Check out stats and facts about our ship at www.marineroftheseas.com!  Mariner of the Seas is one of the most BEAUTIFUL vessels afloat today, and you simply HAVE to experience it to believe it!  

Sailing September 7, 2008 from Port Canaveral (near Orlando, Florida) for a one week cruise to the Western Caribbean ports of Labadee, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel!

Pricing for our cruise is as follows:

Inside cabins:                   $695.77 per person

Promenade View cabins: $745.77 per person

Ocean View cabins:          $784.77 per person

Balcony Cabins:                $883.77 per person  

DEPOSIT:  $250 per person  
                  Due FEBRUARY 29th!!

These are based on double occupancy, and prices INCLUDE all taxes and port fees!  

NO HIDDEN COSTS!!!  

EVERYONE is welcome to join us!!!

Best of all, we will raffle off a FREE CRUISE FOR TWO FOR THE 2009 CRUISE TO LOSE, but you MUST be present at the onboard drawing to win!!  ONLY those who book through us for our Cruise to Lose are eligible to win!!

CALL TO BOOK YOUR CRUISE TO LOSE TODAY!!

866-685-7829        TOLL FREE NATIONWIDE!

CALL TO BOOK YOUR 2008 RUBY CRUISES CRUISE TO LOSE TODAY!!  AVAILABILITY IS EXTREMELY LIMITED!

866-685-7829

Scroll down for pricing and information! 

Here’s what it’s like to “CRUISE TO LOSE” with your fellow O.H. members, the staff of Ruby Cruises, and others who have had WLS!  CHECK IT OUT!  This is my personal experience, and I wanted to share!!

Here’s a synopsis of our week!

SUNDAY:  Arrived at Port Canaveral around Noon.  Checked in, boarded and placed our carry on luggage in our cabin (7628) by 12:45.  Distributed “Welcome Aboard” letters and Cruise to Lose Itineraries.  PARTIED AT THE POOL!  Had our “Meet & Greet” shortly after we set sail – 5:00 in Dragon’s Lair.  Introduced Drs. Small and Gonzalvo, Julie Douglass, Greg and myself to our wonderful group.  It was SOOOOOO COOL to meet so many beautiful, friendly faces from the Obesity Help board!  Gave lots of hugs and gave a brief overview of the OPTIONAL events planned.  Gave out some prizes – Susan Maria books, protein shakers, day planners, and a Ruby Cruises t-shirt! The event lasted about ½ hour so that our Early Seating guests could make 6:00 p.m. dinner.  Greg and I took a nap!  We had Late Seating at 8:45 (8:30 the rest of the cruise).  Due to heavy seas between the Florida coast and the Bahamas, (16 – 20 foot seas!!!), the captain decided to take us to much CALMER waters in San Juan, Puerto Rico !!  What an unexpected, WONDERFUL surprise!!  Wore nice black pants and a black, low cut, lacy top to dinner.  Our table consisted of Greg & me, Renee, Tammi W. (HI TAMMI!!!!!!!! LOL), Karen, Tina, Pam and Butch.  The rest of our Second Seating guests sat at several tables in the same general area.  Close enough to chat back and forth.  Our waiter Murat was SO cute!  He is from and has been working on Mariner for four years!  The food was OUTSTANDING throughout the entire week!  After dinner, we milled through the Royal Promenade, watched the AWESOME (think Carinvale in Rio ) Island A Go Go parade, hit some shops and then headed to Dragon’s Lair for the 70’s & 80’s party with Sunil, our cruise director!!  DANCED A LOT!  Milled around and eventually called it an early night around 1:00.  We were pooped from our early start that day.  Fell asleep to the lull of the sea.

