stickyshocker

10 hours ago, LXA350 said:

 

Very easy, from experience on airlines such as United or American in the US compared to Lufthansa group airlines or British Airways in Europe for instance.

Only Lufthansa? Try KLM or better yet

Singapore Air and Emirates.

As for US on EU airlines, i’ll take SouthWest over RyanAir, Delta on Air France any day.

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Don’t forget that in addition to the $100pp penalty the balance of the deposit is issued as a future cruise credit to be used within a year and not as a refund. 

They never really mentioned the FCC, just a confirmation code and their word that my deposit (less $100pp )shall be credited back to the original form of payment.

Btw, i never received an email either that my cruise is officially cancelled.

To answer the question, yes it was an NRD.. I was willing to take the hit of $100 pp as stated and confirmed to me by the agent. There are three pax and that’s the total amount of credit i received. $214 and $86.. I do hope it’s just a coincidence not a royal mistake and that there would be more to follow.

I booked thru a certified vacay planner from Royal. 

Booked a cruise some time ago for a November 2019 cruise out of Singapore.

Something came up and was forced to cancel, i saw the credit and it’s not what i was told. My refund is way off , in fact they refunded me the total amt of penalty as opposed to the other chunk of deposit that i was due.. I expect to get passed around as soon as i make the call tomorrow morning, do you have any advice on who to call or appropriate dept. that can handle this? 

Thanks in advance

3 hours ago, theotherchad said:

 

Still, that kind of behavior (selfish, entitled, rude, obnoxious) happens on land too. It's just part of the world we live in. Thankfully, those types are the exception to the rule. Most of the people we have met on cruises are friendly, polite and kind. And cruising is still our favorite kind of vacation. Don't let the few bad apples spoil it. And don't let some minor reductions in perks ruin your vacation. 

I can attest to this:

From temples - " John Doe was here"... Nobody cares if you were here, stop desecrating historic structures.

The Land Cruisers - Shared a ride with a couple equipped w/ Canon 1DX dressed in a neatly ironed matching safari outfits, yelling at the driver for not cutting the other vehicles for getting them the shot... Well what about the other minivan who was there before us?

@ the Guesthouses - Lads who thinks Travel is some kind of Olympics, that a destination has to end in a "Stan" to make everyone knows that they are getting the most unique experience.

I once overheard a group complaining that everything is expensive in that country and that in "The real world" it would be different... I get it, you guys are on a vacation.. that nice young lady serving you your "Vacation Gelato" is a real person tbh.

I have my own share, walking in a bike zone only to be yelled at in a different language..I'm pretty sure it's not " Have a Nice Day"..

… Entitlement/douchery comes in all forms of shapes and sizes, not everything comes with a pin. If anything, those cruisers we met who's been to 50-60 cruises, we absorbed the tips they shared and added it to our arsenal on how we want to visit one place.

1 hour ago, xpcdoojk said:

I remember Lauterbrunnen.... middle of the night goats and their damned Swiss bells dingling all night out of our old school house hotel.  A wedding below our building where an Emt had the bride taken to the wedding in an ambulance, and they carried the joined pair on a stretcher to the ambulance to leave for their honeymoon.  Our room was the “penthouse” on the top of this slightly worn wierd place.  Our single beds were in opposite sides of the room with a big open window for goat bells to ring thru.  I got in bed after a heavy Swiss dinner at a local establishment no more than 15 tables.  We climbed into the top floor of the “hotel” after a heavy meal with wine and veal and Rosti.  Yum.  Got into beds.  In the dark we couldn’t find the light switches, so we got ready for bed in the complete darkness, I quickly fell asleep, at some point a few hours later, I awoke with a pain in my forehead.  Rubbing my forehead with my fingers I encountered a sticky gooey mess.  My finger went to my mount, and I realized, I had gone to sleep with a chocolate on my pillow.

 

JC

 

Stickyshocker... you seem like a bit of a snob, but I kind of like your style

JC

Looks familiar? If not, there’s  one or more behind me where i took this shot.

Close to the train stn, Coop and the cable car that’ll take you up to Murren.

Apology for the Image quality, had a hard time downloading the photo from icloud straight to here..

btw... Not a snob, just a lurker and a hybrid cruiser.. No offense taken though

1 hour ago, rimmit said:

 

 

Surprised you do cruises to Russia.  Really you have St Petersburg and Petropavlovsk on the east and that’s about it other than a river cruise.   It’s why we just went to Russia on our own recently.  Cruising Russia is hard as there aren’t many ports.  

