So, my wedding is going to be on a cruise ship before leaving US port. The cruise stops in Cozumel, Belize, and Isla Roatan. I've seen some pretty great cruise wedding photos, so I'm sure that there will be some good images there, but we also don't really want ALL of our wedding photos to be of cruise ship décor or ship railings. So, we are thinking about getting all dressed up in our wedding attire at one of the ports and doing another photo shoot. All of these ports have some amazing beaches and scenery that we would love to have as backgrounds in our posed wedding photos. Right now, we are thinking most likely Belize.
We have been thinking of having my SIL take the photos for us, since she has a professional quality camera and we are confident that she could do a good job with it. But, I'm also considering looking into hiring a professional wedding photographer at port, since they would know the area and best spots to take photos. I'm also concerned about if permits are needed at some locations or if there spots that won't allow wedding photos, even if it's just bride, groom, and non-professional photographer. So, there could definitely be some advantages to hiring someone there. But, we are already going to be paying a lot for the shipboard photos, so I'm hesitant to spend a lot of money (especially if SIL can do it for free).
So, does anyone have any advice or experience with hiring local destination wedding photographers? Are they usually in line with US photographer pricing? Would it be worth the additional cost?