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Playa Bavaro, Dominican Republic
This by far has been the worst Dominican Republic trip out of 3 trips.
Posted by: Dana on Jun 20, 2016
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#9 of 29 Hotels in Bavaro Beach
based on 22 review(s)
Hotel-DominicanRepublic.com offers you exclusive discounts on hotelCaribe Club Princess in Punta Cana, with maps, photos and hotel Caribe Club Princess information.
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We have nothing but positive things to say about the resort staff.
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by:
I and B on Feb 1, 2009 >
2 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Feb, 2009
736 people found this review helpful
Arrival: Jan 23-30
Trip from Punta Cana airport took about an hour as if you stay at the Caribe Club Princess you are the last off the bus, stopped at 3 other resorts that Sunwing uses.
We stayed in the Eldorado building #1 room 1371, rooms on the third floor have the cathedral style vaulted ceiling that makes the room feel larger. This room is also a corner room and is very large, the balcony overlooks the main pool right at the swim up bar, which on occasion was somewhat noisy.
Restaurants and Bars:
Food was edible , nothing special, a la cartes were less than inspiring, Chinese seemed the best to us, buffet ranged from ok to very mediocre, food was much better at the RIU Bachata in Puerto Plata where we stayed last year.
Beach was awesome , best beach we have seen yet in the Dominican Republic, we have been to Puerto Plata 3 times and the beach there is ok but Punta Cana is a superb shade of blue and lovely white sand that stretches forever, you can walk for about 20 minutes and see the wreck Astrom in front of the RIU resorts and pass by the beach vendors where you can barter for cheapy cheapy DR stuff if you like.A word of caution for those sqeamish about topless/scantily clad beachgoers Punta Cana is a very cosmopolitan tourist region with many European travellers who enjoy the sun so expect lots of the aforementioned both at the beach and around the pool area.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We were in Fly and Flop mode so we just relaxed on the beach, but we heard many positive comments on the Saona Island catamaran trip.
Other Comments:
Overall we we were happy with our trip to Punta cana and the Caribe Club Princess, our trip was enhanced by those fellow travellers that we enjoyed the week with from the UK, Canada, and our Austrian friends. The Dominican workers are so fun to be around and work very hard to make your trip memorable. We have nothing but positive things to say about the resort staff and our dealings with the hotel front desk managers. Go to Punta Cana and enjoy yourself.
I spent a lot of my vacation in tears.
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by:
Deborah from Decatur, IL on Mar 1, 2009 >
1 contribution(s) United States of America
Visited on: Mar, 2009
730 people found this review helpful
First of all when we got to Punta Cana and drove through the gates of this hotel we were excited about how pretty it was. Well, beauty is only skin deep. When we checked in, they did not have the information about the $400 upgrade for VIP, so we were put into a regular room. The rep from our tour group was to talk to us the next morning. When we reached our room, a good half mile from the front desk, it was ice cold. Two lamps did not work, the remote control did not work, nor were there any alarm clocks. We had virtually no idea what time it was the whole time we were there unless we used our cell phones. The only light source we had was from a ceiling fan, but in order to use it, we had no way of turning off the fan, because the pull cord was missing. We could not adjust the air conditioner, or turn on the heat, for some reason, they must not allow people to do this, because the thermostat had no response to our adjustments. The water in the shower was ICE cold and there was NO WATER PRESSURE whatsoever. The reason we purchased the VIP package was because I had called the hotel and said I wanted a jacuzzi room, and whoever I talked to, told me the VIP rooms had jacuzzis. Well, with the water pressure as it was, it would have been absurd to fill a jacuzzi anyway. The hairdryer had only one setting, low. We talked to the concierge about the remote control, he told us. "You are VIP, you just call... we come take care of you" Two days later we received our working remote.
The next morning, we voiced our concerns with our rep, had to sit for almost two hours while he sorted it out, even though we had all of our papers which stated "VIP" quite plainly, the hotel was denying it. We were handed the correct tags, internet, meal, massage and watersports coupons, but did not receive the rum or cigars.
There were never any watersports available, never any snorkles or parasailers. Who wants to use the internet on vacation anyway? The first full day we spent there, we were locked out of our room for nearly an hour, because our key did not work. We lost electricity and the ceiling in our bathroom was dripping on us. It took four phone calls to various people there before anyone came out to fix it. We had to get ready for our dinner with water dripping on our heads. My boyfriends eye was nearly swollen shut from a bug bite he received while sleeping on the first night. I had a bite above my eye, and two on my arm. He had three on his. Our room was full of mosquitos and ants. If you sat down a soda for five minutes, you had to look in it to make sure it wasn't ant infested. The buffet food is absolutely horrible. I never once saw chicken, and the only time I ever saw beef was "head". You could order a cheeseburger from room service, but it took two hours to get there and was cold and disgusting.
I spent a lot of my vacation in tears.
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by:
Deborah from Decatur, IL on Mar 1, 2009 >
1 contribution(s) United States of America
Visited on: Mar, 2009
730 people found this review helpful
First of all when we got to Punta Cana and drove through the gates of this hotel we were excited about how pretty it was. Well, beauty is only skin deep. When we checked in, they did not have the information about the $400 upgrade for VIP, so we were put into a regular room. The rep from our tour group was to talk to us the next morning. When we reached our room, a good half mile from the front desk, it was ice cold. Two lamps did not work, the remote control did not work, nor were there any alarm clocks. We had virtually no idea what time it was the whole time we were there unless we used our cell phones. The only light source we had was from a ceiling fan, but in order to use it, we had no way of turning off the fan, because the pull cord was missing. We could not adjust the air conditioner, or turn on the heat, for some reason, they must not allow people to do this, because the thermostat had no response to our adjustments. The water in the shower was ICE cold and there was NO WATER PRESSURE whatsoever. The reason we purchased the VIP package was because I had called the hotel and said I wanted a jacuzzi room, and whoever I talked to, told me the VIP rooms had jacuzzis. Well, with the water pressure as it was, it would have been absurd to fill a jacuzzi anyway. The hairdryer had only one setting, low. We talked to the concierge about the remote control, he told us. "You are VIP, you just call... we come take care of you" Two days later we received our working remote.
The next morning, we voiced our concerns with our rep, had to sit for almost two hours while he sorted it out, even though we had all of our papers which stated "VIP" quite plainly, the hotel was denying it. We were handed the correct tags, internet, meal, massage and watersports coupons, but did not receive the rum or cigars.
There were never any watersports available, never any snorkles or parasailers. Who wants to use the internet on vacation anyway? The first full day we spent there, we were locked out of our room for nearly an hour, because our key did not work. We lost electricity and the ceiling in our bathroom was dripping on us. It took four phone calls to various people there before anyone came out to fix it. We had to get ready for our dinner with water dripping on our heads. My boyfriends eye was nearly swollen shut from a bug bite he received while sleeping on the first night. I had a bite above my eye, and two on my arm. He had three on his. Our room was full of mosquitos and ants. If you sat down a soda for five minutes, you had to look in it to make sure it wasn't ant infested. The buffet food is absolutely horrible. I never once saw chicken, and the only time I ever saw beef was "head". You could order a cheeseburger from room service, but it took two hours to get there and was cold and disgusting.
The resort was gorgeous!
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by:
Shawnee from Ontario on Apr 1, 2009 >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Apr, 2009
715 people found this review helpful
Overwhelming..Our first vacation.
Sunwing Representative was very friendly and helpful. Check in was not until 3pm and we arrived at 12pm. The resort made sure we had everything we needed to start enjoying our vacation right away.
We had a suite with a king size bed. The bed was very comfortable and the pillows were also comfy. We had no complaints. The water pressure was low around dinner hour due to so many showering at once. We just waited a half hour to shower. Maids were in every day cleaning up the room and making the bed and replacing towels. Reminder...they do not have face clothes, if you use one be sure to bring your own.
Restaurants and Bars
The buffet was delicious! It had a wide variety of food. My husband is a picky eater and he had no problem finding things he liked. Each day the buffet had a different theme. This made it a little more interesting. We did not attend the disco. The pool bar was lots of fun though!
The Beach was beautiful!!! The grounds keepers were out every morning cleaning the beach area. Lots of cabanas on the beach but you had to up early to get one. There were tons of lounge chairs on the beach also. There was 3 pools and they had lots of sun and shaded areas for all to enjoy. The resort was kept up very nicely. You hardly ever seen garbage laying around. The vegetation and wild life was breath taking.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
There were activities on and off the beach for everyone to enjoy. Our Sunwing Representative was there every day to help book excursions. We went on 3 excursions: Rancho Ilanos was a dune buggy adventure. We went horseback riding, drove your own dune buggy and toured the area. We visited the public beach in Punta Cana where we swam in the ocean and visited with the residents. They were selling beautiful hand made crafts that you could buy. We also went to a cave that was a fresh water spring. We dove off into the crystal blue fresh water. It was a sight to see! Then they took us to a coffee, cocoa and sugar cane plantation. The gentleman who owned the plantation gave us a demonstration on how he processes coffee beans, cocoa and real vanilla. We also got to taste samples of them.
