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23 User Reviews of Magica Cruise Ship
Costa Cruises Costa Magica by Kristina Western Caribbean February 25, 2007
Background Info: I am 16 years old, and I cruised with my mother from February 25- March 4, 2007. This was our first time on Costa, but not our first cruise. It was my 7th, and her 8th. We have sailed on HAL Maasdam, Zuiderdam, & Noordam; CCL Victory & Triumph; and X Zenith. We live in upstate New York, and only booked this cruise 18 days in advance.
Embarkation: We flew down to Fort Lauderdale on the day of the cruise. We were supposed to arrive by 11am, but due to flight complications, we didnt get to the cruise pier until about 3pm. (Good thing it didnt set sail intil 7pm!) The luggage porters took our bags as soon as we stepped out of the taxi, and then we were off to go through security and check in. The line was surprisingly long, but moved quickly. We passed through security smoothly, and then waited some more to check in. From there, we got on the ship. We were onboard the ship within an hour, and were surprised at not receivingour cards or having our photos for them taken! Since we arrived so late, we were able to go straight to our cabins and get settled in. Not having to carry around our suitcases was great!!
The Ship: The Magica was impecable. Everything was clean, she looked brand new. The layout is a little wonky, but you will get used to it. It was annoying not being able to walk from bow to stern on every deck, and we would always forget that. We loved the art work that is all over the ship, especially the panels in the stateroom hallways, and the large pictures in the stairwells. The lightbulb holders in the buffet area were very unique (arms and hands holding the lights).
Public Areas: There were 11 lounges and bars, and every night something exciting was happening. The Salento Grand Bar is the best, it is located right in the middle of deck 5, and is very open and has a nice dance floor. The Capri Lounge was great too, and the band that played in there was amazing. This is where kareoke took place. The Urbino theater is gorgeous...but make sure not to sit somplace where the poles would be blocking your view! The atrium is gorgeous...and the glass elevators are just too much fun (no matter how old you are!). The nightclub, Grado Disco, was tons of fun!! Popular music was played, and everyone was dancing and having a good time!
Activities: It would have been impossible to attend every single activity that was planned. Every day, there were dance and exercise classes by the midship pool. Also, many games like hula hoop competition, sexy legs, kens vs barbies, old macdonalds farm game, ect happened near this pool. Multiple trivia and quiz gatherings, as well as volleyball, ping pong, and basketball games occured daily. Even Italian lessons!! The activities staff was amazing, each one speaking at least 5 languages!! It is unbelievable how much energy they have, and we talked to some of them personally and they dont know how they do it! No matter how fun their jobs look, it is very socially demanding and hard; most of the time their smiles are false.
Pools: There were 2 main pools...both on deck 9, located aft and midship. There was a smaller pool located up on deck 10, next to the end of the waterslide. Also, a kiddie pool was up near the childrens room. The pool area is the most active, and where everyone is on sea days, and the line for the waterslide often went down the stairs! Watch out for little kids (in the deck 10 pool)...they had discovered that the plastic cups were great for throwing water at people. There were several hot tubs, all of which were wonderfuly hot and relaxing.
Service: Wonderful. The crew was amazing and very friendly (would say hi to us whenever they saw us, and remembered our names). I dont know how other people could say bad things about them!! They all spoke English very well (as it is a requirement for them if they come into contact with passengers), and were extremely accomodating to all the needs of the passengers.
Cabin: We were in cabin 7380, an inside on deck 7. It was the second one back from the aft elevators, and only 2 decks up to the buffet and 2 down to the casino and shops; no complaints at all about the location. There was plently of storage space for all of our belongings. There were 4 drawers in a dresser, 2 nightstands, and 4 closets (one with shelves). The bathroom was spacious, and there were 4 shelves above the sink (perfect size & location for beauty products). The shower was good, had a retractable clothes line going across which was handy, and a shampoo dispenser (smelled quite nice, but we always bring our own). There was one problem with the shower. It would overflow everytime i used it. The drain was very slow, and the ledge around the base was not high enough to contain all the water! There is a drain behind the toilet too, and a path around the perimeter of the floor for water to follow, so maybe this was supposed to happen?? I doubt it though. So dont leave your clothes on the floor! Another oddity about the cabin: the handles on the drawers and closets were leather-like, and hard to get ahold of, resulting in the opening of them veryyy difficult. We often left everything slightly open to avoid this issue. The lighting was great (fixtures were unique and modern), and there were plenty of mirrors everywhere. There was a minifridge, and a safe too. The artwork was cute, and the beds werent that bad. Maybe because we were so tired when we retired to sleep? It doesnt matter. (We were happy to be on a cruise ship in the Caribbean and NOT in the -10 weather in NY.) The sheets and towels were a little rough for our liking, but that didnt ruin our cruise or anything. (The pool towels that are left in your room for shore excursions are wonderful!!)
Food and Dining: Once again, I can not believe that people have complained about the food!!! It is delicious!!! We were disappointed at no sushi, but dont worry...they made up for it in their pasta dishes!! In the buffet, the food was great!! Always pizza, pasta, salad, a meat or 2 of some sort, fresh fruit, vegetables, all the regular cruise fare. The only area they lacked in was dessert. The selection was very limited, and always cold (pie is supposed to be warm!) The ice cream made up for it though, having self-serve machines located all around deck 9. There were specialty ice creams available at the bars, but we thought that it was rediculous to pay for ice cream on a cruise so we never got any. The food in the buffet is just about the same as in the dining rooms. We went to dinner the first couple of nights, but each night the service got slower and slower!! Originally, we were assigned the early seating, but we were able to easily change that to the late seating (allows much more time to get ready after being onshore all day). On the second formal night, instead of lobster, there was king crab legs. Personally, I prefered this!! It was delicious!!
Breakfast: offered in the dining room (Smeralda) from 7:30-9:30. We never went to this. A buffet was set up from 7:30-11am. The one by the back pool was always the least crowded, and had the same exact things as inside the Bellagio. There were pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, bagels, hash, and fresh fruit available.
Lunch: offered in the dining room (Portofino) from 12-1:30pm. We also never went to this. The buffet was available from 12-2:30 in the Bellagio, and the grill was open from 11am-6pm. Dinner: There is 2 different seatings in each restaurant. Costa Smeralda: 5:45 & 8:30 Restaurant Portofino: 5:30 & 8:15
Also, a buffet is set up from 7:30-9:30 in the Bellagio, and a specialty restaurant from 6:30-9:30pm (never went to it). ONE OF OUR FAVORITES: from 9:30pm-1:30am, a pizzaria was set up in the Bellagio. We did not discover this until near the end of the cruise, and the pizza here is THE BEST. Each night there were about 5 different types of pizza offered, so Im sure you would be able to find something you liked. They would make you your own pizza, about a foot in diameter. Also, every night there was a midnight buffet, and the theme differed from night to night. Furthermore, there was tea time. One was in the Spoleto Lounge, Deck 5, from 3:45-4:45pm,where there was a WIDE variety of tea to choose from. The other was in the Bellagio and had mini sandwiches and desserts (4-5pm).
Childrens Program: I participated in the teen program (13-18 years old), and it was wonderful!! The two teen directors, Marco and Sabryna, were fabulous!! There were a couple activities scheduled daily, and they were tons of fun! The prizes were great too. I saw the littler kids around the ship sometimes, participating in themed dinners and treasure hunts, and they all had a smile on their faces (and often face paint too!!).
Entertainment: The one show I actually went to, Myth Trio in Circus of the Seas, was FANTASTIC. I actually went to both seatings. It was unbelieveable!! All of the other shows were basically the same as on every cruise...a special singer one night, a Broadway-type show, a magician, ect...
Theme Nights: Almost every night had its own theme. It was so much fun, this is part of the reason why Costa is amazing. Italian Night: Supposed to wear red, white, or green. There were several stations all around deck 5, such as rose making, mask making, face painting, and dance classes.
Mediterannean Night: You were able to visit 4 different countries this night. France..and there was a Can Can show (hilarious!!!!), and Moulin Rouge-type singing. Greece...a fun dance..OMPA! Spain..dancing the Paso Doble. Egypt and Turkey....crazy belly dancing!! (also HILARIOUS). Also followed by a midnight buffet with food from each country in each section. DO NOT MISS THIS!!
Roman (Toga) Night: This is one thing Costa is known for. Everyone is supposed to get dressed up in a toga (and accessories!) and spend the night in it! This is the Guest Talent Show and Crew Show night too, and happened on the last night of the cruise. Maybe only about 50% of the pax actually wore a toga, but the ones who didnt missed out on all the fun!
Tropical Night: Tropical wear, with music by the calypso band and dancing by the pool! Dances such as the YMCA, hot hot hot, and limbo. Tons of fun!!
Other Passengers: About 80% of the passengers were European. Being onboard this ship was like being in a foreign country. Most of the other pax were Italian and French. None of them were rude at all, they were all lovely to converse with (give that you can speak their language/interpret their English). A couple were pushy and cut in line, but hey, Americans do that too!!! Im sure you would find someone on any other cruise line who would cut infront of you (we found it on HAL!).
Debarkation: There was the option of early self-debarkation. We opted not to do this, since you would have to carry all your own luggage offboard, and 2 woman pack a lot!! They hand out colored tags, depending on your cabin and status, and you get assigned a time to get off the ship. They dont even check if you leave in the right time (we got off earlier than assigned). There was one discression with a passenger and his/her card, apparantly they tried to get off without paying for their onboard purchases. That did hold up the line, but was resolved quickly. After we got off the ship, was had to go through customs. There were 2 different lines, one for US passengers and one for Foreign. They both moved at about the same rate.
Overall, we had a wonderful experience and would cruise Costa again in a hearbeat!! We are trying to plan to go on the Fortuna this winter. (The Magica wont be sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. Too bad. This ship is amazing!)
Feel free to PM me with questions, or if you want to see daily programs, menus, or photos!!
Costa Cruises Costa Magica by Bud Lockwood Eastern Caribbean November 26, 2006
My wife, Ginny, and I sailed on the Costa Magica to what Costa called the "new Eastern Caribbean". The itinerary included the Dominican Republic and Grand Turk as well as San Juan and St. Thomas. The ship, staff, itinerary, accommodations, food, and entertainment were all very good.
