TheOldBear

I would really like to take a cruise from USA to British Isles and then back again. Does this cruise even exist? I've been searching with no luck but I thought a more seasoned traveler might have a definite answer for me. If it does not exist do you have any suggestions for back to back cruises that would get to some stops on the British Isles and then back? Thanks for your help. PS. I live in NH so the further north I can sail from the better.

Cunard does frequent transatlantic crossings between New York and Southampton.

Some are sold as round trips, with a variable number of stops at either end of the crossing.

For example, our next cruise will be a round trip transatlantic from NYC [brooklyn] stoping at Southampton, Hamburg, back to Southampton, LeHavre [Normandy] then back to NYC.

I did take a look at the Canon sx540 but the reviews for it were a bit less stellar than the Lumix or Nikon. It seems that the Lumix may be the better choice as it will allow my son more options when he is using it. Forgive my lack of knowledge but is there a huge difference between the 40x and 60x zoom? And/or the difference in the shutter speed (1/4000s vs 1/2000s)? In regards to the quality of the pictures we may take?

Not terribly much difference - if any

The zoom range is more about marketing than results when the numbers get that big. And the shutter speed difference is actually trivial - under ideal conditions either will 'stop' motion in the picture.

I would also cast a vote for the FZ-80. It has a viewfinder, better video capability & an accessory shoe for adding an external flash [perhaps not useful for Alaska landscapes, but may be useful later].

The camera has both 'Intelligent Automatic' and 'scene' modes [and manual override 'PASM' modes as well]. I would recommend leaving the camera in the IA mode 99% of the time.

About the only accessories I would recommend would be a spare battery and additional memory cards.

For folks with a bigger budget, I would recommend either the FZ1000 [large sensor, fancier Panasonic] or the Nikon P900 [ludicrously long zoom range] - but they each currently are about double the price of the FZ-80.

I've not seen evening entertainment advertised in advance the same way the Insight speakers are.

I think the exception would be for the Jazz themed cruise, or when the National Symphony is featured.

i

I hope I explain this ok.

 

We board in Southampton on 10th August.. going to Hamburg, Oslo, Elsinore, Hamburg 9 nights. We didn't realise there are multiple cruises going on ie some passengers embark in America and stay on. Some get on in Hamburg, some get on for a couple of days, and when going back to Hamburg there will be others joining for two days.... etc etc. There are many multiples.

 

How do they arrange all the musters. Obviously we don't have to attend each one... so how do they do it?

 

Thanks.. just curious

This may not be typical, but we had one Muster [in NY Harbor] after boarding, then no drills for the next two segments [sOU to Le Havre; Le Havre to NYC]. Passengers boarding at either port did need to Muster.

First, let me thank Pierces, et. al. for their help back in April when I was trying to come up with an all-in-one lens to pair with the A6000/6300 for my wife's use on our September Vancouver to Hawaii cruise. I ended up going with the Sony 18-135 for her, but I like it so much that I'll probably acquire or rent another for my use!

 

Now I think it's time to further expand my skills and begin to understand the benefits of post-processing. Probably 99% of all my photos are used just the way the camera captured the image. Although I have in the past used Google's Picaasa, it was limited to simple cropping and using the "I'm Feeling Lucky" option for corrections.

 

I dont need to be able to do professional level stuff but would like to do the basics. . .color correction, the ability to remove that tree branch growing out of Uncle Tony's left ear because I didn't pay attention when framing, removing the person who decided to photobomb my landscape. . .

 

So here in 2018 what should I be looking at? How are Adobe's Lightroom and Photoshop different. Is Adobe's $10/month creative cloud subscription the way to go? How steep is the learning curve? Are there other non-Adobe options? I've probably got 50 other questions so you can see this is truly a "For Dummies" request.

 

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There are a couple of complementary categories of software:

• Digital Asset Managers or "DAM"
  
• Photo Editors
  

Lightroom is a DAM, is is Apple Aperture, Phase One's Capture One, Corel Aftershot, and even the open source Darktable project. Google and Apple each have a 'photos' project that is a lightweight DAM system.

