Live Volendam..

[Stakeout]

beautiful weather.. great cruise.. lots of Mariners onboard 800..

 

still can't locate the 'topless' deck... maybe someone else has found it...

 

after more than a dozen times sailing this beauty.. still our favorite.....

 

after ho hum flat seas most of the trip.. overnite after leaving St Thomas.. they are now 'sporty' ..12-14' on the trip back up to Half Moon Cay...

[doone]

I am so glad your enjoying the Volendam, she is a spectacular ship with an even more spectacular crew.

[Sage]

I'm so glad that you are enjoying the Volendam. We board in 22 days, and I can hardly wait.

[Logoladytcs]

Glad you're enjoying it - we be on her on Sunday - Yipeeeee!!!

 

Barbara

[Ella2]

And I'm right after Barbara and right before Sage! :D

 

So looking forward to experiencing this beautiful ship...enjoy your cruise, Stakeout!

[Sammy1]

Hi,

 

Glad you're enjoying the cruise. We'll be joining you on your Dec. 3 sailing.

 

Can you tell us about any shore excursions you've taken? Thanks.

[Stakeout]

Sammy1...

 

this time onboard we unfortunately didn't take any shore excursions.. about three weeks before sailing I pinched a nerve in my lower back ..at times heavy duty pain in upper thigh ...24/7....was going to cancel.. then figured.. what the heck.. I'll hobble aboard and sit on the sports deck aft looking down at the Lido pool in my 'usual spot'.. why sit home and be in pain when I can lie out on the deck...

 

with that said...we had a super great cruise...weather was perfect... even the casino treated me well... had dinner on the last formal nite with Hotel Manager Firmin..whom we sailed with a number of times in the past..a classy and funny guy... what a dinner.. it started in the Explorer's Lounge and lasted until 1120pm in the King's Room... just in time for the Midnite Buffet... longest dinner we've ever been at onboard in all the Captain's and First Officer's dinners we've been at... definitely 'an event'...

 

as always the crew made the trip... as they always do... and that's why we go back on HAL..

 

we've done a number of excurions from this ship on past cruises... one of our favorites is going over to St John on a ship excursion tour while docked in St Thomas..it's our favorite island in the Caribbean..you can get there on your own but to us it's not worth the hassel..so we do the ship's tours totally opposite in flavor from St Thomas.. laid back.. just a pretty island.. and a lot less crowded.. then do the 'shopping scene' in St Thomas in the afternoon.... the St Thomas island tour is also worth going on... beautiful scenic views and stops for pics..

[NoNoNanette]

Were you able to locate my Topless Deck? ;)

 

(Glad that you had such a nice cruise!):)

[Stakeout]

the answer is No No Nanette.. never found it...:(

 

didn't do much walking around with my recently 'acquired' pinched nerve in my lower back... took in what 'scenery' there was from my usual spot...

 

made it off at Havensight for a short time... missed going over to St John... as the seas got bigger on the trip back up from St Thomas thought that HMC was going to be a bust.. when we got there...ahhhhhhhh.. flat seas.. little wind.. ab-so-lude-lee beautiful as always...been to HMC about 20 times.. the only disappointment I had on the entire trip.. had to cancel my Flats Fishing bonefish trip there.. I look forward to walking the flats with my flyrod on HMC in the back lagoon... especially with such calm and pretty perfect fishing weather.. made it over to the island and just sat on the beach... the Zuiderdam was also there.. even with the extra folks there still a great island experience..

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/IMG_2484-1HalfMoonCaysunrise040106.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/IMG_2529-1VolendamonrightWesterdamo.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/IMG_2543-1VolendamfromtenderHalfMoo.jpg

 

[NoNoNanette]

Those three shots are incredible, Stakeout. WOW.

 

I LOVED the third image. Dom and I always admired HAL ships....that shot is impressive!:)

 

It will be difficult to wait until December. Hope your back feels better, kiddo.:(

[Stakeout]

thanx... I've been using my Canon SD200 Elph for most of my pics lately... got used to the small size-in the pocket type camera... have an older larger Canon S45..just got too heavy and bulky... Canon just came out with their newer SD700 Elph 6mp 4x optical zoom with IS-- Image Stabilization..... so looking at it closely..it'll be next on my acquired list.. wife will get my SD200 as her Canon 75 is too bulky now also..

 

I fill up the 512mb card most trips.. just got a 1gb card so even more pics on next trip .. along with some mini videos..

