celoplyr

Sorry to bump this thread up, but I have 2 rooms- 7024,7022. Are they good balconies, and is there any chance we can get rid of that small divider and move back and forth between them?

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I am an adult single who travels with my parents on cruises. What I do is book an inside room near them, as they like balconies. I shamelessly use their balcony.

For the Alaska cruise, because balconies are a premium and inside rooms are not, I’m now paying less per person for my inside room than they are for their balcony. It comes out to less than a big family suite too (and I can get away from them...). I pay the premium to be close to them, but if you don’t want that, the bunk bed rooms actually have more floor space. I know that you said you didn’t want to do that, but I find I am so set in my ways of living alone that I gladly pay it after a night or two of sharing a hotel with them :)

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Where are you going, what are you doing, and how picky on pictures are you?

There’s a lot of different answers to this question. I’m looking into an Antarctica cruise right now. I would say no, it’s a once in a lifetime trip and everyone wants to see pictures.

When I’m on a cruise to Catalina island in the fog and Ensenada with no shore excursion, an iPhone 6 is fine for me. I’m also picky about pictures and love my zoom.

Etc.

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I tried using P mode tonight on the moon. All I got was a large white ball. I tried switching to M with a 1/160 f8. I tried to put it on ISO 100 but it seemed like it kept switching back to ISO-A 25600 [3.4]k and all I got again was a large white ball (no details of the moon). So I can't tell if something is wrong with the camera or since I have no idea how to do this if it is me who's messing up. I assume it's me but I don't understand what is going wrong.

I’m not very good at this, but I think you’re overexposed. Night photography is difficult, it would probably be easier to start on day photography. I bet that there was also some camera shake? That also leads me to get no details as well.

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I’m going on a royal Caribbean and that leaves every other week from Vancouver, it would definitely have people his age (ish) on the ship. It’s only 1 way though.

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My trip leaves out of Punta Arenas Chile. I’ve never been to Chile, although I traveled extensively to Argentina, and am a bit upset that I don’t get to go back!

I can theoretically get an extra day before the trip (come in 2 days early) and have 2-3 days in Santiago/Valparaiso on the way back. Is that what you would recommend? I really wanted to go to the Atacama desert, but I don’t think there’s a way to do that with the limited time span. I can’t increase my time more than that I think. Maybe one extra day beforehand.

Also, I really want to go see the Chilean fjords. Any day trips from Punta Arenas (or puerto Montt I guess, since that seems to be an easy flight switch) that would allow me to see them up close, and preferably on the water?

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I haven’t been yet so don’t know about the bow part, but I’d be tempted for the daily snorkeling alone!

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My P&S is

24-720 mm F3.3-6.4 Zoom Lens. Is that realistic to get something like that (or better) for the Nikon? I like to zoom and will most likely not take off my current 70-300mm lens very often.

I have a 18-400mm lens. I just upgraded from an 16-300 mm lens, and I also have a crop sensor. That “extra” 100 mm does virtually nothing for me. I took some test shots and I probably could have achieved more by walking two steps. Sometimes I may want it (going on wildlife trips there’s never too much zoom) but you may not feel that extra bit as much as you might think. You’d also want to remember that some of that p&s zoom range could be digital zoom, which is worthless in my mind (I’d rather crop on the computer than the phone).

Also, while I love to zoom, I’ve found with this camera that I love to wide angle more. The stunning wide angle shots are why I haven’t gone back to a p&s. I would for weight reasons, but I also have an 8-16mm lens that is amazing. And now I’m doing night photography so the ability to set more features is making it even harder to go back.

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I went to Nikon school. There was a lot of good information, not only Nikon specific, but a lot was specific. It was very good.

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I used to have a canon sxsomething that was lightweight, and had a really decent zoom. I loved that camera for traveling. However, and I don't know if they still make it, I got one that would run on AA batteries. It made a huge difference when I ran out of battery- I could go to any gas station (I was in the middle of nowhere in Argentina at the time) and get a new battery. That was something that made my life a lot easier. I think it was either the sx170 or sx180.

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2 years ago I was given a D60 which was equally or more older at the time. I would do it, I went looking back at my pictures recently and noticed an extreme jump in just color between my old canon sx170 and my Nikon d60.

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Actually ignore my post, I thought the 8-16 was cheaper than it is. Go with what codex57 recommends, they're a lot closer to your budget (unless you want to rent). The only reason I still haul around my dslr is for the stunning wide angle shots. For zoom, the point and shoots can get the same range.

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I travel with 3 lenses. A 18-300 (hoping to upgrade to 18-400), a 30mm F1.4 and a 8-16 rectilinear lens from sigma. I recommend them all, but the big zoom is out of your budget, and I agree that the wide angle would be nice.

