Photo Packages-Pros/Cons?

[Longjane]

We will be sailing this month, and would like to get some family photos as this will be our last time all together for quite some time. I went to the MyCruisePhotos via the link on our Royal Caribbean account page. It indicates the cost for all digital photos is $199 and the price for all digital photos and prints is $279. Not sure if things vary from ship to ship, but we will be on Freedom of the Seas.

 

Two questions. 1) If you got a photo package what was your opinion of it-pros and/or cons?

2) Has anyone gotten a better price than this? Will there likely be specials on board?

 

Thank you in advance for any insight you can give!

LongJane

[mad-dog74]

I think you will be better to buy online ahead of time. In all honestly, that seems like a good price. We usually buy the digital photos then have them printed at home. Don't have to worry about traveling with prints.

 

Ours is usually on a CD but I hear now that sometimes (maybe always) they are on a USB thumb drive?? Not sure about that.

 

To make it a better value... take tons of pics... the more you take onboard the cheaper each one is... in essence. When we buy the package, my wife tells the kids to lump it... they will be taking lots of pics.

[Pipo]

I've never purchased the All digital photos package, just the 10 digital pictures pack. And the price on board is lower than the one on line.

 

Pros: you can have the "official" picture with the captain on formal nights. They have several backgrounds where you can have all the photos that you want, including the Titanic Wood Stairs. Even my professional picture (the one I use on my LinkedIn profile and digital business card at work) is from the ship.

They also do some digital retouches before releasing them, so you usually look better on the picture. :)

[Rogueperson]

It depends. How much of a photo junky are you? When photos cost a minimum of $20.00 per photo, a handful of photos and you've reached the package limit. If you intend to have only a professional photo or two, then its not worth it, but if you love them, then its worth it. My friend on the Anthem got it for that price (I think) and he came away with 100+ photos. He was also on his honeymoon. Those photographers were aggressive.

 

But on the same vein, I was on the Grandeur last week, and there was not nearly as many photo ops and attempts like i've seen on other ship. In fact, someone on my cruise made a remark that the photo gallery seemed a bit understaffed and empty (very little photos).

[cruiselvr04]

We paid $375 last May on Liberty for all prints and thumb drive. We were in four cabins and from four states, all our children and grandchildren. To us it was worth it.

 

As we were boarding we took a picture with all of us using our cabin number. ( one of the things they do is used face recognition.) Every picture after that we used our cabin number and left with about 169 pictures.

 

Use every photo op available, in ports etc.

 

I had hired a photographer two years before that to come to the house and take pictures of all of us, it cost over that and the pictures on board were almost as good.

[luckyinpa]

i never priced pics on royal but on NCL its 10 for 250 so if you can get all pics digitally for 199 then thats fantastic. even the 279 for prints is a steal!

 

does royal charge different prices depending where the pic is taken (on the dock vs on ship etc)

[Sc00byDoo]

If yoy buy a package online before you go they guarantee that it will not be cheaper onboard.

See mycruisephotos.com for details.

 

If there is a better price or package deal onboard they will refund difference.

[drrich2]

Recently got off the Allure. Buying the all digital photo package on thumb drive was cheaper in advance online (~$250) vs. on ship (~$300, with option for $30 off if you buy within 1st few days), were on a thumb drive, and there were MANY photo op.s so you can make it well worthwhile if you take advantage of the opportunities.

 

Richard.

[Trackhead37]

We will be sailing this month, and would like to get some family photos as this will be our last time all together for quite some time. I went to the MyCruisePhotos via the link on our Royal Caribbean account page. It indicates the cost for all digital photos is $199 and the price for all digital photos and prints is $279. Not sure if things vary from ship to ship, but we will be on Freedom of the Seas.

 

Two questions. 1) If you got a photo package what was your opinion of it-pros and/or cons?

2) Has anyone gotten a better price than this? Will there likely be specials on board?

 

Thank you in advance for any insight you can give!

LongJane

 

It will not be cheaper on ship. We looked at that site before our last cruise and while there is a deal the first few days, it won't be better than the one online before the cruise. I also asked for current onboard and discount pricing on the ship we'all be traveling on next month and the online price is $20 cheaper than the sale price on the ship. It's a good deal if you want all the pictures and don't want to pay per picture. Plus with having them on a flash drive, you can do what you want with them.