Sailing on Costa is a unique experience principally because of its Italian focus which includes the staff, food, decorations, and entertainment. It is apparently a favored cruise line for Europeans which provides many opportunities to meet more than a normal number of passengers from Europe. The line caters to these people by making announcements in five languages.
Pricing is a potential Costa advantage. Their Caribbean prices are very competitive. We were initially tempted by Costa pricing and returned because of our positive cruising experience.
Embarkation/Disembarkation: We arrived at the Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) terminal at 11:40 a.m. and were greeted by very long lines, apparently caused by federal ship inspections. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get on board. Getting off was easy. Our color was called 10 minutes early and we off and inthe car in 20 minutes.
Ship: The Magica is a large (105,000 tons) and new (2004) ship. It has the amenities one expects from that type ship. In Costa fashion it is decorated very colorfully as well as tastefully. The staff also maintains the ship in great condition.
Food: Costa adds one course, a pasta dish, to its lunch and dinner menus. The pasta selection is something we look forward to. The restaurant portion sizes seemed bigger than we were accustomed to on other ships so we found ourselves skipping a couple of dinner courses each meal. They had a nice selection of main courses including lobster prepared in a special way that was excellent.
Decorations: Costa has Italian themed décor that is special. The colors are not subtle! The art work and photographs make touring the ship fun. Other reviewers have described these in much better detail than I can.
Entertainment: Costa has traditional as well as unique entertainment and entertainment themes. Unique entertainment and themes include one night when they suggest dressing in Italian colors. Another they suggest wearing a toga which they provide complete with tying instructions. They have a Mediterranean night where guests are encouraged to visit several lounges, get special Costa provided cards signed at the lounges to get a discount on a future cruise. They also had some excellent musicians in the lounges and atrium.
Ports: The Grand Turk port was new to us. Grand Turk is a relatively small island that has been developed to be close to the equivalent of other cruise line's private islands although it has a brand new shopping/restaurant/bar complex at the end of the pier. Cruise lines other than Costa visit Grand Turk. The Dominican Republic stop was at La Romana which provides access to Altos de Chavon, a 17th century replica village built in the 1970's. La Romana is a very small port, maybe better described as an inlet because the ship docks barely out of the sea. We took a boat ride on the Chavon River and visited the replica village. The rides to these sites were interesting because the vegetation along the way was beautiful, obviously carefully groomed and cared for as part of the tourist sites. We were impressed.
St. Thomas was a third stop. We visited the park called Coral World which was a pleasant surprise. It included several ways to see fish in their natural habitat as well as aquariums. Good place for getting shark photos.
We also visited San Juan, Puerto Rico, but only for an evening and night life stop.
Conclusion: Costa pricing made it easy to give them a try and the cruising experience is enough different to make them a unique experience well worth return visits. Liking Italian food, art and customs is probably a prerequisite to having an enjoyable cruise.
Costa Cruises Costa Magica by Dr. J.A. Eastern Caribbean November 26, 2006
Well, this was my fifth cruise in as many years, first on Costa line. What a disappointment!
Embarkation: the embarkation process took over two hours, but that was most likely the responsibility of the port of Ft. Lauderdale. I actually saw people feel ill while standing in the long lines.
The ship: To put it mildly, the artwork was not aesthetically pleasing. We shared a lot of laughs poking fun at the green arms sticking out everywhere on the Lido deck, of the 1930's and 1940's "porn" as a wallpaper in the hallways, of the utterly ugly chandeliers, of shabby and somewhat worn out armchairs with only one sidearm (on purpose), etc… I can not understand how the people who are exposed to the beauty of Italy can go on this ship without gagging.
Cabin: We shared a Grand Suite - the biggest cabin there is on this ship. It came with fresh fruit and a bottle of champagne. It was adequate in size, however the beds were not very comfortable, the sheets were rough and the pillows flat. I heard aboutthe "Costa cutting" breath mint on the pillow, but was hoping that in the Grand Suite we may get a chocolate, alas, it was still a free sample package of breath mints. Wow! There was a picture on the wall that was so horrendous that we covered it with a napkin to avoid looking at it. The bathroom was large and well appointed (and with a bidet!), but there was a rusted crack in the wall above the bathtub and you had to ask for a shower cap. I did point the crack out to the butler (I think he has seen it many times before) and I never asked for a shower cap because when I thought of it, it was always too late (when I was about to get into the shower).
Service: I can not say anything negative about the individual people that work on the ship. The butler, the maid, the maitre'D were all accommodating, sweet and very helpful. Especially given that they had limited resources of the "Costa cutting". The waiters, busboys and bar personnel seemed to have been very short staffed and stretched thin. I had to practically beg for water in the dining room. We had to wait for 45 minutes at least once to be served dinner. General staff attitude was not particularly friendly. There were a lot of unsmiling faces, dare I say annoyed?
Food: Uninspired, to say the least and of poor variety. But I guess when you have to wait for 45 minutes you don't complain when you get it.
Ports: Now, I am not one to write reviews and complain, but I have got to mention this: We felt unsafe in La Romana, Dominican Republic. We truly felt threatened when we walked the less then a mile trip into town. There were no shops to talk of, the people seemed unfriendly. I think we would have been robbed if not worse, if not for the cop who just happen to appear in front of us. We could not wait to turn around, grab a taxi and get back to the ship. What I think is wrong on the part of Costa, is that no one warned us about it. Once you left the ship, you are on your own. Ciao!!
Costa Cruises Costa Magica by Sherri Betz Eastern Caribbean March 5, 2006
First of all, we are veteran cruisers. As a former marketing manager for a Fortune 500 company, I have booked group cruises for 200+ people as part of our sales incentive programs. I have also cruised for pleasure with my family on several lines, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess.
My husband and I decided to try a Costa cruise for our vacation March 5-12 aboard the Magica because of its Italian flair, its reputed reputation for being among the best lines, and its port of embarkation (Ft. Lauderdale). We were so looking forward to another wonderful cruise experience.
Our Costa cruise experience was extremely disappointing from the moment of arrival at the port to disembarkation. By day three, I was in tears with frustration from dealing with an unresponsive and, many times, outwardly rude crew and poor service.
Embarkation at the port was extremely disorganized with an unreasonable delay in boarding the ship. I have never experienced such a lengthy delay in all my times cruising. It took us well over two hours to board, only to find luggage thrown ina huge, unorganized pile halfway up to the ceiling by the central elevators. Fortunately, there was not an emergency or fire, because passengers would not have been able to make their way around the luggage.
After dinner that night, we still did not have two of our suitcases, so we checked with Guest Services. I had been in my traveling clothes since 4 am that morning and it was now past 9 pm. Guest Services told us to wait for it to show up, and told us letters were sent to all cabins asking passengers to report luggage that was not theirs. Our cabins had been reassigned, so we repeatedly asked Guest Services to check our previously assigned cabin for misdelivered luggage. We were told they could not enter as it was occupied.
Only after our insistence did Guest Services have a steward open the cabin that we suspected our bags were in. Sure enough, there was our luggage sitting on a bed that the steward had already turned down. There was no evidence that the cabin was occupied, and obviously no one to read the letter concerning misdelivered luggage. No apologies, no free drinks, nothing. Oops. Too bad.
Overall, the crew seemed very unhappy; no smiles, few greetings. In fact, I can't recall having any conversation with any of the crew. The pool crew was very unhelpful in helping us find towel or lounges. The dining staff's only function seemed to be clearing tables because when we asked for a clean spoon to stir our tea, the crew would simply point to another area for us to go and fetch whatever it was we needed.
Here's another example of poor service. In the casino one night, my wallet fell out of my purse and I immediately went to the casino cashier to report this. The cashier, who had a long line of customers, simply looked up and said, "You want me to help you? Now?" I could not believe my ears. Of course I needed help, now! I had more than $400 cash in that wallet for the casino. No one from security was called to help, and my husband and I simply had to search the floors to find where it would have dropped. Thank God, we found my wallet on the floor with the money still there. But it was no thanks to Costa's unhelpful staff.
While our cabin accommodations were fine, we found there was no complimentary shampoo, conditioner, razor or other personal items. Even 3 star hotels provide these modest effects. No chocolates on our pillow, except for one night, and then after that we received Lifesavers. Not exactly top shelf. We also found the towels to be excessively rough and scratchy - very hard on the sunburn. So we asked our steward to bring us soft towels and never got them. Here in America have something called fabric softener. I suggest Costa use it on their linens for the comfort of their guests.
The food was mediocre at best and clearly catered to European tastes. The buffet's "salad bar" often consisted of tomato wedges, a big bowl of olives, onions and lettuce wedges. There was no grilled seafood to my knowledge, and fresh tuna was never served. Many of the entrees were batter dipped and fried. Even the desserts at the Midnight Dessert Buffet were disappointing. They looked scrumptious, but didn't have much taste.
Another problem was getting good port information. While we've been to many Caribbean ports, some were new to us - such as the Dominican Republic -- but useful information was hard to find. When we arrived in the Dominican Republic at 7 pm, we decided to venture into port to see the city and have dinner. No one advised us that it was not safe for tourists to go into town in the evening at this port. We only learned this from the waiter at the local Shish Kabob restaurant after we had paid a taxi $20 to drive us one way into town to see the port. Thankfully, the waiter spoke English and arranged for a "safe" driver to take us back to the ship.
The itinerary also didn't allow for adequate time to experience the ports. In both San Juan and Nassau, we had only a few hours in port before we sailed. Costa needs to alter its Eastern Caribbean itinerary to give passengers more time in these wonderful ports. In Nassau, for example, we were extremely rushed to visit Atlantis and walk the Straw Market.
During the entire week, there was a putrid smell of sewage or garbage on several floors near the mid-elevators. We overheard many passengers making the same comment.
All night long, we heard banging the floor above us. Apparently our cabin (#2391) was directly below the kitchen or laundry room. Needless to say, all this noise did not allow us a restful night's sleep.
