Live From The Carnival Freedom: Crossing the Atlantic for a New Whale Tail

[exlondoner]

10 hours ago, techteach said:

I can assure you that I, @NE John and @exlondoner would not cheat. At least I’m sure NE John wouldn’t but sometimes I wonder about exlondoner. 😉

On current form, I wouldn’t  be able to cheat, because I wouldn’t remember!

[chryso]

8 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I would say probably the dirtiest city I've ever visited, and I walked Bourbon St. on Lundi Gras (the day before Mardi Gras for those that don't speak French 😅)

 

As someone who lives right outside New Orleans I can't agree with this.

Edited November 11, 2023 by chryso

[Hogladyrider]

Great photos!

[Petersonfcu]

6 hours ago, chryso said:

As someone who lives right outside New Orleans I can't agree with this.

Not sure if you are saying Bourbon Street is better or worse than represented.  I for one avoid Bourbon street like the plague.  I love New Orleans ... but hang out mostly on Frenchmen Street instead of Bourbon.  Will be on the Spirit next fall through the Panama Canal terminating in New Orleans.  Can't wait!!

Edited November 11, 2023 by Petersonfcu

[chryso]

Sorry, New Orleans, in general, is worse in my opinion.

[jam19872016]

15 hours ago, chryso said:

As someone who lives right outside New Orleans I can't agree with this.

 

8 hours ago, chryso said:

Sorry, New Orleans, in general, is worse in my opinion.

I don't remember it all that well so it could be. I felt like it deserved a few points credit since it was overrun by the festivities 😅.

 

It was certainly the wildest event I've ever partaken in.

[jam19872016]

12 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

Great photos!

Thank you!

 

8 hours ago, Petersonfcu said:

Not sure if you are saying Bourbon Street is better or worse than represented.  I for one avoid Bourbon street like the plague.  I love New Orleans ... but hang out mostly on Frenchmen Street instead of Bourbon.  Will be on the Spirit next fall through the Panama Canal terminating in New Orleans.  Can't wait!!

Did that trip on that ship last year except it ended in Miami. Fantastic cruise all around.

 

I loved New Orleans and it definitely is high on the list for a repeat visit. 

[jam19872016]

Lost another 1.6 lbs when I weighed today and if I can lose another pound today I will have undone everything I gained on the return trip home from Barcelona.

 

Yesterday was the first day I really struggled with hunger. Calories clocked in at 1330 yesterday. Today I was hungry again but it did subside as the day went on. Finished at 983 calories and I am hopeful for at least a pound to come off the scale.

 

The next two days will be difficult. Sunday is my long day at work and I always get snackish and then Monday I am off which always proves to be a test of my will power. I will try to stay on track and just keep reminding myself that Thursday I will be eating like there is no tomorrow again!

 

Unless I'm too worn out from work tomorrow the plan is to post the final port day which was Las Palmas. I guess it will technically be Monday morning before I get off though 🙂

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by jam19872016

[Petersonfcu]

8 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Calories clocked in at 1330 yesterday. Today I was hungry again but it did subside as the day went on. Finished at 983 calories and I am hopeful for at least a pound to come off the scale.

 

I would be totally miserable if I limited my food intake to 2300 calories over a 48 hour span.  For sure you will lose weight quickly if you can keep that up.

[jam19872016]

11 hours ago, Petersonfcu said:

I would be totally miserable if I limited my food intake to 2300 calories over a 48 hour span.  For sure you will lose weight quickly if you can keep that up.

As I layed in bed last night hunger hit me but I was out of my 8 hour window that I'm not fasting so I grabbed a pickle and that did the trick.

 

Unfortunately I think I've already reached the end of the "easy" weight loss. I am even today with yesterday's weight.

[techteach]

@jam19872016 Hang in there! You can do this. Give yourself time and patience. It took a lot of days to put on that weight!  Keep the water flowing and steps mounting. I find that when I deny myself everything good I end up bingeing. I allow myself one square of dark chocolate and it suffices. But it has to be quality chocolate!  I was having real cravings for those cakes you posted until you, or someone else, pointed out they really didn’t taste that good. That was all I needed to hear to stop the desire. Only eat what tastes really good and only eat until you are no longer hungry. You can do this!

