Bring your own photographer on board

[tamster808]

Has anyone brought their own photographer on board? I am getting married in Port Canaveral April 17th. I have a family friend that will do the photography. She will not be going on the cruise since she only livesin Orlando (not a long drive). But my concern is that the real photog will block shots or that they will make a big deal out of it.

Anybody have experience with this?

[esbie11]

Has anyone brought their own photographer on board? I am getting married in Port Canaveral April 17th. I have a family friend that will do the photography. She will not be going on the cruise since she only livesin Orlando (not a long drive). But my concern is that the real photog will block shots or that they will make a big deal out of it.

Anybody have experience with this?

 

I know this may be shocking;) , but it seems that TWE gives out conflicting info about this. I know I specifically asked about this when I was going to use them, and they told me I could NOT bring my own photog or videographer. However others have posted that they did in fact bring their own and it wasn't a problem. Go figure:rolleyes:

[MarinerBride]

I think that they ask that you not bring professionals, but I'm not sure that they can really keep your friends/family from taking pictures. You can go to my Picasa website and see all the cameras we had, though you will also see that the ship's photographer got the best shots of the ceremony:

http://picasaweb.google.com/abeckphd/

 

We had two video cameras that we used to record the ceremony as well.

[sas80]

Has anyone brought their own photographer on board? I am getting married in Port Canaveral April 17th. I have a family friend that will do the photography. She will not be going on the cruise since she only livesin Orlando (not a long drive). But my concern is that the real photog will block shots or that they will make a big deal out of it.

Anybody have experience with this?

 

I wouldn't think that the real photographer would go out of their way to actually block shots. He or she might complain about the (seemingly) other photographer - but you can always simply say that this is a family friend whom is interested in photography as a hobby and you are perfectly happy to let your friend take as many pictures as he or she wants.

 

You could also just not hire a photographer thru RR/TWE. Then you wont have to worry about having another photographer intruding.

 

But I would definitely bring your friend and have them do phtotgraphy since you don't know the quality, training or professionalsim of the ships photographer.

[sas80]

I know this may be shocking;) , but it seems that TWE gives out conflicting info about this. I know I specifically asked about this when I was going to use them, and they told me I could NOT bring my own photog or videographer. However others have posted that they did in fact bring their own and it wasn't a problem. Go figure:rolleyes:

 

TWE giving out conflicting info on wedding services.....NO! :confused: Say it aint so! :eek: I cant believe it! I'm floored! ;)

[hollidaygal]

You shouldn't have a problem. Sometimes it helps if you have "the friend" talk to the photographer and ask if he minds if he takes photos as well. As long as your friend doesn't get in the professionals way, it shouldn't be an issue. If a bride or groom asks TWE if they can have their own photographer, they usually say "no it is not allowed", but people do it anyway and I can't blame them. A more experienced rep might be more relaxed (thinking outside the box) and tell someone that it shouldn't be a problem and here is what I suggest you do and another may just follow what is stated in the brochure.

 

BTW - I don't believe you can "not hire" the photography service that comes with the package. If you pay the package price, you will get everything the package comes with, whether you use it or not. That is what "packages" are. Some photographers are way more laid back than others. I'm sure it will be fine!

[dcdiva]

Just be aware that there you may run into problems if your photographer wants to bring special equipment on board. Obviously, there won't be a problem with a camera or two, but I watched someone with a bag full of fancy digital photography equipment run into trouble with security screeners.

[hollidaygal]

Just be aware that there you may run into problems if your photographer wants to bring special equipment on board. Obviously, there won't be a problem with a camera or two, but I watched someone with a bag full of fancy digital photography equipment run into trouble with security screeners.

 

That is true. A professional camera will be okay but no other professional equipment.

[DNineMoons]

I know my brother, who is a professional wedding photographer, did have problems with the ship photographer, and he made my brother feel very uncomfortable about taking pictures of the ceremony. So, we bought the photo package so we had the ceremony pictures, and some nice pics around the ship, but the pictures that we really treasure are the ones my brother was able to take of us sailing away from NYC and under the bridge, and also the ones he took of us on Bermuda.

 

I also am rather sad that our photographer didn't make the suggestion to take a group shot right after the ceremony on the stairs, which was the first place he took us after the ceremony and cake cutting/toast. It's my biggest regret, not having a picture of all of our guests and the full wedding party together in our wedding attire.... I would have suggested it, but I definitely wasn't thinking straight. At least my brother was able to take a group shot on formal night, but a bunch of people are missing, since that night was very rocky and a few people got sick, plus half our wedding party wasn't able to sail with us...

[hollidaygal]

I know my brother, who is a professional wedding photographer, did have problems with the ship photographer, and he made my brother feel very uncomfortable about taking pictures of the ceremony. So, we bought the photo package so we had the ceremony pictures, and some nice pics around the ship, but the pictures that we really treasure are the ones my brother was able to take of us sailing away from NYC and under the bridge, and also the ones he took of us on Bermuda.

 

I also am rather sad that our photographer didn't make the suggestion to take a group shot right after the ceremony on the stairs, which was the first place he took us after the ceremony and cake cutting/toast. It's my biggest regret, not having a picture of all of our guests and the full wedding party together in our wedding attire.... I would have suggested it, but I definitely wasn't thinking straight. At least my brother was able to take a group shot on formal night, but a bunch of people are missing, since that night was very rocky and a few people got sick, plus half our wedding party wasn't able to sail with us...

 

Some photographers are touchy and some are just plain jerks! Others are as nice as can be...you never know. It's a crap shoot!