masterdrago

No reserved chairs. See deck plan deck 14 https://www.cruisecritic.com/liberty-of-the-seas-deck-plans/dp/?shipID=389&deck=14

I think what I was trying to get across is that Kaspersky Total Protection has a built-in VPN client that connects to their servers. And as far as any anti-virus getting bad control of our machines, all can. Anytime. I'll report back next summer after attempting to use the client onboard.

I read all that about the Moscow made software back last summer. My wife has never wanted me using Kaspersky but after years and years of using many other anti-virus packages, I just found their support so much better. It does have some sort of VPN (secure connection) that supposedly allows data transfer through a protected channel (their words). As for private browsing, it appears to block way more crap during browsing (ads, beacons, web analytics, and social network intrusions) than anything I've used in the past. You're right. It simply blocks the attempts to collect data. Correct me if I'm wrong, but does a VPN just encrypt your connection through another server that then decrypts it and sends it on to the place you want it to go?

Has anyone seen the deluxe drink package for less than $42? Our cruise is still 300 days out but was just watching the price. It's now $48, was $42. Is it normal for it to slide around so much?

Thanks for the comeback. I thought I saw where the gratuity just went up in Dec. or Jan. Our room grat is $17.50pp/pd so $245 for the cruise. Have I got that right? And 18% on drink packages and excursions?

Anyone done this excursion out of Juneau? I'm looking for more details than on the cruise planner page of available excursions.

This is really an old thread. I'm a pretty simple computer user and don't have any idea what all the NASA acronyms even mean (except VPN). But, I am interested in security when using a laptop onboard which I have not done as of yet. Why not would something like Safe Money buried inside Kaspersky Total Security work through Voom when wanting some semblance of privacy?

Does Radiance have a Coastal Kitchen equivalent?

To prepay or not to prepay. We're sailing on our first Alaska cruise next year (Grand Suite on Radiance 13 night Grand Mountain Marvels SB) but have done several LOS to Caribbean. Joy has always done our extras pre-cruise (specialty restaurants, our drink packages, etc). Our Alaska adventure will have a big OBC. I think I can use them to purchase stuff we did pre-cruise in past. My question is will the gratuities be the same if charged daily vs pre-paying. I know that drink packages will most likely be more purchased onboard. How much difference? Will gratuities be the same? One other question. Are the gratuities for the full 13 days or just the time on the ship?

I would do something like that but my Joy hates flying and just the thought of riding in a Cessna or helicopter would cause her to drink very heavily......

That's a hell of a nice compact for $1200. And with a great video that can run at ~1,000 frames per second. And it is super fast in every way. Great pick Twangster! Also, if it matters the image sensor falls between that of a cel phone and a DSLR. If it were me, I would save some coin and get a Olympus TG-4 - cheaper and waterproof.

This is the one thing that is really negative about the Air2Sea plan. That they can completely get away with this kind of treatment. Read all the fine print. Sure, any airline can screw you around but generally compensate you and inform you. I'm searching non-stops and one stops for our trip directly. Some of the options have so many stops and such long total time to target, that the chances of a mishap grow exponentially. Think how the chances of lost luggage changes.

I was at the Seven Glaciers during a 14 day backpacking tour in '95. Five of our team got reservations there. It was a bit strange to be eating there in mostly hiking boots and "dress" hiking attire. We sat next to a very large group that ordered their dinner in Japanese. Late August sunset over the mountains of Turnagain Arm was just unbelievable. Thanks for the tips on breakfast in Anchorage. I've heard others mention Snow City Cafe.

Looks like from what folks are reporting on previous pre land tours, there just is time the first night in Anchorage to take in supper at Seven Glaciers but not enough time (2pm depart for Seward) the next day for a glacier tour out of Whittier. Juneau, Skagway, Icy Strait Point or Ketchikan might be the best choices if one cannot do Prince William Sound. I know our itinerary includes Hubbard Glacier while cruising. While that is part of the cruise, we want to get closer. Not enough time from any stops end of land tour. CGTLH, thanks for the info. Exactly what I was looking for.

I'm looking to find the timing on the Fairbanks to Seward land leg. In particular the timing after Talkeetna and how much time in Anchorage. It looks like there is more than a full day in Anchorage - rail pm - Talkeetna to Anchorage then next day coach transfer Anchorage to Seward. I'm looking for a bit more precision on the timing. I see a city tour and a museum tour. If I skip those, how much time in Anchorage to drive to Whittier, do 5 hr Prince William Sound tour then eat late supper at Seven glaciers b4 driving back to hotel in Anchorage. On our itinerary it looks like they have Anchorage Marriott prior to pm rail - Talkeetna to Anchorage. This just looks backwards. Can anyone shed light on there own timing in the pre cuise part?

