Aplmac

:eek:Cozumel !!!!:eek:

Don't tell me you went out and bought a Sigma 10-20...:confused:

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Aplmac - We LOVED Rockley Beach. Thanks so much for the advice!

 

Here's a few pics I posted:

 

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewAlbums2&friendID=371707625&view=true

 

Victory was a great trip! I might just have to do it again in December. :D

Had a look at some of your pics.

I see you made the boardwalk to the West of Rockley Beach, huh?

Glad you liked it. As I've said before, it's not popular with the locals fer nuthin! ;)

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Your pics are nice but...they all show a big ole smudge at top right.

Looks like a fingerprint either on the lens (easy to clean)

or someone put a pawprint on the sensor (you may need professional help for that one)!

Have a look at the front glass of the camera's lens to see if anything's there.

If not, carry it to a camera place(along with some photos to show them the problem)

and see what they say!

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living rm.

 

balcony

I was privileged to pay a visit to an upper floor Penthouse Suite a few weeks ago.

Didn't get there until after sunset when the light was fading.

All I got was this..:cool:

I can only imagine what this view would be like at 0930 hrs. the next morning!! :eek:

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I just dug out a few oldies from our first trip to St.Maarten, 2 yrs. ago

Hope I'm not duplicating any previous submissions

- flame me if I am..it's okay

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Our girls going ashore...down Cruise Canyon!

Downtown Philipsburg

An afternoon view of the dock at Philipsburg, as we pulled away - 2nd. May, 2007

That's GLORY at left, Carib.Princess hidden in the middle ..and VICTORY at right.

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Your pictures are AMAZING ===> Who?

This?

- or this?

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I've been writing to ask about cruise-cards, here on the Memorabilia section

and at other CC Message Board locations but it seems no one collects cruise cards

beyond saving their own 'Sail & Sign' cards as a memento, only to be forgotten in a drawer somewhere!

I've recently discovered it's not that difficult to ask around among friends and acquaintances

-even in my small island community- to receive cards that turn out to be quite interesting.

Now that I have a few different ones (Carnival mostly)

I'm seeing all sorts of major and minor design changes that make a collection worthwhile.

As a collector, you already know that variation is the basis for all collections.

For what it's worth

here are a few cards I've recently acquired..

After returning from a memorable cruise, most people don't throw out their cruise cards, I'm sure..

they serve as an integral part of your holiday memories.

They get stuck away somewhere, not seeing the light of day for years!

Anyone who's been saving their old cruise cards 'for a reason,but not quite sure just what'

might consider donating them to a collector like me? Please? :confused:

Are there any other cruise-card collectors? -I'd love to know!

Please have a dig around to see what you can find.

Oh by the way...I live on the Caribbean island of Barbados

and this is one of my local beaches.

Thought you might like to see.

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Had to work me like the proverbial dog during tax season with those 70 hours weeks

Don't you people have Labor Laws in your country?! :eek:

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so it may be called that!

A bit further along is Beachy Head

but I think that name refers to the headland, not to the sandy beach and bay.

Sorry I can't be more accurate/authoritative that that.. :o

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I just came across this old (January, 2008) picture of mine

showing the beginnings of the cruise pier extension project at Philipsburg.

That's the Water Taxi stand with the bright red roof

We just went thru there in late April 2009 when looked like this..

Different camera positions unfortunately, but you can see what they've done in that time

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Any more behind-the-scenes pics?

All these cruises you guys do....and no more pics? :)

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I guess it was the shimmering sea that caught my eye for this one..

-and all the crazy angles, in this one!

I sooo need to be back out there.. :cool:

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Aplmac... do you store your photos in iPhoto? ===> Eeeuuwww! :eek:

So to use Photoshop you would export then use the program and re-import?

Camera-to-Computer transfer:

I take the SD card out of the camera

and stick it in a card reader connected to a USB port.

When the card shows up, I go in and find the folder my new shots are in..

