peety3

I would not fret about the 24-70 if you're using the 16-35 and 70-200. If you're going with the 200-500, I might plan to have the 24-70 on the camera and the 16-35 handy. Often times, we end up using our zoom lenses at either end of the zoom range and rarely in the middle, so think of a 24-70 as a 24 and a 70, etc.

I'm a gear freak, so my most recent Alaska cruise was done with a 24-70, 100-400, 600 with 1.4x TC on three cameras, and a 14/2.8 in a pouch that rarely got used. Again, don't worry about the gaps in between.

Years ago, I did the research on what Princess was offering on our cruises, and found that the excursion price was significantly tied to the number of minutes of helicopter flying that was built into the tour, unless the tour had some significant other component to it. As such, I think you can just shop for the tour that has what you want in it and enjoy.

If it were up to me, the "Pilot's Choice" tour sounds best to my ears, as it has two glacier stops and hence perhaps the pilot is also the guide (not certain though).

On 6/30/2019 at 8:48 PM, Tricia724 said:

We also did our trip last week with Gastineau, although it was the photo safari, a somewhat pricier option but ideal for the camera enthusiast. There were 10 of us on the photo safari, and several of us (myself included) didn't even have a camera. My other half is the amateur photographer, and he got hundreds of pictures, mostly of a pod of orcas but with a few humpbacks  thrown in. We've done a number of whale watching trips, but the boats that Gastineau uses with the sides that flip up and wide, open windows are great boats for whale watching. I'd use them again. They do have to be booked through the cruise line, though.

Last I checked, the photo safari (JNU-700 if you're on Princess) is the same price as the non-photo safari that's otherwise rather similar (JNU-705). The cheaper one is JNU-670, "Discovering Alaska's Whales" (or something like that), but that one "forfeits" a little bit of whale time to go do some citizen science reporting. 670 and 705 are on their 20-passenger boats (which have a "bonus" aft viewing platform), while 700 is on their 14-passenger boats.

On 5/31/2019 at 8:03 AM, quack2 said:

I would not take a cruise ship offered whale watching excursion.  Too many people on the boat means photo opportunities are limited.

Far too blanket of an assumption.

Another +1 for Gastineau Guiding. We've always thoroughly enjoyed our tours with them, and they're always booked through the cruise line. The Photo Safari boats are 14 passenger and the others are 20 passenger. Beyond passenger count, think of the overall passenger experience. Most every whale watch operator will claim that their boats are "custom", but Gastineau is the operator who did the customization truly for the sake of the experience. With large windows that swing up/in and pin out of the way, you get a huge opening through which to enjoy the sea air, partake in the views, and take photos to your heart's content. The boats are more stable due to their design, so much so that I've had relatively good success with an 8-pound lens (plus a camera on the back) on a monopod and getting photos while "undancing" with the boat.

IMHO the small-boat tour is well worth it! The cruise ship might get close, but the glacier is going to be calving and chunks of ice are going to float away from the face. The smaller boat simply has the ability to get a lot closer as the ice is going to be dispersing the further away it floats.

As an example from Glacier Bay, take a look at these three photos. I apologize that it's links only and you've got to click to see them, but here we go:

Here's a fishing boat that came into GBNP to see the glacier we were at.

Our ship has departed the glacier, and you can see the small fishing boat up near the glacier (yes, you're going to have to look closely).

Here's another cruise ship coming in to view the glacier, and yes the fishing boat is still in there.

Regardless of whether it's included, DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! We've done it twice in Alaska and once on the Mexican Riviera; doing it in a full suite is extra-sweet. We had an aft balcony for MexRiv, and did it on the sailaway from Mazatlan. Enjoy our pictures, though I must first give you a disclaimer: I'm transitioning to a new career as a photographer, and hence I went a little nuts with my own lighting for our balcony dinner photos. We invited my parents to join us for the UBD.

Start here, then arrow-right to scroll through the photos: 2017 Mexican Riviera cruise aboard the Ruby Princess, starting from the Mazatlan sailaway

And yes, UBD is one of the least-known nuggets. First time we did it was on a 7-day Seattle-Alaska RT; we did it on sailaway from Skagway which was the fifth evening of the cruise, and apparently we were the first UBD of the cruise. The dessert plate with the two slabs of chocolate, the four dollops of mousse, and the rolled/perforated chocolate is only offered on the UBD.

