All inclusive photo package

[rubydouble]

is it worth it?
how much photo do you really get from that package for a 5-day sailing?

[georgiacat]

We purchased the all inclusive photo package for our British Isles cruise last year for about $119 (I think) for a 12 day trip.  I thought it was worth it.  I make memory albums of photos and souvenirs when we get back for our big trips, so I can enjoy them again.  You get all of the photos that the ship people take (except for studio sittings), formal nights, boarding, debarking at ports with the characters (if you are there when they are), restaurants sittings, groups that you are in.  We received more than 50 hard copy photos and a memory stick (they provided with first photo) of all of them for loading on your computer or making reprints, etc.  You needed to bring back memory stick whenever you wanted to pick up photos, and we had to find ourselves (hard copy photos) on the display racks.  Someone helped us a little there.

 

Do not wait to the end of the trip to find all of your photos.  They do purge the old ones.

 

I plan to purchase the all inclusive package again for our Mediterranean cruise in 2020 of 14 days.  I notice the price is now $249.  I hope they will have a Black Friday sale or something.  The price pre-cruise is less expensive than waiting for on the ship.

 

The price of individual pictures used to be about $20 (for 8x10).  I think it may be about $25 now.  And you have to decide which pictures you want and which you do not.  With the all inclusive, you can wait until later and throw away the rejects or give them to your children.

[rubydouble]

Thank you for the reply.  It is now $249 for 5 days sailing as well. So, i guess they didn't do Per day price.  I would do it for a 14 days sailing.  For 5 days?? On the fence currently.

 

[dara90210]

Our niece bought it for her family on our Alaska 2017 cruise.  It was well worth it for all the photos she got.  We usually never stop when getting off the ship for the cheesy photo ops, but since she had the package we stopped for all of them.  

[Katwoman007]

We did a 10 day and came back with tons of photos. However, we made sure to take ALL the photos we could, every night. The photo people knew us and we all had so much fun. Not many were taking the daily photos at night, so they were ready for us. We did a few different together, a few singles at each station, which was at least 3 a night. Formal nights (we had two) had a few more. Plus our ports. We also did puppies in the piazza, which added a few more. hahaha 

if you plan to run around being silly and just having fun it is totally worth it. We just knew with 2 formal nights and wanting each port photo, it was going to be close to the online pre purchase rate. 😉  

not sure if I would do it for a 5. For our 5 day, we only bought 2 photos. 1 formal and one in Cabo. lol

[toescat]

We did the photo package last year and we are so happy we did.  It was well worth it.  My bother and his wife cruised with us and It was to be his last cruise as he is stage 4, but here we are 14 months later and he is planning to go on our June 12 2020 cruise.  We did not take any pictures this past May when we went back up to Alaska but since he is cruising with me again I will buy the photo package.  

 

[Valiamo]

On 10/28/2019 at 6:58 AM, rubydouble said:

Thank you for the reply.  It is now $249 for 5 days sailing as well. So, i guess they didn't do Per day price.  I would do it for a 14 days sailing.  For 5 days?? On the fence currently.

 

When the price was on sale at $99 or $119, it was an outstanding deal.  Looking at the $249 price for our upcoming 15 day cruise, does not make it attractive enough to purchase.   I cannot understand why it is the same price if your cruise is 5 days or 15 days.

 

On our last long Princess cruise we got the $99 package for a 14 nights.  We came home with around 50 photos, and there are exactly 8 photos that we have used (1 embarking, 4 ports , 1 cruise stats photo and 1 formal dining pic).  While on-board we spent our evenings seeking out the photographers for additional poses (which, almost 3 years later,  are still in the same plastic bag as we brought them home in) and we have never looked at them again.  It was worth getting them at ~$15 each, but would never be worth the approx $25 each now. 

 

At most I will get and use the Embarking, cruise stats and formal night pictures, which if purchase separately will cost $75.

