Caribbean Cruise - what to bring?

We will be taking a weeklong Caribbean cruise in a few weeks, and I am trying to decide what to bring along. The cruise will have stops in Nassau, St. Thomas (we are actually going to St. John's) and St. Maarten. The last Caribbean cruise I was on was over 26 years ago, which had stops in two of the same places -- St. Maarten will be a new stop. For this cruise, we will be traveling with a group of about 16 people. On previous cruises to Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribben, it was just my wife and I traveling alone.

I plan on taking my EOS M, EF-M 22mm pancake lens and Speedlite 270EX, but am also considering bringing my 5D3 and a couple of lenses. If I leave the 5D3 at home, I will also bring along a EF-M 18-55 for general purpose landscapes. I'm just not sure if there will be enough landscape photo opportunities to make bringing along the 5D3 and lenses worthwhile. I do remember St. John's having some great scenery, but do not remember much about Nassau. I will be leaving the tripod at home for this trip, no matter what I decide to bring.

If I do bring along the 5D3, the next decision is which lenses to pack. I would like to keep it at two lenses, and one will probably be the EF 16-35 f/4 IS. I found that lens useful on board the ship during an Alaskan cruise a couple of years ago. For a second lens, I am waffling between the 24-105L and 70-200 f/4 IS. The 24-105L would make for a great single walk around lens solution while on shore. I am not sure how much use I would find in a telephoto lens for some tighter landscapes. I am not expecting any wildlife shooting on this trip, as it does not appear to be the right time to do any whale watching in this region.

Does anyone who has been to these same ports have any advice they would like to share?

Heya,

I'd just take the EOS-M & 22 and enjoy the trip. That 35mm field of view will cover literally everything. If you need a wider field of view, just take a few shots and stitch. Less to lose. Less to break. Less weight to carry.

If the trip is for photography, take it all.

But if it's you and your wife and 15 other souls, I'd just take it simple and light weight and small package. And just be creative and enjoy your trip.

Very best,

Definitely the eosm/22/speed light combo.. and the 5d3 with 16-35
I'm currently trying to figure out a travel kit . I went on a cruise a few months ago .. and the 5d3 with 24-70 2.8 mii. Became a bit of a burden to carry around because of the weight( , but I think the 16 -35 is almost a third lighter ) so half way into the week i walked around with 50 1.4 ,attest on the ship.. but in my opinion it was too tight in most cases. . For me, I checked and about 75 percent of photos were taken between 24mm and 35mm

I had originally planned on taking just the EOS M and EF-M lenses as you suggested, MalVeaux, but one item I failed to mention is that we booked a glass bottom boat tour at one of the islands. Trying to focus with the M may present a challenge in that situation. I am still unsure if it will be worth bringing the 5D3 along if that is the only situation where I will truly miss having a dSLR.

I was on a Caribbean cruise last summer, Nassau being the only island in common with your cruise and took everything I had. Nearly every photo I took was with the 18-135, did not use my 150-500 or tripod at all. Did use my 580 flash some but not a lot. We were with our daughter and her family which included 3 Grandsons and I had planned to take several shots from the tripod of us together with those fabulous backgrounds, well forget that idea, it was too hectic all the time trying to find every one. With two teenagers, our adult daughter and her husband and then my wife and myself as seniors we were soon on 3 different schedules.
I don't regret having taken two cameras as one of them died soon after coming home and soon purchased another camera for a trip to the South West. It would not have been good to have been limited to one camera at sea and then have it stop working.
I think you are right about the 24-105 being great for a walk around lens and it would probably be used a great deal.
My trip was in late June and though I'm always on the lookout for birds and wildlife we did not encounter any except for Gulls and they were easy to get close to.
The Caribbean was the opposite of our 2 Alaska cruises where I used the 150-500 for about half my shots and wide for the other half.
I'm thinking your group size may limit your time at photography.
Enjoy your cruise and post some pics when you get home.

FILTERS!!!!

If it was me, I would just bring the 5d3 and 24-105.

I've been on several caribbean cruises and will be on another one in a few weeks, the only thing I use is the 6d and 24-70L.

Thanks for the feedback so far, everyone. My only issue with taking only the 5D3 + 24-105L is that I did use my 16-35 f/4 IS for quite a few interior shots on the ship during our Alaskan cruise, so I may miss having a wider angle lens. Then again, it probably will not be the end of the world if I do not take those shots again. Regardless, I will be bringing the EOS M + 22mm, since it takes up so little room and will be easy to carry around at times when I do not want to carry the 5D3.

I still have a little time to decide. Part of the determining factor will probably be what else I plan on carrying on the plane (Kindle reader, etc.), which will help determine which carry on bag I need.

Scott M wrote in post #17869511
We will be taking a weeklong Caribbean cruise in a few weeks, and I am trying to decide what to bring along.

Mosquito repellant!

If I could give you one piece of advice sunscreen would be it!

Condoms?

LV Moose wrote in post #17891773
Condoms?

Been married for 26 years, so I think we are okay there.

Right now, I have the 5D3, 24-105L, 16-35 f/4 IS, 40mm pancake, EOS M, EF-M 22mm, and EF-M 18-55 in my backpack for the trip -- just to see how it fits. I may still remove the 16-35 before we leave, but there is plenty of space in the pack for my Kindle and the other non-photography items I want to carry on the plane.

Our trip was last week, and I did end up taking the 5D3, 24-105L, 16-35 f/4 IS, 40mm pancake, EOS M, EF-M 22mm, and EF-M 18-55, plus a Speedlite 270EX. I used everything except the 40mm, but it really doesn't take up much room in the bag or add weight, so that wasn't a big deal. Having the 5D3 was nice for a couple of our land excursions (only brought the 24-105L on shore), plus some action shots I took on board that the EOS M would have struggled with. The EOS M was handy for quick video clips, getting people shots on the ship without carrying a big camera, and just walking around St. Maarten, where I did not want to stick out carrying a big, expensive DSLR. I only used the EF-M 18-55 on St. Maarten -- the rest of the time the 22mm pancake was mounted on the EOS M for it's compactness and faster aperture. The 16-35L did not get used much -- just for some interior shots of the ship, so I probably could have left that lens home. I almost did leave it home, but there was room in my bag so I decided to bring it along.

I really love the Speedlite 270EX for travel, as it is much more compact than my Speedlite 430EX, yet still has bounce flash capabilities.

I have an Rx100 which I bought for vacations. However I still seem to bring my 6D along. Its hard to just stick to the plan sometimes