Another very irritable thing about the ship was its passengers. The majority were very loud, pushy Europeans who don't know common courtesy, "sorry" or "excuse me" (apparently even in Italian they don't know these words!) We would be trying to relax on the deck and a whole swarm of them would gather around our lounges and burst into loud conversation. Talk about fraying the nerves day after day. Don't care if I ever hear another lick of Italian in my life. Kids were playing in the casino, people smoked wherever they wanted, and I actually had crew and passengers push me out of their way when we were in a crowded area! And they say Americans are rude, go figure.
Finally - and this is a very small thing - but on other cruises we've had the opportunity to purchase beautiful glassware with the purchase of cocktails of the day. I acquired a set of unique martini and shot glasses while aboard a Princess cruise last year, and had hoped to do so again this year aboard Costa. All that was offered were plastic souvenir cups with daily drink specials.
Look, I know that Costa is new to sailing the Caribbean and is very eager to capture a share of the American cruise market there. But this will never happen if Costa doesn't address the basics of customer service.
American passengers will not tolerate poor service, and negative experiences about Costa shared with others will jeopardize Costa's opportunity to earn new and repeat cruisers. Americans expect a high level of service from a cheerful and helpful crew when aboard a luxury cruise ship. Although the ship itself was stunningly beautiful and clean, there were so many other issues that we did not have a pleasurable experience and are highly unlikely to ever cruise Costa again. We did fill out our questionnaires, but in all sincerity, we are doubtful our specific concerns will ever be addressed.
In sum, it was by far the worst cruise experience we ever have had. I've been on much smaller ships (Sovereign of the Seas-RCCL) puttering around the Western Caribbean that were far more enjoyable simply because of the cheerful staff and excellent service. Chio, Costa! Never again.
Costa Cruises Costa Magica by Lance Cohen Eastern Caribbean February 19, 2006
On the plus side, the Costa Magica is a beautifully appointed ship. The Veranda cabins are adequate with sufficient closet and draw space. That being said, the amenities in the cabins are less than you would expect at a Days Inn. We were given a sliver of soap for a 7 day cruise, there was no shampoo although the shower had a bath gel dispenser, and the turndown service did not include a chocolate or a truffle - it was a lifesaver mint.
The kitchen can best be described as hit or miss. The service in the main dining room was lackluster and so poor that after the initial on-board dinner, my wife and I did not return. We ate all other meals either in the specialty restaurant, Vincenza, or in Port.
This cruise was our first experience with Costa. We have been on over 20 cruises from luxury lines such as Silver Seas and Radisson to mass marketed cruise lines such as Princess and Norweigan. We do not believe that you receive value for your dollar with Costa. On theother hand, if you are looking for a stock to invest in, we recommend Carnival, because Costa leaves no stone unturned in its efforts to make money while at the same offering just the bare minimum to its passengers unless they are willing to pay extra.
Costa Cruises Costa Magica by Ron Bos Eastern Caribbean February 5, 2006
This cruise overall was very good. Everything about the ship was good to excellent. The meals were excellent, the staff friendly and there was always something to see or do.
You have to go with the mind-set that the ship is a floating resort, not just a vehicle to get you to island destinations. Security is very tight on these ships. You need to have your passport and ship ID card every time you get on or off. They'll take a credit card number when you first board, then give you a ship ID card so everything you buy on the ship goes on the card. As with a credit card, they give you a receipt for everything you buy and have you sign their copy. There are no cash or credit card transactions on the ship. You can tip in cash if you think someone's service was exceptional but you don't have to. Ours was supposedly included in the fare.
We flew in to Miami and were bused to Ft. Lauderdale. When we arrived at the ship terminal, everybodylined up in a warehouse-type building. The line was very long but we went through very quickly. They are only checking passports and ID at this stop. Our ship ID card was in the next room, along with all the information you needed to know about the ship, like meal seating times and table numbers, etc .
There is a mandatory lifeboat drill on all cruises, and ours was on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. You have to meet at a specified spot on a lower deck with your life jacket on. The life jackets are in all the cabins. We were on Deck 10, so we had to go to zero deck without using the elevators. It goes smoothly and is over in about 15 minutes.
Getting on or off the ship is time consuming because everyone has to have their ID card swiped by security at the exit and you have to show your passport. It's the same thing when you get back on. My only complaint is that at every port we visited, there were at least six other ships at the dock, each with two to three thousand passengers. That makes for a very crowded town, with 10-15 thousand tourists converging on the same place. All the ships arrive early in the morning and leave by 6 p.m. the same day.
The excursions were OK but not exceptional other than the dolphin swim, but that was very expensive. They are well organized, though; everyone who signs up gets a colored sticker with a number corresponding to the excursion, and is told to meet in a specific spot on the ship before the excursion. When everyone was there, the excursion guide led everyone to the waiting buses.
The ship had something going in the theater all the time. There were Las Vegas-type shows with lots of glitz. They had a newlywed game on stage one night with some of the passengers as contestants. It was hysterical because they take one couple married less than a year, one with five years, one with 10 years, and one with more than 20. They videotape the whole thing and broadcast it over and over again on the in-cabin TVs.
There was also something going on at the central pool area all day as well (bingo games, etc.). It was always packed there, and it is designed like a theater with the lounge chairs on different levels for people to watch the show as they sunbathed.
Because the ship is always moving unless it's in port, it is very windy on the top outside decks. You can feel the ship moving from side to side sometimes but you get used to it. At night when you are lying in bed you can feel the ship moving with the waves but it rocks you to sleep. We never had any problem with motion sickness, but your legs feel spongy when you go ashore sometimes, since you have been adjusting to the ship's movements when you are on board.
Meals are at assigned tables of two, four, six or eight. You have a choice of what time and size of table you prefer, but even then, if you get seated with someone you can't stand, you can ask to be changed. There were two mealtimes, 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. We took the later one. Food is available all day in the cafeterias, and at lunch they have a huge variety of things. The food was excellent.
We had two formal dinners, a toga night, and a Caribbean night at the sit-down dinners. The staff members were great, and they did lots of dressing up themselves for the themes; they also danced, sang and organized conga lines through the restaurant.
There is always someone around taking pictures of the passengers, which they of course sell to you. Just smile and let them take pictures. It's a waste of time to argue with them and you don't have to buy anything.
On the last day you have to have your luggage outside your cabin door by 1 a.m. They pick it up and leave forms and information in your room as to where you will meet in the morning to disembark. They gave us colored labels to put on the luggage and that determined where you went in the morning to meet. Ours was green and we assembled in one of the lounges. The disembarkation is staggered, with people who have early flights getting off first. Disembarkation was very smooth. During the last night they drop off an itemized list of all the things you bought on board and charged to your ship ID card. If you don't dispute the charges, you don't have to do anything and can just leave it on your credit card. If you want to dispute a charge, or want to pay cash, you have to go to the front desk by 6 a.m. (good luck!).
Once you get off the ship, you go into another big warehouse-type building where all the luggage is waiting, separated into different bunches by the colored tags. Ours was easy to find.
We were bused back to Miami Airport and after some delays at the check in, the plane home left on time.
Costa Cruises Costa Magica Joseph Good, Costa Magica March 5, 2011 Western Mediterranean
My family and I took this cruise out of Civitavecchia (Rome). This was a very interesting and enjoyable week. I hope I can answer some questions about this cruise, since I was unable to find much of the necessary but trivial information on the Costa website or other cruise reviews.
Convenience Answers: 1. Yes there are 120 volt outlets in the bathrooms and on the vanities. 2. Contrary to any North American cruise I have ever been on people embark and disembark at almost every port. This has the beneficial effect of reducing the people in the terminals at the end of the cruise. Costa managed this very well. Typically the excursion passengers got off first, often by a different gangway. 3. It became easy to ignore any announcements not in English. There is no reason to expect English to be the first announcement, either- certainly don't be offended, enjoy the differences. 4. I have not been on a Carnival owned ship lately (Holland American was my last one) but the do-it-yourself credit card sign and sail registration is exceedinglysmart.
Most importantly if you are reading this review for an opinion of the experience, this is not the typical North American Cruise. What other reviewers have characterized as loud, bright, and pushy, we found typically Italian, and very tolerable. Yes, sometimes we Americans can be a bit judgmental; we ought to enjoy the difference in cultures. If you learn to either let the pushy people break into the line in front of you or push back, you can hold your own. Certainly not everyone is pushy and some Americans can be pushy too. Most of all don't get upset with different behavior. Yes there were more people smoking, but we didn't find it impossible or inconvenient to escape the smoke. Enjoy your fellow passengers- is much better to watch the other passengers enjoying themselves in the lounges and dance floor, and they do.
Otherwise the on-board activities were fairly typical, somewhat language specific. Watch for the "all area backstage tour", no longer done on US based cruise.. It may conflict with the day in Palermo excursions so plan for it.
The food was typical to worse cruise fare. My wife put it this way "usually I cannot decide between entrees, but it was not the case this time". The food was not as good as we have had on other cruises. This might be more pointed on this cruise since the food is likely to be compared to the food of Italy, which is not Italian cruise food. We ate lunch in many ports.
There are not any "sea days". Rather each day finds the ship visiting another port. This makes the cruise an educational experience. Most of these cities offer historic areas showing forts, cathedrals, streets and villages from hundreds of years of civilization and occupants. The excursions offered a variety of opportunities to employ professional guides or do it yourself site seeing. We recommend the bus trip to Monaco. This was very enjoyable, but not the only one we took, you should build your own experience. The cruise stops in Italy, Spain and France were a very good mix, showing many examples of western Mediterranean culture and history.
Costa markets the Civitavecchia port to North Americans. This is convenient for getting there over the "pond". I found a car service on the internet, that turned out to be reliable and used them from FCO to Rome and from Rome to the port. We arrived about 2:00 pm and had absolutely no waiting, how nice- It makes the "special boarding" lines and "clubs" unnecessary. Since the itinerary skips Tunis for now, the cruise never leaves the EU, which expedites all border formalities.
In short this was different kind of cruise, but wholly enjoyable. If Costa fails to measure up for your expectations it is too bad but be sure this experience is what you want. It is wrong to expect a North American style cruise from Costa, particularly the in the Mediterranean. It is a very interesting way to vacation and a very good alternative to the Caribbean.
