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Contract dates likely differ from ship to ship. When the margaritaville relationship ended the conversion to American diner happened at different times on different ships. Syds to the cavern club would likely be a much easier conversion than the margaritaville changeover was. But if Cavern Club involves a license too they may not switch to that so they can save on licensing fees.

When I looked into it previously they were closed last year due to staff shortages, if the website hasn’t been updated it’s not a good sign for this year.

I’m kinda surprised at the timing for the whale watching, my cruise will also arrive at 1.30pm and there are a couple of whale watching options at 2pm. There is one company - Gastineau guiding that run a couple of excursions for the cruiselines, it might be worth checking with them for your cruise. Their one with NCL for my cruise is Discover Alaska’s Whales which is a more interactive small boat based excursion but it is more expensive. I actually wasn’t considering it based on NCLs description but Gastineau gave me more info on which completely changed my understanding of the excursion. Earlier in the season they also do a photo safari version which includes Mendenhall glacier if your teens are interested in photography. Unfortunately my sailing is October so there isn’t enough daylight for that one.

I’ve been in studio cabins numerous times and tried a regular inside cabin on Epic. I think the studio cabin is a better setup, there’s more sockets in useful locations and despite it being smaller it doesn’t feel that way because the interior is all white whereas the interior cabins have dark fittings. The studios don’t have a mini fridge or decent desk/table if you wanted to work on a laptop or get room service . You can always use the lounge for desk space as it tends to be pretty quiet in there except for the daily meet-ups. You can also turn the tv in the cabins to be the view from the bridge camera if you want a view of the sea while in the cabin. The newer ships have a virtual porthole but it’s still just a tv showing a view from a camera.

First ship of the season will be Norwegian Bliss next Tuesday which is scheduled to dock at railroad Aft which seems to be the pier at highest risk of disruption. I’m not sure if anyone is doing a live review on that sailing but there’s definitely one for the week afterwards.

I think it runs from coral world which is an aquarium on St Thomas, I did the snuba excursion there and I saw the boss group at the same location.

On my first cruise I did a snorkel excursion out of Nassau and a local entrepreneur came out to our boat with fresh water coconuts for $4 and if you gave him $5 in payment he’d give you a conch shell as the change. There are plenty of jars of sand, processed shells, or sea glass jewellery to purchase in local souvenir stores if you want to bring that sort of thing home with you.

I’m checking the exchange rates daily for € to $ and that’s already caused a€20 change in the excursion prices for me. So I’ll probably pull the trigger on the 2 main excursions once the exchange rate hits $1.10 unless it looks likely to continue to improve.

I was lucky enough to be at a couple of truly historical matches in Irish rugby. The most significant was when the Irish women beat their New Zealand counterparts at the World Cup in 2014, oddly from the players perspective their favourite of the pictures I took was the Irish try scorer hugging her fiancée at the end of the game. I also turned down a pitchside spot for the Munster v New Zealand match in 2008 because I knew it would be a war zone and I had a front row seat in the stand so I got the best shot of the Munster Haka pre match as I wasn’t having to battle with all the other photographers or tv crew. That picture went out to all the supporters club members as one of the members gifts the following season.

I have a different reactions to different types of peppers, I get sick for sweet peppers and break out from chilis. There’s also some mystery herb out there that causes an immediate reaction but I don’t know what it is. First time I had the reaction was a mussel dish with a cream sauce in New Zealand the next time was tomato based pasta sauce at a function here in Ireland.

In the buffet they don’t really do modifications unless it’s something like the egg station at breakfast or the pasta station for lunch/dinner. The reason they prefer to know in advance in the MDR is that that kitchen/galley is serving 2 or 3 dining rooms and also does all the pastry and breads for the entire ship. In order to get 3,000 plates out at each meal a lot of stuff is pre-plated otherwise it would take far too long. You’ve probably got a better chance at modifications at the specialty restaurants as they’re serving far smaller numbers. I have texture issues so generally try to avoid cooked veg or slabs of red meat, I also have intolerances with corn, sweet peppers and hot peppers. Trying to explain the pepper one to restaurant staff is fun as I’m okay with peppercorn and powdered peppers. What absolutely wrecks me is red bell peppers mixed in with tomato based dishes without it being mentioned in the menu.

