bernardch

I have one of the Carnival "Sailabration" cruises booked for March.  Now that the March protocols are out we decided that we don't want to put up with the BS of the pre-cruise testing, masks, etc., and want to cancel.  Is there a way to cancel and not lose my deposit/be able to apply to a future cruise?

Our last cruise was March 2020, just before the shutdown.  I want to cruise again, but am not willing to put up with the BS.  If the protocols become permanent, so be it. . .we'll find other vacation opportunities.

CB

After 18 cruises since 2010 on Carnival we still enjoy the Carnival experience, but it's grown a little stale and my wife and I are looking for a change of scenery for our Decembrr voyage.

We're considering a 7-day Western Caribbean on the Enchanted.  One aspect of Carnival we like is the flexibility of their dress code, especially on their "fancier" evenings.  I can meet at least the minimum of the elgant night dress  code with a pair of khakis, button down shirt and (sometimes) a tie; seldom any jacket or blazer.  Some passengers are dressed better,  like they're directly out of central casting for the latest James Bond movie, others, not so much.  So I know the reality compared the the official published dress code.

That brings me to Princess.  I can read the published dress code (dark suit, tux), but those of you that sail Princess, what's the "real deal" compared to the published code?  Percentage of passengers in tuxes or suits?  What's the minimum acceptable you've seen?

Again, I don't need anyone to paste the published code; I have it.  I also don't want to hear "eat at the buffet if you don't want to dress up."  Not gonna happen.  If I absolutely,,positively have to dress up, fine.  But since I refuse to pay the airline extortion, err, excess bag fees, the fancy clothes will be the first to go if not absolutely needed.

CB

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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Looking for input from the experienced A6000/A6300 users. . .

I currently own an A6000 with the standard 16-50 and 55-210 kit lenses. We have a Vancouver-Hawaii cruise booked for September and I want to purchase a second A6000 (possibly A6300) both as a spare and for the wife to use (she's a beginner as far as photography goes, although she has used my A600, DMC-200z, and my no longer owned Canon T5.).

She's not going to want to be bothered changing lenses in the field. I was thinking about an all in one lens for her.

So I see three possible Sony lenses and a Tamron offering. In the Sony camp, I see the 18-105, f4, the 18-135, and the 18-200 which is somewhat pricey at $850. Tamron offers an 18-200 also in the $550 range.

I understand the technical issues with wide range zooms and sharpness at the ends.

Of these four, what might be best bang for the buck for both a beginner and Hawaii? I dont have any objection to spending the money if needed to get quality versatility.

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Oh, yeah, they will be "burning rod" all night. I see that they are prepping the barge by removing the skids used for the motors, and will then put the patch onboard. First they'll have to lift it into place, then weld some brackets on the hull and patch that they will use wedges to pull the edges smooth. So, even after lifting the patch into place, they've got to "fair" it, tack weld it, then root pass, inspect, and then start full welding both sides. I wouldn't expect them to finish much before 0600, then inspection.

Chengkp75, who typically would actually be doing this work - both the hull work/welding and then the rigging and motor installation? Would this be Carnival's shipboard Maintenance and Engineering team, local ironworkers, a local fabrication/welding firm, or does this require some sort of specially certified maritime ship repair organization? I understand the class surveyor is responsible for inspection and final OK, but who is actually doing the "labor." Thanks in advance and for all you contribute.

CC really needs it's own "ask Chengkp75" forum :)

We did the Trikes last September and without a doubt it was the best shore excursion we've done anywhere on any island. Be aware though the trikes are manual transmission but since the throttle is on the right handlebar the shifter is between your legs and you need you need to shift with your left hand.

Title says it all. Looking for recent FunTimes for the Conquest 8 - day sailings out of Ft Lauderdale, with stops in Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao, and Aruba.

Can anyone help out?

Thanks, CB

Game 7 of the Hawks - Ducks series is on NBC Saturday (let's go hawks) so he's good there. The Cup finals begin Wednesday, June 3 but TV info is not yet released. Games on NBC will be ok, those on NBCSN will not be available as NBCSN is not on the ship's channels. Could check in the sports bar but doubtful they can get NBCSN either.

I am interested in doing the Chefs Table while on the Glory in April. I have a few questions....when do you sign up for this? Once you board or previous to that? Is it only offered one night? How many people can sign up? Is the menu the same from one ship to another? How do we find out the menu? TIA!

As others have said, sign up thru the steakhouse reservation system on carnival.com. There's a field where you can "free form" a note that says you want CT reservations.

I've done the chefs table on three different sailings and each time it was offered twice, but it depends on the number signed up. It's generally 10-12 people each seating. On the Conquest class ships it's in a private room off the MDR.

It is the same menu fleet wide, but it rolls out on different ships over time. The Glory was one of the first with version 3.0 of the menu, which features molecular gastronomy, and I feel has been the best of the three different menus.

CB

Great deal on the A6000! I have both of the lenses in that bundle and they are quite capable.

