My GoPro cruise experience

So I ended up with a GoPro Hero 5 and the Karma Grip. I managed to get 20% off of each! A huge savings for me. The Grip is supposed to arrive on Wednesday. I did a 4k video time lapse last night and a photo time lapse as a test. Even the 4k time lapse didn't take up as much space as I expected. I does however decrease you battery life quite a bit. I was only able to get about 2 hours which is probably longer than what I would do on the cruise anyways.

That's great I hope you enjoy the Karma Grip!

You are doing the right thing to test out the camera settings now before your cruise. That's the only way to learn. :)

I would love to see your cruise video when you get back!

Nice videos, thanks for sharing. We went on our first cruise last summer and absolutely loved it. But when it was all said and done, something was missing, and that something was a GoPro. After taking a couple of underwater disposable cameras snorkeling with us, we knew we needed a GoPro. At that time, the Hero 5 hadn't been released yet, just rumors floating around the web. When it finally released, I debated on it or a Hero 4. I found an awesome deal on a new Hero 4 Silver during last year's Christmas sales. It came with a 16 GB SD card, an extra battery, and a dual battery charger, plus the usual mounts, all for an excellent price, so I couldn't pass it up. In addition, we bought two more 64GB SD cards. In your opinion, do you think those two 64GB cards, plus the 16GB that came with it, would be plenty? Obviously quality of video is a factor, but I'd be willing to sacrifice a little quality for more recording time. I have an external hard drive, but I really don't want to bring it. Would love to get by with just the three SD cards. I have a feeling that most of my GoPro use will be for still shots & some video in the water. We bought it specifically for that. Any additional use is a bonus.

 

I'd love to leave my DSLR at home just for the sake of not having to carry it around and, as you mentioned, the switching out of lenses, etc., but I don't think I'm ready for that yet. We enjoy the pictures I took with it too much to give it up...for now.

 

Edited to add one more question: In regards to the segment of your video where the crew is dancing & welcoming everyone to "Happy," is that when you came back on board at port or what? I love that. We were on Carnival and I wish they did that. The closest they came was a short dance routine by the wait staff during dinners.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you...to answer your question about the crew dancing, that is something that NCL does for guests as they return to the ship from a day in port. It is a nice touch!

When you used the GoPro Jaws setup, did you have the GoPro in the Grip? They definitely didn't make it easy to quickly switch setups. Having the remove the compartment door for the hookups is definitely a design flaw.

When you used the GoPro Jaws setup, did you have the GoPro in the Grip? They definitely didn't make it easy to quickly switch setups. Having the remove the compartment door for the hookups is definitely a design flaw.

I found the same problem and after contacting the supplier, they advised to either WiFi to my Mac or remove the detachable door so as to avoid removing the Hero from the frame all the time. They did warn that when you detach the door, your Hero is no longer waterproof and that is why they decided not to allow the door to be removed without removing the Hero from frame.

When you used the GoPro Jaws setup, did you have the GoPro in the Grip? They definitely didn't make it easy to quickly switch setups. Having the remove the compartment door for the hookups is definitely a design flaw.

I can see that as well...I just leave my compartment door off so I don't have to deal with it. The only downside to that is having to remember to put it back on if I bring the camera into the water.

FYI - I found this inexpensive little carry case for all my go pro accessories and it has worked out great. I keep my little compartment door safely put away inside this little carry case. GoPro makes one of these as well but its way more costly.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lowepro-Dashpoint-AVC-1-POV-Case-Black/40171643

In case anyone is checking this thread...I just found out today that Gopro is doing a trade up program for anyone with an older model camera. Here's the link in case you are interested: https://shop.gopro.com/tradeup

FYI - I found this inexpensive little carry case for all my go pro accessories and it has worked out great. I keep my little compartment door safely put away inside this little carry case. GoPro makes one of these as well but its way more costly.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lowepro-Dashpoint-AVC-1-POV-Case-Black/40171643

I manged to get a cheap similar bag here in NZ. Love my Hero, been so busy and there have been a few wild storms lately with TC Cook, heading our way before Easter, just what we need as we have had three months worth of rain in just 2 weeks. I have still managed to get enough clips to work with, and are currently putting a final test movie together.

Have a great Easter.

I'm glad I stumbled across your video. I have always considered a DSLR camera, my cousin convinced me that my Go Pro was all I needed. Your video has given me some awesome ideas, thank you! Will be taking my Go Pro with me on my 3rd cruise in March!

I manged to get a cheap similar bag here in NZ. Love my Hero, been so busy and there have been a few wild storms lately with TC Cook, heading our way before Easter, just what we need as we have had three months worth of rain in just 2 weeks. I have still managed to get enough clips to work with, and are currently putting a final test movie together.

Have a great Easter.

That's great...I can't wait to see your video!

Happy Easter! :)

I'm glad I stumbled across your video. I have always considered a DSLR camera, my cousin convinced me that my Go Pro was all I needed. Your video has given me some awesome ideas, thank you! Will be taking my Go Pro with me on my 3rd cruise in March!

