Princess On Board Photos

[HiMagicFan]

I Love Cruise Critics Boards!:):D

 

After searching other boards, I have come back to the source!

 

My question, in trying to budget for on board expenses on the TP, I am having a hard time finding information on:

 

a) what kind of photos are taken on ship and what are the costs?

 

b) are there packages that can be purchased?

 

Thanks so much for the help!

[manxstaff]

Hi,

I presume that costs are the same on all princess ships. We had 2 formal portraits taken on the Sea Princess at xmas which cost around $45 for the two. Didn't purchase any of the smaller photo's so i'm afraid i don't know the cost of those.

 

Hope it helps

Manxstaff

[BigGuy25]

I don't remeber the exact cost, but the "everyday" photos that are shot around the ship and as you get off in various ports are significantly less expensive than those that are taken on formal nights. I still think they're in the $10 a piece range. But, they take LOTS and you don't need to buy any if you don't want them.

[smoothdancer]

On our last cruise we did thoes "fun" pictures, where you take you shoes off and pose against a white background. I really liked how they came out.... My tip...

 

They will put the picture on canvas for you to take home and frame and when they do that they also give you the 8X10 free... The cost to have it put on canvas was much less than what I would of paid to have done at home.

 

Here is an idea of these black and white photos (We dance , so we chose to do a dance pose)

[MercedMike]

The photogs will be all over, taking candids and posed pictures. They stick them all up on a huge wall and you get to walk around looking for yours and also seeing everybody else's! It is fun.

 

They will take one at boarding, one at disembarking in each port, some at dinner, posed and funny, spots around the ship and anywhere else they can think of.

 

They will also offer formal portraits on formal night with various backgrounds, and different types of poses, B&W, lying on the floor -- all sorts of ways.

 

It just depends on how many of them tickle your fancy. Our first cruise we bought lots of pictures. Now we maybe buy one per cruise, and a formal portrait every two or three years. The 5 x7 candids are maybe $10, the formals run $25 and up depending on what you select. You can spend a bunch if you grab them all!

 

On our last cruise to the Western Caribbean we were tickled with one port photo with pirates -- you can see it at

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/wcarib.html

:D

There is also a formal portrait on that page, and a port pic from Cozumel. Those photogs tempted us more than most!

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[stlwaterbaby]

We bought a formal night picture. One 8x10 picture was $21.95 on the CB. Apparently, if you wanted the same picture in a 5x7, the cost is still $21.95.

 

We did not check into packages.

[mauiedin87]

Our 15-day Island Princess Hawaii cruise was an anniversary cruise and we bought more pictures than usual. With our "renewal of vows" ceremony we got some free 8x10s of the ceremony). We also got a "package" where we bought 4 of the large-size (8x10) formal pictures at (I think) $20 a piece and got a 5th one free. Some of the 5x7s taken getting off the ship in various ports were quite good (those photographers are pros!), so we also bought a couple of those at $10 apiece. It added up!:)

[HiMagicFan]

Thanks you all so very much for sharing! Cruise Critic folks are just the best!

The information will help me in deciding budget and the tips are great!

 

I love pictures and my parents don't do pictures like this so when I asked them they didn't know. I am hoping since we are going as a family we can do a formal - but trying to get my dad into a tux or formals will be a huge challenge.

 

Thanks again to everyone for the help! and the picture sharing!:D

[crusinpeg]

We like to always get the smaller photo when you get off in port...it has the name of ship, date, etc. and is a nice keepsake of the cruise...this will be our 12th cruise, but we didn't have the idea to start collecting then until cruise #5...so we're missing a few.

[smoothdancer]

MercedMike

I loved your pirate picture... I dont usually buy thoes, but yours came out great!

[JC Butterfly]

What if you purchase a photo from your first formal night but then you later decide you like the photo from your second formal night better. Are the photos "exchangable"?

 

Also, do they discard photos along the way? For example if I'm not sure if I want my embarkation photo, will it be tossed away by the time I reach night #4?

 

Do people start "piles" of their photos, trying to keep them all in the same place while they debate which ones to purchase?

[windango]

What if you purchase a photo from your first formal night but then you later decide you like the photo from your second formal night better. Are the photos "exchangable"?

 

Also, do they discard photos along the way? For example if I'm not sure if I want my embarkation photo, will it be tossed away by the time I reach night #4?

 

Do people start "piles" of their photos, trying to keep them all in the same place while they debate which ones to purchase?

 

JC:

 

I've only been on one cruise so I'm hoping someone with more experience can correct me if I'm wrong but here goes:

 

I'm pretty sure if you decide you prefer the second formal night's photo they are not exchangable. You'd have to buy both photos. More money for the cruise line that way!!

 

The only time I saw photos being discarded was by the people in them. You are free to throw away pictures of yourself you don't care for and have no intention of buying.

 

I never saw people starting piles of pictures of themselves for later reflection, but on the Dawn as each new "series" of photos was put up, the older section was moved down, keeping them together by type (ie embarkation, excursions, formal night, etc). Toward the end of our 10 day cruise there were TONS of pictures. As people removed pictures and either bought them or threw them away it would free up a little space for compression of that area. I would assume all the photos left over at the end of the cruise just get tossed. Maybe that's why the prices are so high...they have to recoup the cost of all that photography paper!!

