Mardi Gras - Aug. 21 - 28, 2021, 7 Nights - Western Caribbean Live

[Oceansaway17]

6 hours ago, twangster said:

 

Truth is I can find something to love about any ship, any line.  

 

You are free to use a forward balcony but they don't want light spilling out onto the dark bow so they can maintain their night vision on the bridge.  That's not stopping my neighbors who have their curtains open and TV on filling their balcony with the flickering lights typical of a TV.  They apparently sleep with the TV on because it goes on all night as I have gone out several times t

 

I recently did a MSC Meraviglia trip report so head over to the MSC boards to check it out.  Next up for me is Odyssey in a few weeks

 

Wow I guess then the bridge is not too bothered by your neighbors, but it is rude of them.  If it was me I would report them.  It does look like your balcony is nice and deep too.

 

I will check out your MSC Blog and I will look forward to your Odyssey since I am doing her in April of 2022.  And do not forget that HAL has the new Rotterdam 7 coming out.  I am on that one next May to Norway.  And if you are really into interesting ships, the new Disney Wish will have a lot of really neat new things too.

 

I agree all ships have something interesting and I do not believe in loyalty to just any one.

Been having fun trying to learn Celebrity and RCI apps.  Learned on line check in can lock up so ya have to go to the app to finish.  oh well.

 

toodles and do LOOK FOR THE CAKES at lunch in buffet area.  They did have them in the back on the Vista which is a great ship.

 

 

[twangster]

Not going to lie... not a fan of these straws on board.  

 

 

Literally 30 second later.

 

 

The drink was great.  Getting slapped in the face with a wet noodle as I tried to drink it... not so much.  Bring your own straws.

 

 

According to my phone, I had late night pizza.

 

 

 

Our progress:

 

 

[Oceansaway17]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

It seemed like everytime I made a move towards getting off the ship it started raining again.

 

 

 

 

 

all the more reason to take more photos.  Seriously MG is just one beautiful ship.

I am hoping my Panorama next year out of LA will be nice.  I just might have to book MG for next year too.  So one of the Y Tube folks "Don vac" is going on soon and he will have stuff on You Tube by mid September.  

 

Enjoy Guys burgers by the pool if they have them.  no cold limp burgers like at buffet.  too bad MG does not have the IMAX theatre though.  

[twangster]

Day Four - Costa Maya

 

I tried my luck with some star gazing photography but we had quite a bit of cloud cover overnight and a sea mist in the air so nothing worth posting here.  Maybe another night.

 

Time lapse of our arrival.  Given the time difference we are arriving in the predawn hours ship time.

 

 

 

[twangster]

I did not have any plans for Costa Maya today.  I usually head to the little town close by and find some place along the beach to hang out but with the requirement to wear masks outdoors in Mexico and since I have a number of stops here in the coming months I wanted to enjoy this new ship while I could.

 

I spent a few hours in the morning updating this thread and checking out more areas of the ship.  

 

I had another reason to stay on board and I was holding off from any adult beverage while I waited.

 

First some lunch...

 

 

And then...

 

 

 

[twangster]

Bolt!

 

At $15 for 25 seconds this isn't something I'm going to do very often but I had to try it at least once.  

 

It was pretty fun.  Okay it was a lot of fun.  I kept the throttle pegged at full the whole time and let her rip. However at this price point it will be a while before I do it again.  I just wish for this kind of money you would get another ride... or more.

 

They don't let you take anything with you including cameras so no video of my ride but after my turn I captured some other guests on their rides and clipped various rides together from different viewpoints so you can get an idea of what to expect.

 

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by twangster

[pc2425]

My husband and I went on Bolt last week and loved it!  But I agree for how short the ride is and the price it’s not something I would do often.  But everyone should do it once!

[Sea Dog]

@twangster Sorry I'm late to the party. Just found out you were doing this thread. Outstanding work as always. Your skills never cease to amaze me. Brilliant on the low light availability shots without a flash. I think you are shooting with out a tripod so I have to wonder what settings do you do to not get motion blur on a open shutter speed and a pretty wide open iris?

[twangster]

2 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

@twangster Sorry I'm late to the party. Just found out you were doing this thread. Outstanding work as always. Your skills never cease to amaze me. Brilliant on the low light availability shots without a flash. I think you are shooting with out a tripod so I have to wonder what settings do you do to not get motion blur on a open shutter speed and a pretty wide open iris?

 

The Sony A7III has in body image stabilization and a great low noise profile at medium ISO.  It opens up a lot of creativity when you can shoot at slower shutter speeds and avoid a lot of blur that would have been impossible to avoid in the old film days.

[Sea Dog]

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

The Sony A7III has in body image stabilization and a great low noise profile at medium ISO.

Ahh that's the key. The Sony is an awesome camera. I hope to get one in the future. Right now I will have to settle on my Nikon D3300 for my review in November. Also the fact that it has a great low noise ratio is great. I find that when I boost exposure in post edit I will get some noise. Your pictures are so clean. Looking forward to more and thanks for responding. 

[ProgRockCruiser]

16 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

I find that when I boost exposure in post edit I will get some noise.

Smoothing/noise filters really help here.  Sometimes you can go a bit overboard with them, but if you apply just the right amount, the noise goes away and you get a great image (at regular resolutions, such as on-screen).

