Irritating Photographers

[Cruising-along]

1 hour ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

I would have had a different reaction to that one.

Well I'm sure the look on my face said it all, we really were in a hurry, no time to say everything I wanted to 😉  

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 minutes ago, summer slope said:

We always get the embarkation photo to remind us of where we went.  I have a book with all those.  Never purchase any others.

 

In all of my cruises, I've bought an embarkation photo only once, and that was in NYC on QE2. Short limo drive from home, we still looked fresh. I remember having an overnight flight to Heathrow followed by a bus to Southampton followed by a wait in the terminal. And as we walked down the hall to the gangway, we laughed at the idea that anyone who had been traveling that long would want a reminder of what they looked like! I like that the cruise lines now let you opt out of posing for the embarkation picture. 

 

From time to time we did buy a posed portrait, so I have a nice collection of pictures. I like the earlier ones when we looked younger!

 

 

[Mary229]

38 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

Is that true or just a ruse like the "Witness Protection Program" thing?

A little of both. 

[Copper10-8]

Used to buy 'em when we put together cruise photo albums post cruise and pre-digital photox days (there was a time when they had real nice ones of the ship and her public rooms).

 

Nowadays we politely decline and keep hooving it by their position. If one becomes pushy - which we have not encountered - we tell them we know the ship's security officer and has he/she (the photo dude/tte) ever seen the ship's brig up close and personal

[DoggyDaddy]

I think I heard that the ship photographers were contractors, not HAL employees. Their income might depend on how many photos they sell. If so, this is probably why they are so aggressive. Personally we aren’t too bothered by them, we just politely say “No Thanks”, and they go to someone else.

 

DD

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, DoggyDaddy said:

I think I heard that the ship photographers were contractors, not HAL employees. Their income might depend on how many photos they sell. If so, this is probably why they are so aggressive. Personally we aren’t too bothered by them, we just politely say “No Thanks”, and they go to someone else.

 

DD

 

The casino people, the art folks, the Steiners (spa/gym), the shoppies (store staff) and the port shopping ambassador are all contract employees on HAL ships (and other lines). known as concessionaires. Their boss on the ship is the Business and Brand Manager (formerly the MOM - Manager Onboard Marketing), a HAL employee   

 

Up until a few years ago, the photo staff also fell in the category of concessionaires however, that was changed and all photo folks now work under HAL contracts

Edited January 14, 2020 by Copper10-8

[KroozNut]

6 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

I have no problem saying "no thanks" and keep walking.  There was only one time that a gangway photographer was a little pushy.  We were rushing to make our tour on time and I mentioned that -- and she said "you have plenty of time" (!)  I just looked at her and laughed.  

 

To be honest, the photographer was probably right in that you likely had plenty of time.😉

[KroozNut]

5 hours ago, kazu said:

Last year we did our first embarkation photo in years.  We said no and when the photographer said that there would never be another Prinsendam embarkation photo, we caved and hammed it up.

 

 

You fell for that line?... I'm very surprised.. Lol! 😉

[Cruising-along]

5 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

 

To be honest, the photographer was probably right in that you likely had plenty of time.😉

Even if she was correct (which she was not) I thought it was pushy.  She didn't know what time our tour was meeting, or even if it was a ship or private excursion.

[KroozNut]

3 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Even if she was correct (which she was not) I thought it was pushy.  She didn't know what time our tour was meeting, or even if it was a ship or private excursion.

 

They know the systems and the excursions way better than we do..

[kazu]

6 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

You fell for that line?... I'm very surprised.. Lol! 😉

 

What line?  The Prinsendam was leaving the fleet and it was our last cruise on her 😞 

 

6 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

They know the systems and the excursions way better than we do..

 

Disagree.  Photographers have no idea about private excursions or the arrangements that have been made for them as @Cruising-along said.

[taxmantoo]

We just say "No Thanks" and walk on by.  Sometimes, I'll add "We still have some from our last cruise we have not sold yet".

[boards]

1 hour ago, taxmantoo said:

We just say "No Thanks" and walk on by.  Sometimes, I'll add "We still have some from our last cruise we have not sold yet".

We do the same, there is no need to get nasty, they are providing a service that you can make use of or not.  I will admit on our last cruise some of the on board evening photographers could of used a course in good manners.

[taxmantoo]

2 minutes ago, boards said:

We do the same, there is no need to get nasty, they are providing a service that you can make use of or not.  I will admit on our last cruise some of the on board evening photographers could of used a course in good manners.

Not to mention a course in photography, but that is for another thread 🙄 

[KroozNut]

4 hours ago, kazu said:

Disagree.  Photographers have no idea about private excursions or the arrangements that have been made for them as @Cruising-along said.

 

@Cruising-along did not say whether their excursion was private or arranged through the ship.

Edited January 14, 2020 by KroozNut

[VennDiagram]

20 hours ago, Tom O. said:

I find the photographers to be sometimes overly aggressive in trying to get their pictures. 

