Yea! Wife's Birthday celebration and a new camera! Gonna be a hot time in Irvine tonight!

First off, always was and still am a hobbyist ... first camera was a Kodak instamatic ... for years. When I decided I wanted a little more I went to my local camera store and talked to the salesman. The guy was good, and showed be a lot of cameras, I chose a Canon FTb. Later I bought a 200mm lens to compliment the 50mm that came with the camera. Years later I sold the camera and all my gear except for the 200mm lens which I gave to my father who liked what I bought and went once step better and bought the "new" AE-1. Right before I got out of the hobby a friend let me shoot a roll on her Nikon F1. Right then I was hooked on Nikon even though the Canon could be used a a point and shoot on Auto. Years later I went digital with the Nikon camera that had the swivel lens (sorry, don't remember the designation) and had fun with it for years and it got me back into having fun taking pictures. Many years ago I wanted a Nikon D80, started to save up for it, then they came out with the D90 and now I wanted that one but it was even more money than the 80. Finally I just went out and bought a set-up I think I could be happy with, a Nikon D3300. Last year I bought a 18-300mm lens to go along with the kit lens. Next up is a flash unit.

Side note: after my dad died my son took over the AE-1. He says he will get into using it, shooting black and white film someday soon.

I have the 18-300 (bought before coming here) and if I had it to do over again (from reading posts here) I would have opted for the 18-140 ...

Before I found this site, all I had was Costco and Best Buy ... bought my D3300 from Costco and my 18-300 lens from Best Buy (Also with a few gift cards). I ordered the lens online and picked it up at the store. No worries about damage from shipping ...

New to this site too. Bought from Costco, a D3300 a few years ago and not long ago added the 18-300 to the kit. It is now my go to lens and is on the camera almost all the time. It is HEAVY, and I mean HEAVY to hold all day long. I love what I can do with it but if I had found this site before I purchased this lens I might have gone for the 18-140 instead.

Photography is a hobby for me. Just know that Nikon makes two 18-300 lenses. I still use the 18-55 but now have no use for the 55-200 that also came with the camera kit. (I got rid of the bag and now use a small backpack by Lowepro that I love.)

I have been on six cruises with almost that same package, except I have a 32gb card to your 16. Never had a problem with a dead battery or no space left on my card. Even if all you do is shoot pics all day long (you won't) you can still charge your one battery at night. If you have the wireless adapter you can download pics to your phone to clear space on your card (easier to just switch out to a bigger card). The last cruise I was on I had a 18-300 lens. No need to switch out lenses. I did on this last cruise also have a Lowepro backpack. (bought off of Craig's list used for $15) The small one and it held all three lenses, camera and filters and my charger. Much better to carry around the camera gear than the original Nikon bag. So my recommendation ... a back pack and bigger SD card. Enjoy your cruise ... April should have good weather for you.