[jennybenny]

We get it for special cruises, with mom, or we’ve gotten it for a couple of holiday cruises but as friends have been joining us they don’t necessarily enjoy all the photos so we don’t always get it

 

It’s worthwhile to us for a 10-15 day cruise (Which is what we tend to book) but wouldn’t do for a 7 day or less unless we were celebrating something special 

[Peckishpixie]

I have bought the packages before. I also found that most of the photos stayed in the plastic wrapper. Instead we take advantage of all the photo ops and then choose 3 or 4 photos we really love to take home and frame. I might try the package again now that it includes digital copies but I cant justify all those prints hanging out in my house and taking up space.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree about the $99 price Princess offered a couple of years ago.

It was well worth it.

We did get a $199 for a 21 day cruise in the past.

Now the price is way too high.

[suers515]

We did the photo package 3 years ago when we cruised with our 15 and 18 year old.  I don't know what the price was. We told them we get all the pictures and we should take as many as we can.  They were good sports (considering that they really don't like to get their pictures taken.) I wasn't feeling well one of the days and my husband and kids took a picture together to surprise me and it is my favorite.  We then took the digital photos and went to shutterfly (coupons from Princess at the time) and bought a coffee table book and a mug.

 

We are going on a cruise in less than 2 weeks.  We decided to buy the package again.  No kids this time but parents, siblings and friends.  Most photos range from $15 to $25.  If we get more than 10-15 photos it is definitely worth it.  I then don't have to agonize on the ship on which ones are best.  😀

[mamkmm2]

We just did that for our New England/Canada 10-day cruise.  We took advantage of all of the photo opportunities.  Every night had at least two photo stops set up.  We came back with an excess of 300 photos to choose from for gifts (we usually give one to my parents and one to our kids), for our cruise memory album, and for me to use for our scrapbooks.  PLUS we also got them all digitally.  

 

It depends on what you like to do.  If photos aren’t your thing, or you’redoing  several cruises in one year, the package might not be worth it to you but my husband and I have fun with it.  Just paying what they’re asking for the port photos can really add up.

[Cruise Raider]

We were just on a 10 night sailing and it was $139 for unlimited photos plus the memory stick.  There are always photographers taking photos of something (boarding, sail away, dining, ports, etc) and you can ask them to take pictures at every turn.  We saw this girl getting over 100 photos for $139 plus a memory stick.  We bought two photos and it was almost $50 ... and that wasn’t for any formal sittings but just the boarding photo, which we always get and one port photo.  
I think that was a great deal for those that want some photos.  It might be cheaper if you buy the package on the first day ... maybe it’s in a coupon book or something.  I paid about a third for two pictures than this girl next to me paid for 100 photos.  I didn’t really want more photos but if you, that’s the way to go!  

[Redwing55]

14 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

We were just on a 10 night sailing and it was $139 for unlimited photos plus the memory stick.  There are always photographers taking photos of something (boarding, sail away, dining, ports, etc) and you can ask them to take pictures at every turn.  We saw this girl getting over 100 photos for $139 plus a memory stick.  We bought two photos and it was almost $50 ... and that wasn’t for any formal sittings but just the boarding photo, which we always get and one port photo.  
I think that was a great deal for those that want some photos.  It might be cheaper if you buy the package on the first day ... maybe it’s in a coupon book or something.  I paid about a third for two pictures than this girl next to me paid for 100 photos.  I didn’t really want more photos but if you, that’s the way to go!  

$139!!!   That's a good deal.  I wonder if they'll offer another package.  We got lucky a few years back when they had a $99 promo ( Someone above also so noted.) along with a couple of other freebies.  IMO, it shows that there is a price point that will snag a few more folks.  With digital options, one could hope for it possibly resurfacing again.🤞

Edited October 31, 2019 by Redwing55

[angie7911922]

I do like those packages. Cause otherwise there is always someone missing in the pictures. But I think I would not pay $249.... I guess it all depends also where you are going.

[GottaLuvCruising]

We bought it for our spring break cruise in March.  We had our granddaughters and figured we'd easily get our money's worth.  We did.  Now are we going to paper the walls with the 177 pictures?  

We are taking the girls on spring break again this year, but no photo package.  

