Photography on Princess

[lbfluffy]

We will be going on the Grand Princess for our 30th anniversary. My husband agreed to get some pictures done by the ship's photographer. 10 years ago, our Princess offered a great package, one price for all the photos we had taken. What kind of deals do they offer now? We usually skip the purchasing of pictures and do not go out of our way to get photos done. But this time we will be since it is our 30th wedding anniversary. My husband is even going to purchase a suit. He does not wear suite so this is a big deal.

 

Thanks.

[socaljo]

We were on the Island last month for our 30th! :D Its the only time I ever get DH in front of a real photographer! We got some wonderful pics! They do offer packages, we got the $149 for 10 printed large pics from them + the digital files, we were Ruby, that's got us $20 off. I know there are other ways to purchase single ones or just the digital. So don't worry, you'll have some great shots to choose from. DH does not enjoy doing this "activity" but does it for me, and that last formal night he was finally getting in to it & having fun! What a switch! They take formal portraits every formal dinner evening, and TONS of casual.

 

My suggestion is to take a bunch, all the opportunities, you get to see them the next day, but don't have to PURCHASE them till later! The 3rd formal night were our best pics, but I only had two left of my 10 to choose, because I'd already chosen 8. Lesson learned now!

Happy anniversary & happy sailing!

[socaljo]

We were on the Island last month for our 30th! :D Its the only time I ever get DH in front of a real photographer! We got some wonderful pics! They do offer packages, we got the $149 for 10 printed large pics from them + the digital files, we were Ruby, that's got us $20 off. I know there are other ways to purchase single ones or just the digital. So don't worry, you'll have some great shots to choose from. DH does not enjoy doing this "activity" but does it for me, and that last formal night he was finally getting in to it & having fun! What a switch!

 

My note to self after this cruise was, WAIT to choose. The 3rd formal night were our best pics, but I only had two left of my 10, because I'd already chosen 8. Lesson learned now!

Happy anniversary & happy sailing!

[lbfluffy]

We were on the Island last month for our 30th! :D Its the only time I ever get DH in front of a real photographer! We got some wonderful pics! They do offer packages, we got the $149 for 10 printed large pics from them + the digital files, we were Ruby, that's got us $20 off. I know there are other ways to purchase single ones or just the digital. So don't worry, you'll have some great shots to choose from. DH does not enjoy doing this "activity" but does it for me, and that last formal night he was finally getting in to it & having fun! What a switch!

 

My note to self after this cruise was, WAIT to choose. The 3rd formal night were our best pics, but I only had two left of my 10, because I'd already chosen 8. Lesson learned now!

Happy anniversary & happy sailing!

 

Thank you. Yes my husband doesn't like doing photos, but this time around he will. Thanks for the tip.

[Lucky TGO]

Congratulations on your 30th Anniversary!! I know he is going to look great in his new suite.

Tony

[Brisbane41]

Why not let them know you are celebrating a special event and see what they can do for you. There probably are options available for events such as yours. Have a chat to Princess directly. It cant hurt to ask.

[Mary Ann 2]

Last summer for our 40th, we did the Renewal of Vows package. The photographer took pictures of the ceremony and then took pictures at multiple locations on the ship. We ended up with more pictures than our wedding! The package lists how many pictures you get (can't remember), but they offer you the option to buy a DVD with pictures and music or DVD and all the printed pictures. Maybe more than you want to spend, but even my husband who rolls his eyes when I want to buy more pictures on another cruise jumped at the opportunity to have all the incredible pictures of this special day.

[Nezmo]

If you find the right photographer and show them you're willing they will have fun with you. They like dealing with folks who are in to it. We recently had an amazing experience. The photog spent a great deal of time working with my wife, and me and we came away with some terrific shots - and I am one who often gets upset at their prices. It was so much fun I took pictures of him setting my wife up and taking his photos.

 

On the Royal in March we did the $149 for 10 photos deal. It included a 4x6 photo frame and two albums which I didn't really want but it was still a decent deal on the photos alone which would have been $25 each otherwise (too much).

Edited April 14, 2016 by Nezmo

[LeeW]

Hint: A tux is often cheaper than a suit. You will be in the top 10% dressed on formal nights.

