TheOldBear

Have you asked this over in the Cruise/Travel Insurance forum? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=635

Hey everyone, as you all know, gender orientation doesn't necessarily have anything at all to do with sexual preference. However, I thought this forum would be the CLOSEST one for me to post in, so please bear with me.

 

Whether you're straight, gay, whatever, reading this, I wanted to know if anyone had any experience either crossdressing themselves, or with a travel mate, or someone perhaps they even got to know relatively well while cruising. I'll be aboard an NCL ship, not that it really matters.

 

I was just curious as to how things might get sticky when cruise employees scan your ID card, what kind of reactions/acceptance among other cruisers, etc.

 

I go ALL out and am actually pretty passable, despite being almost 6'2" (I can't wear very high heels without absolutely TOWERING over almost everyone, though *Sad Face*). Still, those more perceptive/cynical could read me, and again, the whole cruise ID thing.

 

Anyone shed any info/experiences/advice for me, please?

I've not had any difficulties on board QM2 - even attending a 'senior officers party' in the Queens Room before dinner. No problems with other onboard interactions and purchases. This included a portrait session with the 'Ships Photographer' concession - and they took the time to clean up the beard shadow flash pictures always seem to bring out.

Embarcation / disembarcation and shore excursions are all in 'guy mode', as are visits to the Ship's spa and pools.

I did have a minor problem on my first cruise. My wife left her ship's card in the room and mine was demagnetized by the clasp on my evening bag. The folks at the purser's desk had no difficulty re-encoding the card. [even with heavy makeup I still look like my picture]. The lesson here is to avoid evening bags with magnetic catches.

Does anyone have experience or know of a cruise line or specific cruise where transgender people would be accepted and feel comfortable. And it would be nice to meet other trans folks. Anyone?:cool:

I do not have too much comparative experience, but on QM2 sailings my wife and I bring both tuxes and gowns for formal nights.

I am not transitioning or full time, so on the ship I only 'dress for dinner' and not for the pool or shore excursions.

The cabins are beautifully redone, but the pull out drawers leave a lot to be desired. The tiny knobs make it difficult to pull them out.

I'm thinking about bring some replacements :p

Which of these filters should I use for sun flare? Took some photo's, middle of the day, in bright sunshine. I didn't look directly into the sun, it was on the side, but I have sun spots on the shots. Photo's were taken at the harbour. Shots taken with the sun at my back did not have these spots.

Possibly neither one - a lens hood may be a better solution. You may be getting reflections off the lens' from element or internal reflections within the lens.

A polarizing filter lets you selectively darken some reflected light - but only some and under special conditions. This is easy to preview with a pair of polarized sunglasses.

You may find that on average the air in the ship is cleaner - fewer, and with some cruise lines no, indoor spaces that allow smoking.

I am looking for good but reasonably priced travel insurance for an upcoming cruise. It is a two week cruise on the Oceania Marina, London to Barcelona. Any suggestions?

You may want to check the Cruise/Travel insurance forum at Cruise/Travel Insurance

I had something quite similar happen last year. A week before the cruise it was uncertain that we would be able to go.

I had travel insurance with a ‘cancel for any work reason’ (and a similar policy for next year). I got as far as getting the claim started when management relented.

My lesson is always get travel insurance - the same day as I make the initial deposit.

On which other lines on an Alaskan cruise do your risk being denied entrance to the MDR and "sent to the buffet" if you don't wear a jacket and tie on fancy pants night?

Cunard's Queen Elizabeth does Alaska cruises

Clive Cussler's "Dirk Pitt" has some experience with salvage - see http://www.raisethetitanic.com ;-)

The short answer is 'no'

The longer answer is found on threads discussing 'Titanic II' and 'Blue Star' lines.

My husband and I are taking our first voyage on the QM2. It will be a transatlantic cruise New York to Southampton. We have Queens Grill accommodations. What is the earliest hour that we are allowed to board the ship on embarkation day?

 

 

Thanks!