 

We are the same way.  All we need is a clean bed, some American Fast-food (preferably McDonald’s although any will do) and other than that we are good. I think people are shocked that some hostels are super nice,  much nicer than many three star hotels in the US.

Russia ( St.Petersburg) paired with Stockholm, Talinn, Helsinki is the cruise i meant and the only way we wanted to travel there, that said we might give it a try by land thru the Trans Siberian Rail in the future...

Most of the highest rated accomodations in some destinations ( e.g. Lauterbrunnen, Cotopaxi, Bangkok-Sukhumvit area etc..) are hostels. They had definitely upped their game (private bathrooms, free breakfast and toiletries, swanky interior design).

Hotels for us is now reserved if its close to the airport and we have an early flight the next day.... or Vegas.

21 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

I agree.  I know many people who only take 1-2 big trips a year.  Those trips however are quite exotic, and thus These people are notably more well traveled than many Pinnacles who run the Caribbean circuit year round. 

Or some of those people happens to lurk here 😉 ..

that said, those two styles of travel are a beast of their own,  there are places( Scandinavia, Russia, Greek Isles etc..etc) that we prefer done with a cruise, and the others ( Middle East, East Africa,SEA and SA) by land. It is best to combine them  whenever possible.

Our encounter with Upper tier cruisers are mostly positive(we enjoyed their stories as much as they did ours) ,though they were a bit perplexed on how we’re able to bounce from cheap hostels to a Royal Suite, eating street food in a plastic stool to wine and dining at the CK ( hard to explain either).

That’s the good thing about travel, everbody has their own style and not everyone has the same experience.

how far is the mall? maybe that's what we'll do

On ‎3‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 10:57 AM, Biker19 said:

Sounds like the OP will already be in the area and it could be a short non-stop flight to SIN (most flights from NA don't get in at that time)

You got it Biker … We'll be flying two weeks(sorry wasn't able to state) into Asia before the cruise, before heading to another country.

Just to clarify again from my op, this will be backpacking trip with cruise tucked in.

Thanks

4 hours ago, SMNYCruise said:

Thanks for all your responses. I have returned from Africa with 1000 wonderful photos  thanks to the Panasonic FZ1000. It has a steeper learning curve than expected, but I was happy with the videos and photos. 

So the trip is done, it’s one of a kind isn’t?

So yeah, i managed to figure out how to post pics here( finally).

This is for the other poster who’s inquiring about the FZ300, shots were from the said camera with no edit, shutter priority and manual white balance.. The IQ is decent, nothing to write home about.. but i'm happy. I don't think I would be able to grab these if I were switching lenses...

On 11/25/2018 at 7:30 AM, SMNYCruise said:

Stickyshocker:  I would love to see some of your East Africa Safari pictures! I have purchased the FZ1000. Aside from the more difficult than expected learning curve, I am thrilled. Its not weather sealed, but that wasn't a deal breaker, and I have purchased a $7 rain/dust guard which will help with dust and splashes. 

Hey, pardon it took me a while to respond.. (been busy researching for next trip)I’m not sure if its right to post a link to my IG account here, but i’ll try my best to post at least 2... ( How to anyway?)

I also forgot to mention that i also brought a compact mirrorless( w/ 2 Primes) on our trip.., nevertheless its the Fz300 that saw all the action. My advice, just dedicate 1 day or 2 in photography, and the rest ... Just enjoy the moment.

Cruising with Royal, is this enough time to visit Batu Caves? Anything else out there?

Thanks

Hello veteran cruisers,

    So yeah, we are incorporating a 1 week cruise with Royal on our backpacking trip in South East Asia later this year. For those who had cruised from SiN, what do you think of our chances flying in at 9:30am to catch the ship (Voyager)and catching our flight at 13:45 after the cruise (EST ship arrival 8am).?

How’s the check-in, custom and other formalities process? Is it the same here in North America?

thanks...

On 11/12/2018 at 9:23 PM, SMNYCruise said:

Decision made:  Panasonic FZ1000.

Thanks again for all the advice.

 

 Late to the party,( just got back from East Africa Safari) but in case you haven’t purchased the FZ1000 yet, then i would suggest taking a 2nd look at the Panasonic FZ300, simply because it has a longer length and Weather Sealed and reasonably priced too..

