Holland america completes signature of excellence program

:
© 2006, All Rights Reserved

For some, cruising is all about rock-bottom pricing. Bare-bone cruising gets you to the destination of your choice, but that's about all it does. However, cutting corners is not for everyone. The Holland America Line recognized that many vacationers are still looking for a truly distinctive experience: one that gives them total satisfaction as well as good value. That way of thinking was what sparked the Signature of Excellence program.

Starting in 2003, Holland America chose to implement a $225-million initiative that would allow them to provide unprecedented destinations and services to passengers like no other cruise line before them. It was expected that the Signature of Excellence program would take approximately three years to expand throughout the fleet. Holland America is proud to announce that it's in the final stages of implementation and will complete its program on schedule at the end of 2006.

What enhancements can be found aboard Holland ships since the execution of the Signature of Excellence program? Extensive improvements throughout every area of the ship.

Accommodations

Providing the most spacious cabins in the premium cruise category, Holland America offers elegantly appointed staterooms complete with Sealy® Euro-Top mattresses, 250-thread count cotton linens, Egyptian cotton towels, massage shower heads, flat-panel televisions and more. In addition, guests staying in suites can take advantage of personal concierge services, special luxury linens, fully stocked minibars and special embarkation and disembarkation privileges.

Kids Activities

Club HAL is Holland's youth program and was added as part of the Signature of Excellence program. With permanent, full-time directors and staff, parents can feel confident leaving their children to enjoy a full range of fun activities in a safe, age-appropriate environment. Club HAL offers the most elaborate children's areas of any cruise line. Children will find colorful surroundings, art tables, big-screen TVs, games, supervised Internet access, Sony Playstations, board games and a host of family events, including the Family Olympics.

For Teens Only

Kids aren't the only ones that can have fun on these retrofitted ships. Teens get their own hangouts as well. The Loft provides a lounge with the feel of a New York artist's loft. Filled with popular music and videos, Internet access, karaoke and more, teens can have a space all their own. The Oasis is yet another teen getaway with a teens-only sun deck, a nine-foot-high waterfall and cave, snack machines, sound and laser-light show, and more.

Expanded Dining

One of the most anticipated parts of cruising is undoubtedly the food! That's why the Holland America Line gave special attention to not only the meals themselves, but also to the environment in which guests would dine.

From the addition of fine art and antiques in the main dining room to elegant Rosenthal china and expert wine stewards, no detail was overlooked in the dining experience. Now with two servers per table, guests will experience unparalleled service along with exceptional five-course meals under the consultancy of Master Chef Rudi Sodamin. From reservations-only dining featuring Sterling Silver beef and fresh seafood to healthy alternative meals and complimentary in-room trays, passengers will not be disappointed with any aspect of Holland's food service.

Private Island

The acquisition of a 55-acre private island, Half Moon Cay, is but one of the many highlights of the Signature of Excellence program. The highest-rated port of call on Holland's itineraries, Half Moon Cay sits adjacent to an international bird sanctuary in the Bahamas. Repeatedly rated the “Best Private Island” by Porthole Cruise Magazine, guests will find horseback riding, stingray adventures, watercraft adventures, an aqua park and more.

Although the Holland America Line is concluding the implementation of its Signature of Excellence program at the end of this year, the effects of this innovative fleet-wide expansion will continue to impress and thrill guests for years to come.

Hummingbird information- helpful information about the popular hummingbird

Your hummingbird feeders need to be cleaned, and the humming bird nectar needs to be changed every 3-4 days. If black spots are visible inside your hummingbird feeder, it can be a sign of mold and you will need to scrub it out with a stiff thistle brush. If you can't reach the spots with a brush, you can mix some sand and water together and shake the feeder vigorously to remove the mold. Never use harsh detergent to clean your hummingbird feeder. Rinse the feeder out with hot water each time you change your nectar. If you do this on a regular basis you should not have a problem with mold growing inside of the feeder.

Pesty ants can be a problem at a hummingbird feeder. The best way to prevent ants at your feeder is to use an "ant guard". An ant guard is a barrier between the ants and the nectar, making them ant proof. These guards are built into many feeders but are also available as an add on accessory for existing feeders.

There are certain ways to attract hummingbirds to your feeder. Red! Red! Red! All hummingbirds are attracted to the color red. Most feeders that are purchased these days have red on them somewhere, but if you are in doubt that there is enough red, try tying a red ribbon on the feeder itself. Another way to attract attention to your feeder is to place it among flowers that hummers like, or hang a basket of flowers nearby the feeder. You will find that feeder activity slows as more flowers bloom in your yard. Do not panic! They prefer natural nectar over what we give them in our feeders, so as the flower start to diminish, you will see them come back again.