 

here's a couple of oldies at HMC... 1st pic.. a Bahamiam customs plane taking off from HMC's lagoon 'buzzing' in between us on the old Westerdam and the Amsterdam while anchored off the island.. just before we departed that afternoon..

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/CruiseHalfMoonCay0201b.jpg

 

on another trip...moi flyfishing in the HMC lagoon..and if you look closely.. that's the old Westerdam anchored offshore in the background.. that was on the 2/8/02 trip.. we went back on her a few weeks later for it's final voyage on 3/1/02 before being transferred/sold to Costa as the Europa...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/HalfMoonCay-2a020802.jpg

 

[NoNoNanette]

I'm impressed with your pics, Stakeout.

 

I bought a Canon Power Shot A-95 about a year ago. Really liked it until I started taking pics at my neice's wedding last summer. The thing is TOO SLOW. :mad: It's 5.0 Mega Pixel, and takes great scenery/mugshots, but as far as action shots.....forget it. I missed too many good shots with the thing. (Good thing she had a professional photog hired! ;))

 

We look forward to 12/03. You haven't "joined" the rollcall yet, have you?

[Stakeout]

they are a bit on the slow side... I'd like to have more zoom.. but with that usually means a larger body.. just can't have everything is the way I see it.. so right now I opt for convenience and smallness to fit in my pocket or a fanny pack

 

friend of mine is into photography.. he finally broke down and just bought a Canon EOS 20D with a 17-85mm lens... a behemoth of a camera.. evidently got a good deal on it as the newer 30D just came out..great pics with it

 

I like Canon.. so I stick with them

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=113

 

pretty decent in-depth digital camera review site http://www.steves-digicams.com

 

as is the usual.. Fireworks off the beach departing Curacao

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/108_0838-1FireworksCuracao.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/IMG_2337-1FireworksCuracaoVolendam0.jpg

[RevNeal]

I'm impressed with your pics, Stakeout.

 

I bought a Canon Power Shot A-95 about a year ago. Really liked it until I started taking pics at my neice's wedding last summer. The thing is TOO SLOW. :mad: It's 5.0 Mega Pixel, and takes great scenery/mugshots, but as far as action shots.....forget it. I missed too many good shots with the thing.

 

Nanette, your camera is quite a good one for its generation. While I tend to prefer Olympus, Canon produces an excellent line of Cameras, and the Powershot A95 is a very good one. It's shot-to-shot delay averages 1.6 seconds without using the flash and 3.4 seconds with the flash. That's not bad, but if you need or want to take action shots more quickly than that you can always set the camera into "continuous" or "burst" mode. The A95 has two of them to choose from (Standard, High-Speed) and either would be helpful to you in taking action photographs. Based upon its technical specs, using Standard mode you should be able to capture 14 frames in about 9 seconds. Set in High-Speed mode you should be able to capture 12 frames in about 5 seconds. Granted, it will then take about 12 seconds for the camera to process its buffer after it has taken the burst of photos, but at least you've taken the shots. Also, you should remember that when using the burst modes, times between shots will vary depending on the shutter speed. However, if you're using it outdoors, with good lighting, you shouldn't have a problem in that department.

 

I did notice that, when it's set to the Large SuperFine mode the A95 takes about three seconds to process and store an image. However, That is really over-kill in terms of resolution unless you're trying to capture SEVERE detail of a close up object ... in which case you'll need a mono or a tripod and burst photography won't be an option. Use one of the lower (Fine) modes and your processing time will be faster.

 

You might also want to check to make sure that your CompactFlash Card is a High Speed card, and not one of the cheaper (slower) ones. Sometimes the time it takes the camera to write to the card is not the camera's fault, it's the fault of the card that is being used for memory storage. Big cards are nice (I have a 1 GB card for my Olympus 7070), but I would suggest only a 512 MB card for a camera with a 5 Mexapixel CCD. Anything larger and processing time will start to drag more and more.

[rucruizin]

Stakeout...I sure wish you would have joined our roll call. We had a wonderful group of friendly, happy people. Sorry we missed you.

[Stakeout]

RevNeal....seems like the high speed cards are indeed faster.. I've been using the SD 512 Ultra Sandisk.. they've come down in price about half since the first of the year at Costco where the 1gb Ultra SD card is now $44.95..

 

what I've read about and seen..and obviously you know a lot more about it than moi.. most of the mucho pixel cameras in the 6-8mp range are overkill for the average person.. I mainly do 4x6 pics with an occasional 5x7 and it seems anything more than 3 or 4mp is wasted for my needs..