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Redwing55 said:

$139!!!   That's a good deal.  I wonder if they'll offer another package.  We got lucky a few years back when they had a $99 promo ( Someone above also so noted.) along with a couple of other freebies.  IMO, it shows that there is a price point that will snag a few more folks.  With digital options, one could hope for it possibly resurfacing again.🤞

 

I'd never really paid attention to the package price before as we usually only purchase the embarkation photo and have them print it up on one of the frames with the cruise itinerary and date.  However, I was standing in line to pick up my photo on the last day of the sailing and the girl ahead of me had stacks and stacks of photos ... at first I thought she may have worked for Princess but she was telling me she was getting all those photos along with the flash drive.  I said, that is going to cost you a fortune, which is when she told me about the package they purchased.  I thought she was smart ... making out like a bandit!!  Less than $1.50 a picture ... mine one picture alone was $25 ... which is completely ridiculous but it's our traditional splurge.  

Since we usually just travel with the two of us, I really can't see getting 100 more pictures of just us.  I mean, really, who can have that many pictures of themselves??  

[suers515]

12 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Since we usually just travel with the two of us, I really can't see getting 100 more pictures of just us.  I mean, really, who can have that many pictures of themselves??  

 

I totally agree for 2 it may not be worth it but when traveling with my family (4 of us) or extended (6-10) it makes sense.  You might be more willing to take group and individual shots.  I got some great ones of my kids last time.  Some formal, some more casual.  I then didn't have to worry about which ones to get and not.  I don't think when we did it three years ago it was $250 but again for a lot of people traveling together and taking pictures, I feel it is worth it.  As long as one of us from the cabin is in the picture.  

 

They also did care if it was a picture of our kids since it was obvious we were traveling as a family. 

[Cruise Raider]

1 minute ago, suers515 said:

 

I totally agree for 2 it may not be worth it but when traveling with my family (4 of us) or extended (6-10) it makes sense.  You might be more willing to take group and individual shots.  I got some great ones of my kids last time.  Some formal, some more casual.  I then didn't have to worry about which ones to get and not.  I don't think when we did it three years ago it was $250 but again for a lot of people traveling together and taking pictures, I feel it is worth it.  As long as one of us from the cabin is in the picture.  

 

They also did care if it was a picture of our kids since it was obvious we were traveling as a family. 

 

Right!!  This girl was probably about 20 and traveling with a group.  When you are a young cute 20 something year old or with a bunch of family, the pictures are definitely a more desirable option.  

[mamkmm2]

The photo package only covers the people in the cabin that it is assigned to.  Sometimes they will allow shipmates in another cabin be in the pictures and have it covered by the inclusive package … we did this with my parents and on another cruise with our kids that stayed in a separate cabin … but the people in the cabin that bought the package have to be in the photo.  For example group shots are included.  But shots of people that are not in your cabin and you aren't in the photo with them, those photos are not included in the package.  Hopefully I explained myself well enough.  LOL

[caribill]

1 hour ago, mamkmm2 said:

The photo package only covers the people in the cabin that it is assigned to.  Sometimes they will allow shipmates in another cabin be in the pictures and have it covered by the inclusive package … we did this with my parents and on another cruise with our kids that stayed in a separate cabin … but the people in the cabin that bought the package have to be in the photo.  For example group shots are included.  But shots of people that are not in your cabin and you aren't in the photo with them, those photos are not included in the package.  Hopefully I explained myself well enough.  LOL

 

Only one of the people in the cabin that purchased it needs to be in each photo. Any other people in the photo can be any other passengers on the ship, whether they are traveling with you or not.

[mamkmm2]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Only one of the people in the cabin that purchased it needs to be in each photo. Any other people in the photo can be any other passengers on the ship, whether they are traveling with you or not.

 

Agree on the "one passenger" clarification but on our last two cruises we were told that the other cabin had to be our shipmates and that our cabins had to be connected.  Not literally, but that that were connected.  I forget the exact term they used.  A cabin that has nothing but minors in it is the exception.  But if you are talking adults - children, parents, other family members, traveling together girlfriends, etc - those are the people that qualify.  They were taking cabin numbers of all adults in the picture.  Your experience may be different from mine.  It's not really onerous and to me seems a reasonable restriction and one easy to follow.