Shelley

Passengers booked for 'the Grills' have priority once past security. Passengers may start boarding after the ship is 'zeroed out' from the previous cruise - so if there are no additional delays that can be as early as 11.

On the other hand, there apparently were some delays last September, and the terminal doors were not opened until 12:30

This may vary ship by ship - but if I were responsible for a public computer, I would disable any USB or SD connections.

We are looking forward to 2019 :-)

Hi,

 

We cruise regularly and have done several transatlantic crossings on QM2 (Southampton to NY round trip) but the last QM2 trip was over 5 years ago. We are thinking of booking a round trip next April and as usual we will book it as one 14 day cruise as opposed to a B2B as this has always worked out cheaper.

 

I can't remember what happens upon returning from sightseeing in Manhattan. Presuming we have the same cabin for both crossings is it just a case of being back for the 'All Aboard' time and swiping our cruise card as we enter the ship or do we still have go through the check in process and so have to be back at Red Hook earlier than the 'All Aboard' time?

I believe that there is no need for any check in on return to the ship [just security screening at the terminal, once the ship is 'zeroed out'].

We are Diamond members of the World Club and out of interest I would like to know if on board we will still get treated as if we are doing 2 cruises i.e. we always got invited to the World Club party and the Senior's Officer party on both legs. In this still the case or have they cut it down to an invite once per party per 14 day cruise?

Even this humble 'gold' status member noticed that the same number of parties were scheduled on both the eastbound and westbound legs.

Also are all these parties in the evening in the Queens Club? I do remember sometimes a lunch time party in the Winter Garden but also sometimes having 3 evening parties per crossing.

I don't recall seeing the Carthinia lounge [the old Winter Garden] closed for any private events.

I can only think of one time where we took our passport off the ship. That was because we planned to buy some money at currency exchange store. Even when the cruise says you need it we don't take the original either. Just a copy. The real deal stays in our room safe.

As is often mentioned here - on a cruise where US Citizens can sail with alternate ID [DL & birth certificate] instead of a passport, no one will need to see/stamp your passport. The best place for it is the stateroom safe.

On last year's transatlantic round trip, I needed to present my passport [1] at checkin in Brooklyn, [2] to HM Customs on the eastbound leg, [3] going ashore at LeHavre, [4] later that day returning from a Normandy shore excursion and [5] back in Brooklyn. The passport collected stamps at 2, 3, 4 & 5.

Not casual - what Cunard calls 'smart attire' [informal, jacket required] is typical for embarkation and port days. The Gala [formal] nights are minimally 'dark suit with tie' - most gents wear tux/dinner jackets.

Ladies seem to have a more varied selection of options.

Dress code discussions seem to erupt fairly frequently here - this may spark a fresh one ;-)

Cunard's official dress code page is at https://www.cunard.com/life-on-board/what-to-pack/

Last September, the ship's tour seemed to be quite short - less than an hour in Winchester after leaving the Cathedral. Lunch was still being served in the main dining room when we returned [about 1:30].

Is there a way to keep focus on the object you are trying to take a picture of? I keep losing focus to what is behind or even in front of it. I'm using the 70-300mm 1:4.5.6.3G ED on the NikonD3400.

Often a 'half press' of the shutter release, or a 'back button' near your right thumb is or can be configured to focus the lens - then you reframe / recompose and shoot.

This is either for stationary subjects, or where you can focus on a fixed target where you anticipate the subject will enter the picture [e.g. birds at a feeder, bees at a flower or a basketball hoop]. Sometimes you will need to focus manually [say the camera keeps focusing on a smear on the window, not the bird visible through the window.]

Some continuous auto focus systems [like my 1994 vintage Canon Elan] will attempt to follow a moving subject and anticipate just where the subject & focus will travel while the SLR mirror is flipping. Some mirrorless cameras [e.g. Sony A9, Olympus M1.2] let you track a moving subject without any viewfinder blackout]

Any British managed ship- Cunard, P&O etc abides by the European law of no indoor smoking at all, although I believe that QM2 has a cigar room. I think this should be the same with any EU managed ship, but don't have the facts.

