August 28, 2010 Pirates of the Barbary Coast - 11 nights in the Mediterranean

[eva]

It sounds an excellent diet. And one that can be continued without too much hardship/problem into the future. That's the issue I've found with so many diet programs - you stick with something for a while, lose the weight and then go back to the habits that got you into trouble in the first place. And so the cycle continues!!! I think the biggest change for me was realising that processed foods were crammed with hidden sugars and really not good for you!!! Once I'd understood that, it got easier. The most processed item I eat is the occasional sausage!!

Funny, we really never eat much processed foods at home. I don't even keep bread in the house. Our biggest problem is eating out a lot. Restaurant items are packed with sugar and hidden fat. I've been online looking at nutriional info for different places that we eat and it is amazing. Even most salads have tons of calories, sugar, and fat in them. We have decided to limit eating out to once a week. Another problem I have is skipping breakfast. This diet suggests that you eat all three meals. It is based on keeping your blood sugar at the right level throughout the day. I find if I eat breakfast, I am more likely to lose weight than if I skip it. Weird!

We have lots of grilled fish and veggies (salmon and stir fry tonight!) plus I bought an Actifry which is just fantastic for making fries and sauteed vegetables with a tiny amount of oil!!! It was an expensive kitchen gadget (and I hate stuff cluttering up my counter tops so debated for ages whether to get one!) but I must use it 3 or 4 times a week - OMG sweet potatoes done in it are amazing!!!

How long does it take to cook a pound of potatoes in an Actifry? It looks pretty interesting.

 

[eva]

Yikes! I am going to be starting a new job on March 29th! Thank goodness they approved all my vacation for this year!

 

[CustardTart]

Yikes! I am going to be starting a new job on March 29th! Thank goodness they approved all my vacation for this year!

Congratulations, Eva!!!

 

[eva]

Thanks Karen! I'm finally getting out of sales and back into education. I'm going to work in the education department of our church now. I used to teach high school math. So this is right up my alley.

 

[rav4lcrv]

How many people have signed up for the Adventures by Disney Add on for this cruise?

 

[eva]

How many people have signed up for the Adventures by Disney Add on for this cruise?

Not sure, there hasn't been much action on this thread. It has been Karen and me most the time. We had a person chime in awhile back. But they canceled. So I believe right now there are only 3 people going that have responded to this thread. And you are one of them. I have been on an ABD to Italy before. But I am not adding it to this cruise. I bet it will be a lot of fun. This particular cruise doesn't seem to be too popular. Maybe it is due to the time of year. Kids are just getting back to school and such. I know that I have checked availabilty on line and there are numerous staterooms open in all catagories.

 

[rav4lcrv]

Do you think ABD can be canceled if there is not enough interest?

 

[rav4lcrv]

Hi Eva, Just wondering if you did your own flight to Barcelona? We did everything through Disney so will not have the details till 45 days before-I plan everything (OCD) so that end is hard-we wanted to try to have them handle everything this time. We will be flying in the day before the cruise

 

[eva]

Do you think ABD can be canceled if there is not enough interest?

I've heard there is a chance for that. I believe you can call to see where they are with sales to determine the chance of them canceling the ABD portion. I was told the cruise has sold enough to run, but I have no idea about the ABD add-on.

Hi Eva, Just wondering if you did your own flight to Barcelona? We did everything through Disney so will not have the details till 45 days before-I plan everything (OCD) so that end is hard-we wanted to try to have them handle everything this time. We will be flying in the day before the cruise

I bought our flights the end of October. So glad I did. The prices keep going up. We are going against all advice and flying in the morning of the cruise. I know what you mean about being obsessive about planning. I am the same way. But with an ABD trip you just have to let it go. They pretty much plan every moment for you. When we did the ABD Viva Italia trip we really didn't have to do anything before hand. It seemed really strange to have so little to do. I did browse through Rick Steves' books on Rome and Venice. But there was really no need. I have to say that the trip was fabulous. And I bet you will have a great time too.

I will admit that I am having a great time planning what we are going to do in each port for this cruise though. I have even developed our own walking tours for a couple of ports. Karen and I have booked private tours in couple of the ports too. Now I am anxiously awaiting the 90 day mark for booking excursions and Palo. Luckily I have an WDW trip planned for the first week of May. This has helped the time go by a bit faster.