The other tour we did was called the Marinarium. We went out on a catamaran out into the ocean. We went snorkeling, swam with nurse sharks and stingrays and had lots of drinks and danced. I got a picture of me holding a stingray. WOW!!!
The spa is absolutely breath taking....you must see visit it!
Other Comments:
This was a wonderful experience! The resort was gorgeous! I would definitely recommend it!! It also has another sister resort attached to it called the Tropical Princess. Our resort was a 4+ and the Tropical was a 4. The only difference between the two........rooms and ala carte privileges. We ate the same food at the buffet, swam in all the same pools and had just as much fun as are new friends from Markham, Ontario did.
Our wedding day could not have been more perfect.
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by:
Cat from Barrie, ON on Sep 8, 2009 >
2 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Sep, 2009
753 people found this review helpful
Arrival: May 8-16/2009
Upon our arrival at the hotel we were eagerly met at the reception. Because I was already in the Domincan to meet up with the boyfriend we had not reserved the hotel yet. We had booked the wedding package online 3 months earlier, so the reception was expecting my relatives who were flying in the next day from Canada. The people at reception worked with us to get us the 'Penthouse' honeymoon suite and they made all the room reservations for my husband-to-be's dominican family that would be coming for three days. We had no problems getting everything all set up. We were also told when we would be meeting with the wedding coordinator the next day.
We were very happy with our two floor honeymoon suite. Granted we were in the older building but the room was still immaculate.We had a huge canopy bed, sunken lounge/TV area and the second floor had another lounge area with a hot tub. We overlooked the pool and the ocean. What a great view! We had balconies on both floors. There were fruit baskets and bottles of rum delivered daily.
My family and my husbands family's rooms were across the pool from us in the newer building. The locks were broken on the sliding doors in two of the rooms, but as the rooms were on the second floor no one was to worried. Though my father did mention that their room faced another resort and below their balcony was a cart path for the motorized carts that delivered food and drinks to the beach bars and he could here these carts running all night along with the staff standing not too far away drinking and smoking while on their breaks at the beach bar. Though all around we didn't really have much to complain about. Everything was very clean!
Restaurants and Bars:
This resort is not as big as others, so there are not as many a la cart restaurants and the buffet gets old really quickly. We definitely liked the chinese restaurant (which served sushi!) and the portuguese grill. The crepe cafe is NOT good. The bars served the typical domestic drinks and most of us drank their version of champagne for most of the trip. Their champagne is very light tasting and we managed to get pink champagne a few times as well.
Beach was GORGEOUS! I love Punta Cana for this very reason and we all loved the beach. Lots of beach chairs, lots of space (read-no crowding,) not too many vendors and sun sun sun. The beach is soft white clean sand and the water is turquoise. We spent a lot of time playing in the pool while my husband's family was there, we even taught my new nephew how to swim. The water wasn't the cleanest in the pool, but oh well.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel::
We went on one of the go-cart tours. I would not recommend these tours as we didn't really think we got our money's worth and these so-called go-carts weren't what I would call safe. We drove on a lot of the main roads and with the way the locals drive around, it can be really scary, especially as there are not traffic laws and no 'left' and 'right' sides of the road, just you and other drivers trying to pass everyone. We did get to see Macao beach which is a beautiful undeveloped beach. It was too bad they only take you there to try and hawk you cheap jewelry and you don't really get to enjoy the beach. It would have been more fun driving around the beaches.
My dad and husband went deep sea fishing but it was really rough and everyone got sea-sick. My husband said 'first and last time for that!"
Other Comments:
Our whole purpose for this trip was to get married and our wedding day could not have been more perfect. Francelia is the wedding coordinator for all the princess resorts and she is FANTASTIC! She took care of absolutely everything. We met with her once and she went over how the ceremony would come together. She went over the package we picked, flower we wanted (i told her to pick them for me) where we wanted the reception, ceremony on the beach, etc. We didn't have to do anything!
The day of the wedding my friend and I went to the salon to get my hair done. The stylist did a great job. I headed back to my room to get ready. My mom and sister and friend came up and we all got ready together. My bouquet arrived and then the photographer came up about 20 minutes before the 2pm ceremony and got some great pictures in room. Then at 2pm, fashionably late we all went downstairs to the waiting golf cart to take us to the beach. They had decorated the golf cart with tropical flowers. They droves us around the pool to the edge of the beach. Francelia met me there with a bunch of tissues as we pulled up, as I welled up, just before I walked down the aisle with my dad. They set up chairs on the beach and made a trellis out of palm leaves, where my fiancee was waiting with the ocean in the background and the sun shining down on us. The ceremony was quick (10 minutes) in spanish for my husband's family and in english for mine. We had no official wedding party as our wedding was small. I did not realize at the time, but during the ceremony a large crowd had gathered to watch our wedding take place. When I look back now at the pictures taken it seems that everyone staying at the resort was standing there in their bathing suits watching us. The wedding photographers and hotel security did a great job to make they kept everyone out of the wedding photos. After the ceremony we had champagne toast and we took some pictures with the cake, (how that cake did not melt in the Dominican sun is beyond me!) then we walked down the beach and took some more pictures. My sister ran back to the beach bar and got the photographer a bunch of beers so he took way more pictures than we was supposed to. We even got some pictures taken around the pool and in the gardens. The reception was held at the portuguese grill restaurant. They walk around with huge skewers of meat and slice it off the skewer onto your plate. Because there was only 17 of us, we didn't have a private party, but dinner was excellent though we were kicked out of the restaurant at 8:30 after we had cake because there had another dinner seating. My husband was very annoyed by this and we ended getting more rum to our room and reservations at the a la carte for the rest of the week and some free massages. I was actually happy to take my wedding dress off after that dinner, we were all stuffed! All in all a great day! The wedding pictures were fantastic when we got them back. Any people that had somehow snuck into the pics were magically airbrushed out and we got the Photo Shop photo album as a wedding gift from my dad and it's one of the best wedding albums I have ever seen. When most people see it, they can't believe how well it turned out. All in all, GREAT vacation and magical wedding. Definitely the way to go if you don't want to plan a wedding! Thanks for reading:)
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by: Linda
on Jan 16, 2010 >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Jan, 2010 | Business | Family and Kids
801 people found this review helpful
I travelled with my 12 year old son and it was our first trip to a resort so we did not know what to expect at all. The Caribe Club Princess surpassed all our expectations. I was pleasantly surprised by everything.
Your Arrival:
We were the third stop from the airport so it took about 45 minutes to get to the hotel. We arrived right after another bus load of people so the wait to check in was very long but I found the people at the reception very friendly and efficient.
I had heard some bad reviews about the hotel rooms but ours was wonderful. Very clean and the bed very comfortable.
Restaurants and Bars:
The food at the buffet restaurant was wonderful. Even my picky son was always raving about something from the buffet. There were choices for every taste. For nights when we wanted something a bit more special and relaxing we ate at the Brazilian Restaurant one night and the Mexican Restaurant another and at both places the food was terrific.
The beach was amazing. We walked the shore line a few times and it was always very clean. The pool was a good temperature with a swim up bar that was quite nice. I was very surprised that there were very few people who took advantage of the pool, most sat around tanning so it seemed like my son and I had the whole pool to ourselves most of the time. The only complaint here is that the pool closed at 7:00 and sometimes it would have been nice to have a little swim after dinner.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
There were all kinds of things to do at the resort. We played tennis, mini putt, fruize ball and shuffleboard. The highlight of my trip was a buggy tour that took us down muddy backroads. They told us to get ready to get dirty but I never imagined how muddy we would get. It was a lot of fun though but if you think you might take this trip, make sure to take some old clothes and shoes that you can just throw out after because it's just not worth trying to clear everything up afterwards. It was a really good tour with stops at a coffee plantation, down into a cave with a swimming hole and a beautiful beach. We also did the Segway tours (motorized scooter-type devices). That was a lot of fun too, these were a lot easier to drive than the buggies and a really good family activity. We went past some amazing houses ($8 million +) and again stopped at a breathtaking beach). Both these tours were quite costly($65.00US each) but well worth the money.
