Tummy

Here is where I'm at today with my NCL options.  Initial investment about $3,000 and I've sold a few the last few days for about $5,000.  I also bought some CCL.  This feels like a once a decade opportunity because I know all the lines will bounce back to some degree when they start sailing again. 

I’ve been buying all the cruise lines because we just know they will rebound sometime. My short term target for all of them was 50% of their recent high before I would consider selling. I’ve been buying the shares but recently started looking at the options.  I should have been looking last month and likely missed the boat on major gains. 

On Thursday I took a chance and bought 200 NCLH contracts, June 19, $30 strike price for $0.11 per share. By midday Friday they were $1.05 per share. I sold 50 contracts to get my money back and they came down during the last hour selloff, but still $0.68 per share. I’m holding a few more days to see if we get to $25. I wish I got some CCL since the share price jumped up 40% earlier this week, the $20 June 5 calls increased 2,600% overnight on Thursday. 

I've been watching. During the 2008 crash, RCL went from $53 to $6.  I'm targeting $15-$20 for RCL if things drag out, but will probably start DCA soon.

NCL has the worst balance sheet of the three.  I predict bankruptcy.

We’re currently on the Getaway and we’re not booking our next trip for a while. Our concern is that ports will be canceled and ships denied docking like that recently happened in Jamaica, DR, and St Lucia. Having fear (even though a small chance) that the Italian couple next to you might be infecting you at the Garden Cafe has not been fun.

57 minutes ago, jean-lynd said:

Did you take your own snorkeling equipment or was it provided?

We always bring our own, but you can rent from many vendors around there.  I believe I saw on the Bananarama website that they have a package with transport, facility use and snorkel rental for $35 pp (4 people min).

This is our video from last year showing our group tour with Victor Bodden.  I think it was $35 each. 

I liked the snorkeling there so much, we're going again next week on the NCL Getaway.  West Bay was probably the easiest and most spectacular beach access snorkel we've ever done.  This year we booked a private tour to have some more time with the sloths and snorkeling.

Looks like the embedded video broke when they updated the boards.  Here it is again:

On 10/27/2018 at 4:11 PM, jean-lynd said:

Thank you for the great video!  We have booked this adventure for our cruise in February.  Which way did you have to walk to get to the snorkeling?  Thanks for your help!

Sorry I just saw this.  From Bananarama you walk a few minutes to the left towards the cliff. I recently learned that the best place to get in is in front of the Infinity Bay resort.  Once you walk in, there is a kidney shaped sandy area.  Swim out and you can go to the left (towards the rocks) or to the right.  We were mainly on the left.  It gets very shallow over there though.

For those asking about mounting, I found this photo showing the mounting via suction cup.

WONDERFUL... What side of the ship had the best views ?

In Glacier Bay, I don't think there was much difference between the sides. The captains will always hold the ship near the glaciers and spin around to the other side. I think we held position for about an hour on each side. They also opened the bow to allow people to view from there and we stood at the railing while we approached, then went back to our cabin while we held position to view from our balcony.

Thanks, So, the video was taken through the glass. We have a river cruise planned this summer and there are places that 1 would like to take a time lapse as we go down the river.

No, I attached the suction cup to the glass and the camera had a view over the railing.

What did you use to attach the camera to the railing. I was also wondering if it would work for a Go-Pro as well as the time between images

I used a suction cup to mount to the inside of the balcony glass with a selfie stick on top to get enough height over the rail, then tied it tight with a nylon belt/rope. I should have taken a photo of the setup. It was a 2 second interval.

Exceptional Video..Well shot and edited.

 

What was your interval for the T/L? I think that is about as smooth as I've seen.

 

I enjoyed watching it. Thanks

So happy you liked it! The weather was fantastic and that really showed the mountains and clouds.

I used a Sony x3000 action cam which has a really great optical stabilization, great color and generally good exposure. We also use it for the

The interval was set for 2 seconds and there is a special auto exposure mode on the camera to help even out time lapses, but you still see some flickering. For some reason it stopped after about 5 hours, even though there was plenty of space left on the 128gb card so I didn't have anything of the second glacier we saw that day. I had it hooked up to an external USB battery and I guess it stopped after the USB went out even though the internal battery still had plenty.

Love it! Tried to do the same with my GoPro but didn't have a strap big enough to go around the top railing of our Verandah on the Eurodam. Tried to set it on the ledge but the view through the glass was iffy at best

Glad you liked it!

