Drone Videos of Cruise Ships

If you want to see what a modern cruise ship REALLY looks like, you have to check out this drone video by contributor Upper Cut Productions.  He captured the footage on a DJI Inspire 2 drone working on a British reality TV show about cruises.  The ship captured here is the 2012-vintage Royal Princess, operated by Princess Cruises.  It has capacity for 3,600 passengers.  One of the Royal class of cruise ships, the Royal Princess is 330 meters (almost 1.1k ft.) long and displaces over 140k tons.  

The complex shape of Chile's Patagonian coastline created large numbers of spectacular fjords, which have caught the attention of cruise ship operators and travelers around the world.  Some of these travelers are also drone pilots.  Contributor Exclusive Aerials was onboard the cruise ship Crystal Serenity with a DJI Phantom 4 Pro drone when he created this magnificent video of the ship cruising this remarkably beautiful area on its southern Pacific coast.

The Caribbean cruise ship market is the world's largest, and most of these ships are based in Miami, Florida.   The city's port is now dominated by the large fleet of cruise ships operating in the Caribbean waters as well as points further north.  Visually, the picture of these behemoth vessels set against the glitter of Miami is impressive.  In this video, contributor Silkview took his DJI Phantom 4 drone out to "chase" the Norwegian Epic heading out from the Port of Miami into the Atlantic Ocean.   

The Oasis of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean, is an examples of the new generation of gigantic Oasis-class cruise ships.    This mammoth ship is 360 meters (almost 1,200 ft), weighs 225k tons, and can carry 6,300 passengers. It is, quite literally, a floating city. Contributor Droneview filmed the mighty ship sailing from Florida with a GoPro Hero 4 camera mounted on a 3DR Solo drone.

The Caribbean Sea and the area to its north represents the largest cruise market in the world.  Every day, dozens of these massive ships ply these waters with hundreds of thousands of passengers on board, departing en masse at various ports of call around the region.  In this aerial video, contributor Bud's Eye flew his DJI Mavic Pro drone over a Carnival Cruise Line ship at berth in Grand Turk Island.

Disney entered the cruise industry in the 1990's to complement its theme park investments.  The company currently operates four cruise ships, which provide a family friendly onboard environment filled with Disney branded entertainment.  Contributor Stratus Imagery was able to capture one of these ships, the 84k ton Disney Magic, as it entered the harbor of Liverpool in western England. 

The immensity of the lower Amazon River in Brazil is such that even very large cruise ships can access it.  Given the road infrastructure, many travelers find that this is in fact the easiest and most comfortable way to see the Amazon rainforests.  In this video, contributor Exclusive Aerials was able to fly a drone over the cruise ship Crystal Serenity as it was cruising the river at sunset.  

Due to the lack of roads, a popular way to explore Alaska is by cruise ship.  Dozens of large passenger ships regularly travel between the large cities on the West Coast of the USA and Canada Alaskan waters.  In this video, top contributor Exclusive Aerials traveled aboard a cruise ship with a drone.  He was able to capture some amazing footage of fjords, glaciers, icebergs, and the overall beauty of this pristine northern paradise.  

The Crystal Serenity, a 250 meter (820 ft) cruise ship operated by Crystal Cruises, made seafaring history in 2014 by being the first cruise ship to run the fabled Northwest Passage Arctic Ocean crossing.  Contributor Exclusive Aerials was onboard the 69k ton ship when it made its historical passage, and created this stunning video (which was carried on national TV) from the trip.

When it was opened in 1912, the Panama Canal represented one of the great feats of engineering up to that time.  Its original size limited its ability to handle the most modern ships.  It is currently in the process of being widened to accommodate bigger vessels.  The 80 km (50 mi) waterway hacked out of the Panama Jungle connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  In this video, a drone gives us an aerial view of two cruise ships using the locks in the canal to cross it.  

This drone video by FergTas manages to accomplish two things.  It will give you (a) a beautiful bird's eye view of one of the world's largest cruise ships and (b) an equally epic view of the Tasmanian capital city Hobart, which said ship is approaching.   If you look at a map of this Australian island state, you'll also get an appreciation for the navigation skills of the captain of this 167k gross ton displacement ship: the approach to the Hobart may be the world's most complex.

Stavanger in southern Norway is a prime port of call for cruise ships sailing through the Scandinavian fjords, one of the world's major cruise ship markets.  In 2016, this Nordic port handled a cruise ship nearly every other day, amounting to about 300k passengers over the course of the year.  In this spectacular drone video, top contributor and drone pilot Brent De Bleser captures the hustle and bustle of this busy port as these floating behemoths ply its icy waters.