My Handbag Collection

For as far back as I can remember I have always had a mini obsession with handbags.  They don't have to be expensive (but they often are!), but have to be interesting enough to grab my attention in their design, colour and material.  
I do have a particular interest in vintage handbags especially the Art Deco period and I have been able to purchase a couple of original 1930's handbags from a vintage clothing and accessories shop near to where I live called "Past Caring".  It was established in1988 and sells authentic vintage items specialising in 1900's - 1960's clothing, accessories and jewellry. 

The first of my handbags was a 1930's evening bag which was in near mint condition and is covered in silver gelatin sequins which I knew nothing about until I did some research online.  I discovered that in the 1930's a process to electroplate gelatin produced a lighter-weight version of the metal disc.  There is one problem with the gelatin sequins and that is that they disolve if come in contact with water or even sweat from a hand.  As you can imagine this bag only comes out on high days and holidays and I ihave used it once on my last cruise and it survived intact.  It is one of my favourite evening bags just because it has survived so long and is in wonderful condition and it shows that someone loved and cared for it because it is still here seventy odd years later and I intend to be its custodian for my lifetime.  
Having such a wonderful vintage clothes shop in my vicinity is deadly as I can't resist just popping in to see if there is anything new that will interest me.  My second Art Deco handbag was also purchased from the same shop in March 2015.  The bag is Black satin and has beautiful floral designs on the front and reverse in sequins and pearls.  It is in excellent condition for its age and again this bag was much loved by its previous owner and went on my last cruise, it is a bag that can go with several outfits.  
Over the past year I have popped into "Past Caring" and from time to time I have picked up the odd item but nothing major until yesterday (16th March) when I was in Holt having lunch with friends and we thought we would just pop in to the shop.  At first nothing caught my eye until an Art Deco bag was pointed out to me by my friend Karen and if it had not been brown (it looked black in the display) I would have bought it. 

Yellow vintage bag with Kate Spade Bag

However, sitting on a corner display was a lovely bright yellow box bag made from rafia with silver metal and detail and pale green interior.  It is from the 1960's and I know that is a bit later than what I usually like but it is fun and quirky and in near mint condition, it does not have any labelling but is extremely well made and has obviously been well looked after.  It is more a day bag, a summer bag and it makes me smile so it is definately cruise bound.  

Not all bags that I cruise with are vintage and I have just acquired a new clutch bag form Accessorize which is ivory in colour and exquisitely embellished with faux pearls, jewels, sequins and scores of beads.  It also has a wrist strap.  I first saw this bag a few days back in-store but it was damaged and sadly this is often the case with this retailer and so what I have learnt to do is to order online and have items delivered.  My new bag arrived in perfect condition and is another addition to my cruise bag collection.  
My last and final bag is my Kate Spade bag which is now sixteen years old and was purchased from SAKS on Fith Avenue when I was in New York in 2000 with my Mum, it was a gift from her.  It is a beautiful deep red colour and is only used on special occasions and taking on a cruise seems to fit the bill.  This bag can be used as both a day bag or evening bag and adapts to any occasion.
I could go on and on about my handbag collection, I have had so many over years that I have lost count but I wanted to share just a few that have a special place in my heart.  Some are expensive but others arn't it is their design, colour or even history that attracts me.

Your Cruise Wardrobe

Having a good and versitile wardrobe is essential in making a good cruise into a fantastic cruise.  Everyone has their own idea of what makes a good wardrobe and for me it is having a good selection of formal gowns, cocktail dresses, evening casual, day wear and beachwear to choose from.  It should include classic, timeless designs that can be worn again and again.  It has taken us around eight years to create and grow our cruise wardrobe and it does include several formal gowns from our first cruise which we still used to this day. 

