ON the Amadagio!

[Buckland]

Hi t460b00,

Sorry, I can't help you there. I've been on only two cruises so far, but plan to do a few more soon.

 

Buck

[Buckland]

I have been going over the photos I took while on our cruise with the intention of putting together a DVD to show friends and family that is hopefully not like the boring slide shows of the past. Lord knows I've sat through plenty of those and forced others to sit through mine.

I have been carefully sorting and resizing and stitching pictures together and when I was almost done I realized that I was faced with an impossible task. I wanted to include all of my pictures, including the artsy ones and the dramatic ones etc., when I did a little calculation and discovered that if I was going to have a half hour "slide show" and use all my photos, I would have to have them blast through the screen and four per second and it would still be more than fourty minutes long. Now I have to do some serious soul searching to whittle my pics down to something more manageable. What a disappointment! But better for my audience.

 

Buck

[DeniceRG]

Why not make 2 slide shows, one with all your pictures, and the other wittled down. This way you can show the abbreviated version to others, while still enjoying the full show yourself!

 

Denice

[Buckland]

Hi Denice

That's my plan. I'm thinking of making a short production for each city or each day we were cruising. That way we could watch what ever one we wanted and I could put more production value into each one. The larger one can be an over-view of the trip in general and will include mostly photos of people we traveled with etc. Now I know I'm really going to be busy. I've already picked out some of the music I'm going to use.

 

Buck

[TataTom]

I took a ton of photos on my cruise as well. As I edited and culled each one (a huge task and I was brutal in the culling) I titled the savers by city and put each city into a separate folder. For photos while cruising between stops, I stored them under the next stop, so I have is 17 separate folders, each with the cruise up to the stop and at the stop.

 

We will then scrapbook the photos in the order of the cruise stops. I also took notes each day, and saved the daily itineraries as well. This would be the source of either show narration or text for the scrapbook.

 

I thought about putting together a DVD slide show, but I haven't made up my mind yet do it. Edited to a reasonably short time, say five seconds per photo I would have about 45 minutes of show, way too much, especially if I wanted time to explain a few things. I would have to winnow most of the photos out of the show. Even if I show only the the really good shots, it would still be too long.

 

These photos also make really nice desktops...!

[Buckland]

I have a program that I picked up at Future Shop that does a pretty neat job of creating a DVD with all kinds of effects. And I don't mean those cheesy overlays that make it look as though the picture is framed. With this program I can take a huge photo that I've stitched together and pan through it from one side to the other. I can also have the image zoom in to a particular part of the pic, or zoom out. I can also have text scroll through the picture even while it's panning across it. Text can fly in from the side or fade in or out... all kinds of things. It also has a great audio editor so I can tailor the music to fit the number of slides or I can truncate the audio at an appropriate time too. There are also a whole host of transitions I can use to go from slide to slide, but I usually stick to the old reliable fade. I can have background music or add naration where ever I want and I can eliminate the resident audio on video clips so their background noise can't be heard. I can also edit my video clips too. OOPS I'm rambling. I think you get the picture. (excuse the pun) All this from the least expensive program on the shelf. I love it!

 

Buck

[AliceS]

I've been using the new Adobe. So far, I've done two DVD's and they're OK. I put all of the photos on my screen saver and they pan through all of the time. I really love people pictures the best though. My grandkids in the Caribbean to Jimmy Buffet music are so much fun.

 

Did anyone stay in Prague? Someone told me about a beer hall there that's not to be missed. Gotta find that.

[Buckland]

I've not yet been to Prague, but I hear it is very beautiful. And if I do get there I'll be sure to look up that beer garden.

 

I recently downloaded the new Adobe, but I have not taken a close look at it. Perhaps it will be worth a look-see. In the meantime I'll have to finish what I have started. This week we are going to Toronto Canada to visit some family. I'll have to put off my creation until then.

 

Buck

[Fleuve51]

Have fun in toronto. We were there a few weeks ago. Our 2 sons live there.

Eileen

[Buckland]

Well we are back from Toronto and after showing everyone a lot of the photos I took I realize that so many of the pictures remind me of the trip but mean nothing to those looking at them. So I have decided to pic the ones with people in them and some that are very pretty or unusual and leave it at that. I took a lot of video clips too that I'm going to have to perform triage on in order to make my DVD palatable.

 

Whil coming back from Toronto we stopped off in a little town called Cobourg where we looked at some houses because that's where we want to retire to next year. We think we found a house and are looking into starting the purchase process! Now I have to fix up this house to get it ready to sell.

 

Buck

[Buckland]

We did it! We found a house we like - new - and we are going back Friday to sign all the papers!! So I'll not be frequenting this site as often as before as I have a lot of work to do. With the next cruise though, you can be sure I'll be here with bells on!

 

Ta Ta for now,

 

Buck

[Buckland]

Hi Alice,

 

Sorry, there is no refrigerator in the cabin, but I'm sure that they will be able to accommodate you. They seem to be willing to bend over backward in order to please the passengers. Someone is available 24 hrs/day so you should be able to access your medication about any time. I will, however, do some sleuthing to verify what I suspect.

