Picture Prices Ouch!

[Pia1913]

 

Eat.

 

LOL. Adorable.

[BalconyBumz]

 

LOL. Adorable.

 

hehehehe..

[PaddleAddict]

A few weeks ago on the CB the pictures were $24.99 or you could buy the digital file (no hard copy) for $30 (they burned it to a disc for you).

 

I usually never buy the photos, but we got engaged on this cruise and so on the second formal night went and took engagement photos! Perfect, and cheaper than hiring a photographer back home.

[rcacace]

A few weeks ago on the CB the pictures were $24.99 or you could buy the digital file (no hard copy) for $30 (they burned it to a disc for you).

 

I usually never buy the photos, but we got engaged on this cruise and so on the second formal night went and took engagement photos! Perfect, and cheaper than hiring a photographer back home.

 

Which photo's did they give you on disk for $30? All of them?

[psyfi]

Sometimes I buy a copy if the shot is good. I never buy the embarkation photo for the same reason, I usually look like I rolled out of bed! I do try to get one of us with the ship in one of the ports. Our formal nite pics have never been good enough to purchase.

 

I love what Disney has done with their photo system. They have a card with a bar code. Every time you have one of their photographers take a photo, they scan it to the card. Then you can view them all together at the end of the trip, buying some there, or view them on the internet from home and order photos or they will put all the photos onto a CD for you for about $120. This sounds like a lot but by the time I add digital effects like character signatures, borders etc... the last trip we ended up with over $200 photos--and everyone gets in the pictures so you all looked like you vacationed together. The CD comes with a release to allow you to print whatever you want from that CD without copyright infringement. And no paper waste is just a bonus!

[BalconyBumz]

That's pretty cool what Disney does! Great idea. Then you don't have all that wasted paper.

[donaldsc]

you're basically getting professional-grade photos, posed and taken by a professional with professional equipment. Check out the prices at your local reputable photo studio and the price Princess charges will be more than competitive.

 

 

 

... :rolleyes:

 

I disagree with this statement. The quality of the formal pictures is nowhere close to the quality you will get at a good studio. At a studio, you have plenty of time to properly pose the pictures and you have the choice of a large number of poses, Also, once you select your poses, the pictures are professionally retouched. You do not get anything even close to that with cruise formal poses.

 

Granted, the cost of cruise formals is much less than the cost of studiio shots but as usual, you get what you pay for.

 

DON

[kellanrevere]

We don't drink , gamble or buy art at the auctions... but I do want my on-board pics that I like.

 

What do you do on a cruise then????

 

 

Avoid hangovers, keep my money and not get taken on cheap art ??? ;)

[G'ma]

Does anyone know why Princess charges so much for pictures purchased on the ship? I know they are a "for profit company" but I think they are very over priced. I would probably buy more often if they were a little more reasonable.

 

As long as people continue to pay the high prices, they'll stay high. I don't buy them at all.....

 

Just take a really good camera and take your own!!!!

[BalconyBumz]

As long as people continue to pay the high prices' date=' they'll stay high. I don't buy them at all.....

 

Just take a really good camera and take your own!!!![/quote']

 

That's exactly my thoughts on booking any cruise for 2009 and paying an unwarranted fuel surcharge. As long as people keep booking and paying it, they aren't going to remove it.

[mycruz]

Sometimes I buy a copy if the shot is good. I never buy the embarkation photo for the same reason, I usually look like I rolled out of bed! I do try to get one of us with the ship in one of the ports. Our formal nite pics have never been good enough to purchase.

 

I love what Disney has done with their photo system. They have a card with a bar code. Every time you have one of their photographers take a photo, they scan it to the card. Then you can view them all together at the end of the trip, buying some there, or view them on the internet from home and order photos or they will put all the photos onto a CD for you for about $120. This sounds like a lot but by the time I add digital effects like character signatures, borders etc... the last trip we ended up with over $200 photos--and everyone gets in the pictures so you all looked like you vacationed together. The CD comes with a release to allow you to print whatever you want from that CD without copyright infringement. And no paper waste is just a bonus!

 

See, that's what I'm talking about....happens that I work for "The Mouse" and I know it can be done. I also agree, with another poster, if they reduced the price to even $10.99 per picture, I would probably by twice as many!

 

hmmm, I do gamble, drink, eat, attend art auctions (never bought anything, enjoy the free champagne though), go to lectures and refuse to play Bingo, quit the spa's and just started going to trivia on my last cruise.....oh and there's afternoon tea....lots to do on a cruise, that's why I love them ;)

 

I always have my camera with me and have taken some great pictures and have even had some published in a travel newsletter!

[cruiserbryce]

or at $10.99 I would actually buy some...I dont buy any now, we actually hardly even bother looking

[agabbymama]

I don't mind paying the $19.99 or $24.99 for the photos if I like them. But I objected to the coupon in the cabin stating "buy 3 studio portraits and get the 4th one free" then saving all the photos on the cruise, selecting which 4 we wanted, throwing the others away, going to the counter, and being told that the embarkation, port photos, other photos around the ship didn't qualify, they had to be the formal studio portraits (at $24.99).