New bag for 2016 cruise

Our wardrobe also includes a large selection of evening bags and on a 14-day cruise I will normally take 3-5 while Karen takes 1-2 staple bags.  When it comes to bags there is no right or wrong but what just suits you.  
Shoes is something that you need to think about.  For evening wear we usually have 2-3 pairs each.  When it comes to day wear I would suggest you consider what activities you are planning on doing.  If you are going to do a lot of walking off ship I would suggest you wear an old pair of comfy shoes, sandals or trainers that you know are not going to give you blisters.  
It is now just under 8 weeks until our next cruise and having a cruise rail or wardrobe makes life so much easier.  By this time you should know how many formal nights your cruise will have and on a 14 night cruise and there will typically be 4 formal and 10 evening casual.  One of the formal nights is always a black and white night.  Many ladies typically have a black dress and use white accessories such as a handbag, jacket, shoes or gloves.  Formal attire for men it is a penquin suit (tuxedo), dress uniform or national dress.  
For me the dressing up is a something I enjoy doing and look forward to the formal nights.  If you do not want to adhere to the ships dress codes you will not normally be allowed to dine in the restaurants and will have to eat in the self-service food courts.  There are several cruise lines that have abolish formal dress code and they are:  

• Azmara Club Cruises  

• NCL

• Oceania Cruises  

• Windstar Cruises 

Everyone has their own idea of what is an appropriate dress for evening casual and when I have been asked my advice is to wear an outfit that you feel comfortable in, having eating room is essential.  Wear an outfit that you would normally wear if you were going to a nice restaurant that would be my advice to first time cruisers.  
What clothes you pack are often defined by the type of cruise and destinations you will be visiting.  Sunny destinations like the Caribbean you will pack more beachwear and somewhere like the Baltic you may pack more day wear.  My advice would be that if you are cruising during the summer months I would take a mix of both because there are sea days on whatever cruise you choose.  Also be aware of what clothes are approprate when visiting different countries.  Shorts and skimpy tops may not be appropriate when visiting religious sites.
When we started cruising we didn't know what a cruise wardrobe was but it is something that you quickly pick up especially if you intend to continue cruising.  It does take time to built up your wardrobe but once you started it does become an invaluable asset.  It is not just the dresses or suits but it is also the accessories that can embellish your outfits. 

Just stepped up gear!

Today I feel as if we have stepped up a gear in preparation for our cruise A615. Most of the important information is already in the online cruise peronaliser but there was just one or two things that we have to complete before P&O will issue our E-tickets in approximately five weeks time.
Travel insurance details was one thing we had to input, although we had purchased it many weeks ago it always seems to be the last piece of document details that we actually put on.  It could possibly be because P&O ask for a telephone number and from what we can see there could be three so we have plumped for a main number.
I don't know about you but I create a folder for every cruise that we go on.  I print off every piece of paperwork that relates to the current cruise and that includes the travel insurance documents, booking confirmation, Maps, port information, E-tickets plus much more.  I believe you can never have enough information.

Epicurean Restaurant on Azura

The other thing that we wanted to do in advance was to reserve a table for dinner in Azura's Epicurean Restaurant, as this reataurant is popular it is best to make a reservation before your cruise.  We usually like to book a table mid-cruise so for us that is 11th June.  However, that night there is a Euro 2016 football match between England v Russia and as we will be leaving St Peterburg that night we assume that the match will be shown on board; I will be suprised if it isn't.  Because we want to see the match we were sitting last night working out the time difference between England and Russia as +3 hours which means that we have plenty of time to have dinner before kick-off which we have worked out as 11pm (Russian time).  There is a additional surcharge of £28.00pp which is well worth it and they apply your teir discount on top which does make it even less.  We have dined in the Epicurean Restaurant on board Britannia and it was amazing.  The one to one attention and the food ideas and the way your food is presented makes the surcharge well worth it and I would highly recommend it.
The other thing we wanted to do is look for an excursion that let us do our own thing and we found one in Copenhagen which is "free time in three sites".  I think it is self explanatory and we booked that as well.  I'm not sure what else we may book we will do some more research first I think before deciding.