Parrottdizes

Maybe the press release says 'communal', but that word is not used in either the description or video on the Princess web site. This is what it says on the Princess web site.

AN ALL NEW SPECIALTY RESTAURANT

Select Princess ships will host this elegant restaurant dedicated to a dining experience that encourages connecting with others. Chef Stone's exquisite menu offers various courses including gourmet salads, handmade pastas, premium quality meat and seafood fresh off the grill, an array of decadent desserts and more! With dishes designed for sharing, guests have an opportunity to reflect on their day with those around them, develop new relationships and enjoy an intimate meal together.

View SHARE photo gallery

Watch SHARE Launch Event Video

^Available on select ships only, Chef Stone's specialty restaurant will debut in December 2015 aboard Emerald Princess, sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to the Caribbean, and Ruby Princess, sailing from Los Angeles to Hawaii and Mexico.

As it says it 'encourages connecting with others', IMHO that is what one does when one shares a table in the MDR with strangers. It IMHO, does not mean to me at least, handing my plate of food to a stranger so that they can eat off of it too.

As I said before, the sharing you do is with the person/people you came with, such as your spouse, SO, friend, family.......but not with a stranger, unless that is something you like to do. :D

Maybe someone who is sailing on the Emerald in December will come back after their cruise and post on the forum to clear things up for everybody.

I think some people have the concept of this new restaurant wrong. To me it sounds similar to a restaurant on Michigan Ave. in Chicago called 'Purple Pig'. If that is the case, it is a fun place to dine. At least I hope that is the case.

I don't believe 'Share' is a communal or family style restaurant where everyone is taking food from the same bowl. Rather you will be dinning with the person/people you came in with. So, if you came in with your spouse, each of you would order (say) 3 dishes each and you two would 'share' (the portions would be small) these dishes (with each other, not with strangers).

My question is.......will this restaurant be included with the cruise price or an extra charge?

Which side is the door on for the Inside cabins on the Caribe deck in the aft part of the Coral? I'm talking about C629, C631 or C635. I want to book a balcony across the hall and I'm not sure if I should book a port or starboard balcony. So are the doors on the port side hallway or the starboard side hallway on those inside rooms?

 

Thanks,

Maggie

I am making a guess here, but since these rooms are an odd number, wouldn't the door open to the hallway on the starboard side of the ship. Rooms with even numbers are on the port side and rooms with odd numbers are on the starboard side.

Originally Posted by serendipity1499 View Post

Anyone know how long the Passport Office is taking to renew passports these days? We're not traveling until Nov. so have plenty of time..

The spouse and I recently (this May) renewed our passport books and it took 5 and a half weeks for me to get mine back and 8 weeks for the spouse. They didn't like the spouse's glasses and we had to redo that, but it took 5 and a half weeks before we were notified of that. Yes we got the e-mail about the spouse's glasses the same day as I got my passport back.

So the moral of that story is; give yourself plenty of time in-case something goes amiss.

I had a similar thing happen, and the discussion regarding my question is here

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2208098

 

I see the Embera Indians as an option in things to see... but no excursion listed. In my case I still show as confirmed. Who knows??

Luckily we are far enough time out that there is time to change tours if needed. If needed I will have our TA call the excursion department. Thanks for the suggestions.

Sue2go.......we did the Embera tour in the fall of 2013. We went to the Embera Puru village and thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you get to experience that tour.

If you go to plan a cruise, you can check the excursions for that particular cruise.

As I said Carara National Park, Pura Vida Gardens & Lunch (PA4365A) does not show up for this fall and next winter.......but it does show up for the fall cruises in 2016 and the winter cruises in 2017.

If there were contract problems with the tour company, why is the tour offered in the fall of 2016 and winter of 2017, but not in the fall of 2015 and winter of 2016? But it still shows confirmed in my personalizer for November of 2015. So that is why I am confused.

Sailing this November. The excursion showed up when I booked it and it is in my 'personalizer' as confirmed. Now the excursion is no longer offered for that and other cruises this fall and winter.

Not understanding why 'Princess' would offer an excursion if they didn't have the contract finalized with the tour company. (If that is the case.)

Would rather find out now if a tour was cancelled rather than after we boarded the ship..........and then have to book whatever was leftover.

