jackiedanny

I love a thorough review so thank you for that, one question, did the ship dock in all the ports or tender ?

Have to step in before too many older women are irredeemably self conscious or spend money on clothes they haven't chosen or feel they need to dye their hair.

 

It is not a woman's job to be attractive to anyone. Wear what you want and remember back to when you knew everything and have a little laugh.

I totally agree, wear what you want and ignore the rest, 3/4 length and sandals all the way

Medical fact is perceived, people think they know what is healthy but in reality they are wrong.

 

My health journey goes against so called medical fact, after many health issues and being told my diet is great by health professionals and it must be genetic but we have medications that can help, I resolved all my health issues myself by studying biochemistry especially energy metabolism.

4 years ago I changed what I eat to a very high fat, moderate protein and very low carb diet, zero health issues now, no medication at all, lost 20 kilos without even trying in 4 months and have never felt better.

 

The perceived medical fact is that fat is bad for you, causes heart disease etc most people believe that to be fact but it's a big fat lie.

The reason for the obesity epidemic is the so called professionals have the wrong answers because their training has many false so called facts in it.

 

Why do you think we have an obesity epidemic and a diabetes one at the same time, I could throw in many other disease's in there too all caused by the same thing.

amen to that, there is no one diet fits all, the above diet is the only one that works for me but my two sisters can't tolerate it. if dieting was simple there would be no fat people and no billion dollar diet industry either.

I plan on being a newbie forever. I love the pre-cruise anticipation, over packing so I have all my favorite clothes and shoes. I definitely stop and say "wow!" when I get on the ship. I don't like to sunburn so wear lots of lotion. I never got used to the Windjammer being on the front of the ship so I always turned the wrong direction. I love the variety of people and behaviors I see onboard. I still haven't played bingo, gambled, done line dancing or gone to a nightclub, so lots of opportunities to have a newbie experience.

 

And remember, it is not the size of the ship but the motion of the ocean!

 

181 days to my next cruise feels way too long. Wonder if I can squeeze another one in before that? Hmmmm....

absolutely, the fun starts at the planning stage my travel friend leaves all the planning and decisions to me, I love to research each ship and port pretty exhaustively and decide on which shore outings, this builds the anticipation so when you get on board it is kind of surreal after so much thinking about it that you are actually there (we only get away every 3-5 years or so unfortunately it takes that long to save for one ):)

Women who carry their big purses around all day. You're at sea. You don't need anything in that bag.

 

I second the cruise card on a lanyard around the neck thing too. To me that's a sure sign someone is new to cruising.

I wear the cruise card on a lanyard and I am not new to cruising it is way more convenient and I am always afraid it will accidently fall out of a pocket and I always have my back pack with my cameras with me you never know when you are going to see something, maybe a whale or dolphins and I like taking pics of birds as well:o

As a nurse, one would think you'd know that norovirus is caused by a virus, not a bacteria. Hence the use of the word "virus" in the name. While washing with soap-and-water is always the preferred method, sanitizing gels are useful in helping to prevent contraction of norovirus.

 

Perhaps what you were thinking of was C. diff. (clostridium difficile)? Alcohol-based cleaners do not kill the spores of C. diff., and therefore soap-and-water washing is the required hand hygiene when caring for a patient with a known C. diff. infection.

in our hospital the microbiology dept has put big posters up near all the taps clearly stating that alcohol based hand sanitizers are not effective against norovirus and c-diff

according to the American CDC website (http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/Handwashing/HandwashingTips.htm )

Noroviruses can be found in your vomit or stool even before you start feeling sick. The virus can stay in your stool for 2 weeks or more after you feel better. So, it is important to continue washing your hands often during this time.

"Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be used in addition to hand washing. But, they should not be used as a substitute for washing with soap and water."

also "What about alcohol-based hand sanitizers?

• CDC recommends that cruise ship passengers use warm water and soap to wash their hands. Washing is always best.
  
• If water and soap are NOT available (perhaps on excursions), use an ethanol alcohol-based hand sanitizer, preferably in a gel form. The sanitizer should be at least 62% ethanol"
  

certainly use the hand sanitiser it is better then nothing but also frequent use of soap of water :)

After reading CC for months before my first cruise last month I bought and packed a few items that were unnecessary; however, I found some I was very glad I brought.

1. Duct tape. Rough seas one period and I used it to tape the cabinets shut as they kept popping open and banging in the night.

2. A bathroom airfreshner that stuck to the wall

3. A small piece of rubber shelf liner for the desk top. Even with high waves, nothing rolled or slid off it, even the bottles of wine!

4. A small door magnet. Even though we found our room it was nice to tell others looking for us to just find Guinness (our cat) photo.

5 hanging clothes pins for laundry. Cound hang stuff on the shower line as wall as hook them to soap dish, towel bar, etc. Don't think you plan to do laundry. You will still have wet socks, wet swimsuit, etc.

6. An envelope of about $50 in ones. Handy for tips.

7. Pick up several of the disposible rain ponchos for about a dollar at various places-WAllY, Dollar Tree, etc. I could have sold them and made a fortune on the ship on rainy days. Much better than an umbrella as it covers all of you, and you can just toss it and not have a soaking object in your room.

