FedoraDi

Ehh, some of the toughest fighters I've ever known were also crossdressers, male & female.

Some would consider me a crossdresser, because of my height & weight along with my build I can not fit into most womens clothing. I'm 6' around 350 massive shoulders to match my big belly & butt. :)

So big mens clothing fits me better, & I like it better than womens, lasts longer, not so tight. So when I dress up I wear mens suit pants with vest (waistcoat to our euro pals), dress shirt & shoes. Along with my fedora, got a cool custom one for Xmas.

Do I draw attention to myself? Maybe more than if I was in womens clothes, but I've been accused of being a trangender male to female person before, & in makeup I look like a drag queen. No insult to me, but it makes me feel uncomfortable because it draws even more looks. Yes, sometimes older women even try to chase me out of the womens restroom, my response? "I haven't grown any extra appendages down below or had any removed so leave me the bloody heck alone."

That usually shuts em up. :p

And I look like my id (DL & Passport/card) because I went in wearing a plain color collared shirt. Usually, if you can, wear a non male female shirt, like a polo to have your picture taken. Since they are only head shots here in the USA the security will be looking at facial only anyways.

And I've done security work, along with military & USA govt, all we cared about was did your mug (ugly in my case) look enough like your id so that someone didn't steal it.

And, I wear glasses occasionally, but in our state we are not allowed to wear headcoverings (unless religious like a burka (I think)) & they really hate wearing glasses unless you are really blind as a bat. :p

So most days I do not look like my id.

Be happy, enjoy your cruise, people will stare sometimes only because they are interested, Ignore the jerks, they are not worth it. ;)

About 5 yrs ago now Lewes DE had discussed becoming a smaller ship cruise port, thank the gods we shut that down quick.

Why? The main reason is the ferry terminal they wanted the ships to dock at is well outside the main art of the town with few ways to get to town & the infrastructure here can barely tolerate the summer tourists we do get, let alone more of them from a cruiseship.

AC could possibly handle it, but I haven't been there in about 20 yrs so I could be wrong.

Another great camera store that deals online & stands behind their product is Adorama Camera.. http://www.adorama.com/

I'm not a employee & don't have stake in their company but I've done high end purchases with both & was very happy with both.

Both stores are longtime NYC companies, the only thing you have to watch out for are jewish holidays, as they do close for them. Plus I think their fri/sat hours are effected by it also.

Good luck to you

Oh my, the comments I could make on those briefs? panties? acting as a "air diffuser".

If I say them though I could get moderated, so all I'll say is I hope they were clean. I would not want to be near them if they werent, heheheh.

abutler946,

 

We are cruising for our first time out of Baltimore two weeks from today and we're hoping for sunny and warm, but given that we live in the same climate zone as Baltimore we know that it could be 10 degrees and snow as easily as 80 degrees and sunshine. :o Two years ago your cruise would be during the time frame when there was about 3 feet of snow at the port (Hurricane Sandy), but last year would have been in the 40s. Odds are your cruise will be between 15 and 75 degrees and anywhere from no snow to a foot or three. :rolleyes:

 

Bon Voyage!

Let me put it to ya this way, chances are very very slim you will see snow in B-More in Oct or early Nov. Its not impossible but I have lived in DE for 30 yrs now (about 2 hrs east of B-More) and I cant ever remember snow that stays (sticks, mounts up) that early in the year. WV is different obviously, & I'm originally from CT (same type of area of B-More, waterfront area in SE CT), but even in the 70's we never got snow with the exception of a freak storm.

Freak storms are obviously an exception, Sandy was an exception but did not bring snow to us here in DE or B-More that I heard of. (shrugs)

So, as Paul put it, expect varying temps from the 40's to the 90's, highly slim chance of snow especially snow that sticks & stays around, but you may see frost, & enjoy your cruise. Now if you were cruising in Feb like I expect too then expect snow. :D

Its recommended to fully deplete (or to 5% or less) any rechargable battery before charging it back up. Yes, I realize with some items like shavers you would have to run them fully down/dead as they normally dont have battery charge icons.

The reasoning is that its better for the battery & this includes Li-ion, Nick-cads & the other type I cant remember.

