You improved my life, added excitement to my marriage and enhanced my cruise

[1drifter]

Thanks to all who have posted here! I read the cruise fashion posts for 9 months prior to our Alaska cruise last week and as a result we had a great time!
I never would have known about fly-away pants if it wasn't for you. I wore them with a beaded top for formal night & I loved them & my husband loved them! Thanks to you I got a professional pedicure & wore strappy sandals with no hose (that's a 1st--I alsways wore hose before). It was sexy & fun.
Thanks to you I knew how to pack--my clothes looked wrinkled at 1st but once they were hung up the wrinkles came right out. I only had to use the Downy wrinkle remover you recommended once or twice.
Thanks to you I got a fleece jacket from Land's End & brought lots of clothes for layering. I was always warm enough but never too hot!
The only thing that was different from the views on this board, on the Oosterdam, the dining room regulations were "no shorts, tank tops, swimwear or workout attire". It did not require "no jeans", and there were people who wore them on casual night, especially after shore excursions. I never did & always felt more comfortable changing into something dressier for dinner. For formal night the majority of the men wore dark suits with some tuxes--but also some with just a jacket or shirt & tie. I think the attire reflecked the personality of the cruiser & we enjoyed meeting all kinds of people! It was a blast. We haven't cruised since a 1988 cruise to the Greek Islands, and my husband is already planning our next one. Glad it will not take another 16 years! Thanks to you all, Shari
[url="http://community.webshots.com/album/162366929YEVWDY"]http://community.webshots.com/album/162366929YEVWDY[/url]

[Jane110]

Shari,

How sweet of you to post such lovely sentiments. Glad you two had such a wonderful cruise and that you looked great and felt great. Now you're sure to become a pedicure addict as well as a cruise addict! :-)

Thanks for posting the terrific photo's. The one of you two with your hands on your faces - obviously taken by a pro - is just fabulous. You should print up copies for everyone in your family.

Welcome home, thanks for your post.

Jane

[Lois R]

:) Hi Shari! So glad you had a wonderful cruise and those pictures are awesome!

I am taking my first HAL cruise in September...hoping its as fun as yours:D

[happy2]

I enjoyed reading your post, but I have to ask...what are fly-away-pants?Glad you had a great trip!

[JanetMarie]

[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=royalblue]Shari, thank YOU!!! for sharing your lovely post and the awesome pictures. I'm glad you both had a fantastic time! ;)[/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#4169e1][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#4169e1]DH and I are 47 and have been thinking about going to Alaska...your pics have helped me decide![/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#4169e1][/color][/size][/font]
[font=Comic Sans MS][size=3][color=#4169e1]Janet:p [/color][/size][/font]

[gnucruiser]

I was born in Sitka and have not been back since I was 5 years old although I lived in Anchorage until the age of 15 after that and I still consider myself an Alaskan. I absolutely appreciated every one of your photos. We have been considering a trip "home" and this makes my mind up. You are a beautiful couple who looked like you had a wonderful time!

Thanks again.

[1drifter]

[quote name='happy2']I enjoyed reading your post, but I have to ask...what are fly-away-pants?Glad you had a great trip![/QUOTE]
It's very hard to see in our photos, but they are sheer pants with sheer overlays on top. Very comfortable, easy to pack & pretty. [url="http://machineus.ronniebou.com/machine/beaded.html"]http://machineus.ronniebou.com/machine/beaded.html[/url] shows an example. I first read about them in these messages and bought a pair at the after Christmas sales at Foleys. Shari

[happy2]

Thanks for the picture! Would you believe that I have some "fly away pants"? I've never heard them called that. My outfit is white and made of rayon. It is definitely not dressy enough for formal night but I'm wondering if it is too dressy for casual nights. We will be on the Island Princess and I understand they have only formal and casual nights. Nothing inbetween. Did you see any "fly away pants" like this in the dining room on casual nights? Thanks so much for your help. Maybe I'll be ready, too, by the time my cruise gets here!

[1drifter]

Hi Happy2!

I didn't notice any fly away pants on casual night. Don't think I took any pictures on casual nights either so I can't check back. I'm sure you'll be more than ready to go if you've been reading these boards! It was so helpful to me! I talked to people onboard on Thursday who said "I'm just getting the hang of things and now we have to get off on Saturday." I felt I had "the hang of things" from the beginning because of all the information on these boards. Have a great trip. Shari

[inkspress yourself]

Thank you so much for sharing your pictures.

You looked gorgeous. The pictures of the scenery were wonderful. You are very talented.

Dawn

[S&D]

Hi Shari,
your photos are wonderful, it must have been such a lovely time for you both.
Happy cruising!!

Sandra
Australia
:)

[seagulls]

Your pictures are just lovely. It is obvious that you had a great time. The last one, with your hands on your chins is absolutely amazing. You should use it on your Christmas cards and also frame it.

[1drifter]

[quote name='seagulls']Your pictures are just lovely. It is obvious that you had a great time. The last one, with your hands on your chins is absolutely amazing. You should use it on your Christmas cards and also frame it.[/QUOTE]Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to consider it for our Christmas cards! It was really fun to do. My 1st choice for a souvenier from the cruise was a photo of formal night. 1st formal night we only found one location for photos--with a plain blue background. They didn't turn out very well. When they started putting the photos up in the photo gallery the next morning, I noticed many more interesting backgrounds--ship decks, staircases, flowers, sunsets. So I was determined on 2nd cruise night to get a good photo.
We found the backdrop of the ships railing at nightime & had our photo taken there, and the photographer told us there were 3 more sights for photos. So we tried the other 2 & when we got to the one with the plain white background, we said "well this is even more dull than the blue background". But we watched the photographer with one other couple & she came up with many interesting poses. She was really a pro! So we decided to do it & it was quite fun. We were all over the mat--in our formal clothes. (I was glad I was wearing the fly-away pants.) We were back to back & lying down & I was sitting on top of him. People walked by & said "You can't do that in public". There were several that turned out well--all were very unique--but this was our favorite. Shari