Sandy Sails

Hi all, sorry to be so late to the party. Kerri, so sorry about your MIL.

I figured Jordan would end up winning but Lindsey did give him a run for first.

I think Erin and Carry Anne choose their own wardrobe and get the final say, with help from their stylists.

Ok, so I’ve been really busy getting the house ready to sell. Monday the pictures will be taken and then it goes on the market on Friday, Dec 1st. Hoping for multiple offers in 7 days. Then we'll move to Sequim, WA, a little town on the Olympic Peninsula just across the Strait from Victoria, BC.

See you next season...really, only 4 weeks? I heard about it being all athletes.

I think Erin has found her dress style, plain and fitted. Apparently she only wears earrings? Both Erin and CA wore green and both looked very nice.

They didn’t show very much of the dance rehearsals because they were concentrating on the special stories. So emotional and moving! But that’s why we didn’t see much of Maks and Vanessa together.

I really like this years’ group of stars, easy to like them. So refreshing.

I just saw ET about Maks and Vanessa not getting along. He didn’t get along with Hope Solo either but stayed on the show. So this must be serious.

Erin had a dress on. It really suited her.

No comments yet about last night’s show? Ok. I’ll begin, even though I haven’t watched the first 30 minutes yet (Big Bang is on Mondays temporarily, so hubby needs to watch it).

I loved Erin’s black dress and sleek straight hair. What I saw of CarryAnne’s dress, it was pretty in a disco ball sort of way. Would love to see a pic of the entire dress (hint hint). Thanks Kerri!

What happened to Maks? I heard on GMA this morning he’s off the show for personal reasons? Hopefully just this one week. Maybe he’s mad at his wife for dancing in such skimpy outfits, lol. Wow, Peta is skinny now.

Hi all! I can now stay up late to watch the entire show since I retired last month. Yay.

First, Erin's dress is very pretty. CA's dress is even better; love the cape!

I know the "only one judge can talk" thing is just temporary since they have so many dancers and limited time. But it's just weird.

I think Jordan Fisher is a ringer, lol. Professional dancer/actor on Broadway...and he was amazing! He's the obvious favorite to win. Lucky Lindsey.

Bon Voyage Lois!!! Enjoy Europe, enjoy the luxury cruise, and enjoy the luxury plane ride! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Yes, we would love to see pictures of your outfits and shoes!

recently got off a cruise. Enjoyed meeting many people. I forgot to get contact information from the one I enjoyed talking to the most as we were so interested in the same thing. Anyway I could be guided in the way to find her?

All I can think of is doing a Facebook search.

If it was serious enough, info would have been exchanged before the end of the cruise. I won't bore everybody with the story of how I met my husband on a cruise, but you can be sure we exchanged every bit of info you could think of, especially since we lived pretty far apart, i.e. Wyoming vs Washington State (but only for 6 months ;p).

So good luck and all that.

I was so tired of always getting a cold-like illness before or during or after a cruise, that before my last cruise in 2012, I took extra Vitamin C, Airborne, and an immunity booster for 2 weeks prior.

But then a few days before I got on the cruise ship, I was sitting on a bench at Disney World and a sick little girl plopped herself down next to me and proceeded to cough all over my arm. I was horrified (lol) and ran to the nearest restroom to wash off my arm. Didn't work. Three days later - sick. I gave up cruising after that - but not because of that.

All you can do is try your best not to get sick by taking all of the precautions. Nothing is guaranteed.

Hi Sandy, you are retiring in less than a month? CONGRATULATIONS:D

I know, I absolutely can't stand it! So impatient for August 8th to get here (my 62nd birthday).

I'll be getting rid of a lot of work clothes, jewelry, shoes, purses. I'll be sure to give them to a special place for homeless or low-income women needing clothes for job interviews.

I probably won't be on Cruise Critic that often as I only view it at work (tsk tsk).

Lois, would you like all of my earrings? :p

For some reason that I don't know, I have recently just stopped wearing earrings! My hair covers my ears anyway so nobody ever saw them. But I always had to buy matching earrings whenever I bought a new necklace.

Thanks for awakening me to the fact that things don't need to match (I have a matchy matchy phobia I think, lol).

I'm retiring in 26 days so life will be more casual and I'll probably rarely wear jewelry anyway. Will get rid of a lot of what I have and just keep the favorites.

Hi Lois! I have enjoyed all your posts over the years, and they helped me make purchases for a world cruise I took earlier this year. For walking shoes, I bought 2 pairs of closed toe Sketchers with Memory Foam, one black, one beige. I think I bought both pair at DSW. They were the most comfortable walking shoes I have ever worn, and they are still going strong! I also took 2 pair of Vionic sandals, and they worked well too. Enjoy your cruise!

Lois, sounds like your Sketchers will work great for you then - here's your review!

