Yesterday, as I'm on the NELL NY Harbor cruise, my 18-135mm Nikon lens suddenly stops functioning. From what it seems, there's something jammed that's keeping the aperture blades and autofocus from working properly. It works somewhat well on manual focus mode, but still isn't perfect.

I think I have to send it in to Nikon for repairs. I only got it for Christmas 2007, so it's still under coverage. However, I don't think I ever sent the registration card in, and since it was a gift, I don't have a receipt. (I may be able to obtain it, though I think it was ordered online.)

Has anyone ever sent something in via Nikon for repair? If so, curious as to how it all works. Are there shipping charges? What's the turnaround time? Do they normally repair or replace? They say to remove all caps when shipping -- isn't this not a good idea?

Thanks for any help. Hopefully, I can get the lens up and running soon...