bassclarinetgrl

My cruise (at the end of March) is stopping in St. Thomas and since I have the goal of visiting all 62 National Parks, I was hoping to take the ferry to St. John to see Virgin Islands National Park. Is this easy to do on our own, or would we be better off doing a ship excursion that would probably limit our flexibility?

98 days! Double digit dance! [emoji126]

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1! We sail the Gem from Nee York tomorrow!!!

From my brother-in-law's graduation at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor

Lovely. It's on my list of places to visit.

It was really beautiful but if you're going to go, you'll want to go around Tulip Festival. Otherwise, I don't think there's that much to see.

This weekend I went someplace I had never been before, tulip gardens in Holland, Michigan.

Yesterday, I got out and enjoyed the spring weather and Michigan State Parks!

When I say bag, this is what I meant, not like a ziplok. I like that it floats too. They have similar on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00J2G2XTY/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1428761730&sr=8-3&keywords=underwater+case+for+iphone+6&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=511GIjAgd-L&ref=plSrch

Going on the Gem in June. We do not have the UPD but we want to try a couple of the specialty restaurants. Do I need to book them in advance or will there be some reservations available on embarkation?

I have a Nikon D3100 with kit lens. Looking to get a telephoto before our cruise.

I also photograph with my iPhone 6.

In the past I shot with a GE X5 (point & shoot). I also had a Kodak PlaySport underwater camera but it died when it went underwater. Had it fixed once then the second time I threw it away lol.

I bought one of those waterproof bags for my phone. I got it for $8 at Meijer. I plan on testing it before taking it snorkeling, don't worry. And my phone is insured...

DH killed his iphone last summer when his kayak capsized and the ziplok bag it was in just didn't cut it. Hoping this bag will be better.

Cagney's is still available for booking for my June sailing on the Gem.

I just heard an interview with The Cruise Guy and (for what it's worth) he doesn't think it will stick.

Yum! You are all getting me so psyched for my cruise! 67 days!

Mearsfan were these all in the mdr?

Wpgcruise, beautiful photos! Wow!

@cruiseradio @cruisebuzz @cruisefever each cruise line has their own Instagram account too. Just search cruise.

I'll be interested. We go in June and I'm considering this as well.

For Animal Kingdom, definitely telephoto.

 

 

 

For a beach, (and for the ship) my personal taste is ultrawide angle. But it's personal preference.

 

 

 

Some ship and beach ultrawide:

 

 

 

Disney Fantasy Sunset by Havoc315, on Flickr

 

 

 

Sun setting over the Disney Fantasy by Havoc315, on Flickr

 

 

 

Disney Fantasy at Castaway Cay by Havoc315, on Flickr

 

 

 

untitled-613.jpg by Havoc315, on Flickr

 

 

 

Disney Fantasy by Havoc315, on Flickr

 

 

 

And here is one telephoto:

 

 

 

Lifeguard in Paradise by Havoc315, on Flickr

Ok thanks I will look at the ultra wides. BTW Love the photos, following you on Flickr.

What do you want to shoot? What is your budget? It is impossible to recommend anything until you give more info. The 18-55 you have is a fine lens, it gets a bad rep from the lens snobs, but used right and in good light it performs just fine for most people.

I'm probably going to mostly shoot landscapes and photos of the ship.

I've had no problems with it so far. I've had the camera for almost 3 years and the only time I've wanted something different was when on the safari at Animal Kingdom in Disney World. I wished I had a telephoto then.

either a telephoto or an ultra wide make sense to compliment what you have. It of course depends on what you like (i'm a wide angle guy myself)

 

of course its up to you but the 70-200mm 2.8 is a pretty big and heavy lens to carry around. The Nikon 70-300mm VR is a good alternative if you don't mind sacrificing "ultimate" image quality and don't need the fast 2.8 aperture.

 

Plus you get 100 extra mm of focal length (150 on DX)

 

70-200mm 2.8:

Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 3.4 x 8.1" (8.64 x 20.57 cm)

Weight 3.39 lb (1.54 kg)

 

70-300m 4.5 - 5.6 VR

Dimensions (DxL) Approx. 3.1 x 5.6" (7.87 x 14.22 cm)

Weight 1.64 lb (745 g)

 

From an ultrawide perspective the choices from Nikon are 10-24 or 12-24, I've used the 12-24 and it's very nice. the 10-24 is newer and supposedly a little better in all regards and 2mm wider

I'm thinking I want a telephoto but then I think a wide angle will be better. A wide angle would probably be better for beach shots? I guess my question is if you could only have one additional lens for a Bahamas trip would it be a telephoto or wide angle?

Have you checked how much parking is in NJ? We're sailing the gem this spring and haven't decided how to get to the port. I think kids would enjoy ferry but havent priced it out.

DH figured it all out. Parking for 9 days + ferry for the 2 of us is going to be less than $200 and then it's about a half mile walk/cab ride (I priced it out at $8 on Uber) to the port. If you want more info, let me know and I can send it to you.

If it were me I would get a cheap Times Square area hotel for the night before if possible thru groupon as they do exist and park the car in jersey for an extra day.

 

Alternately as I always only travel with a 21 inch wheel on...just do your roaming prior to check in as I would never check my luggage ....even if i did check luggage ....which i dont ....at 8 am as it could easily get misplaced

 

Realistically.... You aren't going to see much of anything on embark day ....is it possible you can add a day at the end?

 

A Saturday to Saturday cruise works well for a debark overnight stay

 

A Sunday to Sunday cruise works well for an embark overnight stay

 

 

Of course I will put money on it that you can't add the extra day unfortunately.

 

 

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Our cruise is Saturday through Sunday. DH has to work Friday so we will be getting in, getting a cheap hotel in NJ and crashing. Then, after the cruise DH has to work on Monday so this is really the only time we have. We've been to the city before, so we are just looking to kill a little bit of time before getting on the ship. We're not looking to see it all.

Thank you!

It's not really specific questions, just I don't know what to expect. This is our first time sailing NCL or out of New York. We sailed Carnival out of Miami in the past.

Thank you! I feel like I have no information right now and I have so many questions! Lol

We are cruising on the Gem in June. We are planning on parking in NJ and taking the ferry over to the city. We would like to do some things in Manhattan but we're going to have our bags with us. Besides doing an NCL tour, is there any way we could drop off our bags before we board the ship?