 

They still do often offer a digital package for the whole cruise. If so, you will see it in the Personalizer maybe 4 months before the cruise. Expensive, maybe $300, but includes all the digital files from the cruise. This is done by the company that contracts the photographers onboard.

 

They will have lots of backdrops for photos both on formal nights and other nights. Get lots of pictures!

 

Don't forget to put the special event in your Personalizer. They will give you a card to give to your waiter to get a special dessert and singing. And decorations for the cabin. Unlike other cruise lines, Princess does this for free.

Edited April 14, 2016 by LeeW
more info

[caribill]

Don't forget to put the special event in your Personalizer. They will give you a card to give to your waiter to get a special dessert and singing. And decorations for the cabin. Unlike other cruise lines, Princess does this for free.

 

Two balloons outside the cabin that say congrats + a sign on the door.

[lbfluffy]

Wow such great ideas. I like the digital file idea. I did add our celebration to the personalizer.

Thanks for tips.

[RetiredNTraveling]

Congrats on your 30th! Hope that it is a special anniversary & cruise!

 

My DW talked me into buying a Tux for our 50th and she got a new evening dress. We had multiple pictures taken and we bought more that I would have thought. We bought 2 extra and had them framed for our sons and their family as gifts.

 

Also, my wife always makes a last minute stop at our favorite jewelry store to get her rings cleaned. The photographers always take at least one or two pictures with us holding hands and her ring hand prominently displayed.

 

We are celebrating our 54th this cruise and are planning a wonderful 28 Day Hawaii, Samoa & Tahiti cruise for our 55th anniversary. Our oldest son refers to it as our Double Nickel Celebration! Bet I know what he gives us!! :eek: :D

 

Just Mike

[peety3]

Two options, typically: "ship's photographers" and "Platinum Studio". The ship's photographers are a team of hired folks who work long, hard hours doing all sorts of mundane photography: shots when you're trying to board with 17 carry-ons, shots while you're eating dinner with lettuce in your teeth on formal nights, posed stuff (using a short list of pre-canned poses) in front of backdrops on formal nights, and cheesy stuff when you're trying to get off the ship in ports. They also do a few posed shots on the Ultimate Ship Tour and you get a freebie print if you do Ultimate Balcony Dining. Most of them try hard, but they're a little hamstrung by limited, mid-grade equipment, and don't have an eye for color (most of their prints are just plain pink to my eye). We offered the use of our portable studio light to help her take our Ultimate Balcony Dining photo, and it still came out pink and blurry. If you go this route, there's no fee to have the picture taken, and the price is dependent upon print size (or digital download).

 

The Platinum Studio (a concept by Joe Craig IIRC) is a dedicated studio space on several of the ships (often taking the space formerly used by the golf simulator) where you'll have a nice, quiet, closed-door session with a "Platinum Artist" who still works hard, but on a focused set of tasks with at least a good computer for editing and such. The session is free, but the prints are PRICEY; however, the work is of a much higher caliber and it'll capture some great memories. We did a session in 2012 with my parents, and my mother insists that the shot of her be used for her obit. DW and I did a session last year for our 5th anniversary, and the results were again spectacular. When the concept was new, the Platinum Studio would usually have two photographers, and they'd do a few open houses to draw a crowd. On our August 2015 cruise, there was only one photographer, and signup was done using a clipboard and some phone tag. :(

[mph045]

platinum pictures are very expensive-we know as we had a setting=all black and white portraits-private sittings=$975 for I believe 6-7 framed prints.

 

:eek:

[socaljo]

platinum pictures are very expensive-we know as we had a setting=all black and white portraits-private sittings=$975 for I believe 6-7 framed prints.

 

:eek:

HOLY MOLEY! :eek: That's ridiculous! DH was ready to do it the last formal night, but we really didn't have the time, & we were very satisfied with the others taken so far. So, talked about doing PS on our January trip. Not any more! We have many (yes, more than I planned to buy too!) wonderful shots at an extremely reasonable price. Won't be booking that "excursion" next time! :(

[peety3]

platinum pictures are very expensive-we know as we had a setting=all black and white portraits-private sittings=$975 for I believe 6-7 framed prints.

My wife paid more than that for a similar number of framed prints from a boudoir session she did several years ago. Is it expensive? Sure. Is it in the ballpark of what a package should cost from a GOOD photography studio? Yes. If that's too much for you, there's a less-expensive option for you all around the ship on formal nights.