 

Did NOT use extra power strip, hanging door thingy for stuff, umbrella

rubber shelf liner is good idea I will try next time

if you are bringing camera with rechargeable batteries, computer, iPod, kindle etc. you will need a power strip I have always used one, also remember to check the plug type and voltage on the ship as an Australian I had to pack plug adaptors for the different plugs on ships they are usually American or European type plugs

also on a HAL cruise to new Zealand we had a room with a window not a balcony and these don't have a fridge I emailed ahead and got a fridge and air-fan (just in case it was hot or stuffy ) put in the room as mum is diabetic and needed fridge for insulin but I wanted it for drinks there was no extra charge but get in early, the fridge will go under the desk and use up some room but it was necessary

not all ships have laundry check and take drip dry stuff and travel clothes line.

I took half empty packet of antibacterial wipes and wiped every thing down before I used it as I really think they do not have time to clean properly but this depends on how fussy or germ phobic you are ( I am a nurse and probably wash my hands every 5- 10 minutes at work and yes they are dry and look older than the rest of me despite hand crème)

use the antibacterial hand wash dispensers that you find every where, you would be surprised at the amount of people who don't wash their hands after using the toilet or think they don't need to use soap and just use water but also remember that alcohol does not kill the bacteria that causes noro virus (diarrhoea ) only soap and water does

if you have room take your own pillow or an old one that can be left behind especially if you are used to a foam or contour pillow, I found on HAL the suitcases fit neatly into the wardrobe haven't been on other ship line

check out the main dining room and the buffet we preferred the buffet- food much the same just prefer the informality (and food on HAL excellent) and can go any time so get to theatre early to get good seats

I did use the highlighter in the ships daily magazine

write the time you must be back on the ship on the inside of your wrist so you do not forget it remember to give yourself plenty of time to get back we were always back on board at least an hour before it sailed- take into account local traffic patterns and availability of taxis etc. if you make own arrangements the ship will not wait for you, on ship tours they will

did a mix of ships tours and own arrangements in New Zealand as had been before but in Alaska did ships tours only as not familiar with the area,

remember you will only get a small taste of a country while in port as it is about cruising not about seeing much of the area you are going to- you would need a land based tour for that:)

You know what the worst part of the video is? My wife LAUGHING at me the whole time...

I've never been on this but been shot back over the bump to the beginning looked like the fun part

last year on the Superstar Virgo out of Singapore we were coming back from an island on the tenders and there was a gap between the tender and landing pad of the ship, the attendants said to mind the gap at every one who got out, I got out stepped over the gap said to my friend behind me to mind the gap so what does she do but put her foot right in the gap and fall onto her knee, now she is a big lady and almost took the two little Asian attendants down with her, I just stared could not believe after all the warnings she still fell, she got up really quickly and kept walking, red faced of course, later a quite big bruise came up and it was sore but did not do any real damage

I was waiting at a coffee shop today and snapped a couple of photos....'cause I do that a lot. I thought to myself, "what a great idea for a thread!"

 

I figure that we all have hundreds, if not thousands of dollars worth of equipment and too many of us only haul it out on special occasions or for trips.

 

Bad photographers! Bad! Bad!

 

Get your cameras out, find a nice composition, snap the photo and post it!

 

Let's have some fun!

 

Gallery Row Coffee House - Carrollton, GA

 

Happy shooting!

 

Dave

I do 365 which is a photo a day for a year this the second time I've done it as you are right, camera would only come out for trips and special occasions not all photos are masterpieces some are hasty snaps of the pets or garden but I really know all the controls on my pentax now and how to use them to effect

What gets me annoyed is if I get up early to stake out a good photo location on the ship or if I figure out a good location ahead of time and then someone wanders out of breakfast or from somewhere else just as things get interesting and wants me to move so that they can get a picture. My general attitude is that they should have planned ahead as I did and I basically do not move.

 

They had every opportunity to pick out a good location but I was there first.

 

DON

absolutely I agree with this if people want good shots get up early and think ahead then don't move from the spot till you've got the shot you want , otherwise I am a avid amateur photographer female and large but have never had anyone making a negative comment about my propensity for taking heaps of photos indoors or out

Holland America's Volendam anchored in Bay of Islands New Zealand March 2010

jackiedanny:)

Wow, to choose only 1. I have so many favorites. My avatar is actually one of my favs. It was taken while we were at Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel. But this one is pretty cool. It's sunset as we are leaving Ft. Lauderdale. I like the way the sky is still blue above the clouds.

how do you put an avatar on your name?

thanks jackiedanny

the train station is alongside the dock you can get an all day ticket from the ticket machine it is less then a 30 minute trip,

you can get to the perth museum and art gallery if interested from the perth train station go up the escalator and turn left for museum and art gallery and right for the city centre. there are free CAT (central area transport) buses that do prescribed routes according to colour, there is a red CAT stop on wellington street outside the train station on street level (there are stairs and a lift to go to street level otherwise follow the walkway past myers and into one of the arcades that will take you to hay street mall, the central shopping mall) if you are fit enough perth is easy to walk around as it is quite compact. swan river and kings park are easily reached on foot

enjoy my city

jackiedanny