Carnival Photo Policy

[sewut]

We bought a picture on our last cruise and it still set off an alarm when we left the photo area. People glared at us. My DH waved the receipt and some of them still gave us dirty looks.

 

Sewut

[aggieastrosfan]

1. $21.95 is not a lot for a professionally done 8X10 portrait

 

Agreed, but the pictures they take, while decent, are nowhere near the quality and variety I can get from a real photographer for a couple dollars more.

[Essiesmom]

At least Carnival takes several differeny sizes of photos. Only my formal dinner photo was 8x10. And I think the prices are most reasonable, compared to other lines. We did a one nighter on NCL Spirit last year, and the 5x7 embarkation photo was $21.95! And on our QE2 cruise, cunard only printed on 8x10 paper, even though many of the pics were smaller, surrounded by huge borders. And every one was $27.95! EM

[kdr69]

I agree with the OP but I had one other thing to bring up as well. I purchased photo coupons prior to our cruise only to find out that the coupon is far less than the price of an actual picture. Why do they sell photo coupons that are worthless for buying photos? When I asked the photo desk person about why the coupon isnt the same value as a photo he got real upset and said it's not their coupons so he wouldnt know. I told him I purchased them on Carnival's website and he still said they were not from carnival. That just confused they hell out of me. Bought on Carnival with carnivals logo delivered to the room by carnival and yet not from carnival go figure. Anyways it took three coupons to purchase the photos we wanted and we were not allowed any credit for the unused portion of the coupons so we had to buy a few small items to get it closer to total.

[G'ma]

My opinion:

 

Carnival can charge any price they want and whatever the public will put up with. It's called "doing business".

 

I can either buy them or not.

 

If I buy them, I won't complain.

 

I never buy ships photos anyway.....refuse to pay the prices.

 

Everyone else has the same option.

[vacruizer]

At least Carnival takes several differeny sizes of photos. Only my formal dinner photo was 8x10. And I think the prices are most reasonable, compared to other lines. We did a one nighter on NCL Spirit last year, and the 5x7 embarkation photo was $21.95! And on our QE2 cruise, cunard only printed on 8x10 paper, even though many of the pics were smaller, surrounded by huge borders. And every one was $27.95! EM

 

They are offering those sizes less and less - I've noticed the last couple of cruises that they are printing more and more of them as 8 x10s. I get the formal ones being that size, but I just don't feel like buying an 8x10 of what I call a "snapshot photo" - the kind of things like them snapping a picture of you up on deck at sailaway, in the dining room, embarkation, shore excursions, etc. I don't need a wall full of 8 x10s of these kind of things - seems like 5 x7 would sell much better as it's more the kind of photo you'd stick in a frame on your desk or something like that.

 

We bought quite a few photos on our first cruise, and the only 8x10 was the formal one. The last few cruises we have turned down a lot of photos that were good shots but we didn't want the larger size they are now shifting to.

[Catrin]

Great Post....

 

And Actually I posted the same thing after our February Cruise on the Liberty....

and I emailed Carnival and got a Generic 45 day letter in return.

 

Disney Photo Pass is an excellent Program.

Although I only purchased two pictures, I was able to go through the entire vacation's worth of pics to pick the exact ones I wanted.

 

There are a few things that bother me about cruise pics.

1) Is the amount of paper waste

2) The people who just take for the sake of having thier picture taken .... with no intention whatsoever about purchasing.

>>> We always bypass photographers at the end of the ramps, because we know we would never buy photos with costumed people, etc.

 

Catrin

[LynneL]

As others have mentioned, possibly you rec'd some sort of discount on your old 8x10s because I have been cruising for many years with Carnival & never had that low a price. I do hate that now they put a 5x7 pic on an 8x10 sheet & add a large border & charge you the 8x10 price. Can't remember if Carnival does this but I recall Princess & Royal Carib. charged more for their 8x10 "portrait" shots (in front of background) than 8x10 "casual" so possibly CCL doing the same. Personally, I love looking for the pictures & seeing other people's. I consider it an "activity" preferred over the hairy chest contest - lol. It does bug me to be throwing away all that wasted photo paper/processing chemicals though.

 

I'm guessing one reason they don't let you view at home or the end of the cruise even & then order is you will be inclined to buy less. No longer in the "vacation spending mode." I know I often buy a picture that I like but later in the week get more taken that are even better so I buy them too. I know you say, "Why not wait until the end of the cruise to look them over?" but I did that once & they cleared away most of my earlier pictures & it was an ordeal to have them find them from the back.