 

You will need an adapter (several available) to attach Nikon lenses to the A6000 and they will be manual focus only. The good news is that focus peaking is available both on the rear LCD and the viewfinder making manual focus quick and accurate.

 

I still shoot with my A77 DSLR for some things but the A6000 has usurped both the A77 and my older NEX-7 as the go-to camera.

 

BTW, I just picked up the SAL5018 50mm f/1.8 lens and it is stunningly sharp right from f/1.8 and at $300, outperforms lenses costing 3x as much.

 

Happy shooting!

 

Dave

Thanks for the response, Dave. Just pulled the trigger. I'll have some left over cash after selling all my canon gear for more goodies. . .I'll need to check out the 50mm, but the 12 mm Rokinon on looks interesting. Love your pictures with the A6000 review on your website, especially the milky way shot. Even looks like you picked up a couple satellites in the exposure in the white "lines" on the right side of the image.

Based on your posts here, I'm willing to bet you've forgotten more about photography than I'll ever know, but after I get a chance to play with the A6000 a bit I'll post some thoughts here, and maybe some pics.

Chuck

Don't discount the Sony A6000 as an option

. . . it plays very well with adapted Nikon lenses. . .

Dave

i too am looking at dumping the Canon T4i and associated gear in favor of lighter, smaller and more travel friendly. . .

Can you elaborate more on the "plays well...with Nikon lenses" comment? I assume you need some sort of adapter between the Nikon mount and the Sony E-mount. I'm not a Nikon expert, are there certain series of lenses you're talking about? Auto focus or older manual focus Nikon lenses? Are any of the automatic functions preserved through the a6000, or does it become a manual focus "match needle" camera?

Costco has the a6000 with the 16-50 and 55-210 lenses plus some other incidentals for $950 through midnight the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I'll probably pull the trigger, but I'm intrigued by the "plays well" comment.

Thanks in advance.

Chuck

It's our hotel of choice having stayed there 4 times and also staying there in about 18 days.

Although it's next to the interstate as others have said, not a lot around, but there is an awesome Cuban restaurant across Stirling road.

Just interested, but up to December, I had seen photos of the generators ("CAT in a box") that Carnival had placed on the upper decks of their ships that still weren't connected to the ship's system. Has anyone got a recent photo of these where I can see if it is actually connected and usable, or whether they are still for show?

 

Thanks;

This was from our Carnival Valor cruise on February 9, just behind the funnel up on the mini-golf deck. Looks like 12 cables coming out of the container heading into the deck. If I had to estimate, I would guess the cable size is right around 1000MCM.

Chuck

I actually have a very good picture of the generator taken from the mini-golf on the Valor from February showing the cabling coming out of the container and entering the ship. Probably from no more than 10-20 feet away. I took it specifically for a review I've yet to write. I'll post in this thread later tonight when I get home.

ChuckB

My husband already owns a DLSR which he mostly used for astrophotography. So we don't need another high end camera. I'm just looking for something that can sit in my purse and take decent photos.

 

I would like something that can do a good job in low light as we often take photos in museums or outside at night.

 

I would like something that can do a better job then my former camera at moving targets (if only so I can photograph the cat).

 

Ideally, I'd like to keep the camera under $350.

I just went through this exact same exercise looking for a "pocket" camera with a fast lens, RAW capture and moderate zoom for around the ship so I didn't have to lug the DSLR around all the time on our upcoming Carnival Valor cruise. I researched until my eyes and brain hurt!

I narrowed it down to two cameras that have been mentioned previously; the Nikon Coolpix P330 and the Canon Powershot S110. I wasn't married to either brand as my DSLR is a Canon and my underwater/tough camera is a Nikon (AW110). It pretty much came down to a "pick em" with a slight edge towards the P330 as it was the top rated subcompact camera in Consumer Reports. I was about about ready to order it, it was actually in the shopping cart at Amazon. . .

Until. . .

I looked at the Panasonic Lumix FZ200 thread here (Thanks guys :D). Now I'm leaving the big DSLR (and all its lenses and associated weight) at home and the FZ200 will be the walking around the ship camera, it just wont be the "pocket" camera, the Nikon AW110 will serve that function. However the FZ200 is outside your price range, although it did drop about $25 since I bought mine a few weeks ago.

Chuck

Medina, OH

 

Cuisine? Try Michael Symon's Roast, Downtown. SO GOOD! Or Brizola inside Greektown Casino.

I haven't eaten at Roast, but I have eaten at all of Michael Symon's restaurants in Cleveland. There's a reason he's one of the Iron Chefs. Also any of the Greek restaurants in Greektown. For authentic Polish food, Polonia in Hamtramck; was featured on Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations."

Our Epic roll call for this Saturdays sailing is wanting to do an informal M&G at sailaway (we have a ship hosted event on Sunday). Original suggestion was to meet up in the Great Outdoors, but someone suggested that it's a pretty large area and might not be easy to find everyone and was wondering if there might be a better spot.

I've never sailed the Epic nut for those of you who have, any suggestions for an alternate spot or even some "landmark" area in the Great Outdoors area that might make a good meet up spot?

CB