Gomez56

While I can't speak to your excursions I will try to help.

The chest harness if pretty stable but will always be "looking" straight ahead. The head mount will film where you are looking, but unless you remember to ALWAYS move your head slowly the resulting video will be hard to watch. The head mount feels like it will fall off but I haven't had that happen yet. If you have time, put them on and see how they work.

Have fun!!

On our recent cruise I had a 18-55 and 55-200. More often than I would have liked I had the wrong lens on. Most of the time I wasn't carrying the other lens and foot zoom was not always possible. Before our next cruise I want to pick up a 28-300 and that should take care of everything without having to worry about which lens to have on. Of course I could be wrong ;(

There is a Senor Frogs just to your left as you hit the end of the pier. You could easily spend an hour reading the signs and people watching. Drinks are a little on the expensive side but it is a happening place.

There is also a Margaritaville to your right.

There were several officers around that I assumed were port security, especially out around the buses. As for the locals most, if not all, of the locals we saw just ignored the tour bus. And since tourism is the second leading industry in the country I can't really see them not wanting the cruise ships coming in but I can't speak for them. Our tour guide kept trying to get our group to move to Belize.

I think you would be fine walking around the shops or taking a ship excursion, but I sure wouldn't go walking around Belize City on my own.

We just got back from a RCI cruise and the ice was "available on request". We are looking at possibly using NCL for our next cruise and was wondering if the cabin attendant fills the ice bucket routinely or "on request"?

Thanks!

We were at Pez Quadro last week and there were a few kayaks there although we didn't use them. There was seagrass but the water was clear and the snorkeling was great despite the water being a little rough, I saw several sea turtles and 2 stingrays plus lots of fish and coral.

The food was good and my wife said the massage was one of the best she has had in years! Much better than the one on the ship.

We did a ruins tour in Belize last week so I can't speak about snorkeling but will add that the water in port at Belize City was brown and I wouldn't want to snorkel there.

We just returned from a RCI excursion to Lamanai. The bus ride was 75 minutes and the "speed boat" portion was another 45 minutes or so which meant we only had 2 hours to tour the ruins. While we did see all 3 temples it felt a little rushed to me.

OH NO soft serve is my other favorite thing on a cruise ship!!! Hopefully in a year or so they will have both working :)

Well, the sign did say "temporarily" out of order :)

Seriously it may sound small but the lack of soft serve, omelettes and the sorry looking jelly donuts that were poor looking donuts cut in half with jam, and no morning coffee made the experience on the Allure not that Alluring.

The pastries were disappointing, it was like they had been frozen and thawed for serving. There was usually a dozen or so people sitting around the WJ waiting for that first pot to be made. Even a little 40 cup maker at 3am would have been nice.

The Epic had coffee makers in the room that were really nice until they ran out of regular coffee and only had decaf.

We also just got off the Rhapsody and agree with Karen. The ship has several rust spots showing, areas that could use some touch up paint, some areas of carpet looking worn, wood on the deck looked faded, etc. I will say the ship was kept clean.

We felt Elvis and T.T did a good job with activities and were very engaging. The evening activities usually drew a good crowd in the centrum.

We didn't frequent the bars much but did buy a 10 drinks for $75 on the last port day. Be aware that it only covers drinks $12 and less.

I don't know what was wrong with the second soft serve machine but it would have been nice to have both running in the afternoon, especially on sea days.

We just got off the Rhapsody and neither my wife nor I felt the wait staff or bars were understaffed. Yes, the wait staff was very busy but we are also in the food service industry and waiting 5 minutes between courses did not bother us at all.

A few of the bar staff, on the other hand, acted like it was an inconvenience to have us there. And that was mentioned on our survey.

If you are doing any excursions you may want to tip your guide if you feel him/her worthy. I can about guarantee they will mention it.

I would say it depends of what you want to take pictures of. I just bought a used Nikon D3200 for our upcoming cruise as I plan to get creative with some of the pictures. I can't do that with my phone.

