Aplmac

 

Water Taxi sign

 

 

Thanks for doing a close-up of the Water Taxi sign.

 

 

 

I just learned from it, that we may have jumped off the water taxi too early

i.e. at its first stop,here!

 

 

 

Didn't realize there's a second stop further down the town

-that you just stay on board for that second stop to mid-town.

 

 

 

No wonder when we got off

we found ourselves at the extreme Eastern end of the rather long Front Street

at a part I'd never seen before...somewhere up this end..

 

but like Wife says, we'd never have come across that nice Panama shop

where I bought a neat shirt for $55 (still can't believe I bought a shirt!?) :eek:

 

 

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I just wanted to say that I did a spur of the moment purchase while I was there last year.

I had researched the price of a Sony Cybershot model that my daughter had recently broken

and the lowest price I could find in the States was $249.

At Boolchand's they sold me the identical model [new-in factory box with warranty] for $185

-and that included a memory card and carrying case!

Not having to pay sales tax also saves extra money.

So far it still works like brand new.

There's nothing wrong with the stuff they sell

and their prices are possibly the lowest in the Western Hemisphere.

 

If anyone knows of a cheaper place to buy camera gear, speak now!

 

 

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Back in May 2007 (on our First Cruise) I bought a Canon Powershot A 630 from Boolchand's -$240

He threw in an extra card as well.

 

The very next day we stopped through St.Lucia

and there in Point Seraphine Duty Free complex was the same A 630 -at $399

 

That's when I knew.

 

 

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Nice pics!

The first few taken at Marigot, over on the French side.

 

I recognize the swanky mall!

Pricey shops with lovely stuff, but $$$$$..no, worse!...Euro's!!

 

Mall in St Maarten

 

 

 

 

We had to pay a dollar to use the bathrooms.

 

 

Interesting, restaurant built around this tree.

 

 

Great name for a bar!

 

 

Not sure about the Blue Bitch shot: which side is that on?

Dutch or French?

We LOVED Rockley beach.

Waves were a little more than we were expecting, but nice beach.

I think next time we will try the beach where the turtles hang out. ===> West Coast.

Another passenger on our ship said snorkeling was good there and we didn't even try to snorkel at Rockley.

Our guide said there wasn't any there. ===> Not true.

Still it was a lovely beach and we enjoyed it greatly.

The popular local perception is that there's no snorkelling to be had at Rockley Beach/Accra

but there is a man-made barrier reef about 150 yds. offshore, up the Eastern end of the bay

that's been there now for about 15 years!

 

In that time is has attracted considerable marine growth, sea fans, fish and baby lobster!

It's worth a look if you're a keen experienced snorkeller

and if you work its inner and outer lengths, you get to see two different reefs!

although I usually do just the inside.

 

Somewhere in these Barbados threads

we had one guy who followed my recommendation to snorkel that boulder-reef

and he wrote in to say he was completely wowed!

 

If you must do Accra(can't blame you!) -and someone in your party must get in some snorkelling

this barrier reef is not bad snorkelling!

 

Not great I grant you, but not bad either!

The water's usually reasonably clear since Rockley is a well-flushed bay

so give it a try!

 

Would the next person please re-educate the local tour guide. Really. ;)

Thanks!

 

 

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Do you have a UV filter on the camera? Your photos are so vivid!

The front end of the Sigma 10-20 zoom carries a 77 mm. UV filter yes..

but the lens itself is very good(too good?) on the blues and cyan's.

 

That's the vivid you see.

 

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:o I've only been on one cruise, but it wasn't until after I returned that I heard about the "book" all about the ship.

I would love to start collecting them, and can easily got one on our Destiny cruise in August,

but I would really like one from the Sensation.

Do you mean this publication? ..probably not..

 

 

 

Go to the URL you see on the front cover, poke around a bit

and see how you can earn yourself a free copy! ;)

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I have an Olympus digital SLR

and I've been meaning to buy a fish eye lens for it for some time. ===> Procrastinate no longer!

 

We'll be on Victory on February 14 and St. Thomas is on the itinerary.

There is a nice Boolchand's store at Havensight Mall that I like to shop in. ===> Bought a 52 mm.Polar.filter there, in Nov.

I've bought almost all of my memory cards there.

Where else can you buy a 4 gig card for $29? ===> Their prices rock. ;)

 

I assume you also used a tripod or some kind of "pod" for your night shots? ===> Nah!

 

What kind of tripod do you use? ===> I do own one..somewhere: bought in Palo Alto CA -July 1985: cost me $49!

Sorry, no tripod for the night shots on board the ship.

 

Thought about taking it,yes..even started a thread asking if worthwhile

over on the Photo Discussion section of these CC Message Boards

but decided against it

since I seem to have reasonable success already with a brace-and-shoot technique

which I deploy anywhere I can brace my body against a nearby wall or pillar

and shoot while pretending I'm a tripod....squeeeze and hoooold.

 

 

Also...

given the sort of minimal "magnification" inherent in extremely-wide-angle lenses

like fisheyes and 10-20mm. zooms, minor camera movement is not much of a problem!

