More Cruise Stuff (Mostly)

[willowisp]

55 days until it begins. I'm actually not counting yet, but the cruise site is. So Andy and I have been reconsidering the dolphin swim. Not whether to go at all, but which one to try. Technically we could do both, but we agree that it would be a bit too much for one day.

The option we're going with right now is what I imagine is a water park; controlled situation with half hour guaranteed/enforced swim time. The other plan is in the open ocean. The more I think about it the more I'd like to try the ocean trip, but Andy and I both have the same concern; that the dolphins will no-show. Does anyone who's done ocean swims know how likely that is? I have this silly image of cruise ships bringing along gourmet fish to ensure someone shows, but in all seriousness, these are very intelligent animals who may just want to do something else that day. I did, for the record, write to ask the cruise line if it has any policy in case the dolphins skip out.

And, a couple more camera questions: for those who've had bad experiences with portables, what brand/type were you using? If anyone has had particularly good experiences, what brand/type were you using? For those who have underwater cases, is there a brand you recommend? I'm not sure one of those will work for Andy's and my camera since the model name is not listed in any which actually list models, including Canon itself (ours is an S45) [Edit: I found a case by Canon for our camera. Reviews are dismal]. Finally, for those who currently have underwater cameras proper, would you be willing to lend them to Andy and me for a week? ;) Or, if someone who reads this is looking to sell an underwater camera, please let callicrates or me know.


In other news, life is currently in a steady state. Heidi and Sean are still way too cute for our own good. Andy has been getting me a rose every Saturday -- I could get used to this very quickly. Some of our friends in Albuquerque will be absent soon, but all for exciting reasons: echoweaver and hubby are going to Europe for a year's sabbatical, and lowapproach is going to law school. So, we'll miss them, but we're happy for them as well. That's pretty much all.

Comments

[turnberryknkn.livejournal.com]

Yay, life in steady state. :-)

[jayfurr.livejournal.com]

We did the dolphin swim when we took a Royal Caribbean cruise that stopped off in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

There were three levels of dolphin encounter, only one of which involved actual time in the pool swimming around with them. We chose that one. Got good photos and a video and stuff, provided by the operator. There wouldn't have been much opportunity for us to take our own photos even if we had the underwater camera we now have because the thing was so structured. At any given moment we were supposed to be doing X, Y, or Z to keep the thing moving along. I'm not actually sure if we were *allowed* to take anything like a camera into the water with us; I have vague recollections of being told not to because they didn't want people scraping the dolphins' skin and so forth with cameras.

I've got a Canon A710 camera with an underwater case (WP-DC6) that's worked well so far. We haven't taken it deeper than 15 feet yet but it's never leaked so far.

[jayfurr.livejournal.com]

We've snorkeled with the disposable cameras. Eh. You could tell that the colored blobs in the photos were fish but that's about it.

In contrast, our dive instructor in Key West used a Canon A710 with the underwater housing I referenced in another comment, and took these photos:

http://www.furrs.org/images/keywestdiving/default.htm

[jayfurr.livejournal.com]

Other important comment:

Your expensive electronic devices *will* be stolen from you if you're not unfathomably careful.

We've done two cruises. On one, leaving from Miami, we naively tucked our GPS and my cell phone into the outer pocket of a suitcase and zipped it shut and later on gave it to one of the porters at the dock, one of the Port of Miami employees whose job it is to get the bags onto the ship in an orderly fashion.

When the bags arrived at our room later our GPS and my phone were *gone*. Drove me nuts trying to figure out how I could have "left them in the hotel room" or something like that. Eventually I recollected putting them in the suitcase and put two and two together.

Since then I did a LOT of reading on cruisecritic.com message boards and found that theft from bags by dock employees or even by the baggage handlers aboard the cruise ship proper is endemic. They scan your bags for bombs and things as they're going on board and apparently some of the less scrupulous employees make careful note of which bags contain camera equipment and so on and swipe them when they have a chance to do so. One person, who'd *locked* his bags, had a camera stolen out of his bag by someone who'd cut into the side of the suitcase knowing precisely where to cut to obtain the camera. Only someone with access to a bag scanner would have known that.

When we took a second cruise, three years later, we carried everything we didn't want stolen on in a moderate-sized duffel bag that we kept with us during the boarding process and all the way onto the ship, and whenever we left our cabin without the camera it got locked inside our safe.