Crew news, your pictures are from (at least) two different spots.

Our photos are on Flickr - head here and arrow-right to flip through the images:

2017 Seattle RT with Glacier Bay, starting at Ketchikan / Deadliest Catch tour

Images 16002-16081 are from the tour, though technically 16082-16085 are taken from the tour boat as well.

If you're shooting for a "double truck" (two-page spread in a magazine), it can matter, especially if you want room to crop. It's my understanding that the Phase One dynamic range blows all of the DSLRs out of the water, good and of course bad. My experience is that the skin tones render amazingly well, and as a headshot photographer I would love to essentially eliminate my endless frustration with how some people photograph red in various ways and the hours I spend fixing that.

My experience in Alaska is that the vendors list the tours on their website with the exact same name as how Princess offers it. I would guess that's so they can say the price match guarantee is for that particular tour and only that tour.

We did it in 2017 and were thoroughly impressed. My wife and I are both into photography, and I tend to be "the obvious guy" with several large lenses, while my wife prefers gear that's more on the lighter side. We did our usual "split up and cover two different angles", and the deck boss walked over to her and said "I think that guy has you beat", to which she repiled, "That's how my husband likes to cruise". 🙂

They do feed the wildlife, so if that's a huge sticking point for you, perhaps it's not the tour for you. I knew this going in, so I was ready for eagle photos as soon as they appeared. I hadn't mentioned this to my wife, and it meant she was a little caught off-guard for eagle photos. I'm anxious to do the trip again and change up my photo strategy, particularly for the eagles.

You're free to move around the seating area at least part of the time (can't remember specifics). Don't be afraid to find a different vantage point if that suits your fancy. I had studied the layout before our cruise, and I went for upper deck, forward (bow), starboard side; I loved the vantage point except I was somewhat blind to what we were coming up on. My wife stayed lower deck, aft (stern), starboard side and I think she liked her spot. I'd add photos but Flickr is down for maintenance - I'll add some Flickr links later today.

For what it's worth, I want the 150MP Phase One. It'll be two years before I can buy it, but I'm going to buy it. Those MF pixels seem to capture skin tones so much smoother than DSLR/MILC. That said, my motivation to buy it is strictly business; travel photography will likely still be DSLR/MILC.

Our delay was trees and wires across the tracks. I don't think that's limited to the evening trains, and I don't think that's something that Amtrak instantly says "buses instead!".

4 minutes ago, martincath said:

Only the evening train is dependent on issues before Seattle. I recall peety posting about their trauma when it happened, and it certainly sucked (and I agree that the renovations in King Street did nothing but make the quality of the speakers worse if anything, acoustics are god-awful in that station so you need to go find a staff member to ask what the heck was announced almost every time...). The morning train in both directions though does indeed sit in the station overnight, with zero dependency on any other Amtrak service - and since the replacement Amtrak buses usually take less time to drive than the train does,  the only risk of missing a same-day cruise is if something catastrophic happens while you are en route.

 

While this does happen, it's extraordinarily rare - we've had one such incident ourselves, southbound, when some idiot in a truck that was too high for a bridge slammed into the bottom of it. We sat for three hours waiting for an engineer to be dispatched to check the bridge was still structurally sound for the train to cross over - but during that time we had updates every 30mins giving us an ETA for the engoneer's arrival, confirmation that they had arrived, an ETA for them completing the inspection. We certainly would rather have had that delay than just rolling over the bridge assuming it was still safe - but if it had been northbound, a same-day cruise might have been jeopardized. That said - with how full flights run these days, I'd bank on the train rather than ANY individual flight - I've had far, far more issues with flight delays than the Cascades train, and these days unless you are on a first class ticket with a crapton of Status such that they will bump another passenger for you to get you on the next flight any kind of mechanical or weather delay is way more likely to see you miss that same-day cruise than the train, which at least has a Plan B built in (large Amtrak bus fleet).

