TravelRocker

Hi, I know all theme cruises are different with different Promoters etc. I would contact the Promoter or company you booked your theme cruise thru directly and ask them if they, and not MSC, will be offering your group the drink packages. Like you said, I really can't see them trying to sell 3000 drink packages once everyone gets on board either. We're getting ours thru the Promote.

Yes, you can get the drink package once on board but the 15% gratuity is added....if you do it on-line before that 15% is not included so you save $$$.

Go ahead and book shore excursions on your own, ......at your own peril! You do know that if you get held up someplace on your excursion, flat tire etc, and you're late the ship will NOT wait for you. If it's a ship-scheduled trip.....they will! Youtube is full of fun videos of people running pell-mell down the dock as the ship is heading out to sea. :)

rlkubi, I, and I'm sure many others, totally understand the age/menopause thing. I'm a lifetime member over goal, too. I started attending meetings again in mid July and as of today am down 24 lbs. In the old days that would have taken 2 months, now it's taking 6 months and counting! It is incredibly slow, BUT I am going in the right direction and so are you! A 1/2 lb a week is 26 pounds at the end of the year! So, if takes me another year, fine. I will still see my goal! You will too! Hang in there, try to enjoy the small successes and know that you are not alone! :-)

OH, YES! That dreaded slow-to-a crawl weight drop as we age. But like you said, do you want to end a year with no loss or even a gain or......26 lbs. off at 1/2 lb. a week. In 2001 I dropped 62 lbs in 6 months on WW. Now it's 24 lbs in 6 months, BUT, that's 24 lbs. less than I've been carrying around all these years, I'll take it! I've just decided that if I stick to it it will eventually come off but in it's own time. I do know that I've dropped at least 2 sizes so quite a bit of my wardrobe is getting too big to wear, I'm wearing pants that have been in a "too small" box for about 3 years, this feels really, really good. It's just one-day-at-a-time, keep it up everyone, Cheers!

I am able to write a quick entry during my lunch so I thought I'd share this little story....

I was down in the casino and was having an issue with one of the machines...as I approached the casino cage where you cash out, I could see 2 tellers , 1 was helping somebody and the other was available , but she looked incredibly stressed. As I stepped to her window she turned and said " I will be right with you sir" ... I glanced at her name tag, Johana, and said "no problem Johana, take your time I'm in no hurry" almost immediately you could see the stress melt from her face, she smiled and asked if I just called her by name...I said yes , she smiled again and said it is rare for customers to call her by her name and she just needed to hear it at that moment..... I think too often people think that they are on vacation and it's not their job to treat people with kindness.....wrong.....Johana and I spoke for only a few minutes but in those few minutes I felt that if she somehow went from feeling like an object to feeling like a human being again. I hope everyone finds a Johana moment on their cruise....trust me you'll be a better person for it.

Yeah, I'm with that other poster above, I want to cruise with you too, this is just awesome! :)

Those chocolate coffee drinks look absolutely delicious, can you please tell us where this coffee/chocolate bar is located, which Deck and next to what? Thanks so much, cheers.

Yes....but does the "cash" tip go into the "tip pool" ??? ie: they can't keep it for themselves. I've heard that any cash tipping has got to be turned over to the purser and then they distribute it amongst the bartenders etc. Can anyone answer this one? Thanks.

Who ARE you! Thurston Howell III ???

Hi everyone, can't say I'm sorry to see the Holidays behind us. I bit the bullet and went back to my meetings last Thursday and.......WOW, a 3 lb loss! So, that makes 23.6 for me so far. Maybe that fruit cake was "virtual" after all, haha.

I don't know how nationwide Applebee's is but I've got to tell you about this. As some of you may know Applebee's has WW items on the menu, Points and all. Well, I ordered the new Roma Pepper Steak lunch on Saturday and thought I had died and gone to Heaven. The steak just melted in my mouth, well seasoned with little red chili peppers and tomatoes. Also a small red potato side and huge Portobello mushroom with Parmesan cheese. The steak was a generous 7 oz. It was 11 Points and I think around $11.00, maybe a bit less. If you're like me and tired of getting burned by high-point items while eating out try this, it's wonderful, cheers!

Happy, Happy New Year everyone, really looking forward to getting all of this sugar out of my body, haha, Cheers!

Hi, well, that's great, answered all my questions, I've already copied this thread and will map it out on the deck plans! Now, at the wine bar, La Cantina Di Bacco----do they do wine tasting??? There's most likely an extra charge for it, but it should be fun to do, we do this a lot at home....again, thanks for all your help. Oh, just thought about this, on some Princess ships there is a "secret" door at the front of the ship that can get you to an overlook area above the bridge, anything like this that you know of??? Cheers! :)

Hi, I am very excited about my upcoming cruise next March on the Divina. It's a "music theme" cruise. Now, earlier this year we went on another "music theme" cruise and after returning home I realized we were so busy running up and down the length of the decks seeing bands, about 45 on that cruise, that I missed a few things I would have liked to partake in.

