KYBOB

I this order Coral Grand Crown (seems to be having plumbing issues now) Caribbean

We first started cruising back in 1990 with Royal Caribbean and did 4 cruises with them the first were great then the last 2 they really had this hard sell about tipping, and evaluations to the point on our last cruise with them it was mentioned 2 nights before the cruise was over and then every night at dinner and before and after each show. We then took our first Princess cruise on the original Crown Princess and now 21 cruises later still on Princess. I will say the first cruise we took since COVID we almost cried getting on the ship because it felt like we were home again. We have talked lately about trying another line and may if they get rid of smaller ships in favor of larger mega ships. I just am not a fan of bigger and bigger ships some much has been cut out on the newer designs.

We took a cab from the airport to the port to get on the ship, this was a breeze and so much easier and cheaper. Then we made a mistake and took the Princesses transfer from the ship to the airport. One would have thought they would have put all the passengers going to American on one bus then all the ones going to Delta, etc. but nope we stopped at all the terminals. And as luck would have it our was last. Also we did not leave the port until every last seat was taken on the bus. So we sat and waited like 35 minutes until the bus was full. The other issues were; for American the bus stops at a bus loading zone that is a little ways from the terminal, it is in between 2 terminals on the bottom floor (arrivals) the bus cannot drive on the upper level (departures) because of the weight of the bus (so the driver said) so you have to be able to trundle your bags a fair distance then get on an elevator or climb the stairs up to the departures floor. Not a big deal if you do not have to many bags. Which this was a bit of a hassle we had 3 big bags, 2 carry-ons, camera bag and wife's purse ( I know travel lighter, this was for 3 weeks so...). If we had taken a cab they are able to drop you at the departure door on the second floor it seems. Fortunately we had a late flight, so much for getting there early to get a space in one of the lounges. By the time we got there all the lounges were full, and finding a seat anywhere near your gate was impossible. Standing room only. The airport is not designed to accommodate the shear number of passengers for the size of the planes they are using. So moral of the story is take a Uber or cab to and from the airport.

Another kitchen sink kind of person. Well as of now I am leaning on taking the following; Sony A1 with Sony 100-400 and 1x teleconverter Sony A7rV with 24-70 f2.8 Sony 70-200 /f2.8 Sony 14mm /f1.8 for the train shot and interiors I have settled on the taking the 100-400 because of its small size. I am thinking it will be easier to use on various tours. We have planned a small boat whale watch tour that I will have both cameras one with the 100-400 and one with the 70-200. I have decided not to do the bear tour and to save that for another time when we will be doing a cruise only and not a land / sea tour.

My wife and I are taking the same itinerary but in January, and would also like to know how this tour works? We kind of know what to expect on an Alaskan tour but have found little information on the Australia land tour.

My two cents Taku Lodge and I have taken both tours. To give you more of an idea as to what you will see, these are as you come in for a landing and the the Taku glacier. The meal is pretty good too, I have used the recipe for grilling the salmon and the baked beans for family get togethers. I am confused as to the issue of deciding between those 2; when we took the Deadliest Catch tour it was in Ketchikan have they moved to Juneau? If it is economics then I would splurge and do both otherwise you will regret what ever decision you pick. I know I have every time I decide between two things I really want to do, that ends up a missed opportunity. For instance you pick the Deadliest Catch tour then absolutely hate it or it is only ok. Or the other way around. One thing that does happen often is the flights are canceled because of weather. So say you pick the flight, passing on DC, the flight is canceled then……. Sorry to be Debbie downer but that happened to us, luckily we were on a B2B and were able to swap our tickets for the return leg and did another excursion in place of the flight on the first leg.

I always carry a couple of OP/Tech rain sleeves in my backpack they come in several sizes.

I agree. We are coming in a couple days early and have rented a car for 2 days it is over $400 with taxes and insurance (ok not an economy car, I am 6'4" -300LBS I do not fit in a small car). I know I can rent a a jeep in Hawaii for $800 for a week! We then are doing the 11 day Escorted Connoisseur tour that includes the meals because a friend has taken one and said it was great. Also that the guide was able to them in the restaurants when other people on non escorted tours complained they could not get in when he saw them later. I do not know if that is true or not, would like to know. Also the guide kind of took care of things for them, room keys, etc.