..usually I rename the folder, before right-clicking and Sending-To ..Documents

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I use ordinary Windows folders to store my pics

usually re-named per day, per cruise, per ship, per whatever...nothing more complex than that.

I often have sub-sub-folders within sub-folders within folders...:D

From time to time, I drag the pic-folders over to a CRUISE folder in 'My Photos'

-all the cruise-ship stuff is in there.

Right now it's got 11.9 Gigabytes of stuff in there - :eek:MG!

To work with Photoshop, I simply select an image and use a right-click to Open With....Photoshop.

Up pops P-shop and away we go! :)

Keep it simple, stupid...

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Photoshop?

Same minor tweaks I do for all my shots ;)

Did you notice the cropping?

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I found a pic that has blue skies. Maybe the key is to underexpose (which I always suspected).

Between the white ship and the bright cloudless sky......

 

 

try this...

Nobody gets blue skies like Aplmac

and even then it varies. ===> Not all days/atmospheric conditions are the same! ;)

 

But then Aplmac does a great job of indoor shots also,

as his series posted on the Mariner 60 day round-the-horn thread illustrate.

Great eye, great experience and great equipment.

The bluuue skies you see...I have to thank the Sigma Corp for those,honestly.

Their 10-20 mm. wide-angle zoom obviously comprises special elements that 'do it'.

As for those Mariner interior shots...

...not sure how this particular exterior shot came out so blue..

.. if you want to see more/all of Mariner

please go to the Photobucket cache at URL...

http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/LUNCH%20on%20MARINER/

and have a look.

With the exception of the very first shot showing her making her way into Port,with the tug alongside..

all shots at the above URL were shot with the Sigma 10-20

-it was the only lens I walked with, that day!

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I think this one below is my favourite...

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Just don't try to buy anything there!

Charming place!

Great architecture!

Nice clean, well-kept neighbourhoods, despite being in a waterless North African desert!

I was -and still am- impressed!

So glad we didn't stay on board the ship!

This is the corner shop my wife fled from -only to be chased by an overpriced bowl! :D

I was so taken by the ceramic tiling on the columns of the local gas station I took a picture of it.

Does this sound like someone who expected to find Albany, NY ??

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Thought it was great!

The haggling process has been part of their culture for 1000 of years. You want them to change because you're there?

===> I think maybe they should change to better their economy! -to make actual sales!

 

There is no local Chamber of Commerce. Get real, that organization is only in America. ===> Really?!

Come forward to the 21st. Century - what a statement.

That's the whole point of traveling, to see something different. ===> We enjoyed the difference immensely!

 

Egypt is dirty, very, very dirty - well duh, they never get any rain, water is a very precious resource,

not to the mention that the country is a DESERT.

What do you expect??!! ===>Basic public health? :confused:

 

I hear the locals are a right P.I.T.A. while they pressure you to buy buy, tip,buy, tip... -

Ever heard of the word NO. It works great ===> It doesn't work!

and besides...I love spending my whole day repeating No no no no no -great fun.:cool:

Here in Barbados we call it visitor harrassment and we do quite a bit to see it doesn't happen.

 

They want to rip you off.

They're still doing the ole Desert Crook thing, two thousand years too late! :D

Example:

My wife merely commented on the beauty of a bowl.

Commented.

Immediately it was being thrust upon her(desperation?) for 50 Euros.

She got so pissed off with the ensuing pressure, she walked out of their shop!

Now that's really good for customer relations, isn't it?

He came down the street behind her with the bowl in hand!!!

Suddenly the real value of the bowl had dropped from 50 Euros

-to an astonishingly low 15 FIFTEEN Euros. :confused: :confused:

So what was the first price all about? Price gouging? ...seeing if my wife was idiot enough to go for that?

This happens with every single thing one tries to buy!

It gets tiresome, so you stop even looking.. you move on.

You say forget it. Major culture clash. Not worth it. Keep your stuff!

I love Tunis. Found it interesting!

Want to go back.

Just don't try buying anything there!

