cruiserloser99

Last summer I was lucky to spend 18 nights exploring the Pacific Northwest and take an amazing 7 night Alaskan cruise onboard Celebrity Solstice.  I highly recommend Alaska if you ever get the chance; it is spectacular! Here's a peak into our wonderful adventure.

05 April through 03 May were the original dry dock dates, but those have changed.   Silly will be finished being revolutionized in mid-February and therefore yes, Craft Social will be waiting for you. 

Wonderfully done! I enjoyed the very cinematographic view of your holiday. Your composition is interesting and captivating. You have a great eye. Thanks for sharing!

SHIP: Solstice

CABIN #: 1610

DECK #: 11

CLASS: Aqua

AREA: Mid Ship, close to Elevators, on the hump

BED NEAR: Bathroom/Cabin Entrance

QUIET?: Very quiet - heard chairs being moved on pool deck above a few times during early morning, but it wasn’t an issue.

BALCONY VIEW: Fabulous, forward/starboard facing view. No view of cabins aft.

BALCONY SIZE: Impressively large due to being on the forward side of hump

WIND A PROBLEM?: It was windy as you approached the balcony railing, yet closer to the cabin sliding door, there was hardly a breeze.

SOOT A PROBLEM?: No

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: Loved this cabin so much, we booked it again on another cruise.

I did a weather search of the Boston area on Youtube and came across a bunch of videos from our local forecasters. I then used my DSLR Canon 70D in movie mode to record the YT video onto the memory card. Then I uploaded the clip into Final Cut Pro X like I would any other footage. From there I placed the clip on my timeline and detached the audio from the clip itself and deleted the rest. Hope that makes sense.

 

It was actually very simple to do! :)

I understand completely. Thanks for your explanation.

I've often thought about doing the same type of thing when showing video of flying/travelling, and overlaying audio from flight deck/tower communications. I just hadn't figured out how to collect the original source audio. I'm guessing there's plenty of it on YT too. So now I know. Cool, thanks!

Thank you for the kind words! I watched your video on YT and gave it a like...yours well done as well. :)

Thank you. I have a question for you - How do you capture your audio? Specifically, the weather report at the beginning and end. It's a very cool addition, especially accompanied by the overhead drone shot/walking thru snow. Did you record this off TV? Streaming audio?

It's a GREAT intro - It really holds my attention.

Steve

Well done. Great compilation and well edited. Good use of the drone for aerial shots, and I like what you've done with the audio too.

Thank you for sharing this excellent video with all of us.

Keith

Thank you Keith. Solstice and the South Pacific gave us plenty of great material to work with. I was fortunate to capture it and happy to share.

WOW! One of the best cruise/travel videos I've seen in a long time! Everything: quality of the video ... song you used ... editing ... placement of the written tag lines --- plus, seeing how much both of you were enjoying yourselves. Celebrity should buy this from you & use it in their promos. Well done ... thanks for taking us along for the ride (without having to take the 17 hour flight.)

We had a lot of fun putting it together, both with the travel/shooting and the post production, the details of which you've picked up on. And you're not the first person to suggest pitching it to Celebrity!;p Thanks for your feedback on the specifics of what you liked - that helps me with the next project. The goal is to tell a story and make it fun and interesting to watch. I'm glad you enjoyed. Thanks again!

TYOOrTT2sCA

This video captures the fun and beauty of our October 2017, 18 night Honolulu to Sydney transpacific crossing with ports of call in Maui, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Auckland and Bay of Islands.

All video was shot with a GoPro Hero 4 Black. Audio edits were made in Audacity 2.1.1, a free, open source, cross-platform software for recording and editing sounds. Title graphics were prepared using Acorn 5.6.6 photo editing software. Post production used iMovie 10.1.8.

Comments, suggestions and feedback are welcome. Thanks.

Enjoy

Disembarked on October 20 after spending 17 wonderful nights on board. She looks and is wonderful!

Was on Solstice for the Honolulu to Sydney cruise, and were fortunate to have not contracted Norovirus. Celebrity did a wonderful job of trying to contain the outbreak, and by day 16 (once the number of cases had reached a certain threshold) crew members were serving ALL food in the OVC, thereby minimizing the contact of people to utensils and the like. No food was allowed to leave OCV either. As it turns out, one passenger was upset, and became irritated at the crew for having to wait in line for their coffee to be dispensed by the crew. Sad that people can't understand the severity of the situation, and the need to take preventative action.

Update - they ran out on day 9 of 11 day cruise

 

 

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Sorry to hear. Just got off of a 17 night on Solstice, and ordered Almond Milk in our Cappuccinos every night.

No one said a word about the drone. I used to have a Phantom 4, which was occasionally flagged and inspected at airport security and/or customs. With my Mavic, I have only been stopped once and it was by security personnel at Amsterdam Schiphol because they wanted to ask me how I liked it.

 

Boarding and return to the Solstice with my Mavic in my backpack was done without a problem. Of course, I did not attempt to launch from the vessel as I assumed that was not allowed for a multitude of safety reasons.

Thanks jsea. I have a Karma. It also comes in a backpack, although it's more of a hard case with shoulder straps. I agree that launching from the vessel is not a good idea, and I'm with you - I don't need to have an expensive toy confiscated for my stupid safety breach. I'd love to bring mine on board Solstice, as we set sail in 50 days. You've given me something to think about. Thanks again.

Am planning a 3 week trip to Australia and New Zealand in January 2018.

Two months ago the flight from San Francisco to Sydney then returning from Auckland to San Francisco started out at $14,000 plus (two people business class).