Other Comments:
I had also heard that the people could be really push when trying to sell you something and that is very true but just as long as you keep giving them a firm "NO' they do get the message and move on so it was never a problem for me. A woman travelling alone with a child seemed to be a real novelty and was met with surprise by a lot of the resort employees but there was no time that I did not feel safe. Security was good and there was always tourists or people walking around the resort. Overall, this trip was like a dream come true for us, it more than met our expectation and we are looking forward to a return visit as soon as we've save up our money again. We would definitely stay at the Caribe Club Princess again.
The good the bad and the ugly
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by: Hlywud
on Jan 31, 2010 >
4 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Jan, 2010 | Leisure | With Group
898 people found this review helpful
Your Arrival:
Arrival was 50 minutes by bus from the airport, we had only one stop at the Bavaro Princess which delayed us approximately 10 minutes.
Check in was quite quick, room keys, remote control and safe lock given to us and they called to see if our room was ready, we had to wait 15 minutes for room to be finished. Our luggage was tagged and delivered to our room quite promptly.
Our wait in the lobby was short and sweet, we were presented with a cool rum punch and then went for a cold Presidente beer while we waited, when our room was ready they notified us and we were off on the shuttle to our building.
We were in the Cayena Building on the 3rd floor with a view overlooking the interior courtyard. Room was clean, cool and comfortable, they only problem was there was only a shower and NO bathtub. My better half likes to lounge in the tub and hates showers. We did have a couple of issues with the room keys becoming deactivated and it took a 10 minute walk to main lobby to get them reprogrammed. Keys by the way are not a magnetic slot type but a speedpass type that you just pass over the lock and it opens.
Restaurants and Bars:
Lobby Bar was situated on the north side of the lobby and had table service available.
Two beach bars were available, one was attached to the Brazilian restaurant on the North side of the resort and the other on the South side attached to the Seafood Restaurant.
There was a swimup bar at the main pool but no bar at the quiet pool on the Tropical side, here you had to walk to the north beach bar.
There were 2 restaurants that were a pay for use "La Cava" and "El Pescador" which we never bothered to use, we did not upgrade to VIP and were told these has a $25US surcharge. "El Pescador" was on the south side and had the beach bar attached to it and was available for lunch and afternoon snacks.
The main buffet "El Higuero" was opened from 6 am for the early risers, available for lunch around noon and supper at 6:30 pm. It was a typical resort style buffet with a smoking and non smoking area, a decent selection of items and three cooking stations available so there was no reason to go hungry but we found that the food was never very hot. The omellette station was the slowest I have ever seen at any resort.
Service was hit and miss, in the mornings it took quite awhile to get served a coffee but in the evenings your wine glass was never empty.
There were 4 other a la cartes available.....Mexican which we did not go to, "Mamma Mia" (Italian), which had a nice assortment on the menu, very good table service and an excellent meal provided, "Shagan" (Chinese), which also had a nice selection on the menu and a very good meal served that was enjoyed by all of our group. "El Rodizoro" (Brazilian)which is a typical Brazilian rotisserie meat lovers restaurant, in fact it was so good we attended twice.
Service here was excellent.
There is also "La Creperie" available for crepes and ice cream from 1:30 to 6:30 daily, we attended it one afternoon for a quick snack, very nice change.
Beach, there is nothing bad to say about this stretch of Bavaro Beach, very wide and soft white sand, adequate number of shade palapa's and lots of chairs available. Some chairs were broken so occasionally you had to look for one with a working back.
Grounds were quite nice, the flora and ponds were decently maintained. There is a large mangrove swamp area between the lobby and the resort buildings. This area had an occasional smell of sewage.
One thing that was really lacking was maintenance on the roadways and walkways, there were lots of large cracks and chunks of concrete missing.This is an accident waiting to happen, ladies be careful especially those who wear any type of heels in the evening.
We did not use the quiet pool situated on the north side of the Corallia building but did walk over for a look see.
The pool between the Corallia and the Cayena building was quite large, had a walk in area which was great for kids, small swimup bar and a large activity area closer to the beach, water was very cold, pool was cleaned everyday meticullously by Roberto. Although it was getting very well worn around the edges and could use maintenance and painting of the deck and edging.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Beach activities were held every morning by the Animation team and again in the afternoon at the pool, many seem to enjoy these.
The Animation team performed each evening at the main theater off the lobby, we went 2 nights and were disappointed at the how poor the perfomances were.
Other Comments:
The resort had a mosquito spraying program in effect which obviously was working as our group of 10 had from none to 2 bites all week. The problem with the fogging by the staff (who wore breathing masks)was the time they did it, late afternoon with hundreds of tourists in and around the courtyard and pools that were blanketted with a layer of grey fog containing who knows what chemicals, in my opinion this should have been done late at night or very early morning.
One other program which should be put in place is rodent control if not already being done, as we did see 2 rather large cousins of Mickey Mouse, but did not get an picture, they moved very quickly.
Photos: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/357663/index.html
Good Time Had By All ... Us and Those We Met
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by: WILF
on Feb 1, 2010 >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Jan, 2010 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
942 people found this review helpful
Your Arrival:
We arrived via pre-arranged taxi, so no busride to worry about, and also had 4 icey cold pressies waiting in the taxi for us upon arrival. Checkin at hotel was effortless as all room packages were pre-prepared in envelopes with your keys, remote, etc...
We had requested a 2nd, 3rd floor with pool or ocean view, and were given a ground floor with courtyard view, which was corrected immediately. We were told our room wasnt ready, and this was just a temporary room. The room we wound up with overlooked the edge of the main pool and was in the cayena building, 3rd floor. Room was very clean, and no issues with anything working. Only minor complaint as stated in earlier review was no tub, shower only.
Restaurants and Bars:
The main buffet had a very wide assortment of foods and a different theme each night. Coffee in the mornings was a little harder to get as they didn't put a full staff on it seemed until after 8am. Evenings was entire different story. We were treated better at this resort than at some of the 5 stars we have stayed at in the past. Quick friendly service, especially from Carlos, who always had a smile and 'good evening' for you when he saw you, and your drinks never ever ran dry. Mamma Mia the Italian was good fare and the ambience was quite nice. Shanghay, the Asian was by far the best of the ala cartes and the meals would rival alot of high priced restaurants back here in Canada. The Sombrero, the Mexican was the only disappointing one, as it didnt offer much selection, and we found the meat a little tougher than we normally liked.
Beach - equisite white sand, with no seaweed for the first week at all. Second week we saw a little, but it was always cleaned up. The waves were a treat, as most ppl enjoyed playing in the rolling waves that came into shore some days.
Pools - kept very clean, but too cool for my liking, and besides, I come for the ocean and not pools. Poolbar staff was quick and funny and 'Obama" always made everyone smile and laugh.
Grounds- very well maintained. Natural mangrove area did give off an odour on a couple of days, but nothing you couldn't live with.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Animation staff was always busy with getting people involved. The evening shows though on the most part were a dissappointment as they definitely weren't up to the standard of others we had seen in the DR. The Casino, well lets just say if your rich fine, if not, stay away. Those who liked to play cards, had a $10 minimum, and for those of us like myself who liked to play carribean poker, this meant $30 per hand if you wanted to play. No thanks...
Slot machines were numerous and varied, though most people didnt understand how alot of them paid out.
Excursions - Tropical Storm Lobster Cruise - excellent, excellent, excellent, until we went to the Jellyfish. Lobster was ice cold, and four other couples we met and talked to afterwards all were ill the next day. Those that had the turkey or pasta felt fine, so I think it was just the way the lobster was prepared. Kudos to Olga, Simon and the staff at Tropical Storm for making this an enjoyable day.
PCMike's Adventure - Higuey tour. This was nothing less than probably the best tour I have taken in the DR. Informative, eye-opening and just a delight. From the visit to the 'carwash' to the cigar factory, to the open market, and especially the stop at Magdelena's school. This woman is amazing with what she has done with so little. I only hope our two bags of supplies help her in her very wonderful cause.
Other Comments:
My three criticisms of this resort are as follows:
1. TOO MANY SALESMAN AND VACATION CLUB PITCHMEN. Didnt matter how often you said no, the next time you walked by, you went through it again. Finally I had to tell this one persistent guy if he bothered me again, I would go to front desk. He left me alone after that.
2. Not enough washrooms. As the previous poster stated, there weren't really enough washrooms spread around the resort.
3. Internet. There was no Wi-fi available unless you rented a modem from them for $15 per day with a 1 week minimum. The internet room itself had slow dial up service and the person who ran it was less than cordial. He always tried to force one hour sessions on you even if you only wanted 1/2 hour. He said there weren't any 1/2 hour sessions left. Well when your paying for time used....how is this possible?