MONDAY:  Had our breakfast delivered to our cabin at 9:00 and dined on our balcony.  My breakfast consisted of coffee, a fruit plate, a few bites of scrambled egg and some cheese.  Lots of protein and virtually no carbs!  Yay, Terri!  Made an appointment for a hot stone massage.  Explored the ship some, passed through the Fitness Center (yes, I SHOULD have been taking part in a spin class or pilates instruction, I know, but I decided that I was not about to MAKE myself do anything I really was not TOTALLY wanting to do!  So I passed through – at least I can say I visited the Fitness center!)  Went to the pool deck and listened to the reggae band jam.  Did some line dances, and then, due to the change in itinerary, (Monday turned into an “at sea” day due to the rough weather) we had our first support group meeting in Jade!  Julie led a FANTASTIC session!!  We talked about our setting and how we were seeing first hand all of the HEALTHY food choices available to us.  We discussed the 12 Types of Emotional Hunger (Dulling the pain with the food trance, Sticks and stones may break your bones, but cake won’t heal what hurts you, A full heart fills an empty belly, Hate yourself, love your munchies, Secret desires have no calories, Forty million Big Gulps and the well is still empty!, It’s my party and I’ll eat if I want to, I can’t come to work today – I’m eating!, Aroused by aromas, not by the chef, I’ll beat you with this éclair!, Peter Pan and the peanut butter cookie, and That stranger in lycra wearing your face!)  WOW!!!  It was insightful and FUN!  Gave away more books, caps and goodies.  The session lasted about an hour.  Some of us milled around for a little while afterward.  Checked out Pool Games, an art auction and played slots.  Lost $10.  Took a nap.  This was Captain’s Formal Night, so we dressed in our finest.  I wore an elegant black sheath dress and Greg wore his tux.  Some guests prefer not to dress up though, and of course they also had PLENTY of dining options at Jade, Windjammers, Johnny Rocket’s, Portofino and Chops, not to mention the 24/7 room service!  Dinner was as usual a wonderful chance to get together as a group, talk about the days events, and plan the evening’s festivities!!  After dinner, we went to karaoke in Lotus Lounge (Renee, Karen, Tammi, Greg and I) – NOT the best karaoke singers – you know what I mean – they were either REALLY good (no fun to laugh with) or WAY tooooooo bad! LOL.  Then at midnight, we went to the Late Night Comic’s show – he was HILARIOUS!  Went up to Viking Crown Lounge to mellow out before bed time.  Back at the cabin, we sat on our balcony and enjoyed the sea breeze and fresh air.  In bed around 2:30. 

TUESDAY:  Breakfast again on our balcony at 9:30.  Mixed and mingled with our new found friends throughout the ship.  Arrived in San Juan at 3:00 p.m.  Greg and I watched from uptop and Viking Crown Lounge as we passed by the fort at the mouth of the port.  Wow!  Had my hot stone massage!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!  I was SO relaxed that it soon became nap time!  Got dressed for dinner – I wore a warm toned silky sun dress.  After dinner, as Greg and I walked through the centrum area outside Casino Royale, I heard from above in the Promenade, the sounds of what I could have SWORN was Jimi Hendrix playing “Hey Joe”.  I mean FOR REAL!  Greg said, “let’s check it out!”  As we walked into Wig & Gavel, the “Guitar god” Mark B. (you will read MUCH MUCH more about MaAAArk later on! LOLOL) had his guitar up to his face JUST LIKE HENDRIX!!!!!!!  HE PLAYED WITH HIS TEETH!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!  LOL can you tell I love classic rock??!!! LOL  HE IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!  So!!!!  Needless to say, we rocked out to the music of Mark B. until the 70’s Disco Parade in the Promenade where we danced in the streets!!  Byrnne from our group was picked up and tossed in the air by one of the Village People!!! LOL  Julie and I did the “Love Train” line and the YMCA!  WHAT A BLAST!!!  Went back to Wig & Gavel and listened to >sigh< MARK play his magic!!  Back to the cabin around 2. 

NOW HERE’S WHERE THE FUN REALLY STARTS! LOL

WEDNESDAY:   We woke up in St. Thomas .  BEAUTIFUL!!  Had a great view of Paradise Point from our balcony where we enjoyed breakfast.  After breakfast, we walked into town and SHOPPED TIL WE DROPPED!!  Then, on to Paradise Point where we enjoyed lunch (I ordered a Gyro – ate the roast lamb and tomatoes and skipped the carbs and heaviness of the pita).  Trekked back to the ship for nap time.  When we woke up to get dressed for dinner it was dark outside, and we were still in port.  Absolutely BEAUTIFUL.  A new sight for me.  Romantic.   I wore black dressy pants and a sexy, low cut lavender blouse to dinner.  After dinner, Tammi, Karen, Pam, Eileen, (a.k.a. “Crazy Guest”) Renee and I went Poolside for the Caribbean Pool Party!!!!  I joined in for “Electric Slide” and “Cha Cha Slide”.  Had a BLAST!!!  Greg in the mean time went to the Savoy for the Love and Marriage game! LOL HILARIOUS!!!   Then it was back to Wig & Gavel for MARK’s show!!  I told my pals about his incredible talent so of course they had to check it out and let me tell you, he once again, had the place ROCKIN’!!!!  We danced and danced!!!!!  He came off of his stage and SERENADED ME.  ME!!!!!  He sang, “My Girl” to me!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!  Yes, Greg was there, and of COURSE there is no one else in the world for me, but it was incredible to have a singer SING to me!  Mark dubbed us his “dancing girls”!  We got the party rocking and kept it going until 1:30.  After Mark’s set, Greg went to bed and the girls and I continued our party in Viking Crown!!  It was there that we decided that while Eileen was “Crazy Guest” (with her sparkling, lighted, flashing brooch! LOL) I was “Crazy Chick”!  We shut the bar down!!!  Still not ready to sleep, we went to Dragon’s Lair for more dancing and partying!!  WOW!!!  WHAT A BLAST!!!  In bed…..well….not too sure – I do remember 4 a.m. rolling around at one point! LOL

