$35 single sheet 8x10

[damiross]

55000 prints * $0.07 is $3850 to print per cruise.

55000 prints * 15% * $25/print ("averaged price") is $206k revenue. Certainly some strong profit, but...if they were to lower the print price to $10/print, they'd need to sell nearly 40% of what they shot to make the same revenue. No matter how you slice that, I doubt 40% of the cabins buy at least one photo currently, and if only 40% of the cabins bought photos, those cabins would have to buy ALL of their photos to match the revenue they're booking now.

This goes against basic economic theory.

• Increasing the price of an item means there will be less people willing to buy it
  
• Decreasing the price of an item means more people would be willing to buy it.
  

At $10 for a picture there's a good chance that more than 40% of the cabins would buy pictures, probably 2 of them at that.

[rdcruisin]

Wow! Why are so many people slamming the embarkation picture? That's the only one I pose for and buy. I love that picture because it has all the information about the cruise -- ship, date, itinerary.

 

And usually I'm looking really happy cuz I'm about to go on a cruise :)

[Cruise Raider]

$20 a picture was my limit ... I am out! I would always buy my embarkation picture -- you know, the one with the little map of the itinerary and dates on it. Once Princess messed up the embarkation and missed out on our embarkation picture ... it seemed rather senseless to go on collecting them.

 

Loved that I used to be able to get a 4x6 or 5x7 for like $7.50 -- even $10 was a reasonable increase. Now, seems like pictures cost about the same as the per diem rate of cruising. Now, many of us cruise a lot and just how many pictures of ourselves can we purchase, much less display in our homes? :D

[txwriter]

This has been an interesting thread. I have only been one once cruise before, and that was a long time ago (1990). I really hated that ship's photographer and avoided him like the plague. It's funny looking back on it now.

 

I am planning my next cruise in May 2017. I can now see the value of some of those pictures, but the prices are really high. I wish that the ship had something similar to the photopass you can buy at Walt Disney World. Those photographers are also more than willing to use your own camera to snap a shot which is what we usually do when there. Has anyone ever tried that on a cruise? Handing your camera to the photographer? Or is that completely forbidden?

[Cruise Raider]

My theory is...if you can't remember it without a picture, it's not worth remembering.

 

You know, I think you are on to something. I was a fanatic about taking pictures and so you can imagine my glee when I no longer had to pay for film and/or processing. So, I still do take pictures but not nearly as many as I used to. It is actually quite liberating....enjoy the moment instead of working for that best shot. We saw a whale breaching right off our balcony last month. People asked if I had any photos of it....the image I have is permanently etched in my mind. It would have ruined the whole moment had I run to go get my camera.

[TracieABD]

I think there was some test marketing for an all inclusive package. You paid one price and you could have one photo from each "event"= boarding, formal nights, staged photos, and disembarkation photos. That would probably work for us.

 

On our Coral cruise in December, we purchased 2 pictures. One of my husband and me, and one with the two of us and our son. They were actually nice pictures.

[notentirelynormal]

How many 8x10's does one person need? I take 1-3 cruises every year and the Christmas cruise is with my 84 y/o DM, so I like to get a picture. But 8 x 10??? Make some 4x6's or 5x7's. They do, but not often. Most of the ones I've bought are put away as I just don't have space to have 10 8x10's photos hanging on my wall!

 

You could do what my mother does. Either buy a bigger house or just another

house. :D

[arb18]

We took photos on our first cruise, the inaugural cruise for the CB in 2004 and the black and white photos were beautiful. Still very upset that we broke up and now I can't use the couple photo....good thing the single one of me looks great;)

[CineGraphic]

We didn't buy a single photo while aboard the Regal this past January,due to the high price and so-so quality. We did get a free photo, (5x7, I think) from our Ultimate Balcony Dinner, but to be honest, the pictures our waiter took with our phones were MUCH better.

[alternageek]

Must have been fairly recent. It was also $25.00 the last time we saiiled.....

 

Bob

 

we cruised in november and paid $65 for 3 photos from formal night (same photo, but one for me, one for mom n step dad and one for my sister stuck in wa state)

 

we got a "free" photo frame...

[Host Jazzbeau]

Wow! Why are so many people slamming the embarkation picture? That's the only one I pose for and buy. I love that picture because it has all the information about the cruise -- ship, date, itinerary.

 

And usually I'm looking really happy cuz I'm about to go on a cruise :)

 

If we have flown in that day, we look like we slept in our outfits and hair. If not, and it's Miami, we are sweaty and frazzled-looking. One way or the other, we don't look our best for the embarkation picture. That's why we don't even stop for them. Formal night, OTOH, we are wearing our best outfit and have just showered and primped -- and even at the prices being complained about if the picture comes out good for BOTH of us it's worth it. [And on the Princess cruise when we bought several pictures, they had clearly been retouched.] If you take 6 cruises a year? -- probably not worth it every time; but every other year makes a nice time-line for the funeral home. [sorry if that seems maudlin or callous, but it's how we think after trying to find pictures of my mother.]

[alternageek]

I believe 'selphie' in this case stands for 'self-absorbed'.

They probably don't realize there is anyone else on the

planet with them.

 

they do, they just dont want to bother anyone :)

not everyone knows how to use different phones (i, for one, have a non mainstream phone that does use a mainstream OS but the camera doesnt work like others do) so the stick allows someone to be in more control of taking photos from a different point of view without it looking like poop.

 

the selfie stick isnt for everyone, so if its not for you dont knock it.