It went down to $11,408. I was hopeful it would go down again.

For the past 10 days it has been $15, 200 plus.

Did I miss the lower price? Do long distance fares come down as the dates get closer??

I am freaking out. This is sooo expensive!!

I have other flights to book too as we are doing a land tour in Australia then catch a ship in Auckland.

Any info will be appreciated.

I am flying SYD - EWR (via SFO) in October 2017. I started watching fares as soon as the inventory was released (December 2016, approximately 11 months before the travel date). After watching for a few weeks and seeing little change, I booked my Business Class in mid-January. At that time, I purchased what I thought was a reasonable fare. Since that time, the price has continued to climb and is now beyond what I could afford. There have been a few minor dips in price, and 1 significant drop, but the overall trend has been an increase. As of last week, my EWR/HNL and SYD/EWR business class tickets are priced at $10,296 and unlikely to drop very much.

I have found that the cheapest prices can be had far in advance of your travel date, and as time draws closer and demand increases, so does the price.

I didn't think launching the drone from aboard the ship would be permissible, so I did so from ashore.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

I am sailing Solstice in October and also have a drone. I was not planning to take this with me, since I was told it would be confiscated upon boarding, and held until the end of the cruise. Can you please share your experience, specifically, how you managed to bring your drone on board, and if there was any feedback from staff? Your wonderful photos have me wondering about how I can do the same. Thank you

Yup ours did it for me. I wanted it on the side of the bed closer to the door, so he ran the extra long cord under the bed to the other side!

 

The only electric outlets I found in the room are the 2 next to the desk. There is another next to them with the special round shape for the in room hair dryer. I think I saw an outlet on the ceiling of the bathroom, but I don't think that one was for passenger...

That's what I thought. Thanks for letting me know.

No. My friends, sailing in concierge aboard Eclipse needed to plug in a C-Pap machine. Steward got an extension cord for her and ran the cord across the room and taped it down to avoid tripping hazards. Steward said they do this all the time.

Thank you! I will be sure to check with the steward once we're on board.

Do S-Class ships have electrical outlets near the bedside table? I am sailing on Solstice (Aqua class) in October and curious to know. I would expect Aqua, Concierge and Veranda cabins to be identical, regarding power/electricity layout.

Any helpful feedback is appreciated.

1). can someone please give me advice on private shuttles from Fiumicino airport to and from the port please.

2). I'm sailing with Celebrity. Do you know if they have a shuttle on day of departure you can purchase on board.

Thank you.

I also used RomeCabs for transfer from a Rome hotel near Termini station to Civitavecchia and was impressed with the driver's professionalism, punctuality and driving skills. I would definitely use RomeCabs again. See their website at www.romecabs.com

Really enjoyed your video. Good selection of music, and a nice mix of the two of you, the ship and your adventures. Well done!

Hubby got this for Christmas for me for our march cruise. Want to use it for snorkeling, parasailing and some riding off road carts. I have printed off instructions, watched video and still feel lost. Thinking the video plus photo modes would be best but so unsure. I want photos but some videos would be nice. Any advice

 

 

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Use it, use it, use it as much as possible before the cruise. That's the best way to learn.

Since you don't have a lot of time before your cruise, focus on video only. This way you can become familiar with your camera. If you want photos, GoPro has software (GoPro Studio) that allows you to capture single frames from a video; use those as photos.

While using video mode, use 4K only for nature shots - waves crashing on the beach, island photos, sunsets, etc. Use 2.7k for low light. I use 1080 for the things you listed (snorkeling, parasailing, off road). Try the different FOV (wide, medium, narrow) settings within 1080 to experiment with different lens - fish eye type. I don't use wide unless the subject is relatively close to the camera (3 feet or less) and centered. Otherwise, there is too much distortion. Again, play around as much as you can before your trip. You'll get the hang of it in no time.

Also, here's a GoPro tutorial that I found very helpful regarding video settings.

Good luck!!!

I have also asked myself the same question, as I'll be doing the same. I know many zipline operators will not allow you to shoot with a GoPro unless the camera is fastened to you. I have a chestie, and this obviously satisfies their requirements, but I agree with you that the shot will be obstructed by the zipline hardware. A head mount is definitely better, but you still have the chance of seeing the hardware. I like "the strap" offered by GoPro. It fastens to your wrist, or leg, and has the ability to swivel. This feature would also allow you to shoot video of yourself while zipping - a must for any vacation video. Plus, being on your wrist allow for you to move the camera, shooting the scenery, or the canopy below you. Here's a link to the GoPro site. It's not cheap but it is versatile. Good luck!

http://shop.gopro.com/mounts/the-strap-hand-plus-wrist-plus-arm-plus-leg-mount/AHWBM-001.html

Following this thread as I'm looking to upgrade. I have an older Coolpix that's waterproof from 2012 probably and it does not have wifi. We own a GoPro but they really are not for stills. If anything we sometimes just do screen grabs from videos for pictures - they come out awesome! But really would like a small camera with wifi that I can get wet but easily transfer pics so I can leave my phone in the safe as much as possible:)

 

 

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What GoPro model do you own? I have the Hero 4 Black and it does a great job of taking photos. GoPro's Quik software allows you to capture images from video, but there is also a photo setting with some very cool features (burst and various lens settings). The only downside is that I cannot view the photos as I take them. Some models do allow for this with use of the GoPro LCD BacPac mount.

I also have a waterproof Coolpix, and to be honest, I haven't used it since buying the GoPro. It really is very versatile.