Onboard Photos

[NavyCruiser]

After sailing several other cruise lines, we're still wondering why Carnival still print out photos just like 1999?

 

We've been on other lines, where we insert our S&S/room key into slot at photo area's big screen TV, & it shows our family's photos (check in, dinner, specialty photos, etc...) on screen in high quality, then it prints only if we decide if we want to buy it/them.

 

Last week's cruise on the Magic, DW mentions while we look for our pictures among the thousands of photos on the wall, that this is still the same same when we first cruised in the early 90's. It's such a waste of photo paper, ink & work to post all those pictures on the wall, when 90% + of photos are thrown away because of their high cost ($18 for 5X7 & $23 for 8X10).

 

Although we think that the photos Carnival photographers take are great & very high quality, Thinking that if they use modern tech to reduce their costs & wastes, & thereby lower the prices, maybe more people will purchase them...

[kona_wahine]

Ivesaid the same thing before and totally agree. Such a waste. I know I'd buy more if they were less expensive. Such fun to dress up and get pictures taken but at the prices they charge just not feasible.

[ncovert]

After sailing several other cruise lines, we're still wondering why Carnival still print out photos just like 1999?

 

We've been on other lines, where we insert our S&S/room key into slot at photo area's big screen TV, & it shows our family's photos (check in, dinner, specialty photos, etc...) on screen in high quality, then it prints only if we decide if we want to buy it/them.

 

Last week's cruise on the Magic, DW mentions while we look for our pictures among the thousands of photos on the wall, that this is still the same same when we first cruised in the early 90's. It's such a waste of photo paper, ink & work to post all those pictures on the wall, when 90% + of photos are thrown away because of their high cost ($18 for 5X7 & $23 for 8X10).

 

Although we think that the photos Carnival photographers take are great & very high quality, Thinking that if they use modern tech to reduce their costs & wastes, & thereby lower the prices, maybe more people will purchase them...

 

I completely agree. Seems like this is an excellent place to cut back and reduce waste. I made a similar comment a few years back in some context (I actually think while onboard) and was told that they re-use the paper by washing it. Even it that scenario, which I am very skeptical of, they are still wasting a while bunch of ink. I would be much more willing to buy a CD with all of my photos from the cruise at say $200 than one 5X7 at the above price. Carnival has most likely done their own analysis and has decided that the way they do things is still better. Who knows maybe it will be a part of the upgrades 2.5 :D

[usafchick1980]

After sailing several other cruise lines, we're still wondering why Carnival still print out photos just like 1999?

 

We've been on other lines, where we insert our S&S/room key into slot at photo area's big screen TV, & it shows our family's photos (check in, dinner, specialty photos, etc...) on screen in high quality, then it prints only if we decide if we want to buy it/them.

 

Last week's cruise on the Magic, DW mentions while we look for our pictures among the thousands of photos on the wall, that this is still the same same when we first cruised in the early 90's. It's such a waste of photo paper, ink & work to post all those pictures on the wall, when 90% + of photos are thrown away because of their high cost ($18 for 5X7 & $23 for 8X10).

 

Although we think that the photos Carnival photographers take are great & very high quality, Thinking that if they use modern tech to reduce their costs & wastes, & thereby lower the prices, maybe more people will purchase them...

 

I completely agree..and it would make it so much easier to find your photos as well.

[sailor_jimc]

Carnival makes a LOT of money on the photos. It is one of their top on board revenue generators after alcohol sales. They have probably figured out that people are more likely to buy the photos if they are printed out and they can hold and see them. They more than make up the cost of printing those wasted pictures out. There have been many times in the last few years that this discussion has come up here and on John Heald's blog or FB page. If they were interested, they certainly could have changed to a less wasteful system by now.

 

Just be sure that if you let them take a picture its because you are most likely going to buy it. Just because they come up with a camera doesn't mean you are required to take a picture. We tell them no thank you all the time. Sometimes we add .. we don't want a picture taken here... then its one less wasted print... If everyone would do this there would be less wasted paper.

