Random Musings and Nicknacks

South Beach
Nikon D80 + 18-70 kit
Exposure: Aperture Priority
Shutter Speed: 1/400
Aperture: f/4.3
Focal Length: 70 mm
Flash: Off
ISO: 100

Our second impression of Miami was a lot better than our first.

From the cruise ship we took a taxi to our hotel in Miami Beach, called the Essex house. Although the hotel was in an old building, it looked really nicely kept. When we arrived I wondered how they were going to handle the fact that we were arriving at 9:00 for a reservation that had a checkin time of 16:00.
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The open spaces of Great Stirrup Cay
Nikon D80 + 18-70 kit
Exposure: Aperture Priority
Shutter Speed: 1/400
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 18 mm
Flash: Off
ISO: 100

Today was a day on the beach snorkelling in Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. Great Stirrup Cay is an island owned by NCL, so it was set up as a private beach party.
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Leaving Belize
Nikon D80 + 18-70 kit
Exposure: Manual (metered off the sky)
Shutter Speed: 1/40
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 31 mm
Flash: off
ISO: 100

Tim may be the only person to move back from the Eastern time zone to the Pacific, unable to get up early enough in the morning. He’s been enjoying his freedom here. Maybe a bit too much. He rolled into the cabin at 1:45 AM last night surprised to find dad still awake (and not very happy). It was then suggested that even on vacation this is too late. I think he might also be coming back whiter than when he left (you can’t get a tan if you don’t get outside). It will be interesting tomorrow when we get him out of bed between 9 and 10, after moving forward an hour – that will be 3 hours earlier than he is used to. This is a vacation he will definitely need to recover from.
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Shopping in Cozumel
Nikon D80 + 55-200 VR
Exposure: Aperture Priority
Shutter Speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 180mm
Flash: Off
ISO: 100

Ling’s sunburn hit critical mass today. It moved from the pain stage to the itchy stage. She’s never experienced this before, and it is driving her absolutely insane. I can’t even console her with the reassurance that this means soon it will start peeling and stop being a bother; apparently peeling isn’t a good thing from a girl’s point of view.
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Big Momma
Nikon D80 + 18-70 kit
Exposure: Aperture Priority (-1/3 EV)
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 70mm
Flash: Off
ISO: 100

Today was our first ever run to shore by tender. True to form, Ling and I wanted to see the ancient ruins, so we booked the earliest available trip to see Belize City and the ruins at Altun Ha. That meant we had to be in the Stardust Theatre by 8:30 to be called for our tender. Factor in breakfast, showers, and morning preparations and a problem appears.
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Turquoise Bay, Roatan
Nikon D80 + 18-70 kit
Exposure: Shutter Priority (accidental…)
Shutter Speed: 1/500
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 27mm
Flash: Off
ISO: 100

I have now shaved twice this week with a blade, and still have all of my body parts. That is a good sign – and not only a blade, but the type of disposable razor you get in airline vanity kits.

The good news is we got a call, and discovered our luggage will meet us in Belize tomorrow, so we may finally get hairbrushes!
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Norwegian Pearl
Nikon D80 + 18-70 Kit
Exposure: Aperture Priority
Shutter Speed: 1/500
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 18mm
Flash: Off
ISO: 100

The Norwegian Pearl is one of the newest in their fleet, christened in 2006 by Rosie O’Donnell. Based on double occupancy she carries 2300 passengers. We found out last night that this voyage has 2700; we are well beyond double occupancy, and now I know why we didn’t get any upgrade offers.
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We woke up, or rather tried to wake up, or rather didn’t wake up.

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I must admit my introduction to Miami was not the best.

We landed on time, and disembarked. As we were waiting at the luggage carousel, it suddenly hit me – if we had so much trouble getting to the plane on time, how much trouble did our luggage have?

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I am very paranoid about the amount of time I have in a stop-over flight. Given the choice between 1 hour and 2, I will go for 2 every time. I’ve been through enough airports to know.

This time, however, I thought was excessive – 3 1/2 hours from a 40 minute flight is just too much.

Boy, was I wrong.
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