NCL Photo Gallery Beware!

[Surfgirl]

I was pretty shocked at the price of the photographs, and saw passenger after passenger go up to buy one, be told the price, and say, "Forget it!" (as did I).

 

I don't understand the reasoning behind these highly inflated prices. They are charging sky high fees and selling very few. It's just bad business. If they would reduce their profit margin, they would sell a lot of pictures and make more profit.

 

Solution? "Just say no" to these high prices.

[taxmantoo]

Dont buy the pictures....pose all you want, make them waste their time and money.

This has become the most annoying part of cruising in the last few years. The first few times, I brushed them off, but on my last cruise me and my girlfriend went from back drop to back drop, insisted they take mulitple photos, flagged down every roaming photographer we saw...

And bought nothing.

 

I love that idea. I will have to do it on my next cruise and I will have my parents and their two friend couples do that on the Pearl this summer.

 

And the result of such nonsense...prices keep going more for everybody to cover the losses...

 

If you don't want the pictures, just keep on walking and ignore the photographers.

[CruisinMatt]

Dont buy the pictures....pose all you want, make them waste their time and money.

This has become the most annoying part of cruising in the last few years. The first few times, I brushed them off, but on my last cruise me and my girlfriend went from back drop to back drop, insisted they take mulitple photos, flagged down every roaming photographer we saw...

And bought nothing.

 

 

 

And the result of such nonsense...prices keep going more for everybody to cover the losses...

 

If you don't want the pictures, just keep on walking and ignore the photographers.

 

Amen! What an example to the children that will be our future leaders. :rolleyes:

[Host CMLA]

Amen! What an example to the children that will be our future leaders. :rolleyes:

Hello Kettle...it's the Pot calling. :rolleyes: Now that's the most ironic thing I've ever seen written on this board.

[M&MCruisin]

Now thats interesting...lets think about the freestyle dress for photo taking. Shouldnt we, if we want to, be able to take as many casual photos as others want formal photos? Thats an interesting thought...with that being said, I dont necessarily think that they loose money because of the freestyle dress. Those who really want to get a picture taken, casual or not, will get one. Besides, everyone has the option to dress up or dress down, thats why it is freestyle. Like I did....

 

On the second formal night, my husband in shorts, sandals and a tropical shirt and me with capris, sandals and a tshirt wanted to take a photo on the plain red backdrop. They had people sitting on white benches, leaning on podiums, etc. all dressed in their formal wear. I thought it was the last night to get pictures done and since I had not done that many that week, we decided we wanted to sit on the floor with the red backdrop behind and underneath us. When I got up there the photographer acted like he didnt want to take the photo. He also said, they usually dont sit down on this backdrop. I said, its ok, that is what we want, a casual, sit on the floor photo. So he took the photo and sent us on our way, only to find out that he positioned the camera portrait, which cut off 2/3s of my body and part of his. Nice photo! :eek: Not! I think its funny that in our "freestyle" wear, the phototgrapher didnt give us the same respect he gave those in formal wear, after all it is freestyle! No big deal, just think its funny.

[garycarla]

I do see the OP's point about them taking two different pics. But, the guy on the ship collecting the money is not about to change the rules. You pay for pic, no matter how great or how stupid it is. If you want to buy a picture of a pirate or a walking dolphin, it is XXX per picture. Period.

 

Personally, I can never understand why people buy so many of these pics. Where do they go? We have a few boxes in the closet full of pictures taken over the years. And 8x10 in front a cruise ship is not a highlight for the Living Room wall. And one with a pirate?

 

As to why the cruiselines continue to print and throw away those pictures each week,.... Well, I do not want to slash the OP, but those are pretty silly pictures. And as long as people will pay them good money, they will keep selling them.

 

If they will not take a pictue of BOTH of you at the same time, then you do not buy them. We always walk around them to save the time, and the waste.

[KeystoneCruiser]

 

And the result of such nonsense...prices keep going more for everybody to cover the losses...

 

If you don't want the pictures, just keep on walking and ignore the photographers.

 

 

yes, I remember when my daughter was four years old. She called other people names. Similar to you calling us four year olds on this board...........................

 

 

(btw: I have already sent out many emails to people cruising on NCL with this great suggestion. My mom and dad can't wait for the Pearl this summer.)

[2martini]

A lot of theories here but who really knows the cost/pricing structure, overhead, profit margin and target price point? There could be more profit in fewer sales at a higher price than more sales at lower. The decline in popularity might be b/c people have better cameras of their own, or b/c cruising is not as exotic so these traditions go by the boards, or people learn that having $150 dollars worth of photos with bad coloration in the drawer just isn't worth it. Times change. Bottom line is that the photo concession probably doesn't affect the cost of the cruise, so why worry about it?

[coka]

When I am freezing my hiney off and broke, I take out that box and go through all the cruise pictures. It somehow helps.

