After two hour wait at security and registration, we had to wait for photos!!

[JLC@SD]

If you do not want your photo taken...........Tell them you are in the Witness Protection Program and can not have your photo taken..:D

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

Last time at FT L there was a line of around 100 folk waiting for pics,

 

we just stepped out of line went under the barrier walked passed the folk with cameras onto the gang way and onto the ship.

 

 

Why others did not do the same not sure, may be after traveling a day and a half nothing was going to slow me down getting to a shower a drink and a bed.

 

yours Shogun

[direfun2000]

I blatantly use the "shocker" gesture in any cruise pix that I know I dont want. We love to laugh at it seeing it on the wall. Most don't know what it is so it usually goes unnoticed.

[willysgrandma]

I'm still hoping OP will come back and tell us about the good they found on the cruise.....

[Jacqueline]

Willysgrandma, I just read another oist on a differeny thread with more unhappy remarks by OP.

[conversationist]

I'm still hoping OP will come back and tell us about the good they found on the cruise.....

__________________

From the OP

Actually I enjoyed myself on the cruise and plan to go on another Princess Cruise sometime soon. I liked the following:

Most of the staff and their smiles and hard work

The good food, but not the stuffy people at the formal dining room.

The great weather and palm trees

The shore excursions and the local people I met.

Reading the badges of the staff I came in contact with to see what countries they came from.

The casino, especially when I won.

The opportunity to wake up every morning in a different City.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I blatantly use the "shocker" gesture in any cruise pix that I know I dont want. We love to laugh at it seeing it on the wall. Most don't know what it is so it usually goes unnoticed.

 

That's great! LOLOLOL I've gotta tell my DH that one - he's going to do that in every picture now! Oh wait...maybe I better not! LOL:D

[Sandytoes]

The lines to get onto the Grand Princess were incredible It took us one hour to get through security, and another hour to get up to the registration desk. But they told us we had to wait in another line, this time to take our picture for the photo wall. We waited maybe 30 minutes:confused: while (only) one professional photographer took a picture of every family as they entered. He spent maybe a minute:rolleyes: for each group and the line moved slowly. We were tired and did not want our picture taken.

When we finally got up to the photographer we were not so happy, and did not want to have our picture taken. They insisted :rolleyes: and would not let us board until we posed. :confused: We saw the picture later and it was terrible. We asked if we could just have it thrown away and not buy it. They told us it would stay on the wall until the end of the cruise, unless we bought it. Hundreds of people were likely to see the terrible picture of us that week.

I hate Ship Photographers!

 

There are lines that you have to wait on.... no matter where you are....

 

As for the photographer, never, ever did I see a line for boarding photos....

I always say, "No, Thank You" and board....Never, ever have they demanded to take our photo....

Plus, if you ask the photograph dept aboard the ship to take the photo off the wall. They would .....I have seen this done, as well as I, who have asked and never, ever had a problem.....They even ask pax's if you do not want the photo to place it in the discard box.

 

I appreciate people who complain and think they are heroes.

Kudos to people who complain.

Are you the type to find fault, and complain?

[cruisingfreak]

If you do not want your photo taken...........Tell them you are in the Witness Protection Program and can not have your photo taken..:D

 

This is so funny, because my DH has been telling the photograhers this same thing for years now. This way we don't get our pictures taken, & they let us right through.

 

 

Minette

[pg.]

So Sandytoes, you have been on hundreds of cruises and never had to wait in line up for embakation caused by the photographers?

 

Wow, You are so lucky.

 

I posted that I have been stuck in such a line. So, I KNOW they have existed. I guess maybe I am just a liar too, because that is exactly what your post is saying, It has never happened to you, therefore it has never happened.

Must be nice to live in your world.

Most sane people agree that there are sometimes lines that are bottlenecked on embarkation, caused by photos.. most people say step out of the line and go to the front and just by pass it, sometimes this is a easy and obvious option, but, sometimes it is not.

[LMHSRN]

I can only assume, since you have been on soooooo many cruises and never had to stand on line for boarding photos, that you must always have a suite and get priority boarding.

 

You sure don't have that many previous cruises posted!

 

BUT - you are correct, there are lines for everything...........Even for priority boarding if my memory serves me correctly.

[direfun2000]

That's great! LOLOLOL I've gotta tell my DH that one - he's going to do that in every picture now! Oh wait...maybe I better not! LOL:D

 

LOL. Thats the beauty of it. Not a lot of people know it so its not likely to offend;) Is it juvenile? Yes. But funny all the same. Photogs are clueless.

