Ship Photography

[ScottC4746]

Our first cruise on X was Solstice in 2022.  We were appalled at the quality of the photos done by the photographers.  We took every photo they wanted to take because it had been some time since DH and I have had cruise photos done.

Just about every photo had "cute" accents added to them such as streamers, they were grainy, and worse that took every photo where it looked like they were trying to get the stomachs just slightly higher than the lens which accentuated our already accentuated and very round stomachs.  We ended up buying nothing.

Have they improved?  Is this the norm?  Did we just have bad photographers? 

We are on the Edge in May and hope they have improved. 

Edited January 14 by ScottC4746

[hcat]

Never had bad photos on X. Sometimes the poses they ask for are not flattering,  and we just ask for basic poses.

 

  Ones from E Class have been excellent !

[buncosquad]

On my most recent Beyond sailing in the Mediterranean, we booked time with a ship photographer. 

 

We had an appointment in our stateroom to discuss the best locations around the ship for photographs. On the day we did the shoot, they set up lighting at every location plus took ample time to consider angles and views.

 

I believe he took almost 800 photos, of which he took a few days to narrow down to the top 25%. From these 25%, he did a private presentation of those from which we selected the top 20 pictures.

 

We had a very nice bound book created of these 20 pictures in large, high resolution.

 

We also received a digital copy of the 25% best pictures plus all other random shots taken around the ship.

 

Excellent, high resolution and quality. We liked the service.

Edited January 14 by buncosquad

[TravelGirlinDallas]

The website doesn't list any photo packages other than actual sessions with a photographer. I usually buy a photo package on cruises that includes a certain number of photos snapped all throughout the cruise. Does Celebrity not offer this at all? Do the regular ship photos have to be purchased individually?

[Jim_Iain]

In the past 8-9 months they have eliminated most of the photographers.    They no longer have the unlimited photo packages and have shifted to a new business model.     They now have 1 or more green screens setup.   You pose and then later decide which background you want added.    The then sell them on a per picture basis.

 

At least that's the experience I've seen on my last 6 E-Class cruises.

As mentioned above you can also make an appointment for a Studio Shoot.

[buncosquad]

As I posted previously (and this was in an Iconic suite for 11 nights in the Mediterranean on Beyond), I requested a photo shoot at specific locations around the ship and in my stateroom.

 

They set up the lighting and cameras and carried all of it along and to each location as we moved through the ship. Super professional. Excellent photographer who had good instincts.

 

I also purchased a large super high resolution print version, handmade book of the top 20 pictures (but also received all digital format as well of the overall top set of pictures).

 

They will customize and do anything you want. They'll price it all accordingly.

 

Bottom line: you don't have to do any green screen in studio pictures, though that was an option. We just wanted the real thing. 

Edited January 24 by buncosquad

[TravelGirlinDallas]

I don't want a formal photo shoot. I usually just buy the pics taken all throughout - at embarkation, at dinner, around the ship, in front of the backdrops or staircases, etc. Other cruiselines have packages where you can choose 5-10 of those impromptu pictures for a flat fee. It seems that Celebrity does not offer this. Good to know!

[ColoradoCruiser88]

Do they still do the port pictures when you disembark at each port?

[mkkao924]

My cruise starts within a week, and I noticed they put the photography package (not studio) back. It now has image limit up to 300 images, which is far more than I would take anyway.

 

I truly hope they don't reduce the port / embarkation photo staff, otherwise I would be very disappointed.

[mahdnc]

5 minutes ago, mkkao924 said:

My cruise starts within a week, and I noticed they put the photography package (not studio) back. It now has image limit up to 300 images, which is far more than I would take anyway.

 

I truly hope they don't reduce the port / embarkation photo staff, otherwise I would be very disappointed.

 

You are right.  It has now appeared in our cruise planner for our 17 night Apr sailing.

 

[mkkao924]

3 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

You are right.  It has now appeared in our cruise planner for our 17 night Apr sailing.

 

 

Wow 17 nights. That's a great value for you.

[mahdnc]

4 minutes ago, mkkao924 said:

 

Wow 17 nights. That's a great value for you.

 

Well, the real problem with a 17 nighter is that the photographs will clearly document your weight gain as the cruise progresses.

 

Then again, if Celebrity offered a supplementary digital modification package, they could really generate some revenue.

Edited July 22 by mahdnc

[ScottC4746]

On 1/24/2024 at 2:11 PM, TravelGirlinDallas said:

I don't want a formal photo shoot. I usually just buy the pics taken all throughout - at embarkation, at dinner, around the ship, in front of the backdrops or staircases, etc. Other cruiselines have packages where you can choose 5-10 of those impromptu pictures for a flat fee. It seems that Celebrity does not offer this. Good to know!

 

On 1/24/2024 at 3:12 PM, ColoradoCruiser88 said:

Do they still do the port pictures when you disembark at each port?

On our Edge Cruise in early June this year Dawes Glacier we never got "accosted" by a ship photographer the entire time.  No dinners, no shows, no boarding, nothing.  I ask our concierge about specifically the welcome aboard just as you are about to board the ship and she explained because of immigration laws their visas or just for working on the ship.  If the step off the ship onto the ramps or terminal, they are now working in the USA.  This made since to me but never saw them the rest of the ship and it was nice not having a camera lens stuck in your face.

[mrgabriel]

19 hours ago, mkkao924 said:

My cruise starts within a week, and I noticed they put the photography package (not studio) back. It now has image limit up to 300 images, which is far more than I would take anyway.

 

I truly hope they don't reduce the port / embarkation photo staff, otherwise I would be very disappointed.

 

We've been on 5 cruises post-pandemic and there are far fewer photographers. Last cruise we had pictures taken in restaurants about 3 evenings and nothing else. There may have been one in a port or two but their presence is nothing like it was 5 years ago. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

29 minutes ago, mrgabriel said:

 

We've been on 5 cruises post-pandemic and there are far fewer photographers. Last cruise we had pictures taken in restaurants about 3 evenings and nothing else. There may have been one in a port or two but their presence is nothing like it was 5 years ago. 

 

Even two years ago there was a lot more than 2024.  One thing the pandemic did was get the older anti-smartphone crowd into smartphones.  Smartphone = free pictures you can share immediately

[mrgabriel]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Even two years ago there was a lot more than 2024.  One thing the pandemic did was get the older anti-smartphone crowd into smartphones.  Smartphone = free pictures you can share immediately

 

And you can edit out as many wrinkles as you want! 🤣🤣

[Liao]

8 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

 

And you can edit out as many wrinkles as you want! 🤣🤣

I love that feature, somehow I became Tom Brady's double in my pics.

[Missbollinger]

Just back from our cruise and the only option we had other than the pre cruise studio packages were the 5 digital or 5 digital and print packages.  I opted for two of the digital packages that were priced at $15.99 per image (original price $17.98 per image).  At checkout I also had a 25% of print/digital package so it worked out to just over $10 per image.  I would have jumped on the all inclusive package had we been on a longer cruise and all my children had come along.  We usually average 100-150 pictures on a 7 night cruise.