 

 

 

This shot was taken with my 6 hrs.old fisheye lens

I had to take my new toy to dinner that night..

This has been cropped substantially

but notice that the axes of the glasses still diverge noticeably!

It's a fisheye shot alright! and taken with a flash(something I rarely use)

 

 

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The old tripod I own is a small center-braced VELBON VGB-3C model...had it now for 24 yrs.! :eek:

I use it down at the Port, after sunset, when ships are departing in either fading light or after dark

-at times like this..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If these are not pin-sharp

it's because the ship is in motion during the 0.5 - 1.0-sec.(approx) exposures

 

 

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..the scenery looks like this!

 

Water taxi at right.

 

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Picked up my 2GB SD card at Wal-mart for less than $12. ===> You spent all that money?! :eek:

Might grab at least one more without DW knowing. ===> Now we're getting somewhere!

Once I have it she'll have to live with it.:D Did I say that ===> What? did U say something?

Three secrets to a long and happy marriage, son..

 

* Yes, Dear

* No, Dear

* Anything you say, Dear

 

and then you go right out and do what needs to be done, okay? :)

 

Yeaahh she'll grumble (they all do)

but you take her out to dinner someplace nice like...

Atlantic Dining Room as seen from Deck 4

 

 

You'll have the cards forever: money well spent!

Carry all your lesser-capacity cards as well.

 

 

 

Did you get into the camera's Menu yet?

-to lower the Image Size from Humongous to Quite-Big-Enough?

 

 

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Lido whirlpools aft

 

 

 

Main pool amidships

 

 

 

Lido aft pool area

 

 

 

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I agree too. Unless you are blowing them up to wall size...... :eek: ===> Exactly! :cool:

 

We take a TON of pictures ... I have no doubt we will either need to bring all the cards we have

or copy them onto the laptop. I like having them on the laptop (and even burn a copy on DVD) for backup.

Some of these are once in a lifetime pics.

I take along the two 4-Giggers, but also some smaller-capacity cards.

 

What I often do is shoot with one card for a day or two, and then switch cards whether it's full or not

I've had card-malfunctions in the past, so just in case one card wants to mess up

I won't have all my eggs in one basket.

 

All combined, my cards have ooodles of space

way more than I can shoot at the reduced-image-size I spoke of earlier.

 

Nothing like carrying too much 'film' (what's that??)

 

This is North Coast TRINIDAD, even though you won't be going there..

 

 

Remember to format all cards before you start the trip.

Format them in the camera, not in the computer.

 

 

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aplmac........You sure seem to take loads of photo's.

When you last visited St Maarten, any idea how many pic's u took? Just curious.

In a mini-cruise of 4 days I only managed to take 950, sorry.:(

 

While ashore in SXM...the figure would seem to be around 150

but that doesn't include ship-oriented shots taken on the pier.

 

I'll try to take more-and-varied, next time! :D

 

............

 

Boolchand's seems to be OK.

The lens I bought came with the usual Nikon Guarantee forms to be filled out

(which I haven't, of course)

 

I bought a little Canon Powershot from them back in May 2007

- it lasted the usual 2 yrs. for that genre...before the processor started malfunctioning on one rare occasion, I must say

so I sold it to a friend,cheap.. who continues to use it as we speak

and I've heard no complaints from him about it.

 

 

They're OK -and their prices are definitely OK !

Try getting a Nikkor 10.5 mm. fisheye for 599.

I checked the internet and the cheapest I could find was 699 ;)

 

 

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What lens setting did you use on the 2 photos of Great Bay at Phillipsburg?

Almost a near fish-eye look.

 

10-15 mm. range? ===> 10.5 mm. fixed focal length, this time!

Not almost -the real thing! :D

 

 

Three hrs. previously, I bought a 10.5 mm. Nikkor fisheye for the D60.

Paid Boolchand's in Philipsburg US$599 for it and started using it once we got over to Marigot!

 

On our return, I shot a small series of Great Bay as we walked out to the Water Taxi

with that gorgeous turquoise water just begging to be shot.

 

 

Funny thing with that fisheye: as long as you hold the camera back dead-vertical, with horizon bang thru the middle of the shot

distortion occurs only at the extreme ends of the wide/horizontal part of the full-frame pic....a part I often crop slightly..

..thus your accurate observation that those shots looked to be "almost-fisheye"

..............................

 

 

 

And then of course, one can go to the other extreme

and make a rogue wave for the Capt. to handle

in an otherwise fairly-flat sea! LOL!!

 

 

 

 

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I have 2 x 2GB for my camera and Amy has 3, ===> You guys have plenty once you..

so we don't have to take the lap top to download them.

We may need more for this trip. ===> ..reduce the image-size!:cool:

And the truth is that as long as you go into the camera's Menu

and adjust your image size to anything smaller than *MURAL* (largest!) which it comes pre-set at.. :cool:

you'll get many more pics on a card!

 

My Nikon D60 has three settings -I have it set on the smallest size pic setting

but I have Resolution set at Best.

 

I walk with two x 4 Gb. cards and have never filled one yet!

