Goofydust

I was on a cruise with a friend a couple months ago who utilized the Cheers program on Carnival. It worked out pretty well for him. He kept track of his spending vs. what it would have cost him if he paid per drink and he definitely came out ahead, but I would also say he probably got more drinks than he would have if he was paying per drink.

 

Bottled beer is 5.50 for a 16 oz bottle for domestics from the bars. Import brands of beers are about the same price but usually for a 12 oz size. If you get a bucket of 4 they knock a couple bucks off the price. For the ships that have upgraded to have draft beer, it ranges anywhere from 4.50 for a 16 oz glass all the way up to about 25 bucks for a 110 oz beer tube with a serving spout. Standard call drinks and basic frozen drinks range from 6 to 10 bucks, and they have almost all of the big name brands (in fact, I've never seen any "generic" liquors on any of our cruises. The fancy frozen and special drinks vary in price but are typically 12-15 dollars for a 16-20oz size drink with a keeper mug.

 

Now on the Cheers - it includes any standard beer or mixed drink up to 10 dollars. So you won't be able to get the fancy drink of the day types on it, or the beer tubes. You also can only get drinks one at a time, and have to be spaced out at least 10 minutes apart. Everytime you get a drink they run your card and give you a receipt to sign, the drink is put on your account, and then you are credited the cost of the drink back. So at the end of the cruise my friend had a 3-4 page sign and sail report of every drink and credit.

 

Originally I think they were going to do the cheers program on a day by day basis, but as of now you can only buy it during the first couple of days of the cruise, and you have to buy it for the full duration of the cruise. My friend got it the second day, and they charged him for all days including the first, but they also credited back the drinks he purchased before he bought the program. Also, if one person in a cabin gets the Cheers package, all persons in that cabin of drinking age have to buy it as well. It's unlimited drinks, but my friend also said they did track how many you have had per day and I suppose they could potentially cut you off it you get so many drinks that they think you might be sharing them or are dangerously drunk.

 

Anyway, hope that helps. I would definitely check with the program when you get on ship since its a pretty new thing and the above could change. Have fun!

 

TBE

DH and I usually purchase the Cruise the Vineyards package on embarkation and it lasts us the length of the cruise... we purchase TWO. Does this count against the Cheers package? Not that we are huge drinkers, so much, but wondering about the "savings" or balance of it all.

I have a feeling I will have to go back to WW Online after this cruise because it really is the ONLY thing that has worked for me. The points program just makes more sense to me than anything else. Until then I'm continuing to exercise and incorporate a lot of weight training into the mix just to avoid losing muscle at my age. Oddly, or maybe thankfully, my husband and I didn't gain ANY weight on our cruise last May to the Western Caribbean. We ate like we normally would, drank a lot more than we normally would, but we were much more active than we normally are behind our desks at work all day. Activity does make a difference.

I am extremely involved with my healthcare status and get my thyroid tested at least annually, mostly because I'm anemic and therefore constantly exhausted.

 

I have done metformin on and off, but usually the side -effects make me stop taking it. I'm going to try it again now that my eating is more regimented. The last form I tried is called "fortamet ". And it's a different delivery system. My biggest weight loss obstacle, beside PCOS itself, is my tendency to not eat until the end of the day. Part of the reason I'm on weight watchers is that the tracking forces me to recognize when I'm not eating.

I love WW. I did it in person with meetings about 19 years ago, lost 35 lbs. in 6 months, got in the best shape of my life. Then 11 years later the thyroid thing happened and my metabolism tanked. I did WW online a year ago and lost 10 lbs. but then quit to do the free MyFitnessPal.com... which I don't stick with like I did with WW. I just hate to pay for that stuff. It does work though. I have found the rule of thumb is weight training, gaining muscle works better for losing weight than overloading on cardio. With the Metformin, I have to take them one at a time spread out about 3-4 hours apart, even the ER ones otherwise I get the "gastric upset"... And yes, the lower carb diet seems to work better as well for PCOS people. I eat TONS of raw veggies and a serving or two of raw fresh fruit every day, and with carbs I stick to the whole grain, high fiber varieties and stay away from the "white stuff"... sounds like you are on the right track!

