Do You Purchase Welcome Photo

[Thrak]

Our first cruise we got snagged into letting them take the picture but we didn't buy it. After that we just bypassed the photographers when embarking or at port stops. My wife has had us pose for the formal pictures several times and she actually purchased some photos on our first cruise. Normally we look at them in the gallery and go "bleh". Like some others here, I don't really appreciate being bothered at dinner and I really don't want pictures with some crew dressed as pirates, etc. We tend to just walk on past them. There's usually some other person willing to get snagged by the dressed up crew members and that lets us slide on by.

 

That first cruise where we did get snagged for the embarkation photo we didn't buy it. I'm really not at all fond of pictures taken against a fake background.

[Mary Ann 2]

I seem to be in the minority here, but the embarkation picture is the ONLY one I purchase. It gives me a quick visual reminder of the date, ship and itinerary of the cruise. I sometimes don't look my best, but I'm always smiling because I'm about to go on a cruise!!

 

I totally agree! This is the one picture we always get because it captures the moment that I am back where I belong.

[jennybenny]

No, we don't. Usually we are travelling and all blah.....

Don't care for the port photos either.

We do purchase formal night photos. We find the photographers do a good job.

[Cruzin-K]

I usually buy the embarkation photo unless I really look terrible :o

 

I've always arrived near the port the night before, so I've never arrived at the ship tired and disheveled. I'm always wide awake and excited with a big smile on my face. On one cruise I was actually the very first person to board the ship :D The photographers were sitting at the end of the gangway half asleep and I was probably only about 10 feet away from them when they realized passengers were boarding and they jumped up. :p

[jewelsea21]

Since we are both married to other people, we avoid this. :)

[Grego]

Do you ever Purchase the Welcome Aboard Photo?

 

Here is my take on why I will not even bother looking for mine on the photo rack.

 

You spend hours cooped up on an Air Plane, have to wiggle through crowds to find your luggage in the airport, locate transportation to port, wait in line in the hot sun, and finally clear the check in desk. Then someone sticks a camera in your face and tells you to smile.

 

My Humble thoughts are, that is no way going to be the best photo of you while on that cruise.

 

So, do you purchase the welcome aboard photo?

 

 

 

Bob

 

We always did when we lived in MI and drove down each year to FLL. It was good to see the "Before" photo of tired, pale cruisers with jackets and cameras around our necks and the compare it later to one at the end of voyage photos of tanned, happy cruisers in shirt sleeves. Now that we live in FL it's not that big a deal and we skip that and most all of the port stop photos as well as the other dining room shots. We do cave on doing a formal night photo if it is well done.

[smixsell]

Do you ever Purchase the Welcome Aboard Photo?

 

Here is my take on why I will not even bother looking for mine on the photo rack.

 

You spend hours cooped up on an Air Plane, have to wiggle through crowds to find your luggage in the airport, locate transportation to port, wait in line in the hot sun, and finally clear the check in desk. Then someone sticks a camera in your face and tells you to smile.

 

My Humble thoughts are, that is no way going to be the best photo of you while on that cruise.

 

So, do you purchase the welcome aboard photo?

 

Bob

 

LOL! I agree totally. My wife and I have looked at them just for fun, and we always laugh out how incredibly BAD we look. It would make for a good "before" picture, so you can see the "before" cruise and "during/after" cruise profound change. :)

[davekathy]

No, but I don't mind posing for the photo if there's not a wait. I mind the photographers who interrupt dinner.

 

Agree as we do the same. Except I wouldn't call the armatures running around the ship with expensive cameras photographer's.

[kayelbee]

We have just started to play a little game with the photographers. We generally manage to avoid/ dissuade the photographers with a polite, firm no thanks as we continue walking through/past/behind them but at dinner you are a little more captive...so it is quicker to just smile sweetly at the camera and let them snap away... except my smile may not be so sweet, may be a crossed eyes look or something fleeting similar, not enough that they notice when taking but enough to cause merriment when viewing the print off. Makes the whole procedure slight less tedious!

Edited November 8, 2016 by kayelbee

[jsiegel]

I try to avoid the ship's photographers on getting on and off the ship. Well in Long Beach they were really insistent on not letting me pass so I covered my face with my hands. They then lowered their boogy boards so I thought they finally would give up. As I stepped forward the photographer snapped. Friends on board told me they saw my picture and it was really cute. So, I checked it out. Had to buy it as it caught one of the photo staffers in a candid moment of unposed laughter. One of the guys remembered me from all the passengers they posed with. Glad I made their day and they made mine after seeing the picture.