This is especially true of the ones involved in trying to get you to pose by the gangway. I know that someone will say to just ignore them, and that is what I do. But I find it a little like shutting the door on a door-to-door salesman. I feel like I am being rude, when it is really the other way around.

 

We have not encountered pushy, aggressive, rude photographers in several years.  I do recall the days where they would nearly tackle us to force us to have pictures taken.  Now, a simple "no thanks" works fine.  And I also remember on Formal nights, they would push and push for pictures of the people at the table.  I can't remember even seeing photographers in the dining room on Gala nights lately.

[syesmar]

We have never purchased any photos on board.  After the embarkation photo, during subsequent requests, we would normally politely say “not today, thanks” and be on our way.

 

A few years back, we had a more persistent team so we decided to have a little fun with it.  We started making goofy faces and silly expressions.  The mascot wasn’t always aware they had “bunny ears”, and the photographer would be in on the joke.  We ended up being friendly with the team and it gave them a laugh in their day.  It gave us lots of laughs, too, as it was always hilarious to see the pictures in the Gallery that night alongside the more serious ones (before the digital format).

 

Happy Sailing!

[VennDiagram]

5 hours ago, kazu said:

 

 Photographers have no idea about private excursions or the arrangements that have been made for them as @Cruising-along said.

 

Of course you and Cruising-along are correct, kazu.  There's no understandable reason a person would think that photographers have any kind of knowledge of arrangements passengers have made.

[CruisingAndDiving]

1 hour ago, fyree39 said:

My husband and I buy one photo from each cruise and put them in a dedicated photo album. We can flip through the pages and see how we've aged! We have a photo from our NA sailing last spring. 

Likewise, we usually get one of the gala/formal night pics from each cruise.

 

We both remarked on our first HAL cruise (last month on Niuew Amsterdam) how much less of an issue the photographers were compared to other lines (Carnival and RCCL).  We both thought it was far less of the "push" and greatly appreciated it.

 

Having said that, we got married on an RCCL ship in 2007, and were assigned Marco as our wedding photographer.  He was awesome and actually managed to make me look good in the pictures! 

 

Warren

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

Not to mention a course in photography, but that is for another thread 🙄 

 

I don't think we bothered with HAL pictures since our early cruises in the 80s. But we have bought quite a few from our Cunard cruises.

 

Lately, Cunard's photographers have no sense of composition. On our Christmas cruise on QM2 we posed for pictures in the atrium. We were between two columns that were wrapped with garland. But when we saw the pictures, we were disappointed. We weren't centered between the columns, and there was a door visible behind us. Another time, we posed at the piano in the atrium. They had DH sit on the bench and me sort of draped over him. Stupid pictures, didn't buy those. The last ones we bought on QM2 I posed us, sitting (instead of standing in the "prom pose") on the atrium stairs on New Year's Eve. We're in formal clothes but a relaxed pose, and I love that picture. 

 

The only good thing I can say about Cunard's photographers is that they aren't aggressive. And the ship prints just a few pictures, mostly embarkation and Captain's reception because those tend to be impulse buys that draw you in. Everything else is on the computer. Also, they have a sort of grid "watermark" so you can't take a picture of the computer screen. Does HAL do that?

 

[Cruising-along]

3 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

@Cruising-along did not say whether their excursion was private or arranged through the ship.

And you are missing the point.  The photographer in question had no way of knowing what kind of excursion we were rushing to.  In this case it was a private tour, but it really doesn't matter, the point is that she was pushy.  

[knittinggirl]

Often the photos at the gangway are not the best place to get a scenic photo.  If they're to take photos, I want something scenic behind me.

 

I think a better idea would be to assign the photographers to given ship tours (promoting this in the ship tour brochure) and have the photographers take photos of us during the shore excursions.

[3rdGenCunarder]

5 minutes ago, knittinggirl said:

Often the photos at the gangway are not the best place to get a scenic photo.  If they're to take photos, I want something scenic behind me.

 

I think a better idea would be to assign the photographers to given ship tours (promoting this in the ship tour brochure) and have the photographers take photos of us during the shore excursions.

 

In Alaska a few years ago a HAL photographer was on our whale watch. I think she was there to take stock photos, because she didn't take pictures of the group. Unfortunately, she was very uncomfortable and spent as much time bending over the railing as she did taking pictures. I think I got better whale shots than she did. 

[MISTER 67]

22 hours ago, I like vacation said:

 It was all digital on the Nieuw Statendam in October.  Hopefully the rest of the ships will update soon.  You scan your card and any picture of you is displayed on a monitor.  The pictures are printed if you want to purchase them.

They had that on the MSC Seaside, worked our very well as you were able to pick the size of the photo that you wanted.

[VintageGeo]

In Alaska last year I was trying to politely say no to the eagle at the end of the gangway when someone in a bigger hurry bumped me from behind. I lost my balance just a touch, and my foot came down pretty hard on the eagle's. That was not a screech I heard from that bird.... 🥴

 

George