T-shirts for group of friends on a cruise

I’ve been on dozens of vacations, but only few have been as memorable as the time me and my friends went on a cruise. Yesterday I was looking at old pictures and was reminded of this amazing trip, and wanted to share. It was on our first summer vacation from university, the first time we traveled as a group. It was definitely an eye-opener for me, and showed me how much fun vacations could be, especially if spent with some of your favorite people in the world. And what made it all the more special was the cruise t-shirts we all bought. I kept mine and it was right there with the pictures. Having that memorabilia can really bring back emotions and make you appreciate your times.

If you decide to go on a cruise vacation with friends, there are several things to keep in mind. But the most important, in my opinion, is to get matching t-shirts to elevate your vacation to next level of fun.

Choosing a t-shirt

First of all, let’s discuss where you can get perfect tees for your group of friends on a cruise. You can order them online, or get one in person. Your traditional retail stores are unlikely to have cruise t-shirts, so you will have to print it.

Lucky for you, Etsy is full of smart and original cruise t-shirt designs. They are simply image files formatted as png, which means they have transparent background. You can take these to print shops near you, and pick out a t-shirt you want. Choosing a t-shirt in person has several advantages. Most important is that you can choose any material you want. This is a t-shirt you will be wearing all day, so its important to pick one that feels comfortable on your skin. Second, you can also ensure that the t-shirt is the right size. I wear an L, but sometimes when I order online, L is too small for me. There’s no way to know the sizing standards for sure. Trying it on at the print shop is one way to make sure your cruise t-shirt for group of friends will fit you.

Designs

Now, lets talk designs. There are a lot of fun and creative designs online. Most of the designs you find on Amazon or on online shops are available on Etsy. Some sellers even have a pack of 100+ designs in PNG format. Surely you can find one you like.

I think its not obligatory for all group of friends to wear the same design, or wear custom t-shirt at all. Its just more fun this way. I recommend giving your friends the freedom to choose a design they like, or come up with one themselves. Its much less work on your part, and makes the whole thing that much more exciting. But do help your friends figure out the logistics of printing a t-shirt for group of friends on a cruise.

Cruise t-shirts for couples – all you need to know

So you and your partner decided to go on a cruise. There’s a lot to decide – where are you going to go, for how long, and what is your budget? Besides these important questions, there’s also a question of what to pack. A custom t-shirt might be what you need to stand out and have fun while there. A funny or creative design could be a conversation starter and help you make new friends.

Let’s get to the point.

How to choose cruise t-shirts as a couple?

This probably isn’t your first time choosing a t-shirt, so you know the general process – make sure you find the right fit, and choose colors that go well with the rest of your outfit.

There’s also some factors you need to consider because you will be on a cruise. Depending on where you’re going, the weather can get quite hot, so make sure you choose a t-shirt that is breathable. This is a factor of quality materials, as well as overall thickness of the t-shirt. You want something that’s lightweight, but doesn’t feel flimsy to the touch. It’s a fine line, but some sellers manage to tread it well.

Next, you need a material that is durable and looks good. Its not easy to find t-shirt material that is both, but I found viscose to be great. A lot of my friends had good experiences with t-shirts that are 100 or 90 percent cotton. Ultimately, its best to feel the material, and try it on so you can decide whether you can tolerate wearing it all day. Trying on the t-shirt also helps with finding the right size for you.

Finally, we get to the interesting part. Design is a factor that can make or break a t-shirt for me. Me and my partner found that wearing a t-shirt with cool text and image helped us make friends and generally have a great time on board.

Where to buy cruise t-shirts

This is quite a niche topic, so there are not a lot of places to buy great t-shirts for couples on a cruise. In my opinion, Amazon has a lot of good designs. You just need to look through pages, and carefully check size guides to find something for your body.

Alternatively, you can find interesting t-shirts and designs on Etsy. Sometimes artists create compelling designs and sell them as a package. Usually these designs are formatted as svg or png, so you can print them on a t-shirt yourself.

Once you have designs, you can use various t-shirt printing services to create a tee yourself. This approach gives you all the flexibility to customize the size and position of the graphics on your t-shirt.

You can also talk with your local print services. Maybe they are able to print on a t-shirt. This way is the cheapest, because you can print multiple t-shirts and pick them up at local shop. You can also choose a t-shirt material that feels comfortable and fits you.

Essential gear for a family on a cruise

In my experience, going on a cruise is one of the most fun things a family can do. These large ships have everything anyone could possibly want – from elaborate children’s playgrounds to highly rated restaurants to have a dinner and enjoy superb food.

Still, the quality of your cruising experience depends on your preparations. When packing, you should not forget essentials or you might not have as much fun as you would’ve otherwise. Without further ado, let’s get started.

