Hezu

I think Sony RX10 IV is also worth a mention, certainly bigger than the pocket cameras like RX100 series, but still that superzoom with 24-600 mm equivalent lens is easier to wield than any ILC with long telephoto. And the zoom range covers also the wide angle. 20 Mpix type 1 sensor may not be the best for low light usage, but in daylight it should deliver good image quality.

I have to slightly disagree: although cameras in mobile phones have advanced a lot and generally produce good photos, there is one usage area where they are less optimal choice: telephoto. And although I have never been in Alaska, I have understood there is often photo opportunities that call for telephoto to take shots at more distant subjects (eg. wildlife). Aboard a ship it also not possible to use "foot-zoom" to get closer to the subject. Of course, I can also understand that not everyone is that enthusiastic photographers that it warrants to get fancy photogear and even if one has interest in photography, it is not absolutely necessary get the fanciest gear, but certainly it is a good idea to have something that offers more telephoto reach than mobile phones.

Although when coming back from Europe to USA and your itinerary includes a plane change in USA, that generally means that in the first point of entry into USA you must claim your checked luggage and recheck it after clearing the customs.

And at least in Finland, I think the banks do not offer currency conversion services for anyone these days and majority of bank branches do no longer handle any cash transactions even in the local currency (= euro) and if they do offer the service opening hours for the service can be very limited. I guess that is somewhat understandable as cash usage has been on decline and majority of payments are made with credit or debit cards. And the number of bank branches is also on decline as much of the banking services can be done online these days.

Actually, HSL tickets cover not just Suomenlinna ferry and trams, but also busses, local trains and metro. And regarding the last mentioned: this summer the metro line is split in two separate sections as the metro station at the central railway station is under renovation and thus the western part of the metro line ends at Kamppi and the eastern half terminates at University of Helsinki metro station and to travel between the two you must walk or take a tram. And strictly speaking Suomenlinna is not just one island, but group of islands, also worth a note: although it is historical site, it is still a part of Helsinki where some people live and thus while wandering around it is wise to not go on gated private areas (backyards, gardens etc.).

I searched on bahn.de for tomorrow's trains between Hamburg and Rostock and I found only a couple connections that required train changes. For more information about Deutschland ticket, see https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/deutschland-ticket.

I'm not that familiar with Olympus/OM Systems gear and never been in Greenland, but at least the focal lengths of your lenses cover most needs. If you want to do any long exposure photography (for example auroras) you definately want to have a tripod, although I have to mention that tripods may not work for long exposures aboard a ship as there is always more or less shaking. Also I think your lenses may be a bit slow aperture wise, so for low light situations (and especially for nighttime photography) that could be a problem.

Yep, IB4361 is actually AA1365 and IB4861 is AA220. The only true Iberia flights from DFW are to Madrid, all the other destinations are codeshares on other OneWorld airlines.

The aurora season in the latitudes where Alaska lies is over since the nights do not get dark enough this time of the year.

I have no experience, but the available channels may depend also on where in the world the ship is sailing then.

Actually, in more northern latitudes like Alaska (and Finland, where I live), the short nights (or lack of night in the northern most areas where midnight sun season has already begun) make it quite hard to photograph northern lights this time of year. I did still managed to snap few decent aurora shots on Saturday-Sunday night, although Friday-Saturday night was a miss for me as my chosen location at Lake Saimaa was cloud covered (and strong cold northernly winds would have made it miserable to stand on a lake shore doing photography), although it is quite good location for astrophotography as there isn't much light pollution. Aurora photography is definately much easier other times of year when there is longer and darker nights.

At least in case of Europe, there is one positive thing: most EU countries plus few others form the Schengen area and thus you need only a single visa from any of the Schengen countries and with that visa you can visit whole Schengen area and not just the country from which you got the visa. Generally there isn't even any border controls between these Schengen countries.

There is small chances to see northern lights even slightly earlier and later than that, for example today I learned that last night there would have been chances to see auroras (and even as far south as Helsinki), although sadly I personally missed this opportunity. Granted, the best viewing opportunities are still within that timeframe as fewer daylight hours offer more possibilities to view auroras without staying up whole night.

It is possible to see northern lights while cruising on Norwegian coast, but there are few caveats: - First and foremost you need dark and clear skies to see auroras and thus summer months are out of question and even other times of year cloud cover can prevent seeing anything - The phenomenon does not occur every night, although further north you go more common it gets - With naked eyes, auroras, especially faint ones, may look less spectacular than in photos I have no experience on observing auroras during a cruise, but I would guess windows and to some degree balconies may not be the best places to observe as especially faint northern lights appear only in northern horizon and your cabin may be facing wrong direction then. Thus I would assume that better options for observing auroras would be on outdoor decks or even better on a dedicated port excursion as then it would be easier to go hunting for auroras (or good conditions to observe them) further away from the coast.

FYI, Photo & Camera Discussions forum has had few reasonably recent discussions on binoculars: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2990415-please-help-pick-a-set-of-binoculars/ https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2972302-best-binoculars-for-cruises/