Well this might not be "in-expensive" but for convenience and ease of getting on the ship is the Pan Pacific Vancouver right in Canada Place. We stayed there the last time (2018) we left out of Vancouver and have booked to stay there again in August this year. They have a cruise package that includes breakfast and luggage transfer service to the ship. The hotel has an elevator that takes you right down to the port level. Last time when it was time to get on the ship the bellman took our bags and us straight down to the port level. We took our carry on bags (cameras) off the cart then he took the other bags to be put on the ship. I do not know if he put them on or what but by the time we got through customs, ship check in and walking to get on (35 min?? we have Global Entry, there we people in line for over an hour or more going through customs that day it was a mess) our bags were in our room on the ship. That impressed me. All of the tour busses (HOHO, etc.) either start of pick up there. Short walk to the observation tower, gas town. Plus the harbor view is amazing. City view is not bad either, we had a corner room. My wife loved the tub it had a window that came down to the top of the tub, she could sit in the tub and look out at the harbor to watch the sea planes take off and land. She really enjoyed that after an long day of flying. So for me the ease of getting on the ship, not dealing with dragging my bags several blocks, cab ride, etc. of getting to the port out weighed the cost. Plus this year my wife wanted to make sure we were staying there again and had a harbor view room again. Along with diner reservations to the Five Sails restaurant.

We were on the Enchanted for the New Years Eve cruise and I needed the internet for work too. It was barley passible in the cabin. I had to go the the area around the International Café to get some of my emails to download that had large attachments and some times had to wait until I was in port and use my phone as a hot spot to get one file I needed. But then I work with large files with a ton of graphics and used to very high speed internet both at work and home, so I was very frustrated. I told someone it was like the old days of dial up internet. I have heard that Princess is changing to Starlink which I hope is better. I have a year and a half before I am retired so having it for my next 2 cruises is important. I know people upload photos and post reviews on CC but I do not see how or they have a lot of patience.

On our first trip to Alaska we did a B2B out of Vancouver which was a cruise only and took excursions off the ship while in port. That time I was not weight or space limited so took my rolling camera case and just about every lens I owned. I have been able to look back and sort the photos in Lightroom based on lens and have found; I used my 24-70 /2.8 and 200-500 the most followed closely by the 70-200 /f2.8, then the 105/2.8 macro and the least the 14-24 f/2.8 along with 3 big dslr camera bodies. (Before mirrorless cameras). All the shots I took with the 200-500 were all zoomed out to 450-500 range. So that is why I too am in a quandary as to what to take knowing that the more reach the better.

We did a similar tour the first of January but it was to the gardens and to a rum distillery. It was also chilly and glad we did not go to the beach. We though just a little more time could have been spent at the gardens, the rum distillery also what looked like another garden with several very large sculptures. Our guide hearded us off to the distillery and then spent an inordinate amount of time expounding her knowledge of the rum distilling process. By the time she finished, there were also a lot of people there from several busses and the parking lot was full of cars so the gift shop was packed. We did not even get to do a tasting because now she was ready to go. We quickly bought some rum and ran to the bus. Our time here could also have been longer by an hour. The tour was only 4.5 hours long but with the driving time this tour needed to be more like 5.5 to 6 hours long. It could be I am just getting tired of at the non shopping stops where the drivers do not get any kick back the quick get off the bus and you have to do a 4 min. mile run to see anything but then the shopping stops we spend way to much time and do not leave until everyone has bought something.

We returned off the Enchanted on Jan 8th. we were in a Mini-Suite. My wife and I both use CPAP machines and it took a 3' cord on a power strip (Belkin, not a surge protector) plus 8' extension cord to get across the room. We then connect the cord from one of the CPAP and stretched it under the bed to the opposite side of the bed. We had to use gaffers tape to tape the cord to the floor so I would not trip over it at night going to the bathroom. One issue is that the US style plug is so close to the light switch it would turn the light on if you pushed the plug in to far. We will take a longer extension cord next time more like 12'. That is one thing I think Princess has missed in this design on the royal class. Also the night stand has very little room for the CPAP because the base of the light fixture has a rather large base. There is one additional US style outlet on the opposite side of the desk but it is too far to use. I tried to plug my MacBook in that plug the way the apple power block is made if you plugged it in it would turn the light on, that is how close the plug port and switch are to one another. Overall a real bad design. Oh we looked for a outlet behind the bed and could not find one. Even pulled the bed out from the wall.