[lbfluffy]

Thanks for the tips. I think we will probably do some shots at the various areas set up on the ship. I think I will have my husband look into renting a tux.

[caribill]

platinum pictures are very expensive-we know as we had a setting=all black and white portraits-private sittings=$975 for I believe 6-7 framed prints.

 

:eek:

 

$199 for a single unframed 8x10.

[Womble99]

They still do often offer a digital package for the whole cruise. If so, you will see it in the Personalizer maybe 4 months before the cruise. Expensive, maybe $300, but includes all the digital files from the cruise. This is done by the company that contracts the photographers onboard.

 

They will have lots of backdrops for photos both on formal nights and other nights. Get lots of pictures!

 

.

 

Just be sure that if you get any last minute photos added on the morning of disembarkation to your thumbdrive that you insist that they show you the file listing before you leave! I can tell you it is a lot of fun getting home to find you only have 5 photos on the thumbdrive as they managed to overwrite everything on ours :(

 

Took weeks but we did eventually get manage to get a copy thanks to a relative on a later cruise. We were very lucky.

[lbfluffy]

Just be sure that if you get any last minute photos added on the morning of disembarkation to your thumbdrive that you insist that they show you the file listing before you leave! I can tell you it is a lot of fun getting home to find you only have 5 photos on the thumbdrive as they managed to overwrite everything on ours :(

 

Took weeks but we did eventually get manage to get a copy thanks to a relative on a later cruise. We were very lucky.

 

Thanks for that information. We will double check.

[ano]

Hint: A tux is often cheaper than a suit. You will be in the top 10% dressed on formal nights.

 

They still do often offer a digital package for the whole cruise. If so, you will see it in the Personalizer maybe 4 months before the cruise. Expensive, maybe $300, but includes all the digital files from the cruise. This is done by the company that contracts the photographers onboard.

 

They will have lots of backdrops for photos both on formal nights and other nights. Get lots of pictures!

 

Don't forget to put the special event in your Personalizer. They will give you a card to give to your waiter to get a special dessert and singing. And decorations for the cabin. Unlike other cruise lines, Princess does this for free.

I sometimes see this offer pop-up near the end of the cruise. They want you to buy the individual pictures first, then at the end they tell you "by the way, you can get every picture on a CD for $300 or something like that." The pictures are worth $0 to them the day after the cruise, so you can get some pretty good bargins near the end.

Edited April 15, 2016 by ano

[notentirelynormal]

$199 for a single unframed 8x10.

 

Ya, the pictures were nice but the price was WAY too much for me and I like pictures. Last cruise I had to buy 3 sets (of 10) with the special pricing deal. Oops. The good news is you can get the digital thumb drive and can print as many pictures as you want in whatever size you want. Sadly, on my next cruise with 4 grandchildren there will be pictures involved. I'm just going to budget for $500-$1000. They don't get together very often and these will be life time pictures for them. Two live in Seattle and two live in LA. Shhh, don't tell my DH.

Edited April 15, 2016 by notentirelynormal

[timetobook]

platinum pictures are very expensive-we know as we had a setting=all black and white portraits-private sittings=$975 for I believe 6-7 framed prints.

 

:eek:

 

We did our 40 year vow renewal on the Sapphire before she left the west coast.

We did end up purchasing the minimum package. Neither one of us are fans of being photographed, but Rachel made sure we were comfortable The DVD of all the shots(which all turned out great) still makes me tear up if I watch it.

 

It's certainly not for everyone, but great that Princess offers it.

[babygrljaz]

I was on Caribbean Princess in March. They were doing a trial run on a photo package. All photos of everyone in the stateroom for $149.99, add digital for $20. We got about 130 pictures all together, loved it! They said it was valid on that ship only but maybe they are doing other test runs on others. Good luck :)

[dforeigner]

I was on Caribbean Princess in March. They were doing a trial run on a photo package. All photos of everyone in the stateroom for $149.99, add digital for $20. We got about 130 pictures all together, loved it! They said it was valid on that ship only but maybe they are doing other test runs on others. Good luck :)

 

Yep, I can confirm the above stated.

 

Awesome deal. If you want a large print, you probably get a much better deal sending the digital picture you want to print via COSTCO.