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I just went to nikon school and both teachers said that they travel with one DX body for distance and one FX body for wide shots. I'd suggest a 7000 series instead. And it's a bit cheaper :)

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Any chance you could bring an empty one or two to fill up? I, honestly, have no idea, but that's how airports work.

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So now that I'm officially booked, I got my packet yesterday. In it had a list of reference books that they say I should take along.

Which books do you recommend? And do you recommend a physical book (which is what I prefer) or a kindle book?

Anyone got old copies they don't want that I can buy from you?

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Well I guess I have to take the shorter cruise, my boss flat out vetoed the longer one. Says he can't live without me for 3 weeks straight. I thought that may be a huge factor!

Now to find the money for it ;-)

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Agree that you can afford it both money-wise and time-wise, pick the longer trip that goes to Falklands and South Georgia. Both these places are a photographer's delight (while being utterly different from one another), particularly if you are interested in wildlife. Even if the ship is bigger, the time you spend on board waiting for your turn to go ashore, while anchored in breathtaking places, will not be wasted. The time spent at sea will not be wasted either. So if you can find the time, for me it's a no brainer;

I think that's my biggest fear- affording it money and time wise. 23 days plus travel days is more than I realistically can take (with a family trip in the summer I'm already committed to). I'm 34, and so this probably won't be my last opportunity for an amazing trip, and I'm thinking about just taking another FI/SG tour later. The vavilov would allow me a quick taste to see how wrong I am ;) however, I'm hoping that my life moves enough that pushing off the trip another year wouldn't be good (like I won't be single in 2019 and would be more constricted for money).

I also don't want to cram and hit travel fatigue. I get that fairly often. I think I'm leaning towards the Vavilov, and figuring out a way to do the rest at a later time.

That being said- is it going to get boring after 12 days? I've never stayed that long in one hotel/boat when traveling. Would a shorter trip be better? I think 2 weeks is my max, but I can go shorter.

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So I really want to go to Antarctica next winter, partly because I really want to step foot on all 7 continents, but I'm also a huge photographer. I loved the Galapagos for that reason (nature and wildlife). Price isn't a huge consideration, but I am still working, so time off is a problem.

I think I narrowed it down to two cruises. One is the vavilov "crossing the circle". It's 12 days, starts in the Falkands (for an afternoon) and flies from King George back. The second is ocean endeavor (I think) South Georgia, falkland and crossing the circle. It's 23 days (including xmas) and starts in Ushuaia.

Each have the same amount of time on the continent. Each has the ability to camp (if possible).

The vavilov is a smaller ship (<100) and is cheaper, and with a time frame where I wouldn't miss xmas, but probably wouldn't be too difficult to get off from work. Obviously, falklands and South Georgia are not really included, but I'd have a taste (and I can always go back and just do those).

The other ship has a private room (which is nice) but is obviously more expensive. And is 200 passengers. The length is possibly difficult to get off from work, and I would miss Christmas with my family. I also am prone to seasickness so the flight isn't my ideal, but neither is the boat. But it does include South Georgia which I've read is where the wildlife is.

Also, on a completely different question, the parka from the cruise lines, is it possible to get a non-down one? I'm highly allergic to down. Otherwise I'll have to find one in Arizona!

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My mom always fills out the form beforehand. The extension cord is nice, and we don't have to find water at the embarkation port for her.

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What would I do? I hate diving in cold weather so I would take the online class, do the pool dives locally and go to the embarkation port early to do my check out dives there before going on the ship. The checkout dives aren't as fun as real dives so I would want to do them before the real dives.

Discovery scuba seems a bit expensive and just not as cool as being certified ;)

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I'm going over Christmas on a southern Caribbean cruise with the parents (and possibly boyfriend, who is a scuba diver too).

I'm open water certified, but have only done 2 dives (easy 7m ones in Mauritius) beyond that.

We are going to St. Croix, St. John's Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, and Barbados.

I really want to go scuba everywhere I can (other than maybe Grenada and Barbados) and not on a cruise ship excursion.

Who would you talk to? And where would you go?

Thanks!

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I bought this for my mother for her birthday (she really wanted it, I didn't). I found booking on line and calling will usually get you a lot better rate- I think I got 30% off without doing anything more than going "oh maybe I'll just buy one instead of two". I also found that if you're going on a trip with multiple parks, they're all owned by the same company, and each location is a slightly different price.

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I just came back from the Western Islands and Genovesa. Go west!

I went without a big boat (one of the 16 person not Celebrity boats). It was amazing...