Prohibited from taking pictures

[bigferrell]

Has anyone else been told not to take pictures on the "gangway" (After leaving the terminal and going past the mickey shaped funnel or while exiting the ship) or in the luggage pick up area?

I take a lot of pictures of our cruises. On several different cruises I received rude commands from a uniformed Port Security Officer (not sure if they were TSA or Port or Private security) that I was not permitted to take pictures. I was merely taking pictures of the "see you real soon" or the "welcome home" signs or of my family and on one occasion I was told by a DCL Cast Member in the luggage pick up area not to take pictures.

I strongly believe they are wrong but it's definitely not worth ruining my vacation to prove a point.

Your experiences, thoughts?

 

[cruisingtwins]

Did it really ruin your vacation?

I believe these rules are for security reasons.

 

[AAOSAM2]

The only place I know of that you are not allowed to take pictures is in the customs area, so when you are in the area to pick up your luggage. They are in fact, correct in not allowing you. I believe there are signs posted as well.

But never when walking past the see ya real soon signs. My daughter takes that picture all the time.

 

[minniebeth]

Has anyone else been told not to take pictures on the "gangway" (After leaving the terminal and going past the mickey shaped funnel or while exiting the ship) or in the luggage pick up area?

I take a lot of pictures of our cruises. On several different cruises I received rude commands from a uniformed Port Security Officer (not sure if they were TSA or Port or Private security) that I was not permitted to take pictures. I was merely taking pictures of the "see you real soon" or the "welcome home" signs or of my family and on one occasion I was told by a DCL Cast Member in the luggage pick up area not to take pictures.

I strongly believe they are wrong but it's definitely not worth ruining my vacation to prove a point.

Your experiences, thoughts?

Yes, I have experience with this
I love photojournaling our trips and thought nothing of taking pics at the end of our trip, last day, etc. I was ok taking pictures of the banners, but as soon as we got down the escalators to the customs area, I took a picture of our luggage area's character sign and immediately had an officer come up to me and scared the heck out of me. She rudely told me that was against the rules and had me delete the picture in front of her right then and there. Kept telling me how she could confiscate my camera. I apologized and said I didn't realize it was not allowed. She showed me the (huge) sign that says no photos. Again, I apologized, not seeing the sign. So I guess they need to be harsh to make everyone understand the seriousness of the rule/law(?).
Still, I felt like a little school girl in trouble, lol.
My DH got a little laugh out of it for the rest of the day reminding me what a rebel I was.

 

[lbgraves]

You cannot take pictures or even use your cell phone when you are in the custom area after getting on the escalator. I don't remember seeing any DCL employees in the luggage pick up area. That is run by customs and the porters are also there, who are not DCL employees. We have always taken pictures walking through the gangway of the signs, the kids, and even the CMs swiping our KTTW cards. We have video of the entire walk along the gangway to entering the atrium [or wherever we boarded the ship in LA] for each of our cruises as well.

 

[mmouse37]

Has anyone else been told not to take pictures on the "gangway" (After leaving the terminal and going past the mickey shaped funnel or while exiting the ship) or in the luggage pick up area?

I take a lot of pictures of our cruises. On several different cruises I received rude commands from a uniformed Port Security Officer (not sure if they were TSA or Port or Private security) that I was not permitted to take pictures. I was merely taking pictures of the "see you real soon" or the "welcome home" signs or of my family and on one occasion I was told by a DCL Cast Member in the luggage pick up area not to take pictures.

I strongly believe they are wrong but it's definitely not worth ruining my vacation to prove a point.

Your experiences, thoughts?

There are large signs in the customs/luggage area that you are prohibited from taking photos. It's a security issue. If they told you no pics on one cruise why would you continue to take them on subsequent cruises when leaving?

MJ

 

[sweetpee_1993]

What kills me is the awesome retro travel murals/artwork that's down there that I want pictures of so badly. I'm not trying to jack anything or anybody. I just adore the artwork. I don't get why they put something so gorgeous in an area nobody has time to enjoy and we can't take pictures of to savor. Maybe Disney could sell prints of those pieces. I'd buy them!

 

[carpenta]

...maybe it is a safety concern to keep the traffic moving. I imagine that if a large number of folks stop to take pictures than the ramp would turn into an obstacle course....

 

[~Tinkerella]

I work at a port facility. It's Homeland Security guidelines that are enforced by Customs and Border Protection. All of this started after 9/11 and truthfully it's for your own safety and protection, as you never know who is taking pictures of the "secure areas" and what they may be attempting to do (looking for flaws that can be compromised). It would be nice if they would explain that rather than being rude, but......................

 

[bigferrell]

There are large signs in the customs/luggage area that you are prohibited from taking photos. It's a security issue. If they told you no pics on one cruise why would you continue to take them on subsequent cruises when leaving?

MJ

Wow, not a warm and fuzzy Dis response. I am very familiar due to my occupation with security rules.