Sunrise on Kauai Sony A7RIV, 24-70 f2.8 GMII 24mm f22 1/8sec 80iso

They were not free on the Enchanted Princess a couple of weeks ago. The times for the wash and dryers was posted on the wall. But we too had issues with people not coming and getting their stuff out. I found one washer that was available but both dryers and one washer were full, all had stopped but were full of clothes. So was able to wash one load, I sat on top of the washer since there were no chairs and waited for someone to come. Well my one washer completely finished and I waited. I had my wife go check the Landry on the other side of the ship there was one dryer “that was empty” put 6 dollars worth of tokens in it and it did not work. Went back more time had passed still nobody had removed their stuff out of any of the machines. So after 1 hour 30 min of me being actually in the laundry not up on deck in a lounge chair I dumped their stuff out of one of the dryers. Started my second load. And still sat on top of the machine waiting because I did not want my stuff dumped out and to see if they ever came back. I was able to finish my second wash load, we are now talking about over 2 and 1/2 hours later she finally shows up looking fresh off the pool deck drink in hand. And gets all pissed off I dumped her stuff out. Saying she set her phone etc. will admit I kind of lost it and told her will it seems either you do not know how to set your phone or she may have noted the timer went off but then took a tour of the ship to get back to the laundry that took over 2 hours to get back. Sorry for the rant this is still kind of fresh and this just really set me off. I was surprised at the number of machines only 2 washers and 2 dryers. On the Coral the laundry we used there had 4 washers and 4 dryers that were stacked on top of each other. I would have thought on a newer ship there would have been more. We are Elite and have used the laundry service let’s say every time we have we have lost clothes, comes back missing buttons, or days after when we were “supposed” to get it back. Oh you say report the lost items, they came and searched our room and we were treated like we committed a felony, I still was given the impression they did not believe us.

Here is my shot from a deck of a cruise ship. Someone the other day asked why I needed such a long lens and high pixel count camera. These are from my old Nikon's which have now been replaced with new Sony's.

Thanks for the reply's! All lenses are weather sealed plus I have a rain cover (ThinkTank rain cover). The 100-400, external zoom, is the same size as a 70-200 f/2.8 when at 100 and compact lighter to carry than the 200-600 which is a internal zoom. It is about the same size as a Nikon 200-500. I would love to take both but I am limited on space, and having to make the choice of one or the other. I typically shoot birds, and some wildlife with landscapes thrown in. I was hoping for some birds and wildlife in Denali and other areas. Whales in Juneau, really want to go to Pack Creek for the bears but I cannot fit the whale tour and Pack Creek in the same day. Our tour starts August the 8 in Fairbanks (were flying in 3 days early, renting a car to see what we can and do some hiking, etc) We be getting of the ship of Aug 26 in Vancouver will that be any better for wildlife sightings? I know only a few weeks. If not I am excited about the fall colors. Yes the high pixel count allows to crop significantly and not loose resolution and you can make very large prints. I have a few prints that are about 6' long.

We do not have that many bears in Kentucky, a few in eastern Ky but really not that many. But if you go to Gatlinburg, TN and hang around the dumpsters at the Park Vista hotel there is a bunch of them.

Another question is what are the buses like? Typical bus like you would have on a shore excursion? Or are the seats spaced further apart with more leg room? I am 6’-4” and long legs.

