5326jan

I saw the cruise ship, but could not identify it. Too bad I delete as soon as I watch the show, or else I would have gone back and looked more closely.

 

I thought Josh's dress was cute, probably the best he's done all season. I liked Uli's dress, I thought she did a better construction job, but I just can't stand those high/low hems. I don't even like a handkerchief hem or an uneven hem...just personal preference. I just like a plain old hem in a length that makes the wearer look great.

 

The bottom two, I don't know which one I disliked more. I thought Emilio's dress was atrocious, the construction and fit were so terrible, but I did like the intended shape and the color. AR's dress was better constructed, but the shape...excuse me? Could he possibly have done anything less flattering to her figure?

 

I'm looking forward to next week, should be fun seeing them in Paris :)

 

I don't think there is a clear winner yet, but my vote is still for Uli...I just love her.

Oh, phew! I was afraid I had been hallucinating or something! :cool::)

I thought AR made his poor woman look like a cow! :eek: The bodice of that dress was unforgivable. If he had taken the V strap and cut it into the bodice to make it more of a v-neck, it would have been so much better for her. The dress reminded me of a home ec project from high school. There was no obvious support and she really needed it. She is a larger woman, but not as big as he made her look. I was horrified by it and I usually like him.

I must have fallen asleep just after they told him he was the loser, because I didn't remember seeing that they were going to have them all do a collection. Did they say something about Paris or was that another show (or maybe I dreamed it)? These late night shows are killing me!:rolleyes:

How do I contact Bully to book?

Bullytaxi79@hotmail.com

I haven't done a river cruise yet, but we were in Romania last year and it's very depressed. If you go to Bucharest, you might be better starting there rather than ending there. You would progress into a more prosperous world.

We're at the other end of VA now, but used to live in a small town called Lincoln, near Purcellville. Are you in that area?

I just purchased a Google Chromebook to take on cruises as I got tired of lugging my very old 250 pound laptop around. Can I expect any difficulties connecting to the ship's wifi system from my Chromebook? It looks like it will be just like connecting with a Windows based OS and Internet Explorer. Has anyone used a Chromebook onboard Princess? Any problems/hints?

We just bought one too. They are so nice and light! We'll travel in March, when do you go? At home it's very fast, so we're hoping that it will be as fast as the Princess wifi will allow. We'll be able to download pictures to it without being hooked to the internet, so that coupled with writing email in a word program and cutting and pasting to the email while connected should speed things up a bit. I'm not a computer person, so my needs are limited. :) If you go before March, please post about your experience.

Lip Balm never a problem for us either.

 

The lip balm provided by Princess in our cabin is very good. Our poor cabin steward must have thought we were eating it or something because several times we left a note asking for two more. A the end of the cruise he left us a whole bag full. Guess he was giving us enough to get us home. :D

 

