jadephoenixx

Our April 9, 2018 Eastern Caribbean Voyager cruise on the Royal has been cancelled. I got an email from my travel agent yesterday mid-day and early this morning, a confirmation email directly from Princess.

This far out, we're flexible with our vacation time so we've asked to be rebooked on the Mar 20th sailing, assuming that the pricing and all promos/OBCs under the 3 for Free sale is transferred. I would be surprised if that's a problem since the sale is still on.

17 days until we leave on our cruise! It's been a few years since we've had a "laying in the sun" type of vacation but I'm remembering that my skin got very dry after a day at the pool/beach. Are those after sun type of lotions better or should I look for a good rich regular body lotion? Any recommendations?

I always check the terms of the rate I want to book to ensure I meet the conditions, which is easily done by clicking on the name of the rate while booking online. I always want to get the best deal but want it to do it legitimately as well - don't need the stress of worrying whether or not I'll be caught if I don't qualify. For the MVP code, each hotel has different terms so it's always good to check when booking.

For example, when I did a dummy booking for this June on the MVP site, the Hilton Marina currently states: "MVP Program HHonors number and sports affiliation ID required for booking and check in." However, at the Bahia Mar, you only need to be an HHonors member: "Special Rate. HHonors number required when booking. Subject to availability restrictions at each hotel. Restrictions: Must be requested. Do not offer. HHonors number/card required when booking."

Another option is if there are two flights on the same airline, an earlier one and a later one (i.e. noon), you can book the later one so that you're sure you'll make it and not have to stress. Then, if you end up getting to the airport earlier and in time for the earlier flight, you can ask at check-in if there's room on that flight. If there is, they can usually put you on that flight at no additional charge. I've done this on AC and Porter flying out of different airports in Canada and the US so I'm sure West Jet is similar.

Hi, I'm also booked on a cruise for April 3rd and thought this would be a great motivator to help keep me accountable. I'm embarrassed to say that I gained 17 pounds since last April. I blame it on the 4 cruises I took! I started eating healthy and exercising in January and lost 7 lbs so far so only 10 more to go! I haven't lost any in 2 weeks though :(

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Vacations have been our downfall in the past. We'll be doing great for a few months, go on vacation and have a really hard time getting back on the bandwagon when we get home. I think this time will be different because we have a different mindset and commitment level now - after working my butt off the past 6.5 months and losing 38 lbs, I'm not about to let all that hard work get ruined by a 1 week cruise. Since we started this journey, we went on a 2 week road trip through California and only came back 2 lbs heavier so there's hope!

May I ask what your nutritional goals are? Not so much calories... I'm wondering if you're protein intake is too low with all the resistance training you're doing. How much protein are you getting/day?

 

Also, have you considered scrapping the 1 hour treadmill for now. Cardio is great for your heart but does nothing for fat burning except burn off some calories. Ask your trainer about High Intensity Interval Training or Burst Training. It will help to boost your HGH levels considerably which leads to accelerated fat loss.

I've been eating to my macros, with a higher proportion of protein. At the beginning, I was getting really tired and weak and have steadily increased my protein. Based on my energy level and how I feel, I think I've got it worked out.

I've done HIIT before but I prefer steady state cardio as it doesn't take as much out of me as HIIT while still seeing results I'm pleased with. I'm doing this as a complete lifestyle overhaul and not a quick fix for the cruise so I'm going with the slow and steady wins the race approach. My weight, body fat and lean muscle numbers are all heading in the right direction.

I didn't lose any weight last week :( so I took a look at my food/calorie intake and adjusted my meals and portion sizes and I'm down 3 lbs since Sunday! Woohoo! :) With 45 days to go, I'm hoping I can keep this rate of loss going so I can be below my first goal weight for the cruise.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We don't want to risk packing the wine in our checked bags and we have a direct flight to FLL so we'll stop into the Duty Free to see what they have. If they don't have anything we like, Total Wine can be our back-up. We thought it would be a nice thing to have in our cabin since we'll be celebrating both our birthdays on-board, but it's not like we'll be devastated if we don't have it. Thanks again for your help!

Hubby and I are from the Toronto area and really enjoy ice wine. We were thinking of buying a bottle to enjoy while we're on the cruise (Regal Princess, Eastern Caribbean). We're flying from Toronto Pearson Airport to Fort Lauderdale the night before, so we were planning on hitting up Total Wine at the Harbor Shops but when I looked at their website, their ice wine selection isn't very big. Then I was thinking, maybe the Duty Free Store at Pearson would have a larger selection since ice wine is a Niagara specialty and it's close by - plus with the Canadian dollar, it may work out better. I've never bought alcohol at Duty Free before - is there anything I need to be aware of before we do this? Will we run into any problems or extra costs bringing wine (within our import limit) into the U.S?

Hi Jadephoenix

what do you do at the gym?