[Essiesmom]

I leave the cakes alone.  I like cake, but cake…not all that gooey stuff between the layers.  I used to drool over the cakes in the bakeries in NYC.  But they just tasted like preservatives…Just making one from a box tasted better.  EM

[jam19872016]

19 hours ago, techteach said:

@jam19872016 Hang in there! You can do this. Give yourself time and patience. It took a lot of days to put on that weight!  Keep the water flowing and steps mounting. I find that when I deny myself everything good I end up bingeing. I allow myself one square of dark chocolate and it suffices. But it has to be quality chocolate!  I was having real cravings for those cakes you posted until you, or someone else, pointed out they really didn’t taste that good. That was all I needed to hear to stop the desire. Only eat what tastes really good and only eat until you are no longer hungry. You can do this!

I don't have the will power for one piece. It's all or nothing 😄. I usually will allow myself a cheat day here or there as I find it keeps me on track and kick starts my metabolism when the weight is not coming off anymore. I have 30 more days of cruising in 2023, I don't need any extra cheat days at this point 🙂

 

[jam19872016]

Down 2.0 pounds today with 1040 calories. On track to do less calories today, the hunger monster has left me alone today so I've taken advantage and eaten lightly.

 

Getting things together for my cruise on Thursday. I'm really going to try and not buy wifi and just unplug for four days, I'm not sure if I am going to do it. I really just need it for meal time. Eating solo and just staring off into the room is quite boring. I have 90 minutes free wifi and that will be enough probably to get through at least a couple days. I don't remember dinner being particularly efficient on Celebrity.

 

Got the parking done, check in done. Specialty dining was a bust. No reservations left which seems very unlikely. I wanted first night for the discount but even checking every night, there is not a single reservation available. Considering the outrageous pricing on their specialty dining, I really find that hard to believe. I will try again on board. I really just want the lawn club grill. I went there on my first celebrity cruise in 2020 (early 2020 obviously) and it ranks the best specialty dining experience I've ever had. I think it's only one two of their ships and I don't sail Celebrity often (2024 excluded) so I want to get in while I have the chance.

 

Ended up going into work for a few hours today so wrapping this thing up today is off the table. Going to carry on with the final port day though now.

 

 

[jam19872016]

The final port of call for this cruise was Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. There was shopping a fairly close distance from the ship, so the first stop was with my mom for a little light shopping.

 

Looking back at the ship.

 

 

 

Shopping center right by the port.

 

 

My mom got carried away trying to spend the last of her Euros so I needed to carry them back to the ship while she continued her shopping. I had a quick bite to eat (Mongolian Wok if I remember) and made my way back out to start my exploring.

 

These seats don't look very comfortable, but I think these are life size fidget spinners.

 

 

Took another opportunity to get some pictures of the freshly painted Carnival Freedom.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

For a moment I considered doing a hop on hop off tour, but the people waiting indicated they had been waiting for a very long time and there were more people waiting than would likely be able to board the next bus so I kept moving to see what I could find on foot today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

I could see the water up ahead so I walked in that direction. I did not realize what I was about to discover.

 

 

A beach?

 

Not just a beach like you find at every Caribbean port of call. This took me back to the beaches of my childhood growing up in Florida. A beach with waves crashing into the shore. The sounds of the waves crashing and the smell of the salt in the air was triggering a lot of happy memories for me and I got a little carried away with a lot of pictures.

 

The boardwalk. All my photos which appear to be taken in the water, were actually taken from up on the boardwalk - the water was just that high.

 

 

Rogue crashing waves also completely soaked me a time or two.

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

 

I finally broke myself free to keep exploring.

 

 

Looking back to the spot I was at taking those first crashing wave photos.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Before I knew it, I was drawn back into the siren song of the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

 

If I lived here, I could just sit out staring at this all day long and be completely at peace.

 

 

 

Stood back a little for another perspective of how rough the surf is.

 

 

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

 

I'm not making a lot of progress. But finally I continue on.

 

 

Surprise, Surprise, more looks of the water.

 

 

 

You think this one got me?

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

 

 

As I got further along, the sand turned black.

 

 

 

Trying to look the other way a little.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

The black color of the beach does not look very inviting, but the locals were enjoying it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This didn't really come out, I was trying to get it at an angle where you couldn't see the homeless man camped out in front of it.

 

 

 

[jam19872016]

Nearing the end of the shoreline. I walked out onto the rocks for these final pictures.