 

Hope this helps and others join in with the details I'm not sure of!

[Fuzzzy]

I do not know the current policy on this. However, we bought 10 photo's for $210.00 and they also gave us the originals on a CD. That way, we know have them for re-prints, etc..

[Host Caroline]

On Sapphire they had gone to 8x10 of almost everything including the "getting off the ship" photos and were charging 19.95 which IMHO is ludicrous.... what happened to the nice 5x7 (in lieu of former 6x8)... they would give you a choice of an album I think if you bought both photos i.e. in College Fjord for example they took photos of balcony people and on deck and put two backgrounds behind them... you could get both for a little more and a little gift.. but who wants two pictures of the same thing??? well, personal opinion I know.. we bought balcony shot taken from the photo boat just cause it was kinda neat but we only buy one picture per cruise usually.

[Plant]

On Sapphire they had gone to 8x10 of almost everything including the "getting off the ship" photos and were charging 19.95 which IMHO is ludicrous.... what happened to the nice 5x7 (in lieu of former 6x8)...

 

I SO agree with this :eek: ! We'd be much more likely to buy more photos in smaller sizes. We don't have the room for 8x10's and have no interest in buying them. I'm also not going to buy one 8x10 in order to have "access" to the smaller photos. IMO, the photo people are loosing $$, but I guess they're selling enough to not offer the smaller photos:( separately.

[StLouisCruisers]

Instead of buying the first formal night photo, then wishing you'd waited when you see the second formal night photo, do what we do. Collect all the photos they take of you, march over to the photo desk and ask that they start an envelope for you with your cabin number and name on it. They keep these envelopes behind the desk. By the end of the cruise, you have quite a collection to choose from, and you can get your favorites at that time. Toss the rest. That's what they do at the end of the cruise. I wish they would sell smaller photos as well (with a price to match) since we don't all want 8 x 10's. They charge you the same price to print a 5 x 7 of your favorite 8 x 10.

[cusyl]

It would be interesting to know if they will sell you the 5 x 7 pictures from their website.

https://www.image.com/html/post_cruise.html

[HiMagicFan]

I just loved all the tips, thanks!:):D:)

 

I was reading on the Princess Cruises board about formal night dress. I have talked with my parents and my Dad has no intention of "dressing" for formal night.

 

If we do not "dress" for formal night can we still do the formal night pictures i.e. on the Grand Staircase?

 

Thanks for the help :)

[cusyl]

I just loved all the tips, thanks!:):D:)

 

I was reading on the Princess Cruises board about formal night dress. I have talked with my parents and my Dad has no intention of "dressing" for formal night.

 

If we do not "dress" for formal night can we still do the formal night pictures i.e. on the Grand Staircase?

 

Thanks for the help :)

Yes, of course you can. Do you have a balcony? Why not sign up for the Ultimate Balcony Dinner. It's $50 pp and you can eat in your shorts if you want to.

That includes surf and turf, flowers for your cabin, cocktails, wine, ordeauvers (sp) and a photo by the staff. It is all served by 2 waiters and you can dine at your leisure.

[cncruiser]

Recently returned from Alaska on the Coral Princess. The formal night photos were $24.95 and all others were $19.95. The only option available to us were 8X10's. I must admit I bought many more than I had anticipated, but found the quality to be first rate. They left the photos up most of the week, but as they filled up the display boards with new photos, they moved the others to storage boxes but they were labeled and you were able to go through them. If you are with a large group, they do asked that you make a reservation on formal nights for the grand staircase photo.

[cncruiser]

Sorry, forgot something . . There were daily specials, ie, if you bought both of that days photos you got a free album or scrapebook, etc. There was also one where if you bought four you got one free. The specials were specific and you could not mix and match.

[Princess Chatterer]

You can use the Grand Staircase and shoot your own formals. Many do creating even more gridlock. The gangway photos are way overpriced and oversized but the Princess mascots are so cute you almost have to buy some.

 

It is not acceptable to snap a photo of your photo in the photo gallery in order to save money. In my view, it is acceptable to scan the photo you bought of yourself, for archival purposes, once you get home. I'll plead fifth amendment on the scanning of ship stock photos that I've paid full retail price for.

[jabucat]

The photos were well taken, but the accumulative price is horrendous! Also, the offers (packages) are great at all. The albums are huge and I would have gladly traded this for a few photos instead - no such luck. Also, i think they could do a Formal Night deal too - 1 night = $X; 2 nights = $X + $5; 3 nights = $x + $8 and so on. At least they's seel them! In the end we chose the best formal night photo (and I asked for the opinion of the other photo browsers), and one black and white photo. Also, the casual photos are expensive when you round them all up, and ther are many believe me! They take a photo at every opportunit! Nice idea, but they must be losing money and using up a heck of a lot of forests in the process ('scuse the pun!).

[daisy13]

Just came off the Emerald Princess. 8x10 were $21.95 (formals, etc.) Buy 5 get 6th free. They also took pics as you departed at ports. They were 5x7's and they were 9.95. They had lots of picture nights with lots of backdrops. It seemed to me that by looking at the amount of left over pictures on the final day that they could have sold double the pics if they cut the price in half. :rolleyes: and still make the same amount-what a concept!