Overall this is a decent 4 star resort. Is there room for improvement, definitely, but again, you get what you pay for and in the case of this hotel, this is true.
We met alot of nice people from across Canada on this trip, and met other's at Steve's Bar which we will definitely keep in touch with.
Resort is compact but complete...
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by: byerbill
on Feb 7, 2010 >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Jan, 2010 | Leisure | With Group
999 people found this review helpful
For my wife and I (mid 60s)this was our 14th trip to the Dominican Republic.
Your Arrival:
Although we have been to the Dominican Republic several times before this was our first trip with Sunwing. Service was better than expected: Free pillow and blanket to use on the flight, free Champagne, choice of breakfasts included French toast or scrambled eggs, comfortable seats and good service.
After a pleasant flight we arrived at the resort after a 50 minute (one stop) air conditioned bus trip from the airport. Our room was available (early) after about a 20 minute wait at the lobby bar. We were transferred with our luggage on the shuttle to our room.
We were first given a VIP Club Superior Room on the third floor overlooking the beach and the main pool. It was a good room but we had requested two beds and it had only one. Upon returning to the lobby desk we were offered a VIP Club Caribe Suite (room #2234) on the second floor of the Coralillo building. Although the front desk indicated this room was not as good we found it superior and were very satisfied. Our room featured:
… Large bedroom with step-down to sitting area with couch table and chairs
… Large balcony overlooking the main pool
… Air conditioning was quiet and efficient so we did not use the ceiling fan
… Mini fridge was stocked with pop, water, and canned Presidente each day
… Coffee/tea maker and clock radio were included as was TV which received several English speeking channels.
… Large clothes closet had lots of space and hangers, and included a large umbrella (unneeded this trip)
… The safe was free. (Our first key and lock were almost impossible to open but its replacement worked fine.)
… The substantial size washroom contained a full tub with shower and liquid soap dispenser. Always lotsa HOT water
… Two large marble toped sinks came with the usual collection of small bottles of shampoo, etc Kleenex and a hair dryer.
Restaurants and Bars:
La Carreta Bar (Lobby) (10:00 AM-12:00 AM) All drinks consumed at this bar were served an glass containers rather than plastic used elsewhere.
La Matica Bar (Beach) (open 24hrs) Next to seafood restaurant (El Pescador)
Canoa Bar (Beach) (10:00 AM-10:00PM) Next to Brazilian Restaurant (Rodizzio)
Sunken Pool Bar (10:00 AM-6:00PM)
Higuero Restaurant (Buffet) (7:00AM-10:30AM) / (12:30PM-3:00PM) / (6:30PM-10:30PM) There was always a large selection of good food to choose from in this large buffet. There are both smoking and non smoking sections. Wine is provided with lunch and dinner. I found the red wine quite acceptable but the white was below description. As a suggestion champagne or rose is also available. Each night has a different themed dinner and a special drink is given those at the entrance to the restaurant. As a group of 10 service for coffee, tea or drinks was reasonable but when we ate as a twosome it was often easier to get up and serve yourself or to pick-up missing cutlery from a nearby table.
Shangay Restaurant (Chinese) We had a great seafood dish here and highly recommend it . In our opinion this was the best restaurant in the place both in atmosphere food and service and indeed we returned again.
El Sombrero Restaurant (Mexican) We did not try this.
Mamma Mia Restaurant (Italian) We ate here twice but after a great meal the first time we were disappointed in the meal and service the second time, left early, and completed out meal at the buffet.
Rodizzio Restaurant (Brazilian) This meal was served on large sword like skewers with all patrons being served the same item before the next item was served. If I remember correctly we were served 5 meat and one fish portion. Meal was completed with a salad bar and deserts. Our enjoyment of this meal would have been perfect if the "Hot" potatoes came with the meal rather than with the cold salad bar before dinner. Le Creperie (1:30PM-6:00PM) Serves a choice of sweet or salty crepes along with a selection of ice cream and milk shakes. The Expert in our group said the chocolate milk shakes were to die for and I can confirm that the banana splits were out of this world. Certainly worth trying any afternoon.
La Canoa (Beach) (11:00AM-3:00PM)
La Piragua (Beach) (11:30 AM-3:00PM)
Both the above restaurants serve snacks including pizza, fried chicken (delicious), nachos, hamburgers, hot dogs etc. In the evening they close as snack bars and become more formal restaurants.
The beach is wide soft white sand. The back half of the beach is absolutely jammed with palm covered palapas so much so that in many locations you could not see the ocean. There were lots of beach cots available. We usually hit the beach by 9:00AM and had no trouble finding a seat in either sun or shade. There was lots to see with water taxis and parasailers jogging for space with passing tour boats. We found this great to watch but the overhead buzz of helicopter tours could become annoying. For those too lazy to get up and go to the bar drinks were often delivered to you on the beach. There was a constant parade of salespeople selling tours but they accepted no readily. It was windy during most of our stay but this did not deter many from swimming. There is an Aquatic Sports Centre on site where motorized and sailing boats were available.
There were 3 pools so lots of room for everyone. The swim up bar attracted the most activity. This pool was also great for those with small kids as one end of the pool had a long gentle slope so safe for any non swimmer. The other two pools were much quieter. It was seldom that many people were seen in any of the three pools and it was almost always possible to get a poolside chair.
There are two main sections to this resort 1) the lobby & stores and 2) rooms, pools and activities... They are joined by the Garden Alley through a large Mangrove swamp. Although it is less than a 10 minute walk there is a regular (usually) shuttle available between both. There is lots to be seen in fish and birds in this swamp and one time I saw an iguana that was over 30cm long. The main resort section had a pond that is filled with tame wild birds. Their antics are fun to watch. There is a group of peacocks often seen in this area and more than one morning they came up to our table looking for food. The gardens are well maintained but the paths are showing their age and sunken sections make them dangerous especially at night. The wild vibrant colours that the newly painted buildings have certainly adds to the atmosphere.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Kid's Club, Teen's Club, archery, bocci and shuffleboard were among the activities provided Morning and afternoon activities on the beach were always fun to watch if you didn't join in. I am not one who cares for evening resort shows and the one that we attended reminded me why. Suffice to say "they really try." Although we took no organized tours our annual Wednesday trip to Steve's Bar was as much fun as in the past. Among others Mikefisher and Puntacanamike were there. http://www.worldisround.com/articles/357765/index.html
Other Comments:
Although Sunwing shows this as a 4.5* resort it is less than this in my opinion. I would rate it a good 3.5*.
I agree with a previous poster that spraying for bugs with a spray that drifts through the public areas would be better done at night. It was interesting that there was a note on our room one night asking for permission (yes or no) to fumigate tour room the next day. We said no as we were leaving the day after and the only bugs seen were tiny ants.
The maintenance of paths and walkways may not seem important to some but I have actual experience of what can happen as my wife tripped in Mexico and spent the rest of her holiday in a wheelchair.
I fully understand that everyone needs to make a living but salespeople outside the only buffet restaurant pushing time share to unsuspecting tourists is a shame. Likewise the constant pushing of trips by salespeople became a pain.
My wife and I both had a great time at this resort. We enjoyed the food, atmosphere and great beach. It represented great value for our travel dollar. As to whether we would go back...Likely no. There are so many other choices to see in the Dominican Republic that we have yet to visit.
Photos: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/357764/index.html
Carribe Club Princess
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by:
bert on Mar 2, 2010 >
2 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Feb, 2010 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
1312 people found this review helpful
We arrived at the Caribe Club Princess on 13/02/10,We had concerns about reviews we had read before we left. But where pleasantly supprised during our stay that the resort had made changes for the better,Check in was quick.Before heading to our room we went to the lobby bar where we had our 1st encounter with Obama(great guy)one of the bartenders of the lobby bar later at night we met Winston and the others.
We got the the room 1312 and our friends at 1306 the rooms where not like we where used to at the Riu bamboo or the Bahia Principe but acceptable.
The Caribe Club Princess is defenitly worth going to.
Your Arrival:
Our arrival was good and the check in fast,After checking in we headed accross the lobby to the bar where we met Obama who made us feel right at home,And somehowe we knew that this was the start of a great vacation
The rooms where comfortible but very basic and not enough drawers for my wife's liking,she didn't like the fact that there was not a iron or coffee machine in the room , you could order them form the lobby but where only allowed 1 hour for each item.
The cleaning staff is also great.
Thanks Reina for cleaning our room every day
Because of the size and shape of the buiding you will hear some of the young people come home at 4 or 5 in the morning, and the odd door slamming, other then that no noise polution at all.
Restaurants and Bars:
The first night we had the buffet simply because we had not had a chance to make reservations but the 2nd night we went to Mama Mia and enjoyed it very much the portions are big, and no one in our group could finish it.