So you got their phone number...now what

You meet a nice guy or girl and you hit it off. You got their phone number but how long should you wait before giving them a call?

If you’ve seen the movie Swingers, you know what I’m talking about. Let’s look at some of the possible scenarios you may find yourself in:

Call Right Away (within the first half-hour)

How you see it: Just making sure they got home safely; or you just really enjoyed their company and you wanted to talk some more

How they see it: I just talked to this person 30 minutes ago…what else could they want to talk about?

Call 3-6 Days Later

How you see it: Didn’t want to seem too desperate and/or wanted them to spend a few days thinking about why you weren’t calling.

How they see it: They didn’t call because they were trying to look cool; what do they look like again?

Call 7+ Days Later

How you see it: Been busy and haven’t gotten around to it…maybe the other person will want me more if I show them how little I care.

How they see it: Who are you?

The truth is, if you meet someone for the first time, how likely are they to remember you after a week? Now add drinks into the equation and you’re lucky if they remember you the next day. Call the next day if you want to be safe, wait two days if you enjoy living on the edge.

Seven simple ways to optimize your site for the search engines

:
Would you love to know the secrets of search engine optimisation? Here's a seven step guide to improving your ranking in the search engines.

First you need to find what people are looking for when they visit your site. Researching what actual words people type in to search engines is vital, these are your “keywords”.

Do your research on your keywords using Overture and Wordtracker. Overture will tell you how many people are searching on particular words or phrases. Wordtracker gives you an idea how much competition there is for those keywords.

Once you have your list of keywords, then you are ready to optimise your website. I say keywords as, with increasing competition on the internet, you are more likely to have success with keyword phrases or a group of keywords, than with just one keyword.

There are just seven easy steps:-

1. Name your site appropriately - if your site is about cat food, then include the keywords “cat food” in the title of your site
2. Ensure that your keywords are included in the page title
3. Add a Header tag using H1 tags
4. Use your keyword in the first line & last line of your content
5. Add an Alt Tag to your pictures which includes a description of the picture and includes your keywords
6. Ensure that your keyword is included in the outbound links from your site, an easy way to do this is to link the page back to itself.
7. Sprinkle your keyword a couple more times throughout your text and ensure that you have at least 250 words on the page. If you can't write this much, then write an introduction and then add a free article from one of the Article Directories, such as Ezine Articles.

If you include most of these on each of your pages, you'll find that you should move up in the search engine rankings over time.

All of these methods are what is called “on page” optimisation.

You can also optimise “off page” by building links to your website, using one of the many link swapping sites available.

You can also create quality links to your site is by leaving comments when you visit other people's blogs. When leaving a comment, ensure that the “name” you leave includes your keyword, where possible, and a link back to your site. For example, you could leave a comment from “Jo @ Cat foods”, linking back to your website address. If you're not sure where to find relevant blogs, either type in your keyword and the word “blog” into any of the search engines, or visit Blogger . com and run a search for your keywords.

Another great way of creating links to your site, is by writing and submitting articles to sites such as Ezine Articles. com ensuring that a link to your own site is entered in the Resource Box.

You may not see immediate results from your efforts, but with patience you will find that you see more visitors coming to your site as your rankings in the search engines improve.

You can find out more about starting and running your internet business, visit Start your own online home business.

This article was submitted by Jennifer Carter, why not "> build links to your website today.

The bad credit card that may do good

Millions of people use credit cards all around the world. A huge chunk of those users made mistakes when dealing with their credit cards. The consequence of the errors is costly.

A lot end up in debt and most of the time these are the people who rant about the credit card being the devil. But fact of the matter is, this is not the case. When used properly, credit cards are very good financial tools.

Credit cards are not necessarily just for people who have large sums of money to use. There are some cards even for the financially challenged, and these are called the: “Bad Credit Cards.”

A bad credit card is just precisely that: a card with a very bad or low credit limit.

There are two types of credit cards: there is the secured and the unsecured credit cards.

Unsecured credit cards are the accounts that are free from the limits of a bank account. The limit of credit is up to the bank’s discretion and not up to the size of the bank account. If the bank thinks that a person is deserving of a bigger credit, then it will be given.

This is the usual type of credit cards in the market and is fairly popular among the card shopping people. These are also the cards known to be more respected by other companies. These are also the cards known to send people to a very deep debt.

