Photography Equipment

Hi Everyone!

My husband and I are taking our first cruise in May this year (2016) to Alaska. I am a retired professional photographer and would like to take along a camera with several lenses. Can anyone give advice on taking professional equipment on board a cruise ship? How big are the safes in a stateroom? Are there any pitfalls?

Any advice that anyone can supply would be greatly appreciated. This is our first ever cruise and we are very excited!!:)

Do you have a balcony? It's great to have some private space when glacier viewing. The decks can get kinda congested... especially when a tripod is setup.

We take very good equipment with us.

The safe will to be large enough for the cameras, several lenses.'

I just put them all in a draw. I am not worried at all.

Or he could keep them in the camera bag and keep it in the closet.

I would have no hesitation doing this and I usually bring two DSLR's, several lenses and a couple of point and shoot cameras.

Keith

Hi Everyone!

 

My husband and I are taking our first cruise in May this year (2016) to Alaska. I am a retired professional photographer and would like to take along a camera with several lenses. Can anyone give advice on taking professional equipment on board a cruise ship? How big are the safes in a stateroom? Are there any pitfalls?

 

Any advice that anyone can supply would be greatly appreciated. This is our first ever cruise and we are very excited!!:)

There's an entire forum devoted to photography that you might find interesting:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=118

The safes are small, I think you can get an Ipad into most of them, for an example. Large telephoto lenses might not fit. Note that most cruise lines' ticket contracts limit liability severely on personal effects, and most want you to take expensive items to the front desk for storage in the ship's safe.

Like Keith I also take a DSLR, several lens, and my small "dinner" camera.

I just lay them on the shelf in the closet in the bag, or if I am going back out with it again just on the shelf.

Never had a problem and really don't expect one.

Here is a hint, if you are going to be out on the deck for a long period of time while near the Glaciers, have a spare battery in your pocket keeping it warm.

One hour on the deck near Hubbard Glacier and my battery shut down due to the cold.

Have fun taking photo's

Bob

The safe definitely won't be big enough to hold a professional SLR and lenses - I can't get my dSLR (Canon 5D-II) or any single one of my lenses in the safe. That doesn't worry me; I've never had equipment stolen from a ship's cabin (the first time I crossed the Atlantic was on a ship was 51 years ago, I've spent a lot of time on ships but never as much as I'd like...).

Definitely take at least two batteries as the cold will cause problems. When the battery in the camera goes cold, swap them, put the cold battery in an inside pocket, it'll warm up and be ready.... dSLRs are not gentle with cold batteries so I take three.

Got a 17mm or wider lens? Take it - you'll need it :D Got a 300mm telephoto? Take it - you'll need it :D

And *always* have your "go-anywhere" camera with you....

..Most importantly, come back to this forum and share your photographs please! :cool:

VP

Thank you for your valuable advice. I use a DSLR and have a 70-200mm and a 11-16mm lenses that I want to take on the cruise. Bringing 2 batteries is definitely a good idea. Not sure what kind of weather we'll run into.

Weather is very unpredictable in Alaska.

Be sure to also take several memory cards but I know you know that.

I've been to Alaska many times. My best day of cruising Glacier Bay was in April when many thought the weather would be bad. Well, it turned out to be a perfect day.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AqQs3TEBbcw/T4hXuRKXz2I/AAAAAAAAQqA/XoAXQVQwILM/s1600/DSC_4194.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0UdF6OlPUIM/T4hXwxtIOwI/AAAAAAAAQqI/hjUyFoGaF1s/s1600/DSC_4195.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-znUhqiLWDwI/T4hX3dKZ_bI/AAAAAAAAQqg/rK4XrLnAYa8/s1600/DSC_4198.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eJ_N-HHz2dI/T4idcb-8oHI/AAAAAAAAQrU/YJ-_LyrFd2Y/s1600/DSC_4203.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CwKfZ5pxEI8/T4idk07txMI/AAAAAAAAQrc/XH7ckvP-m-E/s1600/DSC_4215.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O0ERXiARuIk/T4idpomyZKI/AAAAAAAAQrk/L5chY97PBtg/s1600/DSC_4216.jpg

Even the park rangers said it was a once a year perfect day in Glacier Bay.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hGWSm6-Xq5A/T4ierdqB1WI/AAAAAAAAQtI/ggYwRsRlS8s/s1600/DSC_4278.jpg

Keith

Thank you for your valuable advice. I use a DSLR and have a 70-200mm and a 11-16mm lenses that I want to take on the cruise. Bringing 2 batteries is definitely a good idea. Not sure what kind of weather we'll run into.

