Concierge Stateroom Binoculars Any Good?

[love2driveinct]

We are sailing next week with five of us in two CC cabins. According to the X website, each cabin will have a pair of binoculars. I'm trying to minimize what I bring from home, but I know binoculars are a must on an Alaska cruise.

 

So as the thread title states... are the X binoculars any good?

[Grandmaanne7]

Well, they are better than nothing but not top quality by any means.

 

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[Northern Aurora]

Grandmaanne7 is being more charitable regarding the quality of the binoculars than I am. The quality of the stateroom binoculars is so poor that they are barely better than nothing. I agree that binoculars are a must on an Alaska cruise, so please take your own.

[A Sixth?]

They're almost always broken too. The lens go out-of-alinged after someone drops them and they get dropped a lot. :(

 

[rnrcruzin]

We bring our own. The ones provided are marginal at best.

[Hydrokitty]

We are sailing next week with five of us in two CC cabins. According to the X website, each cabin will have a pair of binoculars. I'm trying to minimize what I bring from home, but I know binoculars are a must on an Alaska cruise.

 

So as the thread title states... are the X binoculars any good?

 

Bring your own. I have Pentax binoculars that are small and fit in my carry on. I've used the ones in the cabin and they're ok for when two people want to look at the same thing at the same time, but if you really want to see something up close, like the glacier or wildlife, bring your own.

[chemmo]

The binoculars we have been provided in suite rooms have been...just about OK.

 

We always bring our own. If you have some spare OBC they often have some good ones on board for sale which would help your luggage out but not your luggage back...

[flyingv4me]

Their binoculars are...not good. Please bring your own. Alaska deserves good binoculars!

[Lisah101]

The ones in our Concierge room on the Reflection were missing all together in April.

[TeaBag]

Another vote for bringing your own.

[love2driveinct]

I sure am glad I asked! Thank you everyone. We'll bring two pairs from home and use the CC ones as extras.

 

 

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[Baron Barracuda]

An Alaska cruise is an expensive bucket list item. To get the best results you need the right tools. A few years back I used recommendations from Tripadvisor to purchase two small but powerful pairs for under $100 combined. Haven't used them since, but no regrets.

[Happy2cruise]

To be used as a backup only:D

[Hydrokitty]

...

 

A few years back I used recommendations from Tripadvisor to purchase two small but powerful pairs for under $100 combined. Haven't used them since, but no regrets.

 

Interesting....I paid about $100 for my pentax binocs and no matter where we go I bring them along. I keep them in my carry on (they're very compact and light weight) and when I'm home I keep them in my kitchen drawer so I can watch the birds....and spy on the cat!

[ClaudiaB]

Have a wonderful cruise. You're smart to bring your own. The ones in the cabin are mere toys.

[shot2bits]

No, they are hopeless!

[Baron Barracuda]

Interesting....I paid about $100 for my pentax binocs and no matter where we go I bring them along. I keep them in my carry on (they're very compact and light weight) and when I'm home I keep them in my kitchen drawer so I can watch the birds....and spy on the cat!

 

Nowadays the camera on my cell phone can zoom in almost as much as my old binocs, and easier to focus.

[sms82450]

By all means bring your own binoculars!! The ones on the ship are very inexpensive. If you want to view wildlife, you'll want good ones!!

[gopro63]

People should be friendly enough to say here like to see?

 

Are you one of them to offer the person next to you? :)

 

Today My camera can zoomand capture nice and close to say no need for Bin's

[love2driveinct]

People should be friendly enough to say here like to see?

 

Are you one of them to offer the person next to you? :)

 

Today My camera can zoomand capture nice and close to say no need for Bin's

 

 

I definitely would share. [emoji4]

 

Wish I had a nice camera, although my phone does a decent job.

 

 

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[donaldsc]

People should be friendly enough to say here like to see?

 

Are you one of them to offer the person next to you? :)

 

Today My camera can zoomand capture nice and close to say no need for Bin's

 

Totally disagree for 2 reasons. First of all, I have my binoculars set exactly for my eyes so I get the best image. If you change the settings, I have to reset them. Second and more important, I do not share any of my optical equipment. If you wanted to be able to look at stuff through binoculars, you should have planned ahead and brought your own binoculars.

 

DON

[Beanb41]

The supplied binos in Concierge cabins are at best rubbish. That said for around $30 one can buy more than adequate small binos onboard that are more than adequate for the job in hand. I purchased a small fold up set a few cruises ago and take them with me now on all cruises as part of my standard cruising kit. Another way of using up some non refundable OBC

Edited June 16, 2016 by Beanb41

[Hydrokitty]

Totally disagree for 2 reasons. First of all, I have my binoculars set exactly for my eyes so I get the best image. If you change the settings, I have to reset them. Second and more important, I do not share any of my optical equipment. If you wanted to be able to look at stuff through binoculars, you should have planned ahead and brought your own binoculars.

 

DON

 

If someone asked me if they could look through my binoculars I would more than likely let them....but I do agree that it is inconvenient to have to reset them for my eyes, especially if I'm looking at something that's likely to be gone in a few seconds....like an animal or bird...but I don't have it in me to say No.

[dg33]

No. That was one of the reasons we have switched to balcony vs concierge- binoculars were useless, we didn't need the afternoon canapés and the sparkling wine wasn't worth it. Unless you are in the suite category, not worth the extra cost (imo-:)

[Beanb41]

No. That was one of the reasons we have switched to balcony vs concierge- binoculars were useless, we didn't need the afternoon canapés and the sparkling wine wasn't worth it. Unless you are in the suite category, not worth the extra cost (imo-:)

 

Unless you need the points to move up status