Binoculars?

Hubby and I sail in <7 days! and I'm not sure whether or not to buy binoculars for the trip. It would be nice to see some marine life from our balcony or out on the ship somewhere, but I doubt we'd use them much.

What do y'all do? Do you pack them? or not even bother?

If you do bring them, what would you recommend I get?

Thanks.

Hubby and I sail in <7 days! and I'm not sure whether or not to buy binoculars for the trip. It would be nice to see some marine life from our balcony or out on the ship somewhere, but I doubt we'd use them much.

 

 

What do y'all do? Do you pack them? or not even bother?

If you do bring them, what would you recommend I get?

 

 

Thanks.

It depends on where you’re going and what you plan to do. I.e., whale watching? I’d want my own binoculars. Ditto on if you plan on participating in an excursion. I want my binoculars with me.

If you’re just sailing and planning on sitting on a beach as your main activity—I probably wouldn’t bother.

We love to watch the other ships in the distance, along with land sightings. You won't see much "marine" life at sea....to hard to focus at long distances on a moving vessel!

We take binoculars on every beach vacation or cruise.

We're on NCL Getaway. Western Caribbean - Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya, and Cozumel.

We have excursions planned each day, but they're land based. Mainly looking at birds from afar kind of tours.

If we do use binoculars, they'll most likely only be used onboard.

..... whether or not to buy binoculars .....

I always take binoculars. Lots to see out there.

Personally I wouldn't bother unless it was an Alaska cruise.

Never go to sea without binoculars and even now as a passenger still carry a couple of pairs.

For binoculars at sea, I recommend 7 x 50, as being the best. Unless you have a steady hand, do not go much above 7 on the first number, which is the magnification. If the magnification is too high, with ship vibration & movement the picture is blurred.

Also look for options that have auto-focus or perma-focus.

Go to sporting goods store or big box joint that LETS YOU HANDLE THEM. actual weight does come into play. Field of view and magnification are one thing but clarity and brightness from good optics is another. You have to compare side by side..

I always take binoculars. Lots to see out there.

Ditto. :)

Although it's for ships & boats & coast, not marine-life.

For me, binocs are a waste of time for porpoises, flying-fish and such because the magnification restricts the area of sea that you can see thro' them. They go underwater and then surface outside that small area, so you're better without binocs.

(presumably not so with whales)

JB :)

We took binoculars to Alaska - plenty to see both on our verandah and on shore. But imho, its just wasted luggage space on a Caribbean cruise.

You can get a set of reasonably good small binoculars for only a couple of hundred dollars. Worth it in my opinion.

DON

Always take with us (typically for zooming in on other ships or in the case of our latest cruise, transatlantic on QM2, to help watch for icebergs (LOL)).

Hubby and I sail in <7 days! and I'm not sure whether or not to buy binoculars for the trip. It would be nice to see some marine life from our balcony or out on the ship somewhere, but I doubt we'd use them much.

 

 

What do y'all do? Do you pack them? or not even bother?

If you do bring them, what would you recommend I get?

 

 

Thanks.

We bring binoculars on every cruise .I have 3 ,one ,a very expensive that I treated myself to many years ago .One that we received from our TA for booking with her.The last one made out of plastic .However,we have yet to use any.

You can get a set of reasonably good small binoculars for only a couple of hundred dollars. Worth it in my opinion.

 

DON

By “small” I hope you mean something like 7x50, and not little opera glasses you can easily carry in pocket or hand bag - essentially useless.

Bushnell makes several good models for under $200.

By “small” I hope you mean something like 7x50, and not little opera glasses you can easily carry in pocket or hand bag - essentially useless.

 

Bushnell makes several good models for under $200.

I wasn't thinking about "opera" glasses. They are worthless junk. Since the OP did not want bigger glasses, I was thinking of ones in the 7x25 or 8x30 range with good optics. I don't like them but my wife has a pair of Pentax glasses that I bought her a few years back that cost about $300, are very light, and that she uses. Mine are much bigger.

You can buy some very good very expensive compact binocs. Here is a link to s set of Leitz 8x20s that sell for $730. I wouldn't buy them but I will bet that they good.

In general, with optics you get what you pay for and if you buy good ones initially, they will be the last set that you ever have to buy. Let's assume hypothetically that you really splurge and buy a set of $1000 binocs and they last you 30 years which they easily can. That is only $33 per year which is the equivalent of 9 shots of Starbucks coffee per year.

DON

Currently using Bushnells, which are the brand supplied to most ships I worked on. They are cheaper and will survive some knocking about, but generally the optics don't like being dropped. Provided you protect them they last for many years. Although 7x50 are best for shipboard use, I currently use 12x50 and with a steady hand do not get blurring.

If you want to spend some serious money check out the Swarovski optics. Probably the Rolls-Royce of binoculars, virtually indestructible and they come with a lifetime warranty on the optics. Tried a couple of demo models for about 3 months and the optics were amazing.

Currently using Bushnells, which are the brand supplied to most ships I worked on. They are cheaper and will survive some knocking about, but generally the optics don't like being dropped. Provided you protect them they last for many years. Although 7x50 are best for shipboard use, I currently use 12x50 and with a steady hand do not get blurring.

 

If you want to spend some serious money check out the Swarovski optics. Probably the Rolls-Royce of binoculars, virtually indestructible and they come with a lifetime warranty on the optics. Tried a couple of demo models for about 3 months and the optics were amazing.

If I was going with something as high powered as 12 x 50, I would look at image stabilized binoculars. B&H has them for as little as $600.

DON

If I was going with something as high powered as 12 x 50, I would look at image stabilized binoculars. B&H has them for as little as $600.

 

DON

Don,

Totally agree IS would be a great option for 12x50's, but didn't wan't to spend the money. Unless the ship is rolling or pitching fairly heavily, I can hand hold with good results.

Would have preferred 7x or 8x, but the ship chandlers only had the 12x in the price range I was happy to pay.

Hubby and I sail in <7 days! and I'm not sure whether or not to buy binoculars for the trip. It would be nice to see some marine life from our balcony or out on the ship somewhere, but I doubt we'd use them much.

 

 

What do y'all do? Do you pack them? or not even bother?

If you do bring them, what would you recommend I get?

 

 

Thanks.

I'm too late to help you (was at sea myself last week:cool:). We started borrowing my in-laws binoculars and I enjoy them for seeing coast lines and other ships. I've looked through while at sea too, but agree that it can be disorienting with the movement and you have such a narrow area. Cloud watching wasn't too bad with them though.

Flying fish could be seen with the naked eye (saw TONS) and hubby saw a dolphin.

We don't use them a lot, but if you have the room and enjoy looking at sights they can be nice to have.