 

[rav4lcrv]

We are going to DL the first week of May for the food and wine festival-just a primer for all the Disney Magic

 

[eva]

We are going to DL the first week of May for the food and wine festival-just a primer for all the Disney Magic

That sounds great.

 

[eva]

We are going to DL the first week of May for the food and wine festival-just a primer for all the Disney Magic

Have you ever been to DL? We've only been once and loved it. Where are you staying? The GC is awesome. If it is just adults going, be sure to eat at Napa Rose. Again, awesome!

 

[rav4lcrv]

We were at DL in 1993 so there have been a few changes, We (my wife and I) will be staying at the at the DVC 1 bedroom unit on our points, we have stayed many times at WDW in the WL so this should be fun

 

[rav4lcrv]

I've read on some web sites that they received a discount since the price had dropped, sound possible?

 

[eva]

I've read on some web sites that they received a discount since the price had dropped, sound possible?

It's happened on some of the earlier cruises, but not ours so far.

 

[eva]

We were at DL in 1993 so there have been a few changes, We (my wife and I) will be staying at the at the DVC 1 bedroom unit on our points, we have stayed many times at WDW in the WL so this should be fun

Karen and I are DVC members too. When did you buy in? What resort(s) do you own at ?

 

[rav4lcrv]

We bought 175pts. at WLV when we were down there for Christmas 2000, added 175 pts. at Beach Club, 150 pts. at Saratoga (which we sold later) I guess it will always be a fond Disney moment when we decided to get the WLV since we had spent so much time at WL, we had by that time been there over 35 times so it would have paid for itself, lots of very good memories with family members who are no longer with us. Where did you buy? We had enough points for one cruise, the other cash

 

[eva]

We bought 175pts. at WLV when we were down there for Christmas 2000, added 175 pts. at Beach Club, 150 pts. at Saratoga (which we sold later) I guess it will always be a fond Disney moment when we decided to get the WLV since we had spent so much time at WL, we had by that time been there over 35 times so it would have paid for itself, lots of very good memories with family members who are no longer with us. Where did you buy? We had enough points for one cruise, the other cash

We bought 150 points at OKW in 1997. Then we added:
- 50 OKW points in 1999
- 100 points at Vero in 2000
- 100 points at BCV in 2003
- 150 points at AKV in 2008
- 100 points at AKV in 2008
- 150 points at AKV in 2009

Funny, I thought we had plenty of points after we bought the BCV points. Our girls were grown and gone. So we really thought 400 points were enough. Then we started taking the entire family to WDW and trading out for cruises and ABD. Now I keep wondering if 800 points are enough. Since we have all but the last contract paid off, I doubt that Steve will let me buy any more. I think that Karen has 650 right now.

BCV is our favorite because EPCOT is our favorite park. We love being able to walk to EPCOT and the Studios. In the future we may try VWL when we have the grandkids. When we have them with us, we tend to spend a lot of time at the MK. When it is just Steve and me we often skip going to MK.

 

[rav4lcrv]

WOW, that's a lot of points, Jeri & I spend a fair amount of time at our place in northern Wisc. so between the 2, we feel very fortunate to have these wonderful memories with family and friends to share our points with. I agree that BCV are very cozy and close. There are times we would walk over just for Illuminations, stand on the bridge by France and walk back. We tried the cruise for the first time in 2001 for our 25th aniversary and really enjoyed it so here we go again.

 

[eva]

WOW, that's a lot of points, Jeri & I spend a fair amount of time at our place in northern Wisc. so between the 2, we feel very fortunate to have these wonderful memories with family and friends to share our points with. I agree that BCV are very cozy and close. There are times we would walk over just for Illuminations, stand on the bridge by France and walk back. We tried the cruise for the first time in 2001 for our 25th aniversary and really enjoyed it so here we go again.

I think that is about the year that we did our first cruise too. We did a 3-night for our 20th anniversary. We loved it so much that we booked a 7-night while we were on the cruise. On the number of points, we have found that we sometimes need that many when bringing the entire family to WDW. We often need two or three 2-bedrooms. If I can talk Steve into staying at OKW we can somtimes get away with a GV and another 2-bedroom. I think our next family trip will be at AKV. I would love to try a GV in Jambo House. My DBIL will get a kick out of having a pool table in the room.

Well, off to my new job!