So....for those of you who have recently posted those absolutely wonderful reviews can you give me the specific locations of the following:

Lemoncello, (Limoncello) any bar or just a few special bars?

Wine Bar??? Is there one???

Gelato, buffets, main dining room or a stand alone location?

Soft ice cream, (frosties), same question as above.

Speciality coffees, any bar, or stand alone locations?

How many of the decks actually go all around the ship or at least front to back? I just remembering always running through the lounge deck several times a day or in and out of the main theatre, (beautiful) or the main stage at the back.

I think this cruise I'm going to take it at a little more of a relaxed pace, or at least try to. :)

Thanks in advance for the info, Cheers!

Monsters of Rock-Monster Island is March 29th thru April 2nd, we're almost Sold Out! :)

Hi, I whole heartedly agree with you. We are all different and like different things. There's a cruise line for everyone. I personally love to travel world wide, I prefer some countries over others...but I don't bash those other countries...I just don't go there. Re: cruising, I prefer semi-adult lines so don't book on Disney, (for families and kids) or Carnival (for the Spring Break) type of cruising. But I don't hang out on those Forums bashing those cruisers. I LOVE Italy so last year tried MSC, (Poesia) and had a blast. Sure, it's a little different than Princess, a previous cruise, but I enjoyed it just as much. Sure the food was different, and the service different, if not a little slow but who wants cookie-cutter cruising! I'm sailing on Divinia next March and can't wait.

I think it may be a case for those who complain a lot that they just have not done enough homework before their cruise. If you read several reviews that the service in the main dining room is slow, (Euro style), and that really bothers you than maybe MSC is not for you. If you want slides, comedians and lots of kids activities than maybe it's not for you either. If you like class and style and like to try new things, engage in conversation with other cruisers from other countries, and see entertainment that includes Opera for instance than MSC is for you. Observations and suggestions are always welcome to other readers but I've seen flat out ranting about Italians on here that was eye-popping. A whole culture did "whaaaaat" to you!!! Is bottled water THAT important to you that it ruined your whole vacation???

Again, do your research. I have an example I will never forget. Back in the days of film cameras we were on a 2 week coach tour of Italy. There was an older couple who brought 5 rolls of film for all 2 weeks, 5 rolls of film for 2 weeks!!! I used that up the 1st day in Rome! I researched Italy for 6 months before going and knew of its beauty and photo opportunities. (I packed 56 rolls of film and used every one). They spent a lot of time in different cities looking for camera shops or kiosks that sold film and they paid dearly for it. Do your research and be prepared.

People, enjoy your lifes experiences and just laugh if something happens that can be classified as an annoyance, Viva la Difference! Thank you, :)

Hi, welcome to all our "Newbies", you've had some great successes!! Of course this time or year is just terrible for us, or can be, lol. Seems like I've been out of town the last 3-4 weekends and sitting in restaurants staring at the menus attempting to make the best choices. I've got parties and concerts as well, but at the concerts you can dance around and keep the juices flowing to burn the calories at least.

Work is just the worst! They came around with a list for next Tuesdays Dessert potluck!!! Nothing but fat, sugar and calories. I don't even want to participate in this, several of the girls in the clinic have been consistently losing weight and now this place is loaded with junk food, another birthday today, yikes. For me the best approach is to not eat one bite of anything, once I get started it's very hard to not keep going, this is just me, :) It's feels good to add this achievement in my journal entry. Another Birthday party tomorrow night, concert Friday and lunch out on Saturday and on and on. I CAN NOT WAIT for January, haha.

I'm going on a music theme cruise in March and visit their website often to see what bands have been added, what Islands and Ports they've added and it really inspires me to stick to it! We did this last March and I had a total blast but felt a little self-conscious around the half dressed "hardbodies", haha. I'm down about 22 lbs now and you know something, it's my guy friends who are noticing and encouraging me. Some girlfriends are too but they're not usually the 1st to mention it, (guess because they are all fighting the same battle, huh?). I'll take it from anyone!

