually put lemon and sweet & low in mine) daily. 6 smaller meals not 3 the biggest in the am and NOTHING after 7 pm. But YOU allready know all about this! So By the cruise what's your goal? I am shooting for 1# a week. Doesn't being below 300# sound awesome? Oh and for me it's only 2 decks up to the Gym and I plan on hitting the gym for 1 hour ( it opens at 6am) daily. OK Now I'll get off my soapbox and if you're mad at me for telling you all this I apoplogize but I ain't got lot of room to talk myself! Ken

Morning,

 

Breakfast: Oatmeal

 

L: Subway, I ended having pizza b/c I didn't pay attention and subway wasn't open.

 

W: 60 ellpt. or bike depending on how the day goes.

 

D: depending on if we go with my nephews or not......I was planning on faijtas, but it is like 91 degrees and with no A/c cooking is a nightmare. So I might end up with a sandwich.

 

Thanks for saying all those nice things about the house. At this point we can't get out of the contract with the land. So we are trying just a few more avenues with the house (trying to get more comps to make the appraisal go up and then trying to see if my aunt will go with the original USDA loan b/c then I could keep the price down enough for the appraisal). If all else fails. I've just decided to go with my previous thought out back up plan and just make payments to my grandad on the lot over the next 2 years or so and then I should be able to use the lot for collateral to put a house on it or just resale it........whatever. Probably need to get used to a certain amount of money going out of my bank account anyway and maybe I'll have a raise or something by then that will let me get an even nice house or at least feel more comfortable paying for one by myself.

 

I do still feel sad though, b/c if that happens I will have to live with my parents for at least another year 1/2 to 2 years. I will be 30 by then. Its just depressing. Although my parents are VERY supportive and told me that it wasn't my fault that the markets crashed and the economy went south and its not a stable world out there. Still, I have plenty of friends out there living on their own (renting) and making it and the older I get, the less independent I feel relying on my parents for so much.

 

I even looked at renting prices in the area, but at $700 a month to rent a 2 bedroom apt.....I feel like my money would be better spent paying for the land and waiting. Though my freedom.........will hurt. And so will my sinuses when I have to endure another winter of cig. smoke and wood stoves. I guess I can only sit back and pray and hope what works out is what is best for me now. And think that at least I'm not having to worry about a roof over my head or food to eat (:rolleyes:), b/c there are worse things in life and I should feel blessed.

 

Maybe getting away this weekend will help. Though I'm worried about not getting my exercise in and over eating. I know I can control both, but questioning myself on whether I will. I think I will bring my scale with me to remind me while I'm there..........WHY I should stay on task. And the friend we are going to see is doing WW too, so maybe we can help each other. She lives in a nice little neighborhood, so I can probably do some walking at least. She said we could cook in some too, which will help with food intake. It will probably be hot as :eek: there, lol.

 

Good Choices.

Brooklyn: People say I have a lot of time on my hands and that sometimes I should get a life! Well for now my "Life" is taking care of my 91 year old father here in North Ft Myers FL. Did I ever think I'd be single again and living with my dad at 64??? Hell NO. I thought I'd be on my Iowa porch watching my grand kids run arond the 4 acres on our ATV. but God had other plans when i was filed on for divorce after 25 yrs together. When mom had her stroke in Sept '03 I never thought about moving down here to help him but when I arrived in May '10 it was clearly evident that they needed me. So don't feel bad about living w/ your parents cause they MAY be living with you some day. In many ways it's been a blessing for me and dad ( mom has passed away in July'10 ) You have BOTH your mom & dad and let them help you on your need to save but not enable you in your weight loss journey.

I too am dealing with weight as the effects of a steroid med and lack of exercise added 50# to my body since arriving here. 250# was 200#. Am I happy about it? No, but one thing I DON"T do is read my scale every day as that can be depressing and counterproductive. For your sanity do it once a week. There IS NO magic cure but one thing for sure is that 90% of the whole battle is in your head and changing your lifestyle. Everyone will give you their "solution" but that really has to come from your doctor, nutritionist and if you can your trainer at a health club. I wish you well in your journey as I am on one myself. Ken

I'm all for saving money on cruises but I was just adding up costs the other day for a 7 day cruise. I always use a website to book my hotels when I travel and the average cost usually runs between $70-$90 per night for a double or king with continental or almost complete breakfast. Using an $80 average that's $560 for 7 days, Since breakfast is included . lets add up what lunch costs for 2 at McDonalds ($5 x 2 =$10)or Panera ( $8 for a meal + $1.75 for a medium drink= $9.75 x 2 = $19.50) So we have an average of $15/ day for lunch or $105 for 7 days. Dinner at Applebees for 2 on special = $20 + $5 for non alcoholic drinks = $25. Dinner at a good Seafood or Steak house here in SW FL costs $50 -$75, so lets use an aggregate average of $50 for this or $350. We must not forget that it takes gas in the car to get there so lets just say 1 tank of gas for the week at $50.