The following night we went to the Mexican and once again great food.
The next night was the Dominican and only 2 out of 4 realy enjoyd their meal.
The night after that was the Chinese and again every one enjoyed their meal.
The next night was the Brazilian and all of us voted that one as the best restaurant in the resort.There are only 2 seatings per night 6.30 and 8.30 and there are 7 courses, Salad bar, chicken,Sausage,ribs,fish,turkey,beef and they are served fast.
Not to forget the breakfast buffet which was also excelent
Our main bar was the beach bar on the princess side and we had a blast with Osvaldo ,Jose DeLa paz, ,Jose,and all the others.
Thanks guys you made us feel special
We have traveled to many different resorts and seen a lot of the Dominican Republic this resort had very few people cleaning arround the pool and on the beach.
But i cannot believe what the guest throw on the ground instead of throwing it in the garbage bins.
I takes very little effort to have a plastic cup where you can put in sigarette butts and when going to the room deposit the cup in the garbage bins together with the straws and paper/styrofoam plates
The few vendors on the beach are friendly and not pushy at all ,Then we met Miguel who gave us a lot of entertainment during our stay.
Thanks Miguel
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
Activities are the usual animation team that you find in every resort and they are doing a great job and are also super friendly.
Thank you Dahlia for your wonderfull smile
Other Comments:
I have something to say to our NOT so friendly french speaking Canadians.
I understand that you do not speak english i don't speak french,This does not mean that when some one greets you in the morning with either,"goodmorning" "Gutenmorgen" "Buenos Diaz" "Goede Morgen"or whatever other language that you have to look at them as dirt and not reply.
We greet you like we do every one else, we are not telling you to drop dead
Just reply and maybe on day we might like you again
Photos: http://www.bertvanderhulst.com
Great value, good time....but we won't be back
Caribe Club Princess
Posted by:
David & Janet on Apr 12, 2010 >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Apr, 2010 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
1489 people found this review helpful
We had a great week at The Caribe Club Princess in Punta Cana from April 2 to 9, 2010. Janet and I are experienced travelers to resorts throughout the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, and Jamaica
Your Arrival:
We booked our trip and flew from Moncton NB with Sunwing. We were wary of the excess baggage charges of $20 per kilo so we packed light. We were surprised when they weighed our carry on bag as well, so the total allowed weight was 25 kg per person including the carry on.
Our flight was over an hour late leaving Moncton but we made up some time in the air. As usual, the seats on the flight were uncomfortable but the Sunwing in flight service was very good. We paid for our tourist card on arrival and quickly cleared customs. Although it was Good Friday, the bar at the bus pick up point was open and we grabbed a few ice cold El Presidentes for the bus ride to our resort. It took about 45 minutes to get to the resort which included one stop and check in was quick
We had booked the Caribe Club VIP package and we were assigned room 2207 in the Coralillo Building. We were right down near the beach with a view of the activity pool with the swim up bar. A downside to this was that the activity staff became very loud at the pool around 4:00 in the afternoon and this transmitted directly into our room. The Caribe Club VIP package included a bottle of rum, a 20 minute massage, 1 hour internet access (which we didn't use), and 3 Dominican cigars. We also got a bottle of rum from the Sunwing rep. The VIP package also gave us access to premium drinks and we were able to get sometimes cold bottles of El Presidente or Miller MGD at the bars.
Our room was large, and had a king sized bed with a separate seating area and pull out couch on a lower level. The bed was firm and we could have used a few more pillows. We had a robes and slippers for use while in our room. Toiletries were provided initially and we brought facecloths with us. We never ran short of towels or hot water while we were there. However, the water was off throughout the whole resort on our last night and that was very inconvenient especially when using the washrooms.
The mini bar fridge in the room was stocked daily with water, soft drinks and beer. We left a tip and a note for the maid each day and got pretty much what we wanted. We initially found the coffee maker didn't work, and after three tries we quickly got one that would. However, it took about 30 minutes to brew a small pot of coffee. Although coffee and whitener were provided, we brought our own Tim's coffee and whitener with us. The TV had a good selection of satellite channels in multiple languages and we managed to catch American Idol. The room safe was provided at no additional charge and there was a clock radio in the room. We found our room to be freezing for the first few days until we figured out how to use the AC controls. Just set it on low with the thermostat at 24.
Restaurants and Bars:
We were able to book the a la carte restaurants at concierge desk in our building, but you could only book 2 days in advance which was a pain. We had supper at the Brazilian, Italian, Mexican, and Chinese restaurants and found the food and service to be very good. The Caribe Club VIP package also gave us a meal at the La Cava restaurant which is not part of the all inclusive plan. We had one of our best meals ever at the La Cava – excellent food and great service. There is a dress code requiring long pants for men at the a la carte restaurants but it wasn't strictly enforced.
We usually had breakfast at the Huguero buffet where they made very good omelets. We had lunch at one of the beach bars where they had small buffets set up with hot dogs, burgers, chicken and pizza which were all very good. They had a BBQ set up along the beach but we found the line ups long so we didn't try it. We ate supper at the buffet on our last night and found it very disappointing in both quality and variety. We considered ourselves very fortunate that we didn't have to eat at the buffet all week.
The weather was pretty good during our week although it did rain just about every day at some point. It rained all afternoon on one day so we took a walk down the beach about 20 minutes to the vender's huts. There we found the usual fare and enjoyed haggling with the locals and bought some tee shirts and smokes. The venders were on the resort a couple of nights, and we found it intimidating as you had to walk through a gauntlet of them to get to the restaurants.
We found the resort to be very crowded the first few days probably due to the Easter holiday weekend. There seemed to be a lot of Dominicans on the resort on Easter Sunday. It was very difficult to find a chair anywhere as a lot of people got up very early and put their towels out on chairs. But this improved after the weekend and by Tuesday things were more manageable.
This resort is on the famous Bavaro Beach and it is truly the best of anywhere that we have been in the Caribbean. The beach is clean with fine white sand. There are plenty of huts on the beach for shade, but you must get down there early to get a place with some shade. The water is very warm and there is a buoyed area for swimming but no lifeguards. Janet figured there was a lot of seaweed in the water, but I didn't think it was too bad. Venders roam the beach, but are really not much of a bother
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
The brochures show two resorts, the Caribe Club Princess and the Tropical Princess. However, they are in fact one and the same. People from both freely mingle throughout all the facilities. We met people who were staying in both "sides" and the only differences we could surmise was maybe the quality of the rooms and access to the a la carte restaurants. The complex is very compact and everything is close. However, it does take about 10 minutes to walk from the beach back to the lobby. The road passes through a mangrove swamp/ garden area where there are all kinds of interesting plant and animal life. There are some shops located near the lobby with the usual high prices. We went to a couple of shows at the theatre near the lobby and it was the usual lip sync stuff by the activities staff.
Other Comments:
The Caribe Club Princess is absolutely NOT a 4.5 star resort. However, with the VIP package upgrade it does make 4 stars in our books. The bars are definitely lacking at this complex and there aren't a lot of options of things to do in the evening. The lobby bar is a very nice facility and the table service is good. However, the chairs are uncomfortable and there could be a little entertainment offered like a piano or guitar player. A sports bar with pool tables, cards, darts and the like was sorely missed. The bathrooms on this resort are not up to par as they are small and there aren't enough of them. They also seem to have trouble keeping them clean. But it is very good value for the money if you are paying in the $1,000 range.
Other than that, we had a pretty good time. We got all tanned up, met some great people and had a few laughs. Unfortunately, we both caught a stomach bug while we were there and we needed medical attention when we got home. You need to be VERY CAREFUL in the Dominican Republic since the water is not purified. We thought we were careful and we did not over indulge in the food or drink. But since we still got sick, it is very doubtful that we will return to the Dominican Republic.


text:
Metakit is an efficient embedded database library with a small footprint. It fills the gap between flat-file, relational, object-oriented, and tree-structured databases, supporting relational joins, serialization, nested structures, and instant schema evolution. There is a C++ API, a Python binding called Mk4py, and a Tcl binding called Mk4tcl. You can manipulate and exchange data between any of these.
Data files are portable. The library has been used on Unix, Windows, Macintosh, VMS, and others, spanning a range of 16- to 64-bit architectures, from PDA's to S390's.
Metakit is in use in various commercial projects and products on millions of desktops.
- 2019-03-01 Metakit source code now on Gitea
The Metakit source code has been moved to my personal git.jeelabs.org server.
- 2011-08-19 Metakit source code now on GitHub
The Metakit source code (including older releases) have been moved to GitHub. The subversion repository will be kept around for a while, but is now read-only.
