How / When to book a private photography session on a Princess ship?

[Aralim]

Hi all,

 

My family and I will be sailing Regal Princess in the Mediterranean this summer. We are expecting that It will be the last vacation we take together, as my older daughter is graduating college and going off to start her life, and my younger daughter will be starting college. So I want to have a private photography session while we're on the trip, and have some nice portraits taken of us all as a family, plus some individual photos of my kids and some pics of my wife and I.

 

On the Princess web site, the "Photography" section of the "On Board Services" page just lists a 5-picture and 10-picture package. Based on the description, this sounds more like a package to choose photos taken from random photographers as we embark, go to formal nights, etc., which is not what I'm looking for.

 

Do I have to wait until we are on board to book a private photography session? If so, can anyone who has done this before give me a ballpark of what it will cost and what we can expect in terms of where photos will be taken, how many pictures we can expect to get, etc? Since we'll be in the Mediterranean, I'm hoping to get at least a couple of pictures taken outside on the Lido deck or another area, hopefully with some of the local scenery / towns visible in the background if we're close enough to shore on whatever day I book (maybe late on a port day, before we go to dinner?)

[justafem]

5 minutes ago, Aralim said:

Hi all,

 

My family and I will be sailing Regal Princess in the Mediterranean this summer. We are expecting that It will be the last vacation we take together, as my older daughter is graduating college and going off to start her life, and my younger daughter will be starting college. So I want to have a private photography session while we're on the trip, and have some nice portraits taken of us all as a family, plus some individual photos of my kids and some pics of my wife and I.

 

On the Princess web site, the "Photography" section of the "On Board Services" page just lists a 5-picture and 10-picture package. Based on the description, this sounds more like a package to choose photos taken from random photographers as we embark, go to formal nights, etc., which is not what I'm looking for.

 

Do I have to wait until we are on board to book a private photography session? If so, can anyone who has done this before give me a ballpark of what it will cost and what we can expect in terms of where photos will be taken, how many pictures we can expect to get, etc? Since we'll be in the Mediterranean, I'm hoping to get at least a couple of pictures taken outside on the Lido deck or another area, hopefully with some of the local scenery / towns visible in the background if we're close enough to shore on whatever day I book (maybe late on a port day, before we go to dinner?)

We've booked the photography sessions while onboard.  Never actually done them an they kept rescheduling and rescheduling and rescheduling.  So we had a "screw this" moment and just didn't do it.  

 

The session itself is free, the sheets on the other hand are pricy.  Like $90-$150 per sheet.  

 

On the same trip they kept rescheduling us, we had a suite and had the unlimited photo package (no longer offered).  So we ended up with hundreds of decent pics without the cost of the enhanced photos.  

 

We got so many great pics, I'd have been disappointed if we would have paid for the other.  

 

Now that the unlimited package is no longer available, I'd again think about the premium photoshoot. 

 

[Aralim]

@justafem, thanks for the info. That's concerning that they kept rescheduling on you until you just gave up. Hopefully they won't pull that if I book with them on this cruise.

 

When you say $90-$150 per sheet -- so if you got an 8x10 of one pic (I assume a single sheet) and a sheet of say two 5x7s for two other pics, that would be $180-$300, even though it was 3 pictures on 2 sheets? And if you liked four pictures and got all four as one sheet of 4x6 or 3x5 pictures, they just count it as one sheet and only charge $90-$150?

 

I was figuring if it wasn't some kind of hourly rate that they would be charging by the picture, then some nominal amount per sheet of the picture, regardless of how many were put on one sheet. Which at least would be in line with how the land-based photography studios we used when our kids were little would operate.

[justafem]

10 hours ago, Aralim said:

@justafem, thanks for the info. That's concerning that they kept rescheduling on you until you just gave up. Hopefully they won't pull that if I book with them on this cruise.

 

When you say $90-$150 per sheet -- so if you got an 8x10 of one pic (I assume a single sheet) and a sheet of say two 5x7s for two other pics, that would be $180-$300, even though it was 3 pictures on 2 sheets? And if you liked four pictures and got all four as one sheet of 4x6 or 3x5 pictures, they just count it as one sheet and only charge $90-$150?

 

I was figuring if it wasn't some kind of hourly rate that they would be charging by the picture, then some nominal amount per sheet of the picture, regardless of how many were put on one sheet. Which at least would be in line with how the land-based photography studios we used when our kids were little would operate.

Yeah, it's per sheet, but from what I understand all the pictures on the sheet are the same, they can't or don't break them up into different pics, so if you like 4 pictures, that would be 4 sheets, no matter what the size.  

 

Some of the sheets are bigger than 8x10, if I remember correctly, some are 10x13 (or 14, or 15?).  The quality is very very good, completely edited, colors enhances, faces softened (when needed), just amazing.  But for the price, they better be!  You also get digital copies of everything you purchase and possibly of all the pics.  And can order for quite a long time after the cruise.  At least 30 days after, might be 60 or 90.  I don't think you can have them printed from the digital (but I think you might be able to screenshot them?).

 

After they rescheduled 3x, we gave up.  And we were supposed to have priority because we were in a suite.  Yeah, that. 

[Roberto256]

Absolutely no offense intended, but when I first read "private photography session",

I didn't think it was something for a family-friendly forum.  🙂

 

Princess used to have a 'Platinum Studio' ... and I don't know if it has returned since covid.

 

But, it was a package with an exclusive private time with a photographer,

and then an opportunity to purchase pictures.

 

My observation was that it was usually a very experienced photog, often the photo manager.

 

The intent was to be much higher quality that the candids taken around the ship.