 

 

 

Digital cameras come pre-set by the factory

at size BIG...to impress the new owner.

The pics they 'spit out' to the storage card are anything like 3-4 Megs each in size!!

Are you in professional media graphics?

Do you need shots like that?

Probably not.

 

Have a good look around in the Menu, find image size and see what's available.

Take the Image Size down to the smallest or one above the smallest size.

 

Even with my D60's Image Size set at Smallest, I still need to reduce my shots by about 40%

in order to make them suitable for the 250k. max. allowable file size for submission to Cruisecritic's Photo Gallery.

 

I'm sorry there isn't an even-smaller size. ;)

Keep the Resolution at Hi or Best to compensate for the smaller image.

Works for me.

 

 

 

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If you ever make it out on to the small bow decks

it's windy out there!

 

 

 

Not so bad when in port, but when the ship is under way

out in the open ocean...it can get really windy out there! :eek:

 

Bin there done that - had to seriously hang onto the contents of my shirt pocket!

 

 

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Thanks for all of the amazing pictures.... two more weeks and I'll be taking my own pics. :)

And when you return, please remember us

and post some of your pictures here.

I get tired seeing my own stuff all da time!

 

 

Hey look...there's the cable-cars poles again..going up the hill!

Five of them this time.

 

Maybe they added one, while we weren't looking? :D

 

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For those of you who like to ride the wet snake...

 

Victory docked at St. Thomas.

 

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The one thing I missed, that I shoulda done at St. Thomas

was to ride the cable-cars up to the top of the hill overlooking the whole Charlotte Amalie Bay!

Can you say Photo Op? (and Dummy here missed it...grrr)

 

It's very close to where your ship will dock -it's easy to see the little cable-cars going up and down.

I've seen pics taken from Up There and now wish I'd done it!

 

You can just about make it out in this shot...

See the other ship in the distance?

To the right of the ship are four big white poles sticking up?

-going up the hill?

 

That's it. Not far away. ;)

 

 

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Only 7 more days.

 

Do you have any shots of the Lido Deck roof closed? Is it glass?

Not sure if it's glass or molded perspex

but I don't have any shots with the Magadrome closed, sorry.

 

 

I do however have this (completely un-related!) picture

of typical lunchtime seating in the Lido Restaurant

That's Antigua in the background.

 

 

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On our first cruise, I got an official lanyard for my S&S card.

When I got home, I hung it on the little nail behind my kitchen calendar,

with the card still in it. ===> Good for you! ;)

And there they sit, more than two years later.

Many folks keep their S&S cards.

I have a small collection that I'm hoping to add to

so I'm asking if anyone has any cards they're no longer too attached to

that they might mail me, here in Barbados?

 

 

__________________________________________

Anyone got cards like these below?

(not only Carnival..I'd be happy to have anything offered)

I was on the first 4 days of your B2B on Elation.

I went to the purser desk and asked for pins and the guy said Sure and went to get me 2.

The lady next to him said she'd been telling others they don't have them.

A few weeks ago I asked at Victory's purser's desk for pins

and the guy looked kinda clueless like 'does such an animal even exist?'

I gave up.

 

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Any one in here collecting ship-cards.

I'm new in here but I don't see much about "Sail & Sign" cards in any of the threads' titles.

 

Anyone with disused cruise cards sitting on their dresser now for a few years?

I could use them...give them a good home. .:)

 

 

___________________________

 

These are some of the newest design, now out

but soon to be replaced again

 

 

but I'd also appreciate any older cards

 

 

 

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View from the gallery of the Penthouse suite on the 5th. floor.

 

After sunset.

 

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[quote name='welldone60']Are any of the ports [B]tender ports[/B] on southern route?[/quote][COLOR=Black][B]No. All Victory ports of call[/B] are at docks or piers
and disembarkation is straight down the gangway onto Terra Firma!
[/COLOR]

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[quote name='CarltonFamily5']aplmac, your photos are amazing! Keep em coming :)
-Anything [B]from the kid's areas?[/B][/quote][COLOR=Black]Sorry nothing from the kids' areas.
[COLOR=Gray][I]At the age of 59, they're not likely to let me in :cool:[/I][/COLOR]

[COLOR=Silver]........................[/COLOR]


I just came across this cool balcony shot...wife woke me up [I]"Come see this! There's an island out there!"[/I]


[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Carnival%20VICTORY%20Apr%2009/Sunrise-708A.jpg[/IMG]
It was St. Kitts


[COLOR=White].[/COLOR]
[/COLOR]

aplmac, such nice photo's. Just think, I will be in St Maarten in just under 3 weeks..

..keep the photo's coming....

It's a good place to buy stuff at great prices!

If you need a new camera or a lens, SXM is the place!!

 

This shot just as we disembarked from the Water Taxi that carried us from the pier to the downtown area!

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[COLOR=White].[/COLOR]

[IMG]http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w219/aplmac/Victory-155.jpg[/IMG]
[COLOR=Black][I]Docked at St.Thomas[/I][/COLOR]
[COLOR=White].[/COLOR]