Intially i was eyeing the Sony RXV and/or Panny FZ2500, i deviated my budget towards another Camera body ( MFT) with a fast lens... Not saying that the constant 2.8 aperture of FZ300 is slow, it is fast.. But due to it’s small sensor, it ain’t fast enough( for me, at least) and that’s where my MFT came into play... Prime lens, Sunset while relaxing at the porch of my tented camp,  bonfire dance by the Masai Warriors...( i made sure i have a dedicated cam for those situations)

Check if the FZ1000 is weather sealed, there could be times that you may to shoot thru dusts or if plan to take a boat safari, then you may have to deal with some splashes.

The built in Optical Image Stabilization is not available when i tried filming in 4k mode, so i was hoping any of those handheld stabilizers can offset that.

I would be taking photos and videos( if possible all in 4k). There would be lots of walking, hiking and some wildlife involved.

I just bought a Lumix FZ300, now im in the market for stablizers and there’s too many of them out there. The ones that appeals to me the most are :

- Cam caddie Scorpion jr.

- Steadicam

- Gorillapod

and the 3 axis gimbal (as a last resort).

Speaking of which, do you know any that costs less than $500? If not, can i make do with any day of those three mentioned above???

thanks...

I have a TG-5. I think it's wonderful. It's the camera I would take on any excursion that I thought would destroy a camera like a FZ300 (kayaking, whitewater rafting, etc).

 

However ... for shooting animals, I'm going to want the extra zoom. My past experience (reading the metadata of my old pictures) tells me that I use the full 600mm on many of my animal shots.

 

ISO

I ran some tests with my TG-5. Even with the noise reduction set to high, you'll notice the noise by the time you hit ISO 3200 (maybe slightly lower). At ISO 8000+ I noticed a color shift too. If I ever take a photo with that high ISO, I'm probably not going to be that happy with the result.

 

Focus Bracketing and Focus Stacking

These don't work very well with a target that is moving. I'd rather take one shot, and get the focus right the first time. If I recall correctly, you only get RAW for the first shot. They have uses for prepared shots, but I wouldn't rely on them for safari-like shots.

How was the 4k video? Can you extract a 4k photo out of it?

I would be taking more videos than photos in the bushes(early this year). But also on our cruise in Normandy(late this year), I would like to take a decent photo of Mont St. Michel from the bridge.

Nice

I also noticed when Mariner comes out of the Gulf of Aqaba to turn right to the canal. You pass Sharm El-Sheikh, which is a big tourist resort.

Lots of Brits go on package deals there. I've never been and didn't realise it was so close to the shipping line taken be cruise ships

Not Brit but I've been and it's dirt cheap, but prefer Makadi Bay at Hurghada for nicer hotels and bluest water.

A family of 4 can find an all inclusive resort for just about under 5 bills for a week.

Hope that Royal could find a way to re engage Egypt on their cruises in the future.

(Imagine Petra and Luxor on the same itinerary...,)

Im leaning towards the Lumix, howeveri just wanna layout the advantages of the TG 5 (spec wise w/c i had no idea with in realtime)

Max ISO - 12.800 vs 6.400

Continous shoot - 20.0fps vs 12.0fps

Max Aperture wide - 2.00 vs 2.80

Focus bracketing - Yes vs No

Focus stacking - Yes vs No

UHS card support - Yes vs None

Will i be missing anything?

Docked at Aqaba. Meeting in Savoy in 20 minutes. Let the adventure begin

 

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Late to the party..,was hoping you took that donkey ride up the trail to get the best view of the Treasury in Petra... that and the Wadi Rum usually tops the list of photography enthusiasts...

Btw, are cruisers exempt from Jod visas?

I appreciate any insights for anyone who has owned any of these. I tried the googs but i just got lost in the woods when it comes to the tech stuff and specs. It will be our lead cam for our upcoming trip to Kenya and for any of our future cruises moving forward.

We usually travel with an Iphone, Sony action cam and the lil’ Samsung P&S camera, i kinda consider this an upgrade of some sort..

TIA

Thank you! We are set to sail the end of June. We are really excited about the ports, just not sure what the kids will do in the evenings on the ship.

We did this last October, the kids are often tired by the end of the day, we never even got the chance for a night swim and only dined at Edelweiss MDR once.They are more than happy to just watch and listen to some music and dancing at the Atrium. (Despacito was the craze at that time)

The cruise prior to this was on Oasis, and when asked what they remember most between those 2 cruises..,

Rhap: The drive up and down the hill in Kefalonia, the graffitis in Athens, pigeons of Venice, the mountains of Kotor, the snack joint in Croatia..

Oasis: Just.., the Coastal Kitchen.

... you be the judge.

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If you can manage to get 2 weeks, spend a week on land for adventure then cap it off with your planned cruise... Europe is beautiful and easy.

Greek Isles would be a good start.

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