Got to watch out for them Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries though, nasty buggers & quite a few cellphones are using them. I used to have a Motorola Droid X2 that when I was using a hotspot app on it & it was plugged in the back case would get quite hot, almost hot enough to start melting the heavy plastic type case it was in.

I eventually got it replaced for other issues with a Samsung Galaxy S3, that one seems fine with its griffin enclosed case, doesnt appear to overheat.

LiPo battery fire from overcharging.

ehh, I'm anti-obama & becoming anti-american govt & I served my country so others can have the right to their opinion. And I'm not ashamed to say things I feel, I'm not very PC as some would put it. It may be selfish of me to do such things but ehh, whatever. 8)

I can deal with others saying they are pro-obama, pro-govt, for the right to remove my weapons. Doesnt mean I have to agree with them, its just their opinion & mine would differ, doesnt mean I need to get into an arguement with them, or a verbal/physical assault, I just shrug & walk away.

Considering my size & build with my background, very few are willing to actually take it to a physical level. I had a girlfriend once discribe me as looking like a lion but actually a pussycat.. very scary looking but the sweetest personality, heheh.

I've gotten into too many disagreements on BB's to take them to heart, even ones that I met the person later in RL at gatherings. Usually we discuss it, & either agree to disagree or become friends.

I refuse to let someone keep me away from an event I want to attend. (shrug)

Go if you want, dont go if you want, ultimately the decision is your to make.

Here is a little something a wrote a while back. If you want to know what bikers are like, read and enjoy.

 

I Am A Biker - Jeff Smith Jan. 2012

 

(snipped)

First off, while thats a nice poem its not appro to what I have to say & I wished to save some space. ;) Nice poem though.

JYD.. my aunt & uncle are/were bikers, even belonged to a Hells Angel chapter back in the 70s or so, so I am not against motorcyclists.

What I am against is gangs, be they bike, or foot. And most people tend to think of bike gangs, like the HA's, Mongols, Vagos, Warlocks, Pagans when they hear "biker".

As many of the gangs say themselves.. its the 1%ers that cause issues & so give every other biker a bad rep. I call it the bad apple syndrome, one or two bad apples ruin the rest of the basket. :(

Would I go on a cruise if such a large group were reserved?

It depends.. if its 100 people on a 2000 ship, it wouldnt bother me. If it were 700-800 on a 2000 ship then I probably wouldnt go, mainly due to the fact that people who know one another & share a bond such as military & bikers do would mean they tend to gather together.. a lot. :D

And yes, I'm military myself.

I love hogs, my aunt & uncle owned king & queen of the road bikes, artwork done by a guy called Spider (Spyder?) in CT, who was a well known artist back in the 70's. They used to take my brother & I on rides on them, but I will never own a bike for personal reasons, was still fun times as a kid though.

And thank you for the info FourKittys (I have 6 plus 2 guests myself, hehe)

JustCruiseMe,

I'd appreciate the info that you got it onboard but I'd be interested in what cruise line & ship.

Personally I prefer my bottled water if I cant have my home well water, was at the doctors & she had me drink their tapwater for a test, it was nasty treated town water, blech.

Funny how many have to tell others they are wrong for wanting to drink bottled water if they want too, its like the people opposed to it are paying it themselves or something 8/

I've got the popcorn here, anyone else care to have some while we watch this play out? 8)

On a side note, & just so everyone knows I dont have a dog in this fight.. I find it funny that some people who are NOT board monitors/managers/owners think they have the right to tell others to not post.

So..in that case I would be right in telling swsfrail to not post here anymore either as I find her comments rude & condescending & not in the spirit of this board. Also more than likely reportable.

This is from the boards FAQ, starting with the 3rd paragraph...

We recognize that while we have tons of great stuff in this forum, people sometimes post messages on the boards that could be misleading, deceptive, or downright wrong. They may do this unintentionally or, sad to say, intentionally. Additionally, there are many different groups who participate, such as travel agents, public relations employees, members of the media, affinity groups, fan groups, other cruise websites etc. whose agenda may not be apparent since we are operating in an anonymous environment.

