What have you seen from your balcony?

[ger_77]

A few years ago while cruising in the Caribbean, we were sitting on our balcony in the early morning, enjoying a cup of coffee when DH spotted a large green garbage can lid that was floating near the ship. We began talking about trash in the ocean, how terrible it was, etc., until the "garbage can lid" extended it's little legs and moved farther away from the ship. The large turtle just made our morning coffee much more enjoyable!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[4x4bob]

Watched an Ice Berg float past the ship with three Eagles sitting on it.

 

Bob

[biker@sea]

Excited for our family's first RCI cruise on the Navigator in March 2016. Thinking about taking a pair of binoculars along in hopes of seeing something cool.

A couple questions for those that have cruised, Eastern Caribbean especially.

 

* What is the coolest thing you have seen from your balcony?

* Do you take binoculars along?

* If so what type/brand to you use and where did you buy them?

(Looking for a nice travel budget friendly pair, not necessarily the best in the world.)

 

Thanks everyone!

 

D.W. and I have big chuckle @ Sara Palins expense .

 

"I could see Cuba from my aft. balcony"

 

.

[CCC3]

We saw the latecomers running to catch the ship before it departed in Cozumel!

[kandj05]

We saw the latecomers running to catch the ship before it departed in Cozumel!

 

That is a hoot to watch!

[GUT2407]

Watched an Ice Berg float past the ship with three Eagles sitting on it.

 

Bob

 

Cool, where was this?

[tigercat]

We have seen the wild life that others have seen including so many different colours of blue water. But the strangest thing we have seen was in the middle of the Pacific ocean a big red ball floating along.

 

I also love to go out on the balcony at about 2 or 3 a.m. and watch all the different ships passing each other. It is amazing how many ships there are out there all lit up.

 

tigercat

[fredflint]

We were on the Reflection last year doing the TA we had a hump cabin so could look back into many balconies there was an older woman who seemed to do nude yoga on her balcony most mornings, no Pics.

 

I have a pair of Canon stabilized binoculars they work really well as I get motion sick very easily. I have had them for over 15 years.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-10x30-Ultra-Compact-Binoculars-Black/dp/B00004THDC/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1441565362&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=canon+stabiloized+binpcs

 

I did not pay the current price

[LoriPhil]

Waves of blue deck chairs from topside flying over the side when the coast guard had a chopper overhead for a medical rescue from our ship. At that point the ship's announcement came on asking all passengers to get off their balconies and stay inside. Our best critter sightings have been in Alaska with puffin, whales, dolphins, Dahls porpoise, otters, seals, eagles, And another vote for the running of the strays, which we hugely enjoy!

[CCC3]

Waves of blue deck chairs from topside flying over the side when the coast guard had a chopper overhead for a medical rescue from our ship. At that point the ship's announcement came on asking all passengers to get off their balconies and stay inside. Our best critter sightings have been in Alaska with puffin, whales, dolphins, Dahls porpoise, otters, seals, eagles, And another vote for the running of the strays, which we hugely enjoy!

 

...the running of the strays...LOVE THAT!

[pris993]

I travel with my Nikon with a great lens. We used to travel with a pair of budget binoculars, but have not had success seeing much better with them. The camera lens is my first choice.

 

What we have enjoyed most seeing from the balcony:

 

Amazing storms in the distance:

 

 

Wild life, like flying fish, seals, sailfish and my favorite... whales (Alaska and St. Maarten)

 

 

Beautiful sunrises and sunsets:

 

 

A variety of seacraft:

 

 

 

 

Great pictures.

[pris993]

The twilight of the midnight sun, harbor lights from north Africa (morocco) cruising by Gibralter, ships going thru the Suez canal, the rusting of everything in the port of St Petersburg Russia, the cliffs of Dover, the amazing city of Venice, the island of Capri, the hustle and bustle of Istanbul and the quiet waters of the Greek Islands come to mind, along with sea birds and sea life.

[Desertbelle]

Waves of blue deck chairs from topside flying over the side when the coast guard had a chopper overhead for a medical rescue from our ship. At that point the ship's announcement came on asking all passengers to get off their balconies and stay inside. Our best critter sightings have been in Alaska with puffin, whales, dolphins, Dahls porpoise, otters, seals, eagles, And another vote for the running of the strays, which we hugely enjoy!

Holy cow, that sounds very dangerous! We have been on two ships with helicopter rescues and never saw a chair go over the side. And in both cases, long before the helicopters arrived the decks and cabins anywhere near the landing zone was cleared of passengers. One of them we were able to watch some of the landing from a small window in a door a few decks above the landing....about 50 of us were trying to watch through that small window....being 5'0" tall, I gave up after a minute or two. :D

[port msp]

I have seen this lighthouse. I too have a few pictures of it. really the most random spot to have a lighthouse.

 

Lighthouses are placed to notify mariners of something, many times a hazard. I'd bet that lighthouse was placed there to warn ships of shallow waters or a reef.

 

Things I've seen from my balcony in no particular order: breaching humpback, dolphin playing next to ship while docked in Turks in Caicos (while listening to Bob Marley Legend blasting from the beach bar), bald eagles, flying fish, diving birds, huge barge being towed by tug in the Inside Passage and more humpback whales than I could count, lots of container ships, tankers, passagemaking sailboats, sea turtles, some beautiful mega yachts, a guy swimming from downtown Charlotte Amalie to Havensight, a Ferrari and a Lamborghini racing down the causeway across from Port of Miami, and lots of other cool stuff. I love seeing a storm off in the distance out at sea.