Am probably fretting over nothing, but have not had this happen to us before.

On my 'cruise personalizer' it shows a 'confirmed' booking for 'Carara National Park, Pura Vida Gardens & Lunch' excursion (PA4365A) in Puntarenas Costa Rica on an upcoming Panama Canal cruise. If you look at the Princess home page under 'Ports and Shore Excursions', that excursion also shows up..........but...........if you check 'Ports and Shore Excursions' under specific cruise dates for this fall and next winter that particular excursion is missing, including the date we are cruising.

I have not received any e-mails saying that it is cancelled or that is has been replaced by another excursion. So what gives?????? Is it possible that that excursion is sold out for all of those cruises? What other reasons are there that would cause a excursion to go missing.

Just spent 7 wonderful days during the later part of this April in Puerto Vallarta......walked from the resort to the malaecon one day and on another day we walked from the romantic zone to our resort. We also did a couple of exertions into the Sam Madre Mountains. At no time did we feel unsafe while we were there. Of course this is our own personal experience.

At this stage it is too early to be hearing from your TA. Of course, if you missed your final payment and you did't hear from the TA.....well then there is cause for worry. I think the question to ask yourself is "do I like my TA". If you really like your TA and he/she takes good care of you; then don't worry about if they give you a discount. A discount or little gift is nice, but (at least to me) good service is the most important aspect of a good TA.

If you don't have a trusted TA, then before you book your next cruise you might call around to see how much of a discount another TA might give or if they will give you one at all. It can't hurt to ask.

The town that is close by is called La Cruecita, and if you go there try the Oaxacan grasshoppers. In town where the plaza is, you will find a number of shops, restaurants and a quaint church.

As others have said, at Santa Cruz there is a marina with shops and restaurants near where the ships dock. To the right of the marina (as you are looking from the ship) there is a hill the that affords a great view of the marina and dock below.

I don't know what excursions that your cruise line offers; but there is an archaeological site in that area. It was discovered not long ago......Copalitlan City and it is over 2000 years old.

Hope this helps a little.

Try this site.

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/

Yes, there were several shops (by the dock) selling 'molas'........but, I was unimpressed by the selection. The ones for sale in those shops seemed (to me) to be massed produced and of poor quality. :( Needless to say, I didn't buy any.

Actually in my menu I have both 'Servo AF' and 'Continuous AF' which at first was a little confusing. From what I could figure out, 'Servo' continuously focuses after you press the shutter button half way, and 'Continuous' is always focusing (which is a drain on the battery).

Yes, in the menu AF is set on off..........I did notice that if I have 'Servo' 'ON' that it functions while in the 'AV' and 'TV' modes but not while in 'M'. So I am thinking that I can keep 'Servo' 'ON' for when I wish to use 'AV', but it won't interfere when I am in 'M' mode. Correct? Or am I off on my thinking.

It makes sense to use 'AI Servo' (Canon) (or continuous AF) when shooting in 'continuous mode' or 'sport' or 'high speed burst' when you are taking images of something that is in motion. I definitely am going to have to remember to change from 'one shot' to 'AI Servo'.

For more control, it seems best to stay in AV or M mode and shoot AF Servo.

Since I don't usually take action shots, I am confused as to which mode to use when trying to take images of moving objects, such as whales swimming by.

Not counting 'movie', which mode would be preferable......sport, high speed burst or continuous? I know that sport and high speed burst use 'auto' exposure, with sport taking images till the memory is full and needs to write to the sd card and high speed burst takes 10 images and them you need to shoot again. Then there is 'continuous' which one can use in the 'TV' 'AV' and 'M' modes and gives the photographer more control over exposure.

Now, I am more comfortable using 'manual exposure', so therefore would lean towards 'continuous', but that does not mean that it would be the 'best' mode to use in a action shot.

So for all of you that are more experienced in doing 'action' shots, what is your preferred 'mode' and why.

Thanks for the great review AryMay, really enjoyed it!

And thanks to 1153rsmith for bring up cards and that there is more to them then the amount of memory. The 2 8GB cards that I have are 90MB read and 45MB write.......I did buy them at the small camera shop where I bought my camera. I noticed that at the stores (Wallgreens/Staples...etc.) that sell memory cards, that those cards have slower speeds. It seems that to get the faster cards, one needs to buy them at a camera shop (which probably costs more) or order them. Who would have thought that there was so much more to those cards!

