Photo file sizes?

[Dani24]

I saw a report elsewhere that someone purchased the photo package and when they got home realized all of their photos were 1MB or smaller. Certainly not big enough to print much more than a 4x6 most likely.

I've been back and forth on purchasing the photo package. I'm curious as to others experiences. Were your photo file sizes on the USB stick also really small?

 

And do you get all of the printed copies of the photos with the package (at least that way they could be scanned at a higher resolution).

[doverboy]

I have only purchased actual prints from ship photographer.  Don't need every shot nor would I want a thumb drive.  Take a camera with you, don't depend on your cell phone.  My picture of Denali, without clouds, blew up to a 24X30. No way a cell phone goe that large

[Dani24]

1 minute ago, doverboy said:

I have only purchased actual prints from ship photographer.  Don't need every shot nor would I want a thumb drive.  Take a camera with you, don't depend on your cell phone.  My picture of Denali, without clouds, blew up to a 24X30. No way a cell phone goe that large

 

I have a high end camera for taking pictures, but am considering the photo package for posed pictures of our family from professional photographers. My camera isn't made for selfies (and I'm not a huge fan of them anyway). And handing off my camera to a stranger to take pictures of us can be challenging. People often take horribly composed photos (cutting off limbs, centering faces in the very middle of the frame, no regard for the background, etc.) I mean, I do it anyway because sometimes it's the only way to get a family picture. But since I'm always the one behind the camera I like having some well composed shots that include me, DH and our daughter.

 

So I'm only concerned about the resolution of the pictures the ship's photographer's take (and then are loaded onto a USB drive with the photo package). If I can expect the resolution to be poor, I won't bother with the package. I'll just buy one or two prints that I like and scan them at home.
 

[doverboy]

That would be my choice.  Alaska has some vistas (many actually) which will require the largest zoom you can afford.  Denali was 30+ miles away from where the bus stops. the whales can be close by or a hundred yards away.  i asked on a Hawaii cruise to have my memory card printed and the "lead" photographer wanted to know why I shot everything in RAW. His assistant said, "because he knows what he is doing". so much for the ship photographer. Take a point and shoot along with your real camera and hand off the point and shoot.  You have to try to mess up pictures with one of those

[RSF Cruiser]

You get the hard copy and a small digital file for the photos taken by the ship’s photographers. I make photo journals and the files are fine for that. They are generally in the kb size, rarely mb. That said, it’s fun getting the all inclusive photo program. The photographers het to know you, and often do fun shots. 

[XBGuy]

Dani, this is not going to really help you, but the truth is its own justification.

 

On a Ruby Princess cruise in 2017 I bought four photographs.  I was given both hard copy and files on the USB drive.  I just looked at those files on my PC's disk.  Three of them are "about" 1MB.  One of them is 3.5MB.  I have no idea why one of them is so much bigger.

 

Good luck.

[Jezabel2924]

We have purchased the package for our cruises for the last 4 years and love it.  I have had the same issues with handing my nice camera off to someone for photos.....very poor photos....so we like to have photos taken.  I make albums online from our trips and really only want the digital copies.  I just checked our drives from the last couple of cruises for the picture size.  It ranges from 450kb to 3.5mb depending on the type of picture and the ship.  Photos from the Star were larger than those from the Regal.   I've had no issues blowing any of them up for my albums which are 11" x 14" so some of the prints were 8 X 10.  We don't buy many souvenirs.  I figure that the pictures are my best souvenir .

[Thrak]

I would speak with the photography department once on the ship and base the decision on what they have to tell you. You may be able to arrange for higher quality digital images. I would suggest bringing your own flash drive if you want a bunch of high quality images. It certainly can't hurt to ask the staff onboard and you are far more likely to get a realistic answer from them than from calling Princess.

[Dani24]

Is the price pre-cruise the same as on board? Or is the price refundable on board if I book it now but them cancel once I've had a chance to talk to the photography department on the ship?

[RSF Cruiser]

The cost is $199 precruise and $249 on the ship. My e experience  is they will credit you if you cancel the first day. 

[caribill]

10 hours ago, Dani24 said:

I saw a report elsewhere that someone purchased the photo package and when they got home realized all of their photos were 1MB or smaller. Certainly not big enough to print much more than a 4x6 most likely.

I've been back and forth on purchasing the photo package. I'm curious as to others experiences. Were your photo file sizes on the USB stick also really small?

 

And do you get all of the printed copies of the photos with the package (at least that way they could be scanned at a higher resolution).

 

Which is what I do.

[Daniel A]

I have twice gotten photos on the USB drive shaped like a ship.  In both instances, none of my 4 computers will even recognize that a USB drive was plugged in which of course prevents me from seeing any of the photos on the drives.  Anyone else experience this?  Any suggestions?

[geoherb]

I managed to go two weeks on the Island without the photographers taking my photo. I've gotten very good at setting up the timer on my camera for selfies. It's easier when DH is with me, but I managed to get some good ones on these cruises where I sailed solo. 

[XBGuy]

2 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I have twice gotten photos on the USB drive shaped like a ship.  In both instances, none of my 4 computers will even recognize that a USB drive was plugged in which of course prevents me from seeing any of the photos on the drives.  Anyone else experience this?  Any suggestions?

 

Wow.  Four different computers.

 

I was given one of those "shaped like a ship" USB drives, and it worked fine for me.  In my case, I have a PC that is less than two years old and I am running Windows 10.

 

The only thing that comes to mind is that all four of your PCs are fairly old.  It seems unlikely, however.  The USB specification has evolved over the years.  If the device you received is USB, and all your computers have, say, USB 2.0 ports, that would be a problem.

 

Do you have any USB sticks that work with your computers?  If so, I would suggest that you take the one that Princess gave you and load it on a different computer--a friend's, for example.  Then, mount a stick that you know works on your computer, and dump the files onto it.

 

[Roatanfans]

We did the package in December- ended up with almost 300 pictures so it was a fantastic deal for us.  I digitally scrapbook and the digital files worked beautifully even when I enlarged them (I print 12" x 12" scrapbooks).  It appears most of the pictures are around 740 kb, and we got them on a ship usb, which worked without any issues.

[Daniel A]

27 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

The only thing that comes to mind is that all four of your PCs are fairly old.  It seems unlikely, however.  The USB specification has evolved over the years.  If the device you received is USB, and all your computers have, say, USB 2.0 ports, that would be a problem.

 

Do you have any USB sticks that work with your computers? 

I have no problems using USB sticks on any of the computers.  All four are Windows 10.  I just got a new desktop that I haven't set up yet.  Maybe that one will recognize the 'ships.'

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

Edited July 6, 2019 by Daniel A

[XBGuy]

9 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I have no problems using USB sticks on any of the computers.  All four are Windows 10.  I just got a new desktop that I haven't set up yet.  Maybe that one will recognize the 'ships.'

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

 

Mysterious.

 

I certainly wish you good luck.

[Daniel A]

4 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

 

Mysterious.

 

I certainly wish you good luck.

I think the problem may be that the plastic part of the ship prevents the USB from properly seating.  The computers don't even recognize a USB was inserted.  Maybe I'll try shaving them down.

[XBGuy]

2 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I think the problem may be that the plastic part of the ship prevents the USB from properly seating.  The computers don't even recognize a USB was inserted.  Maybe I'll try shaving them down.

 

Reasonable idea,

[richmke]

Seems like it is a camera setting whether you get a 300k or a 3mb file.