Costa Cruises Costa Magica by Georges T. Western Caribbean December 3, 2006
Fabulous 7-days cruise. Everything was top notch, from service, courtesy, food, entertainment, cleanliness, etc. The cruise by far exceeded our expectations, for the money we paid for. Meals served on board were excellent in terms of quality and variety. Being an italian cruise line, there was always a good choice of italian specialities.
Entertainment was very good: plenty of activities you have to choose from, and in some cases there was a dilema as you cannot participate due to overlap.
The excursions offered on the 4 docked ports (Cozumel, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Turk Islands) were somehow expensive, so we did not buy any of them. This aspect could be improved to encourage people to participate more. Personal rating : 9 (out of 10). We strongly recommend this ship to all new starters (this was our first experience in crusing).
Costa Cruises Costa Magica by Ed Western Caribbean December 3, 2006
We sailed on the Magica Dec. 3rd cruise. As a back ground we are in our 50s and been on about 28 cruises dating back to the late 70s. I will rate my opinions from A to F.
Embarkation was about normal 35 minutes from drop off till we reached our cabin. Rating B.
Our cabin was a Cat 10 balcony, located on deck 10, the room was clean and spacious, the balcony was standard size. Location on deck 10 was perfect, Rating A. Our bags arrived about 2 hours later, as fast as any ship we've sailed A+.
Food. As with most cruises we've sailed for the past 6 years, Dining food has been on the decline, seems that cruise lines want passengers to use the optional extra charge dining options for good dining experiences. I would rate Costa about the same as Carnival and a step below Princess and two steps below Celebrity. The pastas were very good and 3 of the entrees were very good all others were below average, Service was slow and not at all personal, RestaurantRating C-.
Buffet experience about the same, choices limited and food average, Rating C-.
Our cabin steward was as good as we've had, Rating A+
Ship appearance, the Magica was as clean as any we've sailed. Never saw trash accumulating always picked up and the crew constantly shining and cleaning. Rating A+
Entertainment. The shows had a European flair. We enjoyed all of them. There was one lead female singer that was outstanding. All the entertainers seemed to enjoy their work. Rating B+.
Casino, typical at sea casino, I love Let it Ride and they didn't have it. Rating C.
Pools. The pools were Ok nothing special, Rating C+. The Hot Tubs should be called luke warm tubs, Rating D. Deck Loungers were plentiful and the decks were well setup. Rating B+.
Captain was very nice and made himself visible, Rating A-
Cruise Director, good singer, seemed friendly and happy with his job. Rating B+
Music, there was always dance music available, the bands seemed to enjoy their work. Rating B.
Ports of Call. Typical Caribbean, except Grand Turk which was a great port, loved the beach and the pool. Rating A-.
Bar service seemed very good, they seemed to like talking with passengers. Rating B+.
Overall cruise experience B-, with a little tweaking Costa could be very good, but restaurant, buffets and hot tubs need work.
Costa Cruises Costa Magica by Ralph Eastern Caribbean November 26, 2006
This was the eighth cruise that my wife and I have taken. We have cruised previously with Carnival, RCI and NCL. We were looking forward to the "European touch" that this ship was touted to have. I don't think that we are picky cruisers and certainly don't expect perfection but quickly found out that we were in for an interesting week.
Embarkation: We arrived at the port in Ft. Lauderdale around 12:30 and found ourselves in a 1½ hour line waiting to submit our completed documents. Then onto another waiting area before lining up to go through the obligatory picture taking session. We got to our locked cabin around 2:30 (all the other cabins had a door key in the locks). So up to the "Guest Services" desk to wait in line to get a key to open the door. Unfortunately there were several elderly cruise passengers who insisted on carrying on lengthy conversations with the very busy staff. One half hour or so later I was on my way back down to open our door.The Cabin: Upon entering the cabin, we immediately noticed that it was fairly warm which we attributed to the thermostat being turned halfway between warm and cold. We adjusted it to the coldest setting and surveyed the cabin. It was a typical "Carnival type" cabin but not quite as large. The beds were already pushed together and made up. The bathroom was fair in size but there was not the usual basket of conditioners, mints, personal products that we were used to on the other lines. One other thing that was missing from the cabin was the preordered "anniversary package" that was supposed to be delivered on the day of embarkation. I attributed it to the ship being full and the staff being busy so we decided to wait to give them a chance to deliver it. Our baggage arrived within two hours which I thought was excellent. We returned that evening to change into our dinner clothes only to find that the temperature in the cabin was no better than when we boarded. Long story short .. After seven complaints to "Guest Services" in person, over the phone and three visits from the engineering staff over the course of three days there was a slight improvement to the room temperature. However if we left the lights and TV on for an extended period the temperature increased to the point of being uncomfortable again. At this point we gave up on getting the issue resolved and worked around it. The Ship: Overall the ship was very impressive. It took a few days to get used to the "use one deck to traverse the ship" and then go up or down decks to get where you want to be. The Dining: We ate breakfast and lunch at the buffet throughout the week. The food at breakfast was fair. We were glad to see that the bacon was fully cooked and the scrambled eggs were cooked solid and not soupy. All the other regular fare was there including many types of breads and cheeses. Lunch for the most part was poor. The foods were bland and tasteless. I tried the burgers at the grill on several days and was very disappointed in their lack of taste. We had dinner in the Smeralda restaurant during the second seating. We sat at a table for eight and ended up with five other pleasant cruisers. The food in general was fair. There were more items that we did not like than we liked. The clam chowder was inedible, the lobster was mushy and the steaks were tough to mention a few. The breads were good though cold and hard, the appetizers were generally good and there was usually a desert that was very tasty.
Ports: Excursions are getting more and more expensive and Costa is no different.
San Juan – since we didn't arrive until 5PM we didn't book anything here. We decided to walk off the ship and visit a few shops in the immediate area close to the dock.
St. Thomas - took the "Skyline Drive and Meagans Bay Beach" tour here. The tour was fine but we were very surprised to find that the time at Meagans Bay was extended to two hours instead of the one that the paperwork indicated. We hadn't worn swim suits since the time was supposed to be so short. The other surprise was that we were expected to "rent" beach chairs at $11.00 each (includes $5.00 returnable deposit) as they weren't included in the $43.00 pp cost for the tour. Other cruise lines in port had chairs already set up and reserved for their tours.
La Romana – took the "Natural Wonders of the Dominican Republic" tour here. I highly recommend this one even though the cost was $79.00 pp. After a speedboat ride to a protected area you transferred to a double dugout canoe for a ride through the mangroves. Refreshments were served during a swimming stop at a shallow area offshore that was only waist-deep. The guide was excellent and provided a fascinating tour that we have ranked close to the top of our list for favorite tours.
Grand Turk – new port that only opened to cruise ships in early 2006. Took the "Island Bus Loop (Guana)" here which provided free admission to the lighthouse and prison and allowed a hop on hop off feature. The problem is that there are only three stops on the loop and the driver advised against the first one as there is nothing there to see yet. Cost of this one was $44.00 pp. Rather expensive for the two attractions which have a regular admission price of around $7.00 each. We thought ourselves lucky to be able to see this wonderful island prior to the significant development that is sure to come.
Debarkation: We received our colored debarkation tags on the last night and set our luggage out before the 1AM deadline. There were three different areas on ship set up to hold all the different color combinations which worked out fine. Once again the times posted for debarkation were very close to when they were actually called. There was a significant que waiting to process through customs once inside the terminal which we have never had before. We quickly found our bags and made our way outside to our transportation. Overall this was the most efficient, quickest and painless debarkation of any cruise yet.
Overall: Things always started on time! That was especially nice since most other cruises that we have taken weren't punctual at all. There were always deck chairs available and we didn't see many "chair hogs" leaving items to claim them. There were a few folks saving seats in the theater but not too many. There was ample room for everyone and the view was unobstructed for the majority of the seats. The shops had many different items from the other cruise lines but the prices were quite high. Photography was kept to a minimum onboard the ship which was nice but we were surprised to see that there weren't any photographs being made during debarkation at each port. The casino (the slots) took our money just as quickly as any other ship with few payouts.
It"s very doubtful that we will cruise on this ship again.


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Soybean futures are posting 5 to 6 cent gains in most contracts on Wednesday, after US/China trade talks concluded. Soymeal futures are up $1.30/ton, with soy oil 18 points higher. Following the 3-day meeting between US and China, a US trade representative stated one of the focuses was China's pledge to buy a substantial amount of US goods. That is a follow up from earlier talks, with still few details on what, when, and how much will be purchased. With the government shutdown still ongoing, Export Sales data will not be released on Thursday morning.
Jan 19 Soybeans are at $9.12 1/4, up 6 cents,
Mar 19 Soybeans are at $9.24 1/4, up 5 3/4 cents,
May 19 Soybeans are at $9.37 1/2, up 5 3/4 cents,
Jul 19 Soybeans are at $9.49 1/4, up 5 3/4 cents,
Jan 19 Soybean Meal is at $318.90, up $1.30
Jan 19 Soybean Oil is at $28.36, up $0.18
--provided by Brugler Marketing & Management

subset: commoncrawl


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On the eve of 2014, why not plan your New Year's resolutions around caring for God's creation? Here are eight ideas for EcoResolutions.
1. Do a creation care devotional. All good practices start with prayer, and Sojourners has a great one, Christians and the Environment. Extra credit: Start a small group study at your church using the guide.
2. Watch an eco-focused documentary. Netflix has quite a few to choose from, like Chasing Ice, which follows a National Geographic photographer as he battles weather and climate to take time lapse photos of the glaciers before they're gone. Extra credit: host a screening with friends, and use the free downloadable Sojourners discussion guide.
3. Give away one of your Christmas presents. One of the easiest ways to live simpler is to keep less stuff, and if you can give away a gift you don't need, you'll lighten your impact and brighten someone else's day. (Just don't get caught re-gifting!)
4. Put on a sweater. Not to copy Jimmy Carter, but if you add an extra layer while you're around the house — cozy up under a blanket, put on your slippers — and lower the thermostat one degree, you'll save energy. Our electricity use accounts for 40 percent of America's climate change pollution, so every sweater counts!