I'd be angry with myself if I forgot to bring binoculars on a cruise! I'd probably buy a pair on board or at the first port. I love to see other ships at sea. Its fun to see another cruise ship at night all lit up, off in the distance. I like to watch port operations as ships get loaded and unloaded. I'm disappointed if I'm not out on the balcony when we approach a new island.

As far as binocular choice, I've been happy with the Nikon models I have. The 10x25 Travelites aren't as good as my 10x50 Trailblazers, but they pack much smaller. 10X can be a little tough to hold steady. I think I'm going to get a pair of 8x42 Monarch 7. Hard to go wrong with Nikon, but there are many excellent brands.

I envy those that have seen a warship out at sea. That would be very cool.

[John&LaLa]

Lighthouses are placed to notify mariners of something, many times a hazard. I'd bet that lighthouse was placed there to warn ships of shallow waters or a reef.

 

Things I've seen from my balcony in no particular order: breaching humpback, dolphin playing next to ship while docked in Turks in Caicos (while listening to Bob Marley Legend blasting from the beach bar), bald eagles, flying fish, diving birds, huge barge being towed by tug in the Inside Passage and more humpback whales than I could count, lots of container ships, tankers, passagemaking sailboats, sea turtles, some beautiful mega yachts, a guy swimming from downtown Charlotte Amalie to Havensight, a Ferrari and a Lamborghini racing down the causeway across from Port of Miami, and lots of other cool stuff. I love seeing a storm off in the distance out at sea.

I'd be angry with myself if I forgot to bring binoculars on a cruise! I'd probably buy a pair on board or at the first port. I love to see other ships at sea. Its fun to see another cruise ship at night all lit up, off in the distance. I like to watch port operations as ships get loaded and unloaded. I'm disappointed if I'm not out on the balcony when we approach a new island.

As far as binocular choice, I've been happy with the Nikon models I have. The 10x25 Travelites aren't as good as my 10x50 Trailblazers, but they pack much smaller. 10X can be a little tough to hold steady. I think I'm going to get a pair of 8x42 Monarch 7. Hard to go wrong with Nikon, but there are many excellent brands.

I envy those that have seen a warship out at sea. That would be very cool.

 

Sent from the Reagan last night. Off the coast of Oahu on her way to Japan. Captain steered close to island to pick up cell towers

[cruisenewbie79]

Going on my first cruise in May. I have an inside cabin. Is all see all this great sea life also visable from the decks?

[George C]

Coolest thing we ever have seen on a ship was in Hawaii, we passed a active volcano at night and we could see a river of lava pouring into the ocean , right after dinner. RCCL captain turned the ship completely around so everyone could see it from cabin, we were on top deck so we could see it the entire time.

[BillOh]

Excited for our family's first RCI cruise on the Navigator in March 2016. Thinking about taking a pair of binoculars along in hopes of seeing something cool.

A couple questions for those that have cruised, Eastern Caribbean especially.

 

* What is the coolest thing you have seen from your balcony?

* Do you take binoculars along?

* If so what type/brand to you use and where did you buy them?

(Looking for a nice travel budget friendly pair, not necessarily the best in the world.)

 

Thanks everyone!

 

On my last cruise I saw this from my balcony

 

 

The same cruise we saw a sub surface close to us in the gulf, but I didn't have my camera. If you are getting binoculars, don't go less than 10x50. You can get a good pair of 10x50 for under $100. On our first Eastern Caribbean cruise out of Miami we sailed close to Cuba and I saw some really nice looking barrier islands I never knew existed before. I love to look at the area surrounding St Thomas as we sail in.

[BillOh]

We always take binoculars if we're sailing in a balcony cabin. I have Nikon "Action EX" 8x40. Wonderful bright image for a great price - and waterproof. Bought online from Amazon.com .

 

You don't want to buy anything stronger than 8x, you'll have a hard time keeping them "on target" if there's ship motion. 7x50 used to be almost a standard for ship bridge use, for example.

 

Your point is well take, but I wouldn't discourage people from getting a decent set of 10x50s, especially for balcony use. Once in awhile if I spot something interesting I might have to steady myself on the railing, but I wouldn't go to 12x or 16X for being held by hand from a balcony.

[Chunder Worthy]

In Turkey (straits from Gibralter, Sea of Marmara and the Istanbul/Bosphorous region esp.), we saw a good number of Turkish naval vessels. I know that is not unexpected, but they seemed particularly keen on flexing their military muscles for us; at least that's the impression we got. Ironically we didn't see that at any other Mediterranean port or country (and we visited a decent number of them). Otherwise, the Bosphorous had all of humanity on boats out there. That was more or less a spectacle in and of itself.

 

And sorry, no nekkid people on any aforementioned craft to spice up my story; er...unless their large fleece-y coats were actually hairy Turkish bodies (gulp)!

[John&LaLa]

I'm confused, I thought Gibraltar was in Spain

[grand isle joe]

I'm confused, I thought Gibraltar was in Spain

 

.....it is an island located in the Atlantic/Med. straits between Spain and Morocco that was a British holding before gaining independence, Great place to visit as well as Malta.

[Chunder Worthy]

I'm confused, I thought Gibraltar was in Spain

 

LOL! Sorry, HUGE typo. I meant to spell it "Gallipoli..." You know, THAT G-Spot!*

 

 

 

*THEREZYA some SPICE! :D

[grand isle joe]

LOL! Sorry, HUGE typo. I meant to spell it "Gallipoli..." You know, THAT G-Spot!*

 

 

 

*THEREZYA some SPICE! :D

 

:eek::D:D:D

[John&LaLa]

.....it is an island located in the Atlantic/Med. straits between Spain and Morocco that was a British holding before gaining independence, Great place to visit as well as Malta.

 

Been there, not an island. I recall driving into Spain as we crossed the airport runways.