I feel that I owe an apology to anyone who has been following this blog. I have posted on topics far from the original subject even though it is not structured to make reading topics separately very convenient. The “Categories” headings are the best tool available to deal with this so I hope folks will try to make use of those. The primary topic is still the LX850 mount and now that I have an OTA available for testing that will be come the secondary subject and I will add an appropriate category for the OTA and add existing OTA posts to that. There is also a relatively unrelated category of Astronomy Outreach which be used less frequently but will give me an opportunity to post on other astro topics. This post, for example, will be there as well as in a new “Announcements” category to be created. I hope that with a little organizational effort on my part I can make this site a little friendlier and perhaps more useful.

My other regret is that there are occasional extended “dark” periods here. Due to weather, health, or other distractions I sometimes don’t get into the observatory for months at a time (for example, right now). When that happens there frequently isn’t much to say here.I hope that folks don’t lose interest or give up on the site. I expect to become more active as weather improves and will be doing further long exposure mount testing, DSO imaging with the 12″ F/8 OTA, and some planetary imaging with the Meade OTA and a Nexstar 5. If that latter part goes really well I’ll be upgrading the camera for more serious planet work.

Now to the “Transitions” topic. Many who see this site were directed here by Cloudy Nights ( www.cloudynights.com ), arguably the premier astronomy discussion site (and the ONLY site in which I have mentioned this blog). I first joined in April 2003 so I’ve been around to see it grow and become the popular site it is. I’ve posted over 32,000 comments there, mostly in gear discussions. Users will, no doubt, have noticed that it went dark this morning. This was planned, and was announced as widely as practical but inevitably some will have missed the announcement. What is happening is that the site has outgrown the archaic software framework in which it was born and a new structure has been purchased and is being implemented. All existing discussion board structure and content is being transferred as I type this, and the new Cloudy Nights site will go active as soon as possible; perhaps even tomorrow.  It will look different and have new functions and some (including myself) will at first be uncomfortable with the changes. I remember how much traffic the Astromart discussion boards lost when they restructured a few years ago. I intend to go ahead and use the new site until it becomes familiar and comfortable, and I urge other users to give it a chance as well. The decision wasn’t lightly made, and it will substantially increase operating costs for our sponsor (Astronomics). It was done because it became necessary. The site had simply outgrown the existing structure and a replacement was required.

I’m not trying to keep up a blog on this trip, but some comments about it may be helpful to folks considering enrichment posts.

First, there have been a few hiccups – and not minor ones. They stem from this being the first normal sailing since its arrival in North America. They weren’t remedied as quickly as they should have been, which has affected me – but I am convinced that they won’t be repeated so future presenters shouldn’t have to worry about them. Example: they assigned me the second seating (which I prefer anyway) but then scheduled activities for me DURING THAT SEATING. Just a silly mistake but they took way too long to fix it and I missed a couple of dinners over it. Now folks who know me might say that I can afford to miss a few dinners – but folks who know me well know that I especially enjoy shipboard dining rooms. In all these years I have never before missed a dinner seating so it mattered to me.

Comments on speaking specifically on the Divina:

Internet access is provided at crew rate. That is unusual and if you use the internet much it is a big savings (it knocked $100 off my bill).

Most presentations are in the main showroom. This can be intimidating but don’t let it throw you. The good news is that they delivered a reasonably good audience, which helps. You can feel a bit silly standing on stage and looking at an empty 1500 seat house.

One talk was in a lounge – but a pretty big lounge. Not nearly so crowded as smaller lounges I’ve been in on other ships.

Divina staff prefer to use their own A/V hardware (even in the lounge) so just hand them a thumb drive with your Powerpoint slides. They’ll hand you a remote with laser pointer just like the one I use with my laptop.  In the lounges it is red and in the main showroom it is green (better for the large screen).

You’ll end up with more working time scheduled than on other ships because of the scheduled stargazing activities. I do them informally on every trip anyway, and this is better because they announce it (which provides a larger audience) and turn off local lights.

The spot they selected for stargazing is very good, but access to it isn’t obvious and I think a lot of folks didn’t find it. I’ll suggest that they provide a map to hand out.

Access to cruise director staff is better than I have ever experienced on other ships. Usually I meet with them the first day, hand them a topic list so they can publish them in the paper, and then if I’m lucky I’ll meet again on the last evening to talk about how things went. On Divina I speak to the assistant cruise director multiple times every day.

Unlike every other ship I’ve been on, they don’t publish the topic titles in the activities list for each day. I guess that means I can shuffle things around if I want to, but it doesn’t permit the passengers to decide whether a day’s topic is of particular interest to them until they arrive. I suspect this will change on future trips; I certainly plan to suggest it.

If you have cruised with the American cruise lines you will find subtle differences on the Italian-owned ships. The buffet is much smaller and has much less variety available. The same is true of the room service menu – there is a delivery charge added after 11:00pm. Sandwiches are free (as on American ships) but there is a charge for room service coffee except at breakfast time. The dining vroom, on the other hand, has a very familiar feel (cruise ship dining room fare tends to be European anyway).

p.s. I see that linking this to facebook has caused the comment spammers to bump their game up a notch or two; my quantity of spam attempts is way up. My blocker catches it all (so far) but as a backup I am approving comments individually for anyone who hasn’t previously posted a legitimate comment. This will cause a delay because I’m only on the Net sporadically while traveling – but I’ll get to it so don’t hesitate.