5. Join the Meatless Mondays craze. Meat production is another major source of climate pollution — one-fifth of the problem, to be exact. Cutting out meat just once a week lowers your carbon footprint, plus it's healthier, cheaper, and a good excuse to try out new recipes. Extra credit: Invite friends over for dinner and multiply the meatless effect!
6. Bring a bag. Plastic bags are made from fossil fuels, and they create more trash. By bringing your own bag with you (May we suggest the new Sojourners "Create in me a green heart" tote?) you'll use fewer resources and make a statement.
7. Swap your lights. Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, are far more efficient than traditional incandescent ones, plus they will save you money. They're different from standard light bulbs in that once they are on, it takes very little energy to keep them that way. So use CFLs in places where you leave the lights on, such as entryways or church bathrooms.
8. Keep up to date. Want to keep up with creation care news and opportunities to take action? Follow the Sojourners Creation Care campaign, @SojoCreation, on Twitter.
Got more ideas? Tweet them to us at @SojoCreation using #EcoResolutions.
Liz Schmitt is creation care campaign associate for Sojourners.
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Helen Gurley Brown, Who Gave Cosmopolitan Its Purr, Dies at 90
By MARGALIT FOX
Published: August 13, 2012
Helen Gurley Brown, who as the author of "Sex and the Single Girl" shocked early-1960s America with the news that unmarried women not only had sex but thoroughly enjoyed it — and who as the editor of Cosmopolitan magazine spent the next three decades telling those women precisely how to enjoy it even more — died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 90, though parts of her were considerably younger.
The Hearst Corporation, Cosmopolitan's publisher, said in a news release that she died at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital after a brief stay there. She lived in Manhattan.
As Cosmopolitan's editor from 1965 until 1997, Ms. Brown was widely credited with being the first to introduce frank discussions of sex into magazines for women. The look of women's magazines today — a sea of voluptuous models and titillating cover lines — is due in no small part to her influence.
Before she arrived at Cosmopolitan, Ms. Brown had already shaken the collective consciousness with her best-selling book "Sex and the Single Girl." Published in 1962, the year before Betty Friedan ignited the modern women's movement with"The Feminine Mystique," it taught unmarried women how to look their best, have delicious affairs and ultimately bag a man for keeps, all in breathless, aphoristic prose. (Ms. Brown was a former advertising copywriter.)
By turns celebrated and castigated, Ms. Brown was for decades a highly visible, though barely visible, public presence. A tiny, fragile-looking woman who favored big jewelry, fishnet stockings and minidresses till she was well into her 80s, she was a regular guest at society soirees and appeared often on television. At 5 feet 4, she remained a wraithlike hundred pounds throughout her adult life. That weight, she often said, was five pounds above her ideal.
Ms. Brown routinely described herself as a feminist, but whether her work helped or hindered the cause of women's liberation has been publicly debated for decades. It will doubtless be debated long after her death. What is safe to say is that she was a Janus-headed figure in women's history, simultaneously progressive and retrogressive in her approach to women's social roles.
Few magazines have been identified so closely with a single editor as Cosmopolitan was with Ms. Brown. Before she took over, Cosmopolitan, like its competitors, was every inch a postwar product. Its target reader was a married suburbanite, preoccupied with maintaining the perfect figure, raising the perfect child and making the perfect Jell-O salad.
Ms. Brown tossed the children and the Jell-O, though she kept the diet advice with a vengeance. Yes, readers would need to land Mr. Right someday — the magazine left little doubt that he was still every woman's grail. But in an era in which an unmarried woman was called an old maid at 23, the new Cosmopolitan gave readers license not to settle for settling down with just anyone, and to enjoy the search with blissful abandon for however long it took. Sex as an end in itself was perfectly fine, the magazine assured them. As a means to an end — the right husband, the right career, the right designer labels — it was better still.
In Ms. Brown's hands, Cosmopolitan anticipated "Sex and the City" by three decades.
Gone was the housewife, apron in tow. In her place was That Cosmopolitan Girl, the idealized reader on whom Ms. Brown and her advertisers firmly trained their sights. Unencumbered by husband and children, the Cosmo Girl was self-made, sexual and supremely ambitious, a potent amalgam of Ragged Dick, Sammy Glick and Holly Golightly. She looked great, wore fabulous clothes and had an unabashedly good time when those clothes came off.
Forty-three when she took the magazine's helm, Ms. Brown often described the Cosmo Girl as the young woman she had been — or dreamed of being — 20 years before.
A child of the Ozarks, Helen Marie Gurley was born on Feb. 18, 1922, in Green Forest, Ark., the younger of two daughters of a family of modest means. Her father, Ira, was a schoolteacher, as her mother, the former Cleo Sisco, had been before her marriage.
"I never liked the looks of the life that was programmed for me — ordinary, hillbilly and poor — and I repudiated it from the time I was 7 years old," Ms. Brown wrote in her book "Having It All" (1982).
When Helen was a baby, Ira Gurley was elected to the state legislature, and the family moved to Little Rock. In 1932, when she was 10, Ira was killed in an elevator accident, leaving her mother depressed and impoverished. In 1937, Mrs. Gurley moved with her daughters to Los Angeles. There, Helen's older sister, Mary, contracted polio; she spent the rest of her life paralyzed from the waist down and in later years battled alcoholism.
Though Helen was valedictorian of her high school class, she feared she could never transcend her family circumstances. At a time when a young woman's main chance was to marry well, she felt ill equipped. She did not consider herself pretty, she wrote years afterward, and had rampant, intractable acne. In "Having It All," she coined the word "mouseburger" to describe young women like her. [mouseburger, n., pejorative, < mouse + -burger. A physically unprepossessing woman with little money and few prospects. Cf. milquetoast, said of men].
Helen Gurley persevered. She studied briefly at Texas State College for Women (it is now Texas Women's University), but with no money to continue, she returned to Los Angeles and enrolled in secretarial school, from which she graduated in 1941.
Around this time she had a short, inadvertent career as an escort. At 19, as Ms. Brown recounted in her memoir "I'm Wild Again" (2000), she answered a newspaper advertisement seeking young women for "social evenings." She needed to support her mother and sister: What could be simpler, she reasoned, than earning $5 for going on a date? On her first outing, she and her gentleman caller parked and kissed a bit before the full extent of her responsibilities dawned on her. She fled with her $5 and her virtue.
She went on to hold a string of secretarial jobs — 17 by her own count — and discovered the measure of security that sex could bring. At every office, or so it seemed, there were bosses eager to fondle and dandle. In exchange, there might be a fur or an apartment or the wherewithal to keep her family going.
Helen Gurley eventually became an advertising copywriter in Los Angeles, first with Foote, Cone & Belding and later with Kenyon & Eckhardt. In 1959 she married David Brown, a former managing editor of Cosmopolitan who had become a Hollywood producer. "I look after him like a geisha girl," she told The New York Times in 1970.
Mr. Brown, who produced "Jaws" and other well-known films, died in 2010; the couple had no children. Ms. Brown's sister, Mary Gurley Alford, died before her.
This year Ms. Brown gave $30 million to Columbia and Stanford Universities, both of which Mr. Brown had attended, to create the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation.
In the early 1960s, Ms. Brown found herself at loose ends and cast about for a project. Her husband, who had recently stumbled on a cache of letters she had written in her 20s to a married man who was smitten with her, persuaded her to write "Sex and the Single Girl."
Though the book seems almost quaint today ("An affair can last from one night to forever"), it caused a sensation when it was published in 1962 by Bernard Geis Associates. It sold millions of copies, turned Ms. Brown into a household name and inspired a movie of the same title starring Natalie Wood, released in 1964.
In 1963, the Browns moved to New York. Two years later, the Hearst Corporation asked Ms. Brown to take over Cosmopolitan, one of its less prepossessing magazines. Becalmed in the doldrums, Cosmopolitan favored articles on home and hearth, along with uplifting discussions of current affairs ("The Lyndon Johnson Only His Family Knows").
Ms. Brown had never held an editing job, but her influence on Cosmopolitan was swift and certain: she did not so much revamp the magazine as vamp it.
Where just months earlier Cosmo's covers had featured photos of demure, high-collared girl-next-door types like Mary Tyler Moore, Ms. Brown's first issue, July 1965, showed a voluptuous blond model whose deep cleavage was barely contained by her plunging neckline.
What Cosmopolitan's previous cover lines had lacked in pith and punch ("Diabetes: Will Your Children Inherit It?"), Ms. Brown's more than made up for. "World's Greatest Lover — What it was like to be wooed by him!" her inaugural cover proclaimed. Ms. Brown was not shy about disclosing the fact that in her 32 years with the magazine, her husband wrote all the cover lines.
Readers and advertisers flocked to the new Cosmo. When Ms. Brown took over, the magazine had a circulation of less than 800,000; at its height, in the 1980s, circulation approached three million.
Ms. Brown's magazine did not find favor with everyone. In 1970, a group of feminists led by Kate Millett staged a sit-in at Ms. Brown's office, protesting what they saw as her retrograde vision of womanhood. Even several nude male centerfolds (Burt Reynolds, April 1972; Arnold Schwarzenegger, August 1977) were for many critics insufficient counterweights.
But in retrospect, Ms. Brown's work seems strikingly apolitical, beholden mostly to the politics of personal advancement. (In "Having It All," she compares herself, favorably, to Eva Peron.) The advice she offered Cosmopolitan's readers on winning the right friends and influencing the right people was squarely in the tradition of Dale Carnegie, if less vertically inclined.
Ms. Brown was declared a living landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, a private nonprofit organization, in 1995. Like many landmarks, she had much restoration work done, which she spoke of candidly: a nose job, breast augmentation, face-lifts, eye lifts and injections of silicone and fat into her face to keep wrinkles at bay, among other procedures.
But while she could offset the physical tolls of aging, Ms. Brown could not always keep pace with changing times. She drew wide criticism for publishing an article in the January 1988 issue of Cosmopolitan that played down the risk of AIDS for heterosexual women. In the 1990s, when prominent men like Justice Clarence Thomas and Senator Robert Packwood were facing accusations of sexual harassment, Ms. Brown publicly disdained the charges, arguing that sexual attention from men is almost always flattering. Her remarks angered many feminists.