Treat the cruisers here the same way you'd treat anyone you'd met for the first time. This is important because anyone is welcome to participate in our community. You shouldn't make a cruise decision just because some stranger (or even an online friend) talks it up. Basically, you shouldn't treat cyberspace any differently than you would real life.

The fundamental concept is that you should NOT totally rely upon the information or opinions you read. Rather, you should use what you read here as starting points for doing independent research on cruise lines, ships, hotels, shore excursions and bargain-hunting techniques. Then judge for yourself the merits of the material that has been shared in our forum.

We do not guarantee the completeness of any information provided on our cruise boards. We cannot read through the thousands of messages we receive each day, but do make an effort to check out all the hyperlinked web sites. We cannot research each one for accuracy. That isn't why we're here. Staff members and our volunteers are here to provide you with an environment that is free from advertising and soliciting, free from harassment, vulgarity and disparaging statements, as well as providing you with a safe haven brought together by those sharing a mutual interest: cruising!

So, I would suggest that this board is pretty much comprised of opinions, not just factual information. 8)

So, my suggestion to all is to stop bickering, accept that all this is opinion & lets move on <--added

While its very unlikely someone became blind because of a cameras flash, I'm in no place to offer a medical opinion because I am not a doctor nor the person it supposedly happend to, even though I've stayed in Hilton hotels. 8)

If you walked in front of a "pro" flash setup then just maybe you were in the wrong, even though the photographer should have either had a gopher to stop people or if the ships person they should have blocked it off.

As for the comments about "colonials" I sure as snap hope thats a joke, I've been in england & germany & have found many there just as rude as other countries. Rudeness is not just americans, it applies to all countries so lay off the colonials commments.

Me, I tend to be the witch with a b & even worse.. I've told people I have tourettes because I can spout off vulugarities no sweat, being ex military & a buttkicker. 8/

Sides, someone pushes me to that point then I dont care anymore about being "PC", they get what they deserve.

As a photographer, I try to be aware of people stepping in front of me, & unless its something that may not happen again (think things like whales breaching when they shouldnt be there, etc) I try to give people chances to pass in front of me & I try to always thank those that stop to let me shoot, or tell them to go ahead if I know I dont have the shot. But I've seen others just blindly walking along in a zombie like state, not caring about what others may be doing, or concentrating on their electronic devices.

Rudeness comes in all forms & ALL nationalities, not just use "colonials". And yes, my mothers family does go back to the original colonists & native indians, & my dads the vikings. 8p

Theres a big difference between depths in diving & snorkeling, diving generally consists of using scuba tanks & going below 33', snorkeling you may at best get to 12 ft depending on your bouyancy & how long you can hold your breath.

Personally, I wouldnt trust the lifeproof case, or anything around a $400+ cellphone but thats me. And I do dive, well used too, been a couple years now.

So as such I have a dedicated camera for snorkeling & diving, we have an old sealife film camera & a older sealife digi P&S, both are designed for diving. I can use my new Pentax WG-3 up to 40' or so.

But then again, YMMV, different strokes for different folks but I'm not putting either my iphone 4 or 5 to such a test. ;P

Some awesome shots all, makes me wish summer was here already.. or I was going somewhere right now, like hawaii, LOL. 8)

Hmm, seems you cant edit a post once you post another in the same thread. Sorry. :(

>>Just because it works/worked for you doesnt mean it works for another.<<

This should have been "Just because it didnt work/worked for you doesnt mean it wont work for another."

Sorry, thats what I get for multi-tabbing threads. :(

And not trying to take away fron the topic of this thread but why am I seeing the list of peoples cruises at the end of their posts?

Is it some app they are using thats bypassing my having turned off sigs? Or did they just stick it in the end of their posts?

While I'm trying to not be a negative nellie myself, & I know its only a few bytes/bits of data in my download but on a cellphone connection it counts.. to me. :p

(Jotting down more suggestions.)

Cruise, its gonna come down to how much you want to spend, & how much you would be concerned if it was lost or stolen, with consideration for the picture quality. In the end, any shot underwater can look like garbage, specially if you go to deeper depths without filters. Those shots you see in some of the diving mags are extremely "rigged", as in photoshop, adjusted, fully enclosed digital slrs (DSLR) high end systems hooked up with lights & filters.