[FridaysChild]

Wow! Why are so many people slamming the embarkation picture? That's the only one I pose for and buy. I love that picture because it has all the information about the cruise -- ship, date, itinerary.

 

And usually I'm looking really happy cuz I'm about to go on a cruise :)

 

I agree! We always get the embarkation photo, and we try to get at least one decent picture of each port. I don't care if they are cheesy. I make photo books of each cruise, and those pictures really help to organize the timeline of the book. And since I now make my books on websites like Shutterfly, it really helps to have digital copies of the images. I can always scan a print, but it's easier to have the digital file.

 

Our last Princess cruise was 15 years ago, when my husband and I were still newlyweds. At the time, Princess still had some photo specials. We paid $100 for an 8.5x11 photo album embossed with the princess logo (an old-school three-ring-binder type album) that came with 3 stock photos of the ship, and our choice of 7 photos. How do I remember the cost? Because I still have the Patters from the cruise in the back of that album and there is an ad for the package! Also, you could apparently buy a smaller album to hold 5x7s that came with 4 stock photos of the ship for a mere $12.95.:eek: I understand that prices would increase in 15 years, but I'm bummed that Princess no longer seems to have any type of package deal.

 

Our most recent cruises have been with Royal Caribbean, and their photography is handled by an independent company (kind of like the spa). You can buy packages that include all of your prints (every photo taken with you in it), or all of your prints plus digital copies. The price varies by ship and length of cruise, but I think we paid about $250 on our last week-long cruise for the prints plus digital copies. We ended up with about 80 pictures, with 20 of them being good enough to use for my photo book. Plus, I can use those pictures in any way that I want. For example, I used our best family portrait for our Christmas card. If we had to pay $25 for each of those 20 good pictures, it would have cost us $500!

 

I wish Princess offered something similar. We don't drink, or gamble, or do spa treatments, so the pictures are our splurge. Of course, we take plenty of our own pictures, but it's nice to have some good ones with the whole family in them. For our upcoming Princess cruise, we may just have to look for friendly fellow passengers and ask them for help. My tip there is to look for the person who has a similar or better camera than you. There are plenty of people with expensive DSLRs, and I doubt they would run off with mine if they have their own. Also, they hopefully know how to use it and can take a nice picture that's in focus.

[njb59]

Wow looks like we will not be buying many photos if any for our Cruise later in the year, being from Australia that's around $35.00 and $48.00 Au per photo cannot justify that.

[caribill]

The post that started this thread about $35 pictures was from last July.

 

Nobody has reported prices that high since then.

[crochetcruise]

Wow looks like we will not be buying many photos if any for our Cruise later in the year, being from Australia that's around $35.00 and $48.00 Au per photo cannot justify that.

 

I'm getting the Welcome Aboard Photo Package for AUD$50-2 photos and a ship shapes USB stick IIRC-can't easily manage 2 website open at the same time due to sight issues. I plan to budget another $50 to get an 8" x 10" photo from the free Portrait Sitting I receive as a Suite Perk. It's my 1st cruise ever, so I'm excited! :D Been diligently scouring for prices so my budget is mostly pre-paid, and I don't get too much of a shock!

[pablo222]

the selfie stick isnt for everyone, so if its not for you dont knock it.

 

I had one of these more than 10 years ago:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/936386-REG/quik_pod_dslr_pov_extendable_monopod_for_gopro_dslr.html

 

That I used with compact digital cameras with flip-around LCDs.

 

At that time, cameras in phones were a joke.

 

Kids these days think they invent everything...

[RNRcruisers]

I actually think the photographers do a decent job. Our first cruise was in 1990 and we probably purchased 3 or 4 of the ship photos, and the same on the next few cruises. I use them in our scrapbooks not so much to hang on the wall. However, our last few cruises we purchased 1 or none. The waste always seems a shame to me and often there are photos that I like but I'm just not willing to spend that much money. I agree with the previous poster that if they dropped the price I bet they would sell a lot more.

 

And to the poster who doesn't think we should need pictures, he must have quite a memory. I find that the pictures really help me relive the moments that I otherwise might have a hard time remembering, not because they weren't good moments but because my memory just isn't that great!

[pris993]

We are currently on the Island. We just purchased several photos, the cheapest being $20 and the formal pics $35 wow I don't remember them being that expensive. It just seems to me if they were say $10 they would sell 400% more.

 

That is why we don't buy anymore.

[alternageek]

I had one of these more than 10 years ago:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/936386-REG/quik_pod_dslr_pov_extendable_monopod_for_gopro_dslr.html

 

That I used with compact digital cameras with flip-around LCDs.

 

At that time, cameras in phones were a joke.

 

Kids these days think they invent everything...

 

oh thats true!! vga and grainy!!

 

but my phones main camera is 8mp, better quality than my point and shoot for most snaps that i tend to take.

 

also, id kill for a gopro, but its either one of those or upgrade my phone to the newest model.

[shredie]

The post that started this thread about $35 pictures was from last July.

 

Nobody has reported prices that high since then.

 

A new life for old threads.

[jennybenny]

It sucks they are so expensive, but I will always buy one or two, Especially from Formal night.

 

Wish they did package deals.

[Kinkacruiser]

When we did the behind the scenes tour 5 yrs ago they told us it costs 7 cents to print a picture. Seems like that is an awful lot of profit being made from pictures. I'm sure in those 5 yrs that the price of printing has home up some, but not to what they are charging. Has anyone done this tour recently and heard what the price of printing is now?

 

So one is really paying for all the photos that are dumped at the end of the cruise :rolleyes:

We still buy at least one photo each cruise.