I hope you come back and post your video. I would love to see it!! :)

We are going on our next cruise in July and I will be bringing my same GoPro gear again but with one new piece in tow.

I recently bought the new GoPro Karma drone and have been doing practice flights to get comfortable with it.

I am beyond excited to see what kind of aerial footage I will be able to get while on vacation. Our cruise ship will stay docked in Bermuda for a few days and I am hoping to have lots of opportunities to fly the drone from different spots around the island.

I hope you come back and post your video. I would love to see it!! :)

 

We are going on our next cruise in July and I will be bringing my same GoPro gear again but with one new piece in tow.

I recently bought the new GoPro Karma drone and have been doing practice flights to get comfortable with it.

I am beyond excited to see what kind of aerial footage I will be able to get while on vacation. Our cruise ship will stay docked in Bermuda for a few days and I am hoping to have lots of opportunities to fly the drone from different spots around the island.

Make sure you check Bermuda laws on drones. Some countries are pretty strict about them.

Make sure you check Bermuda laws on drones. Some countries are pretty strict about them.

Most definitely...I've already looked into it and their laws are very similar to the US.

My drone is also registered with the FAA so no worries there either. I'm not a risk taker by any stretch. I'm just planning on taking some quick "sweeping cinematic shots" to incorporate in with my other regular footage.

This weekend I will be flying it over the ocean in Newport, Rhode Island (as long as it's not too windy). This will be a big test for me since I've been flying primary over large fields and a few ponds.

Here's a link to one of my test flights from a few weeks ago in case you want to check it out.

Wow! That is really nice. I'm hoping the flight kit goes on sale at some point. We live on top of a hill so I'm sure I could get some cool shots.

Wow! That is really nice. I'm hoping the flight kit goes on sale at some point. We live on top of a hill so I'm sure I could get some cool shots.

The link that I gave was taken on a very gray day and it was spitting sleet so the colors look kind of blah.

But the sweeping views just continue to amaze me with every new flight that I take and it always comes out silky smooth. I've never flown a drone before and I have to say this one makes it easy to learn.

I'm sure you could get some cool shots from the top of your hill. I hope it goes on sale for you! :)

Feel free to subscribe to my YT channel if you want that way you'll never have to miss one of my videos. I will be posting more drone videos including this weekends flight in Rhode Island (weather permitting and I don't crash it into the ocean)! :p

great video.... thanks.. like the editing...

great video.... thanks.. like the editing...

Thanks for watching and the nice comment. 😀

Practicing hard the last few months on the hero 5 getting ready for the end of year cruise, managed to get something together, in imovie, bit rusty not that great but still learning and not sure if I loaded it properly on you-tube. Will get a Karma Grip very soon.

Looks pretty good to me. What made you put the GoPro logo at the beginning of the video? At first I thought the link redirected me to a video sponsored by GoPro. :)

I like the rewind of the raft going over the falls. Nice touch. The sound of the ocean at the end reminds me that I won't have the greatest sound quality with my videos. I found an awesome deal on a GoPro Hero 4 Silver last year during the Black Friday sales and I couldn't pass it up. But that means it remains in its waterproof housing most of the time. And I know that muffles the sound, but I'll live with it. Even if I had gotten the Hero 5, I probably would've still bought a housing for it just as added protection. I'm paranoid about my expensive gadgets like that. I bought a floating hand grip for my GoPro, nothing fancy. Wanted something for when we snorkel on our next cruise. It comes with a trigger assembly so I can hold it and operate the shutter button all with one hand. And I got a decent case for it and the accessories.

Thank's for your comments. Yes, the GoPro logo was from a friend and I I thought I would experiment a bit. The rafting shot took a while to film, I waited nearly twenty minutes before it came out, so I ended up with a very large clip to edit. Sounds like you have all the gear.

Great videos and tips. I just got my Hero 5 Black the other day and can't wait to really use it.

Practicing hard the last few months on the hero 5 getting ready for the end of year cruise, managed to get something together, in imovie, bit rusty not that great but still learning and not sure if I loaded it properly on you-tube. Will get a Karma Grip very soon.

Looks good to me!

The more you practice the better you will get, the better you get will inspire more confidence and creativity.

Keep up the good work! :)

We are leaving for our next cruise at the beginning of July and I will be making another GoPro video. Feel free to subscribe to my channel if you want to be notified once its uploaded. https://www.youtube.com/user/Chesneygirl100

Looks good to me!

The more you practice the better you will get, the better you get will inspire more confidence and creativity.

Keep up the good work! :)

 

We are leaving for our next cruise at the beginning of July and I will be making another GoPro video. Feel free to subscribe to my channel if you want to be notified once its uploaded. https://www.youtube.com/user/Chesneygirl100

Thanks, hope you have a great cruise.

Great videos and tips. I just got my Hero 5 Black the other day and can't wait to really use it.

Once you start filming and see how clear the clips are, you will be hooked, just like cruising!.

Just wanted to share my most recent GoPro cruise video. Make sure to watch in HD for the best quality. :)

9xx_BlbxNEI

How were you able to take the drone aboard?