I use the cross trainer, stomach crunch bike and rowing machine, 20 mins each but get sooo bored. I then go swimming atr a very slow pace for 40 mins. Bascially I am very unfit but am building up slowly!

I'm at the gym at 4 days/week - i don't have kids so that helps a lot with my availability. 2 days with a personal trainer for strength training so a lot of squats, lunges, crunches and free weights. The other 2 days I'm doing cardio where I spend at least 30 mins on the treadmill and the other 30 mins, I'll either move onto the eliptical, sit-down eliptical and a bit on the stair climber. I used to do a whole hour on the treadmill but couldn't take the boredom and I find changing up the machines helped with that. My gym also has free wifi so if I don't feel like listening to music, I can watch Youtube or Netflix which also helps to pass the time. I was really unfit too when I started this journey, I was out of breath just climbing the stairs at the gym to get to the workout area! I feel so much better now - fitter and stronger. You can do it!

The hair dryers sound promising. I'll take my chances and leave mine at home. Thanks everyone!

It's been 6 years since our last Princess cruise and I remember the hair dryers being very weak, especially for long thick hair like mine. Is that still the case on the Regal? Need to know if I should put my travel one on my packing list. Thanks!

Going on cruise #3 in April (but first one in 6 years). Hubby and I started a whole lifestyle change July 2015 by joining the gym, working with a personal training and completely changing our eating habits - we've each lost 35 lbs so far. We're 10 lbs away from our first goal weight so we're hoping to reach it by the time we cruise.

Hi All. We'll be on the Regal for the Apr 3rd sailing and Hubby's birthday is during the cruise. I would like to do something to surprise him but still keep it private. We have Anytime Dining so I know if I update the Cruise Personalizer, I'll get a card for his cake and can request no singing, which is perfect. My question is about the birthday sign and balloons - will it be a problem if I ask our Steward to put the decorations inside our cabin instead of the door? Anyone else done this? Thanks!

I am seeing Jet Blue, non stop BUF-FLL for $548. 11:30am departure going home is only issue, but if you are sailing out of FLL, you can do it.

 

 

I am seeing one stops from just under $400, but with a 9am departure from FLL, so you will have to spend the night after you get off the ship.

 

Those fares seem a little high, but certainly not outrageous by any means. We normally describe fares per person here, (at least on the Cruise Air board, where these things are discussed daily)so your $600+ can be beat by a little.

Thanks for the info, CruiserBruce. This is good info and gives me a bit of a guideline as I'm keeping an eye on the prices.

Hi everyone. It's been about 6 years since we've cruised out of Fort Lauderdale and have one booked for April 2016. I've been looking at direct flights from YYZ/BUF to FLL/MIA (Apr 2-10). No matter what flight combination I use, they seem high to me ($1200+ for 2 adults out of YYZ and BUF not much cheaper) but I'm not sure what to expect and what is reasonable since it's been so long. For those who've cruised recently, do you mind sharing what your flight prices have been like?

Yes, unfortunately. Any change in medication, even a lowered dosage, is considered a change. One alternative is to buy the insurance now, before the doctor makes any dosage changes.

Ah! Great tip, Cheryland. For the peace of mind, we'll probably do just that.

These are questions for your insurance company and/or detailed in the policy. Canadian policies are significantly different from US policies.

We're looking at the Princess Vacation Protection - they only have the 1 policy that's the same for Canadians and Americans, right?

Hi there. I tried searching but couldn't find anything. My husband has high blood pressure and on medication for about 2.5 years. We've been working out and changing our diet so he's lost quite a bit of weight and as a result, his blood pressure when taken at home seems to be creeping back to the normal range. We're hoping that as he continues to lose weight, that his dosage can be eventually lowered - he hasn't seen his doctor yet. Question is: we're looking at buying the Princess insurance for our April 2016 cruise (final payment is mid-January 2016 so 60 days look-back would be mid-November) - if his dosage is lowered or medication changed because of improved health, would this still be considered a pre-existing condition?

Thanks!

Hi. We're booked in R508 (deluxe balcony) for an Eastern Caribbean for April 2016. Just wondering if we should move to the Baja deck instead? We've never been up so high before so I'm a little apprehensive. Also, my doubts could be that the Regal is so new, there's not as much info on decks and cabins yet so I haven't been able to do as much research as I have in the past. Any thoughts?

Thanks everyone! A lot of helpful information. Since we can check it out before reserving, we'll probably do that and then decide what to do.

The Sanctuary sounds very appealing. However I'm a sun lover but hubby burns so he needs shade. Are there areas in the Sanctuary where we can get loungers together with one in the sun and one in the shade?

Also, do they let you tour the Sanctuary to see if any available loungers are suitable for you before you commit to buying? If we go for it, we'd book for the whole week, unless they allow advanced bookings for sea days.