[Sea Dog]

23 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Smoothing/noise filters really help here.

Lightroom does a very nice job. Thanks for your comments.

[geaux_aces]

17 hours ago, twangster said:

I did not have any plans for Costa Maya today.  I usually head to the little town close by and find some place along the beach to hang out but with the requirement to wear masks outdoors in Mexico and since I have a number of stops here in the coming months I wanted to enjoy this new ship while I could.

 

I spent a few hours in the morning updating this thread and checking out more areas of the ship.  

 

I had another reason to stay on board and I was holding off from any adult beverage while I waited.

 

First some lunch...

 

 

And then...

 

 

 

Sorry if this has been answered, but is it $15 per ride (coving person in front and back) or $15 per person ($30 for two to take one ride)?

[twangster]

New to me on a ship... beverage dispensers at the drink stations have touchless sensors.  Just place your cup then your fingers near the sensors and it dispenses.  

 

 

It's proving difficult to capture the funnel without some super wide tricks.

 

 

 

[twangster]

I put the cameras away for awhile and enjoyed some jazz at the Brass Magnolia then a buffet dinner.

 

Various things going on around the ship.  Lot's to check out but there are other threads that go into great detail about that so I'm going to keep my focus on the ship.  I'm rather enjoying the ship and sometimes you just need to put the cameras down and experience it with your eyes.

 

Casual night.

 

 

 

After dark I tried some night star photography but that nearly full moon was a pain in the lens.  The stars are there between breaks in the clouds but with the moon illuminating the sky it made it nearly impossible to capture the stars.

 

 

 Our progress:

 

 

[twangster]

Day Five - Roatan

 

Up early to see if the moon was out of the way or in a better position as we approached Roatan.

 

 

The moon was behind the ship but still ruining the night sky.  Looking up at the bridge above my balcony:

 

 

Then it got cloudy for a bit.

 

 

I have a cruise in a couple weeks in the general area and I'm hoping for a new moon or close to it.  

[twangster]

Invasion of the towel animals...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's true... bacon shortage on the buffet.

 

 

However Shaq's Biscuit & Egg can be ordered with bacon.  

 

 

[twangster]

It's been several years since I've been to Mahogany Bay and it looks as beautiful as ever.

 

 

The beach area within walking distance from the ship.

 

 

Finally off the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a chair lift for a fee but I prefer to walk off a tiny amount of what the buffet has done to my waistline. 

 

 

 

Need to show a ship card for entry.

 

 

 

It really doesn't look like much has changed since my last visit.

 

 

 

 

The real reason I got off the ship today.  Great photo opportunity.

 

 

Plus it's always nice to dip your toes in the sand and the ocean.

 

 

It's always comforting when you can see the ship from the island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It felt like it was a bazillion degrees and having to wear a mask outdoors didn't help so I headed back.

 

 

There is a nature walk as an alternative to the main path.

 

 

 

Early a letter left in my cabin informed us they would be washing down the balconies today.  Here the dividers are open between balconies.

 

[twangster]

After a dip in a cool pool followed by a frozen lemonade I was starting to feel human again.

 

Balcony view looking right.

 

 

Balcony view looking left.

 

 

Crew doing touch up painting around the bridge.

 

 

I'm enjoying this balcony and the magnificent view forward.

 

 

[twangster]

I felt like a light snack and Street Eats came to mind.

 

 

 

The Puebla Chicken Fries.

 

 

Walking around the ship I noticed Teppanyaki was ready for dinner.

 

 

There are three stations within the Teppanyaki venue.

 

 

 

Bonsai Teppanyaki Menu:

 

Bonsai Teppanyaki.pdf

 

Next door is Bonsai Sushi with a wall of windows to the sea (or this case Roatan).

 

 

 

 

 

Bonsai Sushi Menu:

 

Bonsai Sushi.pdf

 

[d-train]

28 minutes ago, twangster said:

After a dip in a cool pool followed by a frozen lemonade I was starting to feel human again.

 

Balcony view looking right.

 

 

Balcony view looking left.

 

 

Crew doing touch up painting around the bridge.

 

 

I'm enjoying this balcony and the magnificent view forward.

 

 

 

A Frozen lemonade sounds amazing!

Where on the ship has those?

 

 

[twangster]

2 minutes ago, d-train said:

 

A Frozen lemonade sounds amazing!

Where on the ship has those?

 

 

 

Any bar that does frozen drinks should be able to.  The Watering Hole has fresh lemonade for an extra tart version...with an optional shot of vodka of course.

[twangster]

Down to Summer Landing for a porter or two.

 

 

Pub music courtesy Travis which I really enjoyed.  The blue lighting is really hard to photograph though.  

 

 

I've been meaning to try some Paninis so that became my dinner for the night. 

 

 

Nice alternative to pizza.

 

 

Late night I was having some minor success with the night sky.  There are stars up there even if the moon was ruining what could have been a spectacular photo.  Looking up at the bridge.

 

 

Looking forward.

 

 

[Sea Dog]

7 minutes ago, twangster said:

There are stars up there even if the moon was ruining what could have been a spectacular photo.

What is your feeling on sky replacement for artistic editing?

[twangster]

3 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

What is your feeling on sky replacement for artistic editing?

 

Kind of takes the sport out of it but I suppose it has its use in some places.  Anyone can photoshop an image.  Takes skill to capture it live in the wild.