I did take some very nice shots with my old sealife film camera & some Kodak disposible film underwater cameras, both at 60 ft diving in hawaii & snorkeling in hawaii. I also took some garbage shots, filled with silt because I or another stirred it up.

I would suggest that if you have a decent camera shop nearby, try to go in & talk to them. Or a dive shop. If not look up various reviews on all the cameras mentioned, look at price points & try to decide. Any camera can be great in the hands of a capable photographer, just dont wait to the last second so you are playing & learning it while on your cruise. Or do, its your choice. :D

Good luck to ya, post some pics ya take when ya come back so I can see them & drool ;)

GoPro is good if you want video and some stills. Get the flat-port housing if you want minimal distortion underwater. If you are more interested in stills and less in video, then I would go with one of the numerous waterproof compacts. The Oly TG models are good. Pentax WG10 is good (a bit more cost than their WG3 which I have, but worth it). No direct experience with others but any of them are capable of taking decent pics when there's good light.

 

It also matters what your goal is. Diving, you need to have a real housing and generally some additional lighting. Snorkeling, surf play etc, you can go with a compact and no housing, with the tradeoff being how well it handles low light conditions. So night times don't expect quite as much :-)

 

Jim

I agree Jim, it all depends on what they want to use it for.. stills or video. I'm of the mindset that when I want to take pictures I use a camera, when I want to do video I use a camcorder or video camera. ;)

Personally I will not own another Nikon, as my coolpix was not heavily used or exposed to elements, but thats me, I know camera club members who love Nikon & hate Pentax.

And never seen the Lumix so cant/wont comment on them. 8P

Based on the info given by the OP they want a snorkeling camera that can take abuse on a zipline & be exposed to sand from a beach. In addition they want it to be usable in non cruise time too. ;)

Based on that I personally would recommend the Pentax, either the WG-3 or as you said the WG-10. I liked the 10 but had a limited cash flow for mine, plus if it broke down or was lost/stolen I would not be out more than $200 compared to say 500 or more.

I own a old Nikon Coolpix P3 that is starting to give up the ghost after, gods, 7 years now? Maybe more, cant remember for sure when I got it. But it is not a rugged camera, thats for sure, its just a simple Point & shoot my mom can operate.

Enstroms toffee is one of our yummiest and Stephany's Chocolates. Once i brought a Costco size bag of M & M's. one for me and on for them. in Hawaii i had asked if i could bring something to a reservation agent who was helping me out. A Broncos shirt. It made his day when i showed up with it for him.

Interesting idea Spyke

I'll be cruising over Valentines day next year, maybe some chocolate/candy hearts or I might be able to get some of Dollies Saltwater taffy, its well known to the people from DC/B-More/Philly as the iconic item of Rehoboth Beach DE, even though the main place is Ocean City MD (Not NJ.. booo Jersey hehe)

Course, they may get bored of the chocolates or the taffy, then again they may make fun of us "rubes" who think we get special service because of it, doesnt matter to me. 8)

Thanks

Lots of good tips here, yes, I read all 48 pages of them, over a couple days though. Some I'll use, some I wont.

I find it funny as all get that some people, it seems to be those with a lot of posts/time as a member who feel the need to shot down others suggestions/thoughts/ideas. And no, sorry but I dont care how long you've been a member/how many posts you have, I'll use a version of the golden rule.. I'll treat you as you treat me. 8P

Maybe those people who have been here awhile need to take something other than a cruise then, or keep their negative nellie thoughts to themselves?

Why would you care what others do, bring, carry? Just because it works/worked for you doesnt mean it works for another. Sheesh

And for the baseball cap idea, I was doing that since my military days in the early 90's & my dad since his service in the 60's.