The flaw in this is that a gentleman in the terminal the night of our adventure indicated that Amtrak is consistently slow to make the decision to roll the buses. Yes, they take less time than the train, but if they sit on their thumbs for seven hours (the typical delay this guy encountered, and I think he had at least six events to judge his numbers on), you'd go mad sitting on the wooden benches in King Street Station. In our case, I downloaded the app and signed up for status updates on our train: every 30 minutes, they'd announce a 30-minute delay, but every time, they told us to remain at the station as the train could mysteriously arrive at light speed.

50 minutes ago, LEtue said:

I haven't used the train in recent years but is this new?  With early morning departure and the train already in the depot I assumed it had been there overnight. 

 

I am planning a cruise now so good to know! 

Which way are you going? The post title says Seatac to Vancouver, or northbound. As I understand it, the train starts in Portland or perhaps further south. That means it's at the mercy of whatever it encounters, and I can tell you from our one experience that it can be a figurative train wreck. To make the matter worse, they don't tell you anything if you're in the terminal (even if they did, the speakers are so tinny and the marble is so echo-y that you can't make it out), but they have a horrible habit of not committing to the screw-up quickly, and waiting HOURS before they decide to use buses to transport the passengers north. We gave up after nearly two hours and rented a car, but it meant we had to pay to park at the hotel, get up earlier and drive back south to YVR, drop off the rental, then pay a taxi to get us to the airport, for what could have been a leisurely walk of about 20 blocks to grab a yummy breakfast item at Blenz Coffee or perhaps the most Canadian coffee of all at Tim Hortons....wait for it...a latt-EH. 🙂

If you're going southbound (Vancouver to SeaTac), your odds are much better as you're not at the mercy of nearly as much.

Just to be clear, I think we're mixing a few different things here.

Club Class passengers (highest tier/tiers of minisuites and all tiers of suites) are eligible to eat in the Club Class space any time that the MDR is open for service. Embarkation lunch through disembarkation breakfast, with the exception of some lunches when the ship is in port. It's restricted to only those sailing in a CC-eligible cabin.

Full Suite passengers are eligible to eat breakfast in the special suite-only breakfast service, offered in one of the specialty restaurants. The menu is but a guideline, and generally if the ingredients are available on the ship, it can be done. General consensus to my knowledge is that it's never open on disembarkation morning, but will be open all other mornings of the cruise.

As an aside, it's my understanding that full suite passengers have their pick of dining arrangements, and are not required to choose Club Class or anytime dining. Should a full suite choose traditional dining, it's my understanding that their TD request is guaranteed to be approved, and that other passengers sailing with that cabin can link their reservation to the full suite booking and essentially "inherit" the guaranteed TD request. TD does still preclude passengers from going to ATD in theory though.

15 minutes ago, rocklinmom said:

My sister just booked an S4 suite and says she has Anytime dining.  So this means they are actually Club Class?  I ask because it is a family group cruise and the rest of us are in regular cabins with Anytime Dining and they still want to eat with us.  When we board, will she and her husband (in the suite) be sent to Club Class dining? 

Think of it this way: the only people who won't be "allowed" into ATD are those whose cruise card shows them to be assigned to TD (i.e. they have a table number showing on the card). If they choose to dine separate, they'll be welcomed at the CC entrance.

48 minutes ago, Woobstr112G said:

I have the following:

15x85

28x135

10x22

70x200

 

The 15x85 is my everyday day walk around lens.   They are all Canon lenses.  I consider my self an  amateur enthusiast.  When I retire next year I plan on taking some classes to become a better photographer.

 

Bob

I remember the days of being an amateur enthusiast. 🙂 The 28-135 and 70-200 will both work to the full potential with a full-frame DSLR or an EOS R or RP. The 15-85 would be relatively redundant alongside the 28-135 (the 28-135 would be the better choice) if you got an EOS R or RP, so if you were planning to sell your 70D, you could certainly sell it with the 15-85. The 10-22 would serve your wide angle needs in the short term if you got an EOS R or RP, and would behave like a 16-35 just like it did on your 70D. Best wishes in your research and decision; as much as we all wish the manufacturers would be more open with what their plans are, I also realize there's huge amounts of money to be made or lost by being too public with product designs and timelines. 🙂

On 5/11/2019 at 10:53 AM, jondfk said:

- As noted elsewhere Club Class is not a separate space rather just a small section of the primary ATD dining room (deck 6 starboard on the Grand class ships).  I'm sure new builds will at some stage introduce more separation but for now . . .