I had the same problem, but went with Pez Quadro as my second choice. They do have a snorkeling excursion available.

Unfortunately I'm only 3 weeks ahead of you so don't know that a review will be in time to help you much.

I don't know if this will help you make a decision, but what I did was put the 18-55 lens on my D3200 and went for a walk taking pictures, then did the same with the 55-200 lens. I tried to simulate photo opportunities I might run into (Western Caribbean) and came to the conclusion that I will be just fine.

I eventually want to add a prime lens, probably 35mm f1.8 but it's not going to be in the budget for this trip unless I find a can't pass it up bargain.

Whoah, you are more than set for batteries. One of the best things about DSLRs is that their batteries last forever. I carry around 2 spare batteries for my GoPro and I still worry about battery life.

 

I've never run down a single battery on my DSLR while on vacation. I can see it as a possibility if you're shooting professionally at an event, but not for your typical vacation.

 

But congratulations, you're gonna have a blast. Practice as much as you can. Get that Understanding Exposure book if you're coming straight from point and shoots. A whole new world is opening up.

I'm taking 3 action cameras with a total of 8 batteries, that will have to be enough ;)

My p&s would get about 50 pictures on a set of AAs, I think I'll get 3 to 4 times that many with this one.

I'll have to check into the book, but I've been watching lots of tutorials on youtube.

Is there a particular port of departure you are interested in? Miami has some neat Everglades tours you could do in conjunction with the cruise. I have family in the Tampa area so we will be sailing from there in a couple weeks :)

When do you plan to cruise? For example, Take in a little Mardi Gras before or after your cruise.

What ports of call are you interested in?

You can drive yourself crazy looking at all the options available, so have fun!!

"He who hesitates is lost", or loses out on the camera deal. On the other hand I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D3200 with the 18-55 and 55-200 lenses. And yes they are both VR with metal lugs. Plus 2 batteries and 2 charges and some UV filters, so I'm set for equipment and just need practice. Fun times.

We're going in a couple of weeks, like you Maya Chan was already booked so we booked Pez Quadro which was one of the places recommended by the guy from MC. We'll see how it goes......

I currently have a Canon S3 point and shoot with some ability to manipulate that I'm not happy with. I have the opportunity to purchase a Nikon D3000 with 2 kit lenses; 18-55mm and 55-200mm for $150. I realize it's nearing 10 years old but I'm thinking it would be worth buying. There seem to be quite a few Nikon fans here so I though I would ask.

We'll be going to the Western Caribbean in 2 weeks!

I tried booking on January 7th for a February 23rd date and was told they were overbooked.

FWIW I ended up booking Pez Quadro

As has been said, I looked at dates, port, and destination which narrowed my options tremendously.

As for the party crowd, think of it as a large hotel. There may be parties that you'll never be aware of.

My apologies, I guess a better way to have said it was that it washed away after 30 minutes or so.

Vaseline fixes that.

 

Any reputable dive boat will have a tub onboard, just ask for it.

That is true; as a short term fix. However Vaseline is water soluble and in my case I was probably 100 yards from shore when it dissolved to the point the mask started leaking. We are leaving for our next cruise in 22 days (you bet I'm counting :)) and I will be sans mustache. :D

It's been 16 years but I still remember our Bahamas cruise :)

We did the para-sail and I loved it. Lifted off and returned to the deck on the back of the boat, it was so peaceful up there and a great view. I just wish I would have taken a camera up. We did a Conch Train tour in Key West and I'll never do that kind of guided tour again.

The straw market had burned not too long before we were there but they were set up in tents and it was an interesting way to spend a couple hours, as was touring the Atlantis Hotel & Casino. We did a sail & snorkel at Nassau and it was okay.

We were on RCI and so went to Coco Cay where we snorkeled some more but spend most of the day on the beach with rum drinks.

The best advice I can give is snorkeling and mustaches are not compatible - shave it off before you leave.