8toes1961
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Posts posted by 8toes1961
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My day in Labadee was wonderful and relaxing. RCI put on a delicious barbeque lunch and, while I am not normally a beach guy, the beach was really nice.
You don't have to worry about your safety a sfor the most part, the locals are not permitted into Labadee (which os owned by the cruise line). The few who re allowed are the merchants and crafts people. Relax and enoy, you will love it.
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Thank you so much for these posts. You have done far more than you imagine in helping me to iron out our itninerary when we sail next September. Grece and Utaly are my gf's ultimate buclet list countries and i want her to have the time of her life....this helps a ton!!
We also live in Canada and I look forward to your full review when you post it.
Thanks again,
Brian J.
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How bad is it in mid-late September?
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On my first cruise, my spending budget was about $500.00 for 7 days and I was able to stay within that fairly easily. The only things you NEED to pay for onboard are your drinks, unless you drink lemonade or iced tea which, I believe are free onboard. I am not much of a souvenir hound so I didn't spend any money there.
You do not have to get off of the ship, nor, should you decide to explore one of your port stops, you are not required to book a tour with the cruise line. You can ave a lot of money here by hooking up with some fellow cruisers and sharing an excursion withh a local tour company. There are many threads here in the forum that should be able to help you there. You may want to use your Sea Pass card as a debit card as opposed to having the ship ill your credt card at the end of the cruise. Put a fe whundred on it and that way you know how much you have. You can always check your balance on the TV in your stateroom.
Don't let money ruin your fun. there is plenty to do and enjoy eithout having to worry about blowing your budget.
You will love it.
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I often get asked this question and the answer is mostly ergonomic in my case. I shot Minolta and Canon when l was shooting film back in the late '70s and '80s through the early 2000s. I started with Minolta with an old Minolta SRT 201 when I was in college then, when I was able to afford new equipment, I switched to Canon and stayed with them for many years.
Enter digital photography and, when I was finally ready to go the DSLR route I looked at all of the major brands. I settled on Nikon...not for any brand loyalty or preference but because the Nikon bodies felt better in my hand (I had a work accident and lost the tips of a couple of fingers on my right hand so holding a camera became difficult) due to their deeper grips. I also found their viewfinders to be a bit brighter and gave more coverage than the Canons I was also looking at.
My first Nikon DSLR was the D40 which, in my opinion, is the best camera, dollar for dollar, I have ever owned. I currenlty shoot with a D300 and a D5100 and am very pleased with Nikon.
I am always curious when I talk to other photographers as to what made them choose their gear.
Cheers,
Brian J.
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Wow - where are all the Fuji shooters?
Fuji xt2 (18-55, 60macro, 50-230)
Nikon 7100 (too many to list but all being sold soon since I'm in love with my new Fuji)
That is a really good question. I know a whole slew of photographers and not one of them shoots Fuji.
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I know someone will be ridiculous when I say this, but my husband and I tip $1 cash per drink and we've never paid a difference and always have had premium liquor. I know you pay the tip with the package, but $1 goes a long way. [emoji6]
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I found this same thing when I was on The Navigator. I tipped the bartender in the pub $25.00 cash when l ordered my first drink (I was not on any drinks packagte) and was very well taken care of for the rest of my trip.
By the way littlebritain seems to have all of the answers :)
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You're welcome and enjoy your cruise on the Jewel. The Jewel is our favorite RC ship.
Thank you, I am very excuted as this will be my girlfriend's first cruise and Greece and Italy are bucket list estinations for her. I like everything I am seeing about the Jewel. The relatice lack of late night dining options do not matter much to us as we are both early to bed on holidays. Also, as a Type 2 diabetic, I try not to eat late at night.
Cheers,
Brian J.
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I guess I am pretty late to the party but, on my last cruise wirh RCI I debated this very thing and I decided to pay as I went. I was a bit younger than and now, at age 56, I do not drink as much and I know l will not drink enough to pay for the delouxe package. I am a beer drinker and by my arithmetic, I would need to drink 9-10 beers per day to make my money back. I keep in mind that I will be spending far less time onboard on port days as well so, no package for me. I did fine paying as I went last time.
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Thanks so much for starting this thread. We are sailing on the Jewel next September out of Rome and I have not been able to find out much about her so this is very helpful.