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When I mentioned a Chamber of Commerce

(incidentally, we have a Chamber of Commerce here in non-USA Barbados)

I meant some sort of commercial organisation to help them understand how modern commerce takes place.

Please don't take me SOOOO literally. They need help.

Help improving their economic lot.

Help in turning over their items far more rapidly.

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My house and the houses of most every Westerner is already full of 'stuff'.

We'd buy a little something to take home, but it's nothing we really need. It's not water or food.

It's just decorating stuff.

We have the money they want, they have stuff that's entirely optional to sustain our life and quality of lifestyle back home.

Like I said, we went back on board with most of our money

and they sat there waiting for tomorrow's small pickings, just like today's small pickings!...

...maybe writing 5 or 6 bills total, for the day....instead of forty of fifty!

They've all got the same stuff, prices should be way cheaper in competition with ea.other..

..but that concept is entirely unknown, it would seem?

It's 'argie-bargie' for every ruddy sale! :eek:

Sounds to me like you don't want to help them improve their lot.

You want to keep them backward and stuck in their past.

Evolution is their ..and our.. only way forward.

come back?

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After several years of offering just one pier with capacity for four average-size cruise ships

St.Maarten started building another pier, North-West of the existing infrastructure

(seen at left in this shot)

I've heard two stories...that it was Carnival who was financing it

but also that it was being built to accommodate monstrosities like Royal Caribbean's huge Oasis of the Seas, due out later this year

-in which case I very much doubt that the Carnival Corp. would be financing a pier for the competition! :cool:

Does anyone know?

Maybe it's the SXM Gov't. themselves who are doing it?

Who knows?

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This is what it looks like on the land side of things, near the Water Taxi operation

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Further as to Egypt ... We were there last December

... the pyramids were AWESOME... the haggling was constant ....

the peddlers were UNBELIEVEABLE - it just never stopped

... it really distracted from the enjoyment of the pyramids.

Haggling and pestering by the peddlers are just the way things are done there.

I just have to add that Egypt is dirty, very, very dirty.

Did you buy anything?

- or was the haggling process just too much to bother with it?

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We thought back to our shopping experiences at Sid Bou Said, in Tunis

and still can't believe how much the local nitwit merchants cramp their own sales volumes!

Don't these guys have a local Chamber of Commerce to help them???

They have gorgeous stuff (and they all have the same things too,eh?)

They could be achieving sales volumes anything like 20 x to 80 x their normal sales volumes every day

if they'd just...

* come forward to the 21st. Century

* put a fair markup on their items

* along with a price tag and..

* stop pressuring customers like they're desperate for the sale...

and listen to the old cash register go Ka-CHING! a heckuva lot more, per hour, than they're accustomed to.

And still they sit there every day, wondering what they're doing wrong!

Man I wish I could help y'all, but.....

You're stuck with your ways

and me and my Euros went right back on board da ship. :cool:

Byyeee!

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We spent a week on a Nile River boat and never felt any pressure from the staff to spend a cent or an Eqyptian Pound.

On a Facebook group I run...comments were left

and I'm now taking the timke to look up those comments

and Cut & Paste them in here so you might see how lucky you have been, in the past!

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We did a nile cruise in Dec 06...so memory a bit thin.

Its a totally different ball game.

No doubt they are good value for money, when you get the excursions included..

..but you will never know the pressure of tipping expectations until you have been on a nile cruise!

On the positive side they are small boats...probably up to 100 cabins..

.we went on a 5 star one, and would not recommend anything less.

Cabins are very comfortable, and all have a window....although when you are moored up the boats moor next to each other,

sometimes 14 across from the dock, and you get off by walking through all the different boats.

So you get an very intimate view into the next boats cabins unless you keep you keep your curtains drawn.

Food buffet style.

It seemed to start off fairly well and went down hill over the week.

Some of the extra excursions are an absolute rip off, i.e. the balloon flight..

...dont think of doing it through the boat, something like five times the price.

