Freedom! Live From The Freedom of the Seas 8/11-18, 2024

[jam19872016]

Dessert menu.

 

 

 

Key lime pie

 

 

[jam19872016]

 😍 

 

[exlondoner]

28 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Everything seems to be up to standards.

 

And a matching sugar bowl. What sophistication!

[jam19872016]

Got a certificate for $250 off from the casino. I considered just using that instead of going back to the casino today but then I priced out how little $250 off is and I think I'm going to press on and hope for a good day!

[jam19872016]

🙏 🙏 

 

 

Two flushes but no royal..got my bet back at least.

 

Edited August 17 by jam19872016

[jam19872016]

That was a slow grind. Made about $100 on it before I cashed out. Most importantly, the slow grind allowed me to rack up a ton of points.

 

Mission accomplished. 

 

Down a little for the day. Down A LOT for the cruise. One for the record books and not for the right reasons.

 

 

[jam19872016]

Time to get moving after sitting in front of a machine for so long. Off to the gym.

[exlondoner]

25 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Time to get moving after sitting in front of a machine for so long. Off to the gym.

I can see that is better than losing money in the casino, but only very marginally.

[jam19872016]

9 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

I can see that is better than losing money in the casino, but only very marginally.

It's much better. And my machine has cards on it to play..no money involved thank goodness. 

[jam19872016]

Resisted the urge to play. Grabbed a mango daiquiri and ran to the crown Lounge for some snacks.

 

[rrt737]

Thank you for the day-by-day updates.  I hope enjoyed the whole trip.

We'll be walking on as you get off (later, of course).  Enjoyed seeing the activities photos.

I saw they had a 50s-60s party (which we would have went to) but it's during our dinner time.

Not sure why Royal schedules these type of things during dinner hours. We also enjoy all the trivia games, and at lease those are before our dinner.

Some shows look good, but some we'll probably pass on.

Have a safe trip home!

[jam19872016]

11 minutes ago, rrt737 said:

Thank you for the day-by-day updates.  I hope enjoyed the whole trip.

We'll be walking on as you get off (later, of course).  Enjoyed seeing the activities photos.

I saw they had a 50s-60s party (which we would have went to) but it's during our dinner time.

Not sure why Royal schedules these type of things during dinner hours. We also enjoy all the trivia games, and at lease those are before our dinner.

Some shows look good, but some we'll probably pass on.

Have a safe trip home!

Thanks for following along! Enjoy your cruise tomorrow. It's been a great trip. 

[jam19872016]

Gonna knock out my packing. It's a lot less fun the second time.

[jam19872016]

Packing is mostly done. I brought an extra bag but I didn't end up needing it. Sometimes I end up cashing in my vouchers for take home drinks. I have added a few waters, will cash out four tonight and I have my two bottles so not a whole lot of extra weight. I have had to buy bags before I ended up hauling off so much extra stuff.

 

My wallet is much lighter.

 

I have not really decided what I am doing in the morning. Either rush off, or wait till the last minute. I do have to work at 11, but I think that I can make it or at least pretty close, but still I do like the idea of getting the show on the road. It will depend on how early I'm awake I guess. I admit I kind of would like one breakfast this trip. TBD.

[NJ&Ozzie]

16 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Gonna knock out my packing. It's a lot less fun the second time.

A big thanks to you Jam.  You've made our week a lot more exciting by allowing us to live vicariously thru your adventures.  You seem to always enjoy yourself.  A fantastic job of live reporting.  

 

Also spurred me on to think about losing a couple of lbs before our B2B cruises in September!   You reminded me about some of those tempting dishes on the ship.  Crab cakes here I come.  Most of all - really looking forward to not cooking for two weeks!!

 

Look forward to your next cruise reporting.  Take care of yourself and your lovely Mom.