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the setup. I attached a suction cup mount to the glass with a selfie stick threaded on to get enough height above the railing. Then I used a strap (actually the belt off my cargo pants), to tie it to the post/railing.

Your glacier and whale videos - wow!

 

And I can not thank you enough for your complete tour of your NS. I often debate about whether it would be worth it. And your video helps me answer that question -depending on the itinerary.

 

I appreciate you spending your time taking the videos and sharing them.

Glad you liked it.

I loved the suite. It was probably the highlight of the trip for us since we spent so much time in the cabin enjoying the views to Alaska. On a Caribbean sailing, we would probably be at the beach or by the pool most of the time.

We took a tour that included Bananarama, but you can probably take a taxi directly to West Bay beach and spend more time there. Snorkeling was fantastic and so close to shore. You can see some shots in the later part of our tour video. I can’t wait to go again. Much better snorkeling than we saw in Cozumel, Belize or grand cayman on our last cruise.

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I actually shot this around Thanksgiving 2017, but we’re thinking of going again. Our favorite part were the sloths and snorkeling. The coral and fish were fantastic.

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I got s shot of this eagle in Ketchikan two weeks ago. There are eagles everywhere there and so easy to spot with their white heads.

We booked a Harv and Marv’s Outback whale Watching Tour from Auke Bay in Juneau. The weather was fantastic and we saw several orcas that came right up and under the boat, but only one humpback in the distance.

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Here is a time lapse video I made with our camera strapped to the railing on our balcony while visiting Glacier Bay on Holland America Westerdam. The scale of everything is hard to comprehend until you see it in person.

Shot on June 1, 2018

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Walkthrough of our Neptune Suite 7066 on the May 27, 2018 sailing from Vancouver to Seward.

We booked a suite guarantee and they assigned this one. We liked it was midship right next to the elevator, but people could see onto the balcony. We saved over $2,000 compared to a SB or SA so I’m fine with the compromise.

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Glacier Bay video shot from our balcony

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Whale Watching excursion in Juneau with Harv and Marv’s

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We just got off the Equinox today. 9 night Western Caribbean. ~$529 pp for a balcony cabin. With tax and port fees, all in it was $1512 for two, with free gratuities, $50 OBC from the TA, $200 OBC from Amex Platinum Cruise Benefits.

On our last cruise, we got a lot of strange looks in a tux for formal night and will probably wouldn't do that again on Celebrity. Other people's idea of formal is different than ours I guess.

We've been on 14 cruises in the last 9 years, 4 on Celebrity, the rest on Royal and NCL.

We're in our 30's and overall we like the new NCL ships better, Breakaway/Getaway than Celebrity. We like the more casual "Freestyle" dining and more selections in specialty restaurants. Cagney's steak house is always very good and much cheaper cover charge than on Celebrity. The french restaurant, Le Bistro, has also always been very good depending upon what you order. The newer ships have outdoor dining which was very nice when we went. For activities, the waterpark/water slides and ropes course was fun.

You might also consider the Royal Caribbean Oasis class ships. They have a lot to do, but we felt it was a lot like a land based resort or Vegas resort, since the interior is so big. We didn't like any of the food on the Oasis last year. We have not tried the new Quantum class ships on RCL yet.

If you are booking everyone's cabin, you might consider getting an Amex Platinum card since each cabin gets an extra $100-300 OBC on top of whatever the TA offers. $100 for inside, $200 for balcony, $300 for suites. each card member can get up to 3 cabins using the deal. On NCL you also get a free specialty dinner in Le Bistro. Click on the ship logos at the bottom of the page to see what you get on each line. Despite what it says, you can book with any TA that knows how to apply the benefit, not just Amex agents. https://www.americanexpresscruise.com/cruises/promos/amex/shopping/cruise_privileges_program.jsp?cobrand=15558&webpagerecno=2357

Interesting. I had a look at the first one to see how my findings compare. I can find an inside for $549 with $100 OBC. If you're 55 and over this improves to $469 and $150 OBC. But the same outfit has balconies from $499 with $200 OBC for the over 55's. Is that how you're pricing the balcony room?

I’m seeing $549 with free tips and $75 OBC for a 2D category. The $399 price was for X category with tips and small amount of OBC. Maybe they zeroed the X inventory. X were available earlier today when I looked.