VermeulT

I do what Ruth does and get a credit to my card. After making final payment, you can convert points to a credit on your bill. It DOES work out in your favor... Ie 40,000 pts is $500 credit (vs needing 50,000 to get $500 in excursion or beverage etc onboard credit).

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Hey all. I'm looking to book a Caribbean cruise for the first week of March.

Are we past final payment yet... Is it 60 days out or 75? If it's 60, then I might as well wait until next week, and hopefully get flash sale pricing. If its 75, then I'll go ahead and book today/ tmrw.

Thanks.

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The beach is beautiful and so easy to get to. Go down to Jacks and have some of the best jerk chicken ever and a great view. It is a beach day to relax and that's it unless you like to snorkel or dive.

Agreed & recommended

nice!

I appreciate your thoughts.

I'd love to see pix.

Thanks.

I prefer items that are made in Alaska and have found some special stores in Juneau that I prefer.

Keith - would you mind sharing specifics?

Thanks.

me @ trudyginsburg.com

Thanks!!

I am planning on getting a new waterproof point and shoot before my next vaca that goes near water. I'm just not 100% convinced to go with Canon for this again.

I found a deal at Sam's club and have gone with the Fuji XP60. It was only $140... doesn't have gps and some of the other newer bells and whistles, but is waterproof and shockproof... I haven't played too much with it yet... lots of program/scene options (too many maybe). At better than 1/2 price of the Canon D20 or Go Pro, I hope it performs decent.

Minimal savings over Amazon or B&H. Return policy is iffy unless you cruise a LOT.;)

 

Used to be great deals over US purchase but the internet has changed that .

 

Buy it now, learn the ins and outs and take nice photos of your sailaway!

 

Dave

AGREED!

Also look at J&R and/or NewEgg

Most airlines don't overcharge for one way fares usually it's the same as round trip. I know with Virgin America I they charge the same for two one way fares vs a round trip. United is the same way usually

 

When I went to Alaska in 2011 I was flying from Los Angeles to Anchorage and then flying from Anchorage to Washington, DC - and got a one way with United of $350 from Anchorage to DC. The cheapest one way from LA to Anchorage was Alaska Airlines -(can't remember what that price was though)

Jet Blue charges the same for one ways as RT also.

Excellent--thanks! We board on Sunday:)

 

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Roz - thank you for the review.

Des - bon voyage. Have a great trip.

Please tell me more about the "online submissions form". Link? I think we missed that.

when you log in to view your statement - there is a section to view rewards, Then next to points earned this billing cycle and total points available there is a link to Redeem your Rewards.

It takes you to a separate page where you can click through the different reward options. You can then add the reward to your cart and check out.

Sadly, mine is $330 MORE per person.

Glad you all got deals tho.

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I've earned & received two rewards in the past two years. The first one I called them, gave them my booking number and the next statement showed the credit. The last time I did it all online. I got confirmation in minutes and within days, it posted to my account.

I'm estimating 135,000 (for $2k) off my Alaska cruise next summer. It should equal my excursions and possibly on board spending. I'm using my Jet Blue AmEx points for the flight. It will really make this an affordable vacation.

Wow... 300,000 points for a previous poster. Wow. Congrats!

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The last couple of times we used it on the HAL 14 day Alaska itinerary (2010 and 2011) it was $99 per cabin (not per person). Best bargain on the ship! My cabinmate and I intend to use it when we sail on the May 18th 14 day Alaska trip - using the onboard credit our TA has graciously given us. Win-win for us, and we only need to pack one week's worth of clothes. Saves lots of room in the luggage for "stuff" we buy in port!:D

Thanks AIP. I might not even pack a full week's worth!

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Save yourself the trouble. Buy the unlimited laundry package.

How much does that run these days? I'm also going back and forth.

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Noordam & Westerdam in St Maarten (Nov 2011)

Maasdam in San Juan Puerto Rico (May 2004)

anyway you can give me a link to them? or email them to me at susuw at cox.net

Again - look at the link to Joanie's site.

I looked for you. There is not one of the Westerdam 4166 but check the other sister ships - Noordam, Oosterdam, and Zuiderdam. It's the same room.

You can also check the Eurodam. I gave Joanie pix of 4166 on the Eurodam which will not be exact but will be close to the same set up

Consider another tour provider who has a boat better suited to your needs/wishes. We've done whale watches with Gastineau Guiding, and all of their boats have windows that swing in/up. Plenty of open vistas to photograph through while remaining under cover. We're heading back to them next time because of their boats (and guides).

Thank you. Very reassuring. I'll be taking their 5 hour photo safari in Juneau.

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... Is 5x "enough" for most general travel situations?.

I would add that you should look at optical zoom vs digital zoom. Those point and shoots sometimes push how great the zoom is (16X!!...) but digital zoom is basically just the camera cropping the image. 5x optical zoom on a 10+megapixel photo will leave plenty of room to crop the photo down and still maintain a decent pixel size for prints.

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Assuming the 55-250 is stabilized, A good light carbon monopod like the Flashpoint brand from Adorama will serve you well for land-based shots. Whale-watching on a heaving boat is best shot hand-held with bent knees and some practice. A monopod used on a boat transmits the boat's motion and the engine's vibration directly to the camera...not good.

 

For shipboard photos, the monopod, a small clamp-pod, mini-tripod or even a bean bag will work great.

 

I dragged along a regular tripod for about 15 cruises and a small travel pod for another ten before coming to grips with the fact that I almost never used them and getting the mini-pod that I mentioned above.

 

My 2¢....

 

Dave

Yes - the lens is IS. Thanks for pointing out about the vibration on the whale watch boat. I probably wouldn't have considered that .

I've been looking into travel tripods &/or monopods, and I'm overwhelmed.

Can I get recommendations &/or suggestions?

I have a $50 regular tripod, but use it little. Plus it's bulky.

I'll be doing Alaska next Aug with a Canon 60D and a 55-250mm lens (plus a 18-55mm).

Thanks

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After discussing with my wife we decided to take the aft balcony to try something different as we've cruised midship before. Besides we're young and don't mind walking around.

 

Really looking forward to breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill now! Yea!

Worth every penny IMO.

Enjoy!!

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Thank you everyone for all your help! We finally booked and got an oceanview with a big window on the Millenium :D Balcony cabins are more than twice the price of an OV ($700+). So we decided to forego the balcony and use the extra money for tours :D

I was looking at double for the Amsterdam also. Man I want the balcony.... But $2k pp goes a long way towards excursions. I'm hoping beyond hope that we are offered an upsell.

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Lots of Jet Blue votes so we'll have to think about this.

 

The evening flights on 7/5 are $195 Delta and $293 Jet Blue. Times

are better on the Delta flight.

 

The morning Jet Blue flight on 7/6 is $402! We could

stay the extra night at the Inn at the Market and still have change to cover Sunday breakfast! Will have to give it a few days to see what's best.

Thanks for all your help.

I'm flying in August of next year. Jet blue updated the schedule so I can at least now look at my outgoing flight.

I hope there will be more changes coming because they only show one direct flight per day and its evening.

And it's $400 for the one way. (Grumble)

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