Cheers,
Brian J.
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Booked in April and have had no problems at all, on my laptop PC or my iPad Air.
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I didn't see the need for one on my last cruise but, I can understand why people do use them. My girlfriend's resort wear rarely has pockets and I usually carry what she needs so a lanyard would be good for her and they do seem to be handy.
As for not looking like a tourist, I am a 6ft 1in 225lb black guy so I rarely look like a local (when I am in Europe), plus, I almost always have a camera around my neck :D
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Mykonos just might be the port I am most looking forward to on our cruise.
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Thank you so much for sharing this, Richard. I could not have asked for soething so informative. My girlfriend and I will be there next September and I am taking care of the port days so this is invaluable.
Cheers.
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We are looking into a day trip (motorcoach tour) into Florence for a guided tour. Florence is one of my bucket list cities.
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As Glaciers said, many of us would rather leave half of our clothes at home than any "necessary" camera gear, but the choice is entirely up to you based on your personal cruise/photography balance. Personally, I cruise to get to new places to take pictures. I truly enjoy photography and have looked at the world as a possible composition since I picked up my first camera at about 10 years old. Not taking my primary camera(s) would be unthinkable. If you are a casual photographer and don't spend a lot of time with your camera, the phone and the Oly should serve to capture the occasional sunset, wide view of the Hawaiian scenery, fellow travelers or fancy dinner shot. If you like to shoot a lot, the phone isn't going to cut it. I have a Pixel XL and even its spectacular camera falls short in very low light (I mean very low) and in any situation where a telephoto is needed. All of our advice is well meant but the decision is ultimately yours and will be based on your perceived need for the advantages an interchangeable lens camera gives you.
Dave
BTW, our last trip to Hawaii was a bit more adventurous with a boat tour out to the lava flow. If I were cruising to Hawaii and had a stop at the Big Island, I would take the tour again without hesitation.
This is, pretty much, how Ieel. Of course, as has been stated, the choice is yours. I, simply, cannot imagine taking a trip like that without bringing, at least, one of my DSLRs (I have 2). I would bring the lightest one if that was even an issue. Now...me....I rarely travel without both of mine after a hard learned lesson when I brought one of my bodies with me on a trip through The St Lawrence Seaway and my camera died mid trip and I had nothing to shoot with for the rrst of the trip. I vowed that would never happen again.
For me, using a phone as my primary camera just does not make me feel very comfortable, as good as some of today's phone cameras may be.
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Why? So you can stick your big camera up and do the same thing?
I see your point but, I think someone needs some reading comprehension help here. The poster said SEE a show, not photograph it. Having those screens up in the air is annoying when others are trying to WATCH something. Not everyone is an inconsiderate clod. Some of us, even those of us who are photographers, do like to be entertained without using our cameras. I get annoyed by being prodded with selfie sticks too, after having been smacked by more than a few of them.
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I was looking into PacSafe as well. I really don't want to carry my backpack that has Nikon stitched to the main pocket but. I am going to need something that can hold both of my DSLRs and a couple of extra lenses.
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I guess i am going to have to find another hosting service, after using PB since 2006. I would imagine that there are a lot of unhappy folks because of this.
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Another Eats, Shoots and Leaves fan?
Dave
Nope...still here. Nice try though :D
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My camera's what?
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In all of my trips to Europe, I have followed this line of thought and it has never failed me...when in doubt, I dress as conservatively as necessary while trying to keep comfortable.
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Never had a problem with the website. Don't worry,someone else will fill that stateroom. He won't be hurting RCCL one bit.
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Great, thanks for the replies. I sure don't mind hanging out in a sports bar and I did like The Schooner when I was on Navigator.
Cheers,
Brian J
JEWEL b2b (Greece/W Med) semi-live Aug24 - Sept14 REVIEW w/lots of photos
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
Well this is my 2nd RCI cruise but my first to The Med. lt is my girlfriend's first cruise so we are very excited and look forward to a couple of pre-cruise days in Rome. Our trip is from September 18th - 27th next year. We are from Burlington, Ontario.
I will definitely check out your Serenade review. I am looking forward to sailing on The Jewel. My last cruise was on The Navigator and l had a blast.
Cheers,
Brian J.
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