For the latest changes, check on GitHub.
- 2007-06-18 Fix threading problems in Mk4tcl
A change is needed to make the thread fix work with mk::loop, because the _ws pointer could be null in FreeCursorInternalRep. Fixed by no longer clearing _ws and changing a test for that case. - This fix is in SVN.
- 2007-06-16 Metakit 22.214.171.124 released
This is the latest stable release, see the download page.
Use your data on any platform
Both the code and datafiles are portable. All byte-ordering managed by the library.
Complex datastructures in one file
Store multiple nested data structures, to create document-centric applications.
Restructure datafiles, instantly
You'll have to see this to believe it: restructure files on-the-fly, while open.
Serialize all data for transport
Complementing commit/rollback of changes, data can also be serialized.
Recover from system-failures
The use of Stable Storage ensures that files cannot be corrupted by crashes.
Load on-demand, quick startup
Files are opened without reading data. Memory-mapped files if O/S supports it.
Behaves like containers
The API mimics container classes. Quickly get sizes and iterate over rows.
Wide range of operators built-in
Sorting, relational join / group by, set operations, permutations, hashing.
1-32 bits per int (or 64), variable-sized data
The largest int defines storage format. String/binary data is stored as var-sized.
Create fully self-contained applications
Can be linked shared or statically, for hassle-free deployment of components.
Tiny code (125 Kb as Win32 DLL)
The library is extremely small, unused functions are stripped off in static links.
Simple API, just 6 core classes
Only a small interface is exposed. One header file lists all the classes you need.
Also use from Python and Tcl
These language bindings are coded to take advantage of the respective idioms.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The National Capital Association of Wabash Men partnered with Seabury Resource's Age-in-Place Senior Housing Program for its 2010 Wabash Day project. 16 alumni and friends joined Volunteer Coordinator Tawana Moore on a beautiful Saturday morning to do some much needed yard work around the home of an elderly D.C. resident.
The Age-in-Place program provides a variety of services to low-income senior citizens living in Washington D.C. that allow them to maintain an independent lifestyle into old age.
Alums mowed down brush, raked leaves, pulled vines, trimmed hedges, and weeded flower beds until the yard of the 110 year old resident looked great. 12 trash bags of yard waste lined the alley behind the house after just a few short hours of work. Participating in this year's effort were
Census: Dennis Whigham '66, Tom Petska '70, Tom Martella '71, John Bordenkecher '96, Mark Doyle '98, Ben Robinson '01, Matt Warner '01, Chris Alexander '02, Ryan Clougherty '02, Rick Strasser '02, R. Scott Medsker '03, Adam Pope '04, George Robinette '04, Megan Gilroy, Ross Dillard '07, Kyle Long '07


text:
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Compared to placebo, ASP2151 significantly shortens the time to healing of recurrent genital herpes, investigators report in the Journal of Infectious Diseases online February 20.
"Three-day or single-day courses of ASP2151 appear to be effective and safe options for treatment of episodes of recurrent genital herpes," conclude Ramona L. Rorig, with Astellas Pharma Global Development in Deerfield, Illinois, and colleagues.
They explain that ASP2151 targets the viral helicase-primase complex, which is essential for herpes simplex virus DNA synthesis. The team tested various doses of the drug against placebo and valacyclovir in a double-blind randomized trial involving 695 adults with episodic recurrence of genital herpes.
Specifically, the participants were assigned to ASP2151 at a daily dose of 100, 200, or 400 mg for 3 days, ASP2151 as a single dose of 1200 mg, placebo for 3 days, or valacyclovir 500 mg twice daily for 3 days. Blinding was maintained with matching placebo pills as needed.
The patients initiated treatment at the first sign or symptom of a herpes recurrence, and the primary efficacy endpoint was time to lesion healing excluding aborted lesions.
Median healing times were 139.8 hours with placebo, 119.6 hours with ASP2151 100 mg (hazard ratio [HR], 1.40; p=0.065), 106.2 with ASP2151 200 mg (HR, 1.40; p=0.081), 115.9 with ASP2151 400 mg (HR, 1.25; p=0.25), 102.1 with ASP2151 1200 mg (HR, 1.72; p=0.007), and 113.9 with valacyclovir 500 mg twice daily (HR, 1.42; p=0.077), the researchers report.
"The duration of viral shedding and the duration of the episode were each 2 days shorter in all the ASP2151 groups, compared with the placebo group," they note.
Most treatment-emergent events were mild or moderate and most related to GI complaints. However, one patient developed tachycardia, pyrexia and tremor on day 1 of treatment and another also discontinued because of abdominal pain, dizziness and lethargy on day 3.
The authors conclude that helicase primase inhibitors "offer an alternative therapeutic approach for patients who have acyclovir-resistant HSV or for whom standard therapy with nucleoside analogues has not resulted in adequate response."
They add, "ASP2151 administered alone or in combination with other antivirals may provide a treatment alternative for immunocompromised participants who have infection with HSV that is resistant to nucleoside analogues; however, its efficacy in this patient population remains to be explored."
ASP2151 for the Treatment of Genital Herpes: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo- and Valacyclovir-Controlled, Dose-Finding Study
J Infect Dis 2012.


text:
Tampa Hillsborough County Commissioners unanimously voted to move forward with an authorization for an amendment that would prohibit discrimination within the county on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The 7-0 vote is a stark change to previous LGBT initiatives, which have typically failed or split the board.
Prior to the July 16 vote, the floor was open to comments and 23 citizens spoke. Fourteen of those speakers supported the amendment to the HRO and nine spoke against it.
The naysayers focused on the alleged persecution that the amendment might pose to religion. Most of the offended parties identified themselves as Christians. A few others simply described themselves as "religious."
Highlights included self-proclaimed "ex-gay" Mark Culligan, who complained of reverse discrimination since "becoming straight," as well as Troy Cluft, who read Leviticus 18:22, the verse commonly cited when arguing the Bible outlaws same-sex sexual encounters.
A diverse group of gay, straight, lesbian and transgender speakers spoke in favor of passing the protections. The argued that Hillsborough would receive an economical, moral boon should they pass the amendment. Some of them were married, some were not.
Pete Johnson, an HIV-positive man who was infected from an early blood transfusion became emotional when he recalled losing "friends, jobs and associates throughout his life from discrimination."
Transgender resident Stephanie Nicols wore a red shirt to symbolize the "target" she, as well as many other, transgender citizens face from the moment they start the transition to the end stages of adjusting to their new identity.
Not all the speakers were LGBT. A heterosexual women who "despite never even dabbling a little" as a lesbian became visibly emotional when she recalled how similar the anti-LGBT culture now is to the anti-women culture when she joined the workforce 30-plus years ago.
"I was judged by simply having this body," she recounted. "So I know what it feels like."
Commissioner Kevin Beckner closed the meeting with an impassioned and concise argument as to why he felt the amendment can and must move forward. Rather than mention his own personal experience as a gay man, he drove home the point that to deny equal rights is to deny growth to Hillsborough itself.
"Ninety-one percent of Fortune 500 companies support equal opportunity for gay/lesbian employees and 61% support rights for transgender," Beckner said.
Attorney Gary Sasso discussed how his firm has benefited throughout its history by hiring top candidates regardless of sex, race or sexual orientation and religion.
Public Defender Julianne Holt mirrored Sasso and Beckner's sentiments with the closing words.
"No one should have to come into our community in fear," Holt said. "We as elected officials must do everything we can to eliminate discrimination. We must recruit and retain the best of the best."
The amendment will now be drafted by the County Attorney's office and will be presented at a future meeting for discussion and approval.
From our media partner Watermark


text:
Eighteen people are dead after a truck carrying macadam ran into a passenger bus in an outlying area of Moscow.
The Emergency Services Ministry says in a statement that 25 other people were injured in the Saturday crash. The severity of the injuries wasn't stated.
The accident occurred when the truck plowed into the side of the bus near Oznobishino, a settlement in the Moscow municipality about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the city center.
Russian news reports say the drivers of both vehicles are among the hospitalized.


text:
Geeez… I seem to have a bit of a Fail theme going on at the moment.
Anyway, the good news is that Blizzard fixed all those problems you folk have been experiencing if you did the Midsummer Festival activities last year…
With the added bonus that the bon fires have been reset, and you can do them again!
From Spooncraft:
Hey congratulations folks who did the Midsummer stuff last year and have felt screwed this year. Blizzard has applied a little fix on the servers that reset the quests so players regain access to all those blossoms. You need something like 400 of them to purchase all the gear required for the hot pole dance meta.
