World Cruise Gala Question

[travelwell]

We are booked on Regent’s 2021 WC. I have been following several  2020 WC blogs including two bloggers now on Regent.  I am hoping there are several more people on the present Regent WC who can add their thoughts. I heard Regent hosted a fantastic gala. Can anyone give me highlights of the day prior to embarkation. Details of the gala would be appreciated including the percentage of men in suits verses sports coats etc. The only pictures I have seen of last years gala the women seemed quite dressy, did that hold true this year? Were there any special guests or highlights of the evening? How was breakfast. Were transfers from the hotel handled smoothly or would ubering for this cruise be recommended.  For us the pre-Cruise  hotel at the Ritz in Miami at the start of the 2021 WC will add to the excitement. We have high expectations for this once in a lifetime cruise. Regent seems to start the cruise right. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

It would be good to hear, wouldn't it?  I'm thinking that the bussing of us from the hotel to the port will be handled in the usual way, i.e., not a great experience.  But who knows? 

 

As for 'dressy', I'm still trying to make sure that David buys a sports jacket for this trip, lol.  No suits for us, and dressy for me, may be my lovely Indian salwar kameez, which I don't get a chance to wear very much.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Wendy The Wanderer

[Floridiana]

On 1/29/2020 at 3:17 PM, travelwell said:

two bloggers now on Regent. 

I am following Marcia. Who is the other Regent blogger?

 

Wendy,

 

I'll look for you in your Indian dress. I had to google what it is.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

31 minutes ago, Floridiana said:

I am following Marcia. Who is the other Regent blogger?

 

Wendy,

 

I'll look for you in your Indian dress. I had to google what it is.

 

Strangely, in India they're not considered dressy at all, but everyday wear.  But I only wear mine on special occasions.  I've lost track of the bloggers.

[Ladys Mom]

Wendy the other blogger that I am following is Lana.  Her url is:  http://lanastravels.blog.  She is very sweet.  She is traveling by herself but her blog has been very informative.  She has already signed up for the 2022 while she is on the 2020.  I guess she really is enjoying the cruise!!!  Mitch and I are doing a land/river boat trip to India on Uniworld at the end of September.  The trip, with business class, for thirteen days and three cities in Oberoi hotels and the river boat with everything, cost the same as the five-day overland on Regent so we see it as a no-lose trip.  I plan to buy a sari while on the trip and will take it with me.

Reading the other world cruise blogs makes me more excited to get on the Mariner.  Talk to you soon.

Norma

[travelwell]

Hello you fellow  2021 cruisers. i am enjoying both the Regent WC blogs. Marsha responded to my gala questions on her blog. DH will have a sport coat for the cruise. Out son is being married in Tampa in July. For the wedding I actually bought a light weight long dress that will work for the cruise but probably too light weight for the gala. i tend to freeze in southern air condition restaurants. I was in Florida last week and thought about getting in touch with you Florida folks. I drove right by Wendy's town.  Alabama, Georgia and Florida too close to not meet prior to the cruise if nearby. That being said if you all are in the North Atlanta area message me and we can meet.

Norma, your trip sounds great. The overlands are quite expensive. As we are still working our trips are primarily to see children and the grands. Oh I do have a retirement date 10/26 and DH 12/31. This year is busy and flying by. 

 

[Kwaj girl]

@travelwell we are in Huntsville AL.

A get-together for our geographical area sounds great!  Who's got the big house?   😂

[travelwell]

That sounds like fun. I can host if people can come!

[Gilly]

14 hours ago, Ladys Mom said:

Mitch and I are doing a land/river boat trip to India on Uniworld at the end of September.  The trip, with business class, for thirteen days and three cities in Oberoi hotels and the river boat with everything, cost the same as the five-day overland on Regent so we see it as a no-lose trip.  I plan to buy a sari while on the trip and will take it with me.

 

Norma, when you are in India, keep an eye open for FabIndia stores where you will find wearable clothes (Salwar kameez, kurtas and all the related scarves and trousers) in Western sizes, but still very reasonably priced.  Until now, that chain of stores has been my go-to place when I've been in India.  However, I just returned from Karnataka and there I discovered More which is a chain of stores like Target, where the clothes were incredible.   I realise that, as part of a group, you won't have the same freedom to go shopping, but Fabindia in particular does seem to be present in tourist-related places.  The experience of shoe shopping in particular, in India, can be memorable.

 

(my apologies for hijacking the thread - I promise to go back in my box now <g>)

[Floridiana]

https://consultm2.blogspot.com/

 

That is Marcia, the other blogger, an artist and thoughtful writer.

 

I am loosely following blogs from the MS Amsterdam. She is in South America right now before heading west. I wanted to see what the bloggers did in the cities along the Brazilian coast.

 

We also looked at a video blog by a mediocre photographer. His shaky videos show a realistic picture such as the waiting lines, the port buildings from the inside of the bus, the 30 minute walk from the tender pier to the downtown car rental place on Easter Island etc.  He is on an Aida ship. They have tenders shooting through the surf between rocks. I don't know if a ship with American passengers would have done it.

[Ladys Mom]

17 minutes ago, Gilly said:

 

Norma, when you are in India, keep an eye open for FabIndia stores where you will find wearable clothes (Salwar kameez, kurtas and all the related scarves and trousers) in Western sizes, but still very reasonably priced.  Until now, that chain of stores has been my go-to place when I've been in India.  However, I just returned from Karnataka and there I discovered More which is a chain of stores like Target, where the clothes were incredible.   I realise that, as part of a group, you won't have the same freedom to go shopping, but Fabindia in particular does seem to be present in tourist-related places.  The experience of shoe shopping in particular, in India, can be memorable.

 

(my apologies for hijacking the thread - I promise to go back in my box now <g>)

Gilly--

Thanks so much for the information.  I think they will give us some free time so I will look for these stores.  We are in four different cities Delhi, Akra, Jaipur, and Kolkata, so I think I should be able to find at least one of these stores.  

[Floridiana]

Gilly,

 

The FabIndia clothes are absolutely marvelous. Thank you for the link

[Art Instructor2]

On 1/30/2020 at 9:15 AM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

It would be good to hear, wouldn't it?  I'm thinking that the bussing of us from the hotel to the port will be handled in the usual way, i.e., not a great experience.  But who knows? 

 

As for 'dressy', I'm still trying to make sure that David buys a sports jacket for this trip, lol.  No suits for us, and dressy for me, may be my lovely Indian salwar kameez, which I don't get a chance to wear very much.

Sounds perfect for the event as well as beautiful! 

[Art Instructor2]

On 1/31/2020 at 4:41 AM, Floridiana said:

https://consultm2.blogspot.com/

 

That is Marcia, the other blogger, an artist and thoughtful writer.

 

I am loosely following blogs from the MS Amsterdam. She is in South America right now before heading west. I wanted to see what the bloggers did in the cities along the Brazilian coast.

 

We also looked at a video blog by a mediocre photographer. His shaky videos show a realistic picture such as the waiting lines, the port buildings from the inside of the bus, the 30 minute walk from the tender pier to the downtown car rental place on Easter Island etc.  He is on an Aida ship. They have tenders shooting through the surf between rocks. I don't know if a ship with American passengers would have done it.

Thank you so much for your kind words!  Deeply appreciated!

 

Best,

Marcia

[Ladys Mom]

Dear Gilly and Floridiana:

I went on the Fabindia web site and their merchandise is so fabulous that I may do some damage to my budget before I even land in India.  Thanks again (I think).

Norma

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, Fabindia looks great.  I got my salwar kameez when I was working with a group of young Indian women here in N.A.  At the time, fashion was undergoing huge changes among the educated middle class urban Indian women.  My salwar is probably quite old-fashioned now.  There are many great styles now.  I never wanted to wear a sari and have my midriff exposed, in all its glory, plus have to deal with figuring out how to wear it properly.  Few of the young women I knew wore saris, although in India, at the time, at least in Mumbai, all of the working class and poor women wore them every day.  This was 20 years ago almost, so it will be interesting to see what's changed since then.

 

P.S, even the salwar has its challenges--the stole part of the ensemble is difficult to carry off properly.  I generally use pins to help out!  (The Dupattis look fairly straightforward, btw.)

Edited February 2, 2020 by Wendy The Wanderer

[Ladys Mom]

22 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Yes, Fabindia looks great.  I got my salwar kameez when I was working with a group of young Indian women here in N.A.  At the time, fashion was undergoing huge changes among the educated middle class urban Indian women.  My salwar is probably quite old-fashioned now.  There are many great styles now.  I never wanted to wear a sari and have my midriff exposed, in all its glory, plus have to deal with figuring out how to wear it properly.  Few of the young women I knew wore saris, although in India, at the time, at least in Mumbai, all of the working class and poor women wore them every day.  This was 20 years ago almost, so it will be interesting to see what's changed since then.