This is what ours says COACH: KENAI TO COPPER Motorcoach: Kenai to Copper River Travel time is approximately 9 hours (307 miles). COACH: COPPER TO WHITTIER Motorcoach: Copper River to Whittier En route to Whittier, enjoy scenic viewing along the Seward, Glenn and Richardson Highways. Throughout the day's journey you will make several stops including Matanuska Glacier and Palmer for lunch on your own. You will also travel through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel which is North America's longest railroad-highway tunnel. Be on the lookout for wildlife, especially Dall sheep, whales and eagles as you drive along Turnagain Arm. Total travel time for today is approximately 10 hours. It used to say Whittier Motorcoach to Valdez and board a catamaran for a scenic journey to Whittier where your ship awaits. (B).. . Yours sounds like a better itinerary l would do one day with a 9 hour ride. But 9 hours to get there, you have one day there then back on the bus for a 10 hour ride? Oh well we have 2 days of scenic cruising to rest up.

I have a question how did you get to the ship from Copper river? When we booked the tour it said we would go by bus to Valdez then by a boat cruising along the cost to Whittier to board the ship. It has now been “update” to say by bus via Anchorage, a stop at a glacier and though the tunnel at Whittier. A 10 hour ride?

Ok now I am wanting to thrown in the 16-35/f2.8, but I have been wanting one of those 14mm/f1.8 GM, for those on board the ship shots and the train arriving at the station. You know the shot down low as the train approaches, I can see the shot now. So maybe 4 lenses?

We are going on an Alaska land/sea cruise tour this August that starts in Fairbanks, then off to Denali, Kenai lodge and Copper River from there to get on the Grand Princess to sail to Vancouver. Since we are doing the bus / train tour I am trying to travel light due to the limited carry on size so I am planning on taking only 2 camera bodies (yes I jumped ship from Nikon to Sony A1 & A7rV, the auto focus on these cameras the Nikon guys are still dreaming of and yes I had a Z9) with the following lenses; (all Sony) 24-70/f2.8, 70-200/f2.8 and now here is the debate I am having, either the 100-400/f4.5-5.6 or the 200-600/f5.6-6.3 I do have a 1.4 teleconverter too. I am wafting between the two lenses because having been to Alaska before on just a cruise that did not include the land portion I know the more reach the better. So what is a guy who has a take everything including the kitchen sink with him mentally that needs therapy for to do? My DW has shockingly suggested to take; egads, the horror of this thought and I am trembling just thinking about it ……. 2 cameras and JUST TWO lenses!

Glad you all are the mend. Really enjoyed reading about your trip while I have been laid up. We returned from a cruise on January 8th on the Enchanted Princess and had a great time, it was our first since COVID shut things down. It was great we felt the service was amazing compared to our last cruise on the Caribbean Princess in September of 2019. I had started having a little tickle in my throat the last day of the cruise, then in Ft Lauderdale were there was so many people in the terminal it was standing room only. I went to the bathroom to change, while waiting for a stall heard this guy coughing like he was dying, a cough I would come to know all to well 3 days later when I came down not with COVID but Flu-A and RSV I have been off work at home until yesterday were I went in for a few hours. RSV is apparently just as contagious as COVID. I was told I needed to quarantine for 7 days. Now on second round of medication and still coughing, run down, no energy and if I walk any distance like from my bedroom to the den am out of breath. My wife of course also got sick with RSV but she was exposed to it not only from me but her mother who was in the hospital with it. Her mother, back home, had contracted the virus while we were on the cruise and was taken to the hospital, so my wife was going back and forth between her mom and I. When I went to the doctor they tried to get me a room at the hospital but it was full so sent me home with an arm load of pills and inhalers. I am still sick while her mom 88 is back home and doing great. I think the difference is she received breathing treatments and IV’s and I had only pills and inhalers. So the moral to my sob story here is at this point I would rather have had COVID which I have had not only once but 3 times. Compared to this crap it is a walk in the park. So I do not know if I got sick on the cruise or the airport. We wore masks on the cruise, in the buses on the tours, in the airport, on the plane except to drink, took stairs not the elevator, did not go to any shows, basically we tried to avoid crowds. So there is stuff out there that is just as bad or worse than COVID. Is this going to stop me from cruising nope have 2 more booked already, one in August and in December this year and cannot wait to go!

We are finally going to take our Alaska Land/Cruise tour this year. My question is I know we are limited to a backpack that is 17x14x4. My wife and I both have CPAP machines and looks like we will put those in the backpack along with our medicines, binoculars, ipads, etc. My question is have any also carried a small camera bag?