LuLu

~~~~

We've never gotten lip balm in our cabin before! Is that a suite perk?

It was sad to see Casanova go. :( I like Uli, Emelio, Laura K and Anthony Ryan for the final four now that Casanova is gone. Uli is definitely my favorite!

I can fit everything we need for two weeks in these carry on containers! It's my magnifying lighted mirror that gives me trouble! :rolleyes: (Can't see to put on make up without it.) The sunscreen gets packed in checked bag or purchased upon arrival.

If you need a few little tubs with lids, Clinique has a perfect size they put samples in and they'll give you one or two.

Another Jan chiming in..... I enjoyed the review and the photos. This guy is a friendly, outgoing person who had a great cruise and is graciously sharing it with anyone who is interested. If you're not, move on. :rolleyes:

OK, thanks for the "heads up" on what he furnishes.

 

So Aruaba sets the prices of at least $45 an hour for a cab ride? That may seem cheap to some, but it gets expensive if you want to really SEE something in Aruba. What if it only takes 30 minute to get to where you need to go? Do they still charge $45???

Think of it as a tour, not a taxi ride. For 5 people to go on a two hour tour for $90 is only $18, per person! From everything I've read about Bully, you'll get your money's worth! :) We had planned to use him in March until we saw that our ship is only in port from 7-12:30, which means being back on board by 11:45am. :( So, we'll just walk around for an hour or so and let someone use Bully who can enjoy more time with him.

Hilarious that the people on the aft starboard balcony are sitting like they're on a bus with one in front of the other! I like to face the person I'm sitting with!

Great pictures! We did this cruise last March and I am enjoying the refresher! I also notice that Ruby hasn't moved to the new balcony furniture. Good!

I prefer these: The flavor is milder and there isn't any dye. I don't really have a problem drinking things that have coloring in them, I just find after a while they stain the inside of the Tervis Tumbler straws. If they stain the straws, they may be staining my teeth too! DH likes Mio, but that has a lot of coloring too.

We bring along our Tervis Tumblers or Tervis Waterbottles so that the drink stays cold for hours, but the container doesn't sweat!

Jan, I would say 20-25 minutes is about right, It's really not that far, but it's a slow, careful walk because you're walking on a beach that is basically rocky coral, and you need to be very sure of each step. I never felt like I was going to slip, but each step was deliberate. There are parts that are normal sandy beach, but a LOT of it is rocky.

 

It's nice to go over there, not just to see the tombstones, but you really feel like you're on an island all by yourself (but at the same time you can see the ship right there, so there's that security too).

Thanks, Boston! Appreciate the info! :D

Thank you so much for your pictures! We were there last March and planned to walk, but DH had surgery three weeks before our cruise and we didn't think it would be a good idea to be that far away from civilization. How long did it take to walk it? Someone before said that it was at least a 20 minutes, but didn't know if the hurricane had changed to terrain enough to make it slower.

We looked for a collapsible drawer at Dollar Tree over the weekend, but couldn't find anything. Where in the store did you find one?

Hi, I just saw them in the Dollar Tree today. Definitely in the closet organization section next to the clothespins. There are 3 different sizes that I could find. One was about 3" tall and the size of a sheet of paper, the others were same sizes but 6" taller and didn't see how big the largest was. They are wrapped in a plastic package and some were hanging, others on bottom shelf. The actual package for the small one is about 4 x 6", because it's all folded up. There are a variety of patterns but all in Navy or burgandy color scheme. They are very cheap papery fabric. Would not use them in my house, but would be perfect for containing things in drawer on ship or inside the safe and then left behind for trash. $1 each.

Can't wait!!! :D I remember Josh was such a diva! :rolleyes:

Thank you for your suggestion about avoiding Bucharest. My thought of going there is that it would be going toward the Black Sea. We will definitely go on the Danube Cruise but as I mentioned, are unsure of where to begin. I'm not sure I want to go to Prague and then be bussed to the River. I can always do Prague on our own before or after.

 

I went to a travel seminar this past weekend and was told that I should consider east to west as the eastern part is more poverty ridden and that you do not want to end your trip there. Any thoughts?

The Black Sea is amazing! We haven't done a river cruise yet, but last September we took a Black Sea cruise on Pacific Princess and thoroughly enjoyed it. Romania, however, was our least favorite port. It was clearly not finding a way out of the darkness of Communist rule. Ukraine, on the other hand was lively, fun and uplifting in comparison. If you take in Bucharest, start there so you will progress "to the light". :)

Also, the small individual plastic baskets are great for on top of the vanity. They are sold at the Dollar stores 3 to a pack and are apx. 8"x3". They are perfect for giving everyone their own basket to hold their S&S cards, chapstick and what ever small items that one has. It keeps the top of the vanity clear and everyone knows where their own stuff is. The medium sized ones also work great for sorting out socks and such for each person. They are small to pack and very handy to have.

 

 

:)

 

 

 

 

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These would be great for inside the safe too! I can't tell you how many times I read the sad stories of people forgetting a piece of jewelry (ring, etc) that must have slipped under the little fabric mat inside the safe. Most of them are never recovered. :(