 

Buck

 

Hi Alice S

I have done some sleuthing and have gotten a response - here is what I have been told by the powers that be regarding refrigerated medication:

 

"To answer your question..refrigration for medication is not a problem. We usual put it in the bar or aft lounge refrigerator-so you or the receptionist (who are there 24 hours) always have access!)"

 

That is what I thought, Sorry it has taken so long to get this answered, I received this answer yesterday.

 

Buck

[AliceS]

Buck,

 

You are the MAN. Thanks so much for caring. Tom will be happy to know that he can fridge up his insulin on the Amalegro next year. I'm sure that we could work out anything, we've had lots of experience. If you can get ice, you're OK. Ice is not always available in Europe. They don't share the love that Americans have for ice. Again, thank you.

[Buckland]

Hi AliceS,

I have managed to keep in touch with the cruise director from our cruise - that's where I got the info from. If you are in luck, she may very well be the cruise director on the Amalegro next year. If she is, you will have a great time. She joined us in several of our shore excursions which was really great. Her name is Nancy, so look for her.

 

I spent a lot of time in the aft cabin and saw on several occasions people coming in for ice. There is a machine there that kept making it 24/7. I don't think you run out.

 

I hope you have a stupendous time!! I wish I was going again!

 

Buck

[WIT]

I have just booked the Amadagio for the Christmas Market cruise from Budapest to Prague. I do have the option of an extra day or 2 in Prague. Is this necessary? I was hoping to see the city on the first day we arrived, then book a layover flight to Paris. Any ideas?

 

TexasGal: What date do you depart Budapest? We are on the Amadagio leaving Budapest December 10th.

[Buckland]

Well, I finally heard from the powers that be from Air Canada. I think I have enough now to register my claim for my camera. I was originally going to have to claim it on my household insurance, but with a $500 deductable, it really didn't make worth while - the camera was only a little more than $600 to buy. Our trip insurance says we have to claim on our house insurance first, before we go to them. Hopefully, those that cover our home will write us a letter saying that because it was not on the insurance schedule we can proceed with the travel insurance. Boy! What a circus! What ever you all do - don't leave your stuff on a plane!

 

Buck

[Buckland]

Yikes! Things seem to be getting worse! My travel insurance says I have to go through my home insurance first before they will entertain my claim. My home insurance has a $500 deductible which means they will only pay a hundred bucks or so for my $600 camera. But if they pay me anything the travel insurance will look upon it as being paid! Now here's the catch, the travel insurance will pay if I get a letter from my home insurance. But my home insurance won't give me a letter because they are willing to pay, but I don't want them to. I will get the full amount from my travel insurance if I can go through them exclusively,which they won't do without a letter, or with a letter which I can't get. I'll get this figured out if it kills me!

 

A word of advice - don't leave your camera on a plane! Especially an Air Canada plane!

 

Buck

[cmthomas]

Buck, I think if you check with the Travel Insurance Company they will pay the deductible after you have collected the rest from your insurer. At least that is how secondary insurance is SUPPOSED to work.

 

Clarence:)

[Buckland]

Thanks Clarence,

 

My wife has friday off so we are going to work this through to the end then. Hopefully we will break even.

 

Buck

[Diane&4girls]

We're back form the Amadagio and had a great time!!

 

Nancy, Cruise Director, was great, just as you said! Food was, for the most part, good. Portions were small and it was sometimes difficult to get seconds go we learned early to just order 2 entrees right off the bat.

 

Thanks everyone for the knowledge!!!!

[Buckland]

Hi Diane,

I'm glad you had a good time! I agree about the portions, I threw a couple extras on from the buffet part of the meals. Good to have you back, I'm glad the info I shared was of help.

 

Buck

[Buckland]

I know this is a shameful resurection of this thread, but I had to say that my insurance finally paid out for my lost camera. In fact the check almost pays for the replacement camera!

 

Next time I travel, I'm stapling it to my ribs!

 

Buck

[paterry]

Thanks for all the helpful hints - we paid off our May 12 cruise yesterday and are into full planning mode. We are on the Avalon Tranquility from Budapest to Amsterdam, so both Buckland's and TataTom's photos have been wonderful. We are leaving from Toronto, flying KLM to Amsterdam and Malev to Budapest so I think the first day will be mostly recovering.

This is the first river cruise for us - after seeing the river cruise boats last year in Amsterdam we decided to give it a try, and after reading all the reviews and seeing the photos, I can hardly wait. We were on the Celebrity Century last fall for a repositioning cruise between Amsterdam and Barcelona, and now would like to see some of the interior!

Any idea of the weather in May? I expect it will be like anywhere else - changeable and unpredictable, but we would like to be able to pack light to leave room for the shopping I am sure I will do.

Pat

[letsgo39]

Pat,

We will be on the Tranquility July 8 Also for the Budapest to Amsterdam cruise. I am looking forward to your comments when you return from your cruise!

[TataTom]

Hi Pat and Letsgo:

 

I cannot predict the weather, unfortunately...but I feel very safe in predicting that your Budapest to Amsterdam cruise will be a wonderful two weeks. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

I'm glad that the photos I posted were a help, as were Buckland's. Take lots of photos, you will review them again and again in the future reliving the great memories.

 

Lay back, relax, don't worry, and ENJOY!