THURSDAY:  Woke up at 10 in St. Maarten.  BEAUTIFUL – very “ Caribbean ”.  Greg and I didn’t do excursions that day – I partied so late the night before and just felt like vegging out, which we did at the pool.  AHHHHHHH……a wonderful, lazy day!  Got lots of positive feedback, and talked with Maria G. about support group topics over lunch at Windjammer’s.  She’s so insightful, and had some really thought provoking questions which we later discussed during support group (on Saturday).  After our usual afternoon nap, we dressed for dinner.  I wore my FAVORITE little black dress – very elegant – the bodice is plunging with tiny rhinestones to give off just a bit of glitter and glitz and the skirt portion is flowing chiffon.  I wore my new 4” black patent leather pumps.  I felt SEXAY!!!!!!  After dinner, was the “QUEST”!!!! OMG!!  Nearly our entire group joined in this one!  We sat near Tonya, Lee, Linda, but almost everyone was there for our team, TEAM 2 which JULIE’S BRA led to VICTORY!  YES!  OUR TEAM – WITH OUR CRUISERS TO LOSE WON THE QUEST!!!!!!!   What an UNFORGETTABLE HILARIOUS experience it was!  Told Julie about Wig & Gavel where she joined in our growing group of “MaAAArk Groupies” after Quest.  Byrnne and Kim stopped by as did Tina, Butch and Pam, Suzanne and Leslie, and Bob & Laurie, and even Julie’s mom “got down” and danced!!!  We waved to Jenna as she walked past!  We covered the “dancing section” of the bar!  WOW!!!  Sang and danced into the night!!!  Our group GREW! LOL and even included people not in our group!!  We had a whole posse going on! LOL  After Mark’s set, we went to Dragon’s Lair.  Then (Greg already went to bed), I had to make my way back to my cabin!  My feet hurt SO MUCH from dancing for four straight hours in my new heels!  I made it though!  I’ll tell you one thing – I got a GREAT workout via dancing every single night for hours on end!! Got in around 3. 

FRIDAY:  Up EARLY – 8:00 a.m. wake-up call.  Breakfast as usual.  Prepared for Dr. Small’s Information Session.  Every seat was filled!!  It was GREAT!!  He provided an overview of WLS, and went into detail about several different options, even venturing into the new Gastric Sleeve procedure and D/S.  He then entertained questions from the group.  Afterward, we grabbed a quick lunch at Windjammer’s (had my FAVORITE Greek Salad) and prepared for Dr. Gonzalvo’s 2:00 seminar covering medical weight loss management.  VERY interesting.  Again, FANTASTIC session with lots of new information.  What GREAT specialists we had!!!!  Also had a wonderful “one on one” chat with Amy T. who I “cabin mate matched” with Maria G.  They were like the “Bobsy Twins” of the group!!  They have SO much in common, but had never met in person til the cruise!  Amy told me that even though she and Maria had different appointment times for pedicures, they ended up getting the IDENTICAL color for their toes without realizing until afterward!  Perfect match!!  Watched pool games – Mr. Biceps, and Mr. Sexy Legs contests at the pool!!!  Fun!!!  Friday was the second formal night, and I wore my “Marilyn” dress!  A very Hollywood inspired, sexy, glam gown – coral in color with a halter bodice with beads and sequins.  The dress itself is a satin “mermaid” style with a plunging back!  I was self conscious because it’s the most “daring” thing I have worn, but I got lots of compliments on it so I guess it looked okay.  I ended up changing to black jeans and a lacy black top after dinner though for dancing!  Which of course we did yet AGAIN until the wee hours!  THEN…….after we closed Wig & Gavel, I walked through the casino.  I placed my “nickel” chips on “Black” and “Even”, and won BACK the $10 I lost earlier in the week!  I couldn’t wait to tell Greg!  I was glad he was still awake when I got back to the cabin!!  He was PROUD of me!!!  (I usually don’t fare so well in the casino LOL – to the tune of MUCH more than $10 so breaking even was a VERY VERY good thing for me! LOL). 