 

DH & I did a vow renewal ceremony on Princess 1 1/2 yrs. ago & they had a photog. there. Afterwards they printed around 10 5x7s & either we could buy a few at reg. price or take them all for $50., which I gladly did. I think there should be a package price for the reg. cruising pictures.

 

In the end, Carnival isn't interested in their carbon footprint...that's not paying their bills...whatever way they make the most $ that's what they'll do. (though all that waste makes you question even the financial end of that print & toss system).

[happy cruzer]

the area is very busy. Some folks seem to love it just the way it is.

 

Also isn't this service contracted out. All the cruiselines I have been on recently use a seperate company that is solely responsible for the photographers and the entire photography setup. That company would only be interested in profit. If they have to invest in alot of equipment to get the same profit. they probably would not since they may not get the contract for photos the next year.

[tgray69]

good idea. i agree you should write carnival.

[auburn77]

Great Post....

 

There are a few things that bother me about cruise pics.

1) Is the amount of paper waste

2) The people who just take for the sake of having thier picture taken .... with no intention whatsoever about purchasing.

>>> We always bypass photographers at the end of the ramps, because we know we would never buy photos with costumed people, etc.

 

 

I agree, but it is almost impossible to avoid the photographers. They're sometimes very pushy and seem to be everywhere. (Although they did take a very nice picture of me getting out of the shower.)

[Nanatochase]

My weakness is also buying to many pictures. I don't like searching for them and on the Carnival ships, the lighting in the photo area is not the best. I never did find half the pictures I knew where taken. On our last RCCL cruise they had implemented a system of having folders set up in the photo area and your stateroom number was on the folder. All your pictures were then placed in the folder and you looked at them that way. You could also "save" all the pictures until the last day and buy the better ones. The only pictures that weren't in the folders were the ones that were taken on the gangway getting off the ship or the ones in the dining room. And a couple of times I was really surprised to see one or two of them in the folder. Don't know how they knew where to put them because when you have your pictures taken, you hand them your S&S card, so they know who you are, and you don't do that getting off the ship or in the dining room. But it seems their HAS to be a better way of handling the picture situation. I just wish Carnival would listen to all the good suggestions.

[aspen36]

Now, I know more than likely I will be flamed for my post here – but I am looking for opinions here…

My wife and I just hopped off of the Valor and we were very disappointed with the Carnival Photo Booths and their policies. When we traveled on the Glory in June 2007 we were paying $11.95 for each Formal Night 8x10 photo then. On the Valor the price has increased to $21.95, I can understand an increase over 18-months but a near 50% increase we felt was excessive.

My wife and I travel alone, so we are always relying on pictures like the formal night ones and the ones as we get on and off the gangway as additional photos to add to our collections and scrapbooks. After we found out about the price increase, we refused to buy any of our portraits out of principle of the matter. Unfortunately we didn’t discover this price until late in our cruise, and we wasted considerable time in lines waiting for pictures that although turned out great, but we’re possibly overpriced.

Our problem isn’t necessarily with the pricing of Carnival’s photos but rather the process involved. On Carnival if you didn’t want an 8x10, you have to buy it just to get the 5x7 or whatever other size you wanted. Plus Carnival also has excessive waste in their system as thousands of photos are printed and then thrown away or sent to be recycled. Also, with so many companies worried about their fictional "carbon footprint," we see Carnival creating excessive waste that also increases the price you and I pay per photo.

We are Disney fans and have traveled to the Magic Kingdom dozens of times, never cruised with them, but we have to assume their cruising uses the same process. Anyways, Disney scans their “photo card” barcode and your photos are then digitally sent to a photo center that has kiosks and never prints photos until you are ready to purchase, and then those photos also appear in the size you want, without having to purchase an 8x10 to get a 5x7. These photos are also available online for an extended time frame, allowing you to share with your friends and family and allowing them to order prints. Disney also offers a photo CD of all photos taken for roughly $100, which is what my wife and I always do (We usually try and track down every photographer we can find in this fashion.).

Couldn’t Carnival implement something similar with their S&S card barcodes and use digital kiosks to save on excess printing fees? This can bring prices down for the portrait studio and lower the final per photo price, and perhaps allow the cruise line to sell additional prints, thus increasing profits. Creating a digital system will allow you to also expand your purchasing power to beyond the 7-day cruise and also allow you to share the opportunity to have your friends and family purchase copies of the photos.