In 1996, with circulation declining and the perception that Ms. Brown had lost touch with her readers growing, Hearst announced that she would step down the next year as editor in chief. Ms. Brown's last issue was February 1997; she was succeeded by Bonnie Fuller, the founding editor of the American edition of Marie Claire magazine.
Ms. Brown stayed on as the editor of Cosmopolitan's international editions, continuing to work from an office appointed with pink silk walls, leopard-print carpet and a cushion embroidered with the maxim "Good Girls Go to Heaven/Bad Girls Go Everywhere."
A biography of Ms. Brown, "Bad Girls Go Everywhere," by Jennifer Scanlon, was published by Oxford University Press in 2009.
Ms. Brown's other books include "Sex and the Office" (1964), "Helen Gurley Brown's Single Girl's Cookbook" (1969) and "Sex and the New Single Girl" (1970), all published by Bernard Geis. In 1993, William Morrow published "The Late Show," Ms. Brown's advice book for women over 50, in which she suggests that as women age and the supply of available men dwindles, they should simply appropriate their friends' husbands for jaunty recreational sex.
Perhaps none of these things — not the books, not the unabashed look of Cosmopolitan and its legion of imitators, not the giddy pleasure with which American women embraced sex without shame — would have happened quite as soon if Ms. Brown had heeded a single piece of advice. In 1962, just before "Sex and the Single Girl" was due to be published, she received a telegram from her mother. In an interview with CNN in 1998, Ms. Brown recalled its contents.
"dear helen," it read. "if you move very quickly, i think we can stop publication of the book."
(article from nytimes.com)


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Brand Name Apo-Tizanidine Common Name tizanidine
The content of this page:
How does this medication work? What will it do for me?
Tizanidine belongs to a group of medications called muscle relaxants. Tizanidine is used to treat spasticity, a condition where muscles in your body spasm, cramp, or become tight due to medical problems such as multiple sclerosis or spine injury. Muscle relaxants work by blocking excess firing of the nerve cells that control muscle movement.
The benefits of tizanidine are related to its effects on the nervous system. The beneficial effects of tizanidine are noticeable within about one hour of taking the first dose.
This medication may be available under multiple brand names and/or in several different forms. Any specific brand name of this medication may not be available in all of the forms or approved for all of the conditions discussed here. As well, some forms of this medication may not be used for all of the conditions discussed here.
Your doctor may have suggested this medication for conditions other than those listed in these drug information articles. If you have not discussed this with your doctor or are not sure why you are taking this medication, speak to your doctor. Do not stop taking this medication without consulting your doctor.
Do not give this medication to anyone else, even if they have the same symptoms as you do. It can be harmful for people to take this medication if their doctor has not prescribed it.
How should I use this medication?
To reduce the risk of experiencing side effects, the recommended initial adult dose of tizanidine is 2 mg up to 3 times daily. The dose is then increased gradually in 2 mg to 4 mg steps until an effective dose is reached. The most common maintenance dose is 8 mg taken up to 3 times daily (every 6 to 8 hours). Do not take more than 36 mg of tizanidine within a 24-hour period.
Many things can affect the dose of medication that a person needs, such as body weight, other medical conditions, and other medications. If your doctor has recommended a dose different from the ones listed here, do not change the way that you are taking the medication without talking to your doctor. Always take tinazidine exactly as prescribed by your doctor.
Tizanidine can be taken with or without meals, however taking tizanidine with food may increase the side effects of this medication. Always take tizanidine the same way, either with food or on an empty stomach.
Stopping the medication suddenly may cause an increase in blood pressure, rapid heart rate and muscle spasms. Talk to your doctor to find a safe way to stop taking the medication.
It is important to take this medication exactly as prescribed by your doctor. If you miss a dose of this medicine take it as soon as possible, if you remember within an hour or so of the missed dose. If you do not remember until later, skip the missed dose and continue with your regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one. If you are not sure what to do after missing a dose, contact your doctor or pharmacist for advice.
Store tizanidine away from heat and direct light and keep it out of the reach of children.
Do not dispose of medications in wastewater (e.g. down the sink or in the toilet) or in household garbage. Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medications that are no longer needed or have expired.
What form(s) does this medication come in?
Each white to off-white, round tablet, engraved "APO" over "TI-4" on one side and plain with a quadrisect score on the other, contains tizanidine hydrochloride equivalent to 4 mg tizanidine. Nonmedicinal ingredients: anhydrous lactose, microcrystalline cellulose, colloidal silicon dioxide, and stearic acid.
Who should NOT take this medication?
Do not take this medication if you:
- are allergic to tizanidine or any ingredients of this medication
- require muscle spasticity for balance and movement
- are taking certain medications, such as:
- ciprofloxacin
- fluvoxamine
What side effects are possible with this medication?
Many medications can cause side effects. A side effect is an unwanted response to a medication when it is taken in normal doses. Side effects can be mild or severe, temporary or permanent.
The side effects listed below are not experienced by everyone who takes this medication. If you are concerned about side effects, discuss the risks and benefits of this medication with your doctor.
The following side effects have been reported by at least 1% of people taking this medication. Many of these side effects can be managed, and some may go away on their own over time.
Contact your doctor if you experience these side effects and they are severe or bothersome. Your pharmacist may be able to advise you on managing side effects.
Although most of the side effects listed below don't happen very often, they could lead to serious problems if you do not seek medical attention.
Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:
- abdominal pain
- difficulty speaking
- flu-like symptoms (e.g., fever, chills, cough, fatigue, sore throat)
- irregular heartbeat
- nervousness
- seeing things that are not there (hallucinations)
- signs of bleeding in the stomach (e.g., bloody, black, or tarry stools; spitting up of blood; vomiting blood or material that looks like coffee grounds)
- signs of depression (e.g., poor concentration, changes in weight, changes in sleep, decreased interest in activities, thoughts of suicide)
- signs of infection (e.g., fever or chills, severe diarrhea, shortness of breath, prolonged dizziness, headache, stiff neck, weight loss, or listlessness)
- signs of liver problems (e.g., nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, dark urine, pale stools)
- signs of urinary tract infection (e.g., pain or burning while urinating, increased frequency of urination, or blood in the urine)
- sores on the skin
- tingling, burning, or prickling sensations
- uncontrolled movements of the body
- unusual tiredness or weakness
- vision changes
Stop taking the medication and seek immediate medical attention if any of the following occur:
- seizures
Some people may experience side effects other than those listed. Check with your doctor if you notice any symptom that worries you while you are taking this medication.
Are there any other precautions or warnings for this medication?
Before you begin using a medication, be sure to inform your doctor of any medical conditions or allergies you may have, any medications you are taking, whether you are pregnant or breast-feeding, and any other significant facts about your health. These factors may affect how you should use this medication.
Birth control: Women taking birth control pills may need a lower dose of tizanidine to achieve a good effect. Birth control pills prevent tizanidine from leaving the body readily and may cause tizanidine to build up in the body leading to side effects.
Drowsiness/reduced alertness: This medication may cause drowsiness and severe dizziness. Do not drive, operate machinery, or perform other potentially hazardous tasks until you have determined how this medication affects you.
Heart rhythm: Tizanidine can cause changes to the normal rhythm of the heart, including an irregular heartbeat called QT prolongation. QT prolongation is a serious life-threatening condition that can cause fainting, seizures, and sudden death. If you are at risk for heart rhythm problems (e.g., people with heart failure, angina, low potassium or magnesium levels), discuss with your doctor how this medication may affect your medical condition, how your medical condition may affect the dosing and effectiveness of this medication, and whether any special monitoring is needed.
Liver function: Tizanidine is removed from the body by the liver and may cause liver problems. If you have liver disease or decreased liver function, discuss with your doctor how this medication may affect your medical condition, how your medical condition may affect the dosing and effectiveness of this medication, and whether any special monitoring is needed.
If you experience symptoms of liver problems such as fatigue, feeling unwell, loss of appetite, nausea, yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, dark urine, pale stools, abdominal pain or swelling, and itchy skin, contact your doctor immediately.
Low blood pressure: Symptoms of severe lowering of blood pressure, such as weakness or dizziness, particularly when rising suddenly from a sitting or lying position, may occur. People who are prone to low blood pressure (e.g., those taking diuretics) should be cautious when using this medication. This effect may happen before the dose of medication is enough to reduce the muscle spasticity. Starting this medication at a very low dose and gradually increasing the daily dose helps to reduce the effect of rapidly dropping blood pressure.
Mental health: Tizanidine can cause hallucinations (e.g., seeing or hearing things that are not really there). People with a history of mental health concerns, such as psychosis or schizophrenia are more likely to experience this effect. If you have a history of mental health issues, discuss with your doctor how this medication may affect your medical condition, how your medical condition may affect the dosing and effectiveness of this medication, and whether any special monitoring is needed.
Stopping the medication: Stopping this medication suddenly can cause increased muscle spasms, an increase in blood pressure, or a rapid heart rate. Talk to your doctor before stopping this medication.
Pregnancy: Tizanidine has not been studied for use by pregnant women. In some animal studies, tizanidine caused birth defects and other pregnancy problems. This medication should not be used during pregnancy unless the benefits outweigh the risks. If you become pregnant while taking this medication, contact your doctor immediately.
Breast-feeding: It is not known if tizanidine passes into breast milk. If you are a breast-feeding mother and are taking this medication, it may affect your baby. Talk to your doctor about whether you should continue breast-feeding.
Children: The safety and effectiveness of using tizanidine has not been established for children less than 18 years of age.
Seniors: Tizanidine is cleared from the body at a slower rate in older adults. This can result in an increase in the number and severity of side effects. The doctor will take this into consideration when determining the dose you should be taking.
What other drugs could interact with this medication?
There may be an interaction between tizanidine and any of the following:
- acetaminophen
- alcohol
- angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (e.g., captopril, lisinopril, ramipril)
- beta-blockers (e.g., carvedilol, propranolol, timolol)
- birth control pills
- calcium channel blockers (e.g., amlodipine, diltiazem, verapamil, nifedipine)
- diuretics (water pills; e.g., furosemide, hydrochlorothiazide, spironolactone)
- fluvoxamine
- ketoconazole
- lidocaine
- mirtazapine
- phenytoin
- "quinolone" antibiotics (e.g., ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin)
- tricyclic antidepressants (e.g., amitriptyline, desipramine)
If you are taking any of these medications, speak with your doctor or pharmacist. Depending on your specific circumstances, your doctor may want you to:
- stop taking one of the medications,
- change one of the medications to another,
- change how you are taking one or both of the medications, or
- leave everything as is.