SATURDAY:  Up Early again for more seminars.  Today, Dr. Gonzalvo started us off with an EXCELLENT lecture and question and answer period.  During the break in between lectures, we >sniff sniff< packed our bags because we did NOT want to deal with that after dinner (that would interfere with “Wig & Gavel” time…FORGET THAT!!, and no WAY was I about to pack after a late night out.) So we took care of that, and went to our FINAL PRESENTATION - SUPERIOR session with more info and Q&A.  Once again, Dr. Small played to a full house!!!  Even those not with our group joined in!  What a WONDERFUL platform this was!  Then after the lecture, we did more giveaways.  Doreen won for the biggest change since surgery!!  Some of us post ops brought an article of pre-op clothing.  Julie took the floor and asked us all to hold the clothes up for all to see.  THEN she yelled, “NOW PUT ‘ EM ON !!!”  LOL it was too funny!!!  I brought my pre-op jeans, which I put on OVER my black jeans that I was wearing and still had room for another whole person!!  WOW!  THEN, we did the FREE CRUISE GIVE AWAY!!!!!  Our beautiful, classy, sweet guest, RUBY F. won in the random raffle ticket drawing!!!!!!!!!!  (how about THAT for coincidence?!!!! – Ruby won a RUBY CRUISES Cruise! LOL).  What a thrill it was to see her win!  She was nearly in tears as I sat next to her immediately following the drawing.  She is very soft spoken, and said to me, “I have never won ANYTHING before!”  It made my heart swell!!!  Ruby is from Texas, and joining her were six other Texas ladies who REALLY glammed us ALL up.  have never seen a group of such stunningly beautiful women concentrated in one spot!  Literally!  Dianna, Sandra, Cerita, Toni, Katherine and Melissa absolutely sparkled!!!!  After the big giveaway, we had a final support group session which was EXCELLENT, headed by Paulette Massari, a LCSW who is very active with OAC.  I HOPE she will join our panel next year because she was FANTASTIC and her session could have gone on for hours!!  It didn’t though, and we wrapped up around 4.  Nap time!  Glad we packed earlier!  For dinner the last night, I wore another little black Salsa looking dress.  Karen C. gifted me with a beautiful bracelet to say “thanks”….that was SO sweet, and I am wearing it as I type this.  What wonderful friends I made!  After dinner, Byrne and Kim invited us to their cabin for a champagne toast, and we had a really nice little get together.  Other group members also meandered in and out.  It was so great to just sit and chat!  We are already planning our social calendar’s for next year’s cruise!!  Went dancing OF COURSE at Wig & Gavel.  As this became known as my favorite haunt, EVERYONE stopped in to say farewell!  Lots of hugging and picture taking…..and dancing! LOL We managed to make it back to our cabin around 1!  An early night!

SUNDAY:  >POUT<  SOOOOOOOOO sad to see our 2007 Cruise to Lose come to an end.  We were up and out of our cabin by 9.  Went to Windjammer’s for breakfast, and then disembarked by 10:15.  Very organized, and very quick!  No hassles.  Made it to the parking lot and drove away from the port ;-( at 10:30.  Pulled into our driveway at 1 p.m. 

After we unpacked and napped, I pulled out the 2008 RUBY CRUISES CRUISE TO LOSE folder!   OMG, I absolutely cannot WAIT til next year’s cruise!!!!!  I booked three Cruise to Lose alumni Sunday night, and two newbies yesterday, and another three this morning!  If I sound like I am gushing, well, it’s because I AM!!!!  I have to chuckle at those here who insinuated that our cruise would be stuffy and boring!  LOLOLOL  Those people OBVIOUSLY don’t know me, or the positive energy my groups have!!!! 

If you missed out this year, there’s still time to book into our 2008 RUBY CRUISES CRUISE TO LOSE!!  If you want to have the ABSOLUTE BEST TIME EVER, c’mon and join us!!!  I am quite sure that I can speak for every single group member that we all made so many wonderful new friends – people we would never have had the opportunity to meet if it wasn’t for this very cruise!    

Here’s the thing.  I lived for so many years not ever even daring to THINK about doing things I did on this cruise.  My morbid obesity held me back in so many ways – not just physically, but emotionally as well, and it was such a liberating experience to re-introduce myself to ME!  I still can’t believe that I, Terri, was able to dance every single night nearly non-stop for four hours at a pop! 

Thanks for indulging me and taking time to read about our CRUISES TO LOSE!!  What a BLAST!!!  WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!  Come have the TIME OF YOUR LIFE with us!

Check out stats and facts about our ship at www.marineroftheseas.com!  Mariner of the Seas is one of the most BEAUTIFUL vessels afloat today, and you simply HAVE to experience it to believe it!  

Pricing for our cruise is as follows:

Inside cabins:                   $695.77 per person

Promenade View cabins: $745.77 per person

Ocean View cabins:          $784.77 per person

Balcony Cabins:                $883.77 per person  

3rd & 4th in a cabin:        $400.77 per person

These are based on double occupancy, and prices INCLUDE all taxes and port fees!  

NO HIDDEN COSTS!!!

CALL TO BOOK YOUR CRUISE TO LOSE TODAY!!