New to DSLR photography - What to bring on cruise?

Hopefully I'm not too late to the party in saying this: I highly recommend the Sanyo Eneloop rechargeables. It's one of the rechargeable chemistries that can deliver power to the flash faster than alkaline non-rechargeables, and the chemistry is fairly excellent at holding a charge while sitting on the shelf. More expensive than alkaline in the very beginning, but well worth the startup cost for them and a charger once you get going (and better for the environment).

Hah, I picked up the AA batteries from Costco today but I'm glad you mentioned the enerloop batteries, I have seen them before and didn't realize they'd be suitable in the flash. I may pick up their starter kit and use those instead, but keep the regular alkaline batteries I bought just in case.... I purchase the Vivitar power grip for the camera which lets me use AAA batteries in a pinch.

I also received the Nikkor 35mm f1.8G lens today, it's pretty sharp!

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If you haven't done so, do some testing with the TG4. I've been quite pleased with its output even at 8x10. Certainly enough for a midsize photo book, but you're not going to make poster size prints and examine them up close.

 

It's no DSLR by any means, but when you have good light the 16MP sensor does a good job given all the compromises built into the camera to make it rugged and waterproof. As to noise and DR, since it has RAW you have more flexibility to process out noise and recover DR than you might with a JPEG only camera.

Whoops, I was incorrect, I have the TG-860

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Hah, I picked up the AA batteries from Costco today but I'm glad you mentioned the enerloop batteries, I have seen them before and didn't realize they'd be suitable in the flash. I may pick up their starter kit and use those instead, but keep the regular alkaline batteries I bought just in case.... I purchase the Vivitar power grip for the camera which lets me use AAA batteries in a pinch.

http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Panasonic-Eneloop-Batteries_c_1207.html

I should also add there is the standard white Eneloops, but there is also the high capacity black versions too for those who need extra battery life.

 

http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Panasonic-Eneloop-Batteries_c_1207.html

I have tried the Amazon Basics High-Capacity Rechargeable Batteries (also black) and found them to be excellent. They easily outlast the white Eneloops and only cost about $20 for an 8-pack.

Dave