GoPro on a Cruise Ship

A GoPro is really a selfie camera, right? Well I don't use mine that way. I like to use it to record a journey. I set it up in timelapse mode and let it fire away for a while. Then I make a movie from the photos.

On my cruise, I wanted to make timelapses from my balcony. With some experimentation, I settled on 1/2 second intervals, wide angle, turned slightly forward so that the side of the ship was just barely in view.

The hardest part was the mount. I found photos of my class of cabin online and I checked the balcony: a glass barrier with a faux wood rail. The glass has a blue tint, so no shooting through it. The rail is too big for a clamp and has no metal for a magnet, I'd have to use the suction cup. I needed extensions that I could bend around the rail, and I needed a pivoting head so I could turn the camera slightly forward. And I wanted most of the weight to be inboard so if the suction cup came loose, the whole thing would just fall on the balcony floor.

Taking Time Lapses Over the Side

I found some extensions to buy, wrapped them in rubber bands to damp the ships vibrations down when resting on the rail, and added a pivoting head to the top.

Next, the battery life isn't great. I needed an external battery, which I connected via the USB port. I got a wire long enough to safely place the battery on the balcony table. The rubber bands that dampened vibrations also held the charging wire.

It turned out to be pretty easy to mount the camera, turn it on, check the composition, then walk away for a while.

I set up for port arrivals and departures. And I even got a time lapse of the airport departure in showery weather. Enjoy. Time lapse on YouTube