- The separation from the normal MDR can be little or none.  On our last cruise two Club Class tables were deep within the ATD area, we sat at both and it was strange to have tables on both sides that were not Club Class, not sure why they implemented it this way.

 

It's been our experience (though slightly dated) that Club Class was positioned in the "multipurpose" MDR (the one used for TD early and ATD late). And frankly if you ask me, that's the right solution: there's only so may ways to slice up three MDRs for TD vs. ATD. Princess seems to have a significant-enough draw for early TD that they justify a second MDR for early seating, but slicing off a fraction of that helps to tilt the balance back towards ATD (it's moving the CC people out of the ATD space and into what was the TD space).

Most passengers sailing in CC min-suites are going to CC "Anytime" dining. However, I don't know what the breakdown is for full-suite passengers; I know that my wife and I still prefer TD for dinner. Perhaps the cruise you were on had a higher than normal percentage of full-suite passengers selecting CC, and/or a decision was made that the original CC capacity wasn't enough to maintain the service levels they hoped. Putting those two tables further away may not feel right, but could perhaps provide a window seat for CC folks while augmenting the capacity.

43 minutes ago, havoc315 said:

Ef-s lenses are not worth using on FF. While they are fully functional on the R and RP as far as autofocus, since you’re applying a 1.6 crop, you end up with a fairly low resolution image — about 10-12mp on the Canon R, lower on the RP.

 

That might be fine in a pinch, but you wouldn’t want to make it a habit.  Makes the entire camera a waste.  The 70d would give better IQ and better performance than the R with ef-s lenses. (It becomes a 10mp aps-c camera with mediocre performance). 

 

Though cant say anything with certainty, I strongly believe a replacement for the 80D and/or 7dii is coming this year. Might be the last high-end dslr but it’s coming. 

 

You can also consider adapting your lenses to the M50.  Using EF-s lenses on the m50 makes more sense than using them on the R/RP. 

I disagree that it's a waste - it's a great way to bridge into new technology, it's a great way to bridge into full frame without having to start nearly "lensless", and the AF is going to be significantly better than what you'd find in a two-digit Canon DSLR.

I've also said for a long time that many full-frame lenses (and some crop lenses) are "built with a use in mind" - the 85/1.2 was designed to be a portrait lens, but when mounted on an APS-C camera it behaves as though it was a 135mm (or nearly so), changing the framing or subject distance from how it was designed. Likewise, the EF-S 10-22 was designed to be an APS-C equivalent for a 16-35 wide-angle. The EF-RF adapter provides a great bridge here: the 10-22 would work like a 16-35 on the R/RP, but if/when the owner decides to get a 16-35, they get the same experience they were used to but with more pixels (and IMHO less distortion as the FF lenses are built better).

Canon Rumors posted a "CR1" spec list for a 90D today. Although they're saying it's not a 7D3, I'd argue that the specs look a lot like a 7D3 to me. As far as the last high-end DSLR, I find that doubtful as the rumor mill says there's a 1Dx Mark III being tested in the wild so it's ready for Olympics 2020 in Tokyo.

I personally think MILC (mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras) are the way of the future. Lens R&D seems to have swung significantly toward the world of MILC lenses, and the ability to show in the viewfinder what the final image should (roughly) look like is a usability feature that aligns well with the world around us.

To the OP: what lenses do you have presently?

57 minutes ago, mskaufman said:

Waiting to hear more on this thread as to how the EF-S lenses work with the adapter

The image is cropped down to the APS-C portion of the sensor but otherwise everything's 100% hunky dory.

Full-frame DSLRs have to be made in such a way that there's room for the mirror to flip up. APS-C cameras have a smaller sensor and can use a smaller mirror, but of course the overall mirror box dimensions stay the same. Hence, less clearance is needed for the mirror, and as a result, most if not all EF-S lenses protrude into the body a bit. That protrusion allows the designers new latitude with the overall design, saving weight and cost, as many lenses have a "reverse telephoto group" at the back to project the image to the sensor.