OK, I'm a bit "rambly" today, take care everyone, hang in there over the Holidays, they will be over soon enough, we don't want to have to lose those pounds all over again. Oh, and to the poster who printed out the cruise ship menus and computed the points, you are a genius, I would never thought of that! Bravo, :)

Well....didn't do too bad in Las Vegas.....we only had 4 meals in the two days we were there, dinner, breakfast and two "snacks"....BUT, as a person who does not eat/tolerate salt/sodium boy, did I retain the water! I'm up a little over a pound but absolutely back on track. Of course my "snacks" were hotdogs because they are my all time favorite so it was kinda self imposed, lol. I know I'll have a good loss next weighin, Welcome to our "Newbies", :)

Let me do a P.S. to what I said, there "may" be a situation where the band itself will not allow picture taking but I think in this day and age of cell/photo phones it's mighty hard to forbid this. They may say no to telephoto lenses maybe, just go armed and ready and see what happens, Cheers!

We did our first theme cruise, Monsters of Rock, last March and are are booked again for March 2014. You will have a blast. You won't have time to eat and barely see the inside of your cabin. You'll get your "set schedules" and pick and choose who you want to see and when, there's dozens of shows throughout your cruise, in the main theatre, on the outside stage and throughout the lounges. We were running up and down decks all day and night!

During Ports they usually have the Question and Answer sessions, Auctions, storytelling, contests etc. as a lot of the bands want to go ashore as well. You'll see them all over the place, in Port, at the bars and buffets on board so bring your cameras. Everyone we encountered was so accomodating and we have fantastic memories of our cruise, can't wait to go again. Oh, and we did take pictures in the theatre, everyone did. We were on the Poesia and hear the Divina is even more beautiful....

Wow, am I ever going to have a challenge this week, going to Las Vegas in the morning for a few days. Already stressing and not even on the plane yet. I can easily do all my daily points in drinks, haha. I'm really going to try to make some good choices, I find now after so many weeks on WW that if I eat too much I just feel awful and I can't do that in Vegas. I'll miss a meeting and have a whole week to work off any excess before I weigh in again. Please send "good vibes" my way, thanks.

Hi, Debbie, 21 day cruise, sounds like Heaven, maybe someday.....

Well....last Saturday while out and about with the Hubbie and Mom, we troll Thriftstores for paperbook books, she still likes Danielle Steel, I'm into detective murder investigations and Hub goes for Wild Wild West stuff...he wanted to try El Pollo Loco and it looked good, clean, busy and the meals came out looking more like a good sit down Mexican restaurant than a fast-food spot. Well......I took the best choice that I could see, Mexican Cobb Salad and it was absolutely delicious....I'd work up the Points value later, :) Well.....OMG, googled the 4 basic components of the equation and it was 21 Points, eck! (though somone on the WW Message Boards said it was more like 48!) If, and If is the operative word here, we do it again I'll be satisfied with half of it.

Tomorrow night is weigh-in and I've been good-as-gold since Saturday, so we'll see.....

OK, I really do know how to spell weight "loss", not lose, haha. Didn't let me edit it by the time I noticed it. :)

OK, had my Thursday weigh-in and down another notch, 17.8 total so far! I used my lose last week to motivate me to be good last weekend and was rewarded with another lose this week. It's slow but steady and that's OK with me, :). I purchased a new pedometer at the meeting and it calculates your activity points too! Pretty cool. Gonna be walking more in the weeks leading up to the Holiday Season. Coming on too fast for me, decorations in Walmart already and toy commercials on the tube, it's over 2 months away!

OK, it's Tuesday lunchtime and I made it thru the weekend. My class reunion was wonderful, we had quite a crowd and it was so good to see everyone again. The Mexican food was delicious, I had one taco, a small enchilada, bit of rice and a Margarita, (of course). Mixed and mingled and took lots of photos and bypassed the dessert altogether.

Sunday we had Chinese food and again I took little spoonfulls of each item and my Birthday cake, (someone was on the ball,) :) was a dish of green tea ice cream and a fortune cookie! I only had a small pudding cup at home afterwards later definately a motivator.

How did everyone get thru Canadian Thanksgiving???

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too, haha. But just last week our WW leader said that they had to raise the points value on alcohol because the liver thinks it's a toxin and tries to expel it first, (before food), so the food turns into fat faster....they say to count a glass of wine as 5 but all my wine glasses are really fancy water glasses so I'm in big trouble, lol! I think if I have a half way decent loss this Thursday it will motivate me to be good, :)

Good Afternoon, it's Tuesday and I'm starting to feel a little uneasy.......this weekend will be a big one, Class Reunion Saturday and Sunday then my B-Day on Monday. Reunion food is a Mexican Buffet, OMG, it's one of my favorites, then of course at least one Margarita. I am "planning" on being very, very good........somebodies going to get me a cake somewhere along the line and I'll have one scoop of frosting....this is going to be a challenge I can tell you. I don't want to have to be reducing Points the rest of the week to balance things out before another weigh-in, it's too stressful. Please send me your "Good Vibes".....:) Thanks!