Prinsendam 2005 World Tour... it has begun

[DeltaBC]

thnaks for showing the pictures,they are very good .Looking forward to the next installlment

[DeltaBC]

Those are great pictures,thanks for sharing We are looking forward to the next installment.

[Grumpy1]

The Sydney, Australia photos have been added in a separate album. both albums are accessible from:

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/slinkiegrumpy

 

still half the world to go.

 

Grumpy

[Sweetdreams]

Grumpy & Slinkie,

Thanks once again for sharing your WC highlights with us. Slinkie I can totally relate to you're needing to pet everyting with fur. Were you able to pet the koalas? My SIL was able to hold one on her visit to a wildlife refuge in Australia.

 

Grumpy-quick question about digital photography: Perhaps, you already mentioned what type of camera you used on the WC but I cannot recall.

Were you satisfied with the model for such an extensive trip?

Since I still use my old but favorite Minolta SLR and a convenient point & shoot I have not yet made the move to digital.

 

A recent article in the Mosseberg Solution though got me thinking about making the move. As an avid Mac user, they rated the iPhoto picture-organizing software very highly for creating digital photos in a tangible, professional-looking manner-in a factory-bound but relatively inexpensive, hardcover photo books. Have you used similar software for your own publishing?

 

Of course, you know why I am asking you-your pictures are those of a professional! Your photo collection continues to provide us with an impressive way to further enjoy a WC, while still in our PJ's in the comfort of our own homes. Thank you so much for sharing!

 

Until I really get to pet a dingo,

Sweetdreams

[Grumpy1]

Hi, Sweetdreams.... First things first!.... be careful about petting the Dingo! They CAN be nasty! The one at the zoo was on a strong, short leash and no one was allowed to pet him. Now, koalas are made to be petted... Yes, Slinkie got to pet a couple of them... I swear that gal has a fur fetish... she'll detour 2 aisles over in the department store just to stroke a fur coat... sometimes even the faux fur ones

 

I used a Dimage7 by Minolta. There's things about it that I like and things I don't. Good... the zoom range. It has an optical zoom lens that is the equivalent of a 28 to 210 Macro zoom lens on a 35mm camera. I'm sure you appreciate what all you can do with that one lens on a 35mm camera. Also it will accept external thread 51mm filters and adapters. At 5.2mp, the camera has the capability of taking good hi-res photos. I set it for highest resolution, minimum compression, which results in pictures that take about 2mb of storage space. The storage media is CompactFlash which is probably the cheapest storage. A couple of 256mb cards at 125 hi res pics per card keeps you happily snapping away. Having used a 35mm SLR before going digital, it just felt right to use a camera that had the same operating choices... manual, programmed, aperture priority, shutter prioity, etc.

 

The bad... It's big and bulky. I didn't take as many pictures around the ship as I should have, because I don't like walking around with that durned albatross around my neck. So most of the time the camera was in the cabin when we went to dinner, to shows, etc and I didn't get those shots of friends and crew that I should have.

 

I would suggest a smaller camera that can be carried easily, but still with an optical zoom lens. Olympus makes very good cameras... I haven't been keeping up on current model numbers... and I'll probably upgrade/downgrade... depending on your point of view, before taking another cruise. I want a camera that will fit in my pocket, but still take pictures that can be printed at 8x10.

 

The pictures stored on webshots have been resized by their software to about 10% of the original file size. You lose a lot of detail, but it's a great way to share photos.

 

I used the camera originally in my business and often needed to make large, detailed prints of the photos. I never got into high end photo editing software. The Adobe PhotoDeluxe business edition that came bundled with an HP scanner that I bought was adequate for my needs.

 

I hope that answers most of your questions... no, I'm not a professional photog, by any means... just glad that others are enjoying the pics. Looks like I'm going to have to subscribe to Webshots and pay the $30 a year... We're not even halfway through the cruise and I've already used 75% of the space allowed for the free subscription. Well....... you guys are worth it, but you owe Grumpy and Slinkie a drink some day...

 

Grumpy

[Grumpy1]

By the way, for those that may have missed it, there's a thread... Prinsendam 2007 voyages... that has iteneraries for the Amsterdam 2007 Grand World Voyage and the two Prinsendam Grand Voyages.

 

Grumpy

[Williebill]

Grumpy1 & Slinkey,

 

You said that you and Slinkey met some wonderful people; my DW and I also met a lot of nice and wonderful people on that cruise, including you and your wonderful wife. We will be in touch about getting together again in the near future.

[Grumpy1]

Grumpy1 & Slinkey,

 

You said that you and Slinkey met some wonderful people; my DW and I also met a lot of nice and wonderful people on that cruise, including you and your wonderful wife. We will be in touch about getting together again in the near future.

 

We look forward to that, Bill

 

Grumpy

[Grumpy1]

The photos for all of the ports between Melbourne, Australia and Hong Kong, China have now been posted.