We are in the process of applying an in-game fix that will restart all of the quests associated with the Midsummer Fire Festival event and allow players to complete them once again. If you are in the process of completing an achievement such as Extinguishing Kalimdor, this fix will reset your progress and you will need start over. This fix will require realms to be restarted.
So where's the fail in that?
A little bit from WoWVault started to confirm my suspicions…
They basically resets everyone's festival fire quests, which really isn't a bad deal since it means free gold and blossoms for everyone! Anyone who doesn't wish to redo them still retains the achievement credit, so it's a win-win.
Then I found these bits
* Totemic Beacons are unable to be reclaimed if destroyed. Players who are wishing to complete "Inform the Elder" are welcome to request further assistance by submitting an in-game petition.
* If players previously completed "A Thief's Reward" prior to their realm's reset, it's possible they may be able to complete it again.
* With this, if players stole any city fires prior to this morning's hotfix, they may need to doubleback and re-complete them in order to pick up a "A Thief's Reward."
It's really that last paragraph that made me /cry…
Win Some/Lose Some
You see, I pulled a late one last night.
I cleared out:
- Flame Warden of Eastern Kingdoms
- Extinguishing Eastern Kingdoms
This morning I jumped on and finished off:
- Flame Warden of Kalimdor
- Extinguishing Kalimdor
I even explored Badlands in the process (Well, the one last piece anyway)
The problem is, I took out Undercity and Silvermoon last night, and Orgimmar and Thunderbluff this morning.
When I handed in the Thunderbluff flame I was expecting some sort of big news…
- Give me: A Thief's Reward
- Give me: King of the Fire Festival (Complete the quest, "A Thief's Reward", by stealing the flames from your enemy's capital cities.)
Of course, it wasn't until I read these posts that I realized they were the big news, and I am going to have to take on Undercity and Silvermoon once again.
I know, not a big issue… but I am slightly annoyed… (While being happy for the rest of you!)
Gnomer and Out!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.


text:
// TextBox: @Html.TextBox(name: "TextBox1", value: "Testing", htmlAttributes: new {id="TextBox1", @class="TextBoxCss"}) // produces <input class="TextBoxCss" id="TextBox1" name="TextBox1" type="text" value="Testing" /> //Label: @Html.Label(labelText: "This is a test", attributes: new { id = "TextBox1", @class = "TextBoxCss" }); <label class="TextBoxCss" for="This is a test" id="TextBox1">This is a test</label> // Radio Button @Html.RadioButton(name: "RadioButton1", value: "SelectedValue", isChecked: false) <input id="RadioButton1" name="RadioButton1" type="radio" value="SelectedValue" />
The parameter htmlAttributes is an optional object parameter used to set additional html attributes. Attributes that are also reserved keywords in C# must be preceded with the @ character as seen in the class attribute above or you will get a compiler error. It is also optional to name the parameters as I've done above using the "name: value" syntax. I've done so here so you can see which properties are being set. This is just a couple of the standard helpers that are available and you may be thinking that they really don't provide much benefit over just typing out the html, but let's take a look at a couple more helpers.
The WebGrid helper provides a way to easily format data into a table. This is great for displaying large amounts of data and this helper really cuts down on the amount of code you would otherwise have to write to create a table. After creating your connection string in your Web.Config all we need is a simple 3 lines to get the WebGrid working.
@{ var DB = Database.Open("pubsConString"); var grid = new WebGrid(DB.Query("select * from authors")); @grid.GetHtml() }
For a little more information on using the WebGrid helper see this tutorial.
This was just a quick introduction to some of the standard helpers available using Razor for ASP.NET. There are more standard helpers and also many third party helpers available as well to simplify creating an html form and I'll dive more into those in the future.


text:
GM's answer to Chrysler's PT Cruiser.
Sport Utility Vehicles
Editor: Sam Moses
$15,990 Base Price MSRP
$22,625 As Tested MSRP
Model Lineup: Chevrolet HHR LS ($15,990); 1LT ($16,990); 2LT ($18,790)
Standard Engine: 2.4-liter dohc 16-valve I4
Engine Options: 143-hp 2.2-liter inline 4; 172-hp 2.4-liter inline 4
Standard Transmission: 4-speed automatic
Transmission Options: 5-speed manual; 4-speed automatic
Basic Warranty: 3 years/36,000 miles
Assembled In: Ramos, Arizpe, Mexico
Model Tested MSRP: Chevrolet HHR 2LT ($18,790)
Standard Equipment: air conditioning, power steering, power disc brakes, power windows, power locks, cruise control, remote keyless entry, trip computer, fog lamps, sport suspension, 17-inch aluminum wheels
Options As Tested: automatic transmission with remote start ($1000); power sunroof ($725); side curtain airbags ($395); polished forged aluminum wheels ($395); XM satellite radio ($325); 6 CD changer ($295); roof rails ($150); running boards ($445); floor mats ($105)
Standard Safety Equipment: frontal airbags, daytime running lights
Optional Safety Equipment: ABS, side curtain airbagsDestination Charge: $565
As if to add obscurity to curiosity, HHR stands for Heritage High Roof." The roof of the Chevrolet HHR two-wheel-drive SUV is high, and its heritage dates to the 1949 GMC Suburban panel delivery truck. The HHR is on a smaller scale, but there are no bones about its retro styling.
We found the HHR to be fun to drive. It isn't a sports car, but it's nimble and we were pleased with its acceleration. The HHR feels more responsive than its horsepower, torque, and transmission ratio numbers suggest. Plus it gets decent fuel economy. The interior wasn't as functional as we'd have liked, however, and the base cloth fabric left us wishing we'd ordered the optional leather."
The Chevrolet HHR comes in a simple LS model, plus a 1LT and 2LT. The LS comes standard with GM's solid 2.2-liter, double-overhead-cam four-cylinder Ecotec engine, making 143 horsepower; the 1LT offers an optional 2.4-liter version of that same engine rated at 172 horsepower; and the 2LT makes that powerplant standard. All three models come standard with a five-speed manual transmission; a four-speed automatic is optional ($1000) and comes packaged with remote starting.
Standard equipment on the LS ($15,990) includes air conditioning, power windows and locks, power mirrors, remote keyless entry, front intermittent wipers, rear-window wiper, power driver's seat with lumbar support, and 16-inch aluminum wheels.
The 1LT ($16,990) adds an MP3 player with a jack for an iPod, eight ways to adjust the driver's seat, and satin chrome trim.
The 2LT ($18,790) adds the 2.4-liter Ecotec engine, anti-lock brakes, traction control, fog lamps, a 260-watt Pioneer sound system with seven speakers, 17-inch aluminum wheels, sport-tuned suspension and bright chrome trim.
Safety features include optional front and rear side-curtain airbags ($395). ABS comes standard on the 2LT, and is optional for the LS and 1LT ($400). Electronic stability control is not available.
Walk Around
If there's ever been a case of a picture of a so-called SUV being worth a thousand words, the HHR should be it. It looks like a 1949 panel delivery truck, with the edges smoothed over. Or maybe not. Today we call such fenders flared, and are sculpted for effect; back in those days, they were merely functional, and didn't have that edgy" look.
Actually, that "flared" description seems to apply only to the rear; the front fenders simply hang out there over the tires, as they should to be truly retro, and they are nicely rounded, at least to their outside edges, where they are flattened. This is the current look, whose origins are unclear, but may trace to the Mitsubishi Endeavor, whose flattened and edged flares were designed purely to be noticed.
Speaking of the current look, the tail lamps are two round red vertical bulbs on each side. The big grille is chrome, every inch of it, and looks almost exactly like the '49 Suburban grille. The headlights, however, are modern glittering wedges, containing one big beam and the turn signal.
The front and rear bumpers are molded plastic, unlike the steel in the body. Technically, they may be part of the fascia, but because they take the conspicuous shape of bumpers, they are more like square lumps extending from the extremities of the vehicle.
The glass runs neatly uninterrupted all around the vehicle, with five rectangular windows from B-pillar around the rear to B-pillar. There's something about the simple shape of these windows that gives the HHR a low-rider look, although the roof itself is relatively high, as the name declares. Our test HHR was fitted with chrome roof rails, which we suggest saving $150 by not buying them. Roof rails are almost useless without crossbars, and we think this vehicle would look more appropriate with a functional black after-market rack anyhow.
The HHR was designed by the same man who designed the PT Cruiser; he left Chrysler for GM shortly afterward. We received quite a few comments on the HHR's looks, all of them favorable, some thinking it was the new PT Cruiser, and others simply asking what it was. "Wow, that looks terrific, just terrific," said one fellow. We asked what he liked about the styling. "Well, I've got a '23 dump truck," he replied, "which I wish I could drive on the street because it looks so cool. I like this because I could drive it on the street." One assumes that GM expects the market for the HHR to be extend beyond such arcane tastes.