Sounds like I need to do some weight training to allow the ditching of the monopod for the long lens. I’m intending to do a dolphin watching boat trip locally sometime this summer as an almost dress rehearsal for using the camera on the whale watching in Alaska.

The pro pitchside photographers I’ve been alongside tend to have 2 cameras with lenses (a 400mm and a 70-200mm depending on the specific sport) mounted during a game and may have a third setup for portrait shots pre/post for players with mascots or MVP presentations. Wheeled pelican-cases are commonly used as a pitchside desk for a laptop if they’ll be sending images back to base during a match. When I got a pink pelicase the lads started laughing until I asked if they’d want to be seen running off with it… it’s pretty rare to see a pink pelicase anywhere let alone in the middle of a rugby venue so anyone wandering off with it would be spotted very rapidly. It also came in handy when I was doing photography in Virginia at the height of the summer on an artificial pitch.. the pink doesn’t heat up half as much as the black cases do.

Aww that’s unfortunate, I haven’t been a regular visitor to that site since I got laser eye correction which meant white text on a black background was a special form of torture but it was always where I checked for reviews on new kit even then.

I just got a new tripod with a detachable leg to use as a monopod. The only reason I’m contemplating bringing a tripod with me is for the chance of catching the northern lights as my sailing is in the middle of October. I’m planning on the monopod for the white pass train and possibly the whale watching boat. I am however considering switching out the head that came with the tripod as it’s quite heavy relative to the tripod itself. I’ve also gotten a more travel friendly backpack which includes a waterproof cover and fits the 100-400mm attached to a camera body. As well as the second camera body and 2 shorter lenses. I already have the gore-tex sports shield covers for the cameras in a couple of sizes. It sounds like I need to get my hands on at least one polarising filter…. I’ve not used any filters other than the UV or O-haze variety so if anyone has suggestions on a type that would work for potentially spotting the whales underwater I’d greatly appreciate it.

Going back to the original post… most airlines don’t require your passport info at booking. The airline will request it when doing online check-in, they may also send reminders for any specific border control requirements. E.g. when I travel to the USA I get a reminder to make sure my ESTA is up to date, and for my last trip there was all the extra covid certifications required.

I’m not sure about specific highlights of the french open but the bbc world news channel on the stateroom tv will probably show some brief highlights. If you want access to in depth coverage Eurosport is the main broadcaster for the tournament. There is an app for Eurosport and it’s also part of the discovery family of channels over here so you may have access through their app if you have a subscription.

I’ve always opted for the buffet when at port early, the main dining room service is just way too slow for me. There is a supplemental buffet out in the American diner (formerly margaritaville) for breakfast that’s usually quieter than the main buffet if that’s too busy for your taste. The hours of the various dining options are shown on the back page of the freestyle daily. So you’ll know the prior evening what the dining options will be.

snow was a bit of a novelty in most of Ireland for many years, we got snow on the coastline back in 1982 that caused complete havoc and my family had to move in with my grandmother as the house we were renting didn’t have central heating but her house had a fireplace in every room (200+ year old house). The next time was 2018 when I was away on a cruise and it lasted a few days, then we had 1 day of it this winter. I spent a winter in Massachusetts and it literally started snowing the day I got there and didn’t stop until after I was back in ireland. But I had a Malaysian colleague there who was totally fascinated at the first snowfall as he’d never seen snow before. When you’re from somewhere that experiences a wide variety of weather you don’t appreciate how novel it can be for those from areas that don’t get the full range.

I know for the sailing I’ve booked in October they are not offering the longer train ride options it’s only up to white pass and back.

Be glad to not to be paying premium phone line charges when you do call. trying to get a hold of an airline when their online tools don’t work is both tortuous and expensive. I spent 45mins on hold (while roaming) with my airline trying to do check-in when their app wasn’t working only for them to tell me to sort it at the airport.

Didn’t have any issues with the angle of the tv in any of the studios I stayed in, could be that one cabin had a fault with the bracket mount of the tv.

Check the Norwegian cruise forum, their first cruises of the season are this month. I know there’s going to be a live review on the April 22nd sailing of Norwegian Bliss which has Skagway on its itinerary.

The bar is just staffed during the meet-up 5-7pm ish. They have soda as well as alcohol during those hours. Apart from that you can get water, juice, coffee or tea self serve in the lounge along with some fruit and pastries.

But is there WiFi out there? The roaming charges are horrific for data from Ireland.