Hal - all-inclusive digital photo package

[magictam]

Can someone clarify what black label pictures are? I thought those were the gala “formal” pictures. And ship services says those pictures are not included. I’m hoping to get dressed up for picture with the backdrops.

 

 

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[leanstostarboard]

Black Label photos are black & white portraits taken at a privately scheduled photo shoot. We did these a few years ago and although the quality and posing of the photos was excellent, I found the price to be much higher than I expected.

[magictam]

Black Label photos are black & white portraits taken at a privately scheduled photo shoot. We did these a few years ago and although the quality and posing of the photos was excellent, I found the price to be much higher than I expected.

 

 

 

Thank you ever so much. That makes much more sense. I’m definitely buying the photo package before I get on the ship. Thanks again.

 

 

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[roberts2005]

Does not appear to be available on Westerdam for an upcoming cruise.

[Crusinsusan2]

The Black and White prices/packages, wait time to get back home to you are RIDICULOUS! Unfortunately we found this out after scheduling and dressing for a photo session with our aging family members thinking this was something we could take home with us. The proof's were lovely and then the sales pitch for a USB of the session was around $1500.00 for the photos taken. (we were not interested in purchasing individual pre-framed /large laminated gooey fireplace pieces shipped to our home at insane pricing) Would have happily paid for even 5 photos to take home either printed or on USB and neither was an option according to the sales team. This was on Westerdam 3 years ago. Hopefully the policy has changed since then. Insist on pricing before you waste your time with The Black and White sales team. Lesson learned by our family!

[grsnovi]

We generally get dressed to the nines and DW likes the on board photography mostly because we never have other opportunities for fancy/formal photographs. One year we sat through the pitch for the "Black Label" shots and decided that there was no reason that they would be worth the significant up charge. I know that HAL has changed the contract for their photographers a few years ago and I don't remember when we last investigated this option but I know that I routinely dismiss the sales pitch when it gets made.

[dce85]

How many days before sailing were you able to purchase the photo package?  I’m sailing on the Nieuw Statendam in Jan. And it isn’t showing on the website yet.  I called today and was told it will only be available on board.  I’d like to buy before we board if it saves money.  Typically we don’t buy any pictures.

[Cruise Suzy]

3 hours ago, dce85 said:

How many days before sailing were you able to purchase the photo package?  I’m sailing on the Nieuw Statendam in Jan. And it isn’t showing on the website yet.  I called today and was told it will only be available on board.  I’d like to buy before we board if it saves money.  Typically we don’t buy any pictures.

 

It shows up under Gifts & Indulgences for my February Koningsdam cruise. $99

[dce85]

Thanks....not showing for my cruise. It will be interesting to see if it becomes available.

[flyrobinfly]

We are doing the horseback ride on HMC in January and I understand they often have a ship photographer getting shots of people riding in the ocean. Are these considered candids that would be included in the photo package? 

 

[faerievert]

Any idea if these digital photo packages are still a thing? Eurodam Feb 3, 2019 Hawaii 17-night.  It’s not in the HAL pre-cruise upsell website I can find. We did the unlimited photo package on our last cruise two years ago and loved it. Would much prefer a digital-only option for a lower price-point! 

[Cruise Suzy]

It no longer shows up for our February cruise on Koningsdam. dce85 posted (#32) it will be available onboard.

[Johnmike1234]

I called today they told me they are no longer offering it hope they were wrong maybe someone knows if it is still being offered on the ship John

[Scrapgoddess]

On 10/24/2018 at 3:40 PM, dce85 said:

How many days before sailing were you able to purchase the photo package?  I’m sailing on the Nieuw Statendam in Jan. And it isn’t showing on the website yet.  I called today and was told it will only be available on board.  I’d like to buy before we board if it saves money.  Typically we don’t buy any pictures.

We are on the Nieuw Statendam in October I would love to know how you made out with photo packages on you're cruise and your impressions of the ship

 

[FOPMan]

We were on B2Bs (booked as a 14 day cruise) on the K at the end of December. We paid $99 and got all pictures on a USB stick.

 

We purchased it online prior to boarding. I don’t think it was offered once aboard.

 

We did have a problem, however. They used an old profile pic for our ship’s ID, and facial recognition ended up not working. We had to spend time going through all pictures and finding ours.