Mucho hugs,

NJ 

[jam19872016]

On 8/11/2024 at 9:27 AM, Iamthesea said:

 

Does Cafe Promenade still have Almond/Amaretta Cookies.  As I recall, they were shaped like a crescent.  One of my favorite cruise ship cookies of all!  If not what (and where) is the best cookie on the ship?  My DH and I like to have a cookie after lunch. We do not go for all the fancy, tasteless, desserts that are in the Lido.

I never did find a cookie like you described. I never made it there before lunch was set up, so perhaps it is a breakfast item? I'm not a big cookie person so did not try any but I saw four kinds at the Windjammer each day. Chocolate, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, and sugar free lemon. One or two of those flavors could also be located at Café Promenade each day. A lot of people seem to really like the oatmeal raisin but I can't say that I have ever tried it as I'm not a big fan of oatmeal raisin.

[jam19872016]

6 minutes ago, NJ&Ozzie said:

A big thanks to you Jam.  You've made our week a lot more exciting by allowing us to live vicariously thru your adventures.  You seem to always enjoy yourself.  A fantastic job of live reporting.  

 

Also spurred me on to think about losing a couple of lbs before our B2B cruises in September!   You reminded me about some of those tempting dishes on the ship.  Crab cakes here I come.  Most of all - really looking forward to not cooking for two weeks!!

 

Look forward to your next cruise reporting.  Take care of yourself and your lovely Mom.

Mucho hugs,

NJ 

Thanks for the nice words! Good luck on losing some weight, even if it is just a little between now and then, every bit helps especially if you plan to eat like I did 😋

 

Enjoy your cruise, it won't be long now!

[jam19872016]

Heading off for one final dinner! May walk around a little first if there is a line to get in.

[colesc15]

You should do a b2b so I have something to read next week 😊

[jam19872016]

1 minute ago, colesc15 said:

You should do a b2b so I have something to read next week 😊

I  am accepting donations 🤣 

Edited August 17 by jam19872016

[Airbear232]

On 8/7/2024 at 4:06 AM, jam19872016 said:

For anyone who did not read my last review, I've been on a weight loss journey that started in August 2021 when I hit 300 LBS. I've always been big, but that was a pretty startling number to see staring back at me from the scale. I'm also not getting any younger and am becoming more aware of the looming health problems if I don't take control of the situation. 

 

I don't try to watch my weight when cruising. I live it up for the week and deal with it after the cruise is over. So then, how have I been doing during this extended time not cruising?

In total, I was down to 198.8 when I started my 56 day adventure last September. Over 100 LBS lost from my starting weight.

 

When I left Constellation I was at 226.8 and determined to make some progress while I was not cruising. By the end of April I was down to 199.2 and on May 2 I finally dropped back below the weight I reached before my big trip last year. 

 

But then things started slowing down. 

 

In May I lost 8.8 lbs. 

 

In June I lost 4.8 lbs.

 

July, I lost just 3.8 lbs.

 

So far for August? 0.0. I have not yet weighed today. Well, I have not taken the total as official. Going to try for a better number this afternoon.

 

I'm still on the right track but with the weight coming off this slowly, I wonder how quick I will pack it on when I misbehave this week and how long it will take to come back off. I am still considered "overweight" by just a couple pounds and I was hoping to get in under that metric, but I might be just about to the best I am going to be able to do.

Impressive!  What was your method?  Primarily watching what you eat?  Well done!

[jam19872016]

3 minutes ago, Airbear232 said:

Impressive!  What was your method?  Primarily watching what you eat?  Well done!

Intermittent fasting mostly.

[Airbear232]

On 8/7/2024 at 5:49 PM, colesc15 said:

Good luck! Utopia worked out where I was able to use a mailer comp under my account and one under my wife to make it the b2b. Taking on my first ever solo cruise shortly after which I'm a little nervous for. 

Sorry, what is a mailer comp?

[jam19872016]

5 minutes ago, Airbear232 said:

Sorry, what is a mailer comp?

Casino Royale will periodically send offers for comp cabins in addition to the ones you earn onboard.

[jam19872016]

Made it in pretty quick.