 

Jackie

[OCruisers]

It's a picture of cruisers at their worst. All disheveled and travel worn.

Pass.

 

. :D So True! :D

[Jimmy Geegitz]

We collect ours no matter what we look like. 12 cruises and we have 12 welcome aboard photos. We rarely buy any other photos. I think we may have purchased 2 photos that are not embarkation photos.

 

Sent from my BLU LIFE XL using Forums mobile app

[Elevatorman]

Never buy it and don't stop to have them take it.

[greenie082756]

I seem to be in the minority here, but the embarkation picture is the ONLY one I purchase. It gives me a quick visual reminder of the date, ship and itinerary of the cruise. I sometimes don't look my best, but I'm always smiling because I'm about to go on a cruise!!

 

You are not in the minority.

We have them posted on the refrigerator to remind us of how happy we were to be going on a cruise. :D

[Lucky TGO]

Do you ever Purchase the Welcome Aboard Photo?

 

Here is my take on why I will not even bother looking for mine on the photo rack.

 

You spend hours cooped up on an Air Plane, have to wiggle through crowds to find your luggage in the airport, locate transportation to port, wait in line in the hot sun, and finally clear the check in desk. Then someone sticks a camera in your face and tells you to smile.

 

My Humble thoughts are, that is no way going to be the best photo of you while on that cruise.

 

So, do you purchase the welcome aboard photo?

 

Bob

We never do. For all the reasons that you have mentioned.

Tony

[Amtrack Springfield]

We never stop to get our pictures taken. I cannot remember the last time we bought a picture on the ship. Way to expensive. Save your money take your own pictures!

[markf]

except for a Disney cruise with grandkids we neither take any or buy any--simply say no thanks , including on arrival at the pier

[dtb55]

Never have. I wave them off in dining rooms too. If the whole family is traveling we will do a formal night portrait, otherwise I avoid photographers.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Edited November 10, 2016 by dtb55

[Iamcruzin]

I haven't purchased one since my first cruise. Now we don't even pose for them. As a matter of fact we don't pose for disembarkation picture at each port any more either. On one sailing we spent around $800 on family pictures. Today I couldn't even tell you where those pictures are. I guess I will find them one day when we move.

[Cruise a holic]

Pricing has changed. For example if you purchase from the cruiseline vendor for celebrity and royal, mycruisephotos.com a month or so before the cruisr, the price for unlimited photos and disc for celebrity runs about $200 varies depending on cruise but not much. We have taken with grandchildren and faily and had over 300 pics once! You have to be in the picture or be sharing the cabin. A real bargain. At home I upload to a vendor the pics I like and make picture books. The price on royal is higher. We have paid $400 ish. Again varies. But when you consider the cost of each picture a real bargain. Disney also uses this vendor. More expensive if you buy onboard. Hope this price remains as we have a few cruises booked through 2018.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Cruise a holic

[satxdiver]

We have never purchased any photos from the ship. After our first cruise when we learned that you do not have to have your picture taken, we now wave them off and never have our picture taken. To us it is a baldfaced rip off.

[Iamcruzin]

Question: How do you manage to walk by on embarkation? Even when we have tried saying no thank you, they have the walkway blocked and say, just a quick photo then you can go on. I don't like confrontation, so I'm wondering, is it easier to bypass the embarkation pictures on Princess than other lines? If so, I'm all for that!

 

We are from New York. Rule number one never make eye contact. If I stopped for everyone who was soliciting in the subway or on the street corner I would never make it to work. Rule number 2 we don't mind confrontation.

[Host Jazzbeau]

It would be impossible, since for the reasons you mentioned in post #1 we won't even stop to let them snap it...

[damiross]

.... To us it is a baldfaced rip off.

Can you tell my wife that? :D

Edited November 11, 2016 by damiross

[Hazelnut1106]

After our first few cruises we seldom have purchased any photos on the ship. But interestingly we did purchase our embarkation photo when we boarded the Diamond Princess in Sydney after our 15 hour red-eye flight from LA and walking around the port area a few hours before we could board the ship. I thought we looked amazingly 'good' or at least wonderfully happy considering we had been up for almost 40 hours! It was a nice memento to have as a reminder of a once in a lifetime trip.