[Sandytoes]

So Sandytoes, you have been on hundreds of cruises and never had to wait in line up for embakation caused by the photographers?

Wow, You are so lucky.

 

I am extremely lucky than....Never have I had to wait in a line while photographer took photos....They were always standing there waiting for paxs.... And yes, I was very sane at the moment....

 

I think it all depends on when you board....

[sanjosebarbie]

Wow...lines sure are frustrating, but I always prepare myself for them. I think that when you are trying to stuff 3,000 people onto a ship via just a gangway, there is going to be a line. I have never had to wait in a long line on any ship but my first one (with Carnival out of Long Beach, CA), but I just count myself lucky. I know that when I go to Galveston in a month, there is a good possibility that I'll have to wait in line for security and registration. If I don't, I will once again consider myself to be fortunate. I blame the internet for our inability to wait (even though I love the internet WAY too much). We can get anything instantly, so now when we have to wait in a line at all, we're total buttheads about it. I include myself here. I refuse to wait at a restaurant anymore. If there is a wait, I will leave and go somewhere else where I know there won't be a wait. Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled!!!

 

I actually do agree with the OP that being forced to wait in line for the initial photograph is a bit much (although I've personally never had too much of a wait there...it's usually just one or two people in front of me). The photographers don't make you get your photo, but at all of the ports I've sailed out of (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Port Canaveral, and Long Beach...and in 4 weeks, Galveston), you do have to wait in that line. I think it would be nice if they put that photo line off to the side and made it available for people who really wanted their photograph. Those are the people who will buy them anyway! As it stands now, there is no way around the line unless you are willing to be really pushy and annoying (which I know some people are) and just cut in front of everybody. The photo backdrop is directly between the line and the security photo, so I see no way around the photo line itself. Oh well...it doesn't really rile me up, but it would be nice to make that photo line optional for the people who really want it.

 

As to the ship's photographers, cut them some slack! These are people who are making a living, and I'm sure there are financial incentives for taking and selling photos. I have never been forced to have my photo taken. Also, I may be misremembering, but I think you can discard your photo right away if you don't want people snickering at it. I personally love to go through and laugh at the bad photos...no harm intended. Half the time, I'm the one who looks ridiculous, and if my sunburned and bloated visage caught in mid-blink can cause a laugh for somebody else, I'm happy to oblige;). I can just imagine how people would complain if they did away with the photographers. I do wish, though, that they would take truly candid photos instead of all shots being posed. I'm sure there is some litigation issue with that, though. Oh well...

 

By the way, this OP does bring up some valid issues from time to time, but most of the posts seem designed to stir up controversy rather than to offer actual criticism or suggestion. That's why people get so ticked off at him/her. Go back and search for threads started by this poster, and you will see what I mean.

 

Thanks you, conversationist, for coming back and stating what you liked. If you did that in the first place, people would take you more seriously, I think.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

We tell them we are married but not married to EACH other. LOL :D

 

That I imagine would do it:D :D :D

[Cruisin' Ron VA]

 

. They insisted and would not let us board until we posed. We saw the picture later and it was terrible. We asked if we could just have it thrown away and not buy it. They told us it would stay on the wall until the end of the cruise, unless we bought it. Hundreds of people were likely to see the terrible picture of us that week.

 

I hate Ship Photographers!

 

Nobody can force you take a picture if you dont want to take one. (Except for the picture taken for your ID card)

 

As far as your picture staying on the wall all week, pffffft, all you have to do it take it off the wall and throw it in the garbage.

[DrivesLikeMario]

LOL. Thats the beauty of it. Not a lot of people know it so its not likely to offend;) Is it juvenile? Yes. But funny all the same. Photogs are clueless.

 

Yes, it is juvenile, but oh so funny! People are way too uptight, why not have a little fun? :D I also love the one below where people say they're in the Witness Protection Program. Will definitely use that one! :D :D

[paradiseseekers]

Relax.. you are on vacation. No need to get hot.

Life could be worse

I never look at lines to get on my pasradise boat as a negative thing... just an adventure.... Life is too short:p

[sept10dsm]

The lines to get onto the Grand Princess were incredible when we arrived in Galveston at 1:00. It took us one hour to get through security, and another hour to get up to the registration desk. By then we were angry, hot, and very tired. Just when we wanted to get onto the ship and in our cabin to relax. But they told us we had to wait in another line, this time to take our picture for the photo wall. We waited maybe 30 minutes while (only) one professional photographer took a picture of every family as they entered. He spent maybe a minute for each group and the line moved slowly. We were tired and did not want our picture taken. I just wanted to get on the ship so I could relax.