The DAM products usually have additional features, like raw file 'developers', image adjustments [crop, rotate, color correction] and can tag and track files by photo metadata [time and place, keywords]. Some can do spot editing [e.g. removing a troublesome tree or utility lines] without needing an external editor.

Mostly the DAM based workflows are 'non-destructive' storing the image adjustments and the source files separately, using the stored image adjustments to produce on screen views, exports and prints].

Photo editors [Photoshop, Pixelmator, Paintshop, Acorn [many choices, including the open source GIMP project]] concentrate on dot by dot editing of image files. Some [e.g. Photoshop] have some image & outline recognition and/or canned recipes for common photo fixes and transformation.

Washrooms and refreshments

I do not recall seeing any - there may be a restroom between customs and the exit door, but if there is the sign is not prominent.

For stargazing - take a look at Cunard's enrichment speaker schedule - when there is a speaker from the Royal Astronomical Society featured, there is a [weather permitting] stargazing session - often with some telescopes. The enrichment schedule only goes through the end of 2018, so I don't know if that will be a feature of our next cruise.

We got to see backstage for free on our last voyage by joining the ship's choir. We were accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra with Anthony Inglis conductor and choir-master.

Don't forget - Captain Philpott also conducted a couple of pieces :-)

Thank you. Theses are the “snippets” I’ve been looking for. Anything to help our enjoyment.

 

 

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The behind the scenes tour mentioned that the the room service galley is on deck 10 - so room service orders may be a bit fresher than on other decks ;-)

After following this thread, I decided to ask for chip and pin cards. But no luck. My Venture One (Capital One mastercard) does not have a chip and pin card....I went all the way to a supervisor. My Delta Sky Miles American Express card does not offer chip and pin cards either. Both are chip and signature. So I guess it is what it is.

 

I will see if either of them can be used via Apple pay.

 

Last year in Paris, London, Iceland, Norway we had no issues using our chip and signature.

The Barclaycard [Visa] Apple uses for their special financing is a chip & pin card. It needs to be used *once* with a signature to enable the PIN feature.

I’m looking at booking my first Cunard cruise and since it’s the Norwegian Fjords, I’m looking at balconies for the first time.

 

On QM2 It looks like all the balconies on Deck 8 have obstructed views, so I’m guessing that’s due to the lifeboats.

 

Other cabins have the sheltered balconies. I’ve found a few pictures of that style and they look fine BUT I have one question:

Will I be able to get a good view and be able to see over the rail while seated OR will I have to stand at the rail?

 

Anyone have any specific recommendations of cabin or type??

Traveling with my mother who is 90. I want her to have a good view but not have to stand. Well, I want that for me, too.

 

Also interested in recommendations on the Victoria since she also has that itinerary.

 

TIA

Most of the deck 8 balconies have some degree of obstruction [on the deck plans they are categories DB, DC & DF. We has cabin 8.003 right next to the library [category BF] which was not obstructed. Aft of the lifeboats the rooms are Category BC - also not obstructed.

We usually book a 'sheltered balcony' and yes, the bottom of the port [the hole in the hull] is higher than height of eye when seated [need to stand to look straight out]. When seated, the view is just sky.

Please excuse my ignorance but what does Tad stand for?

There are only so many TLA's [Three Letter Acronyms] ;) - but I doubt it is Temporary Active Duty

Does anyone know if you have the same cabin for B2B cruises, if you are allowed to not fully disembark in between sailings? ie leave your luggage in the cabin.

If the B2B was one booking, you might use the came card for the entire trip [less work for the Purser's staff].

You may want to see if there are tours [ship's or DIY] on the layover day - often all hands are involved in getting luggage on and off the ship so shipboard activities are curtailed [no dining room lunch, room service; spa may be more concerned with sales than service].