I might add that the Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS would be a nice replacement for the 18-55 & 55-250. I think Twangster even mentioned his fondness for it if he could only carry one lens. As for the body, 12MP is all you really need. I mean really, how often to you make 30" prints and view them from under one foot. Full frame is a whole new deal. Not a lot of gain for what you would need to spend. Maybe a bit better low light quality. If I were thinking of adding hardware in your situation, I might consider a T7i body. Maybe a longer zoom. I've had astonishing shots with the Sigma 150-600 DG OS HSM - minimum focus under 10' if you want a bit more focal length.

A simple and fast free tool is IrfanView https://www.irfanview.com/ Make sure to get the save as web plug in. Most any editing software will do it - PhotoShop, Affinity Photo, etc.

Thanks Matt. I have been poking around. There are a ton of Prince William Sound tours out of Whittier that look good. Just have to work the timing since we have the pre-cruise land tour. I know right now all are super busy with "right now" tours and most have said contact early October for next May. Tracy Arm just looks so inviting. I know that I'm looking way too early but this will be our 1st Alaska cruise and I'm already excited. I hiked the area near Anchorage in '95 for a couple of weeks and it simply whetted my appetite for more.

I've only been to Alaska one time (late August '95) when I hiked near Anchorage for two weeks. I only saw wildlife 3 times. 1) walking a trail when we stumbled on a full grown Moose grazing on the trail. 2) riding in a friends Cessna very low and slow over a mamma bear and her two cubs - seriously slow - flaps down 3) traveling to drop off point by car and encountered road construction. Tanned babe in shorts directing traffic - best looking woman in all of Alaska. Found out she went to school in Florida, comes to Alaska to work summers - Big money, lots of hours.

I learned about memory card issues back when prepping for the August '17 eclipse last year. Having a D700, D5100 & a D7500 can eat cards especially when shooting .mov files. Most of the time for really important images that I cannot recreate later, I shoot both RAW (NEF) & jpeg. So much you can do with 12bit RAW if you forget some setting. I do not like post processing but sometimes it is unavoidable. The shots you posted are pretty amazing but I need to remind folks, it's not the camera, it's the photographer, his skills and having the opportunity to catch the shot. That is a lot of shots. Just curious, when using the 100-400, was shutter on S or C? That whale action can happen pretty fast.

We are definitely wanting to stay away from multi hop flights (Houston-Chicago-LA-Seattle-Fairbanks) that take 20+ hours and totally bump up the chances of foul ups and lost luggage. I know this is impossible Houston to Fairbanks (at least on stop in Seattle). After debarkation in Vancouver we are looking to bus to Seattle or rent a car to sight see, then fly non-stop to Houston (cheaper, faster, less hassle). Southwest just to get to Seattle is a Dallas hop and $300. Alaska Air (no experience with them) can be a non-stop and as low as $99. Flight 350 at noon is always a non-stop and on a Saturday can be cheap.

Thanks. You guys are a hoot. My go to has always been the 18-200 with my APC bodies. I'm kind of a wide guy and when I shot film, 24 was the norm. On a whim I took the fish-eye on our first cruise (el cheapo manual brand x). I've always had no issues with the distortion. I most likely will not carry to Alaska since my bag might need other glass. I have found that the 10-24 at 10 does nearly as well and is Nikon glass. For Alaska it will boil down to how much will fit in the bag. I want something longer than the 18-200 to shoot from glacier and whale tours. I'm not sure it makes sense to carry the full frame body & 28-300 when I might instead carry the 150-600 and two APC bodies. Again one bag. I had never even considered stitching frames together to get wider. I don't consider myself much of a post processor. So that leaves the 8mm out for sure. I'm a bit worried about having a blank spot if the bag carries 2 APC bodies, 10-24, 150-600. Then I might need to add a 18-70 or the 18-200 to fill in that. Add all the other crap (chargers, batteries, memory cards, SB-400 flash, a filter or two) and the backpack is full. Astrophotography? We may have crossed paths? Amateur since Jan. '83 and more than a couple of Texas Star Parties, Okie-Tex, & Winter Star Party. Native Houstonian.

We are doing a 13 day cruise with land tour next May. I'm a big taker of pictures and have enjoyed looking at some of your blogs. What is your favorite lens to carry. I'm sure I'll carry more than I need. On our first cruise (western Caribbean), I made sure to take a fisheye because I knew I would want a lot of pix inside the elaborately decorated ship interior. I was glad I did. I might not need such a wide on Radiance but would like to hear your take.

I did that excursion in 2016 and was 65 at the time. My wife stayed up on the cliff and took pictures. I did not find any issues with it except for a few places that were giant steps. I'm not overly athletic and I even carried a waterproof camera.