Actually, the HHR will be appreciated by people who have the soul of a '50s California surfer."
Our HHR didn't have leather, but yours might need it. The tan cloth interior, despite its name of cashmere cloth," looks like upholstery that might be found in an inexpensive furnished rental unit. Many other SUVs have nice-looking, rugged cloth interiors nowadays; GM doesn't escape its reputation for being out to lunch on this one.
We couldn't find a comfortable seating position; the problem seemed to lie in the contour of the seatback. And unless the seat was in its lowest position, our head hit the headliner (5'10" driver). Speaking of headroom, there isn't a lot of it, in spite of the high roof.
There are slim folding armrests for each front seat; the driver's armrest sloped a few degrees below horizontal on our test unit, apparently because of a broken stop, and was therefore unusable.
The automatic transmission shift lever, with a big chrome knob, sometimes got stuck in park, and had to be jiggled to engage reverse or drive.
There's no significant storage in any console between the seats, two cupholders and one slot is all. The door pockets are small. There's a useful flip-up compartment on top of the dash, however, and there's a small glovebox.
In the rear, there's one cupholder and small door pockets. The back of the front passenger seat has a tight storage net, but not the back of the driver's seat. GM saved a few cents here.
The windows are controlled on the console by four buttons located just forward of the gear lever. So if you park with the windows down, and want to lock the car, you have to reach down with two hands in front of the gear lever, and hold the buttons down two at a time (or reach with one hand, and hold the four buttons down consecutively, and wait). Even operating the driver's window, at toll booths for example, requires leaning forward and reaching down. Window switches should be on the driver's door.
The turn signal makes a loud, rapid, annoying click. The rearview mirror blocks a significant chunk of forward visibility out the smallish windshield.
The gauges and controls are, well, General Motors. Superfluous chrome rings and trim, and instruments designed to look cool, rather than to be easily readable.
One good thing (even if it is bright chrome) is the door handle, an ergonomically correct ring which actuates with a horizontal inward pull.
If the HHR misses on the little interior things, the cargo storage possibilities are excellent, although the total cargo area of 55.6 cubic feet is 8.4 less than in the PT Cruiser. The rear split 60/40 seat folds flat very easily, as does the front passenger seat; and since the 60-percent side of the rear seat is on the left, a long item like a ladder can be slipped in diagonally. Which is good, because without crossbars to the roof rails, it can't be carried above.
The rear cargo floor flips up to reveal a five-inch-deep tray, where you might hide a wallet, or many wallets, or a few short stacks of pancakes for a firemen's breakfast. The rear liftgate is one piece, and raises easily.
Not surprisingly, there isn't much legroom in the rear seat. Kids are always fine, as long as three of them can share one drink. We actually carried six 10-year-old boys on a soccer team for 60 miles in the HHR, and they were all happy. Even the two who squeezed into the way back.
Overall, interior-wise, the HHR isn't in the same league as the Honda Element."
Driving Impressions
The 2.4-liter Ecotec is a wonderful little engine. It's an aluminum four-cylinder, with 16 valves, electronic fuel injection and variable valve timing. It makes 172 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque at 5000 rpm, numbers which don't indicate anything special. In fact, that torque peak suggests that the low-rpm pulling power might be weak. But it's not. We drive up a steep, slow hill every day, and the HHR plugged up the hill like a tractor, with no shifting-down of the automatic transmission. Which is more than can be said of the powerful Pontiac GTO we tested recently.
Transmission ratios have a lot to do with this efficient delivery of power. Curiously, there's nothing in the ratios of the HHR four-speed automatic that indicate it should make this hill so easily, either. All we can say is that the pulling power of the HHR 2LT is excellent.
We suspect the five-speed Getrag manual transmission (same as in the PT Cruiser) would be a better bet for the HHR than the automatic, but we have no complaints with the four-speed automatic, which costs another $1000, and includes remote starting (think of climbing into a toasty car in your driveway on icy mornings). In fact, we liked the way the automatic, without a separate manual mode, could be easily manually downshifted anyhow, and how it held second gear going down that same steep, slow hill. Our only problem was with the sticky linkage, in getting out of Park.
Acceleration was equally impressive. Onto the freeway, foot on the floor, and the HHR 2LT really scoots, which makes it a lot of fun. The engine is also efficient; it gets the same EPA-rated 23 city and 30 highway miles per gallon (manual transmission) as the 2.2-liter with only 143 horsepower, although premium fuel is recommended (but not required). During one week in the 2LT, we averaged 23.4 miles per gallon, as indicated by the digital data on the dash. That included mostly around-town driving, plus about 120 freeway miles with a full load of passengers and the cruise control set at 70. The HHR got slightly better mileage at that freeway pace, than it did light-footed around town.
The engine is also quiet, thanks partly to special laminated steel in the firewall.
The 2LT has a sport-tuned suspension with 17-inch aluminum wheels, as well as anti-lock brakes. There is no harshness to the ride around town, or over freeway bumps for that matter. The suspension shows its limitations when driven like a sports car, but, after all, it's technically an SUV, with front-wheel drive. Mostly, it's especially nimble. Chevrolet boasts that some 2000 hours went into the calibration of the rack-and-pinion steering with power assist, to give it a just right" feel, and we would say it feels just right, around town.
The brakes are 11.65-inch discs in front, 10-inch drums in rear, and have an easy feel. Brake force distribution, which electronically adjusts the braking so that the rear wheels don't lock up, is not available. It might be useful, given the 57/43 weight distribution of the HHR."
Despite its great little engine, and its SUV designation, the HHR has a limited application because it's only two-wheel drive, with a mere 55.6 cubic feet of cargo space. The fact that the seats can fold flat helps increase the utility. But in the end, it's all about styling. It's a PT Cruiser for people who want something different, and who like the classic looks of the 1949 Chevy panel delivery truck.
New Car Test Drive correspondent Sam Moses filed this report from the Pacific Northwest's Columbia River Valley.
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|Jepson Flora Project: Jepson Interchange
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Jepson Interchange (more information)
©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
Annual to tree
Leaves basal or cauline, alternate to whorled, simple to compound
Inflorescence: 1° inflorescence a head, each resembling a flower, 1many, generally arrayed in cymes, generally subtended by ± calyx-like involucre; flowers 1many per head
Flowers bisexual, unisexual, or sterile, ± small, of several types; calyx 0 or modified into pappus of bristles, scales, or awns, which is generally persistent in fruit; corolla radial or bilateral (rarely 0), lobes generally (0)45; stamens 45, anthers generally fused into cylinder around style, often appendaged at tips, bases, or both, filaments generally free, generally attached to corolla near throat; pistil 1, ovary inferior, 1-chambered, 1-seeded, style 1, branches 2, generally hair-tufted at tip, stigmas 2, generally on inside of style branches
Fruit: achene, cylindric to ovoid, generally deciduous with pappus attached
Genera in family: ± 1300 genera, 21,000 species (largest family of dicots): worldwide. Largest family in CA. Also see tribal key to CA genera: Strother 1997 Madroño 44(1):128. See glossary p. 25 for illustrations of general family characteristics.
Annual to shrubs, glabrous or hairy; sap milky
Stems branched, 0.53 m
Leaves cauline or some basal, alternate
Inflorescence: heads ligulate; involucre cylindric; phyllaries in 2several series; receptacle naked
Flowers fewmany; ligules lavender, pink, or whitish, readily withering
Fruit linear, club-shaped, or oblong; pappus generally of 930 stiff, plumose bristles
Species in genus: 24 species: w North America
Etymology: (Greek: wreath division)
Reference: [Gottlieb 1972 Madroño 21:463481]
Annual, tap-rooted, rosette-forming species highly variable and complexly interrelated.
Annual 0.53 m, glabrous or ± tomentose
Stems: branches many, long
Leaves: basal rosette generally withered at flower; cauline oblong or wider above middle, margin wavy or shallowly lobed
Inflorescence: heads solitary or clustered on short, stiffly spreading branches; peduncles 37 mm; involucre 68 mm; outer phyllaries << inner, appressed or reflexed; inner phyllaries 69
Flowers 59; ligules white above, purplish pink below
Fruit 2.23.6 mm; pappus bristles plumose throughout, white
Ecology: Common. Dry, open slopes
Elevation: < 2100 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: sw Oregon, Nevada
Inflorescence: outer phyllaries appressed
Flowers 5
Chromosomes: 2n=16
Ecology: Habitats and range of sp. (except SCoRO, SCo, TR)
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province (except Outer South Coast Ranges, South Coast, Transverse Ranges)