What is everyone’s opinion on this?

 

I am going on my first Disney Cruise in May and was wondering if they have the Photo Pass on the ship also. I wish all the cruise lines would change to this system. It is so nice to either have the Photo shops at WDW print them or get the CD with all your photos on it. The cost for photo pass is $100.00 if you pre pay before your trip, or $120.00 if you wait till you get home. They system works great!:D I am happy I am not the only person who thinks this is a great idea.

[G'ma]

We bought a picture on our last cruise and it still set off an alarm when we left the photo area. People glared at us. My DH waved the receipt and some of them still gave us dirty looks.

 

Sewut

 

I get the same reaction when/if the alarm goes off when I leave a store.....not just a cruising thingie, fer sure.

[G'ma]

I agree with the OP but I had one other thing to bring up as well. I purchased photo coupons prior to our cruise only to find out that the coupon is far less than the price of an actual picture. Why do they sell photo coupons that are worthless for buying photos? When I asked the photo desk person about why the coupon isnt the same value as a photo he got real upset and said it's not their coupons so he wouldnt know. I told him I purchased them on Carnival's website and he still said they were not from carnival. That just confused they hell out of me. Bought on Carnival with carnivals logo delivered to the room by carnival and yet not from carnival go figure. Anyways it took three coupons to purchase the photos we wanted and we were not allowed any credit for the unused portion of the coupons so we had to buy a few small items to get it closer to total.

 

The photographers are not Carnival employees but are outside contractors...that's probably what the confusion is. The coupons are not a promotion by the photography folks, but rather by Carnival.

 

Each coupon has a dollar value......sometimes it takes more than one to obtain the item...no matter what the coupon is for. Here, clearly marked, is the value of the photo coupon.

 

[SRQfireman]

I know it's "taboo" to talk about another cruise line on here.....but since it's on topic, I hope it's "O.K." ....The Freedom Class ships on Royal Caribbean have a modern photo studio. When they take your picture, they "scan" your sign/sail card at the same time....then when you go their photo studio, they have several kiosks where you scan in your card and up pops all your pictures you had taken !!! And then of course you pick the picture(s) you want and order them right there...pretty slick....so the technology is out there to do what alot of you are requesting...I thought I had a picture of the kiosk, but I can't locate it now.

[pink roses]

I also love your idea and it had also crosed my mind. My first cruise I was so excited to go look at the photos, now it just seems to take up time although I still look but do hate the waste. I am guessing the enormous amount of photos that is not purchased is one of the reasons for the rising cost of the ones that are purchased.

[SATXLady]

Since I pretty much digitize everything anyway, I would love the option to get all my pictures on CD/DVD. And I do agree that it would be nice to be able to view them on-line instead of Carnival printing up all the photos that end up being thrown away.

 

But I'll probably keep taking photos and buying some in the meantime. Somehow, photos taken of me on vacation, even snapshots and photo booth photos, always seem to turn out better than a posed professional photo elsewhere. My theory is that it is because I'm more relaxed and usually happy then.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

This topic has been discussed on the cruise critic boards and I have no doubt the idea has been suggested to Carnival. It is a great idea. There is a lot of waste and I agree that I hate having to buy an 8x10. They take up too much room.

 

But the comment about the price, that is NOT out of line. Go to any professional studio to have a formal portrait taken and you will spend hundreds for just a few photos.

[beccadoby]

I am going on my first Disney Cruise in May and was wondering if they have the Photo Pass on the ship also. .

 

My last cruise on Magic was in 2007 and no they did NOT have the photopass system. And to my knowledge, it has not changed. :(

 

Im confused as to the OP only paying $11 for an 8x10....:confused: I have never paid that for an 8x10 on a ship. Wish I had

 

I can say my entire SS bill is for pics. I cant help it.... I think its an addiction. ;)

As an above poster mentioned, I think you should avoid the photo ops if you know you are not going to buy them anyway.

Also, people, when you see a pic you are not going to buy, please discard it. I hate to see people look at the pic and say, "oh Im not buying that one" then they just stick it back on the rack....uggg...

 

I would GLADLY pay $100 for a CD of all our pics.

 

another good thing they should look into is a system where you can view the pics on the cabin TV and choose which pics and sizes you want printed. Of course I know its a matter of money but hey, it sounds good!

 

We talked to a guy over the photo gallery on our cruise last week. HE said oh, all these pictures are recycled - NOTHING goes to waste. It still seems to me there is a better way. :rolleyes: