Fashion & cruise review from last weekend

[Happy ks]

Reading through this little review, it may seem as though we didn't enjoy ourselves, we had a great time together. I'm of the mind that you make your own experience what you want it to be and I'm not influenced by the people around me.

 

It was a bit odd seeing the way many of the people dressed on our little cruise this past weekend. The worst offenders were the men, not so much the women.

 

I saw many women were dressed nicely in pants suits, Sunday dresses, a few gowns....hardly any suits, sports coats, ties or even appropriate shirts to coordinate with their ladies. I saw men not even bothering to tuck in their shirts, wrinkled shirts (not packing wrinkles:confused: ) worn out looking slacks. I'm speaking of formal night, by the way!

 

On NCL formal is optional, which means you can opt out if you wish. They still ask that you not wear jeans, it is posted at the door of each restaurant. I saw jeans every night. Not designer jeans, not jeans with nice shirts, but jeans with T-shirts, sneakers, baseball caps. You could really tell the staff from the pax, because they were so much more nicely dressed in uniform.

 

We opted out of formal night, we preferred the alternative dining choices and did not want to pack formal wear. Because we were eating later, I got a good glimpse of how formal was being interpreted and changed my choice for the evening, so I would not be mistaken for formal in my casual clothes! I wore what I had planned for the third evening, black knit pants with a floral knit jacket, originally I was going to wear all black.

 

With my husband a barber/stylist and myself a former barber/stylist, it is apalling to see the hordes of people with lousy haircuts. I suppose society is just getting used to seeing the Supercuts/Fantastic Sams shoddy work and it is becoming the norm now. You can tell the difference between a good haircut from a bad one by the fact that when a man has a bad haircut, it will never look as good as the day they left the barber shop. Of course, this has nothing at all to do with cruising, just a pet peeve of mine that I like to harp on once in a while :rolleyes: .

 

The cruise itself was wonderful. I don't in the least let what someone else looks like/wears/acts like affect my time at all. DH and I had a lot of laughs together, we met some great people, had some wonderful meals in the alternative dining venues and thoroughly enjoyed being at sea. We went on a fun excursion in Astoria, to a seafood demo/taste treat and a visit to a very nice little wine shop. Service was great all over the ship, we had the sweetest cabin stewardess. Some of the waitstaff have a very good sense of humor and we had some funny times in the restaurants. There were a lot of kids, so we knew what areas to avoid. I didn't really see any misbehaving, just acting like kids do. We didn't take our kids along and I work with kids all year round, so we just didn't care to be around them. There were some cuties, though :) .

 

We've had a dislike of buffets for years now and we probably had the worst buffet experience ever on the Star. Overcrowded, lines, noise at the crash bang boom level, lots of kids darting in and out of the lines. We would not have bothered if we hadn't been so hungry at boarding and our dinner ressies were not until 8:30pm. After the first day, we would go up or down a level just to avoid even walking through that horrid room. We had the worst tasting food I've ever had on a cruise ship at the pool side grill on our port stop day. The main dining room, Versailles, was not much better. While the food and service were OK, the room itself is just so dang noisy, it's unnerving.

 

We didn't go into the casino at all, we hardly paid any attention to the entertainment onboard, the onboard shopping was typical of a mass market cruise ship, so no shopping done there, with the exception of some face cream I was almost out of. I did purchase a couple of fused glass necklaces in Astoria, directly from the artist herself, we had a nice long chat about her method and where she lived.

 

We had a very enjoyable day in Vancouver after disembarking the ship, a lovely hotel room with a balcony, having a great city view. We grabbed the trolley and went on a city tour, spent some time in China Town and Granville Island. The sun came out for us and we had a lovely tour of Stanley Park. We were within walking distance of the restaurant we ate dinner at Sunday night, a final good meal before returning home.

 

All in all, we'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'd still opt out of formal night, plus I'd stop for lunch before boarding the ship and while in port.

[Happy ks]

I forgot to add one of the highlight of the cruise!

 

The last evening, we were at dinner, seated right by the window and got to see a whale! We weren't expecting it, but it was a most lovely surprise!

[Ehpride]

I forgot to add one of the highlight of the cruise!

 

The last evening, we were at dinner, seated right by the window and got to see a whale! We weren't expecting it, but it was a most lovely surprise!

 

Wow!! Cool!

[Jan_In_Maine]

Glad you had a great time - sometimes its just fun watching other people and just shaking one's head - it is an amazing world. How lovely that you saw a whale - It always surprises me to see them - they are beautiful. Jan

[Cruise Arizona]

I have heard that even on formal night NCL tends to be very casual. And it is so funny if you read their web page they allow Bermuda shorts with knee socks and ... something for thier Bermuda Sailings, and jean for Texas sailings because of Texas Culture. So funny, I'm originally from Texas, and now in virtual Texas her in Arizona.

 

I'm one that likes for everyone to dress up, but as you said on NCL it tends to be more casual.

 

 

OK, Now to address the issue of Super Cuts. I have been going to Super Cuts for 10 years now. :) I have gotten two bad hair cuts in 10 years, but have since learned how to request the proper do.:) My feeling about bad hair cuts from Super Cuts, is not in the fault of the stylist, but in the really bad haircut requested by the client.

 

OK, I can't get my hair picture to attach. I'll try the other computer.

[Cruise Arizona]

I am going to try to attach a pic from formal night on Infinity Hawaii.

 

I think my hair looks pretty good in this pic!!! I have to defend my Super Cuts Guy, Jesse, I think he's really great!!! Oh, and, I do my own color and he just does the cut, but I really like him!!!

[Jane110]

Reading through this little review, it may seem as though we didn't enjoy ourselves, we had a great time together. I'm of the mind that you make your own experience what you want it to be and I'm not influenced by the people around me.

 

Welcome home. I'm glad to hear your had a good time!

 

 

It was a bit odd seeing the way many of the people dressed on our little cruise this past weekend. The worst offenders were the men, not so much the women.

I saw many women were dressed nicely in pants suits, Sunday dresses, a few gowns....hardly any suits, sports coats, ties or even appropriate shirts to coordinate with their ladies. I saw men not even bothering to tuck in their shirts, wrinkled shirts (not packing wrinkles:confused: ) worn out looking slacks. I'm speaking of formal night, by the way!

 

 

I see this all the time and it's "glorified" on television sitcoms. On a date girl wears really cute, sexy dress, hair and make-up is perfect, date comes to pick her up and he's a slob, dressed like he's ready to wash the car. I find it pretty disgusting overall.

 

On NCL formal is optional, which means you can opt out if you wish. They still ask that you not wear jeans, it is posted at the door of each restaurant. I saw jeans every night. Not designer jeans, not jeans with nice shirts, but jeans with T-shirts, sneakers, baseball caps. You could really tell the staff from the pax, because they were so much more nicely dressed in uniform.

 

It's a shame people have the, "the rules don't apply to me" attitude. But it's also a shame that they're allowed in. They should be directed to another dining area. Oh well, we've seen this movie before.

 

With my husband a barber/stylist and myself a former barber/stylist, it is apalling to see the hordes of people with lousy haircuts. I suppose society is just getting used to seeing the Supercuts/Fantastic Sams shoddy work and it is becoming the norm now. You can tell the difference between a good haircut from a bad one by the fact that when a man has a bad haircut, it will never look as good as the day they left the barber shop. Of course, this has nothing at all to do with cruising, just a pet peeve of mine that I like to harp on once in a while :rolleyes:

 

It's all part of the dumbing down of America and people allowing themselves to going along with being the "I don't want to be judged by the outside".

OT story: Years ago I was with friends in Memphis for the weekend and were eating at a very inexpensive, down-home BBQ place. There was a guy sitting near us eating his dinner. Like everyone else, he was very casually dressed in a pair of shorts and tee shirt. When we asked, he said, he was a local, born and raised across the river in Mississippi. I said, "yeah sure, but you didn't spend your whole life here. Did you live in NY, San Fran or LA?". He laughed and said he lived in NY for 10 years and asked how I knew. I told him his haircut gave him away, it was a very classy haircut - basic, but perfect. He admitted that after moving back from NY, he had a hard time finding a good stylist and now has to travel far to get his hair cut. He was pleased that it made stand out from the crowd.!

 

We had a very enjoyable day in Vancouver after disembarking the ship, a lovely hotel room with a balcony, having a great city view. We grabbed the trolley and went on a city tour, spent some time in China Town and Granville Island. The sun came out for us and we had a lovely tour of Stanley Park. We were within walking distance of the restaurant we ate dinner at Sunday night, a final good meal before returning home.

 

 

So glad you got to Vancouver. Wonderful city, eh?

[momofmeg]

I forgot to add one of the highlight of the cruise!

 

The last evening, we were at dinner, seated right by the window and got to see a whale! We weren't expecting it, but it was a most lovely surprise!

 

that was what was best about Alaska-all the wild life we saw. I loved the whales!

 

Lois, this is to you since you are about to go to Alaska. When you look out over the water-look for a kind've "boubling" area-if you keep looking you will see part of a whale,(the boubling is the whale breathing-that is how you can tell where they are)-we even saw the whole whale, "breaching", a couple of times-so happy whale,dolphin, sea lion, and bald eagle watching!

[MrsMoose2001]

Hi HappyKS, glad to hear that you and DH enjoyed yourselves, in the end that is the only thing that really matters.

 

About hair, I don't know how it comes to be, and I'm not sure where the blame should be placed. Experience, talent, time, training. Perhaps some people at some "Supercuts" are just as good and it's a matter of luck as to who you get.

 

I will never get a haircut here, like I do from my hairdresser in NYC. Hairdressers themselves tell me that. I go for a blowout roughly once a week here, the hairdresser here knows I get a cut/color when I'm in NYC, he knows of the person who cuts it as he is famous in the hair business. He saw my recent cut (from 2 weeks ago) last week and said, it is perfect, it is what hairdressers call "perfect" not one hair is miscut or out of place (in the cutting sense), it was in perfect symetrical whatever. The layers he said were perfectly cut in lenght with relation to all the layers. He also informed me that no one here where I live would be able to give me the color/highlights I got. He called my hairdress in NYC a "freecutter" meaning no sectioning off the hair when he cuts. He also said they would duplicate the color but the process it took to get there is not done here. Having no knowledge of the process other than what I "see" I can't explain to much about it other than there is a lot of "steps" that they did in NYC for the color.

 

I know what that guy was saying Jane, while having mine done, a woman was sitting next to me during the color process and she said she flies in for the day from Virginia to get her hair done.

 

I wish I liked to fly as I would consider doing it myself. But unfortunately my worries over my ears overtake my wanting of the perfect cut/color so I settle for it when I go down 2x a year (by car).

[Happy ks]

CruiseArizona, I'm glad you get what you think is a good haircut from your guy. But, you look like you have great hair to begin with, so you are at a definite advantage. I'll bet if you got a really good haircut, you would be able to tell a big difference. I do have to concede there are areas of the country where there just isn't a great place to go for a haircut or color.

 

The whole thing is individual talent. Sure there are some good hair cutters at the above mentioned salons. I've even seen good haircuts from mom at home, some people just have a natural talent. Overall, the way the pay structure is at a cheap haircut place, the stylists are forced to do away with quality for speed. Many of these people just do not have the experience to do a quick, good haircut. They are working against a guarantee pay and have to meet a minimum to make more than the minimum. They are recruited right out of school, with a promise of minimum earnings and insurance/vacation packages, but the work they have to do to obtain that is brutal. The vast majority of talented stylist know to avoid those places and spend a few years gaining further education and the building of a clientele. The sky is the limit for talent, there is a low ceiling for the cut rate shops.

 

I've looked into their business before, as an owner/investor and I could not justify treating employees that way. It's also the reason why so many people finally find a good cutter at those places, only to return and they are gone. They see what is happening to them and they know to get out of it. The inferior ones just get weary of the whole thing rather quickly and quit out of frustration of only making a minimum wage.

 

Finally, I've met some owners of these shops, they know as much about hair as an investor in McDonalds would think they are serving fine cuisine. Hair stylists generally don't own these shops, it's a franchise business and anyone can own one.

 

Jane is absolutely right, it is part of the dumbing down of America, we're all a part of the mall mentality, advertising has many convinced that they get a quality product from franchise businesses and corporate America couldn't be happier.

[BlueHerons]

areas of the country where there just isn't a great place to go for a haircut or color.

 

The whole thing is individual talent. Sure there are some good hair cutters at the above mentioned salons.

.

 

Amen! It is so hard to find a good hair stylist outside a major area.

[joelmarj]

I can appreciate how difficult it is to find a great stylist outside of a large city. Even in NY you need to be careful and find a good one. The one I have is definitely a pro. She knows her stuff and when I can have my hair look the same in week 6 as week 1, you know it's a quality cut. It comes with a pricetag, but to me it makes a difference in your overall appearance.

 

As for dressing on cruises, I just returned from my transatlantic. I made special note to observe the attire for the cruise. It was on Celebrity, and in my opinion people are usually very good about following that dress code. The demographics of this cruise surprised me only in that it was much younger than I expected. I thought for sure we would be in the younger minority, but quite the opposite. The majority of the cruise was the 35 - 65 age group. I expected a much more mature group of travelers. What I did find however was that they were mostly well-heeled travelers. Thus I believe the reason that there was such an overwhelming compliance with the dress code. On formal nights, I would say 90% of the the men had on a Tux or dark suit with a very heavy weighted number in tuxes. Lots of Kilts too!! Most women wore formal gowns, or cocktail dresses. Again, the majority was definitly in formals. During the day, (keep in mind this was 6 sea days), there were jeans in the mix, but no one looked sloppy or unkempt. Overall I was entirely impressed and honestly pleased to see so many people complying.

 

Of course there is always the exception, and on formal night there was one gentlemen who really pushed the limits. I'm not sure if it was a joke or he thought he looked good, but he was wearing a tan sport coat, some kind of green shirt and tie-dye harem pants (think MC Hammer pants). And finished with sandals and socks! Yes, this was on formal night! Didn't ruin my cruise, and quite frankly he was just considered an element of humor.

[gerif]

The best haircut I've ever had was on a Celebrity cruise about 4 years ago. Had gotten my hair cut at home before the cruise and was really unhappy with it, so I made an appt. at the salon. The stylist was from Ireland - young gal with multicolor hair sticking out in all directions. She came at me with open scissors and started hacking away - eeekkkk!!!! But, I figured it couldn't look much worse than it already did and, after all, it would grow out. My hair was about shoulder length at the time and is stick straight. It fell instantly into place and kept the style for at least two months after. Loved it.

 

I finally found someone good here by asking a coworker whose hair always looks good where she got her hair done. I've been happy since.