Mirrorless cameras have no mirror, and hence the RF mount is engineered to be significantly closer to the sensor (the camera has less physical depth). The engineers can make new designs without the constraint of the mirror, and the smaller profile means there's plenty of room for the RF-EF adapter while keeping the EF/EF-S mount lenses at the right distance away from the sensor to match their original design criteria.

Be very cautious about using Amtrak, as the Seattle to Vancouver leg is the "end of the run" and any delays earlier will snowball into a big mess for you (it did for us).

What is it that you seek in a new camera?

Do consider the EOS R or RP. Both of these natively use "RF" lenses, but there's a Canon adapter available that will use EF and EF-S lenses, so you can continue to use your existing lenses. The R has the same sensor as the 5D Mark IV, and has a lot of promise. Canon is also clearly investing in the development of lots of RF-mount lenses, as the RF mount (and the fact that the R series is mirrorless) opens up a lot of options. I will mention though that the ergonomics of the R are quite different than the Canon DSLRs, so you may not like that. I'm fairly set with DSLRs, but the R is our next camera purchase.

We've done two Seattle RT with Tracy Arm Fjord ("the Sunday sailing") and one Seattle RT with Glacier Bay ("the Saturday sailing"), along with two Vancouver->Whittier NBs and a four-night Sampler. Given how the Star and Ruby are similar (one deck different), I wouldn't pick on ship, I'd pick on itinerary and price:

The Saturday/GB sailing is usually $100-200 more per person (or at least for what I've shopped), and I find the itinerary more relaxing. It's "one thing a day" with mostly better timings in port: 1.5 hours more in Juneau, 5.25 hours more in Skagway, though 1.75 less in Ketchikan.

The Sunday/TAF sailing is a little bit more of "wait then hurry up then wait then hurry up": sea time heading to Ketchikan, a more relaxed day in Ketchikan then OMG WE HAVE LOTS TO DO AND NOT MUCH TIME TO DO IT GET UP EARLY TO SEE TRACY ARM FJORD THEN BUZZ AROUND JUNEAU SLEEP A BIT THEN BUZZ AROUND SKAGWAY then ~49 hours of relaxing at sea then (the same as GB) BUZZ AROUND VICTORIA FOR MAYBE THREE HOURS and OH POO TIME TO GET OFF THE SHIP. There is the option for the "lucky" 150-300 people who choose it to take the small boat excursion in TAF and IMHO it is absolutely money very well spent. It's almost as though you need to go to bed early on Monday so you're ready to go to bed early on Tuesday to be ready for the double-header on Wednesday, but now you've got a long day Wednesday and another early start on Thursday.

Disclaimer: my wife and I both enjoy photography, and it's becoming my new career. We schlep lots of gear onto the ship for our cruises, always do the TAF small-boat tour, and then go racing off into Juneau to do a whale watch with Gastineau Guiding (JNU-700 is the choice to make, if you ask me...), and then likely a private photo tour in Haines or Skagway. The TAF small-boat tour does constrain the schedule in Juneau a bit, and cuts out the opportunity for a nap in your own cabin. As a result, I find the timetable of the Sunday sailing a little more action-packed, whereas I'd prefer a more relaxed pace if I could. Your style may be different...

Timing matters significantly. We've done this twice in Victoria, once in late July (great!) and once in August or September (one of the few times I felt ripped off). If anything, go to see whales and not to get pictures - the late-evening sun is at a lower angle, so you become more dependent on where your boat is relative to the whales and the sun. Silhouettes, back-lit photos, and overly contrasty shots just aren't as fun to look back on as mid-day whale shots IMHO unless you get one great artsy shot.

As much as my wife loves whale watches, I suspect she won't choose to do this again (and part of that is us being "spoiled" by living in the Seattle area, so we can easily catch a day trip to see the same whales).

On 4/29/2019 at 10:27 AM, angelhelly said:

So I will have to use my US password (or driver license) to fly to anchorage, use my US passport to got on the ship, and use my US Passport to fly from Vancouver back home. However, to disembark the ship and go through Canada custom, I technically should use my Canadian passport, but all my document with Viking will show my US one (because of the flights).

Separate the two things at play here: #1, the cruise line needs to document who you are to the respective authorities, and both passports identify the same human, and #2, border authorities have expectations for which passport you present to them. #1 and #2 do not cross-check each other.