Essential cruise gear for a family

I’d say first thing you should pack is appropriate clothing. Depending on what type of cruise you will choose, you should pack casual or official clothes, or mix of both. Cruises will often have various dining options and events that require official clothes, or can be done in casual clothes. If you want to do these types of events, then pack official clothes. Children will be okay in their normal clothes. Just don’t forget to bring swimsuits for everyone, otherwise you will miss out on numerous swimming pools cruise ships usually have on board. That includes several pairs for you and your partner, as well as children. Finally, if you want to have a little fun while on a cruise, I highly recommend picking out cruise t-shirts for families. You can find some funny and original designs that will make you stand out and elevate your experience. After the cruise is over, you can keep it as memory, or wear it once again if you decide to go on a cruise another time.

Next, you need to organize logistics. Fortunately, cruises are both the transport and destination, so you don’t have to buy lots of bus and train tickets to go from one place to another. Still, your cruise might be stopping at various countries and cities. So you may need to bring passport with you. In some cases, you will have to get passports for your kids, because they might not have one. You may also need to get different currencies to spend at different cities around the world. If the cruise destination is to Europe, you can simply get euros (in most cases, although some countries do not use euros). You can do this by contacting your bank to request foreign currency. You can also get a card to pay in that currency, or simply pay with your USD card and hope that exchange fees aren’t too high. Obviously, you should bring credit cards with you.

Some items like packing cubes can make it easier to organize your bags, so you can unpack and find everything once you’re on the ship. You can also get apple airtags and keep track of its whereabouts. Its also a good idea to bring any essential medication. Chances are, cruise ships will have some meds on board. But if you have very specific condition, make sure to stock up on essentials before sailing out to sea. Same goes for any favorite self-care items, like shampoos and conditioners that work well with your hair.

Loop through array of objects in React

Component reusability is one of the cornerstones of building web apps in React. Developers can write the component once and reuse it as many times as they need. Check SimpleFrontEnd for great tutorials on React.

Why we need to loop through array of objects

Often we need to render components based on data received from the API. External data can be formatted in many different ways. Most often, we receive an array of objects. Each object contains information to render a component or element. Most often, we use map(), filter(), or other array methods to return a new array with modified items. And the callback function is used to specify how every item needs to be modified.

However, looping through an array of objects requires some precision. First of all, let’s look at how to import an array of objects from an external source. This is usually done using the useEffect() hook. It’s important to understand how the dependency array works and how useEffect () can replace lifecycle hooks, typically used to perform side-effects in React.

Once you have an array of objects stored in a state variable, you can get to work. You need to create a new array where every item is an element or a component. Methods like map() and filter() are perfect for this purpose. Map() returns a new array made up of transformed components, and filter() does the same except it filters array items as well.

Using map() to loop through array of objects

So, how do you use map() to loop through array of objects in React? You take information contained in objects and use this information as values for props and contents for components.

You can create a new array of elements and components in JSX or outside of it. The latter option is better, because it’s more readable to separate JavaScript logic from JSX as much as possible. It’s better to finish the array transformation and store final result in a variable. Then you can reference that variable inside JSX. Remember to use curly braces to differentiate dynamic expressions from normal content in JSX.

If you do decide to use map() directly in the JSX, you will need to use curly braces. In fact, you might need to use curly braces on multiple levels. For example, you need initial curly braces to embed the initial expression (performing map() on array). Remember that map() callback function usually returns JSX, so you need to use curly braces again when you need to embed values from the object into elements.

There are other things to remember when you use map() to loop over objects in the array. For example, every new component or React element must have a unique id property. This is necessary so React can reliably identify every DOM element.

Technically, you can also use for loops and forEach to loop through an array of objects in React. However, doing this requires more lines of code and the end result simply isn’t as readable as using the map() method. SimpleFrontEnd explores different ways to loop through an array of objects in React.

Create select dropdowns and set their default value in React

Every dynamic React application should give users some way to interact with the app. Most commonly we use standard input fields where users can enter anything. In this article, we will explore how to set up dropdowns so users can choose one of many provided options.

JSX is a templating language for React. In a lot of ways, it works exactly like HTML. Except one big difference – it’s actually JavaScript. Still, it allows you to create elements like <select> the same way you’d create them in standard HTML. At first glance, <select> element in React looks indistinguishable from the same element in HTML. One big difference is that JSX allows you to embed JavaScript expressions. You can do so by using curly braces {} around the JavaScript expression. This is necessary, so React knows what parts are static and which are dynamic.

How to set default value for <Select> elements in React

You can easily select one of the options by default. This is useful if you need to suggest one of the choices.

First, you need to set up a normal <select> in React. This involves multiple routine steps. Create a state variable and the function to update it. Then tie <select> element’s value to the state variable and set an onChange event handler. Then come up with a few options with unique value values. This may sound strange, but the value is an attribute for <option> element in React and HTML. Developers should set it to a unique value.

Next, simply add the defaultValue attribute to the <select> element to set its default value. You need to specify which option is going to be selected by default. To specify this, simply set defaultValue to the value of one of the options.