I did not point the camera towards the checkpoint at any time. On two of the occasions I was on the gangway not in sight of the ship or the checkpoint. On all of the occasions I quickly and politely complied with the orders. In fact on at least one of the occasions I was near where DCL takes family photos. I think they are getting carried away. Not a big deal just a minor annoyance.

 

[bigferrell]

I work at a port facility. It's Homeland Security guidelines that are enforced by Customs and Border Protection. All of this started after 9/11 and truthfully it's for your own safety and protection, as you never know who is taking pictures of the "secure areas" and what they may be attempting to do (looking for flaws that can be compromised). It would be nice if they would explain that rather than being rude, but......................

Tinkerella,

Thank you for this answer!
It looks like customs rules are different from TSA rules on photography. I will just have to keep my shutterbug finger off the camera during this time. lol

 

[~Tinkerella]

You're welcome ~ we get inquiries all the time at our homeport. If I'm on site I let the people know why, what's the point in being rude or not explaining at all? it's not like security is a secret or something

 

[bigferrell]

Did it really ruin your vacation?

I believe these rules are for security reasons.

I think you read it wrong. No vacations were ruined. If I had not followed their directions I suppose having my expensive camera seized would come close.
I love DCL and believe it or not I am laid back and love to have fun. I was just curious about this. So no worries.

 

[mmouse37]

Wow, not a warm and fuzzy Dis response. I am very familiar due to my occupation with security rules.

I did not point the camera towards the checkpoint at any time. On two of the occasions I was on the gangway not in sight of the ship or the checkpoint. On all of the occasions I quickly and politely complied with the orders. In fact on at least one of the occasions I was near where DCL takes family photos. I think they are getting carried away. Not a big deal just a minor annoyance.

Please don't read more into my post than what was intended. It was an honest question and not meant to be "non warm and fuzzy". I was genuinely curious. Maybe it is just my nature but if I was told by a gov't officer not to take pics in an area as it was against the rules I would not try to take them again on the next cruise. Again, I was just curious. Sorry if I offended.

MJ

 

[bumbershoot]

...in the luggage pick up area?

That's an official, government-controlled, area. NO pictures are allowed in such an area. At any port. I was recently in a few customs/immigration areas in other countries, and they, too, have big huge "no photography" signs posted EVERYWHERE. Now you know. It's not a luggage pickup area, it's a very serious government place.

 

[n8nally]

I have pictures of my kids on the gangway, just past the big yellow Mickey ears entry, but before the picture taking area. I also have pics of the "Welcome Aboard" signs and the "See Ya Real Soon" signs. I did not even attempt to take pics in the actual customs area, as I was too busy trying to collect the luggage and go through customs. No one ever said anything to me. I suspect it is just the customs area that is governed by this rule.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I was asked at the Port of Los Angeles to put my camera away when I was on the walkway from the terminal to the ship and wanted to get my first photo of the Wonder for that trip. It has never had this issue anywhere else.

Corinna

 

[jdb in AZ]

Taking pictures in customs was illegal even before 9/11. My niece (about 20 at the time) had a bag searched at the Los Angeles port as we were coming back from a Mexican Riviera cruise, and her dad thought it was rather humorous so he started taking pictures. As a newbie cruiser, he had no idea it wasn't allowed; I didn't see any signs or warnings in the area. This was in 1996, if memory serves. Anyway, the customs agent got quite belligerent and threatened to seize the dad's camera. They had quite a discussion in the customs office before he got his camera back. This was before the days of digital cameras, so losing a whole roll of film would've destroyed a lot of vacation pictures.

 

[bumbershoot]

Wow, not a warm and fuzzy Dis response. I am very familiar due to my occupation with security rules.

Gotta say...this is something that is kind of a big deal for you. If you keep taking photos it's possible you could get into serious trouble. Would you rather receive a warm and fuzzy Dis response that softens it enough that you don't see the potential problem, or a serious, real answer (or even question) that helps you see that it's not OK to keep taking such pictures?

Passport questions, this sort of question, transportation questions...these are all VERY important and serious, and deserve solid answers so people don't make huge mistakes.

And I get that your response was in response to a question, not an answer. But on our recent trip, once I saw the "no pictures" signs at Heathrow, I kind of expected them when we went from Dublin back to England on the ferry, and I definitely knew I would see them going the other direction, and it was no surprise whatsoever as we cleared US customs at Shannon airport before flying home! So it's a bit of a valid question (if only in one's mind), why someone wouldn't start to anticipate that in such an area one might not be allowed to take pictures...

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I've taken pictures in San Pedro of the Welcome Aboard, and See Ya Real Soon banners. And I've taken pictures after we've left the terminal building (around where the professional set up is) of the ship, walking down the gangway, after leaving the ship on the outside walkway between the gangway and the entrance to the custom/immigration area (top of escalator)of the supplies being loaded for the next cruise, as well as downstairs in the luggage area and after we've turned in our customs declaration paper.

No one has ever approached me to say I couldn't. And I wasn't hiding my camera.

I did not take pictures inside where the check passports and such, or on the escalator. I don't recall seeing signs telling us not to take photos, however.