An interaction between two medications does not always mean that you must stop taking one of them. Speak to your doctor about how any drug interactions are being managed or should be managed.
Medications other than those listed above may interact with this medication. Tell your doctor or prescriber about all prescription, over-the-counter (non-prescription), and herbal medications you are taking. Also tell them about any supplements you take. Since caffeine, alcohol, the nicotine from cigarettes, or street drugs can affect the action of many medications, you should let your prescriber know if you use them.
All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2019. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/drug/getdrug/Apo-Tizanidine


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THE RADIANT to Debut at the Theater at the 14th Street Y, 2/21-3/4
Marie Curie, the only person, male or female, to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields, a woman who discovered two elements, polonium and radium, and a woman whose personal life was rocked by tragedy and scandal, is the subject of Shirley Lauro's New York premiere drama, The Radiant, beginning previews Thursday, February 21, at 8:00pm for an opening Saturday, February 23, at 8:00pm at the Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 East 14th Street.
Based on the tempestuous life of Madame Marie Curie, one of the most important scientists of the 20th Century, The Radiant is directed by Melanie Moyer Williams and features Diana LaMar as Marie Curie and Rachel Berger, AJ Cedeno and Timothy Doyle.
The Radiant is set in turn of the 19th Century France where Madame Curie, widowed with two young children, becomes involved with her young married assistant. The scandal rocked Paris, nearly ruining her extraordinary career and her very life. And yet, at the same time her personal life unravels, she isolates radium, earns her second Nobel Prize, revolutionizes science and ushers in both The Atomic Age and the first cure for cancer.
Ms. Lauro's The Radiant is a 2008 Sloan Science Foundation Commissioned play and has received a 2011 Sloan Production Grant and the 2011 TCG/Edgerton Play Award as "one of 40 best new American plays to watch."
Rowan Doyle is designing the scenery, T. Michael Hall, the costumes, Sam Gordon, the lighting and Taylor Derwin, the properties.
Shirley Lauro's The Radiant evolved from readings and staged readings from 2008 onward at Ensemble Studio Theater, funded by a 2008 Sloan/EST Commission. The play was presented in a 2010 workshop both at EST and at The Actors Studio and enjoyed a 2011 world premiere at New Theatre, Coral Gables, Florida. Ms Lauro's All Through The Night, premiered in New York at Red Fern Theatre in 2010, with a revival production at Infinity Theatre in 2011, and received a Joseph Jefferson nomination as "Best New Chicago Play" in its Windy City world premiere. Among her better-known plays, A Piece of My Heart had its New York premiere at Manhattan Theater Club after a world premiere at Actors Theatre of Louisville. A Piece of My Heart has enjoyed over 2,500 productions around the world, receiving The Barbara Deming Award for Women Playwrights. The Kittriedge Foundation Award, The Susan Blackburn Prize (finalist). It is listed 43rd among Goodreads' "Best 150 Plays by American Authors", followed by O'Neil's Emperor Jones, Albee's A Delicate Balance, and Williams' Sweet Bird Of Youth among others. Ms. Lauro's Open Admissions received a Tony nomination, two Drama Desk nominations, a Theater World Award, and was named by The New York Times as one of "10 Best Plays of the Year." Ms. Lauro's TV adaptation starred Estelle Parsons and Jane Alexander. Ms. Lauro was co-editor of the 2009 anthology, Front Lines: Political Plays by American Women, which was honored in 2009 by the New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts and Media. Her novel, The Edge, was a Literary Guild Choice. For more information, visit www.shirleylauro.com.
Director Melanie Moyer Williams is also Founder and Executive Artistic Director of the Red Fern Theatre Company. She worked with Shirley Lauro on a reading of The Radiant at the Actors' Studio and Ensemble Studio Theatre. Her credits for Red Fern include the New York Premiere of Shirley Lauro's All Through Night, the world premieres of We In Silence Hear A Whisper by Jon Kern and A Shot Away: Personal Accounts of Military Trauma by Donna Fiumano-Farley.
Diana LaMar's New York stage credits include Leonard Foglia's Broadway production of Wait Until Dark, The Skin Game at Mint Theater Company, and Her Majesty The Queen at HERE. She is a member of New York's Ensemble Studio Theatre and is an alumnus of The Acting Company. AJ Cedeno appeared in Smash on NBC, One Life to Live on ABC, and March Madness at the Abingdon Theatre. Timothy Doyle has been on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage as well as a host of regional theaters around the country. He appeared most recently on Broadway in Turgenev's Fortune's Fool (an award winning production directed by Arthur Penn) and in Oscar Wilde's Salome (with Al Pacino, Marisa Tomei and directed by Estelle Parsons); memorable Off-Broadway appearances include The Beard Of Avon at the New York Theater Workshop, Oedipus The King at the Daryl Roth Theater and the Actor's Studio, the original creating company of Martha Clarke's Vienna: Lusthaus, and Love's Labours Lost. Rachel Berger has performed in Hamlet, The Mistakes Madeline Made, and Architecture, the last at the Punch Theatre.
The Red Fern Theatre Company, founded by Emilie E. Miller and Melanie Moyer Williams in March 2006, strives to provoke social awareness and change through theatrical productions and outreach. Each play produced by the Red Fern Theatre Company addresses social issues that range in scope from local to global, and each production is paired with a philanthropy whose work relates to the social themes of the play. A portion of the proceeds from each play produced is donated to the designated philanthropy. The Red Fern Theatre also provides its audiences with information on the philanthropy both by introducing their mission at each performance and including information about them in the play's program. By associating each production with a philanthropic organization, the Red Fern Theatre is able to respond directly to the people actually affected by the issues addressed in the play.
For The Radiant, a portion of the box office proceeds will be shared with the Association for Women in Science. In 1971, at the annual Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology meeting, flyers were posted inviting women scientists to a champagne mixer and meeting to encourage the exchange of ideas and solutions to overcoming job discrimination, lower pay, and professional isolation. Those 27 women who took the initiative to make science a better place for women founded the Association for Women in Science, today's premiere leadership organization advocating the interests of women in science and technology. For nearly 40 years, the Association for Women in Science has fought for equity and career advancement for women - from the bench to the board room. The mission of the New York Metropolitan chapter is to empower women to enter, remain, and advance in science careers both inside and outside academia. The Association for Women in Science provides professional development training and a supportive community with opportunities for networking and mentoring.
The Radiant performs Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8:00pm, Sundays at 3:00pm. There is one additional performance Monday March 4, at 7:00pm. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at www.web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/920888 or 866-811-4111.


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Apple has opened the iOS 6 vault and plenty of expected and unexpected features came spilling out. While we've only begun to brush the surface of everything new to iOS 6, here's a quick look at the biggest changes hitting your iPhones (3GS and up). The new OS will be available on September 19 and we'll bring you all the information you need to upgrade.
Siri's getting smarter
When Siri was first introduced, it was the hot new iPhone 4 feature. While it certainly stole the announcement day spotlight, it's since been criticized for failing to integrate with more apps to further its use. Lucky for us, iOS 6 has come along to right these wrongs.
Siri works with Yelp and Opentable now, as well as Fandango. It's also now able to launch apps, a long-requested feature.
Siri has gotten smarter throughout the last eight months: you can request more specific information from Siri — during today's press conference, Apple demoed Siri's ability to recall sports news from the night before, or many years past (i.e., who has the highest batting average in the history of baseball?).
Perhaps the biggest step for the voice assistant software is that it's seeing some big-time integration with car makers: BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes, and GM are among the manufacturers that will support Siri for instant, hands-free, in-car use.
Finally, Siri is making its way to the iPad. It's been a long-time coming, and if Siri can show up in your car, it can certainly show up on the tablet.
Facebook, meet iPhone
In another announcement we all saw coming from a mile away, iOS 6 will sport native Facebook integration. Like iOS 5 did with Twitter, Facebook will be baked in to every element of the iPhone so you can instantly post photos, your location, or links.
Facebook will also help out Apple with its App Store problem. Users will be able to see what apps their Facebook friends are using and liking, so iOS can leverage the relevancy of Facebook in order to spur better recommendations. This mechanism will also work with content like music, TV, and movies.
The contact list will also be getting Facebook-infused, and the iCal will sport Facebook events and birthdays automatically.
iPhone upgrades Phone
The phone app has gotten a little facelift. It's a subtle but important change that allows you to better communicate with all those calls you have to hit ignore for — you can send a ping indicating you can't talk, or are on your way, or create your own custom message. There's also a new "Do Not Disturb" mode so you can turn all alerts off at night — if a call is repeatedly being made to your phone, it will be treated as an emergency call and pushed through.
Simple Safari improvements
Safari, while quite popular thanks to the iPhone's reach, is hardly the best mobile browser experience out there. Now come a few crucial tweaks: you can add content to an offline reading list which automatically downloads it and caches the story.
There's also a new addition that developers and Web publishers will probably start thanking their lucky stars for. Smart App Banners are now available for site's that have iOS apps. If a reader access your site via Safari, a prompt to direct them to the corresponding app in the App Store will appear. If the reader goes ahead and downloads it, they can pick up reading in the app right where they left off on the mobile site.
Users will also now be able to upload photos to Web forms on the iPhone, a feature that's been long-missing.
Photo Stream sharing
Apple has hardly cornered the photo-sharing market, but it's still hammering away on making its proprietary photo product more accessible. You can now create shared Photo Streams with your friends. Commenting is enabled as well. The update will apply to Photo Stream across devices and platforms as well: Mac, Apple TV, and Web will all let you access these shared galleries.
Facetime over 3G and 4G
With iOS 6 you'll be able to make Facetime video calls over your cellular network instead of requiring Wi-Fi. And if you're lucky enough to be using an iPhone 5 or iPad 3, you can use Facetime over 4G LTE. The iPhone 4S will also work with Facetime over 3G. Older devices won't be able to take advantage. Keep in mind that some carriers may require you to change your data plan in order to use Facetime over your cellular network. For example, AT&T will limit Facetime over 3G or 4G to devices on Mobile Share plans. Verizon has said that it doesn't intend to charge for the service, however.