Has anybody seen those fold into a pouch duffle bags lately. The ones given as freebies by Brendan travels finally just ripped apart and for the life of me I can not find any now to replace. the ones we had were much thinner and lighter than the Baggalini one that I bought last year (9 ounces and about 8/8 inches -- material seems much stiffer).

 

Anybody who finds these really light weight bags PLEASE let me know. I hardly know how to travel without the "laundry bags".

Amazon has these cute bags that fold into their own pouch. They're nylon so have to be super light. They would make great laundry bags, shopping bags or Trick or Treat bags! :)

http://www.amazon.com/Bundle-Monster-Eco-Friendly-Reusable-Foldable/dp/B007O2TUNU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348866485&sr=8-1&keywords=shopping+tote+foldable

I'm happy Dimitri won also but I did like Sanijias out fit a lot. Don't know what

happened to Gunnar,his dresses last week were so good but this weeks jacket was just plain ugly cheap and matronly. I do like Venns work but it WAS a print challenge and his was very plain. He should have done something like a pleated skirt in the print and one of his pretty blouses in like a solid pink or black.

 

I didn't like that they brought in Tim Gunn, felt that was wrong!

Ironically, I felt that the judges were bullying him a little.

His outfit wasn't high fashion, but being part of the "equestrian" crowd, it is similar to outfits I frequently see and like! :)

Thank you to both. I don't see a 2-sided feature on the e-bags? Am I just missing it?

 

I did look at the eagle creek version, and am considering them (and will definitely be picking up a folder from them), but I have a question. Does the 2-sided version always stay separate (this is a bit hard to explain via text, so forgive me). For instance, can you put all clean clothes in a clean side at the beginning of the trip, move them to dirty side as trip goes, and then end up with all in the dirty side? That is the main feature I like about those posted above, but the price is steep. If the quality is high, I don't mind paying, as I don't expect to have to replace them any time soon, but if a cheaper version works just as well - even better.

 

Also, if I may pick your brain a tiny bit about luggage Happy_KS (feel free to send me a private message as not to derail thread) - what do you think of the new Briggs and Riley CX bags? Worth it? I have old B&R that I still love, but am thinking of picking up another size.

No, the ebag cubes don't have two sides, but the eagle creek cubes that have double sides, don't have a plastic separator. The smell of dirty clothes would permeate through the nylon liner and into the clean clothes. On the two sided eagle creek that I have seen, the bottom doesn't "float", it is sewn in the center. You would be limited to the size of the compartment's ability to be over stuffed into the empty half. It's hard to explain without the visuals. :o

This Travelon is a 2 sided cube with mesh in between layers. http://www.ebags.com/product/travelon/2-sided-packing-cube-small/217146?productid=10141521

We usually bring home dirty laundry in a plastic bag. But the ebag and eagle creek cubes wash well on delicate cycle. :)

Has anyone seen or had experience with the Flight001 SpacePak cubes?

 

http://www.flight001.com/all-products/spacepak-1.html

 

I just discovered them recently and am pretty tempted to buy them (I hate buying things like that sight-unseen and without reviews though). I love the fact that they have one side for clean clothes and another side for laundry. So convenient. I am just not sure if I could really fit as much as they say you can in there. Be careful if you visit the site to look at them though; there are too many "I never knew I needed this but now I must have it" items there to count ;)

http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/packing-cubes-3pc-set/13032?productid=10150075

I like these and they are WAY cheaper!!! $23 for 3 sizes, vs $42 for one size. I'm sure the ones you posted are of higher quality, but these ebag cubes have lasted me for more than 12 years and have gone around the world! :)

Just when I thought I couldn't possibly love Tim Gunn any more than I do..... "Size 14? She is barely on the cusp of plus sized!" :) Did I mention I love this guy?

 

And really, talk about pot meeting kettle.... does Venn really get to comment on someone being overweight when he is no slimster himself? Then being such petulant child, how "unfair" it is that everyone else got skinnier clients. I really hoped he was gone after all of that but I am satisfied they at least scared him a little. And we also got to see that Elena is more human than I thought ;)

 

Ok now that I am past my hissy fit.... I liked Dmitri's the best, he keeps missing by one. I thought Fabio did the biggest transformation..... though the dress independently was fun to look at but not my style.

 

I think they are trying to pump the drama a bit next week but I can't figure out where they are coming from.

So true! Venn is a plus size designer! There is no way his model is a 14. I'm a 16 and she was bigger than I am. :roll eyes:

THANK YOU for this info...that site is packed with great information!!!

Also look at cruise deck plans dot com. This is a "membership" site that costs a couple dollars to join, but has actual pictures that were taken and submitted by people staying in those cabins. You can easily repay yourself for joining by submitting your own pictures after your cruise. They pay $.50 for each picture submitted with no limit as long as they are legitimate photos of the cabin. Including pictures of balconies, in many cases. I have submitted very detailed pictures to include fridge's location and inside of fridge, plugs, hair dryer location, size of bathroom and closet, size of safe inside/out, etc.

I read about an app available for both iphone and android phones called "Viber" that allows you to text or voice chat, using the internet, from anywhere in the world where there is an internet signal. You use data time, not voice time.

Maybe you wouldn't want to use it on the ship and use up expensive minutes, but in port many of the bars and restaurants have free wifi. We plan to use it to keep in touch with our family while in Europe or Asia.