Also another thing I have noticed is that though the camera/card shows that you have X amount of images available, that is not the case. For example, it showed that I had space for 1371 images but after taking 4 pictures, it showed that I now had space for 1351 images (all "jpeg"). Why is this........well, each image taken takes up a different amount of space on the card. Some images take up more space than others......plus, if you use "raw" or "jpeg & raw" that will effect the amount of space each image uses on the card. And then there is resolution and image size to be tossed into the mix......OH MY.:eek:

Again, thanks for the review......loved the pictures that you posted!

Love your review of your cruise! Seeing all of your photos makes me want to leave right away for our cruise.........can hardly wait.

Am enjoying all of the photos, you did a good job. Just how many photos did you take? I have 2 8G cards.......starting to worry that, that won't be enough. :eek:

Thanks for sharing your cruise with all of us.

Am enjoying your images and eagerly awaiting the next set to be posted.

Have had the SX 50 for only a little over a month now and am amazed at what all it can do.............my last camera was only a 4x, so going to a 50x is a big change and an asset. Was surprised when you said that most or your images were taken on "auto".........glad to see that the auto exposure adjusts so well to the different lighting sources.

We are also book to do the flight-seeing trip to "Misty Fjords".......real excited about that after seeing you images!

Glad you mentioned what cameras that you used.........as I also am planning on using my Canon SX50 when we go to Alaska this year. So your pictures are of great interest to me and I am enjoying seeing them.

What shooting mode do you usually use? Normally I like to use the (M) mode as I like total control over the image when possible. What setting did you use when taking images of wildlife?

I am sure any tips or hints that you used when taking your photos would be helpful to use that are following your posts.

The PowerShot SX50 HS is equipped with Canon's latest advancement in AF technology: High Speed AF. The result of several improved technologies, High Speed AF delivers significantly faster focus speed of 0.19 seconds and a dramatically reduced shooting lag time of only 0.25 seconds, for a super-responsive shooting experience that lets you capture every great shot as it happens. The technology also powers the camera's new High-Speed Burst HQ, with continuous capture at a maximum speed of approximately 13 fps. Moreover, images captured in High-Speed Burst HQ maintain the camera's superb image quality.

The above is from the Canon site. The PS SX40 had the slower lag of 0.4 seconds. Though when shooting action shots, any lag is too much lag.

The PS SX 50 does have a action mode, but also and (maybe better), under the scenes setting it has a "high-speed burst".

Now compared to a "good" quality SLR, that probably is still "slow". But do you really want to go out a buy a camera that you won't get your money out of, that is the question. When people ask me what is the best camera.......I always tell them "The best camera is the one you are most comfortable using".

Whichever camera you bring, do practice using it and do read (or reread) the user guide. The more you know about your camera, the better images you are capable of getting.

If you haven't booked a whale watching tour yet, why not look into one of the "photo safari" tours. The photographer that leads it should give hints on how to get the "best" whale images.

Good Luck and have fun!

Was on the Emerald last November and then on the Coral this November and I have to say that the pizza on the Emerald was better. Even the spouse noticed this and commented on it to me. Have to say, the make your own pizza day was nice.

On the Nov.4th through Nov.15th cruise they had these movies.

Top Gun

City Slickers

Oblivion

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Man of Steel

Forrest Gump

The Great Gatsby

Mamma Mia

World War Z

The Princess Bride

The Lone Ranger

Red 2

Dirty Dancing

The Way Way Back

The Devil Wears Prada

Star Trek Into Darkness

Overboard

Of course there were concerts shown too.

And they showed the CD that they made of your ship going through the canal! :D

Did they substitute the Costa Rica stop?

Yes they did..........they tacked on 'Princess Cay'. Stopped there on the last day of the cruise.

Just got off yesterday (11-15-13) had a wonderful time Enjoyed the food and the music! Of course I wasn't eating or listening to music while actually going through the locks.........didn't want to miss that experience. The weather while going through the locks was sunny with some clouds.......later during the day, there was a short downpour.

Only disappointment during the cruise was that the Costa Rica stop was cancelled due to a general strike in that country :( .........but things like that happen and you just make the best of it.