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/slinkiegrumpy

 

Grumpy and Slinkie

[cindiedee]

Grumpy and Slinkie:

Thank you SO much for all the wonderful photos - we are enjoying your WC again through these photos. I have been to many of the places in your photos (although not on a cruise) and some things never change - all the photos of Australia, Bali, Hong Kong, etc bring back wonderful memories for me. Thank you again for being so generous and sharing with all of us. I don't know what you did for a living but unless you were a writer of some sort, you missed your calling - every update you sent was like we were really there with you experiencing everything.

Thank you again! ;) Cindie

[blackbird71]

Grumpy,

 

I have to ask this question but I am afraid I know the answer. In Brunei why were there Police boats all around the P'Dam. :(

 

TIA as always.

[Grumpy1]

Grumpy,

 

I have to ask this question but I am afraid I know the answer. In Brunei why were there Police boats all around the P'Dam. :(

 

TIA as always.

 

Well.... Maybe someone tipped them off that the notorious Grumpy was headed in their direction... but it was really all about security. They were there for the same reason that you see coast guard and harbor patrol boats in the US ports keeping all of the small boats away from the ships. Brunei is a country with a very high percentage of Muslims in it's population. Although the US relationship with Brunei is good, and the vast majority of the people there are good and friendly people, in a population that large there are bound to be a few radicals that would like nothing better than to do harm to all those decadent people on that big boat.

 

We saw enhanced security in many ports, but there were others where it wasn't obvious. If you look at the pictures in the third album, sailing out of melbourne, we had a speedboat that circled the Prinsendam at least three times, crossing across our bow just a few yards from the ship while the Prinsendam was making 12 knots down the channel. This was while the harbor pilot was still onboard. That would not happen in Miami, Ft Lauderdale, or, most likely, any other US port.

 

It was always nice to see visable signs of security awareness in the ports.

 

Grumpy

[Cuttle]

Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos. I followed your journey on a daily basis and was always disappointed when "Grumpy and Slinkie" had not checked in with a new day's report. Lately I have not been checking CC to any degree and so I missed your postings of the photos. I have now caught up again and enjoyed every minute checking the pictures. The photos take me back to your travelogues of January, February, March and April. What a fantastic trip. You must have some wonderful memories. Thanks again for sharing.

Regards

[blackbird71]

Well.... Maybe someone tipped them off that the notorious Grumpy was headed in their direction...

 

Grumpy

 

Grumpy, I love your writting style....

[TexEm]

Finally had a chance to go through all the posted photos--great job, Grumpy!!

 

Favorite photo--Hong Kong skyline at night.

 

I really enjoyed seeing it all, but had never seen photos of Mauritius and the Seychelles, so really liked those.

 

Thanks again for sharing so much with us!

 

Mary

 

P.S. Enjoyed all the pics of the Prinsendam, too--have been back 2 months and still miss her and the crew.

[Sweetdreams]

Grumpy,

 

Thank you for taking the time to answer all my photo questions appreciate all the insight especially from an experienced SLR user. Know exactly the feeling of not wanting to be weighted down by hefty cameras. Thirty years later, I still have some remorse for not having purchased the pocket size Minox.

 

Anyway, will continue to enjoy your wonderful photos of your high sea adventure. If opportunity would have it will be delighted to treat you and Slinkie to a toast if we are sailing together.

[Grumpy1]

I posted the additional albums that go as far as Durban this afternoon, and was just about to post that new albums had been added when we lost power. The internet went down and I had to wait a couple of hours before I could get back on. Looks like you found them though, Mary.

 

For any others, the webshots slinkiegrumpy home page now has 6 albums with 484 pictures.There are still a couple more albums to go before I'm finished. I still need to scan most of the gangway photos and all of our formal photos so I can post them too.

 

I'll probably go back and put the Gangway photos into the existing albums at the appropriate places, and then do a separate album with all of the gangway photos in one place. Hey, as long as I had to pay for Webshots Premium, I might as well use their storage space...

 

Grumpy

http://community.webshots.com/user/slinkiegrumpy

[blackbird71]

h

Grumpy,

 

Thank you for taking the time to answer all my photo questions appreciate all the insight especially from an experienced SLR user. Know exactly the feeling of not wanting to be weighted down by hefty cameras. Thirty years later, I still have some remorse for not having purchased the pocket size Minox.

.

 

Sweetdreams,

 

I am a Nikon D2H owner. Which is a large digital camera. It is 4 mp which is more than enough for most people. Until he moved to the 12mp D2X, Moose Peterson was the formost D2H nature phototag out there. If you go to his site most of his pictures are taken with the D2H. http://www.moosepeterson.com/index.html My D2H is 7 months old and at first I thought it would be toooooo big and heavy but once I started using it I love it and love the placement of it's buttons.

 

Below is my camera and puter setup I take on cruises. I would download pictures from my camera everyday into a folder on my powerbook with the name of the place the pictures where taken the day before. Works for me. :)

 

 

IMHO anything over 6 mp is a waste for most people. Like Grumpy has said, set the camera for the finest seting it has. You can always scale down a digital photo, but not up. I do not like iPhoto and will not use it. But if you want to use it to make a book that is OK. But it stores all the photos in it's "library" and I tried to import 2000 photos that where in directories by subject and it just dumped them all into it library and told me to re-sort them. $%#%$ you Apple. I use Nikon View and Photoshop Elements on my powerbook.