 

P.S, even the salwar has its challenges--the stole part of the ensemble is difficult to carry off properly.  I generally use pins to help out!  (The Dupattis look fairly straightforward, btw.)

I am really impressed with your knowledge of Indian garments.  My knowledge begins and ends with sari.  However, I am eager to learn.  One of the things they teach us on this cruise is how to put a sari together.  Never would I show my naked midriff but I would with t-shirt underneath.

Speaking of India, I was thinking today would it make sense for me to bring gifts to give to the children and adults that we would meet.  Do you have any suggestions?  Thanks.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

28 minutes ago, Ladys Mom said:

I am really impressed with your knowledge of Indian garments.  My knowledge begins and ends with sari.  However, I am eager to learn.  One of the things they teach us on this cruise is how to put a sari together.  Never would I show my naked midriff but I would with t-shirt underneath.

Speaking of India, I was thinking today would it make sense for me to bring gifts to give to the children and adults that we would meet.  Do you have any suggestions?  Thanks.

 

My knowledge is very limited, really.  I was there in 2001, and had a team of young Indian software engineers working for me over the next few years here in N.A., and being young they were fashion-conscious.  Even then there were many styles and cuts of salwar kameez, kurtas and dupattis, and now I can't even tell the difference.  Lots of images of salwars if you google it and look at images.   Mine has the big balloony pants, and the coordinated long scarf, which is generally worn backwards, over the shoulders (or was, ha ha.)

[Gilly]

Fabindia also has at least one branch in Singapore.  (Just sayin' 😉 )

 

These days in India, many younger women wear a variation on western clothes, maybe a salwar or kurta with jeans, though some still wear sarees and ride pillion on a motorbike sidesaddle…   I posted a picture to my blog when we were in Mysuru recently of a group of very colourfully dressed women - I was wearing black and white and my only concession to colour was to carry a red bag.  I felt quite sad that we don't embrace the full spectrum any more!

 

As far as taking gifts to India (and other countries with developing communities), it's really quite tricky.  Personally, I prefer to donate to a local charity or microfinance - but of course, that's a personal choice.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

 

14 minutes ago, Gilly said:

...

These days in India, many younger women wear a variation on western clothes, maybe a salwar or kurta with jeans, though some still wear sarees and ride pillion on a motorbike sidesaddle…   I posted a picture to my blog when we were in Mysuru recently of a group of very colourfully dressed women - I was wearing black and white and my only concession to colour was to carry a red bag.  I felt quite sad that we don't embrace the full spectrum any more!

 

As far as taking gifts to India (and other countries with developing communities), it's really quite tricky.  Personally, I prefer to donate to a local charity or microfinance - but of course, that's a personal choice.

 

When I was in India the joke was that pink was the navy blue of India.

 

As far as gifts, yes, that is tricky.  I would think that a donation of that type would be very worthwhile.  There are probably still plenty of beggars, and as much as we may want to give them money, in general it's not a great idea.

 

When we were in Laos, we travelled for two days on a longtailed boat up the northern Mekong with a British couple who were used to travelling on the cheap, and had been many places.  She always had a bag of goodies for the children of these poor places--pens, pencils, pads of paper, ribbons, barrettes, things like that.  I felt humbled by her thoughtfulness; they all flocked around her and she embraced them. Not sure that holds for India, though, at least not in the brief time we have in the big cities. 

[Gilly]

@Wendy The Wanderer we used to take such things too - small bits and pieces which were possibly made in China and which had possibly travelled around the world before they even began their return journey 😉  When we were in Myanmar, we responded to a specific request for English language reading material for primary school children - and then when we got there, we found the schools we visited all had perfectly good resources already.  (That's not to say that _all_ schools were well resourced of course but we found it difficult to find a good home for the things we'd taken)  

 

On this last visit to India, just a couple of weeks ago, I think we saw fewer beggars than ever before.  Again, that's not to say they don't exist - we weren't in places where there were a large number of Western tourists - and though we visited communities where people were living very simple lives compared with our own, the preponderance of cellphones suggests that life moves on apace!

[Gilly]

My apologies...I really have hijacked this thread now.  So sorry 🙏

[Floridiana]

The FabInida shop is in the VivoCity shopping center which is at the cruise terminal where we were last time. If I had only known!