Pet Peeve - Ship Portraits:How Many 8x10s do you really need?

[remydiva]

Ok this is a pet peeve and maybe has been discussed already but here goes. I love taking photos and as such, rarely have any taken of ME. And so I look forward to seeing the 'professional' photos taken on board--the casual, the formal, the B&W, the excursions, etc.

 

What I DON'T like is that they always (90% of the time) blow them up to 8x10 and charge $19.99. I talked to one fellow this last cruise who offered the photography desk $40 for the whole lot of pics of his family and they said no, so he bought none .

 

Wouldn't it be smarter to only enlarge them to 5x7 and charge $9.99? Then I'd buy lots! (ok, so there was that ONE cruise where I went overboard..not literally...and bought $250 worth of 8x10s because I didn't know if I'd ever get my daughter to say 'cheese' willingly ever again so many times).

 

It seems a crying shame to see all those photos discarded either because of the price too high or the size too large. I admit I did buy 3 8x10s this last trip, scanned them myself back home and reprinted them to 5x7 which I DO display. The 8x10s are tucked away.

[envy4u]

I agree . Wasteful . We have bought many 8x10 and they just sit in a drawer . I prefer 5x7 . It has nothing to do with the price .

[judynorth]

Have you asked if they will reprint them as 5x7 prints?

[SingerEsq]

We were on board the IP in February-March. The photographers were wonderful and got some great shots. A few got to really know us and suggested shots that we would not have otherwise done .... we got them to shoot some that they would not have otherwise done as well!

 

They had no problem, upon request, to reprint any photo in 5 x 7 or 6 x 9 format. They have you pay upon ordering, but if you ask, they'll do just about anything for you. The reprints were always ready about 6 p.m. the next night. They could not do enough for us! One photographer sold me the $30 photo album for $9.95 ... but then again, we bought several $$$$ photos .... the photographers loved us!

 

We had purchased so many 8 x 10s that is was ridiculous, which gave me the idea to ask for reductions. Also, don't be afraid to ask for a deal if you buy several pics at one time. For a few hundred dollars, we have many great pictures that a studio on land could never duplicate.

[MaryPoppinz]

They'll reprint to 5x7 -- for $19.99 :)

[SingerEsq]

On the IP they did not charge any more to reprint a 5x7 than a regular 5x7 costs, which I think is $9.95. Don't just pay the asking price!

 

An example of one we had chopped down from an 8 x 10 is attached.

[JLC@SD]

Many of the photos they have take of us are really 5 x 7s with a bunch of background to make it an 8 x 10. 8 x 10s are worthless unless it is a great portrait shot. Most are just another candid type shot not worthy of 80 sq inches of photo paper.

 

I also think that the photos with all the goofy borders added are not worth buying.

[Fuzzzy]

I agree in general. However, we did buy ten 8x10 portraits. Why? Because we gave them as gifts and we received all the photo's on a CD. Now we can crop them, re-size them, re-print them when ever we want to. :)

[chasetf]

I agree . Wasteful . We have bought many 8x10 and they just sit in a drawer . I prefer 5x7 . It has nothing to do with the price .

Only a 5X7 because they are both overpriced.... and the larger one have goofy borders that I would not frame or scan anyways. It has to be a complete picture of us.

[edYYZ]

I totally agree. I only print 8x10s for very special/unique pictures, otherwise it's not practical to have such large photos. I also always find the piles of printed photos a huge waste (especially when there are multiple copies of each). Princess should price them more reasonably to sell more or stop printing so many of them. While I don't know if there is a good economic argument there, I think the environmental concern is definitely valid.

[Cathy p]

We received all the pictures from Hal last year that they took for $125. They had both 8x10 and 5x7.

[MilliesMom]

Have you asked if they will reprint them as 5x7 prints?

 

When we cruised on Carnival in Jan the photos were the same, mostly 8x10 EXCEPT for ones taken at the dock, outside the dining room with the pirate, show girls etc. Evening photos and formal photos were all 8x10. The only way you could order 5x7 or wallets was if you purchased the larger photo first. Then they would print out the same photo in the smaller size. If you didn't buy the 8x10, you were not allowed to order any smaller size photo.

[ToplessPony]

I don't like that they now print the embarkation photo's as an 8x10. We used to buy the 5x7 every cruise but an 8x10 is just to big for a photo of this type. We did ask last cruise about getting it in a smaller size and was told they could do it (for the $20) but there would be no border so all we would get is a $20 picture of the 4 of us holding carryon bags in the terminal! I much preferred it when they took your photo while in front of something saying what cruise you were going on.

 

Scott

[madelinerose]

How many 8x10s do we need? None.

 

Our first cruise was in October, 2004 and we purchased 8x10 formal photos. Our second cruise is in September, 2006 and we have no desire for any additional formal photos or any 8x10s of any genre, formal or casual.