brianastree

Agree with above about using the stairs as much as you can. We do 3 miles every morning before breakfast just walking.
Even with doing this, we still gain some weight. Just trying to gain as little as possible.

1.  Eat salad first if you're in the buffet; only eat dessert every other (or every 3rd) day
2.  Take the stairs at least five times a day
3.  Go for a "dawn walk" every morning -- at least two laps of the ship's promenade -- if you're early enough to catch the sunrise, you'll find it pretty open, 
4.  Drink water with every meal, and DON'T get the Deluxe Beverage Package!!!
 
 
 
 

FuzzyWuzzy is correct, you can get ice from the Freestyle machines, however it is much easier to ask your stateroom attendant and it will be taken care of. A tip at the end of the week is appreciated.

+1 on this, we always have an ice bucket in the room that the room attendant fills in the morning and in the evening.

+2  This is one of the first things i always ask our stateroom attendant like @tiny260 says, twice a day isn't out of the ordinary to ask for.     I'm certain i've never seen an ice machine on any ship thats accessible to the general public.  I would assume way too much at risk given all the hands that would go in it.  Now that being said,  the Windjammer has ice machines (don't they?   now that i'm thinking about it, i'm having a brain fart and can't remember)  at the fountains that you can also use to fill up the bucket from your room.

Please do not fill a bucket of ice from a freestyle machine.  They are out of ice enough without people filling up buckets.

We always ask our stateroom attendant to keep the bucket of ice full during our sailing and that has never been a problem.

The Coke Freestyle machines will dispense ice to anybody in any container. You dont need the special cup. Get one of the coin buckets from the casino, wash it out and it makes a nice little ice bucket. One of the crew chuckled when he saw me doing this. They dont tell you this.
 

on the first day of your cruise you will meet your stateroom attendant. At that point request that he brings you Ice in your ice bucket everyday. You do not need to give them an additional tip as long as you do the standard gratuities. I do this every cruise and works out great. 

Wait a little while.....one of the frequent cruisers will chime in. I'm not sure if it's like a hotel where you can go down the hall to the ice machine....or not. (I'm going to take a number of $1 bills for tipping for that purpose.)

I do not recall seeing any ice vending machines which is open to the public , usually people are asking the attendant for that . another think that might work is to ask for some ice from one of the bars. Regarding the tips , if you ask your attendant to make sure you ice bucket is full every day or twice a day you do not need to give him a tip everyday , remember the automatic system of gratuity . for sure in the end if you think he did extra you can add some money for him , but this is an option not a must.

I am planning on getting one of these for ice in stateroom...…

They will bring ice to you! Just call room service....or set it up with stateroom attendant on Day 1 to bring you ice every day. They will do it!

Sure, just have to be comfortable asking. Best way is to find an empty table and ask the dealer if it wouldn't be a hassle to swap a dollar for a chip.
Now I'll say that method is something I've done. Just what was suggested at the cage on Adventure. They wouldn't let me get the chips directly at the cage. I'll normally hit the Craps table, buy in, and pocket the chips I want. Then put in a little bit of play.
No harm in asking, worst they can say in no. Key thing might be looking for that empty table so you don't interfere with any potential play.

Let you waiter know the speed that you want service, skip dessert (oh my!) and don't order alcohol (egads!) and the entire meal will be quick.  I wanted to get to the Flowrider at 6:00 PM last Anthem cruise, because it was one of 2 warm days.  We sat down at 5:30, I ordered "just fried chicken", and it came with my family's drinks and I was on my way in 20 minutes, leaving my husband with my teenage boys. My waiter told me that he could have taken my order the night before and had my meal ready for me when I sat down!  

I'm a shot glass and as of recent gaming chip collector.
Gaming chips can either be the cheapest or most expensive souvenir. Just depends on level of self control...
 

My wife and I like to purchase the Christmas ornament of each ship we go on so every year we can reminisce about each cruise as we are putting them up
 

I love the t-shirts with the drawing and stats on the ship on the back. I wear my Mariner one weekly and its a fun reminder of our trip.

We buy our girls the ship ornament for each ship they travel on.  Imagine their own first Christmas tree with ornaments from ships and places they've traveled.

Some inexpensive souvenirs are coffee mugs, magnets or ornaments.

Thanks to @CruiseLifeRick, I've started collecting the ship models of the ships that I've sailed.  I figured this would go nicely with the glass blocks that come in the future.  My next ship model purchase will be HOTS as well in about 6 days!  
They have all sorts of mugs available and cups available at the RC logo stores on board if that is what you are looking for.

Intresting post! Thanks!

Hello! I bought this mug (coffee cup size) on Rhapsody of the Seas a few years ago. Can't remember cost but I'm sure it wasn't a lot as I was on a low budget cruise. I hope to buy one like it on upcoming Liberty of the Seas cruise.....so I am interested too. Hope you enjoy your cruise! I bet it's a standard item in souvenir shops on RC ships.

Another thing to add to the list is to let your waiter(s) know what your in a hurry, this happened to us last yr on Oasis and they got us out in about 1hr.

@brianastree here’s another idea...If you have time, just show up earlier (maybe 6:30pm) and just go to the “without reservations” line. If there are only 2 of you, it might not take that long to get a table and then you can eat earlier.