dioxide45

Lengthy thread on this topic in this forum here.

I always wondered and thought about going with AP or some other vendor (farther than hr away) but with this happening, I know for sure that you are best to stay with Carnival excursions. And yeah it is more, maybe 10.00 per person more, but I think the peace of mind is definately worth it

It is actually $30 more per person for the Uxmal tour through Carnival. For a large group that could add up to a lot of money. Of course, missing the ship could cost a lot more too.

We are considering Uxmal and are not sure if we will go through Carnival or AP.

Only on 7 days New Orleans, should still be available on shorter sailings.

Don't know about AP, but the Carnival excursion might be an hour longer because everyone eats at the Uxmal restaurant after visiting the ruins. I would have full confidence in AP though too.

Thanks. It seems like you could eat a lot of food for the additional $30 that Carnival charges for their excursion.

Thanks for the replies. Sorry I put wrong cabin down it is 9402 & 9404 we are in.

That makes more sense. I think being under the buffet would be fine. It would be better than being under the pool area where they are shifting loungers around at 5:00am. The tables and such don't move around much if at all in the buffet area. There should be minimal noise from this.

We have the GoPole Reach which goes from 17"-40" and think it is great. They say it won't rust in fresh or salt water but water does get in side it. Just need to rinse it well in fresh clean water when done.

Looking at the two, the Carnival excursion is an hour longer. Does anyone know the main difference? Is it more time at the ruins or some or a shopping stop along the way?

The new basic HERO costs $130 to buy and it comes with the waterproof case. Unfortunately, its still pictures are only 5MP. The White is $199 also shoots 5MP photos, which is really poor. Given that the OP said she wanted to use it to shoot pictures, I think these cameras wouldn't meet her needs.

 

The 3+ doesn't recognize cards larger than 32GB. Unless she's getting a HERO 4, she shouldn't go larger than 32GB.

Are you sure that the 3+ doesn't recognized larger than 32GB? According to the GoPro site, it will work up to 64. The Hero 2 only recongnized up to 32. Once they went to the 3 it accepted up to 64, along with the 3+.

I agree with your basic concept tho - I'd rather see someone spend a little more and buy a camera over renting one. But, if she won't use it after the cruise, renting works and she's getting a better camera.

 

The 3+ SHOOTS 12MP photos and does 1080P at 60fps. That more than meets the needs she described.

 

I also disagree with you about the battery. It costs $25 to get a couple extra batteries AND a charger. It costs a lot more to run out of juice in the middle of the day and miss out on photos. At the end of the cruise she could put the batteries, charger, media card, floaty handle and whatever else she buys on Ebay and get most of it back if she wanted.

That is quite possible, though according to GoPro, with Wifi off their battery should last up to two hours in the 3+. I am not sure I have ever seen that kind of battery life on our 3+ though. For us, snorkel usually only lasts 45 minutes to an hour. More than that wears us out. We did opt for a second battery for our GoPro though, but we rarely change it in the field.

A pole would be really cool - I suggested the floaty handle because she said she was going surface snorkeling. Those poles are awesome for selfies though. Whatever she goes with, a handle of some kind is a MUST . . . trying to shoot without one is almost certain to fail.

The pole can be great for surface snorkeling. Especially if you are not good at diving. You can use the pole to extend the reach and get closes ups to fish and coral without needing to dive to do so.

I do agree that some kind of hand mount/handle is necessary. Something is better than nothing.

This is incorrect, at least the last part because QR, is not going back. They are going to remain on what is in effect EST year round.

Yes, we have already determined this.

We're just off the Magic & I wondered all week long how they decided what dining room & table we would be assigned. We were in Cabin 12001, the furthest cabin forward on the highest deck with cabins. Our table was in the Southern Lights Dining table 555 room alllllll the way in the back of the room. We literally had to go from the very front of the ship to the very back of the ship every night for dinner. Not to mention since only a couple of floors actually go all the way through, it was always either take 2 elevators or take one elevator and walk down a floor. It was a little frustrating, but more than complaining....I just wondered if anyone knew how these things were assigned.