Those should fit fine. Last cruise I put my 13" macbook, nikon D7000, 70-300,18-105 all in the safe with no issues. (Only did the first day to just see what would fit. The rest of the week if it wasn't with me it was just in the bag on the chair or floor.) No worries. I also only brought 1 battery and never had any problems. 500+ shots between charges no problem. :D

Why do people insist on putting photo equipment or electronics in the safe. When we cruise, the safe holds our cash, our passports, our wallet and my wife's jewelry. Nothing else.

DON

Why do people insist on putting photo equipment or electronics in the safe. When we cruise, the safe holds our cash, our passports, our wallet and my wife's jewelry. Nothing else.

 

DON

I use the safe for things that, if they go missing, will really mess up the cruise experience.

I had a really nice zoom lens that set me back $400 back in the 1990's go missing on a Princess Mediterranean cruise. The camera was with me with a 50mm lens on it that I carried around all the time but the zoom stayed behind on sea days.

I wrapped it in a towel and stored it in a dresser drawer and didn't miss it until we were getting ready for our shorex in Livorno (Florence). We turned the place upside down but were unsuccessful.

With the staff traffic in and out of our cabin there was no way we could guess what staff person it might have been, then discovered that one steward propped the door open when he went back for supplies. That suggested it could have been a fellow passenger who saw an opportunity.

Bottom line, we always store our camera and computer equipment (including my DW's Nook) in the safe except when we remove it to use.

And yes, we also secure our passport and other doc's in the safe as well.

Hi Everyone!

 

My husband and I are taking our first cruise in May this year (2016) to Alaska. I am a retired professional photographer and would like to take along a camera with several lenses. Can anyone give advice on taking professional equipment on board a cruise ship? How big are the safes in a stateroom? Are there any pitfalls?

 

Any advice that anyone can supply would be greatly appreciated. This is our first ever cruise and we are very excited!!:)

The safes aren't huge.

I take a LOT if gear in some cruises.

Never had anything touched.

I do take it in a Camera case with lock, but have also left it on th desk in my cabin.

In all honesty I'd be more worried about a compact (tha can slip into a pocket) than my DSLR and lenses, etc.

Thank you for your valuable advice. I use a DSLR and have a 70-200mm and a 11-16mm lenses that I want to take on the cruise. Bringing 2 batteries is definitely a good idea. Not sure what kind of weather we'll run into.

Oh if that's all it should fit. I take more than 2 batteries (usually 4 ) one in the camera 2 in my pocket one charging, and cards, lots and Los of cards, but I guess it may very depending on how long your cruise is.

I've never had any electronics taken on a cruise. If you're really worried, lock it up in your suitcase or buy a PacSafe bag. They have cable systems that will cover a backpack which you can then secure to something else.

Hi Everyone!

 

My husband and I are taking our first cruise in May this year (2016) to Alaska. I am a retired professional photographer and would like to take along a camera with several lenses. Can anyone give advice on taking professional equipment on board a cruise ship? How big are the safes in a stateroom? Are there any pitfalls?

 

Any advice that anyone can supply would be greatly appreciated. This is our first ever cruise and we are very excited!!:)

The safes are about as big as a tissue box. Whatever you take (I have a DSLR and usually travel with 3-4 lenses and a travel P&S camera and a underwater camera) put it all in a carry-on. Usually I just put the camera bag in the closet as the safe just doesn't hold all that much.

If you're really worried, lock it up in your suitcase or buy a PacSafe bag.

[YOUTUBE]fVIOIi8YziA[/YOUTUBE]

After reading this, I checked out pacsafe. I'm thinking of purchasing one but not sure of the size to get since I don't know how many liters it is. My camera bag is the size of a carry on suitcase. Help please. I was thinking the 55L.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

After reading this, I checked out pacsafe. I'm thinking of purchasing one but not sure of the size to get since I don't know how many liters it is. My camera bag is the size of a carry on suitcase. Help please. I was thinking the 55L.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Have you called PacSafe customer service? They should be able to help.

DON