For some it works, for some it doesnt, nowadays if my room has a serving tray/icetray I use that, at my house I have an old crystal dish/special spot on a hutch for my stuff. YMMV

But I stopped it for a couple reasons... it was destroying my wool baseball caps & my sunglasses would get scratched if I didnt bag them. And too I stopped wearing baseball caps except if I'm doing amateur radio stuff where I need to be id'ed by call. So I wear a lot more fedora/panama hats nowadays, hence the moniker. 8)

Pentax?Ricoh makes a nice shockproof/underwater camera.. the WG-3, along with the wg-2 & wg-1 plus they are getting ready to release the WG-4. The 3 comes in both non gps & gps versions. GPS priced around $220 USD, places vary. Check places like B&H, Adorama, Tigerdirect, & others, I websearched Pentax Optio WG-3.

I actually got mine viaa greentoe.com for a bid of $220, Adorama who I've dealt with before picked up my bid, priced it to $219 & I should be getting in a couple weeks $20 back for signing up for Greentoes newsletter. Adorama had it to me in about 3 days but then again I'm not that far from NYC, about 7 hrs drive 8)

And mine is the purple gps version, which tends to run more than the green gps version.

Black, white & orange are the non gps version which can run under $200.

And, other than watertesting it I havent had it long enough to test, yet. 8)

As with any underwater camera you will have to watch for leaking. My dad has a sealife dslr, I have a sealife film, both go into separate cases & I still had a slight leaking issue due to a pinched seal but caught it in time.

Good luck, have fun.

Hmm, that $154, is that for the room & the vehicle staying there? Or is that just for the vehicle staying there?

And I take it, you all just stayed the 1 nite, the one before you sailed?

Finally, thats the one nearer the Inner Harbour? Not BWI, right? I'm coming over from the DelMarVa peninsula & was looking for something near the harbour/eastern side (rt 50) then going all the way around B-more both times (coming in & going home). Shame its gonna be too early to catch a baseball game, oh well.

Oh man, Robert so wants me to visit him next year. ;)

And I will definitely ask his permission to take his picture, I do not need the bad luck he can give. LOL

Its like that with Pele too, you take her rocks she gets a tad upset, I spoke to someone when I was there & they said the hawaiian tourist group gets a lot of lava back because of her curse. ;)

Gonna check out this tour then, sounds like fun.

Interesting info. While I am not adverse to trying some foods, personally I have to be careful on what I eat due to diabetes & starting to get IBS.

Caribbean cruising next feb, would I be allowed to take factory sealed hard candies/crackers offship? Or will I have to depend on those lousy tasting glucose tablets? Since it sounds like even taking factory sealed tube frosting would not be allowed.

First off.. the cat... LOL, I have 6 of them like that, they sulk if they see my suitcase/overnite bag come out. These 6 do not travel very well, but my previous 3 used to travel all the time, they even travelled from DE to see me stationed in SC & at Ft Benning GA for jump school.

So, I can not bring stuff out too soon, or they lay on it so it would need to be drycleaned/washed again before packing. And we do not have a spare bedroom so that doesnt help me.

But I do/already have started figuring out what to take next Feb, being exmilitary I'm a fanatic about making sure I dont forget anything. Did that once in the army, had a couple days break between basic & jump school so went home & forgot the army issue purse (I dont use them & never have), didnt realize the army was anal enough to do a equipment issue check there since I was outta basic but doy oh boy did I get reamed for not having it.

Plus, by my starting this earlier I can get things this summer that are not available normally in winter time, things like surf shoes, shower shoes aka flipflops, will pick up suntan lotion at the end of summer when it goes on sale. I may need to get some new clothes, swim trunks by the end of the year as I'm working on losing weight.

So, overall, I start planning as soon as I know, but packing may not be until a week or so beforehand depending on if its something I may be wearing in that season.

Guess I'm hoping then that BlueRiband doesnt cruise with me then as I plan on "being tacky". I've already designed up a sign to go on our door, not sure what my group will do if anything. Its gonna have our names as we are known locally, & some clipart/pictures to represent us, all on a 8.5x11 sheet.

Havent decided yet if I'll have vistaprint do it, or just do it myself on mag paper. Considering we simply decorate our 2 story house (not a mobilehome) & we put mailbox covers on our mailbox to match the holidays then I dont consider it tacky to do a simple thing on our cruisedoor.

People are entitled to their opinions, just as I'm entitled to do what I want to our door short of damaging it.