You can also set a placeholder as the default option. It will allow you to not use a label. Usually, placeholders look better. Check this guide to see a live demo of <select> default value.

There are a number of libraries that provide custom functionality. Even though you don’t need a custom component to set a default value, you might still need it for other advanced features like multi-select.

These custom components accept options as a prop. You create an array of objects with two properties – label and value. Every object describes one option. Then you set options prop on the select element itself.

When dealing with custom components like these, you can set default values the same way you set options. Use the same attribute defaultValue, but this time you need to set it to an object that describes an option that should be the default.

Generally, I wouldn’t recommend using libraries when you don’t need them. However, sometimes building a certain feature takes too long. Still, you might learn something by building it. I’ve learned a lot by looking at interesting libraries and trying to build their features myself.

set OnKeyDown on input elements in React

Handling events is one of the most important aspects of building apps in React. You need them to build dynamic applications and interactive features of a web application. In today’s article, we will talk about the onKeyDown event – how to set it on elements and how to handle them.

We often use onKeyDown to run a JavaScript function when users press down a key when they have selected an element. In practice, it is often used with <input> elements. On rare occasions, you can also use it on <div>, <span>, and other elements.

How to set onKeyDown on Elements in React

It’s essentially the same as setting any other prop or attribute. You need to set onKeyDown to a JavaScript function. Don’t forget to use curly braces, which allows you to embed JavaScript expressions in React. Don’t set onKeyDown to an expression that calls the function. Instead, set it to the function itself.

In React, event handlers automatically receive instance of SyntheticEvent as an argument. This is an object that contains information about the element and user input. Developers who want to handle onKeyDown event can access the specific key that was pressed down. This is often a very useful feature, because we need to perform a certain action when user presses a certain key. For example, you might want to allow users to submit their input by clicking ‘Enter’. This way, users can provide input without additional hassle. It’s always difficult to get users to provide their feedback. Allowing them to submit by clicking a certain key is a great feature for your UX.

Access specific pressed down key

To access specific key user pressed down, you need to access key property of the SyntheticEvent instance. Then you can use equality operator to make sure user pressed down a certain key. Use an if condition block to check a JavaScript expression. Then write what you need to do in the condition body. SimpleFrontEnd has a good example where they use this feature in practice.

Let’s look at an example:

let handleKeyDown = (e) => { if (e.key == "M") { console.log("User pressed M")} } };

This is a simple callback function that accepts one argument – e , which stands for SyntheticEvent. You can simply access e.key to access the specific key pressed down by user. In this case, we have set up an if condition to check if user pressed the ‘M’ key. If they did, we output corresponding message to the console.

You should set onKeyDown on <input> elements. Whenever user enters something new, onKeyDown will check keys that were pressed down. If any of those keys match the key specified in the condition, then you can run a function. You can also skip the if condition and simply run a function whenever user presses down any key.

You can also save user inputs whenever user presses Enter. Here’s an example where we use onKeyDown to submit input on enter in React.

Importance of having a user-friendly UI

When building websites, companies sometimes pay too much attention to content and not enough attention to website UI. What does UI mean though? It is short for the user interface. In other words, parts and features of the website that the user sees and interacts with. Web developers should always focus on making the website easy to use, easy to understand, and easy to navigate.

If users can not find what they’re looking for, they will get frustrated and leave. Most likely, they will never come back. This is the worst-case scenario for a business, especially one that relies on returning customers. In short, having amazing content means nothing without also having a user-friendly interface.

Does it affect your bottom line?

Yes, user-friendly websites are typically more profitable than those that are not. This is for a number of reasons. If the website or web application makes money primarily from ads, then more engagement means more time spent on the website, which means more ad revenue. Even if you don’t make money from ads, you want users to interact with your website. This allows you to study their habits and notice patterns to further improve your website and optimize it for users.

Important things to remember

Never forget that you (the creators of the website) may be different from your intended audience. For example, you might find it easy to work on a tech website, because you understand technology yourself. However, the people who will come to your website want to learn about technology, so they know very little. It’s important to not confuse them.

New users might not be familiar with the latest trends. Always assume that they’re seeing the website for the first time, and make the website usable for them regardless.

Web developers sometimes live in a bubble where everyone around them understands technology, at least to some extent. But you’d be surprised to find out that 90% of internet users are not good with technology.

Practical tips

If you have a website that is difficult to figure out, include a tutorial that introduces people to the most important pages and features.

Identify which pages are the most troublesome for your users and try to simplify them. For example, I run a small quiz website and a lot of my audience were struggling with the forms they had to fill out. I implemented a number of UI features to fix this.

My website was built in React, so I could easily implement these dynamic features. For example, after users signed up, I would redirect them to a dashboard page and give them access to the admin panel. Here is how to use useNavigate() to redirect users in React.

If the users had to work with the same form over and over, I cleared their inputs after every submission, so they didn’t have to delete their own inputs.

Summary

When building websites or applications, user-friendliness should be your main concern.