NJEMT65

My group and I did this Excursion through NCL on 1/27/13. We were taken to a decent beach (Clean, calm water). The beach was at Carlisle Bay. Were were transported via van, and dropped off. The entrance point that was used appeared to be an old house, converted to a beach bar. It was very run down, and seemed to only open up during the day when the ship excursions are arriving. They give you your free drink and direct you to the beach. At the beach, I was greeted by a gentlemen offering me "Great Green" and "White Snow." (That would be marijuana and/or cocaine, to make my excursion better) We found some chairs and an umbrella no problem, and planted ourselves around our bucket of beer.

They have changing rooms and showers that appeared semi-clean. I'd wear water shoes!

One point of note: the bathrooms are inside this "house/bar" and located upstairs. So if anyone from your party has trouble with stairs, they will be peeing in the ocean!

I have an interesting situation. My wife, daughter and I will be cruising later this month. I would definitely be interested in the UBP, and I know that you MUST purchase it for everyone in the room.

Now...my situation:

My wife will be 4.5 months pregnant with twins (so she is showing already) so they can't think we are making it up to save a buck! So, obviously she can't/shouldn't drink. Will they still make us pay for the UBP for a pregnant woman??? Seems a bit irresponsible?!

Also, My daughter is 2 1/2, and there is NO WAY she will HAVE TO pay for a soda package! We have never given her soda, and will not start on the cruise.

So will I have to waste $50/day on a pregnant woman and $7/day on a toddler that does not drink soda?? If so, looks like no UBP for me!!

Parasailing Key West

LOVE the "up the rope" shot, very cool angle!!

And Alaska, aboard a RHIB on an excursion from our Norwegian cruise.

THIS is why I use a dSLR, too much shutter lag on a P&S, 3 people on the boat got pictures of a splash!!

My only explanation for the NCL system, is that possibly prior to the service charge, cruise staff was getting "screwed" by "cheap" cruisers! This at least guarantees that the staff member will get some additional monies (provided they do a good job) as it sounds it is a merit based system.

The only part that I don't like is alcohol. They tack on 15 automatically, yet still have a "TIP" and "TOTAL" line on your check. This way if you either don't see the tip you add more, or you feel like a deadbeat bum by putting a line through the TIP line.

Thanks Dave. Already looking for another lens and other things for it. DH is concerned with all the dust we have here (live on dirt road) and keeping it clean. I'm thinking about getting a Pelican 1504 camera box to store all camera gear at home and have a Lowpro bag for walking around. Any thoughts on that idea? DH knows the cost of the Pelican, but says it would be worth it compared to the few thousand dollars of equipment it will store.

Biggest thing to avoid dust is to only change lenses out of a dusty environment. Also keep camera facing down when changing. Lastly make sure the power is off when changing lenses and don't actuate shutter without a lens in place as the sensor is energized during exposure and can attract additional dust!