[AbeFroman2]

Best price you're going to get is before you board as others have said. As for pros/cons, the pictures are of high-quality, and as it goes with many on-board package decisions, deciding how much of something you're going to want is usually the easiest ways to make a decision. Not sure about other ships, but on Anthem, there are an incredible number of photo ops.

[Rogueperson]

 

does royal charge different prices depending where the pic is taken (on the dock vs on ship etc)

 

I've noticed a difference in price between "formal" photos and informal ones. Ones on the docks and around the ship, are lower. The ones where you are dressed up, seem to be a little more. They vary between 20 and 30 bucks.

[luckyinpa]

Best price you're going to get is before you board as others have said. As for pros/cons, the pictures are of high-quality, and as it goes with many on-board package decisions, deciding how much of something you're going to want is usually the easiest ways to make a decision. Not sure about other ships, but on Anthem, there are an incredible number of photo ops.

 

is there a list of photo ops around?

[vacationlover_mn]

I agree that you should go ahead and buy in advance. That seems like a good price! I'm pretty sure that the digital pics were on a thumb drive last month on HOS.

 

There are SO MANY opportunities on board for you guys to get tons of pictures. I'm sure you won't be disappointed :)

 

However, you should make sure that all of the photos your family members get taken, are on the same "account", so that they will all be grouped together? What I mean is... on our last cruise with DH, brother in law, and brother in laws gf, we took some photos under our room number, and some under theirs. Not a big deal, because we weren't buying a package (we each just got one printout version), but if I bet we got a "digital all pictures" package, we would have been able to only get the pictures under one of our rooms, included in the deal. I could be wrong though....

[Nikki8169]

Question, if I purchase this package are all photos that I link to my cabin included? I have 4 in my cabin but kids in another cabin, will the kids in the other cabin be included in my package? If I take a photo with a friend not in my cabin, would this be included? I get mixed answers as to, as long as someone in cabin is in the pic it's included vs. Only people in cabin pic included. Can someone ease advise who's experienced this situation. Thanks:)

[Clarea]

Question, if I purchase this package are all photos that I link to my cabin included? I have 4 in my cabin but kids in another cabin, will the kids in the other cabin be included in my package? If I take a photo with a friend not in my cabin, would this be included? I get mixed answers as to, as long as someone in cabin is in the pic it's included vs. Only people in cabin pic included. Can someone ease advise who's experienced this situation. Thanks:)

Adults in another stateroom are not included.

[Kevin7kodak7]

As a former Pro Photographer. The packages are a great deal. Where else can you get that deal on land. Go for it.

 

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[sloanesq]

Just off the Allure recently and did the unlimited digital package. The price pre-cruise was $249.00. I purchased the package pre-Cruise. On board, during the first 2 or 3 days it was $14.00 per person per day based on 2 people in a cabin for a total of $196.00. They automatically refunded the difference to my account. They did link our two cabins (one with adults and one with kids). Also, you can always tell the photographer which cabin you are in before (or after) they take the pics and the pics are automatically sent to that cabin's folio. All told, we got about 230 pics.

 

A few things to keep in mind:

 

1. All the pics have a digital barcode on the bottom. It can be cropped out but that does take some time.

2. Some of the pics have borders on them. Again, you can crop (we got a July 4 border on one photo but our cruise was in August and September - go figger)

3. Pick up of the USB drive was only available on the last night of the cruise between 10:30 and 11:30 p.m.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

As a former Pro Photographer. The packages are a great deal. Where else can you get that deal on land. Go for it.

 

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Disney.

https://mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com/keepsakes/index/notlogged/

[Nikki8169]

Adults in another stateroom are not included.

 

What if my husband is in another stateroom? Sounds odd but we have 3 kids in a room with me and 2 in a room with him. Even though that's not how we'll sleep. We just can't book the teenagers in their own room. Just can't see buying 2 packages. 1 yes, 2 No:(

[Hey Tina]

What if my husband is in another stateroom? Sounds odd but we have 3 kids in a room with me and 2 in a room with him. Even though that's not how we'll sleep. We just can't book the teenagers in their own room. Just can't see buying 2 packages. 1 yes, 2 No:(

 

When you take a photo you tell the photographer your room number and they punch it in the camera.