This is one thing that annoys me about Carnival ships, not all the floors go front to back. It is one thing that we liked about Celebrity and RCCL, not a single floor has a blockage like Carnival.

I don't know how they determine what MDR you will be in. Again another thing I like about RCCL ships, only one dining room. You would think from this that I am raging on Carnival, but we actually prefer Carnival over RCCL and Celebrity.

Oh, I thought when I looked it showed buffet above rooms??

Deck 9..............................................Deck 10 (Lido)

We have been reading countless reviews and have pretty much decided that we are going to rent a GoPro for our cruise. We will be surface snorkeling so we won't be going very deep.

 

With shipping and insurance, it looks like a GoPro Hero3+ will cost us about $100 for our time frame. I am not familiar with GoPro cameras at all. Here's my stupid question of the day - does it only do video, or does it take stills as well? I know I will need a memory card, but I cannot tell if there is anything else I will need. This is the list of what comes with the rental:

 

 

• • (1) HD HERO3+ Camera
  
• • (1) 131' Waterproof Housing
  
• • (1) WiFi Remote
  
• • (1) WiFi Remote Key (No ring)
  
• • (1) Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery
  
• • (1) Quick Release Buckle
  
• • (1) Curved Adhesive Mount
  
• • (1) Flat Adhesive Mount
  
• • (1) USB Charging Cable
  
• • (1) Remote Charging Cable
  

What edition is that camera? White, Silver, Black? That makes a big difference between just buying and renting. The White sells for $199 and I think it comes with everything listed except the Wifi Remote which IMO isn't a big loss. Not sure about the quick release buckle.

For what a lot of people would do with the camera, the White Edition would be sufficient. It shoots 1080p at 30 fps. That is what you watch TV on. Unless you have a 4k TV or want to do a lot of post production work, the White would be sufficient.

It wouldn't make any sense to buy an extra battery and a lot of other accessories other than a micro SD card if you are just renting the camera. A pole or float mount would be a good idea though. I would suggest getting the largest micro SD card you can afford though. At least 32GB.

I just found this site which I thought did a great job of explaining how the time change will work and how it effects cruise ships. It also explains how each line "usually" handles time changes and ports of call. Obviously, it isn't cast in stone but should help.

 

http://thisiscozumel.com/tourist-info/91-transport/1114-cruise-ship-time

This is making it look like QR will still recognize Daylight Savings Time, but everything I have read it doesn't look like they will.

I've cruised through Europe on the Carnival Magic.

But if you read the first post, the OP is talking about sailing out of Texas. I think you are being rather hypercritical yourself here.

Compare Cozumel http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/mexico/cozumel to Mexico City http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/mexico/mexico-city. Mexico City will be changing on April 5, 2015, but Cozumel won't be. The new QR time zone will stay the same for the rest of year once it moves an hour ahead onf Feb 1, 2015.

 

The info on Southwest's site is a bit confusing, but makes sense in that Cancun/Cozumel/QR would have moved ahead an hour on April 5, but they're moving early on Feb. 1. So I assume that Southwest had already taken into account the regular DST time change expected on April 5, but it's only the special period between Feb. 1 and April 5 that matters to them and their flights.

 

But for our cruises, what matters is that QR will change time Feb. 1 and not again this year. Hope that makes sense now!

Yes, it does make sense now. Though still confusing because April 4 isn't when DST starts in the US, that is on March 8.

Another problem is, the articles I am reading indicate that it is to make it easier for tourism and less confusing. Most ships to that area come from Florida which are on Eastern Time. Many people traveling are also coming from the east coast. The problem is that for much of the year, between March 8 and November 1 when the US is on Eastern Daylight Savings Time, QR/Cancun/Cozumel/Costa Maya will in all technicality be on Central Daylight Time. Only between November 1 and March 8 will QR be on Eastern Time.

The page you linked to indicated that QR will not observe DST.

I am indeed in Eastern Time (Ohio). We will sail from New Orleans this fall right before the time change. We sail from Galveston where the time changes the day we sail. More confusion.

If the change is permanent and QR no longer does DST, then when the US goes to DST QR will be an hour behind again, back with CDT.