 

rucruizin... it was indeed a great cruise...

[shipcafe]

RevNeal....seems like the high speed cards are indeed faster.. I've been using the SD 512 Ultra Sandisk.. they've come down in price about half since the first of the year at Costco where the 1gb Ultra SD card is now $44.95..

 

what I've read about and seen..and obviously you know a lot more about it than moi.. most of the mucho pixel cameras in the 6-8mp range are overkill for the average person.. I mainly do 4x6 pics with an occasional 5x7 and it seems anything more than 3 or 4mp is wasted for my needs..

 

rucruizin... it was indeed a great cruise...

 

Stakeout : This is by FAR the most impressive photos I've seen in a while and I just LOVE ship angles like this. Always strive to get them myself. Just beautiful! :

 

[RevNeal]

RevNeal....seems like the high speed cards are indeed faster.. I've been using the SD 512 Ultra Sandisk.. they've come down in price about half since the first of the year at Costco where the 1gb Ultra SD card is now $44.95..

 

Correct. The Ultras are excellent. Not all cameras can take advantage of the writing-speed capacity on these high speed cards, but if one's camera can take advantage of it, one should really buy one (or several). The prices are so nice and low, now, that one really should have a few ... if only for back up purposes. And, as I long ago discovered, one can never have too many memory cards. (I wish they made them for humans to install in their head!)

 

what I've read about and seen..and obviously you know a lot more about it than moi.. most of the mucho pixel cameras in the 6-8mp range are overkill for the average person.. I mainly do 4x6 pics with an occasional 5x7 and it seems anything more than 3 or 4mp is wasted for my needs..

 

My Olympus 7070 is an excellent camera and, indeed, with it's manual controls, 7-megapixel ccd, dual xD Compact Flash card capacity, it would be over-kill for most people. I know it too me a while to learn how to truly use it. However, there are two areas in which the 6-8 megapixel range is actually very helpful for the average amateur photographer: zoom photography and closeup photography.

 

If you're trying to capture an image at the extreme range of your magnification, and if you have a good optical zoom capability (as many cameras do) a higher megapixel ccd will only enhance your ability to capture extreme detail at extreme range. Digital enhanced zoom is sometimes helpful in this, and if you have a high power ccd it will be a better quality zoom in the digital range, but I generally avoid digital zoom unless I have no other choice. Optical zoom is FAR superior.

 

Similarly, high megapixel ccds are also VERY helpful in trying to capture extreme detail at extremely CLOSE range. I took a photo of a ladybug once that blew me away with its detail thanks to the ccd's quality.

[RevNeal]

Stakeout : This is by FAR the most impressive photos I've seen in a while and I just LOVE ship angles like this. Always strive to get them myself. Just beautiful! :

 

I agree with Steve ... that shot is spectacular. And, most especially considering the conditions in which it must have been taken (aboard a tender heading ashore), it's composition most nearly perfect. It's not easy to get a ship centered like that with fore and background as neutral/pleaseing as possible. Only the very aft of the Westerdam is visible in the photo, but it's not at all distracting.

 

VERY well done.

[Copper10-8]

 

as is the usual.. Fireworks off the beach departing Curacao

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/108_0838-1FireworksCuracao.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/Stakeout/IMG_2337-1FireworksCuracaoVolendam0.jpg

 

Stakeout, those are very nice pics!:)

[Lynn&Wayne]

Great pics Stakeout!

 

What setting did you use for the fireworks? We are doing an nightime cruising of the Volacano in Hawaii, and I want to get some good pics. We only have 3 digital cameras, so I'm sure we can get pics with at least one of them.

[Stakeout]

thanx.. I take a lot of pics.. most are just ordinary so so pics...now and then one or two turn out nice..and a bit unusual...that's why digital cameras are great.. don't have to get them developed like in years gone by..and used to have to listen to my wife say.. why are you taking all those 'junk pics'.. now it doesn't matter... only print the ones you want... :D

[Stakeout]

Lynn&Wayne...I've tried every which way and every setting ... that Canon SD200 I have has a 'Night Snapshot' mode also... tried it.. but the ones of the Fireworks were shot in the ordinary 'Auto' mode.. just went thru the others I took of the fireworks comparing different modes.. all the pics were about the same.. the camera has limited manual settings not like some of the better ones..like my older Canon S45 or the newer SLR digitals

 

RevNeal probably knows the best mode/settings to capture night pics like those..