twangster

Insta360 OneX4 The X4 is a huge upgrade over previous versions that I've used before. 360 cameras have a learning curve. There is a lot of work in an app to make something worthy of posting. As I use them more, I learn more. What works, what doesn't, when too much 360 stuff is just too much. The X4 finally achieves higher resolution but that comes with large files. I have a 1TB smartphone largely to be able to do 360 file manipulation. The advice I offer to anyone looking to use a 360 camera would be to practice long before the big event you are thinking about. I am more careful about how I capture now which makes it easier to go through the mountains of video they can produce. They are a great tool to have in a photographer's toolbox when used appropriately.

Izumi Hibachi is in the range of $57 to $65 Izumi Ozakase is a new offering. Basically a Chef's Table type experience. It is currently $129.

In the old days the best DX sale pre-cruise was typically 30% so it was always 50/50 to pre-purchase as a D+. Now, DX sales are all over the map. There are sometimes better than 30% deals pre-cruise. It all depends on your ship and sail date. Equally important, now that D+ get five free drinks, every D+ needs to validate if buying a package is even necessary. Five free drinks plus five to six purchased drinks, everyday is loosely the break even point for a D+. Will you each drink ten or eleven drinks every single day? If so that great but that is just the break even point at which you really need eleven to twelve drinks plus per day to gain any benefit. If you have a port intensive cruise that may be challenging. As a P with six drinks per day I tried the DX once and it was impossible to drink enough (for me). Now I just drink as I feel like it and if I end up charging one or two drinks per day on select days without a package I'm still way ahead.

Officially D+ and P enjoy a beverage package discount of 30% and 40% when purchased on board the ship. The availability of D level discounts was never officially part of the CAS program. Since these pre-cruise "flash" sales for any level of the CAS aren't official no one knows if they will stick around or never been seen again.

LNG unfortunately is not enough. As it turns out LNG still produces a lot of emissions. The sulphur content is greatly reduced compared to heavy fuel oil but LNG isn't perfectly clean, it's just a lot cleaner than HFO. I'm wondering if shore power capability was added in the recent dry dock. Our docking in Alesund may have been the first time Jewel had used it.

Norway first tabled the restrictions many years ago then went through several iterations to land where they are now. https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1824 At first only electric ships would be allowed. They were a little too aggressive with their dates to the point not even their electric ferries would be ready in time. The shift to allow shore power as a compromise was a more recent addition but only two of our ports in Norway had shore power to offer. Biofuels are now included but it's not so simple. https://www.dnv.com/expert-story/maritime-impact/latest-updates-on-proposed-rules-for-zero-emissions-in-Norways-World-Heritage-fjords/ The other issue impacting itineraries is IMO2023 and other efforts in the shipping industry beyond just cruise ships to reduce speeds as a means of reducing emissions. On both of my cruises we had some legs where the ship was running at high speeds, relatively speaking, i.e. over 20 knots. By reducing speeds emissions are lowered. For a cargo or container ship that means it takes longer to get there so rates go up as the ship is less efficient at generating revenue. However the cargo still gets there. For cruise ships reducing speed means some itineraries are just not possible. Who would accept two sea days instead of one and fewer ports of call? So cruise lines, especially ones with older less efficient, higher emission producing engines have to re-think the itineraries they can offer. Between the two issues, IMO2023 and the Norway regulations, it's dramatically impacted what Royal can offer in the region.

If I have a premium drink plan I have no use for the RL. I'd much rather sit at a real bar somewhere on the ship, just like when I'm on Royal.

The last time I sailed Edge there was one Zenith on board. I met him. I suspect he won't be so lonely any more.

Cruise Summary Now that I am home and I've have had a chance to reflect on these two bucket list cruises here are some thoughts. Twenty seven days flew by. Changing cabins had zero impact on the overall experience. Jewel is a fine ship given her age. She is small by Royal Caribbean standards but with some research and setting expectations properly she still provides a great cruise experience. She has some of the best Voom available in the fleet. Iceland is beautiful. I'm glad I was able to cover so much of the country in the four days spent there. I have plans to return, probably on a fly-in basis. Having accomplished as much as I did especially from Akureyri I can now focus my next visit without FOMO that I need to see it all which I think would be harder when flying in. Ireland is also a great destination. I didn't mean to turn the day in Belfast into a Titanic day but at the same time it was so incredibly interesting seeing the shipyard that built some of the best ocean liners of their day and hearing the story of Titanic from a different perspective. Scotland never disappoints. The visit to Shetland was especially enjoyable. Having Belgium added for an unexpected change of itinerary was a pleasant surprise. I may add this port as part of a B3B next year. Norway was spectacular. Every port was fantastic. I'm so glad I was able to cruise the heritage fjords before they are shut down. Every port was different and special in it's own way. From the Twizy to hikes to city tours and self-explorations, a bird safari and more. What an experience! I am in the process of making plans to return to Norway in the winter riding the train system to get around in pursuit of the Northern Lights. Having been to Norway now I can focus that trip on destinations that make sense for a series of train rides. I'm grateful @Hoopster95 and @Biker19 joined for the second cruise which provided some relief from the weight of keeping everything live by myself. Tips for anyone booking this or similar itineraries - pack warm layers and really good rain gear. 🤣 This may be the last from me, at least for a while. It's a lot of work and the pay sucks. Plus I don't have anything worthy of the effort on the books. I do have some epic train journeys coming up but there is no place to post those live so I'll just be keeping them to myself. I hope you have found this informative and I thank you for viewing.

I see the match mosty influencing Pinnacle but Pinnacle remains 1-2% of a typical cruise CAS count based on top tier numbers. When you factor in that roughly half of a given ship typically has sailed Royal before, that small Pin percentage becomes even smaller as a percentage of all the passengers on board. So somewhere around 0.5% to 1% of a typical cruise overall population is Pinnacle. Assuming this match program influences half of Pinnacles to shop beyond Royal sometimes (but not every cruise) the overall impact of this new program is likely negligible or maybe at best 0.1% to 0.25% of total guest count of a typical cruise. I don't think this change was made in attempt to influence booking trends for the top of the loyalty programs. Even if that is the outcome, sometimes.

Not my best work. If you thought bus window photography can be kind of crappy, try airplane window photography. I didn't have a lot of time to frame the shot by the time I realized what I was seeing below us after takeoff from AMS. Right side just above the halfway mark you can see Jewel at the cruise terminal and the river we sailed down to reach the ocean.

Despite the light rain that appeared to be ending I walked to Amsterdam Centraal. Time 7:08 am The light rain picked up a bit. Fortunately I had packed my rain coat in my carry on for easy access. I had 6 EUR in coins I wanted to get rid of and the ticket machine takes credit card or coin (no bills). That covered the 5,90 EUR one way ticket to AMS airport. I could have made an earlier train but chose the 7:41am train. Time 7:33am. Sprinter train with level entrance. Airport has a grocery store including a bakery that smelled awesome! Time 8:03am My flight is at 12:55pm but I was able to check in, get through security and passport control then to a lounge. This KLM lounge has a number of Delft Blue Houses on display. They are taken very seriously! Time 8:40am

Argh! Rain. Hoping it stops soon. Might have to Uber.

6:38am and from Chops I see self assist are streaming off. That’ll be me soon. Sigh.

As suspected our Starlink gateway city remained Berlin for all of cruise #2 Chops has always provided the best results and today is no exception. It has been pretty good most of the time but isn’t perfect, yet. Every week more satellites go up and soon the full v2 satellites will fly. It’s been pretty good and the numerous videos posted to this thread are a testament to that. Not perfect but not bad at all.