 

So the totals are:

Hotel $560.00

Lunch $105.00

Dinner $350.00

Trans $50.00

 

TOTAL$1065.00

 

So if one would save up just over $20/ week the basic cost of a 7 day cruise inside cabin found on any of the websites we all use for finding deals would be paid for. All the extras are just that "extras"! I am sure we all have done the math so i'm just sayin " It just takes a little more to go first class so upgrades and shore excursions and drinks can be justified when you are planning your cruise where your hotel travels to so many wonderful ports of call and you don't have to unpack!

 

IAHAWKIZE A member of:

FRITOS BANDITOS CC Group

LOL at comparing a cruise lunch and dinner with McD's and Appleby's. Good steak dinner for two $50? Whaattt??? 10yrs ago at Sanibel Steakhouse my steak was $38!!

OP,

You are definitely comaring apples and oranges. Micky D and Applebees? Come on. As long as you are stacking the deck, why not stay at a dive for $29 a night and bring a case of canned ravioli. That will make the savings even more.

Paul

OK OK I KNOW it's apples and oranges. This post was meant for non or first time cruisers. I wasn't comparing at all. I was just using a point of reference and I went low, very low and the price I used was an average of the high & low. My dinner for 2 last Friday at Reds on Pine Island/Matlacha ( Near Ft Myers Sanibel for those non SW Floridians reading this)was $85.00!. Typical lunch at Panera for 2 rund $20. NOTHING can really compare to the meals on the ship. But the reason for my post was to show non cruisers that Cruising CAN be relatively an inexpensive vacation and if you noticed I ALSO said "It just takes a little bit more to go first class!"which I am sure you and I both agree is the ONLY way to go. So lets bump up my lunch costs to $205 and dinners up to $550 so that increases my price comparison to $1365 for a 7 day cruise or about $98/person /day. So all people have to do to budget next years cruise is save $26/week to get there! Cut back on Starbucks lattes and lay off the Big Mack super meal and you're there.

I'm all for saving money on cruises but I was just adding up costs the other day for a 7 day cruise. I always use a website to book my hotels when I travel and the average cost usually runs between $70-$90 per night for a double or king with continental or almost complete breakfast. Using an $80 average that's $560 for 7 days, Since breakfast is included . lets add up what lunch costs for 2 at McDonalds ($5 x 2 =$10)or Panera ( $8 for a meal + $1.75 for a medium drink= $9.75 x 2 = $19.50) So we have an average of $15/ day for lunch or $105 for 7 days. Dinner at Applebees for 2 on special = $20 + $5 for non alcoholic drinks = $25. Dinner at a good Seafood or Steak house here in SW FL costs $50 -$75, so lets use an aggregate average of $50 for this or $350. We must not forget that it takes gas in the car to get there so lets just say 1 tank of gas for the week at $50.

So the totals are:

Hotel $560.00

Lunch $105.00

Dinner $350.00

Trans $50.00

TOTAL$1065.00

So if one would save up just over $20/ week the basic cost of a 7 day cruise inside cabin found on any of the websites we all use for finding deals would be paid for. All the extras are just that "extras"! I am sure we all have done the math so i'm just sayin " It just takes a little more to go first class so upgrades and shore excursions and drinks can be justified when you are planning your cruise where your hotel travels to so many wonderful ports of call and you don't have to unpack!

IAHAWKIZE A member of:

FRITOS BANDITOS CC Group

If the shooter is on a roll I like to play the 6 & 8 for $12 and the hard 6 & 8 for $5 That way I win a minumum of $7 every time they roll the 6 or 8 and if I get lucky enough that the shooter rolls it the hard way one time I make $35 (7-1 odds) plus the $12 on the easy for a total of $47. MY initial outlay is $24 on the easys and $10 on the hards for a total of $34. Obviously this system fails miserably if the shooters roll a few 7 outs after the point!