[luckyinpa]

When you take a photo you tell the photographer your room number and they punch it in the camera.

 

i know this doesnt really apply to RCL but maybe it does in some way with their specialty places

 

on NCL in teppanyaki the 1st time i was there, they took a pic and we actually wanted to buy it. but it wasnt in the system next day when we wanted to look. no one knew why.

 

next cruise i was on with others but we stayed until the bitter end of dinner. (apparently we left before they were totally finished 1st time). they brought the pics around to show you there and you buy on the spot. i have no idea if this was a different legal photographer on his own or what but i find it weird that a pic taken on the ship wasnt in the master database or in the folder in the shop

[Kevin7kodak7]

i know this doesnt really apply to RCL but maybe it does in some way with their specialty places

 

on NCL in teppanyaki the 1st time i was there, they took a pic and we actually wanted to buy it. but it wasnt in the system next day when we wanted to look. no one knew why.

 

next cruise i was on with others but we stayed until the bitter end of dinner. (apparently we left before they were totally finished 1st time). they brought the pics around to show you there and you buy on the spot. i have no idea if this was a different legal photographer on his own or what but i find it weird that a pic taken on the ship wasnt in the master database or in the folder in the shop

Many reasons to not being in system. Could of been a bad shot, ie: someone eyes shut. Or a tech problem with it not loading onto the card. Lol, Im a legal photographer for a large law firm in CT. My days of doing table shots are long over. I find the cruise photographer's very good and work very hard at getting great photos.

 

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[notmyrealnameoremail]

What kind of resolution are the digital pictures saved at? We are thinking of getting the package for our 25th Anniversary cruise, but want to make sure we will be able to get good quality, large (at least 11" by 14") prints made from the files. Thanks. Tom

[CruiszBug]

Our experience is ongoing. We sailed on Oasis July 23. We still do not have all of our pictures. They have been sending the files slowly for the past 2 months. (Still missing our Labadee shots from the Pier...)

 

So my suggestion is, check EVERY day to ensure your photos are attached to your account. If some are missing, have the person at the photo desk find it, right then. Don't wait until the end of your cruise. It is Chaos!

 

We found that some of our photos were associated with a cabin down the hall. These people were not in our family. We were in an AquaTheatre Suite, they were in a balcony cabin. So, no rhyme or reason for that gaff. We even had some pictures of an Oriental family in our digital account. (I hope that family received their photos if they purchased.)

 

Be Vigilant! My sister had over 330 photos on her account when she bought the Digital package CD. There were only 79 pictures on her CD. Also she waaay overpaid. (She has subsequently been refunded.) If someone in your family group has purchased the Digital package (we did), then every other cabin in your family can purchase all of their digital photos for $149.

 

Good luck... don't know if we will do this again. Maybe use their backdrops, but our camera?

[Kevin7kodak7]

Our experience is ongoing. We sailed on Oasis July 23. We still do not have all of our pictures. They have been sending the files slowly for the past 2 months. (Still missing our Labadee shots from the Pier...)

 

So my suggestion is, check EVERY day to ensure your photos are attached to your account. If some are missing, have the person at the photo desk find it, right then. Don't wait until the end of your cruise. It is Chaos!

 

We found that some of our photos were associated with a cabin down the hall. These people were not in our family. We were in an AquaTheatre Suite, they were in a balcony cabin. So, no rhyme or reason for that gaff. We even had some pictures of an Oriental family in our digital account. (I hope that family received their photos if they purchased.)

 

Be Vigilant! My sister had over 330 photos on her account when she bought the Digital package CD. There were only 79 pictures on her CD. Also she waaay overpaid. (She has subsequently been refunded.) If someone in your family group has purchased the Digital package (we did), then every other cabin in your family can purchase all of their digital photos for $149.

 

Good luck... don't know if we will do this again. Maybe use their backdrops, but our camera?

Lol. Don't think you can use their backdrops with your camera. I have asked after my wife took a few photos to take a quick few with mine. Most said yes. But I usually chat up the photographer before. As a former Kodak employee and Pro Photographer might get a pass. [emoji75]

 

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