CT Sean

Interesting - though a real shame the reporter said "carbon monoxide" instead of carbon dioxide in the video.

Forgot about Ft Zachary - Nice state park and you can snorkel here, although we prefer taking a day trip out to Dry Tortugas National Park for that when we stay in KW

That's a great trip - as long as you don't mind the 3 hour ferry ride, or the sea plan cost (one of these days my wife and I will suck it up pay to take the sea plane)

any chance this is the guy? http://jasonrich.com/about/

Ft. Zachary Taylor beach is about a 20-30 minute walk from the port, if you walk through Truman Annex. It's a small beach in a state park, so there is a small fee ($2.50 if you walk in). The sand itself is pretty hard and a bit rocky, so water shoes are helpful. There are pine trees and picnic tables behind the beach if you want shade. The calmness and clarity vary, so you never know, but on a good day, it's quite calm. Definitely safe. I really like the beach, think the setting is very pretty, and go there regularly when I'm in KW. You wouldn't save much walking to go there by the Duval Loop bus, as you will have to walk almost as long, but from a different direction.

Another fan of Ft Zachary Taylor here - my wife and I go there every time we stay in KW (but probably wouldn't bother on a cruise stop). The beach is rough, lots of coral rubble, but it's still a nice area with a decent snack shack, picnic areas, trees for shade, a good amount of space for wandering, and the fort.

If you do decide to walk there, look at a map to get an idea of where you are going. Last time my wife and I were there in Dec, we stopped to give a lot of people directions who were visibly confused on where they were going - particularly on the corner of Thomas and Southard, where it looks like Southard ends and leads into a private condo complex (Truman Annex)

I found that our city still has a real camera store downtown and visited it today.

The PanasonicLumix ZS70, Nikon Coolpix A900 and Canon Powershot SX730 all seemed pretty nice. All similar size. All the same price (the Lumix is normally $50 more but on sale for the same price as the others now). Really not sure which to get.

 

I saw some negative reviews on the Canon Sx730 saying that it had focus issues that sometimes caused blurry pictures and others that love it - not sure if it is an issue that was fixed or user error or what.

I personally take any "pictures are blurry" reviews with a massive grain of salt, given how few camera owners actually understand shutter speed

I've always been a fan of Canon's higher level compact cameras in their Powershot product line (still use an S100 for underwater pictures), Though I've never actually owned a "super zoom" compact.

If I were in the market for a new one, the SX730 HS would be on my "short list" of higher end compact cameras to look at: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/canon-powershot-sx730-hs/4#article-body this also lists a Panasonic and Nikon as competitors.

I couldn't survive without a "normal" zoom lens, 18ish-XX, especially inside a ship. Did your D3300 not come with an 18-55 kit lens ( I didn't think you could get one without it)?

The Truman White House is awesome, if you have time...

 

 

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A bit late - OP was there almost 4.5 years ago

Ripley's Museum (north end of Duval) and the Butterfly Conservatory (closer to the south end of Duval) are kid friendly as well.

Can you ride the entire loop once to see everything, then continue on and get off at sites that interested you and then get back on to go to another stop? I have seen information that said the ticket is good for only one full circuit.

 

 

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This (assuming its the right trolley tour) https://www.trolleytours.com/key-west/faqs says you can basically ride the trolley all day long round and round the island if you want.

Just FYI, as mentioned before, the park was damaged during hurricane Irma and will take some time to recover. It's not worth the trip right now in my opinion, especially for a visitor who is only here for a short time. There is also a new free circulator bus called the Duval Loop which you can view here: https://www.carfreekeywest.com/duval-loop-bus

 

It really eliminates the need for a scooter, electric car or bike unless you really want to ride one.

The park seemed fine when I was there last Sunday. I certainly wouldn't recommend it as the only thing to do on a short stop to KW, but's it's not as "awful" as it seems to be made out by some of the responses here.

My wife and I really like Zachary Taylor park. Sure it's no Ft Lauderdale Beach or Seven Mile Beach - the sand and coral rubble closer to the water is coarse - but it's nice and rustic and the fort is a nice stroll as well. Whenever we go, we always rent bikes. In my opinion it's the best way to get around if you plan to cover more than a couple miles in a day.

Aldora is pretty popular and well reviewed

I booked directly with Fury once upon a time (back then i want to say it was only $35) and it was fine - it's not like it's a different parasailing tour (unless something in the cruise excursion specifies something particular is included - like, snorkeling or lunch or something). the other benefit i recall from booking directly is there were much more flexible times than what the ship offered.

Post the pictures please

 

 

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Second this - why not share the digital image with us?

When I flew out of BOS a couple weeks ago, I have to remove my camera body but the TSA guy said I didn't have to remove anything else (I asked). However, like all things TSA, I would imagine it's ultimately up to the individual agent what they feel should be removed for separate screening.

If I had to guess, I'd say the "shadow" is a reflection/refraction of the eclipse on a lens element - or maybe filter if you use a UV or clear filter for protection.

Nice - I bought the same filter (different size though I'm sure) and it should arrive today. I was hoping that's what a full sun pic would look like

I think the other place often said to be the originator is the Caribe Hilton.

Caribe Hilton claim to have invented in in 1954 - according to the doors leading to the pool area. I did have one there once upon a time and it was good, but I recall paying a small fortune for it.

I can second Eaton Bikes, I've rented from them several times and was happy every time.

Snorkel tours pretty much always include a snorkel vest and any snorkel tour I've ever been on from a ship has required that everyone use them - whether needed or not.

Can't comment specifically but Curacao diving in general is very nice. I've done many dives north of Blue bay and a dive south as well. I see no reason the area between the two would not be worth diving. There are several shore dive sites listed on my Curacao map and youtube videos of Blue Bay diving look nice. Looks like a reasonably steep wall dive and the swim out doesn't look too bad. I'd dive there

Kilauea summit is around 4000 feet so it's pretty hard to get any higher (without leaving the park and going up Mauna Loa or Mauna Kea)

I use Picasa but only for cataloging type purposes and for making albums to upload to google+. I do all my photo editing in Lightroom. You can actually still find the Picasa install file online - I had to re-download it a couple weeks ago when mine "died" - not sure if its appropriate to share the download link though.

Yes. It is on Duval street. i'm sure google knows the exact location. It's a bit small compared to any other Margaritaville I've been in. I was disappointed with the food I got (I like most of the other Margaritavilles) but it could have just been an off night. It was also several years ago.