 

When we finally got up to the photographer we were not so happy, and did not want to have our picture taken. They insisted and would not let us board until we posed. We saw the picture later and it was terrible. We asked if we could just have it thrown away and not buy it. They told us it would stay on the wall until the end of the cruise, unless we bought it. Hundreds of people were likely to see the terrible picture of us that week.

 

I hate Ship Photographers!

The OP never starts a nice post. Always controversy about something that really doesn't matter.

[Happy ks]

My Dad tells a great story of not wanting to stop and get his picture taken with my Mom as they were boarding. He looked at the photographer and whispered "no picture please, this is not my wife" Photographer left them alone and they had a good laugh!!

 

 

In life I think we need to learn something new every day. This is my lesson for the day and I plan on telling my DH about it so we can use it on our next cruise :)

 

BTW, Yes, we do take time and look at other peoples photos in the shop, it can be a crack-up. I love the ones of the little kids fast asleep in their finery on formal nights and the ones of people boarding after who knows how long they have been travelling. We always throw out the horrid ones of us when we see them, because we just know others have gotten a good giggle out of ours, too :D

[Grego]

Two questions -

1. Why do they want to take pictures of people boarding, most of whom are hot, tired, etc. ? I've never wanted to get a picture of that day in that condition.

2. How come pictures were much better 20 years ago? The new cameras seem to show a lot of wrinkles that the older ones didn't. Nancy

 

The fun of getting a photo when you get on board is that it becomes the "before" shot to compare against the end of the cruise "after" shot showing the complete makeover result of a great cruise.

 

Regarding the better shots of 20 years ago, the wrinkles probably weren't there then - the lens doesn't lie.

[Grego]

The OP never starts a nice post. Always controversy about something that really doesn't matter.

 

Then there's the person, like the Conversationalist, that would complain if he were hung with a new rope - which might not be a bad idea.....

[momofmeg]

After waiting for all that time in security and registration, we were so tired and frustrated that another line was required for the formal :mad: picture. The line for the picture was so long that at first we did not know what it was for. Eventually we saw that the slow photographer was all alone and making an effort to get a professional pose from all the passengers. Eventually I got so frustrated that I tried to move past the picture taking but people thought I was cutting in line to go into the boat, so I had to wait some more even though I had no interest in having my picture taken.

 

The next day I found the terrible picture of my wife and I on the board on the ship. I told the man at the counter that I had no interest in the picture and could we just have it shredded and thrown away. He refused. He told me the picture had to be on the board until the end of the cruise unless we bought it. I am sure alot of people got a kick out of our terrible picture. What a scam!

 

If you don't want a picture you take it to the counter-I have been on 12 cruises-2 or which was Princess and I have NEVER had a picture put out that I told them I would not buy. why do you lie like that? also if upu don't want your picture taken-you are allowed to board ship-it IS a separate line-you just go to the BACK of the line boarding.

[Guienevere_Arianette]

The lines to get onto the Grand Princess were incredible when we arrived in Galveston at 1:00. It took us one hour to get through security, and another hour to get up to the registration desk. By then we were angry, hot, and very tired. Just when we wanted to get onto the ship and in our cabin to relax. But they told us we had to wait in another line, this time to take our picture for the photo wall. We waited maybe 30 minutes while (only) one professional photographer took a picture of every family as they entered. He spent maybe a minute for each group and the line moved slowly. We were tired and did not want our picture taken. I just wanted to get on the ship so I could relax.

 

When we finally got up to the photographer we were not so happy, and did not want to have our picture taken. They insisted and would not let us board until we posed. We saw the picture later and it was terrible. We asked if we could just have it thrown away and not buy it. They told us it would stay on the wall until the end of the cruise, unless we bought it. Hundreds of people were likely to see the terrible picture of us that week.

 

I hate Ship Photographers!

 

Well, good morning to you, too! Did someone pi%$ in your Wheaties before you came to the boards :confused:

[Smartcookie]

You could try this line.."Don't you know who I am? I would let you take my photo but I'd have to charge you for the privilege".

 

They usually have no comment for that, just kind of look at you with their mouths open...:D