[Lovefuninthesun]

But we would miss out on the entertainment value looking at the wall o' pix and identifying the truly awful, awkward, goofy, scary and photo-bombed ones!:eek:

 

Last cruise we literally laughed 'til we cried looking at some standouts in the sea of photos -- hysterical! :D

[NavyCruiser]

Carnival makes a LOT of money on the photos. It is one of their top on board revenue generators after alcohol sales. They have probably figured out that people are more likely to buy the photos if they are printed out and they can hold and see them. They more than make up the cost of printing those wasted pictures out. There have been many times in the last few years that this discussion has come up here and on John Heald's blog or FB page. If they were interested, they certainly could have changed to a less wasteful system by now.

 

Just be sure that if you let them take a picture its because you are most likely going to buy it. Just because they come up with a camera doesn't mean you are required to take a picture. We tell them no thank you all the time. Sometimes we add .. we don't want a picture taken here... then its one less wasted print... If everyone would do this there would be less wasted paper.

 

True.

We say "No, Thanks" all the time to the photographers, with the thought that we'll probably won't be buying the wasted printed picture; esp of the touristy gangway, pirate, ship's wheel, etc, pictures.

 

But with today's digital pictures, we would love to take more pictures, then review them privately & leisurely on the TV in our cabin later. If they can track your S&S spending accounts, your booked onboard activities, & your specialty restaurants reservations (already avail on other cruise lines), then they can link your photos...

 

Again, they can still make $$$ if there's no printing cost & we'll buy more pics if the prices were more reasonable...

[SadieN]

We'd buy photos if we could group the together and look at all of them at the end of the cruise.

 

HAL does this. Doesn't have to be anything special. One ship had us put our photos into a pocket protector in a huge binder.

Another ship re-used manilla envelopes stored in a plastic bin.

[NCTribeFan]

This subject comes up fairly frequently.

 

What we were told during a Behind the Fun tour (on Miracle, 12/2009) when asked about the waste while we were visiting the photo lab, was that they felt people were much more inclined to purchase when they had that hard copy in their hand. It far outweighed the cost of printing the photos that were discarded.

 

I'd really prefer they didn't print them. I very rarely purchase.

 

But I do have photos taken and then get a good laugh at myself before I trash them! It is much more entertaining than a lot of the ship activities! :p

[Not_Done_Living]

we paid Disney $199 and got a digital copy of over 500 pics for the 7 days we were there.

 

We Paid $199 to Carnival an got 8 photos (well and a key chain, a postcard and a magnet i think?)

[ncovert]

we paid Disney $199 and got a digital copy of over 500 pics for the 7 days we were there.

 

We Paid $199 to Carnival an got 8 photos (well and a key chain, a postcard and a magnet i think?)

 

... and there is our answer :D Makes sense to me why Carnival would want to keep it that way.

[dd2355]

What we were told during a Behind the Fun tour (on Miracle, 12/2009) when asked about the waste while we were visiting the photo lab, was that they felt people were much more inclined to purchase when they had that hard copy in their hand. It far outweighed the cost of printing the photos that were discarded.

 

This. The costs of printing the photos is minimal. The equipment is already aboard, just the paper & supplies.

 

With physical prints they're able to create a sense of urgency and scarcity not as easily achieved with a kiosk. The photos are right there in front of you, hard not to stop and look as you walk by. Better act quick before they take them down!

[YubaSutter]

If Carnival started using a kiosk system for photos, how will people take photos of the photos to take home?:D

[cruzinlisa]

carnival makes a lot of money on the photos. It is one of their top on board revenue generators after alcohol sales. They have probably figured out that people are more likely to buy the photos if they are printed out and they can hold and see them. They more than make up the cost of printing those wasted pictures out. There have been many times in the last few years that this discussion has come up here and on john heald's blog or fb page. If they were interested, they certainly could have changed to a less wasteful system by now.

 

Just be sure that if you let them take a picture its because you are most likely going to buy it. Just because they come up with a camera doesn't mean you are required to take a picture. We tell them no thank you all the time. Sometimes we add .. We don't want a picture taken here... Then its one less wasted print... If everyone would do this there would be less wasted paper.

