explorer question

[cary1306]

does explorer ship have a library ? love to switch out books after I read

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, cary1306 said:

does explorer ship have a library ? love to switch out books after I read

 

Deck 7 at the aft stairs/elevators.

[nomadbunsen]

Yup.. deck 7 with board games too. Books were really quite outdated though.... Just came off the Explorer cruise Saturday and didn't find any good reads. 

[Cherful59]

I would go there as early as you can once you get on the ship to see if someone left a book they finished and did not want to take home before they get picked over.  I would then check a few times throughout your cruise, as again maybe someone finished one they want to leave.  

[poocher]

The weight of my reading material (must be actual books) is factored into total luggage weight first.  I will leave clothes/shoes home before I give up my books.  8 days on Explorer required 2200 pages.  Next cruise is 10 days.  Thank God we fly Southwest.  The books might need their own suitcase!!

[Mum2Mercury]

1.  None of the Royal Caribbean libraries are going to please a serious reader.  They're kinda made up of books left behind by previous cruisers.  You'll probably be happier bringing your own books onboard. 

 

2.  Books can add up in size /weight!  I absolutely love my Kindle -- I'm actually on my second one, having completely exhausted the rechargeable battery on the first one.  I have thousands of books in the space of one small book!  

[poocher]

I have a nook but it just isn’t the same.  I love the feel of a good, hefty book in my hand.  I regularly travel with at least 3.

[FionaMG]

7 hours ago, poocher said:

I have a nook but it just isn’t the same.  I love the feel of a good, hefty book in my hand.  I regularly travel with at least 3.

 

I agree. There's just something so satisfying about turning over actual pages.

[sgmn]

9 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

1.  None of the Royal Caribbean libraries are going to please a serious reader.  They're kinda made up of books left behind by previous cruisers.  

One exception, Serenade. Very well stocked from all those world cruisers.  I guess the longer the cruise the more chance of decent books being left behind 

[sgmn]

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

 

I agree. There's just something so satisfying about turning over actual pages.

As I've got older I love being able to make the print bigger for my old eyes on my kindle paperwhite.  Also can easily read in bright sunlight or dark room if I dont want to disturb hubby at night. 

And a by product is I can easily carry as many books as I want on my kindle 

Gave up print books about 10 years ago .  The only ones I read now are with my grandkids 

Edited August 15 by sgmn

[cublet]

Hello,

 

I don't think anywhere compares with the library on QM2.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[celoplyr]

I found some great books on the ships but I only read romance novels.  Maybe it would be a better idea to go to a Goodwill in the port city, buy a couple of books, and leave them in the library for others?  Our goodwill sells books for $1 or $2.

[Mum2Mercury]

19 hours ago, poocher said:

I have a nook but it just isn’t the same.  I love the feel of a good, hefty book in my hand.  I regularly travel with at least 3.

Thought 1:  The Nook was never as nice as the Kindle. 

Thought 2:  I prefer reading with my Kindle.  It's lightweight, which I appreciate since I read for hours at the time -- when I finish reading, it always "holds my place".  I don't enjoy the feel of a big, fat book in the first chapter or so, when the pages are alllll on the right side, and it's harder to hold open (or vice-versa as you reach the last chapter).  As an English teacher, I have a pretty good vocabulary, but I love being able to see the definition of a word with the touch of a finger -- I know I've fine-tuned my vocabulary simply because it's so easy to look up a definition.  I love that I can bump up the size of the text, say, if it's late at night and my eyes are tired.  

But storage of books is the best single thing about Kindle!  I've never in my life had enough bookshelves ... until Kindle allowed me to hold literally thousands in my purse.  They don't need dusting, and they don't become brittle with age.  

I'd sum it up like this:  I love READING, not BOOKS.  

10 hours ago, sgmn said:

One exception, Serenade. Very well stocked from all those world cruisers.  I guess the longer the cruise the more chance of decent books being left behind 

I've never been on Serenade, but that's the best cruise-ship library I've seen!  

10 hours ago, sgmn said:

The only ones I read now are with my grandkids 

Well, I prefer DTB (Dead Tree Books) for a couple categories: 

- Books for my grandson definitely.  Being only 2, he likes color and pictures, and that's not Kindle's strength.  Plus he's still nailing down the concept that you read from left to right and turn pages -- he's not ready for Phase 2 reading yet.  And even though a Kindle isn't all that expensive, I'm not willing to put an electronic item in his hands.  

- I don't like to take my Kindle to church.  The preacher says, "Turn to ___", and by the time I've opened my Kindle, opened the appropriate chapter, found the appropriate chapter and verse, he's already finished reading it!  Navigating is just too slow for this purpose. 

- I don't like how-to books such as cookbooks or gardening books on Kindle.  So often they have sidebars with photographs /illustrations, and Kindle tends to throw them on the next page, which is confusing. 

- I don't like comic books (excuse me, graphic novels) on Kindle because the images can't be enlarged, and they're hard to read.  

 

But what Kindle does best -- novels -- they do exceptionally.  

19 minutes ago, celoplyr said:

I found some great books on the ships but I only read romance novels.  Maybe it would be a better idea to go to a Goodwill in the port city, buy a couple of books, and leave them in the library for others?  Our goodwill sells books for $1 or $2.

Buying from Goodwill (or your library's fifty-cent shelf) is a great idea -- my school library even has a free shelf. If the book is lost or damaged, you don't have to be upset -- except that you might not learn the end of the plot!  And, yes, you can leave them for the next cruisers.  My daughter just picked up 3-4 books for our upcoming fall cruise in just this way!  

[poocher]

And the ability to go back & refer to information I’ve read earlier is one of the things I hated about an ereader.  IMHO if a book isn’t 700-800 pages, it’s just a quick read.  Longer more complex books, non fiction etc, I might read something on page 600 that makes me think about something from an earlier page but I don’t know exactly where.  With a book, it’s a quick perusal of a few pages back & forth to find the spot.  I was never successful at this with an ereader.  But however we do it, glad to share our love of reading!