January Cruise Vacation 2014

The San Juan International Airport (Luis Muñoz Marín) has received substantial investment as reflected by the 2012 (Jet Blue) Terminal A which I thought very attractive. 200_P1000826C

Air Flamenco Islander N903GD approaching Aeropuerto de la Isla Grande, Puerto Rico. This is an extreme crop of a hasty shot from my cruise ship during arrival at San Juan. 200_P1000772XC

Amongst the many vessels thronging the Intracoastal Waterway at Fort Lauderdale when I was watching cruise ships was Florida II of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This pleased me because the Corps has a strong historical association with the Intracoastal and ongoing commitments across the United States in variety of environmental work, both creating new works and maintaining or improving existing facilities. Florida II is an aluminium (UK spelling) work boat, specifically a catamaran hydrographic survey vessel, built by Washington based All American Marine who have a manufacturer video on YouTube. Fort Lauderdale is in the South Atlantic Division of the Corps. 200_P1000486

Captured during the departure of Carnival Freedom (centre) for St. Thomas, this panoramic view of Port Everglades includes Celebrity Eclipse(left) which sailed for Oranjestad after Freedom and (right) RCCL Oasis of the Seas which would be the last of the day's six ships to depart, for Nassau. 200_P1000495C

Carnival Freedom, seen leaving Port Everglades for St. Thomas, was the third of six ships to depart on this January Saturday. This is something of a crossover shot in what I have recently described as a mixture of documentary and more compositionally pleasing shots. In the more documentary shots I have concentrated on the sky and lighting, as here, but this also contains other elements such as the Jet Blue A320 which was one of a steady stream of inbounds to FLL during my ship watching. 200_P1000496

Carnival Freedom, seen leaving Port Everglades for St. Thomas, was the third of six ships to depart on this January Saturday. In the more documentary shots, like this, I have concentrated on the sky and lighting. I hope cruise ship enthusiasts will like this. 200_P1000498

Carnival Freedom, seen leaving Port Everglades for St. Thomas, was the third of six ships to depart on this January Saturday. This shot gives some idea of how smaller vessels buzz around the departing cruise ships and includes Celebrity Eclipse which was bound for Oranjestad and followed Freedom out of port. 200_P1000499C

One of the photographs with which I am most pleased from my cruise vacation was one of the least planned. A covered walkway leads from the ship to the port exit in San Juan, Puerto Rico and a combination of the roof and shadow helped to provide a panorama effect enhanced by the balustrade in the mid-ground. In spite of the bright main subject, the camera has coped well with the detail overhead. 200_P1000811

Caballito del Mar (The Seahorse) by El Artistico (José Ignacio Morales). Paseo del Puerto, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 200_P1000809

Caballito del Mar (The Seahorse) by El Artistico (José Ignacio Morales). Paseo del Puerto, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 200_P1000808

Caballito del Mar (The Seahorse) by El Artistico (José Ignacio Morales). Paseo del Puerto, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 200_P1000830

Caballito del Mar (The Seahorse) by El Artistico (José Ignacio Morales). Paseo del Puerto, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 200_P1000844

This is one of several shots in my recent series which juxtaposes one or more cruise ships at Port Everglades with aircraft from the steady stream towards runway 28R at FLL. Here, a Delta B757 is seen with Oasis of the Seas which would be the last of six ships to depart when it sailed for Nassau. 200_P1000501

On this beautiful January Saturday afternoon, Carnival Freedom and Celebrity Eclipse were third and fourth of six ships to leave Port Everglades for St. Thomas and Oranjestad respectively. 200_P1000502

In my opinion, the Solstice Class ships operated by Celebrity are pretty good-looking. In this view of Celebrity Eclipse leaving Port Everglades for Oranjestad, the soft afternoon light enhances those looks further. 200_P1000510

This view of Celebrity Eclipse leaving Port Everglades for Oranjestad in pleasing late afternoon light also give some idea of the number of small vessels which attend such dramatic departures. 200_P1000513

Continuing a theme I started more than two years ago in Antigua, this photograph of Carnival Freedom leaving Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades) for St. Thomas shows how it dominates and contrasts with its surroundings. The earlier photographs are not yet on this site but I hope to remedy that in due course. 200_P1000514

Grand Turk Cruise Center, Turks and Caicos. 200_P1000768