 

this

[saxgirl84]

we sailed on the NCL Getaway in May and loved their photo system after missing out on several of our pictures on the NCL Sky last year. They have a folder that is assigned to you and linked to your room #. The folder # is printed on your room key, and when the photographers take your pictures, they ask for your room #. you can go to the folder throughout the cruise to see your photos, but you also have to check the kiosk, as they don't print them all.

the only pictures you had to "search" for were from the water slides and the ropes course, but they had those listed by date/time of day which made it much easier to find.

 

They also "give away" free photos during some of their games, like Bingo and Deal or No Deal, which is the only reason we left the ship with any of the pictures, as I refuse to pay the prices they charge, not sure if Carnival does anything like that to get people "in the door" to start looking through their pictures.

[NavyCruiser]

we paid Disney $199 and got a digital copy of over 500 pics for the 7 days we were there.

 

We Paid $199 to Carnival an got 8 photos (well and a key chain, a postcard and a magnet i think?)

 

In the long term, which cruise will more people think will be more memorable & which one they think that's greedy who's nickle & dime your cruise experience?

[margiandmike]

I was on a Royal Caribbean cruise a year or two ago and they still print them and have the wall of pictures. I think it's fun to try to find your pictures and to look at some other peoples pictures along the way. If it makes them tons of money, why would they change it?

[RWolver672]

The cost of those pictures aren't as unreasonable as most people think. Try going to a photographer and ask for one picture to be taken. First off, they'll charge you "X" amount of dollars just for the sitting. Then they won't sell you just one photo. You'll wind up buying a package that will cost you an arm and a leg. We still have tons of baby pictures of our grown boys left over from when we had to buy a package to get the few that we wanted.

[Not_Done_Living]

Sears and Wal-Mart do packages for $30 these days.

[Selivsey]

The cost of those pictures aren't as unreasonable as most people think. Try going to a photographer and ask for one picture to be taken. First off, they'll charge you "X" amount of dollars just for the sitting. Then they won't sell you just one photo. You'll wind up buying a package that will cost you an arm and a leg. We still have tons of baby pictures of our grown boys left over from when we had to buy a package to get the few that we wanted.

 

That's not really true anymore. It's not hard to find a great photographer who will charge a flat fee (we got our amazing engagement photo package for $50 TOTAL) for the session and for all digital photos (with a photo release so you can print off as many as you want for cheap). I find the cruise photos to be the biggest rip off out there. The backdrops are usually super ugly (IMO, I know others disagree) and I'd far rather have a digital photo I can post directly to social media for my friends and family to see. Plus, with the great technology we have now, it's easier than ever to take high quality photos yourself. I'd never even consider purchasing a cruise photo. That's just me though, I know others have treasured collections of photos.

[hamgela]

But we would miss out on the entertainment value looking at the wall o' pix and identifying the truly awful, awkward, goofy, scary and photo-bombed ones!:eek:

 

Last cruise we literally laughed 'til we cried looking at some standouts in the sea of photos -- hysterical! :D

 

This is us. We have had so much fun laughing until we cried over our photos. A couple of years ago my oldest son was having a really hard time smiling in the photos. He had braces and was not big on 'smiling' with his braces. Every picture when he smiled looked so ridiculous. He looked horrified instead of happy. We couldn't stop cracking up. We wound up buying several photos. :)

[avandrie]

My husband and I have a theory on this... Who likes the idea that a cute picture of their family/kid/grandma/wife is about to go through the shredder, or unceremoniously be thrown away. Ok, it does sound kind of funny, but seriously... ;)

 

 

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[chef5674]

My biggest complaint is that it's too hard to find pictures in a sea of thousands. I had saved several on our last cruise and when we went back to look and decide if we wanted to buy, they all were moved again and after looking for 10 minutes I just gave up.

 

 

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[Cruisian]

I think I can answer some of this.

 

I've been a ship's photographer for many years. Not any more though. I've been on countless ships and cruise lines, and most operate pretty much the same. That's because there are really only a handful of concession operators in the industry. Some cruise lines operate their own photography department, but even then, those are run by people who used to work for one of the other companies, so you know how they got their training.