Interesting! Where did you find that QR is changing time on 4/4/15? The source I found said they're not changing again in 2015 after Feb. 1. See http://www.timeanddate.com/time/zone/mexico/cancun which shows that they'll be EST (Eastern Std Time) from Feb 1 to Dec. 31, 2015. This seems to be a recent change, so it wouldn't surprise me to find outdated information online...

The OP indicated it in their initial post from the Southwest website. Unless this is just referring to Southwest's winter season?

The state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, which includes Cancún, recently confirmed that they will change to a new time zone during the winter season, February 1 – April 4, 2015.

The thing is, with a Kindle that just uses Whispernet, you aren't paying for use of the cellular data. There are no charges. If it works, then Amazon has an agreement to pay for the roaming charges to deliver their content to your Kindle. If it doesn't work, you don't pay but you don't get the content. There is no worry about surprise charges on a regular kindle. Though if you have a Kindle Fire or Fire Phone that has 4G, you probably want to set it to Wifi only or airplane mode.

If you have a Kindle with 3G, you can access Whispernet almost anywhere. My sister accidentally deleted a book she was reading while in the Caribbean, and was able to retrieve it. I downloaded books while in the Med. These were regular Kindles, not Fire. EM

Were you at sea though?

Here was how I got to the conclusion that I did. QR is on Central Time.

.............Eastern...........Central

01/31/15....03:00:00 AM.......02:00:00 AM <-- Status Quo

02/01/15....03:00:00 AM.......03:00:00 AM <-- QR goes to DST

03/07/15....03:00:00 AM.......03:00:00 AM

03/08/15....04:00:00 AM.......03:00:00 AM <-- ET goes to DST

04/04/15....04:00:00 AM.......02:00:00 AM <-- QR goes back to Standard Time

Between February 1 and March 8, QR and EST will be the same. When EST time changes, they will be an hour off when EDT goes ahead an hour. Then when QR goes back an hour, they will be off by two hours.

I believe in 2014 and prior, QR used to use the same daylight savings time changes as the USA. So they were always an hour behind Eastern Time.

Interesting. The problem is that between March 8th and April 4th, they will actually be an hour off again as the US goes to DST on March 8th. Then two hours off on April 4th when QR goes back.

Progresso is not in Quintana Roo. It doesn't sound like they are included.

I also saw that today on SW site and came here looking to see if there was any discussion about it. I found another reference at http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/mexico-quintana-roo-time-zone.html. I wonder if the ships will change time to match the port... I believe it varies by ship/Captain, but all my previous cruises have had time changes to match the port.

All of the Carnival cruises I have been on that have gone to Mexico did not change ships time.

There are a lot of different kind of Kindle's. Some just for reading others are tablets (Fire). They will all work as long as they are charged. If you need an internet connection or cell connection, that is a different question. I don't think WhisperNet will work over Cellular at Sea.

What happens if you're cruising in Europe where some cultural differences can occur? Sleeveless would still be allowed without your certification. It is what it is until it is changed from a gender discrimination case from an equal opportunity activist.

The thread is about the Magic though.

Signatures can be disabled if you're concerned. I don't enjoy seeing lists of cruise histories as long as my 2160p monitor so I disable signatures when it becomes bothersome.

Ahhh, thanks. Just disabled them. Much better. I agree on the lengthy lists also. I realized that I had some obnoxious banners showing past cruises that I just removed. Still need to add the Magic for November.

Ah, gender discrimination and double standards at their finest. What ever happened to fighting for equal opportunity? Prior to the 19th century, it wasn't socially acceptable for women to wear pants.

It is what it is. I would much rather see a woman in a sleeveless shirt than a man. I am a man BTW. Now if the woman failed to shave, I would agree with you. No sleeveless shirt for her.

One other thing, I don't know if you are aware of this. Your map in your signature is somewhat of a pain. At least in Chrome it prevents me from scrolling though the thread using the scroll wheel on the mouse. The cursor always locks on that map. I don't know if it is because it is Flash or what, but it is annoying. Not sure if others have the same problem.

Isn't the buffet at the other end of the ship? Looks like cabins above those you indicated.