I recall from one of the on board lectures contrasting the original Queen Mary with today's QM2 something like " Today on the QM2 there are only two spaces permitting smoking [Churchill's & the 'Pig and Whistle' - the crew's pub on deck 1]. On the original there were only two spaces where smoking was prohibited [Operating Theater & Chapel]"

Ok! Lots of great input here.

 

My local camera shop has a pre-owned 6500 with the 18-105 G lens for $1200. It seems like a decent deal. How much will I regret not getting the new kit with the 18-135??

The focal lengths for either kit lens seem optimized for 'people shots' - moderate wide angle for groups of people to short telephoto 'head shot' portraits.

The wide angle end will also be useful for landscapes, but the long end of the range is not all that long [will not bring distant detail in to fill the frame].

If you go for the Sony, you may want to consider renting a long lens - LensRentals has an 'E' mount 70-300 lens renting for $74 / 7days

Cunard - QM2 [and likely QV & QE as well]

Hmmmmm. Now I’ve been reading a bunch and I sort of like the idea of the Mirrorless. I’d like to spend around $1,000ish for the camera and a lens for Alaska. Not as married to the Canon this morning.

If you are no adverse to refurbished equipment, Olympus often sells the OMD M10 mark 2 body for about $300, and their 'travel lens kit' for $700 - this provides a long zoom lens, a faster fixed focal length wide angle [similar field of view to a phone camera], and lens hoods for each. The zoom range [14-150] is equivalent to a full frame 28-300 range for comparison purposes.

Checking the Olympus web site, some bodies and lenses are on special sale when combined - so a travel kit [OMD10.2 body + 14-150 Zoom] could be assembled for less than 700 dollars.

I still think that a bridge camera can add more 'bang for the buck' - checking Panasonic and several other retailer sites shows the FZ-1000 currently priced at about $600. This would yield a greater zoom range and a brighter lens than comparably priced interchangeable lens alternatives - and you will always have the right lens mounted on the camera.

You may want to take a look at some of the buying guides over on dpreview - such as the 'travel camera buying guide' https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/buying-guide-best-cameras-for-travel

The iPhone camera is fair to middling for wide angle shots, and it has the advantage of being a familiar tool.

I have not yet booked my Alaska cruise [sometime in 2020 is planned] but from discussions the experienced photographers place a premium on long lenses, up to 600 mm focal length for a full frame camera. [the Sigma 'bigma' lens is a favorite with some of my friends] Lenses in the long zoom category are be large, expensive, heavy and require lots of practice to get the best results.

I would recommend a so called 'bridge', fixed lens camera such as the Panasonic FZ1000 & FZ2500, or Sony's RX10 series - the lens is the key. A set of similar capability lenses for an interchangeable lens camera would easily cost more than double the price of even the Sony RX10V.

These cameras have fairly large sensors, advanced multiple axis image stabilization, and both intelligent exposure modes & manual overrides. And you always have the right lens on the camera.

On the other hand, if you have your heart set on an interchangeable lens camera, I would suggest looking at the mirrorless options [Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Fuji] - All have image stabilization features, implemented in lens, in body or combined body and lens. [i have reasonable hand held shots of over one second exposure on non moving subjects]

I have one of Olympus' entry level cameras [OMD M10 mark II] and I have been pleased by its capabilities, even when just using some of the less expensive lens options. For Alaska, I am planning on having/renting some fancier gear, but still part of the same system, plus bringing one of the Panasonic FZ cameras.

When embarking we have always been dropped off by the car service around 11:00. Security and check-in have been quick, then we have waited in the Grills/Platinum/Diamond lounge. Boarding has always started at 12:00.

 

Last year we were in transit from Québec to Southampton. We were allowed to re-board shortly after 11:00. Embarking passengers were delayed slightly. It was after 12:00 before they started boarding.

That seems to be the normal, expected timing - but sometimes threre are delays.

Last September, we arrived and dropped of luggage just after noon, but needed to wait most of an hour before the terminal doors opened and the first batch of passengers was admitted to security screening.