Goodbye, Google Maps
Next up on the list of "saw it coming from a mile away" would be Maps. "We've built an entirely new mapping solution from the ground up, and it is beautiful. We're doing all the cartography ourselves… this is a worldwide effort; we're covering the world."
And with those words Apple launched its attack on Google Maps, which unveiled its own updates last week. The Apple client appears to be a competitive attempt, with Yelp integration and real-time traffic reporting, which Apple says its using anonymous crowd-sourced data to create.
Turn-by-turn navigation is also built-in, which is naturally voiced by Siri. The application can also re-route you depending on the traffic situation, and it will also offer up an ETA and offer answers along the way (again, thanks to Siri). It's all operable from the lock screen.
Apple outfitted Maps with 3D capability, called Flyover, from which you can find pop-up displays showing reviews and ratings of locations.
Apple said that the best apps for metro transit are made by third party developers, and that Apple has used this data.
Introducing Passbook
Passbook is a new app for iOS that acts like simplified version of a digital wallet. You can store e-passes and cards in Passbook: Starbucks cards, boarding passes, Fandango purchases, etc. The interface looks like a stack of — surprise — credit cards, where you can immediately view your balance from. It's a really nice, simple way to store electronic accounts and digging to redeem your smartphone-supported purchases just got a whole lot easier.
There's now a built-in panorama option to capture 240 degrees in one seamless high definition image.
A range of new options will allow you to tailor the device for people with physical disabilities, children, and people with learning disabilities. Guided Access allows you to turn off touch input on certain portions of the screen and disable the Home button. There are also a few new options designed for people with visual impairments or hearing difficulties.
You can now set up a VIP list to ensure you never miss emails from specific people. It's also easier than before to attach videos and photos to emails. You can now simply swipe down to refresh your inbox, just like many third-party apps.
Find My Friends and My iPhone
You can now easily share your location with friends and family if you use the Find My Friends feature. Anyone sharing their location with you will appear on a map. You can also set up location-based alerts, so, for example, you'll know when your kids leave school.
With Find My iPhone you can remotely lock your device, track its location on a map, and send it a message so it displays a contact number of your choice.
Originally published June 11, 2012
Update 9/14/2012 by Simon Hill: We've added a few more features like Find My Friends, VIP lists, and FaceTime over 3G/4G


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The newest ranges of furniture, newly added manufacturers we supply from, updated brochures and expansions in finishes and fabrics.
New modular seating solution including ottomans, benches, high and low back armchairs and sofas. Wireless charging and power sockets can be incorporated.
Seating in a wide range of finishes, with choices of modern and traditional styling for use in a broad spectrum of commercial interiors.
A large selection of dining, poseur and coffee tables in a choice of finishes, both functional and stylish, virtually limitless combinations of frame and top options.
Soft upholstered seating giving a wide varied choice of finish, modern and traditional options, complete collections or individual feature items.
High and low stools in a large choice of finishes with a huge selection of styles, for use in all types of interior projects.
Tough and robust selection of chairs, armchairs, tables and sofas for all year round exterior use, in a large choice of finishes.
Bespoke furniture, designed to your exact requirements. Includes bespoke tables, sofas, bar stools and a wide range of case good furniture.
Furnishing of hotels as part of a chain, independent hotels and related venues.
Schools, colleges, universities, canteens, student union bars, student accommodations.
Football stadiums, golf clubs, shooting ranges, museums.
Bars, pubs, café's, fast-food restaurants, brasseries, banqueting and more.
Senior homes, care and dementia facilities, hospital and surgery waiting areas.
Corporate locations, commercial projects and public venues.
Project: Bar and Restaurant
Location: London
Protocol supplied a range of furniture including the Joanne Side Chair, Kesy Side Chair, Joanne Armchair, Da Vinci Lounge Armchair, Manu Armchair and Penta Sofa to The Otherist Bar and Restaurant. Located in London, The Otherist is part of the Drake and Morgan group.
Project: Restaurant
Location: Warley
Protocol were tasked with supplying stylish furniture to match the stunning interior of Felix's new premium dining destination in Warley.
Project: Restaurant refurbishment
Location: Whitley Bay
Protocol are pleased to have worked on the refurbishment of the Briar Dene, supplying furniture for the restaurant and bar area to match the new chic, contemporary design.
Protocol supplied a range of furniture for the restaurant area, including Bamba, Holly and Lorena side chairs. These were upholstered in a variety of fresh blue coloured fabrics to bring a touch of the seaside location inside the venue.
Alvor and Liberty dining tables were also supplied to the restaurant area to complement the chairs, with Lorena bar stools featuring in the bar area.
Project: Asian Table
Location: London
Protocol is delighted to have worked with interior designers Zebra on who provided UK local architect services and project management for this project. P.F Chang's in London's Covent Garden offers a unique casual dining experience.
Project: Japanese Food Hall
Location: Westfield, London
Protocol supplied a range of furniture to suit the Japanese design and contemporary retail style of this newly opened Japanese food hall.
A combination of Merano side chairs, Uni side chairs, Concrete table bases and Hawai dining tables made up the dining furniture for the noodle bar. Whilst the Rioja Barstools were chosen and positioned so customers could sit at the counter around the perimeter theatre kitchen. There is also an outdoor terrace area, featuring Nolita chairs and Nolita dining table bases, also supplied by Protocol.
Project: Restaurant & Bar
Location: Loughton, Essex
Protocol supplied a range of modern and stylish furniture for this local bar and restaurant in Loughton, Essex. The Strike bar stools are a main feature, upholstered in 'Vita Waterfall', a leather-look vinyl from Camira Fabrics. A combination of Inox table bases with an antique brass finish and square table tops were used for the dining tables. The outdoor area features Nolita Outdoor Armchairs with cushions and Bold Table bases.
Project: Restaurant and Bar Interior
Location: Oxford
Protocol supplied Luna side chairs and bar stools along with Joanne arm chairs for the bar and seating areas. Protocol also supplied Tonda table bases, oak veneer table tops and specially designed bespoke tables made from steel metal work with solid oak wood tops. Shoryu Oxford is a winner of Silver A Design Award.
Project: Restaurant and bar interior
Location: Leigh-on-Sea
Protocol supplied tables, chairs, armchairs, lounge chairs and sofas to the dining and bar area of this creatively designed and luxurious restaurant.
Project: Restaurant interior
Location: Leicester Square, London
Protocol is pleased to have been involved in supplying chairs, armchairs, tables and exterior furniture for Maison Du Mezze, a beautifully designed Lebanese/Middle-Eastern restaurant in the heart of historic Leicester Square.
Project: Restaurant interior
Location: Billericay
Protocol was tasked with supplying dining room tables and chairs for Felix Seafood Grill in Billericay
Project: Hotel restaurant
Location: Liverpool
Protocol supplied dining chairs, armchairs, lounge chairs, barstools and dining tables for the hotel bar and restaurant area of Formby Hall. Design by Curveline
Project: Cafe
Location: London
Protocol was contracted by ABDA Creative Design to supply the furniture for the Charterhouse cafe, attached to the Charterhouse museum in the city of London
Project: Fast food restaurant
Location: London
Protocol worked together with Blenheim Design in supplying the furniture for the interior design of Shoryu Ramen, a luxury Asian fast food restaurant in Covent Garden. The interior design is a beautiful marriage between Western style and materials with Eastern atmosphere.
Protocol supplied wooden chairs, tables and barstools to a Japanese style fast food restaurant in Liverpool street.
Project: New Restaurant
Location: The Hub - Midsummer Boulevard
Designers Simple Simon specified the Venice seating collection for Aqua Italia restaurant in Milton Keynes.The Venice chairs and bar stools were upholstered in a mix of Harlequin fabrics with contrasting piping & buttons in bright orange fabric.
Project: Bar & Restaurant
Location: Orton Waterville, Peterborough
Maya scroll back dining chairs with Inox 4421 brushed stainless steel tables were selected for the Windmill Restaurant in Peterborough, a striking, contemporary refurbishment of an existing public house.
Project: Restaurant and Function Suite
Location: Edenbridge, Kent
The designers and client at the historic Hever Castle selected the Marty M435 chair in a special RAL finished frame for the Pavilion Restaurant, tables from the Inox range with solid timber tops were used, and had special lay over felt upholstered tops at 1600mm dia for large functions
Project: Hotel Brasserie
Location: St. Albans
AB Hotels selected seating and tables from the Protocol contemporary
timber collection for the new Brasserie restaurant at Sopwell House
Hotel in St. Albans. The chairs were stained to dark walnut, and upholstered in
Andrew Muirhead Sateen leather, along with
all solid oak timber tables, using a sandblasted process on the deep
tops to enhance the graining, stainless steel caps on the feet were
added for durability and to suite in with the servery decor.
Project: Restaurant
Location: Leighton Buzzard
Protocol supplied seating and bespoke bench seating and tables in solid timber to Ask Restaurant in Leighton Buzzard.
Project: Cafe bar
Location: Market Place, Bolton
ranges specified for Mezzo in Market Place, Bolton were Charly tub
chairs, Pop dining chairs and Inox tables, satin stainless steel, wenge
and zebrano veneers and laminates were used.
Project: Restaurant
Location: Tullibardine
Baxters Foods used a wide range of Protocol chairs, stools and tables for their restaurant, food court and shop at the Tullibardine site in Scotland. Models specified by Skakel & Skakel were Charly and Pop chairs, Pop bar stools and Jimmy tables.


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There's something to be said about predictability, which means there's certainly something to be said about the season finale of "The Voice" Tuesday night.
Cassadee Pope, the Florida pop-rocker and former front woman of the band Hey Monday, won the title of "the voice," and the accolades that entails -- and no one was surprised.
Cassadee has been at the top of the game since voters started having a say in who stays and who goes on the reality show; her songs consistently ranked at the top of the iTunes charts (basically multiplying her votes by a bazillion every week), and it was clear: fans and coaches loved her.
I didn't, so much. But over the...