 

I have a couple lens for the D2H. The monster lens in the above picture is $1400 and is a 17-55 F2.8 and I love it. This is my "standard" lens. BUT it is heavy.

 

Now, having said all that I always have my Nikon 4300 pocket camera for trips. When I just want a handly camera to carry around the ship I carry it.

 

I would not recommend the D2H/X to anybody unless you are real serious about pictures taking.

 

The major decision you need to make is do you buy something like the Nikon D70 that you can change lens on or with a good camera like Canon S2 IS which my birdie watching friend uses but can not change lens.

 

I do recommend all to go to Mooses site and spend some time there. He has a lot of How To on his site. ie if in Alaska how to shot bears that are running AT you... :eek:

[Sweetdreams]

Blackbird,

Thanks for your input regarding digital cameras. With great respect to Grumpy & Slinkie, I certainly do not want to hijack this wonderful thread . However, the great photos posted will most probably lead other to ask similar questions-"How'd he do that?" Since many of us try to capture the beauty of the places we visit, sharing our success or disappointment with equipment is justifible.

 

I will visit the site you offered though I am very loyal to Minolta after 30 yrs.

With a great deal of funds already spent over the years for various lenses it is difficult to relinquish the flexibility they offer if I would make the change to a pocket size digital camera. We enjoy hiking a great deal though and lugging equipment is not fun.

 

Perhaps the solution will be similar to what I currently do with a point & shoot and SLR with multiple lenses. Buy one of each :) !!!!

Anyway, I am not motivated to start the move to digital.

Thanks for your input!

[Grumpy1]

OK, Blackbird.... If the camera's sitting on the table... how did you take the picture??? Did your camera have an "out of body experience"? Was it done with mirrors?

 

Sweetdreams... Not to worry about hijacking the thread... this thing has wandered offcourse quite a few times... and that has been part of the fun of doing it. One of our table companions is an author and she was working on her latest novel while on board... it's a murder mystery. She says that she starts with a couple of characters and lets it take shape from there... no working outline. She has no idea "who dunnit" yet... too early, and the characters haven't told her yet what they are up to. Sort of like this thread... but the only thing murdered here so far is the King's English....

[Grumpy1]

Cape Town and Walvis Bay, Namibia albums are now available.

[JaniceB]

Grumpy and Slinkie,

 

I just saw that you had posted the picture albums from your trip. The pictures are awesome. I haven't finished looking at them, but I have to agree with TexEm that my favorite is the Hong Kong skyline, so far. You are a great photographer.

Janice

[blackbird71]

OK, Blackbird.... If the camera's sitting on the table... how did you take the picture??? Did your camera have an "out of body experience"? Was it done with mirrors?

 

.

 

LOL it was taken by my Nikon 4300. While I was looking for a picture I found this waterproof housing for it... Good to 130 feet... Mmmmm

 

 

Sweetdreams,,,,,

 

The ONLY bad thing I did on my Amazon cruise is believe the movies about Devil's Island and think they were flat... They are not. And the steps going up to the top part of the island had wet stone steps with no hand rails. I looked at them and at my $5000 worth of camera gear and said no way.... I am buying a MonoPod/Walking stick for my next cruise.

[Hemi001]

Grumpy - The quintessential lurker here. I have followed along on your travels with much interest. I was compelled to actually make a post after I saw your wonderful photos. Great job! As we will be sharing the Regal with her in January, it was great to see your picture of Aussie Gal. Thank you so much for the time and effort it took (not to mention the e-mail minutes) to bring this cruise to us all.

 

Ken.

[SomeBeach]

Grumpy and Slinkie,

Talk about getting to the party late...... the doors were already closed, but fortunately not this post! I found it about a week ago while researching some info for a cruise. A WC is something I've been thinking about for some time, it has now moved into a definate plan. I can't wait for the 2007 schedule.

 

What I really want to tell you is what I gained from your posts/travels........

Having found this after the fact, I mostly just read your posts, with the exception of being sidetracked with artist painter and ship painter. All that followed you were given sights we may never see and laughs we otherwise wouldn't have had. Most generous of you to do that while on vacation.

 

Then you gave even more, maybe without even knowing it. You really gave us a love story. How fortunate that you found each other. You gave me the realization that love can come again to those that have lost it. This is a real "moment" for me as I haven't believed that for several years (my loss wasn't quite like yours.) I know you brought back many souveniers from your trip but I'll bet you didn't know you gave one to me. Both of you gave me this "gift" to believe and I thank you. Of course, now all I have to do is find it! (sorry for making the last few sentences so personal but it's what happened.)

 

That being said, I have a question that I need an honest opinion on. Single woman, traveling solo, early 50's.......... safety factors, not so much on the ship but in the ports. Is there too great a risk for me to wander around in most of the ports by myself? I do remember Slinkie having one problem but aside from that, was all else ok?

I look forward to seeing your pictures now. Thank you for taking me on your WC, even when you had already returned to land.