 

Here is a thread about it.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2575443-platinum-studio/

[Aralim]

15 minutes ago, Roberto256 said:

Absolutely no offense intended, but when I first read "private photography session",

I didn't think it was something for a family-friendly forum.  🙂

 

Princess used to have a 'Platinum Studio' ... and I don't know if it has returned since covid.

 

But, it was a package with an exclusive private time with a photographer,

and then an opportunity to purchase pictures.

 

My observation was that it was usually a very experienced photog, often the photo manager.

 

The intent was to be much higher quality that the candids taken around the ship.

 

Here is a thread about it.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2575443-platinum-studio/

 

No offense taken! 🤣 I guess I should choose my topic name a bit more carefully in the future. 😉

 

Read the entire thread, posted a question there but will re-post it here in case some following this topic also want to know / answer.

 

Platinum Studio only offers B&W prints / photos? They don't do color at all? I know that B&W is often considered more striking and compelling (when done right) vs color, but I find it surprising that color isn't even an option.

 

Makes me think the right call here from both a budget standpoint and interest in color photos of at least the kids might be to go with the Platinum Studio to get one really nice shot of my wife and I, and then ask my older daughter (who is the booked name on the second cabin) to purchase the "pick 5" photo package so she and her sister can get some nice photos on formal night or around the ship that they can pick and give us copies. And maybe I also purchase the "pick 5" or "pick 10" for myself, to allow for some full-group and various pairings with me or my wife.

 

Formal night pics are less candids and more posed, yes? (if still done fairly quickly) That's been my recollection on sailings I've done on Royal Caribbean, where people will step aside entering the MDR or going down one of the fancier staircases and wait in a designated photo line. But this is my first time on Princess, so it'll be good to know if they operate differently.

 

My wife hates having her picture taken, so if the pro from Platinum Studio is someone who can put her at ease and tease out a good photo, that'll be worth the money for one good shot.

[justafem]

47 minutes ago, Aralim said:

 

No offense taken! 🤣 I guess I should choose my topic name a bit more carefully in the future. 😉

 

Read the entire thread, posted a question there but will re-post it here in case some following this topic also want to know / answer.

 

Platinum Studio only offers B&W prints / photos? They don't do color at all? I know that B&W is often considered more striking and compelling (when done right) vs color, but I find it surprising that color isn't even an option.

 

Makes me think the right call here from both a budget standpoint and interest in color photos of at least the kids might be to go with the Platinum Studio to get one really nice shot of my wife and I, and then ask my older daughter (who is the booked name on the second cabin) to purchase the "pick 5" photo package so she and her sister can get some nice photos on formal night or around the ship that they can pick and give us copies. And maybe I also purchase the "pick 5" or "pick 10" for myself, to allow for some full-group and various pairings with me or my wife.

 

Formal night pics are less candids and more posed, yes? (if still done fairly quickly) That's been my recollection on sailings I've done on Royal Caribbean, where people will step aside entering the MDR or going down one of the fancier staircases and wait in a designated photo line. But this is my first time on Princess, so it'll be good to know if they operate differently.

 

My wife hates having her picture taken, so if the pro from Platinum Studio is someone who can put her at ease and tease out a good photo, that'll be worth the money for one good shot.

When we had the unlimited photo package, we didn't allow them to "pose" us.  We got some amazing pics, very spur of the moment, some hilarious and none of them run of the mill.  

 

If there's no line, the photographers will let you have fun and if there's a line, wait for a better time.  

 

We have several where we strangled each other (comically), posed on the floor (my 35+ year old daughter on her stomach, with her feet in the air like a newborn, is my absolute favorite).  Others where we brought our own props and a couple where we refused to look at the camera, sitting on the stairs, looking bored, or intentionally eyes closed, mouth open.  Hubs even got away with the boob grab and I got away with a groin grab (on him).  Then there was the one where we all did the groin scratch...!!!

 

They'll let you have fun if you don't let them pose you.  After the first couple of times, they get used to your antics and bring their own props, knowing you're going to show up.  Had one photographer bring plastic crabs, fishing nets and fishing poles to our formal pics.  THAT WAS FUN! 

[Upper Bob]

3 hours ago, Aralim said:

 

No offense taken! 🤣 I guess I should choose my topic name a bit more carefully in the future. 😉

 

Read the entire thread, posted a question there but will re-post it here in case some following this topic also want to know / answer.

 

Platinum Studio only offers B&W prints / photos? They don't do color at all? I know that B&W is often considered more striking and compelling (when done right) vs color, but I find it surprising that color isn't even an option.

 

Makes me think the right call here from both a budget standpoint and interest in color photos of at least the kids might be to go with the Platinum Studio to get one really nice shot of my wife and I, and then ask my older daughter (who is the booked name on the second cabin) to purchase the "pick 5" photo package so she and her sister can get some nice photos on formal night or around the ship that they can pick and give us copies. And maybe I also purchase the "pick 5" or "pick 10" for myself, to allow for some full-group and various pairings with me or my wife.

 

Formal night pics are less candids and more posed, yes? (if still done fairly quickly) That's been my recollection on sailings I've done on Royal Caribbean, where people will step aside entering the MDR or going down one of the fancier staircases and wait in a designated photo line. But this is my first time on Princess, so it'll be good to know if they operate differently.

 

My wife hates having her picture taken, so if the pro from Platinum Studio is someone who can put her at ease and tease out a good photo, that'll be worth the money for one good shot.

When we were recently on the Enchanted Princess I noticed the Platinum Studio only existed as a sign outside of a door on Deck 17 (Sun) Deck). When I inquired I was told that even though it was built into the the ship, by the time she made her first sailing it was no longer going to be operating (including into the future). It no longer appears in the deck plans for Enchanted and Sky (on the Princess web site) and I cannot find it on any other ships deck plan.