 

Some of the comments listed above me are true, and some are not. Let me dispel some rumours and false misconceptions. First, unsold photos are indeed tossed out / incinerated / recycled...however you want to describe it. The paper is never reused. That's not possible. Second, the photography business on board is no where near as profitable as the bars. It's not second in line or even third. It's a reasonably profitable business, but the photographers themselves are not earning that much. The cruise line gets the majority of the profit, and the business owner gets a chunk, and then the rest is split amongst the photographers, in order of rank.

 

Yes, the photos are printed with the expectation that it's more likely that you'll buy it if you can hold it in your hands. Viewing the photos in the privacy of your stateroom is not something that would likely generate sales. In fact, it's quite likely that once you've seen it on a screen, you're pretty much done with it. And in some cases, pax will simply take a photo of the photo with their high-end smart phone or digital camera. Then the photographers earn nothing.

 

A simple print - your typical 5x7 or 6x8 type with the logo - costs about 10 cents to print, in pure supply costs. That doesn't include labour or overhead. Just paper and chemicals (or ink). So tossing out a few thousand prints that didn't sell - it's just part of the business. You're paying $10 - $15 a print now, because the photographers are only selling about 10 - 15% of the prints they make. The rest are tossed out and factored into the cost of running the business.

 

Back in the 'old days' before digital cameras, we didn't really expect pax to take photos of the photos like they do now. People didn't typically walk around with a camera all day back then. Back then, the biggest concern was blatant theft. The galleries can get quite busy around meal times, and there are only so many staff in the gallery to watch the boards. We built in an expected theft rate of 10-15% into the prices of the prints.

 

Now, with every phone and tablet having a built-in camera, everyone is capable of take a photo any time, day or night. It was pretty common every day to have to ask some guest to delete the photo they just took of the photos on the wall.

 

Some cruise lines are finding new technological solutions to the print-and-display conundrum. But the amount of work required to manage those systems is high, and it really involves the willing (and capable) participation of the cruise guest. Personally, I think the simple solution would be to not charge for the photos directly. I think the cruise lines should include it into the cost of the cruise (about $10 - $20 pp) and if you see a photo of yourself on the wall, it's yours to keep. Enjoy. If you want additional copies - that will be the typical charge for printing that you'd pay back home. Formal portraiture costs a sitting fee. Simple.

 

Some advice on how to deal with the photographers....

 

These poor souls are just trying to make a living. Since most of them earn their income based completely on commission - no salary - they need to sell some photos to make some money. While it's true that ships can (and some do) survive quite fine without a photography department, they are here to stay. Amusement parks, all-inclusive resorts - every place with a captive audience will have them.

 

When a photographer asks you to let them take your photo, please let them. It's not painful, and only takes a second of your time. They are working fast and have a lot of people to get through. And if you say no, then everyone else that is within earshot of you will also say no. Crowd mentality plays a big part. And some of those people near you, actually may have wanted that photo opportunity, but just went along with what others were doing. And untaken photos can't be taken again later. Sure, it can be intrusive at dinner, or when there is a long line up. But really, it's just a few seconds.

 

Even if you don't have ANY intention of buying a photo, it's harmless to do it anyway. Please be patient and try not to get upset if you're asked repeatedly through the cruise. Eventually, we would get to know who always says no, and we just move past you. But we can't remember everyone. But we always remember the nice ones. :)

 

Also, finding photos on the walls is a never-ending task. If you find yourself, take it down, and bring it to the desk. If you are sure you don't want it, tell them to discard it. They will appreciate gaining the wall space for other photos. If you are uncertain if you want to buy it, just ask them to hold it for you, until you've gathered your whole set, and you can look at them later when you've got them all. They'd appreciate that too.

 

And yes, photos are moved. Every day. New photos are taken every day, and they need to be displayed. The older photos are removed, when there is not enough room to display them all. But they are still available to be looked at, if you ask. Thats another good reason to take them down when you see them the first time.

 

OK, end of rant. ;)

[KLD1019]

i agree with the OP. I also wish there was a way to access your photos online AFTER the cruise. i completely forgot about one picture we took (the very first one on the very first day before getting on the ship) and didnt remember about it until about a week or 2 later. yeah, made me mad because it was the one picture i really wanted. :o