At the suggestion from these boards, I wore Keene Rose sandals for our Med cruise and Rome pre cruise. They were great for walking on cobblestones, uneven surfaces, etc.. Closed toe, comfy and supportive.

 

Have a great cruise.

Lois doesn't like the look of the Keen Rose sandals, even though that's what I wear to work as my dressy shoes, lol.

I live in Keens - I have 11 pair of the regular sporty sandals in different colors, and 2 pair of the Rose sandals for dressy times.

But not everybody is a Keens fan so whatever works for you is what you should stick with, i.e. Vionics for Lois.

Lois, I have heard that the memory foam in Sketchers does wear down quickly but check the reviews on Amazon or somewhere and you'll get a better idea.

Have an amazing cruise and take care of your feet :p.

Kerri, somehow I knew you'd find a picture to post of Tara's dress ;). Thanks!

Actually, Erin's dress is perfect for her - simple and elegant. She wears it well. She looks stunning!

Tara's is perfect for her also - I love the sweetheart neckline.

Thanks for posting this, Kerri. I saw this on Entertainment Tonight last night. Like the dress but I like Tara Lapinski's dress even better (her wedding was the same day).

The one time I was there, we weren't able to leave until the next morning because the wind was pushing the ship against the pier and they couldn't push away. They had to wait for the wind to die down.

So it's not technically a tender port but ships aren't always able to dock there (or leave).

Sounds like most cruise lines handle allergies well. But Holland America handles Alaskan cruises the best.

JSNY, to answer your question - no, you do not need a passport for a round-trip cruise to Bermuda. The ship will not let you board on Day #1 without the proper documents to get off the ship in Bermuda so that isn't the issue.

Be sure to use your new wife's maiden name when making your reservations as she probably won't have new ID in her married name. The reservation name must match exactly to the ID (birth certificate, drivers license).

Congratulations and enjoy the cruise!

It's very do-able. FLL isn't that far from MIA.

I did a land trip to Maui in October 10.5 years go with a guy I'd met on a cruise that April (we were engaged by the time we went to Hawaii). It rained the entire time. The cab driver that took us from the airport to the hotel was laughing that October is the rainy season and stupid tourists still come then.

We still had fun though! Our luau got rained out but no biggy.

Just a warning about October...

(and we've been married for 10 years now)

We had the same issue with our now dearly departed dog. We finally gave up cruising and bought a giant RV so she could travel with us. We all loved it!

We'll be rescuing another dog from a shelter next year after we retire, and then we'll travel the country. Can't wait!

I still recommend a resort wedding - skip the cruise idea. Resorts have great wedding packages and the entire thing will cost a lot less than the cruise and its wedding package.

Pick your favorite place (doesn't have to be Mexico) and find a resort. SO much easier and less expensive.

Regarding the photos: In my case, the resort's fee included two 8x10" photos and then you would have to pay for more. We met so many people at the resort from all over the world and invited 12 of them to the wedding on the beach. We handed everybody a camera or video camera and they took all the pictures and video we needed.

Transfer this idea to a cruise/port - you could have the kids take pictures and then not worry about the ship's photos - and/or just purchase the smallest package they sell (they'll look amazing).

If you're dead-set on doing this on a cruise, then I would use the over-priced ship's wedding package instead of trying to do everything on your own. Good luck.

I'll give you my experience on this. Ten years ago we wanted to get married on a cruise (because we had met on a cruise the year before), and I asked your same question on this board. I was advised that getting married on a ship with thousands of people on it was not romantic. And relying on getting to a port wasn't smart.

So I researched and booked a trip to an all-inclusive resort in Negril, Jamaica and bought their wedding package at a far cheaper price than what the cruise ship was offering.

It was an amazing experience and I didn't have to do anything; it was all arranged for me.

I will say though that we did get married by a judge in a courthouse before we left, just to make sure it was legal.

Good luck with whatever plans you end up with! And congratulations!

Watched/fast-forwarded through the finale last night. My husband said it looked like Erin was wearing a wedding dress. A lot of illusion going on in that dress but it was pretty.

I really liked J's red dress (I'm a fan of bling). C's white dress wasn't very flattering on her and it was pretty plain. She needs to step it up a bit next season.

I liked Erin's dress but can't really remember what it looked like (only watched the first 30 minutes). I think I also liked J's dress. Will have to wait for Kerri to post pics ;).

I cheated and checked the Internet at 8 p.m. PST to see who the winner was. They first posted the third place person, who I mistakenly assumed was the winner. Then re-read it as third place and was just flabbergasted. But thinking about it...they did have more dancing experience than a lot of the others.

So I'm happy with who won (put in 100 more hours of practice time) and I'm also happy with who came in second (dancing was ok, heart was amazing).

Until next season then...:cool:.