 

if you buy the package, stop by the shop to activate it once aboard. 

[flyrobinfly]

I purchased the $99 package a couple months before our January sailing on Koningsdam and am really glad I did. On the ship it was advertised at $299!

 

We received our images on a HAL liner shaped USB. We were in hurry and didn't check before disembarking and when we got home realized our HMC excursion photos were missing. I called HAL's Photo Department and they tracked them down and sent them to us, so kudos.

[faerievert]

I've been checking online several times a week, but there's been no sign of a photo package for our cruise on Feb 3. Wonder what our price will be onboard?

[Family Cruise 15]

Has anyone seen this on Panama Canal cruises lately???  I would love to preorder this and have all the pictures!

[fatcat04]

Just an update. There was no $99 or even $149 pkg on our NA 7 day cruise last week. The choice of all hard copy or all digital was $319.95 with both being $379.95. We ended up getting it just because my mil paid half of the cost and this was a once in a lifetime cruise for her plus we had our picture taken everywhere but I can't see our family ever paying that ridiculous price again. We will just get one family portrait and call it quits. 

Edit: Also, it is cabin based so someone from that one cabin must be in every pic for it to be included. 

Edited February 17, 2019 by fatcat04

[dce85]

We had the same experience.  No bargain digital package on our January cruise.  We liked the ship (but we also liked the Koningsdam).  It was a great cruise for our family.   We had 3 low end verandas in a row and opened the balconies up. I like the brightness of the newer ships.

[1964IceCreamLady]

We bought the $99 package on the Kdam Holiday.  I thought it was a terrible purchase.  We got a total of 5 photos, none good.  We ACTIVELY sought out photographers, and never could find them.  It was like they were dodging us.  This was our family of 5.  Seriously, I would constantly go through the photo area, which was VERY close to our cabin, and ask about a photographer, and they were always "off."  Our own photos were MUCH better.  Just ask someone to take a photo of you.

Edited March 31, 2019 by 1964IceCreamLady

[faerievert]

29 minutes ago, 1964IceCreamLady said:

, I would constantly go through the photo area, which was VERY close to our cabin, and ask about a photographer, and they were always "off."  

Unfortunately, the photographers are not in the photo gallery available for portraits. They set up on the dock in ports in the mornings and near the central elevators with a backdrop most evenings. They also visit the MDR on gala nights (gala nights have 4 backdrops, other nights just one).

 

Hours are listed in the daily schedule, but it’s generally evening dinner hours.

 

We bought an unlimited package and tried to get pictures every opportunity. Most days we would do happy hour and hang out until 5:30 or so, dress up for dinner, get photos before I messed up my makeup, then go to eat dinner.  

 

All that said, the quality of the photos both in print and digital was far lower than our previous cruise. It was still worth it to me because we really enjoyed working with the photographers and got a handful of shots I love. But it’s much harder for me to recommend seeing the deterioration in quality of that service. 

[simplyrubies]

17 hours ago, faerievert said:

All that said, the quality of the photos both in print and digital was far lower than our previous cruise. It was still worth it to me because we really enjoyed working with the photographers and got a handful of shots I love. But it’s much harder for me to recommend seeing the deterioration in quality of that service. 

 

Out of curiosity, how much did you pay for the unlimited package and approx how many pictures did you receive in the end? We will be sailing on the K-dam this June but haven't been able to see a bargain package in our booking, so I'm thinking that it'll be the $319 all-inclusive package. We've done photos with RCL and have really enjoyed that (as we came home with two huge folders of pictures) but I'm disappointed to hear that the quality is so low. It might be worth it to do the portraiture package instead seeing as we can simply ask others to take "candid" pictures for us.

[OVgirl]

@simplyrubies as long as you know that the black white portraits are very, very, very expensive. Formal portraits like that can be done at home too.

[simplyrubies]

@OVgirl

Ah, it appears that I'm a bit confused - I was thinking more about the pictures that ship photographers take for you at gala nights and at various backdrops around the boat rather than a formal appointment session. Perhaps things are done differently on HAL?

 

On RCL, they would have photographers in the Promenade on gala and non-gala nights to take pictures of people - you could do group or individual shots. We really enjoyed that and are hoping to get that done again and will consider whichever package allows for that to be done (pretty sure it's going to be the all-inclusive option).