You would think the USA would not be so far behind with there technology

 

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But the old hardware is paid for, still works - and the checkout folks know how to use it.

I think quite a bit of the delay can be attributed to the payment card service vendors [e.g. Chase's "Paymentech" service] My local supermarket had chip compatible hardware for years before the chip was enabled.

Contactless payment is so widespread that you really don't need cash in the UK anymore.

Whenever I visit the US I am always bewildered by the fact that most places still have machines that require you to swipe the magnetic strip on your card. It's like going back in time 10 years!

 

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The PCI requirement was for universal support of the chips in 2014 - needless to say this is not complete 4 years after the deadline.

We did our first [and second] transatlantic crossings last year as a round trip cruise [only two port days, in Southampton & Le Havre]. We liked it so much, that our next cruise will also be a TA round trip.

As far as weather goes, on the westbound leg QM2 was sailing through a tropical storm remnant, with force 11 winds. Despite this there were folks in the deck 8 pool and hot tubs, and even walking the promenade. [all the deck 7 promenade access doors were roped off, the 'observation deck' below the bridge was closed, the 'lookout' on top of the superstructure was closed]

Bag drop for arriving passengers should be available well before noon.

Opening the doors to security / checkin may be delayed, if there was a delay clearing the previous passengers from the ship & terminal. [we experienced waits last September both waiting for the terminal doors to open, and waiting in the Queens room to disembark. We had arrived at the terminal early after allowing for traffic delays, and there were no delays]

Getting there after lunch sounds like a good idea. You may want do do the bag drop on arrival, and if the terminal line is too long, walk [with carry on bags] to get a drink/snack/second lunch outside the gate. Google Maps shows a coffee shop and a couple of pubs two blocks outside the gate on Van Brunt street - or perhaps a round trip on the ferry that docks next to the terminal.

You may want to look for suggestions in the Ports of Call forum for the British Isles https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233

There should be several posts by 'John Bull' describing some of the DIY tour options around Southampton

We took the ships excursion to Winchester, but I seem to recall that there was an option of an escorted tour offered on board - listed in the newsletter the day before arriving at Southampton.

I’m a huge sparkling water fan. Is this something available TA crossing on QMII in October?..

We had the steward empty our fridge, and purchased a sparkling water package (six one liter bottles). They kept our magnum of white wine company.

Some lines have a soft drink package, usually covers fizzy stuff from a bartender, not cans or bottles

I intend to fill out the survey tonight...

I want to book a cruise on the Harmony this year. Anyone knows a good agency that can offer good prices or perks?

Thank you

Look up at the top of the page where it says 'find a cruise' :)

Since this site is sponsored in part by Travel Agents, you cannot discuss them here.

Adding illustration to your words, Justin.

 

 

The Panasonic GH is one of the more popular 4/3 cameras. The Olympus models are somewhat smaller.

 

Dave

To be fair - the GH5 / GH5S are quite large [lots of space for controls, big body for large batteries and heat sinks] actually larger than Fuji XT or the Sony A7/A9 bodies.

My ***** 10.2 body is small enough that some folks complain it is too small for comfortable handling.

Putting on my Black Shoes & wash kaki's ....

As a long obsolete Surface Warfare Officer, I have been following discussions in US Naval Institute's Proceedings, and other open publications.

It appears that today's SWO's [Ensign] entering the fleet have dramatically less training and even simulated hands on experience than back in the cold war days [Reagan Administration]. Dedicated school and classroom time has been replaced with self study, DVD based correspondence courses.

Apparently training time both for officers and other bridge watch standers [OS, QM, BN ratings] has been slighted. Reading between the lines, a principal failing is not that the watch standers lost the picture - it is that they did not have a mental model of the relative motions, and depended on misreading the information displayed by the available instrumentation.

On one of the ships [Fitzgerald ?] this was compounded my not recognizing that the control station the helmsman was trying to use was not the one with rudder control.

I'm glad that I am not one of the folks targeted to fix this, the only guarantee is that there is no simple solution.