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Someone's response to the above:Thanks for your comments Anne, they tie in with what I've read so far.

I've looked at this because my wife wanted to see the Pyramids etc.

but just a day's stop with OV wouldn't really be long enough to take everything in and would only scratch the surface.

Thomsons do something around the Red Sea but I'm not really sure of the sights we would see.

If I did this it would obviously be a "one off" as I guess most of these are.

I'm still not sure if I really want to do this but I think this another box that has to be ticked in a lifetime.

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The first writer then comes back:

My friend went on the paddle steamer: got it on late availability for £500 pp..

..only 15 cabins, went with voyages jules verne...worth a look.

I dont think the nile cruises go to Cairo...we did Luxor and Aswan and all the sights round there.

It is worth doing, and there is such a lot to see...sailing down the Nile is really pleasant..

..you just have to keep your wits about you.

Our guide was a fountain of knowledge, if I had paid attention, could have done a degree in Egyptology..

..really too much information! but he wanted paying for it!!

He wanted tips totally over £400 from group of 27,

for spending 4 1/2 days with us...this from the same guy who told us teachers earn £40 per month..strange economy!

We were also instructed to meet him and his partner in the lounge one night to pay £7 pp,

for tips to the guards at sights, and coach driver...again 27 x £7!! Regards,

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Oh dear!

Somehow I've got a feeling that this tipping malarkey in Egypt

is far worse than that bartering we've experienced in Tunis.

I guess that there maybe more of a threat here.

I think that those Tunisians we've seen are quite friendly really.

I found it quite a game to haggle and usually walked away with nothing anyway.

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Another big con on the Nile cruises is the special party EVERY ship has once in the week..

..cannot remember the name except it begins with a G.

It is the highlight of the week...NOT!!

On one of the trips they take you to a few market stalls that sell the Egyptian outfits (you know the long dress thing)..

..which, funny enough you are expected to dress up in on the party night.

Well I think they played about five silly games in the bar...end of...by about 9.30 p.m.,

and some people had really spent pounds on their outfits!

It seemed to me that it was all a set up to make you buy these outfits at exorbitant prices.

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That was the 'conversation' I got my info from. :cool:

It obviously doesn't gel with your experiences

and again I say Good for you! ;)

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Yes, there are beggers in Egypt, but no worse than much of the Caribean & Central America

pressure you to spend your money on silly robes for formal night,

and ceaselessly for tips.

Not street beggars...they're enough of them!

Still not going.

I can do without the whole 'slamic extremist thing

and a vanload of AK47-toting desperado's driving up to spray us.

So kind of them.

Yes I know that doesn't happen but once in every 10-20 yrs.

but it's never going to happen to me. :D :D

Frankly I intend to avoid that whole part of the crescent moon and star part of the world,

until the whole silly religious war settles down

- and that's not happening before I drop off the perch! ;)

I'm simply not that curious or adventurous.

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Tunisia... Hopefully never again.

We got off at Tunis(the city) -not the whole big North African country which you may have done-

and did the ship's tour out to the ruins of Carthage

and to the picturesque little town of Sidi Bou Said,on a hill.

Probably the nicest part of Tunis, no doubt. ;)

We simply weren't going that far, to stay on the ship!

We had a great time, in excellent weather.

The only down to the whole thing

is the wretched haggling process to be endured to buy anything...ANYthing!

-even batteries for my camera!

Consequently, few people bought anything at all!

Here's pictures of all the lovely stuff they offer...that we didn't buy!

Why? simply because of the awful haggling!

Sounds like you may have done the soukh's? in the city itself?

Bad choice?

I don't know that I'd rule out anywhere....:D

 

At present, though, I can't say I'd be very excited to visit Dubai. ===> What? All that lovely SAND? :D

Much as I wouldn't mind seeing the Pyramids

I hear the locals are a right P.I.T.A. while they pressure you to buy buy, tip,buy, tip...

Forget it.

I'll see the Pyramids in my next life! :cool:

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