So we only bought two instead of the three we had picked out.

 

And my TA had given us a coupon for a free 6x9, but they print very few

6x9 photos, so there was only 1 on a 12 day cruise. They make them 8x10 so they can charge the higher prices.

[rcacace]

I don't mind paying the $19.99 or $24.99 for the photos if I like them. But I objected to the coupon in the cabin stating "buy 3 studio portraits and get the 4th one free" then saving all the photos on the cruise, selecting which 4 we wanted, throwing the others away, going to the counter, and being told that the embarkation, port photos, other photos around the ship didn't qualify, they had to be the formal studio portraits (at $24.99).

So we only bought two instead of the three we had picked out.

 

And my TA had given us a coupon for a free 6x9, but they print very few

6x9 photos, so there was only 1 on a 12 day cruise. They make them 8x10 so they can charge the higher prices.

 

Plus the fact the the embarkation photo is one of the larger ones that doesn't qualify for the coupon. :mad:

[Pia1913]

That's exactly my thoughts on booking any cruise for 2009 and paying an unwarranted fuel surcharge. As long as people keep booking and paying it, they aren't going to remove it.

 

Isn't that like "cutting off your nose to spite your face" for $63.00?

[yorky]

Given the quality I don't think they are that bad. We certainly paid far more for professional photographs from a studio near us

[kerryw29]

I am a professional photographer - and their print prices were lower than I charge my clients.

[rcacace]

Isn't that like "cutting off your nose to spite your face" for $63.00?

 

My hope is that many people will cancel out with the same reasoning so the cruise lines will take notice & drop the base price. :rolleyes: But I won't be one of them to cancel yet. ;)

[kellanrevere]

A service that I'm sure people don't realize is although photos are printed at certain sizes you can have them printed at sizes you want.

 

I still have to pay the 8x10 price but I like to have most of the pics at 6x8. I buy 3 or 4 from each trip and prefer this size. I don't know if all lines are willing to do this but Princess and Celebrity have been great about it. Just be sure to give them an extra day or so.

[BalconyBumz]

I am a professional photographer - and their print prices were lower than I charge my clients.

 

Maybe so, but I bet the quality is not near as good as yours either. The ship photos are not gallery quality IMO.

[PaddleAddict]

Which photo's did they give you on disk for $30? All of them?

 

It was $30 per photo. We bought two photos (from formal night) and we paid $60.

 

It's expensive, I know, but for our situation, it was perfect and cheaper than hiring a photographer for engagement photos. And the pictures turned out beautifiul! We told the photographer we were newly engaged and he spent a lot of time with us.

[yorky]

Maybe so, but I bet the quality is not near as good as yours either. The ship photos are not gallery quality IMO.

 

We have one from the QM2 and in all honesty they are just as good as the studio ones.

[Devil Dog]

I buy the pictures all the time,I think they are great. I also buy the coffee card and we eat at the upgrade reataurants and guess what I tip the waiters. I find it extremly greedy when the passengers line up to get the dinning and hotel charges taken off thier account. Oh no we don't want to tip the hard workers we already paid. I wish they would raise the price of cruising and include those charges in the price, then we can get rid of the greedy and inconsiderate.:mad:

[donaldsc]

I am a professional photographer - and their print prices were lower than I charge my clients.

 

But what about the quality of your work. I would hope that it is significantly better as I do not think much of the stuff churned out on the ships.

 

DON

[RickEk]

As to whether they are professionals, not even close, but good enough technique to make a reasonable 8x10 and convince enough people to buy it for 25 bucks.

 

Maybe not as "professional" as someone who owns a studio, but darn near. These are folks who take photos day in and day out and get paid to do it. That sounds pretty "professional" in my book. Of course, considering the subject matter and the volume they have to produce, some of them have proven to be quite good at it... I've had wonderful photographers onboard who have taken alot of time posing us and getting the right shot within the extreme time constraints under which they work... Would the professional photographers here on the boards like to work under those conditions?

 

I love what Disney has done with their photo system. They have a card with a bar code. Every time you have one of their photographers take a photo, they scan it to the card. Then you can view them all together at the end of the trip, buying some there, or view them on the internet from home and order photos or they will put all the photos onto a CD for you for about $120. This sounds like a lot but by the time I add digital effects like character signatures, borders etc... the last trip we ended up with over $200 photos--and everyone gets in the pictures so you all looked like you vacationed together. The CD comes with a release to allow you to print whatever you want from that CD without copyright infringement. And no paper waste is just a bonus!

 

I mentioned this to someone who works at Princess and he brought it up at a meeting. Apparently, a system like this is very expensive and it's much easier for Disney to retrofit two ships than it would be for Princess to retrofit 17 ships. Also, the reasoning behind printing all the pics, is that alot of folks apparently need something in their hot little hands and will be more apt to buy. (Obviously not the folks on this board! :p)