This is the type of credit card that should be avoided if the applicant is already in a financial mess.

The secured credit cards are the bad credit cards. These cards are grounded on the size of the account a person has. For example, if a person has a $1,000 balance, then that is all the credit a person is going to get. If there is a point where the balance reaches $0, then the person should go and “re-fill” the account.

The bank limits the credit to the money already present to avoid overspending, thus preventing even deeper debt. This will monitor the expenses of the person and will help the development of a financial recovery for some.

These credit cards are also known as “pre-paid credit cards” for there is only a fixed amount that can be used and the holder is the one who puts it there.

Alcohol and substance abuse will not take away your fears

It is not easy to deal with our fears and anxieties however trying to avoid them through Alcohol or other substances will not work. Avoiding your fears and anxieties will not make them go away. Your fears and anxieties will always be there. The best way to deal with your fears is to find effective ways to overcome them. As a result, here are some techniques a person can use to help manage their fears and anxieties.

The first step is to learn to take it one day at a time. Instead of worrying about how you will get through the rest of the week or coming month, try to focus on today. Each day can provide us with different opportunities to learn new things and that includes learning how to deal with your problems. Focus on the present and stop trying to predict what may happen next week. Next week will take care of itself.

Seek help from God. You might of heard this before, however have you tried asking God for help? Praying and talking to God about your problem can be effective. Although the answers might not come to you right away, you can’t go wrong on relying on God. You never know how God will work in ones life. All you can do is to do your best each day, hope for the best, and take it in stride by using the help of God. God will help us through our problems if we ask him.

Remember that no one can predict the future with 100 Percent certainty. Even if the thing that you feared does happen there are circumstances and factors that you can’t predict which can be used to your advantage. For instance, let’s say at your place of work that you miss the deadline for a project you have been working on for the last few months. Everything you feared is coming true. Suddenly, your boss comes to your office and tells you that the deadline is extended and that he forgot to tell you the day before. This unknown factor changes everything. Remember: we may be ninety-nine percent correct in predicting the future, but all it takes is for that one percent to make a world of difference.

Another technique that is very helpful is to have a small notebook of positive statements that make you feel good. Whenever you come across an affirmation that makes you feel good, write it down in a small notebook that you can carry around with you in your pocket. Whenever you feel depressed or frustrated, open up your small notebook and read those statements. This will help to manage your negative thinking.

As a Layman, the important thing is to get the proper help by seeing a professional. Avoiding your problem through the use of alcohol or other substances will do nothing in the long run in fixing your problems. It will just make things worse. Managing your fear and anxieties will take some hard work. Be patience, persistent and stay committed in trying to solve your problem.

Fantastically unique centerpieces make a wedding memorable

:
A couple wanting to really impress the guests at their wedding should invest in truly unique centerpieces. Typically, most reception facilities do not provide a great deal of creativity in the decorations because they usually utilize standard table linens and place settings. However, utilizing unique centerpieces is a great way for the wedding hosts to make their reception memorable.


Using live fish in centerpieces is a unique idea for a wedding reception. Glass bowls can be used with a few glass marbles or beads along with some exotic and colorful fish. A person could even include a small amount of fish food at the table where children will be sitting with instructions on how to avoid hurting the fish. The kids will have fun and will be less distractive if there was a more traditional centerpiece on the table. This lively and interactive centerpiece is a sure fire hit idea with kids and will even keep adults occupied.


Another great centerpiece idea is to place board games at each table. The idea is very unique and usually the attendees choose to play the games; the games also provide the guests at the table the incentive to introduce and have conversations with those seated at the table if they don’t know them. This is a great option for people who do not like dancing because they will not perceive being left out of the wedding.


Pastries or cakes arranged on a tray and decorated with fresh flowers also make a lovely centerpiece. These sweets can be used to replace of the wedding cake. This often speeds up receptions and makes the logistics of large wedding parties getting a piece of cake simpler. Using several pastries as centerpieces is extremely unique but it also allows the guest to select from several different types of pasties and flavors. These centerpieces can be accompanied by traditional wait staff and the pastries and cakes prepared in the kitchen for desert or they can be sliced at the individual tables for additional esthetic value.


An attractive journal that accompanies the theme of the wedding along with several pens will also provide a unique centerpiece. This type of centerpiece will look lovely on the table and should be used by the guests to write messages of congratulations or advice for the couple in the future. The couple has a unique centerpiece and they also have a treasured souvenir of their wedding day in the kindred words recorded by their guests.


This article and one-way link advertisement provided by LinkAcquire. com