Intro: PCOS is an endocrine disorder with symptoms including weight gain, acne, excess body hair and irregular or absent periods.

 

My background: I first started to see articles on PCOS in 2001. Three things in the profile popped out at me: Irregular menses, weight gain, and hirsuitism (excess hair, usually on the face). My PCP discounted my concerns because my labs weren't definitive. When I asked for an ultrasound, she said it would be a lot of work to get my insurance to pay for it, and I didn't really need one.

 

I ended up moving back "home" and returning to my old PCP. I asked for a referral to a Reproductive Endocrinologist. When he asked me why, I began explaining PCOS to him. I was about halfway through my symptoms when he stopped me and had his PA write the referral.

 

When I went to the RE, I began explaining my symptoms to him. I wanted to show him my "beard" but it had gotten too itchy and I shaved it a day previous. He listened carefully, and then confirmed that yes, I did have PCOS. I asked him if I needed an ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis. He said "No, you have it". I explained to him that my last Dr didn't think so. He said "Look, you have the hirsuitism, you have the abdomen fat, you have the amenorrhea, you have the weight gain... PCOS is a syndrome. It has many symptoms, but you don't have to have all of them to have the syndrome". I told him that I wanted an ultrasound, and he said okay, but he didn't think I needed it.

 

Thank god, he agreed to the ultrasound. He already planned to give me Lupron, which is designed to stop all androgen (sex hormone) production, for 3 months. But the ultrasound revealed a tennis-ball sized cyst in my left ovary. After being treated with Lupron, (for just one month) the cyst remained, and that meant he needed to remove it. Laproscopic surgery saved 2/3 of my left ovary from being destroyed by the tennis-ball cyst.

 

With many rounds of fertility treatment, I have two beautiful daughters. The recommendation for treatment remains as it was then: Weight loss, insulin sensitizing agents (glucophage/metformin), and possibly ovarian dormancy (via "the pill", "the patch" or "the ring") to preserve fertility.

 

I have been on various forms of metformin off and on. For me XR/ER works better than plain. Plain is cheaper, but very hard on the stomach. I can not do any form of hormonal birth control, something about the synthetic hormones makes me very emotionally unsettled. If I don't have my cycle every 3 months-ish, my GYN wants me to induce it. To do that I use a med called "Prometrium" which is a bioidentical form of progesterone synthesized from wild yams.

 

I am back on weight watchers for the first time in years. I tend to try to stay protein heavy/carb light and ignore my cravings. Carbs tend to send me into what I call the "blood sugar death spiral". Low blood sugar > eat carbs > Blood sugar spike > too much insulin triggered > blood sugar crash > crave carbs!

 

We're eight weeks into a ten week session of WW at work, and hoping for another round. I'm down 11 lbs and hoping to get to 16 by my cruise date of 5/31. I know, I am being optomistic.

 

So that's me, Jeannie. Any other "Cysters"?

I have PCOS too, but mine is a "side effect" of the hypothyroidism (Hashimotos - extremely hereditary in the females in my family), and the treatment for PCOS is Metformin or Glucophage which is also an oral diabetes medication. So, because hypothyroidism can or often leads to high cholesterol, heart disease, type II diabetes, as well as the irregular and heavy menses, secondary infertility, weight gain, my endocrinologist put me on Metformin for the PCOS but said that it could help "prevent" or at the very least delay the onset of insulin resistance or type II diabetes - that's a plus. So far, through diet and exercise and taking 2000 mg of Metformin ER every day, I've managed to avoid both, but when the whole hormone flip flop occurred indicating the PCOS, I had no control over that. There is a ratio of I think estrogen and testosterone where estrogen is on the top and testosterone on the bottom. They watch these levels and their ratio very closely and once the levels change to the point that the ratio flips and testosterone is on the top, that is a clear indicator of PCOS. That being said, If I lose the 40 lbs. I'd like to lose, it *could* reverse the PCOS. Having said all of that, if you haven't been tested for hypothyroidism (which would be highly unusual if you are already seeing an endocrinologist), then I would suggest getting your thyroid panel done, at the very least a TSH test done. :)