 

My favorite pic is of the pirate sitting in MY dining chair...I am standing behind him wearing HIS hat and holding HIS knife to his neck...parrot is laying on my dinner plate. The poor things never saw it coming!

Coka

[newmexicoNita]

When I am freezing my hiney off and broke, I take out that box and go through all the cruise pictures. It somehow helps.

 

My favorite pic is of the pirate sitting in MY dining chair...I am standing behind him wearing HIS hat and holding HIS knife to his neck...parrot is laying on my dinner plate. The poor things never saw it coming!

Coka

 

Actually if we buy pix at all those are the kind we buy. They do bring back memories years later. NMnita

[Surfgirl]

(Hoping TransOcean is still reading)

 

I keep scrap books, and love the professional photos taken on cruises. I spent $150 on photos on another cruise line. But, I didn't mind spending that kind of money for pictures, because I felt that I received a lot of value for my money. For that $150, I received all kinds of 8x10's, 5x7's, wallet photos and a photo key chain (They were photos of boarding, the Captain's dinner, the safety drill, the pirate, and three different ports).

 

I would have been prepared to pay that same amount or MORE on my recent cruise IF the prices had been reasonable. I'm sorry, but 25 bucks for ONE 8x10 is a total rip off. How many photos did I buy this time around? ZERO.

 

I can get an 8x10 printed for about two bucks retail at my local camera store, and they're making a profit on me... so I have a pretty good idea of your profit margin on an 8x10 charging 25 bucks.

 

Yes, I realize that you need to make money. However... with your kind of inflated prices, instead of getting multiple orders.. you're getting very few because people just aren't prepared to shell out that kind of money. Those who do, often buy only one photo. Yet, an appealing price would encourage people to buy multiple photos and spend MORE money in the long run.

 

What you're doing now just doesn't make business sense. I do hope you wil reconsider your pricing structure.

[daveco58]

Dont buy the pictures....pose all you want, make them waste their time and money.

This has become the most annoying part of cruising in the last few years. The first few times, I brushed them off, but on my last cruise me and my girlfriend went from back drop to back drop, insisted they take mulitple photos, flagged down every roaming photographer we saw...

And bought nothing.

Now, I know the photographers are just trying to make a living, and the poor cruise lines are all in danger of not building any more 600 million dollar skyscrapers of the sea, if I dont spring for a photo package that cost more than my original cruise fare, but...well...lets just say, I feel for them...but I cant quite reach them

 

Sorry some think I am setting a bad example for the children, but I remember when a ships staff member would take a picture in the Dining Room on a Formal night, and would stand on the gang plank at Ports and offer to take a picture, if you wanted them too. Nowadays, with all the cameras in my face, I feel like a Mafiosi or a Congressman, doing a perp walk every time I step out of my cabin. So, yes, I am going to have fun with it. Better than smashing their cameras.

And I believe the way you change annoying behavior is to make it counter-productive. Thus the suggestion to make ship pictures so expensive, no one will buy them, then the concessionaires will quit and go back to doing weddings, where they are invited to be annoying, and the cruise ships will go back to having staff members, who have real jobs to occupy most of their time, take a few pictures, for those who want them.

 

and KEYSTONE: Thank yew fer yer support. LOL

[CruisinCrow]

My favorite pic is of the pirate sitting in MY dining chair...I am standing behind him wearing HIS hat and holding HIS knife to his neck...parrot is laying on my dinner plate. The poor things never saw it coming!

 

Now there's a pirate picture I might actually buy! :D

[pieshops]

obviously they are making money and are happy with the profits or we would see the prices coming down.

 

A good comparison is this: we live very close to Atlantic City and i Love blackjack and craps, but i think i have been there 3 times since they opened, the reason being is i do not play a lot of money i love a 5 dollar table and during the week maybe you can find one but on the weekend you are lucky to find a 10 dollar table and that is way too rich for my blood. If they made dollar tables or even lots of 5 dollar tables i would be there once a month if not more, but they don;t so they lose out on my money. they are making money so they are happy not to change it.

 

It is easy that if people do not buy the pics then the prices will come down but people will not stop buying the pictures.

[M&MCruisin]

 

Now there is someone who understands my passion for pictures! Mine never go in a box in a drawer. I scrapbook everything, Ive already started ordering supplies to work on my NCL Pearl scrapbook. It was a FANTASTIC cruise. I have the $250 worth of photos to prove it! LOL! I just cant say no! Its an additiction. I did however buy less this time than I normally do since the cost was higher, but I have 650 photos on my new digital camera to choose from, so I think I am set.

 

There have been lots of great ideas, suggestions and sharing on this thread. Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. I think I am done with this for now!

 

Thanks Transocean for your consideration of our issues and replying to me on my situation earlier in this thread.

 

Happy Sailing everyone...and remember...be ready quickly on the gangway should you wish to have a photo with your significant other!