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joshgates

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    Cleveland
  • If you have a personal or hobby CRUISE or TRAVEL BLOG, include the url here:
    http://joshgates.org

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  1. It constantly changes depending on where I'm going and what my mood is when I leave. A significant part of my photography life is spent in a studio working on various projects, so I tend to travel much lighter than than how I work at home. Partly because I'm a fan of constraints breeding creativity and partly because if I have a lot of equipment with me I'm just not going to want to carry it around and would leave it in my cabin more than I'd take it out. I've done cruises where all I've taken is a Q2M, so a fixed lens 28mm, black and white only camera, along with my phone. https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshgates/albums/72177720295648109 https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshgates/albums/72157719575136290 I've done ones where I've only taken a 23mm (35mm equivalent) including one where I had a brain freeze and left it in JPG only for the week https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshgates/albums/72177720298744134 https://www.flickr.com/photos/joshgates/albums/72177720305321819 I've done trips where almost everything was done on my phone because I took too much equipment and I just didn't want to think about it. A couple weeks ago I took a 23mm and a 70-300mm, mostly to test the 70-300mm before taking it to Antarctica. I did enjoy the extra options that lens got me, but unless it's a more photography focused trip I doubt I'd take it again. I think my favorite travel kit to the Caribbean, so far, is the Fuji X-Pro3 and the Voigtlander 23mm. It's small, my favorite focal length (35mm equiv), great image quality with some character, suitable for indoor or out, and I love that it's manual focus. I know what will be in the frame before I even take it up to my eye because I've been shooting that focal length so long, and I know how it handles different scenarios. Have a missed shots I could have gotten with a full kit? Absolutely. Have I gotten shots that I'd have missed because I was changing lenses, not seeing in a specific view, or because I just didn't want to carry a lot of equipment with me? Heck yeah. For me, the lightweight and single prime lens kit is the right choice, but everyone's got different priorities 🙂
  2. I use a combination Flickr and Ghost to host my travel site. Flickr’s pro plan (around $80/year) has unlimited storage of full res files and you can embed them into whatever site you what at various resolutions or by letting it scale based on browser. I use Ghost (ghost.org) as a CRM, but there’s plenty of other’s available, including keeping Wix as your host and just changing all your images over to Flickr. Migrating from Wix would be a potentially huge undertaking, so splitting off to a different host for the photos could save a ton of work.
  3. I wandered up to the bar while they were doing a tasting of the drinks for some new officers on the Getaway and they let me join in, never saw it as an option to book though. The leftover food is used to make things like infusions, syrups, or garnishes like flavored salt/sugar for the rims. Nice program overall IMO, and if I see it as an option for something to do on a sea day I'd book it.
  4. No, it won't work. While you're in the ship you're not getting GPS or a cell signal, especially while you're underway so it'll report the location (if it reports at all) based on the ships internet provider. Last summer when I checked mine out of curiosity it had them in Miami the entire trip. About the only time it could conceivably work is when they're on the top deck, in port, and near someone who's connected to the mobile network of whatever port you're in. You could use precision finding, but at that point you're going to be close enough to see them anyways.
  5. Maybe they're traveling with an extended family and still want some more "quiet" time, or they have somewhat older kids and want a place to escape, they might like the ships or itineraries better than what Virgin offers. There's dozens if not hundreds of reasons why someone might choose to sail NCL and still want a place away from kids, not to mention that being far from the only reason to book Vibe. Different strokes for different folks, luckily no one's forced to get a pass if they don't want one.
  6. One exists, at least since 2018 when I saw it in the Vibe on the Breakaway, but it's quite literally 4-5 items that are just snacks, not anything that could be considered a meal, or worth the price they were charging.
  7. This is fantastic (for me). I'm always going to get the WiFi upgrade (non streaming) and the extra 2 dining, so that's already going to be $180. For another $115 I can get my preferred gin, bottled water, and starbucks, which to be honest would pay the difference alone most weeks. I'm all for this.
  8. The ones I've done there's always been a letter sent out on day 5(ish) with where/when to meet, to bring your passport, and to pick up your new card from guest services in the morning. So far I haven't had to disembark, they just had one of those podiums they use for entry/exit setup next to the theater and they'd scan us out and back in. For the Vibe pass, just go to guest services a couple days early and let them know you'd like one, when you pick up your card on changeover morning they'll have the charge slip ready to sign and you'll get a pass right then.
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